Musou no Hitotachi, Severance!

Feeling the Soul Douluos closing in behind him at astonishing speed, Qian Qizhou knew that speed alone wouldn't be enough to shake them off.

He gritted his teeth and abruptly changed direction as he raced through the trees, trying to use the rugged terrain to disrupt their aim.

But their mental power remained locked onto him. Even though they were only Soul Douluos, he couldn't conceal himself from them as he had back at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

The Clear Sky Sect elder behind him snorted coldly, and the fifth Soul Ring at his feet lit up.

Vast Soul Power instantly condensed into an immensely solid phantom hammer. With the force to crush everything in its path, it tore through trees and boulders as it thundered toward Qian Qizhou's back.

This attack was empowered by a Soul Skill, making it far more powerful than the earlier attacks.

The hairs on Qian Qizhou's back stood on end. An intense sense of danger made him spin around at once.

Engulfing Lightning blazed with brilliant light. He poured his Soul Power into it and slashed fiercely at the enormous hammer shadow!

"BOOM—!"

The two attacks collided with a deafening crash.

Qian Qizhou used the shock wave from the impact to propel himself away, turning as he flew. His speed was even greater than before.

"Oh? You can block that?" The astonishment in the Clear Sky Sect elder's eyes deepened, but so did his killing intent.

If this boy wasn't eliminated today, he would become a grave threat in the future!

Just as Qian Qizhou tried to widen the distance again, the other Soul Douluos caught up as well.

Their enormous Clear Sky Hammers roared through the air, closing in on him from both sides!

They had learned from their earlier mistake and no longer underestimated him. They were determined to stop this strange boy.

Qian Qizhou's gaze sharpened. He turned his wrist and met the incoming Clear Sky Hammers head-on!

"CLANG! CLANG! BOOM!"

A rapid series of fierce clashes erupted in the air.

Purple lightning and dark hammer shadows intertwined, energy spraying in every direction.

Qian Qizhou darted through the relentless attacks. Even while facing four opponents alone, he managed to hold back the four Soul Douluos' furious assault in midair!

Every collision left his arms numb and his blood and qi churning, but he had indeed avoided falling at a clear disadvantage and sustained no serious injuries.

The longer the fight went on, the more astonished the Clear Sky Sect elders became. His swordsmanship was devastatingly sharp, far beyond what a boy his age should be capable of!

Seeing that they couldn't defeat him despite their prolonged assault—and that the strange boy's blade and movement were making them fight awkwardly—the Clear Sky Sect elder ran out of patience.

He couldn't tolerate a Soul Elder leaping around under his very nose like this. And he certainly couldn't let the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone slip from his grasp!

"Useless! Stand aside!" he roared. The vast Soul Power around him erupted like a volcano, and all eight of his Soul Rings appeared at once.

The pressure of a Soul Douluo poured down without restraint, making the air in the area grow thick and heavy in an instant!

"Boy, I'll let you die knowing who killed you. I'm Tang Lie, the Clear Sky Sect's Seventh Elder."

"Seventh Soul Skill—Clear Sky Avatar!"

He hovered in midair. His enormous Clear Sky Hammer Avatar loomed like a small mountain, radiating a suffocating pressure.

"Eighth Soul Skill—Blazing Clear Sky Hammer!"

At that moment, the deep-black Soul Ring beneath Qian Qizhou's feet suddenly lit up. "Dawn's Poem!"

In an instant, warm golden Holy Light surged outward from him, illuminating the surrounding area.

The men who had been battling Qian Qizhou felt their bodies grow heavy, and the power of their attacks fell sharply.

By contrast, Qian Qizhou felt a powerful force flow back to him from the domain, allowing his Soul Power to circulate more smoothly.

He seized the opportunity to launch a fierce counterattack, slashing streak after streak of lightning toward them.

"A domain-type Soul Skill?! His third ring is ten thousand years old, and it's a domain too?!"

The men realized what the Soul Skill did, and the shock in their eyes reached its peak.

But that only strengthened their resolve to silence him.

Meanwhile, Tang Lie's Eighth Soul Skill had reached its full power.

His enormous Clear Sky Hammer Avatar resembled a burning meteor, carrying the terrifying might to shatter mountains and incinerate all beneath the heavens. It sealed off every possible path of escape for Qian Qizhou!

The attack hadn't even arrived, yet its dreadful pressure already bore down on him.

There was nowhere to dodge!

A look of grim resolve flashed through Qian Qizhou's eyes. This was a matter of life and death.

He stepped back sharply, pouring all the Soul Power in his body into the Naginata—even at the cost of draining himself.

The divine weapon seemed to come alive, releasing a hum that shook the soul.

The lightning wrapped around it no longer flickered. Instead, it transformed into an almost liquid energy of destruction!

"Musou!"

"No Hitotachi!"

"Severance!"

He growled the words, gripped the hilt with both hands, and poured all his strength into a strike against the flame-wreathed giant hammer that threatened to destroy the heavens and earth!

A purple blade of lightning, charged with terrifying power, shot from the blade.

In its wake, space groaned with a brittle cracking sound, and a fleeting trail appeared, as though glass had shattered.

This strike had actually shattered space, if only briefly!

Though he had accomplished it with Ei's authority, it was still terrifying.

"What?!" Tang Lie's pupils contracted. For the first time, horror appeared on his face.

The next instant, the slender purple blade of light crashed into the enormous flaming Clear Sky Hammer!

A massive shock wave swept outward. The blade of light cleaved the immense flaming hammer shadow cleanly in two!

The severed flames spiraled out of control and burst in both directions, turning a vast stretch of forest into a sea of fire.

Yet the blade of light did not slow. With its unrelenting resolve, it continued toward Tang Lie behind the hammer.

Horrified, he hurriedly raised his Clear Sky Hammer in front of himself.

He had just expended a huge amount of Soul Power to unleash his Eighth Soul Skill, and now he had no time to mount an effective defense.

At that critical moment, his three companions didn't hesitate for a moment. They pushed their Soul Power to the limit and threw themselves in front of Tang Lie, joining forces to erect a barrier.

The terrifying blade of light that had torn through space was already upon them.

"BOOM—!!!"

Another deafening explosion erupted, and a far more violent shock wave burst outward.

The defense created by their combined strength was torn apart with ease the instant it made contact, as though it were made of paper.

Tang Lie was blasted away by the irresistible force. Gravely wounded, he slammed into the ground.

And the supposedly indestructible Clear Sky Hammer in his hand now bore a distinct gash several inches deep!

Silence fell over the battlefield.

The other three Soul Douluos stared in stunned disbelief, frozen in place.

A Soul Elder had cleaved through a Soul Douluo's full-powered attack with one strike, gravely wounded him, and left a mark on his Martial Soul?!

Even the three of them working together hadn't been able to stop that attack.

Absurd! Utterly absurd!

Qian Qizhou, who had unleashed that strike, was now pale as paper, devoid of color. Even keeping himself airborne seemed difficult.

He knew very well that one strike couldn't possibly leave all four of them unable to move.

But that strike wasn't meant to kill them. It was meant to...