Encountering Bai Kaluo Again

"Haah... haah... haah..."

Shi Sha gasped for breath, his body already pushed to its limits. The accumulated injuries within him worsened by the moment, severely dragging down his combat strength.

On the other side, Bai Yuan looked at the deep slash mark on his right arm. The shattered battle armor rapidly repaired itself, covering the wound as gene energy began restoring the damaged limb.

Yes, he had been struck by a blade just now.

Shi Sha's combat technique and blade work had clearly improved significantly compared to the start. More crucially, he could extrapolate from experience, applying these lessons to his domain, making its control increasingly refined. That was precisely why Bai Yuan, caught off guard, had taken this hit.

"Ha... cough, cough... I lost this round. Next time, we fight again!" Shi Sha laughed loudly, only for the motion to aggravate his injuries, forcing a violent cough of blood. Yet he felt no regret—this battle had brought him genuine growth.

Leaving the duel space, Bai Yuan checked the time and sighed helplessly. "Still overtime. Let's just start the next match directly."

He sent out a challenge invitation, but the opponent refused outright. Bai Yuan didn't think much of it and invited another, only to be rejected again. Ten times in a row—no one accepted. Finally, he tried inviting a fellow seven-star opponent, yet was still turned down flat.

He froze for a moment. He was a seven-star himself, challenging opponents of the same rank, yet they rejected him so bluntly. Just as he was about to keep trying, a private message arrived.

"Brother, don't bother. Your strength has already spread. Go challenge the nine-stars instead—we're really no match for you."

Bai Yuan finally understood the reason. Before he could send another invitation, a flood of challenge requests poured in. In under ten seconds, the number exceeded a hundred.

"So many!" Bai Yuan was startled. Yet among those hundred-plus requests, only one was a nine-star; most were below seven stars. They knew they weren't his match but wanted to personally feel the gap in strength. The most absurd one had a record of "22 wins, 187 losses"!

Bai Yuan racked his brain but couldn't fathom where that opponent's confidence came from.

He then accepted the nine-star's challenge. Light and shadow coalesced in the duel space, and the opponent's figure gradually sharpened. The moment they saw each other clearly, both froze almost simultaneously.

"Bai Kaluo?"

"Bai Yuan!"

After a brief shock, a faint smile curled at Bai Kaluo's lips. "I heard two impressive newcomers appeared today, so I came specifically. I didn't expect it to be you."

He then recounted his experiences over the years. After breaking through to Planet Realm, Bai Kaluo hadn't chosen to take a ship to a major power but had set out alone on the Star Road. After several detours, he had finally arrived at the Black Dragon Mountain Empire.

"The Slaughter Arena is where I hone my combat skills," Bai Kaluo said calmly. "I drop in to fight for a while now and then, and before I knew it, I'd reached nine stars."

Bai Yuan listened quietly, his own heart stirring. "It seems you haven't stopped moving forward either."

Back then, Bai Kaluo had been rated a first-class elite within the clan. After over a year of training, reaching this level was only natural.

"Of course. I've always taken you as my goal. Meeting today is the perfect chance to test my progress!" Bai Kaluo's fighting spirit blazed as he slowly raised his twin blades into a combat stance.

"Good. Then let me truly feel it." Bai Yuan smiled.

Shua shua shua shua shua...

Bai Kaluo's form flickered, instantly producing several indistinct afterimages, blade light slashing from all manner of bizarre angles.

Clang!

Bai Yuan crossed his blade to block. The moment the weapons clashed, he felt the weight lighten—Bai Kaluo's blade touched like a dragonfly skimming water, withdrawing instantly, refusing to clash head-on.

Bai Yuan's surging force struck nothing but air, finding no point of purchase, no path to transmit.

"It's not just his footwork—his blade has reached this level too. It seems he's already stepped into the realm of Man-Blade Unity."

Bai Yuan's heart tightened.

The essence of Bai Kaluo's blade lay in speed and accumulation.

Every strike, seemingly light and elusive, was actually storing power for the next.

He knew well that a direct clash was no match for Bai Yuan, so he darted about at breakneck speed, his form like wind and lightning, painting trails of cyan across the arena.

At this moment, Bai Kaluo's displayed combat strength was roughly on par with an eight-star level.

But Bai Yuan understood—the longer this dragged on, the more advantageous it became for Bai Kaluo.

"Fine. This time, let me see with my own eyes just how strong that peak-accumulated strike of yours really is." Bai Yuan thought to himself.

Then his blade's momentum turned inward, like an old tree gripping the earth—no matter how the wind howled or clouds churned, he stood unmoving.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang...

The blade light grew denser, faster.

Bai Kaluo's figure had nearly become a cyan windstorm, circling Bai Yuan and cutting relentlessly.

Yet Bai Yuan remained firmly at the center, his blade moving with his body, guarding airtight—every blow was steadily received.

The vast rebounding force vanished like a mud ox sinking into the sea, silently dispersed by Bai Kaluo's ghostly footwork.

The wind was gathering momentum.

Bai Yuan could feel the air around him growing heavier.

Bai Kaluo's blade momentum was climbing toward its peak.

He gripped his hilt tightly, his eyes reflecting an ever-sharper gleam.

"Eighty strikes!"

Thud!

When the eightieth strike fell, the potential energy accumulated in the blade wind roared like a storm. Bai Kaluo's combat power shattered its limits, stepping firmly into the nine-star level!

This strike was too heavy, too fast—even Bai Yuan was jolted, his form swaying as he took half a step back.

A step back!

Hope blazed in Bai Kaluo's eyes.

In that instant, it seemed victory had already been laid before him.

A year of bitter training, solitary trials—could he truly catch up now, or even defeat the figure he once could only look up to?

But as he swung the next strike, he sensed something wrong.

Bai Yuan's blade momentum shifted—instead of clashing head-on, it slid gently along his force, deflecting all the power away.

"My blade is this fast, and you can still deflect it! But since you can do this, I shouldn't be surprised."

The brief joy vanished like smoke, and Bai Kaluo's expression turned serious again.

Yes, he had drifted across the universe for a year, enduring trials to reach today.

But what about Bai Yuan? How could he have stood still?

From the start, he knew this battle wasn't about winning—it was only to see with his own eyes just how far apart they truly were.

It was just that the step back had momentarily misled him.

"Eighty-two strikes!"

Seeing that Bai Kaluo's attack rhythm showed no chaos, and the fighting spirit in his eyes grew even more condensed, Bai Yuan nodded inwardly.

Especially after truly stepping into the universe and enduring a year of wandering, his will had been tempered even harder.

Ordinary blows could never shake his resolve.

On the contrary, these strikes only made him stronger in the face of adversity.