In a room in the Ancient City of Loulan.
Zong Tianqing breathed with his eyes closed, thunder seeming to rumble around him.
His flesh, already honed to near perfection, kept pulsing, and blue arcs of electricity seemed to leap through the air.
Yet a keen sword intent seemed to cling to the blade wound on his shoulder.
Zong Tianqing's Spirit-Flesh Unity fist intent was steadily forcing it out of the wound. Beside them, the ground was marked with one faint, straight scratch after another.
Faint, straight scratches appeared one after another on the ground beside him.
But just as Zong Tianqing was trying to expel the sword intent and restore his body to perfection, his eyes suddenly opened.
Just now, he had suddenly felt an extreme sense of unease.
It felt as though a sharp blade were pressed against his throat.
"A Martial Saint?!"
Zong Tianqing's pupils contracted in an instant.
With his golden body already honed to perfection, only a Martial Saint could make him feel such danger!
Then he turned to look at the wound on his shoulder.
The sword intent there was growing increasingly violent and concentrated, seemingly resonating with the danger in the darkness.
It gave Zong Tianqing the feeling that he had been locked onto!
"Damn it... I've fallen into a trap..."
Zong Tianqing's expression hardened. He immediately realized that Sasagawa Ryūichi fighting him with a Saintly Weapon had not been the main objective at all!
Judging by Sasagawa Ryūichi's expression and attitude, he had thought only Sasagawa had come to stop him.
The aim had been to wound him with the Saintly Weapon and prevent him from riding the confidence of victory to undergo his tribulation!
He had never imagined Sword Saint Katō would be so cunning. Only recently, Katō had defeated the Earthly