Hua Xiong's Breakthrough

We can't drag this out any longer!

Sensing that something was wrong, Pan Feng focused his mind, reined in his horse, and took a deep breath. Looking at Hua Xiong, who was already panting heavily, he leaned forward slightly, placed his right hand behind his side, and suddenly clamped his legs against the horse's belly. Horse and rider surged forward as one, charging at Hua Xiong as fast as lightning!

"One strike decides the winner!"

Hua Xiong did not answer. He merely gripped his sword hilt tightly with his right hand as externalized Qi surged wildly through his body, seemingly on the verge of boiling. A faint red glow seeped from his skin.

With less than a hundred meters between them, both horses sensed that the decisive moment had arrived. They charged head-on, reaching top speed in the blink of an eye. At the instant their heads were almost touching, Pan Feng and Hua Xiong, both prepared, swung their Great Axe and long saber with all their strength. The air rippled under the force of their charged attacks. Just before their weapons were about to meet...

Pan Feng's body suddenly lost its balance. Having swung the Great Axe with all his strength, he was completely caught off guard and pitched forward. A crimson flash, swift as lightning, slashed through the air, accompanied by a furious, unwilling roar.

Pan Feng's head flew into the sky. He did not die immediately; flames burned in his struggling eyes, and his mouth opened and closed as he seemed to roar something, yet not a sound came out.

The two horses passed each other. With that strike, Hua Xiong had concentrated all his essence, energy, and spirit into a single blow. At the instant Pan Feng's head flew skyward, his thick externalized Qi, aided by