The Showdown

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Nian Laoda's attacks were savage and relentless. Every punch carried enough force to smash through anything in its path.

The entire underground cavern trembled beneath his iron fists, and rubble rained down from the ceiling.

Li Xiaoyu darted through the gaps between the shadows of the fists like a ghost.

Sweat had beaded on his forehead, and his face had turned pale.

Nian Laoda's strength far exceeded anything he had imagined.

His opponent was not only powerful; his speed and reflexes were also astonishing.

Several times, Li Xiaoyu had nearly been grazed by a punch, the gust of wind stinging his skin.

Li Xiaoyu knew he couldn't go on like this.

Though the Seven Star Steps were wondrous, they consumed a tremendous amount of spiritual energy.

He couldn't keep dodging forever.

He had to find a chance to strike back!

A look of determination flashed in Li Xiaoyu's eyes.

He stopped merely dodging. In the brief moments between attacks, he began to activate the gourd in his dantian, sending a thread of golden light into the Autumn Water Sword.

"Geng Metal Sword Qi!"

He muttered the words in his heart.

"Now!"

Seizing the split second after Nian Laoda's punch missed—when his momentum had run out and he had yet to gather strength for another—Li Xiaoyu suddenly came to a halt.

Instead of retreating, Li Xiaoyu surged forward. The Autumn Water Sword in his hand became a streak of golden lightning, stabbing toward Nian Laoda's chest with unstoppable force!

The strike was fast, precise, and ruthless!

He had poured all his energy, spirit, and focus into it!

Nian Laoda clearly hadn't expected Li Xiaoyu, who had been taking a beating without fighting back, to launch an attack.

A look of contempt flashed in his eyes.

"Know your place!"

He snorted. Instead of dodging, he took Li Xiaoyu's strike head-on with his bare chest.

In his view, no matter how exquisite the swordsmanship of a kid at the sixth level of the Jade Purity Realm, it could never break through his protective aura.

Nian Laoda wanted to humiliate his opponent in the most degrading way, and show him what an absolute gap in strength looked like!

"Clang!"

Metal rang against metal.

The tip of the Autumn Water Sword struck Nian Laoda squarely in the chest.

But the scene Nian Laoda had expected—the sword shattering, its wielder spitting blood and flying backward—never came.

The contemptuous smile on his face froze.

A razor-sharp force that made his soul tremble surged from the sword's tip, piercing through the protective aura he had always been so proud of!

"Pfft!"

The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out.

The Autumn Water Sword had truly pierced his chest. It went in barely an inch, but the Geng Metal Dragon Qi poured through the wound and began to tear through his meridians.

"Argh!"

Nian Laoda let out a pained roar and looked down at the wound in his chest.

He was injured!

He had actually been wounded by a brat who was an entire major realm beneath him!

How was that possible?!

"You're asking for death!"

Pain and humiliation drove Nian Laoda into a frenzy.

With a roar, he swung his palm at the crown of Li Xiaoyu's head.

Having landed his strike, Li Xiaoyu didn't linger. He immediately pulled back his sword and retreated.

But in his fury, Nian Laoda struck with blinding speed. Li Xiaoyu couldn't get clear in time.

"Thud!"

A dull impact rang out.

Swept by Nian Laoda's palm wind, Li Xiaoyu flew backward like a kite with its string cut and slammed into a distant rock wall, coughing up a huge mouthful of blood.

He felt as if his internal organs had been knocked out of place and every bone in his body was about to come apart.

"Senior Brother Li!"

"Xiaoyu!"

Zhang Xiaofan and Lu Xueqi, locked in fierce battles elsewhere, cried out when they saw what happened.

They wanted to rush over and help, but their opponents kept them firmly pinned down.

"Hahahaha!"

Clutching the wound in his chest, Nian Laoda laughed as blood kept welling between his fingers.

"Brat, you should be proud you managed to hurt me!"

"But the game is over!"

"Now, die!"

Grinning viciously, he raised his fist again, ready to deliver the final blow to Li Xiaoyu.

But at that very moment—

The entire underground cavern suddenly began to shake violently.

"Rumble..."

A deafening roar, like the earth splitting apart, rose from beneath their feet.

"What's happening?"

Everyone stopped fighting and looked around in alarm.

The ground beneath them—the altar built from black stone—suddenly blazed with blood-red light.

The runes carved into the altar seemed to come alive, writhing across its surface.

An enormous, evil force was awakening deep underground.

"Oh no! The grand formation the Hall Master set up has been triggered!"

Lin Feng, the white-robed youth from the Blood Refining Hall, cried out in alarm, his face turning deathly pale.

Nian Laoda froze too, then broke into delighted laughter.

"Hahahaha! Heaven is on my side! Heaven is on my side!"

"This grand formation was meant to sacrifice every living creature on Kongsang Mountain and refine the supreme Blood Pill for the Blood Refining Hall!"

"I never imagined I'd get to use it on you righteous young disciples today!"

"You'll all become nourishment for my Blood Pill!"

He shouted triumphantly.

The instant his words fell—

"Crack! Crack!"

Huge fissures began to appear in the ground beneath them.

Thick streams of blood-red light, like molten lava, surged from the cracks.

The cavern floor began collapsing over a vast area!

"Run!"

Li Xiaoyu fought through his injuries and shouted at the others.

Everyone abandoned the fight, summoned their magic treasures, and flew toward the entrance they had come through.

The people from the Blood Refining Hall also fled in panic.

But it was too late.

The cavern was collapsing far faster than they had imagined.

"Boom!"

With a thunderous crash, the ground beneath them gave way completely.

A vast, pitch-black abyss, so deep its bottom could not be seen, opened beneath everyone's feet.

Dark winds howled within it, mingled with the wails of ghosts. It was as if the abyss connected directly to Nine Nether Hell.

An irresistible force rose from the abyss, dragging everyone downward.

"Ah!"

Screams rang out one after another.

Several disciples of lower cultivation were instantly swept into the abyss and vanished into the darkness.

Li Xun and Yan Hong were swaying precariously, on the verge of being pulled in as well.

Faxiang summoned the Great Compassion Golden Wheel. Its brilliant golden light barely managed to shield him and the several disciples beside him.

Qi Hao was in even worse shape. The Six Harmonies Mirror in his hand flickered, but could barely protect him.

"Xueqi!"

Li Xiaoyu saw that Lu Xueqi had been seized by the force while protecting Zhang Xiaofan behind her. She was falling toward the abyss.

Without hesitation, he forced out what little spiritual energy remained in his body, used the Seven Star Steps, and appeared behind Lu Xueqi in a flash.

Li Xiaoyu shoved Lu Xueqi toward Faxiang.

"Go! Don't worry about me!"

He shouted at Lu Xueqi with the last of his strength.

But the shove left him unable to resist the force any longer. His body was swept into the abyss.

"No! Xiaoyu!"

Pushed toward safety, Lu Xueqi turned around, only to see Li Xiaoyu's last fleeting silhouette as he fell into the darkness.

Despair and grief flashed in her eyes.

Without hesitation, Lu Xueqi turned around and charged toward the abyss.

She had to find him!

Even if she died, she would die with him!

"Senior Sister Lu! Don't!"

Zhang Xiaofan and Qi Hao cried out, but it was already too late.

Lu Xueqi plunged into the darkness without hesitation, chasing after the figure she would never forget for as long as she lived.