At that same moment, on Astral Immortal Mountain in the Zhongtiao Mountain Range.
At the mountain gates, Purple-Browed Heavenly Lord Shui Ruge was manipulating the warp of heaven and weft of earth, drawing on the power of the stars in the Myriad Heavens to dart through the void, evading the deadly swath of light before him.
It was a long, narrow saber, likewise traversing the void, following him like a shadow, clinging like a festering sore on the bone.
The cold edge of its tip remained locked on Shui Ruge's throat. Saber Qi had sliced a thread-thin wound across it, and his Primordial Spirit was steeped in an icy chill.
Every counterattack he launched, every bit of stellar power he marshaled, was swallowed by his opponent.
Even some of Shui Ruge's thoughts were devoured. In this, it achieved the same wondrous effect by different means as the Heaven-Executing Saber Chu Xisheng had used against him several months earlier.
This was the Saint Inheritance saber technique of "Gods and Devils Saber Lord" Wan Jiansheng-the Heaven-Swallowing Endless Saber!
At that very instant, Wan Jiansheng's saber gained still more momentum. With a thunderous roar, it shattered the curtain of stellar swords Shui Ruge had woven, pierced layer upon layer of defenses, and slashed halfway through his throat.
As blood sprayed into mist, a buzz rose from all the disciples watching at the Astral Immortal Sect's gates. Most of their faces dimmed, and sighs followed.
"You lost!"
With those cold, slightly hoarse words, a white-haired youth waved his hand lightly, returning the long, narrow saber to its sheath.
He looked across the distance at Shui Ruge, his eyes filled with disappointment.
"Shui Ruge, fourth on the Azure Cloud Overall Ranking, amounts to no more than this."
Shui Ruge could not answer immediately.
Only after