Dividing One's Attention in Two

Buzz—!

Xie Jinghan formed a sword seal, and the Seven-Star Big Dipper Sword Formation suddenly changed.

Formation Stance One: Dubhe Shines!

Formation Stance Two: Dipper Handle Across the Sky!

He gave a cold shout:

"Get back in there!"

"Slash!"

At Dubhe and Mizar, the Moonlit Night Swords blazed with stellar radiance.

Sword light shot into the heavens.

Immediately afterward, two sword qi streaks more than three meters long appeared.

One from the left and one from the right, they slashed thunderously toward the two men!

Caught off guard, Wei Dong's Great Netherworld Palm force was instantly cleaved apart, while A Qing's movement technique was sealed off by the sword light.

Swept by the forceful shockwaves, both figures staggered backward and fell back into the sword formation.

The next instant, three hundred streaks of star-glow sword qi, each only a few inches long, gathered together. They spiraled and intertwined, forming a dense sword net that encircled the two men.

Wei Dong and A Qing circulated their protective true qi, forming a true qi barrier before them.

"Boom, boom, boom, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"

More than a hundred sword qi streaks struck the true qi barrier, producing a rapid series of deafening collisions. Yet they could only send ripples spreading across its surface.

For a time, the two sides remained locked in a stalemate.

Seeing this, a trace of delight appeared on Wei Dong's face.

He looked at Xie Jinghan and said fearlessly:

"I refuse to believe your sword qi can go on without end."

"We'll wait until your true qi runs dry!"

"With just this sword qi, you still can't do anything to us!"

Xie Jinghan continued maintaining the formation, unmoved.

His gaze was bright as he looked at Wei Dong and A Qing, speaking coldly:

"The victor has yet to be decided. It's too early to say such things."

With a slight movement of his mind, he returned the Moonlit Night Sword in his hand to its sword case.

The next instant, he removed the Thunderclap Sword from his waist.

His body slowly rose into the air.

He raised both arms, lifting the Thunderclap Sword above his head, its blade pointed straight at the sky,

drawing down the power of lightning from the heavens.

Crack!

Crack!

Bolt after bolt of lightning gathered around the Thunderclap Sword.

Eighteen bolts of lightning converged in succession.

All of them poured into the blade of the Thunderclap Sword.

Blazing electric light coiled around the entire longsword, crackling explosively.

The Thunderclap Sword trembled violently, its blade humming without cease as though it were about to break free.

Violent lightning surged through the hilt, battering Xie Jinghan's meridians and flesh. His robes whipped wildly and his hair flew in the wind, but he clenched his teeth and suppressed it with all his strength.

"Let me show you this sword!"

"Sword-Drawing Technique: Million Volts!"

At the same time, the Seven-Star Big Dipper Sword Formation changed.

The star-glow of all seven longswords flared at once.

The power of the formation was pushed to its limit.

The formation's suppressive force instantly surged to its peak.

Seven Stars Return to Their Places.

"Formation Stance Seven: Seven Stars Gather at the Dipper!"

The stellar power of the seven longswords fused completely, condensing into a massive star-glow sword qi over twenty meters long.

Bearing a grim, murderous might that suppressed all directions, it hung heavily above the sword formation.

Xie Jinghan divided his attention in two, and intense excitement burst from his eyes.

This was his first time daring to attempt it.

He locked firmly onto the two below.

The Thunderclap Sword locked onto Wei Dong.

The star-glow sword qi locked onto A Qing.

The two men within the formation wore tense expressions.

Both felt an unprecedented crisis of life and death.

A savage look appeared on Wei Dong's face. He swiftly took out a completely crimson pill radiating a violent aura and swallowed it.

Bloodburst Pill!

His cultivation, originally at the Seventh Stage of the Innate Realm, soared rapidly, approaching the Eighth Stage of the Innate Realm without limit.

The surging power came with severe backlash. Blood-colored patterns spread over his skin, and his meridians throbbed with piercing pain, but he ignored it completely.

He drove both palms with all his strength, unleashing the strongest move of the Great Netherworld Palm.

To protect his entire body.

Ripples finally appeared in A Qing's indifferent eyes.

His fingertips trembled slightly as he touched the peachwood protective talisman around his neck. It was his only solace in his dark life.

His young sister had gone to a temple to pray for it when she was little. It was also the only obsession that had kept him going through endless hardship.

His gaze hardened. Looking at the massive star-glow sword qi descending above him, he clenched his teeth and held back none of his strength.

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz—

He burned the essence and blood throughout his body, desperately circulating his true qi. His cultivation aura instantly soared!

He muttered:

"I can't die..."

"I still haven't found my little sister. I absolutely cannot die here!"

No sooner said than done!

"Screeeech~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"

A blinding streak of lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, accompanied by a piercing sword cry.

It was impossible to tell whether it was electric light, lightning, or sword light.

Xie Jinghan drew his sword.

A powerful sword strike.

An overwhelmingly powerful sword strike.

The Thunderclap Sword slashed down. The instant it touched Wei Dong's protective qi barrier, the barrier shattered, turning into a wisp of green smoke and vanishing completely.

There was nowhere to evade!

The moment the barrier shattered, Wei Dong's pupils contracted sharply.

His expression turned frenzied. He slammed both palms outward, dark-red palm force erupting forth as huge palm imprints spread across the space before him.

"Great Netherworld Palm: Boundless Netherworld!"

"Die~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

"Booooooooom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

The Thunderclap Sword swept forward like bamboo splitting beneath a blade.

The enormous palm imprints were pierced through one after another by the Thunderclap Sword.

Splat—!

Xie Jinghan's sword cut in through Wei Dong's neck. Accompanied by a tremendous crash, more than half of his neck was severed.

Wei Dong's body suddenly stiffened, then crashed heavily to the ground, utterly devoid of life.

At the same moment, the star-glow sword qi more than twenty meters long crashed down from above the sword formation, sealing every path of retreat for A Qing!

The star-glow blazed brilliantly, and sword qi surged sky-high.

"Booooooooom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

At death's door, A Qing's will to survive erupted completely.

He stared fixedly upward. Just as it was about to slash down before him,

Formless Shadow: Escape, Escape, Escape!

Whoosh!

The black shadow suddenly burst apart and split into eighteen identical afterimages clad in black. They scattered in all directions in an instant, mingling illusion and reality until truth and falsehood became impossible to distinguish. They charged at the formation's weak points at top speed. Using the brief gap when the star-glow sword qi struck the ground, he desperately broke free from the lethal restraint. In the blink of an eye, he had fled more than three hundred meters away, vanishing entirely into the shadows by the riverbank without a trace.