The Ninth Slash

One slash came down!

This slash had no earth-shaking spectacle, only a thread of deep blue flame, thin as a cicada's wing and fine as a strand of hair, silently slicing through space.

Where the thread passed, space soundlessly vanished, leaving behind a pitch-black rift that refused to heal. Along its edges, the lingering heat seared space with a sizzling hiss.

This slash had already touched the supreme realm of the "Law of Flame"—incinerating all things, even refining the stars!

For the first time, Shi Gandang's eyes turned solemn.

He no longer underestimated his opponent. As he crossed his arms, dark golden light surged wildly toward them, condensing over their surface into a thick layer of golden crystal armor covered in ancient runes!

"Indestructible Vajra: Saint Armor Style!"

The deep blue flame-thread slashed into the golden crystal armor.

There was no explosion, no roar.

Only an almost inaudible hiss, like a red-hot iron needle piercing a block of ice.

The flame-thread cut half an inch into the armor, then stopped. Runes across its surface flashed wildly, clashing head-on with the annihilating force within the flame-thread. The two forces held each other in check for three breaths before finally dissipating together.

The flame-thread vanished.

On the crystal armor remained a half-inch-deep slash, blackened like charcoal. The armor was cracked along its edges, but in the end... it had not broken.

Shi Gandang slowly lowered his arms and glanced down at the slash. In a deep, rumbling voice, he said, "The eighth slash still can't break through."

Huyan Lie was breathing hard, veins bulging at his temples, his hand trembling slightly around the hilt. After unleashing eight full-power slashes in succession, even with his cultivation at the high True Saint level, he felt utterly drained.

But the Battle Intent in his eyes