Zhou Xuan raised his hand again.
He struggled to draw Taiyi Divine Power from deep within his dantian. Waves of stabbing pain coursed through his meridians, piercing him to the marrow, so agonizing he wished he were dead.
Dark-Metal-gold light gathered in his palm once more, but it was at least thirty percent dimmer than before.
Li Qingyun lowered his gaze to look at him.
"How many breaths do you think you can last if you try again now? Your severe injuries haven't healed, and you have less than ten percent of your spiritual power left. That last strike was already your limit."
Zhou Xuan said nothing.
The light took shape in his palm.
This time, it wasn't a three-inch sword of light, but a thin dark-Metal-gold thread spinning close to his fingertips.
It was so fine it was almost invisible.
But Li Qingyun's brow twitched.
Because what was wrapped within that thread stirred an exceedingly faint resonance in his sword heart.
Taiyi Divine Power. Patriarch Sword Intent. And a wisp of vow power transmitted across a thousand miles from Jade Dragon City.
Three Forces twisted together on a needlepoint.
Zhou Xuan struck.
The thread shot from his hand, more than ten times faster than the dark-Metal-gold streak before.
This time, Li Qingyun didn't use his fingers.
The Plain White Sword slid an inch out of its sheath on its own.
Just one inch.
The instant that inch of blade emerged from the sheath, a streak of pure-white Sword Qi already spanned the space before him.
The two powers collided.
This time, there was no explosion.
No rocks were annihilated.
The dark-Metal-gold thread and pure-white Sword Qi silently strangled each other at the point of contact, devouring each other madly, neither giving ground.
The web of Zhou Xuan's hand split