Otherwise, a single dart would have been enough to take his life.
Darkness descended as promised.
This time, the old man did not lose his courage again. He would no longer passively wait for the darkness to end. As long as he still dared thrust his sword while within the abyss, the source of that darkness would shatter beneath his blade.
He recovered the wood-and-stone composure he had possessed when facing the needle. Now, the boy's sword was merely another needle.
You have a third solution?
But the problem can move.
The old man watched the boy coldly, with a gaze tempered amid flashing blades and bloodshed all those years ago.
Behind him, Yang Yan could not advance an inch against this staff strike.
His long saber traced another mysterious arc, seemingly summoning that great whale in the void once more. As the boy gritted his teeth, the overwhelming force bearing down on him vanished completely. The wind stopped and the waves subsided, but Yang Yan had indeed been halted here.
He immediately looked over. The old man's attack was not primarily directed at him. Below, the sword light the old man drew forth was chillingly sharp, and before him stood the boy who thought he had seized a perfect opportunity.
Yang Yan could already see the blood that would bloom in the next instant and hear the severing sound of a blade entering flesh. Skin, flesh, sinew, bone-each made a different sound.
But that heart-clenching sight did not appear.
As though the boy had suddenly understood the old man's mind, he wasted no time reacting. The instant the old man drew his sword-or even a moment earlier-Pei Ye had already begun retreating.
Then the boy and the sword seemed to perform an exquisite duet-the sword was faster, but