Before her words had faded, she charged again, shattering space beneath her feet. The Heavenly Dao Heavenblade slashed diagonally, its light carrying three layers of Heavenly Dao power straight toward Yun Che's waist. The blade sealed off every avenue of escape, leaving him no choice but to meet it head-on.
Yun Che drew a deep breath, suppressed his surging blood, and poured ancestral source power furiously into the Heaven and Earth Time-Heart Stele. Layers of ancestral patterns resurfaced on its cracked body. Turning sideways with the blade's momentum, he slid the stele along the blade and struck Madam Qingxuan precisely on her sword wrist.
Madam Qingxuan had not expected Yun Che to counterattack after being injured. Her wrist went numb, and the Heavenblade veered half an inch. Its force grazed Yun Che's shoulder and cleaved through empty air before striking the ground below, splitting an entire mountain peak in two and sending dust billowing into the sky.
"Quick reflexes."
Madam Qingxuan gave a quiet exclamation of surprise. Turning her wrist, she swept the Heavenblade horizontally again, unleashing nine slashes in an instant. Nine heavy waves of blade force overlapped, bearing down on Yun Che like raging waves across a vast sea.
Standing in midair, Yun Che steadily raised the stele to block each slash. Every blow added another crack to the stele and consumed another measure of ancestral source power. Yet he did not retreat even half a step, forcibly using the force of those nine blows to work out the pattern of Madam Qingxuan's attack.
As the ninth slash struck the stele, he suddenly thrust forward with its momentum. A corner of the Heaven and Earth Time-Heart Stele slammed into the flat of the Heavenblade, actually knocking it aside.
The impact forced Madam Qingxuan's wrist down. Before she could