A Lone Warrior Fought Across Three Thousand Miles; One Sword Once Held Back a Million Soldiers

The Red Iron Earth Dragon sauntered forward until it stood before Ju Zi.

With twenty thousand years of cultivation, it could tell that its mate's aura deep in the cave remained steady. There was no need to rush to its aid.

For now, it needed only to deal with these bothersome bugs, lest these humans grow stronger and return to take revenge.

Looking at the dragon claw poised above her, about to crush her into a pulp, Ju Zi couldn't help but feel despair fill her eyes.

There was no way she could survive this blow.

But she had yet to avenge the parents who had been murdered by Duke White Tiger. How could she die here?

Overcome with despair, Ju Zi squeezed her eyes shut. Her face twisted with terror as she cried out.

"Anyone, please, come save us! I don't want to die here! Please, come save me!"

"Ju Zi..." Ke Ke, completely unable to move, began to weep.

"..." Wang Shaojie, facedown on the ground, struggled twice before finally collapsing, powerless.

Watching the dragon claw now right before her, Ju Zi closed her eyes in despair.

Sshhk—

Ju Zi heard the sound of a blade slicing through the air. Then warm liquid splashed over her.

"Roar!" The Red Iron Earth Dragon's anguished howl seemed to pierce their eardrums.

Then came a series of earth-shattering thuds as the Red Iron Earth Dragon struggled in agony.

Ke Ke froze. A naked man wearing nothing but a pair of shorts came hurtling out of the cave passage.

Wielding a lustrous, emerald-green jade sword, he clashed with the enormous Red Iron Earth Dragon.

"Are you all right, little miss?" A kind-faced old man with a white beard appeared in front of Ke Ke and asked with concern.

He had Wang Shaojie slung over one shoulder and Ju Zi over the other. Ke Ke had no idea when he had swooped in to save them.

"I..." Faced with this sudden turn of events, Ke Ke didn't know what to say.

"If you're fine, go watch the fight from somewhere safe. It won't take you long."

With that, the old man freed one hand and grabbed Ke Ke.

In a flash, he carried her to a safe spot nearby and set them down.

The old man put a hand on Wang Shaojie's chest and sent Soul Power into him, protecting his meridians so he wouldn't suffer lasting damage.

Ju Zi's weary eyelids fluttered open. She realized she had escaped death.

Ahead of her, the black-haired youth dodged and weaved with ease beneath the Red Iron Earth Dragon's attacks.

Each time its claws struck empty air, the dragon gave the youth an opening to attack, adding another fresh wound to its body.

Even when it used its racial Soul Skill—Metal Element Control—along with its gravity suppression, it still couldn't land a single blow on him.

At most, it could slow the pace of the youth's attacks, and even that accomplished little.

Meanwhile, each of the youth's sword strikes left a painfully deep wound in its body. It was as if something were gnawing at the bloody flesh inside.

That was the sword's Destruction attribute. To suppress the agony, the Red Iron Earth Dragon had to expend a tremendous amount of Soul Power to resist it.

"Roar!" The Red Iron Earth Dragon bellowed again, unleashing a tempestuous wave of air.

Facing the gale and the flying sand and stones, Lin Yuan raised both arms to shield his head and block the attack. The blast sent him flying some distance away.

The Red Iron Earth Dragon hadn't unleashed that outburst without a purpose. It had created a good deal of distance between itself and Lin Yuan.

Its two-thousand-year-long dragon life had taught it that if the battle of attrition continued, it would be the one to die of exhaustion.

It had to gather what strength it had left and kill that detestable cockroach in one decisive blow.

Lin Yuan suddenly felt something strange. A crystalline white glow rose over his skin.

"Would you look at that? This Red Iron Earth Dragon's mutated, hasn't it? It can even lock onto me with its spirit?" Lin Yuan quipped.

In an instant, under the Red Iron Earth Dragon's control, countless grains of sand and metal from the rock walls began swirling above its head.

It barely charged its attack before the metal, wrapped in flying sand and chunks of iron, hurtled toward Lin Yuan.

"Pretty clever. You didn't spend ages building up power and greedily chasing a stronger hit. You just want to catch me off guard." Lin Yuan held Jade Dragon-Slayer across his waist and closed his eyes, taking his opening stance.

The sandstorm came astonishingly fast. In the blink of an eye, it was already upon him.

In that brief instant, countless thoughts flashed through Lin Yuan's mind.

From the bewilderment he'd felt when he first arrived in this world to the despair of losing his parents.

From the joy of his Martial Soul Awakening to the countless little moments of ordinary life since then.

From the God of Destruction to Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and all the people he had met.

Over these past two years, he had tried again and again to swing his sword under extreme pressure.

At last, he gathered the sweat and insight from his cultivation into this single strike.

In an instant, his eyes snapped open, blazing with brilliant light.

Ju Zi and Ke Ke had recovered a little, but neither could see Lin Yuan's sword stroke. It was already done.

A sword shadow suddenly appeared in the middle of the sandstorm and shattered the terrifying attack in an instant.

"Roar! Roar!" The Red Iron Earth Dragon let out a pained howl.

One of its dragon claws had been cut away and was spinning through the air, just like the attack Lin Yuan had shattered.

It turned and fled in a sorry scramble, dashing into the passage behind it.

"So handsome." Ke Ke covered her mouth and stared at Lin Yuan, still holding his sword in the finishing pose.

Handsome was all about the feeling. The mysterious naked man part didn't matter anymore.

Besides, Lin Yuan was already very handsome. His bare-chested look could count as a little bonus.

"Not bad, Xiaoyuan," Cao Xin said with a chuckle as he flew over to Lin Yuan and praised him.

Realizing the danger had passed, Lin Yuan let out a long breath and slumped to the ground.

He wasn't doing much better than Ke Ke and Ju Zi. He was so physically drained that dark circles had appeared around his eyes.

"I've pretty much... burned out." Lin Yuan's voice came out weak and breathy. He took the pill Cao Xin offered, lifted his hand, and shoved it into his mouth.

He had already been soaking and training in the magma earlier, and only thirty percent of his strength remained.

If not for that all-out burst, which brought everything together at the critical moment, he wouldn't have beaten the Red Iron Earth Dragon in either a battle of attrition or a sudden clash.

The key to battle was never to let your opponent see you flagging. That was what separated humans from beasts.

"I didn't expect you to master my Affectionate Sword in just two short years. You've truly made me see you in a new light."

"But there seemed to be an invincible aura in that sword strike of yours. May I ask what it was?"

Lin Yuan looked at Cao Xin. After taking a deep breath, he savored the thought. "A lone warrior fought across three thousand miles; one sword once held back a million soldiers."

"That was a state of mind that came to me then. I blended it into the sword intent of Affectionate Sword. That was the unmatched aura I unleashed in the instant I swung my sword."

"A lone warrior fought across three thousand miles; one sword once held back a million soldiers..." Cao Xin repeated the lines of poetry from Blue Star, mulling over their meaning.

The more he savored them, the more there was to discover.