Seven Section True Martial Stance

Before his qi even arrived, dozens of tears had already appeared in Li Chen Zhou's Flying Fish Uniform. He let out a long howl, and the Blood Demon Blade burst from its sheath. The Sanskrit and demonic inscriptions along its body lit up at once.

"Three Abyssal Slashes—Sever Samsara!"

The instant blade and sword collided, the entire Black Tortoise Arena sank with a thunderous boom by three inches!

Amid the dust, two figures crossed past one another—

"Rip!"

Li Chen Zhou's left sleeve was severed at the shoulder, exposing an arm covered in demonic inscriptions. Jian Wu Dao's jade hair crown shattered, and a lock of black hair drifted to the ground.

"Good blade." Jian Wu Dao wiped the blood from his cheek. "What a pity..."

He suddenly spun and thrust again. This sword strike was ten times faster than before! The seven stars of the Big Dipper on the Seven Kill Sword lit up one after another. With every star that lit, the sword's speed surged another level!

"Pfft!"

The sword pierced through Li Chen Zhou's right chest, spraying blood. Just as Jian Wu Dao intended to press his advantage, he suddenly discovered that he could not pull his sword back—Li Chen Zhou's muscles had clamped around the blade like iron pincers!

"Got you." Blood trickled from the corner of Li Chen Zhou's mouth, but madness gleamed in his eyes. "Soul Absorption Art!"

True qi flowed backward along the sword. Jian Wu Dao was horrified to find his inner force pouring out like floodwaters after a dike burst. He made a snap decision, chopping at his own right wrist with two fingers of his left hand—he actually intended to sacrifice an arm to save his life!

"Too late." Li Chen Zhou grinned savagely as the Sanskrit inscriptions on the Blood Demon Blade abruptly blazed.

"Ding—Congratulations, Host, for comprehending 'Buddha-Demon Duality!'"

Golden and black radiance erupted from the blade, one half like a Buddha holding up a flower, the other like a bloodthirsty asura.

As this slash fell, the Seven Kill Sword let out a mournful cry under unbearable strain, and spiderweb cracks appeared across its blade!

Jian Wu Dao cried out, "No—how is this possible? Seven Kill Sword: Pojun is an Earth-tier Divine Weapon!"

"Clang—"

At the critical moment, the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion Master's iron abacus suddenly flew over, forcibly separating blade and sword.

The old Pavilion Master stood between the two men. His bamboo hat had been blown away by the shockwave, revealing a face covered in scars.

"This battle..." he announced hoarsely, "Li Chen Zhou wins!"

Fragments of the Seven Kill Sword fell like a rain of stars. Jian Wu Dao knelt at the edge of the arena, the web between his right thumb and forefinger split open, blood dripping down the sword hilt. The heaven-blessed prodigy of Sword King City had nothing but disbelief in his eyes.

"An Earth-tier Divine Weapon... was actually..." His trembling fingers brushed over the cracks in the blade. "Impossible..."

Li Chen Zhou slowly sheathed his blade. The sword wound in his chest healed at a visible pace. Sanskrit and demonic inscriptions intertwined and flowed over the Blood Demon Blade, radiating a palpitating pressure.

"The sword is a fine sword." He kicked away a shard of broken blade at his feet. "But the one wielding it—" With a flick of his blade tip, he nailed the final fragment before Jian Wu Dao. "—is unworthy."

Having witnessed the duel between Li Chen Zhou and Jian Wu Dao, the fighting spirit of everyone who followed surged high. The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion had ranked them on its own before, but who was truly first on the Earth Ranking, the foremost of the younger generation? That had always been a mystery.

"Next match!" The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion Master's hoarse voice rang through the entire venue. "Zhang Xuanling of Dragon Tiger Mountain versus..."

"No need." Li Chen Zhou suddenly pointed his blade toward the spectators' seats. "Come at me together."

The spectators' seats erupted in uproar. The wine gourd in Mad Daoist San's hand fell to the ground with a slap. Zhang Xuanling's Five Thunder Command Banner stirred without wind. Even God Hunter Leng Wu She, who had kept his eyes closed in feigned sleep, opened them.

Zhang Xuanling's daoist robe billowed without wind, while the Five Thunder Command Banner floated around him. He bit his fingertip and drew a thunder inscription between his brows. Dark clouds immediately gathered overhead.

"Lord Li, your confidence is a little excessive. The Five Thunder Ritual specifically restrains heretical arts. Please be caref—"

Before he could finish, the Blood Demon Blade was already cleaving toward his face! Zhang Xuanling hastily formed a thunder seal, and five bolts of lightning as thick as water barrels crashed down.

A bizarre sight unfolded—the instant the lightning touched the blade, it was completely absorbed like a hundred rivers returning to the sea! The Taotie pattern on the Blood Demon Blade opened its maw and devoured every last trace of lightning.

Ding—Blood Demon Blade charge: 0.5%

The instant the five bolts of lightning were swallowed by the Blood Demon Blade, the Taotie pattern on its surface suddenly opened a third eye. Blue-white lightning danced within that pupil, illuminating the entire long blade like the weapon of a thunder god.

Zhang Xuanling's daoist crown was blown away by the rebounding shockwave, residual arcs of electricity dancing through his hair. He stared in disbelief as the lightning he had summoned flowed tamely along Li Chen Zhou's blade.

"This is impossible! The Five Thunder Ritual is..."

Before he could finish, Li Chen Zhou's blade had already transformed into a streak of lightning and cleaved down. This slash was three parts faster than the last. What coiled around the blade was no longer ordinary thunder force, but "calamity lightning" refined by the Blood Demon Blade!

"Three Abyssal Slashes—Abyssal Hell!"

The instant the blade technique unfolded, blue-white lightning flooded the entire arena. The protective jade talisman Zhang Xuanling hastily activated shattered with a crack, while the lightning-warding talismans embroidered upon his daoist robe spontaneously ignited without flame.

Boom!

After the thunderstorm, everyone saw only Zhang Xuanling kneeling on one knee, the Five Thunder Command Banner in his hand charred black and smoking. When he raised his head, the cold edge of the Blood Demon Blade was already pressed against his throat.

Ding—Defeated a direct heir of Dragon Tiger Mountain

Obtained: Five Thunder Ritual Fragment (can be integrated into Wind God Kick)

"This match—Li Chen Zhou wins." The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion Master stepped forward at the right moment and declared the victory.

"Thank you, Lord Li, for showing mercy." Zhang Xuanling rose and bowed in thanks.

"You're welcome. Li still holds genuine geniuses in high regard."

At this moment, Mad Daoist San of Wudang stepped onto the stage.

"Song He Gui of Wudang, please instruct me."

Mad Daoist San swayed his way onto the arena, and wine stains still marked the scabbard of his True Martial Sword. His clouded eyes swept over Li Chen Zhou's blade before he suddenly sprayed out a mouthful of wine.

"What a vicious blade that drinks blood and devours thunder! No wonder the Earth-tier Seven Kill Sword: Pojun shattered. Its rank is at least Above Heaven-tier."

As soon as those words were spoken, everyone was shocked. "Above Heaven-tier..."

Li Chen Zhou did not deny it. "Worthy of being Mad Daoist San's outstanding disciple. You have some discernment."

Before the wine mist had dispersed, the old daoist's figure had already drawn close like a ghost. The True Martial Sword left its sheath without warning, its edge tracing a profound trajectory, carrying three parts drunkenness and seven parts madness.

"Picking up a lamp to inspect the sword while drunk!"

Li Chen Zhou raised his blade to block, only to see the sword force suddenly change direction. The True Martial Sword shot forth like a spiritual serpent flicking its tongue, piercing through the net of blade light straight for his throat! At the critical moment, the Sanskrit inscriptions on the Blood Demon Blade flared brightly—

"Clang!"

Buddha light collided with sword qi. Li Chen Zhou staggered back seven steps, and a foot-long gash split across the Flying Fish Uniform over his chest. Mad Daoist San pressed his advantage without mercy, his sword moves becoming ever more elusive.

"Murder in a dream!"

This sword seemed to stab out from the void itself, only revealing its true form when its tip was three inches from Li Chen Zhou's heart. Li Chen Zhou hurriedly twisted aside. The blade grazed his ribs, throwing up a shower of sparks against his protective Golden Bell Shield.

"True Martial Sword Intent is rather interesting."

True Martial Sword Intent bored into his meridians like a disease clinging to the bone. Li Chen Zhou felt as if tiny sword blades were churning through his five viscera and six bowels. He staggered back three steps, each leaving a footprint over an inch deep in the black basalt.

"Kid..." Mad Daoist San tipped back his head and took a gulp of wine. "The True Martial Sword specializes in breaking external cultivation techniques..." Wine dripped down his grizzled beard, corroding honeycomb-like holes into the stone slabs. "Your Golden Bell Shield..."

Before he could finish, the old daoist's eyes suddenly widened—Li Chen Zhou was operating the Soul Absorption Art at full speed, gathering all the sword intent that had invaded his body before pouring it into the Blood Demon Blade in his hand!

Li Chen Zhou spat blood from the corner of his mouth, yet a smile appeared on his face. "Thank you, Senior... for the gift!"

The Blood Demon Blade suddenly trembled with a dragon's roar. The demonic inscriptions on its body actually evolved the trajectories of the True Martial Sword. Li Chen Zhou's opening stance had astonishingly become the opening stance of Wudang swordsmanship!

"This... this is impossible!" The wine gourd in Mad Daoist San's hand fell to the ground with a slap.

Li Chen Zhou's blade force abruptly changed. The Blood Demon Blade was clearly a blade, yet what it now wielded was the purest True Martial Sword Intent! More terrifying still, every move carried the ruthless, decisive ferocity of the Three Abyssal Slashes.

"Seven Section True Martial Stance?" Mad Daoist San hastily blocked, the True Martial Sword buzzing violently from the impact. "No... this is..."

"Third Slash of the Three Abyssal Slashes—True Martial - Interdimensional Calamity!"

Amid blade light and sword shadows, Li Chen Zhou's figure split into seven. Each phantom performed a different True Martial sword move, yet all carried the savage aura of hellish demons. Mad Daoist San retreated nine steps in succession, seven tears already appearing across his daoist robe.

As the deadliest slash shot straight for his throat, Mad Daoist San suddenly laughed heartily. "Wonderful! This poor daoist concedes. Lord Li, what fine skill."