Shen Fei cast everything around him from his mind and took the battle seriously.
The peak of Black Gold Rank Five-Star, the pinnacle below Legend Rank—he could not afford the slightest lapse.
His gaze locked onto Shen Hong. Within his Soul Sea, the Shadow Mantis's compound eyes slowly turned, tracking every change in Shen Hong's Spiritual Power fluctuations.
The night wind swept between them, carrying the smell of courtyard dust and blood. Lantern flames swayed in the wind, stretching and shrinking their shadows, constantly reshaping them across the bluestone ground.
Shen Hong spoke first. His voice had grown deeper, carrying an anger suppressed for so long that it finally spilled over, like a piece of iron heated again and again: no heat showed on its surface, but beneath it burned crimson. "Shen Fei, do you know what you're doing? You're a traitor to the family."
Shen Fei stood opposite him, his Blade Forelimbs slightly raised, dark Spiritual Power slowly flowing along their edges.
He met Shen Hong's gaze, his tone steady, every word landing firmly. "You're a traitor to Glory City."
The instant those words left his mouth, Shen Hong moved. His right foot slammed against the stone paving, and he charged forward, wreathed in the Sacred Flame Peng Eagle's fire.
Dark red flames churned around him, lighting up half the courtyard. He clenched his right fist, its surface wrapped in a layer of searing Spiritual Power, and smashed it toward Shen Fei's face with a whistle through the air.
As the pressure of that punch bore down, Shen Fei felt a wave of heat rush toward his face, as though he stood before the mouth of an erupting volcano. A dry, burning pain instantly flared across his skin.
Shen Hong spoke as he punched, his voice wrapped in the