Life and Death Are Predestined

Li Wudang's figure was jolted, sliding across the ground until he managed to stop his retreat after taking several steps back.

Shen Yi seemed unmoved.

But Li Wudang clearly felt the other man's continuous, unbroken sword momentum abruptly halt. He smiled. Shen Yi, ah...

Drawing his blade in Clearwater Alley, enraged for the sake of a beauty.

Truly a man of deep feeling and loyalty!

"Where is he?"

Shen Yi's icy words, like the judge's sentence from the Yama Palace, echoed in his ears, chilling him to the bone!

Li Wudang held a broken blade in one hand and an Embroidered Spring Blade in the other.

He grinned.

The trickling blood actually transformed his once handsome features into those of an Asura demon.

"Surrender."

"I'll take you to see him!"

A flicker of hesitation flashed across Shen Yi's eyes.

In that instant, the aura around Li Wudang, which had been waning, suddenly surged. He held both blades horizontally, internal energy flowing along their surfaces.

It extended several inches, condensing into a mang.

Blade Aura!

The symbol of reaching the pinnacle of the Acquired Realm.

One step further, and it would be the blade Qi that only Innate Realm experts could condense and release!

Li Wudang had accumulated power in the Acquired Realm for many years.

His foundation was already incredibly solid, and now he was unleashing his hidden, desperate move!

"This move! I originally reserved it for when I returned to the capital. Shen Yi, prepare to die!"

Li Wudang stamped his foot, kicking up a cloud of dust.

His figure seemed to vanish from the spot.

Using the Array Breaker Art's secret to reverse and explode his power, he unleashed a dazzling blade technique with speed and power several times his own!

The blade's momentum was magnificent, like an army sweeping through.

The blade's radiance was dazzling, like a star in the polar night.

Shen Yi's eyes narrowed.

He didn't have time to shift his body, so he could only raise his hand in haste!

Clang!

Cold Night blocked the Embroidered Spring Blade, which was as swift as lightning and as heavy as a mountain, but on the other side, blood splattered...

Crimson drops fell into Li Wudang's eye sockets.

Further fueling his madness.

Shen Yi's left hand gripped the broken blade, blood flowing, but the blade tip still pierced his shoulder, reaching the bone.

Beneath the seemingly indestructible blade's edge.

The incomplete Vajra Body Forging Art could only enhance his resistance somewhat, but it couldn't prevent injury altogether.

The shoulder area of Shen Yi's blue robe.

Instantly turned deep red.

Li Wudang grinned hideously. He seemed to see victory beckoning him, and without another word, he was about to swing his blade at Shen Yi's neck.

However.

He discovered that the tip of the broken blade was firmly lodged in Shen Yi's shoulder bone, and what horrified him even more was...

Shen Yi's large, blood-soaked hand suddenly grabbed Li Wudang's forearm, clutching it tightly, as if afraid he would run away.

Li Wudang panicked.

"Shen Yi, what are you doing?! Qin Jianghe is still in my hands! Don't you care about his life?"

Unexpectedly, Shen Yi, who had been hesitant just moments before, grinned, his smile even colder.

"People of the jianghu."

"Qin Jianghe's life and death are his own fate!"

"If he dies, I'll avenge him. If he's still alive, I'll take back the broken blade for him!"

"Either way, I'm killing you, what's there to hesitate about!"

Li Wudang's pupils shrank violently.

He noticed that Shen Yi was shrouded in an Asura-like aura, which not only didn't weaken due to his injury...

Instead, it grew even stronger!

"No, no!"

"You, you were pretending just now?!"

Shen Yi's palm was like an iron clamp, firmly gripping Li Wudang's arm: "If I didn't pretend, how would you have closed in?"

"If I didn't pretend, with your movement and lightness skill, if you wanted to run, I wouldn't be able to stop you."

Li Wudang's expression was horrified.

He realized then.

The one who had been played all along was himself.

"Die!"

Li Wudang flew into a rage out of humiliation.

He shook his Embroidered Spring Blade, deflected Shen Yi's thick-backed blade, and aimed to slash at Shen Yi's neck.

However, Shen Yi twisted his hand in response.

No one was more skilled in the understanding and application of basic blade techniques than he was, after more than ten years of secluded training.

Instantly.

Shen Yi's Cold Night countered and entangled the Embroidered Spring Blade, his arm bulging, and he exerted force with a sudden jerk.

Clang!

The thick-backed blade and the Embroidered Spring Blade flew out together and stuck into the ground.

Still trembling.

Shen Yi's right hand formed a claw, bringing with it a fierce wind, like a falcon swooping down on its prey.

Li Wudang was still shocked that his blade technique had been restrained.

The next moment, the joints of his arm had been severely pinched.

This is…

Bone Dislocation Hand?!

Li Wudang tried to counterattack with his fists and feet, but his reaction was too late.

Shen Yi's movements were like illusions.

Layers upon layers of claw shadows enveloped the joints all over his body.

Bone Dislocation Tendon Severing!

Li Wudang's joints were twisted to pieces in an instant!

"Ahhhhh!"

"Your Bone Dislocation Hand has reached perfection!"

Bone Dislocation Tendon Severing.

He had only seen this ultimate technique, which instantly dislocates all the joints of a person's body, in the capital's main office.

It was used by a Black Cloak who specialized in fist and foot techniques. He had cultivated every fist and foot technique in the Array Breaker Art to perfection.

At that time, he used Bone Dislocation Hand to defeat him.

He also showed him the killing move that could be unleashed with Bone Dislocation Hand when it was cultivated to perfection: Bone Dislocation Tendon Severing.

It was exactly the same as what Shen Yi was using now!

Thump!

Li Wudang's joints were shattered, and filled with bewilderment, he fell heavily to the ground.

How could one person.

Possibly cultivate blade techniques, fist and foot techniques, internal energy, and external body tempering to such a high level in such a short period of time?

He was simply a monster!

Shen Yi took the broken blade from the wound on his shoulder and used the Vajra Body Forging Art to mobilize Blood Essence to stop the bleeding.

He held the broken blade.

Stepping on Li Wudang's chest with one foot, he raised the blade high.

"Alright, I'll send you to see God!"

Li Wudang struggled constantly, saying in a panic:

"No, no!"

"You can't kill me!"

"If you kill me, the whole world will know!"

"The capital's main office will personally send people to wipe you out!"

Shen Yi remained unmoved.

"Those are things that will happen after you're dead."

As the words faded.

Shen Yi slashed down with his blade, decapitating Li Wudang, his blood splattering like blooming flowers across the scene.

[Killed an Acquired Realm martial artist, gaining potential cultivation time: five years and nine months]

[Potential Cultivation] Remaining: 5 years and 9 months

Shen Yi turned his head to the side, only to see that the remaining Black Cloaks Centurion had already fled in a panic.

In truth, the Black Cloaks Centurion had sensed something was wrong as early as when Shen Yi and Li Wudang engaged in close combat.

And after Shen Yi used Bone Dislocation Tendon Severing, he didn't hesitate to turn and flee.

It was just that Shen Yi was preoccupied with Li Wudang at the time.

He simply didn't have the time to bother with the Black Cloaks Centurion.

At this moment, the stars and moon hid themselves.

The dawn was already appearing on the horizon.

Shen Yi tore a piece of clothing from Li Wudang's corpse, wrapped his head in it, and strode towards Xiaoqing Town.

Xiaoqing Town entrance.

Early morning.

Early-rising farmers and merchants were leaving the town in a large group.

All of them lowered their heads, their eyes downcast, walking hurriedly.

For no other reason than fear of seeing the two blood-stained heads hanging on the town gate.

Suddenly.

The passersby leaving the town cried out in alarm.

They saw a figure slowly walking from the distance.

Dressed in green, with many tears and damages.

His shoulders were covered in blood.

He had two blades hanging at his waist, one with a black hilt, and one with a deep red hilt, his aura sharp, making him unforgettable to anyone who saw him.

In his hand, he carried a round package.

The bustling mountain road.

Became silent as a graveyard.