Still Vulnerable

"Take my sword!"

Lu Ren's eyes were sharp. He activated the Spirit Burst Secret Art, merging the spiritual energy from his five Spiritual Apertures. He swung the Fire Spirit Sword wildly, its sword shadows like a Stormy Downpour, slashing through the void. It moved at extreme speed, charging towards Tang Hao.

Tang Hao's face changed drastically. He hurriedly raised the Ghost Sword in his hand and unleashed the Shadow Sword to block!

Bang bang bang!

The sword shadows of both sides collided continuously, but Tang Hao only felt an unimaginable force hit him. His body was struck as if by lightning again, and the Ghost Sword in his hand flew out of his grasp.

He was sent flying back fiercely, landing on the ground. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, his aura becoming weak and listless.

"How can your strength be so great?"

Tang Hao's eyes were filled with immense shock.

He had to know that he had opened ten Spiritual Apertures. Among Martial Artists in the Aperture Opening Realm, he was definitely considered a top-tier genius. Within his generation, no one else could have opened ten Spiritual Apertures.

From their brief exchange, he could clearly feel that Lu Ren's strength was far superior to his. Only by reaching ten Spiritual Apertures could one possess such power!

How could a Scrap Bloodline break through the limit and open more than seven Spiritual Apertures?

"Is that all?"

Lu Ren shook his head and sneered, "I'm the trash your senior brother spoke of, yet I've thoroughly crushed you, the genius!"

Lu Ren's words struck Tang Hao's chest like a heavy hammer, causing his face to turn pale and him to cough up another mouthful of blood.

"How dare you insult me! I'll fight you to the death!"

Tang Hao's eyes were filled with rage.

He pointed frantically at ten parts of his own body.

Bang bang bang bang!

Ten bloody holes burst open in those parts of his body, and simultaneously, his aura began to surge.

"He actually self-detonated ten Spiritual Apertures within his body?"

Xu Fu was shocked.

This was a powerful secret art that allowed one to self-detonate Spiritual Apertures to gain a brief surge of immense power.

While self-detonating Spiritual Apertures wouldn't necessarily lead to death, all ten Spiritual Apertures would be ruined, severing his foundation. It would be extremely difficult to open them again.

It could be said that Tang Hao was going to fight Lu Ren with his life.

"Lu Ren, I didn't expect your strength to be this great, but the one who dies today will still be you!"

A hint of madness flashed across Tang Hao's face. The Ghost Sword in his hand erupted with violent sword shadows, making it impossible to escape or dodge.

From afar, the sword shadows looked like a sword god dancing wildly, leaping through the air and enveloping Lu Ren.

Now, Tang Hao held nothing back, unleashing the fifth sword of the Ghostly Sword Style to its absolute limit.

Swish!

Lu Ren's feet touched the ground, and his body moved like a nimble cat, easily dodging Tang Hao's sword strike.

Now that he had cultivated to the level of Qi Nourishing Body Tempering, his body had not only become stronger but also lighter, and his speed had increased significantly.

"It's useless, you can't block me!"

Tang Hao roared.

"Even after self-detonating your Spiritual Apertures, you're still as vulnerable as ever!"

Lu Ren's expression remained calm.

"I will not lose to you, a Scrap Bloodline, absolutely not! Kill!"

Tang Hao shouted angrily, his face contorting into a ferocious expression.

As he spoke, he became even more frantic, swinging his sword continuously. Terrifying sword shadows raged across the sky, wreaking havoc towards Lu Ren.

"It's true that I'm a Scrap Bloodline, but this Scrap Bloodline is more than enough to slaughter you, the Ghost Sword Successor!"

Lu Ren sneered.

The spiritual energy from his six Spiritual Apertures condensed into a vortex and erupted all at once, making his aura even more powerful than Tang Hao's.

Then, he swung his sword fiercely towards Tang Hao.

A fierce storm swept out with his sword, covering heaven and earth. Accompanied by a violent whistling sound, it surged forth like a tornado.

Crack.

The rampant sword light filling the sky instantly shattered under the storm, like crushing dry weeds, utterly defenseless.

The storm broke through all resistance and fiercely struck Tang Hao's chest.

Boom!

Tang Hao's chest was torn open by the storm, revealing shocking wounds. His upper garment was ripped into shreds of cloth, and he spat blood uncontrollably, instantly flying backward.

"What?"

Everyone who witnessed this scene was stunned.

Tang Hao had even used a secret art, sacrificing his ten Spiritual Apertures to launch a fierce attack on Lu Ren.

But Tang Hao still lost.

With a single sword strike, like a storm, Lu Ren destroyed all of Tang Hao's offensive maneuvers and defeated him.

Outside the cave dwelling!

The entire valley, having witnessed this scene, fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone's eyes widened in disbelief as they stared at Lu Ren. They hadn't expected Lu Ren and Tang Hao to have a one-on-one fight inside the cave dwelling, and for Tang Hao to be so easily defeated by Lu Ren.

This genius, cultivated by the Ghost Sword King, who boasted of obtaining the inheritance of Ancient Emperor Tuoshe, had actually been defeated by someone with a Scrap Bloodline.

"Damn it!"

Gu Yifan's face turned ashen. With Tang Hao's defeat, Lu Ren likely wouldn't let him go, and his master's plans over the years would be ruined again.

"How can this trash be so strong?"

Xie Kuang was also shocked by Lu Ren's strength.

He had thought that this Scrap Bloodline wouldn't improve much in strength, but now he had defeated Tang Hao, who had opened ten Spiritual Apertures, and even displayed various powerful martial skills.

A Person of Divine Enlightenment is too terrifying. If Lu Ren were to change his bloodline, it was unimaginable.

Of course, the most shocked was Yun Qingyao. The Wind Sweeps Clouds she had taught Lu Ren, which he hadn't even cultivated yet, was now being used with masterful proficiency, even more so than her own.

"You brat, how many more secrets are you hiding from your master?"

Yun Qingyao decided to thoroughly question her disciple once they returned.

"How... how is this possible!"

Tang Hao's face was pale, his hair disheveled, looking incredibly disheveled. He muttered to himself, still unable to comprehend that he had lost to someone with a Scrap Bloodline.

He had endured so much pain to open ten Spiritual Apertures at the age of sixteen.

But Lu Ren was just a Scrap Bloodline, and had only joined the Qingyun Sect a few months ago. How could he be so strong?

"Tang Hao, the victor is decided. Die!"

Lu Ren's figure flashed, appearing before Tang Hao, and he slashed his sword towards him.

Tang Hao swung his sword to block, but a powerful force surged into his body, directly sending him flying. He fell to the ground, spitting out several mouthfuls of blood.

As Lu Ren approached step by step, Tang Hao's pupils constricted, and he roared, "Whoever can block this Lu Ren for me and kill him, I will offer a high-grade spirit artifact weapon, and you can join the Ghost Sword Gate and obtain the Ghostly Sword Style!"

Tang Hao's words caused the entire scene to fall silent.

Immediately after, the cave dwelling erupted with surging killing intent, and many gazes were fixed firmly on Lu Ren.

Every gaze contained icy killing intent.

At this moment, the entire cave dwelling felt incredibly cold, with killing intent surging as if winter had descended.