A Desperate Battle

Kuang Wei took the sword strike but did not retreat an inch. With an angry roar, he chopped down with one hand and caught Li Daotong's blade in his bare left palm.

"You're asking for death!" Li Daotong growled. As Sect Master of the Jiuhua Sect, he wielded a peerless sword. Far from being inferior to Gu Zhen's Crimson Firmament Sword, it was sharper still.

Trying to grapple a sword blade with a bare hand was madness. Li Daotong gave his wrist a slight twist and flick, channeling his inner force into the blade. All four of Kuang Wei's fingers were severed.

But that instant was all Kuang Wei needed. Lightning flashed around his right hand, and a three-inch serpent of electricity shot toward Li Daotong's heart.

"Feathered Serpent Palm!" Cries erupted from the crowd. If it landed, Li Daotong might die on the spot!

That was what made combat on the Sword Song Plane so perilous: level and rank did not decide everything. Kuang Wei was a level-eight Rare Boss, while Li Daotong was a level-ten Rare Boss. Li Daotong was plainly stronger, but high-level martial artists on the Sword Song Plane had no extra Life Value. A strike to a vital point was usually fatal.

Skill mattered enormously. One careless move could give a weaker opponent the chance to turn the tables.

Kuang Wei was ruthless. He knew he could never win a prolonged fight, so he had devised this desperate gambit: sacrifice four fingers to make Li Daotong pay a far heavier price.

Li Daotong sucked in a breath. His footwork shifted unpredictably as he unleashed the Lotus-Step Technique, carrying him half a foot sideways at the last possible moment! The palm strike meant for his heart hit his right chest instead. Only the Jiuhua Sect, famed