Qualification

Li ChunJun stared at Xu ZhengYi.

He didn't know whether Xu ZhengYi was telling the truth when he said he would crush Li ChunJun's skull.

If he was...

Then that proved they could kill.

If he wasn't...

Then this fight was unavoidable anyway.

Though he was somewhat reluctant to see their number shrink from nine to four, what was done was done. There was no point dwelling on it.

Four it was, then. And outside...

There might be a few extra prizes.

At least the trip here wouldn't have been for nothing.

At that thought, Li ChunJun's mind grew utterly still and serene.

His eyes were utterly devoid of emotion.

He simply drew his sword.

Xu ZhengYi approached Li ChunJun with an air of nonchalance, but anyone with a little sense should have known that no one who made it into Ascend Peak Tower was weak.

They had all at least reached Unity.

Even though Xu ZhengYi was a Unity Martial Artist who had only just achieved Internal-External Unity, and looked under twenty, he didn't underestimate him in the slightest!

As he drew near, he was already on full alert.

"Clang!"

Nine Heavens Thunderclap Sword Art, nearly perfected!

A combat instinct tempered entirely for the efficiency of killing!

Together, they made Li ChunJun's sword strike so fast that even Tan Li, an assassin, couldn't make out its trajectory.

He saw only a flash of cold light. The icy blade was already less than half a foot from Xu ZhengYi!

When Xu ZhengYi saw Li ChunJun draw his sword and unleash such a stunning strike, his instinct was to shout excitedly, "Well done!"

He loved fighting top experts to the death, pushing himself to the limit and breaking past it through one extreme challenge after another!

But when the strike truly came, moving with a speed no Martial Artist could possibly withstand, his excitement instantly turned into unparalleled shock...

Or perhaps...

Delight!

It seemed he truly didn't know the meaning of fear!

Faced with Li ChunJun's lightning-fast strike, driven by a jumble of shock, delight, excitement, and other emotions, he actually charged forward instead of retreating. With a roar, he sent layer upon layer of ferocious force surging into a thunderous palm strike aimed straight at Li ChunJun's head.

If Li ChunJun didn't dodge...

As his sword pierced Xu ZhengYi's throat, Xu ZhengYi's palm would strike Li ChunJun's head as well!

A fight to the death!

This battle-hardened maniac, who had beaten more than a dozen Martial Artists and Martial Masters to death, actually launched a life-for-life attack at this critical moment, fearless of death!

He was clearly gambling everything on a desperate bid to survive!

The shift happened too quickly!

So quickly that the other Unity Martial Masters in the room, despite watching with wide eyes to learn about their opponents, were caught off guard.

No one had expected the young man, who looked under twenty, to display such peerless swordsmanship the moment he drew his blade.

And with that single strike, he had forced Xu ZhengYi, the top Martial Master who had gone undefeated throughout Mingzhou, into a fight for his life!

As everyone watched, wondering whether the two would perish together or Li ChunJun would be forced to retreat and lose the initiative, an invisible ripple suddenly spread from the tip of his sword.

"Vroom!"

A visible white shockwave rippled out from the sword tip.

The strike, already impossibly fast, accelerated even further!

Its angle shifted slightly!

Instead of piercing Xu ZhengYi's neck, it veered down toward his chest!

With a shrill whistle, Sharp Sword plunged into Xu ZhengYi's body.

As the blade pierced Xu ZhengYi's chest, the "force" of the Nine Heavens Thunderclap Sword Art crashed into him with the might of a thunderbolt. Like a giant hammer, it slammed into his body, bringing his fierce charge to an abrupt halt.

Without the forward momentum of his lunge, the palm strike that had been on course to hit Li ChunJun's head fell short. It swept down with its own momentum, missing him by less than two inches.

The force in his palm was powerful enough to shatter stone tablets and crack skulls. Its fierce wind sent the hair above Li ChunJun's forehead fluttering.

"Shhk!"

The next instant, the sword that had plunged through Xu ZhengYi's chest like a giant hammer swept sharply upward!

As the blade rose, its savage force combined with its keen edge, instantly severing ribs and slicing through his throat and windpipe. Its momentum didn't let up; it tore upward, cutting through his jawbone, nasal bone, and brow, then splitting his forehead. A spray of scarlet blood splashed across the walls and ceiling.

The power bursting from the blade was so immense that it lifted Xu ZhengYi's nearly ninety-kilogram body clean off the ground, sending him almost a foot into the air before he arched backward and toppled.

His face still bore traces of excitement, delight, and a hint of terror that hadn't had time to fully spread. All of it was frozen in place.

A line of blood quickly appeared down the front of his face: chin, lips, nose, bridge, forehead...

His entire upper body had nearly been split open by that single upward slash!

Blood sprayed everywhere!

"Thud!"

His body crashed backward onto a table not far behind him.

The life drained from him in an instant.

"..."

In a flash, the room fell silent as a grave.

Tan Li, Du Kang, Vincent, and the others stood rigid, staring blankly at Xu ZhengYi, who had just been talking with them and stood on the same level as them. Now he lay dead before them in a manner that would look horrific to anyone.

A bone-chilling cold, like an electric current, swept through every corner of their bodies.

Li ChunJun shook the blood from his sword.

This sword...

Its quality was inferior to the pieces in Sword Tasting Hall's collection.

But it was just as sharp as that treasured sword.

He hoped Ascend Peak Tower would follow the Rules, so he wouldn't have to find another sword if this one got nicked.

He sheathed the sword.

Li ChunJun didn't look at Xu ZhengYi again.

In fact, Tan Li, who was watching Li ChunJun closely, noticed...

Throughout the entire ordeal, Li ChunJun's expression hadn't changed even once.

What was this!?

Titan Vincent could certainly be called a ruthless killer.

But this young man, who looked under twenty, was the one who truly killed without blinking!

His heart was cold as iron!

No, even "cold as iron" wasn't enough to describe him!

It was indifference!

An indifference that treated life as worthless!

As if he hadn't killed a person at all, but merely crushed an ant beneath his heel.

It was almost impossible to imagine what kind of experiences could have shaped an attitude like his.

He glanced at Li ChunJun, who had already sheathed his sword and sat down nearby.

Then he looked at the burly Titan Vincent, and Du Kang, the senior who had wiped out an entire household...

A powerful urge to complain suddenly surged through him!

You've got to be kidding!

Which one of them was actually the professional assassin here!?

Did this year's Ascend Peak really have to be this outrageous!?

At that moment, it seemed the people outside had heard the commotion within.

"What the hell is going on? Quiet down in there!"

Amid the shouts, the door was quickly pushed open.

Two men walked in, both carrying guns. Their strides were steady, and they were clearly formidable.

When they saw Xu ZhengYi, his upper body nearly cleaved in two, their expressions immediately turned cold.

"What happened!?"

"Who did this?"

Their eyes also fell on Li ChunJun.

He was the only one among them carrying a weapon.

Li ChunJun rose calmly to his feet.

"I did it."

He looked up at the two men, who stood less than six meters away in the doorway, and rested his right hand on his sword hilt. "So, are you going to strip me of my Ascend Peak Qualification?"