"Ah—Li Danyang, you'll die a horrible death!"
The black-robed elder was engulfed in fire. He let out a shrill scream, then fell silent.
The scream cut off abruptly, as though someone had severed it with a single slash.
He was only at the Second Layer of the Fusion Realm, while Li Danyang was at the fifth. Even if he wanted to run, he had no chance of escaping.
And because none of his spare doubles were within a hundred-mile radius, he could not activate the Substitute Technique he took such pride in. He could only watch helplessly as the flames burned him to ash.
A gust of wind scattered the ashes, as though he had never existed.
"Hm? What's this?"
Li Danyang saw a lotus formed of sword light suddenly appear within the sea of fire, holding his flames at bay. He froze.
The Sword Lotus had layer upon layer of petals, each made of countless fine strands of sword light. Every petal spun at high speed, shredding and deflecting the approaching flames.
The sea of fire surged, but the Sword Lotus did not budge. It stood like a reef amid raging waves.
How could a mere Body Cultivator possess such a powerful Sword Talisman?
Foreboding rose in Li Danyang's heart. Something beyond his control seemed to be unfolding.
While he was still bewildered, a brilliant yellow streak of sword light shot out, heading straight for his face.
The sword light was impossibly fast, like lightning tearing across the sky, and carried a resolve to sever everything in its path.
It cleaved a passage straight through the sea of fire. Flames rolled back on either side, exposing a strip of charred void between them.
"The grand elder's sword intent?"
As one of Chu Qiushui's trusted followers, he had seen the