Strength

Blood-Burning Curse!

The black-robed man was just about to use his divine intent to guide his true qi into intercepting Qin Lian's possible thirty-fifth strike when he suddenly felt the blood and qi within him fall into turmoil.

Essence, qi, and spirit were one to begin with.

Although external training depended most heavily on blood and qi, true qi itself was also refined and purified from blood and qi.

With his blood and qi in turmoil, the circulation of his true qi naturally slowed a beat.

"A spell!?"

Seeing Qin Lian's thirty-fifth strike thunder down almost immediately with the force of ten thousand thunderbolts, the black-robed man finally paled.

"Break!"

Sword intent erupted!

Powerful divine intent poured into his sword, seemingly becoming sword intent that could cleave through anything.

Sword qi severed the corporeal soul.

Sword intent severed the spiritual soul.

Under this violent eruption of sword intent, the Blood-Burning Curse Qin Lian had cast with dharma power was forcibly cut apart.

The power of second grade divine intent was displayed to its fullest at that moment.

Yet this eruption on the level of sword intent ultimately slowed his movement to intercept Qin Lian's sword by a fraction.

Bang!

When the blazing sword aura of the thirty-fifth strike, like burning blood-red flames, slashed before him again and collided with his intercepting blade, an explosion of surging, savage force rolled over him, leaving him unable to control his body as he staggered several steps back!

Almost at the very instant his body began retreating uncontrollably, Qin Lian sprang up again, leaping forward and charging in for the kill.

The blood-red flames on the Azure Sky Treasure Sword bathed nearly everything within several meters in crimson.

The thirty-sixth strike!

"No!"

This time, the black-robed man could no longer intercept the sword and was forced to hold his blade across his body...

Bang!

True astral qi exploded apart!

The shattered true astral qi and sword qi battered the black-robed man like a storm of pear-blossom needles.

Although the black-robed man immediately arrayed astral qi as armor, blocking almost all the true astral qi and sword qi striking his body, one strand of sword qi still slipped through the net and tore across his face, cutting a bloody line...

He was bleeding!

Seeing the blood aura on Qin Lian's thirty-seventh strike ignite again, with several third grade grandmasters calling out as they rushed over from the foot of Heavenly Splendor Mountain, the black-robed man could no longer concern himself with restoring his elder's dignity.

"Stop!"

His face flushed crimson, and his body shifted three meters backward as though defying the laws of physics, forcibly escaping the reach of Qin Lian's sword.

The instant he escaped its range, he tapped his toes against the ground again, driving his true qi to propel himself backward. While still airborne, he hurled out an object wrapped in cloth from behind his back.

"A hidden weapon!?"

Qin Lian abruptly turned his blade, sweeping the Azure Sky Treasure Sword across.

Clang!

Metal struck metal, and cloth flew in all directions.

A treasured sword patterned with starlight, wrapped within the cloth, was knocked away. It ricocheted into the shrubs more than ten meters away, scattering dirt and shredded grass.

With this sharp sword serving as a "hidden weapon" to delay Qin Lian, the black-robed man had already darted into the woods with inconceivable speed. In a few bounds, he vanished without a trace.

"Blood Shadow Divine Escape!?"

At that moment, a cry of surprise rang out.

"To think it was this escape technique!?"

It came from Liu Xu, Xiao Qing, and Xiao Hong, the third grade grandmasters who had rushed over upon hearing the news.

"You recognize this escape technique? Who was that man?"

Qin Lian stared fixedly at the woods.

"Blood Shadow Divine Escape is an orthodox inherited technique of the Azure Blood Sect... the Blood Demon Cult, which rebelled thirty years ago. It was simplified from the Blood Escape Art. Divine intent grandmasters can use divine intent to ignite their blood and qi, allowing them to perform it even without dharma power, achieving unimaginable shifts in position and unparalleled speed!"

The knowledgeable Xiao Hong explained, "This secret art spread throughout the world when the Blood Demon Cult was destroyed. Even our Chunyang Sect has a copy, but because it is difficult to cultivate and consumes tremendous vital energy, very few have mastered it."

The Azure Blood Sect?

It had once been one of the Sixteen Sects, and had also fallen to internal division.

The victorious faction had practiced evil arts, bringing devastation upon living beings, and had been branded a demonic cult. Later, with the Heavenly Dragon Temple taking the lead and the other schools supporting it, they had assisted the Heavenly Martial Bureau in jointly exterminating it.

It was simplified from that sect's orthodox Blood Escape Art!?

No wonder his movements and evasions were so uncanny!

"Blood Shadow Divine Escape has spread too widely for us to identify him by his movement technique. But using it inevitably damages one's vital energy. For him to flee with this technique... presumably, you frightened him off, Grandmaster Qin!"

Xiao Hong chose his words carefully.

At these words, Qin Lian's body, which he had been forcing to remain upright, seemed to deflate. He swayed and nearly collapsed on the spot.

His face was pale, and sweat poured down his forehead.

"Junior brother!"

Liu Xu immediately stepped forward to support him.

She recognized at a glance that these were the aftereffects of overusing the Blood-Burning Sword Art. Then, with practiced ease, she took out a Nine Suns Returning Heaven Pill and had him swallow it.

This kind of pill had miraculous effects in replenishing qi and blood.

It was a specialized pill developed specifically for secret arts of this kind while Peak Master Tang Yue of the Pure Yang Sword Sect was still around.

After taking the pill, Qin Lian did not hesitate in the slightest and quickly sat down to meditate and recover.

He was very worried that the enemy would return.

The weakness caused by his depleted blood and qi left him without the slightest sense of security.

Wasn't I supposed to fight one or two utterly ordinary third grade grandmasters? Instead, I went straight up against second grade divine intent! Down here below the mountain... it really is dangerous!

He recovered rapidly.

Meanwhile, as Xiao Hong, Liu Xu, Xiao Qing, and the others surveyed the battlefield, crisscrossed with marks and spanning dozens of meters, its ground sliced to pieces by stray sword qi, irrepressible shock rose in all their eyes.

At that moment, the same question occupied all their minds.

"Blood Shadow Divine Escape... can only be mastered with second grade divine intent..."

Xiao Qing's throat worked as he voiced the thought they all shared, his voice low and strained.

Only those with second grade divine intent could master Blood Shadow Divine Escape!

In other words...

"The person Grandmaster Qin was just fighting to the death... was a second grade divine intent grandmaster!?"

Liu Xu murmured.

"And he even beat a divine intent grandmaster into using Blood Shadow Divine Escape, a technique specifically meant for preserving one's life and fleeing!?"

For a time, the Cloudmist Peak master's thoughts churned, and the horror in her eyes would not subside.

"Several days ago, when Grandmaster Qin defeated Li Xiu in almost a single exchange, I already felt that his strength probably compared favorably even with a second grade grandmaster's. And today..."

Xiao Hong, the knowledgeable veteran third grade grandmaster, muttered under his breath.

Today...

With a concrete battle record, by repelling a divine intent grandmaster, Qin Lian had proven to him that his combat strength had indeed reached a level comparable to a second grade divine intent grandmaster's.

Although the price had been considerable.

Still...

Liu Xu, Xiao Qing, and Xiao Hong exchanged glances and drew deep breaths at the same time.

"A second grade grandmaster!"

In the entire Pure Yang Sword Sect, the number of people at this realm could be counted on one hand.

In fact, this was not limited to the Pure Yang Sword Sect.

Throughout the world, in any faction, second grade grandmasters were almost invariably figures who shouldered its great burdens.

They belonged to a tier of fighting strength second only to the sea-stilling pillars of their respective sects.

Now, Qin Lian, at the third grade, stood shoulder to shoulder with the second grade...

The shock this dealt them was no less than when Qin Lian had first entered the Grandmaster Heaven Ranking-and perhaps even greater.

"To think that after sinking into despondency for several years following Junior Sister Jiang's tragic death, Senior Brother Qin could turn his long accumulation into such a sudden breakthrough, raising his strength to this level in a single surge!"

With not a trace of jealousy toward Qin Lian left in her heart, Liu Xu was also filled with joy. "With the situation around us unsettled, our Chunyang has gained another second grade combatant. This is a blessing for the sect!"