After speaking, Di Yi walked out of the pagoda with an unhurried smile. His appearance carried the elegance of a scholar—refined brows, calm eyes, and a demeanor that radiated composure. Many who laid eyes on him could not help but feel awe. No one would suspect that this unassuming figure was the true leader of the Shadow Guild, the man who had terrorized the continent for decades, who held kings captive like pawns, who bent kingdoms to his will with a flick of his hand.
To the continent, Di Yi was a legend—a shadow that loomed even over the mighty Qin State, the proclaimed strongest kingdom. Even they bowed before his influence.
Tie Hongchen's crimson eyes narrowed as she watched him. The blood dripping from her sword did not deter her, nor did she pause her slaughter. Her army surged forward behind her, soldiers roaring as they crashed through broken defenses like an unstoppable tide.
But when she felt Di Yi's calm gaze lock onto her, she halted. In an instant, her bloodlust turned, sharp and singular, directed at him alone. Her sword trembled faintly, yearning to taste his blood.
She rose into the air, flying straight toward him, her aura a storm of killing intent. She did not waste words. No rebuke, no threats, no pleasantries—only action.
With a sharp cry, she struck.
Di Yi did not evade. He lifted his hand, his fist colliding with her palm.
Boom!
The shockwave tore the air apart. Tie Hongchen staggered back three steps, her chest trembling from the impact. Di Yi, however, remained firmly in place, his robes unmoving. The gap in strength was obvious.
Unlike the Golden Emissary, Di Yi was no pretender.
Tie Hongchen's eyes blazed with madness. She no longer cared for restraint, no longer clung to the last threads of consciousness. Her aura spiked violently, her canines lengthening into sharp fangs. With a hiss, she unsheathed her blade fully for the first time, the crimson steel flashing like bloodied moonlight.
She lunged.
Di Yi remained calm, his movements unhurried, as though the decades had taught him that nothing was worth flinching over. He had lived through the rise and fall of empires, seen countless heroes who believed themselves destined to topple the Shadow Guild—only to crumble into dust.
And yet, as Tie Hongchen pressed him with wild ferocity, he felt something rare: a flicker of surprise.
These two…
He thought of Tai Jian. Of their patience. Of the ten long years they had endured in silence, training, sharpening themselves, waiting until the moment they could strike.
"They are the very embodiment of the saying," Di Yi mused inwardly, 'Ten years is not too long for a gentleman to take his revenge.'
A sigh escaped his lips.
"Haah… after today, the Shadow Guild will not return to its peak for many years."
At last, he lifted his hand and waved. From within the pagoda, shadows stirred. One after another, powerful figures emerged—the hidden elites of the Shadow Guild. Their auras were immense, each one a core figure who had suppressed nations in Di Yi's name.
Tie Hongchen's soldiers froze for a moment, their expressions grave. But soon, wild laughter echoed through the ranks. Their blood boiled, their eyes gleamed with fervor.
For a warrior, what was the hardest thing?
Not the prospect of death.
It was the lack of a worthy opponent.
And now, in this life-and-death trial, they had found one. For them, this battle was not despair—it was glory.
Di Yi studied the scene with quiet disappointment. Indeed, the longer one lived, the more one clung to life. His elites, though mighty, carried none of the burning momentum that Tie Hongchen's soldiers had. They feared death. They were spoiled by their years of unquestioned supremacy.
"This," Di Yi sighed again, "is the curse of immortality."
It was in that fleeting distraction that Tie Hongchen struck. Her sword slashed across his chest, leaving a deep gash that bled golden-red.
Gasps rang out.
But Di Yi only looked down at the wound, his expression calm. Slowly, his lips curved into a thin smile.
"It has been so long since someone managed to mark me. Since you are the first, I will grant you a favor—I will leave you an intact body."
His tone was condescending, as if speaking to a child who had barely earned recognition. And with that, he finally moved in earnest.
No weapon. Just his fists.
Yet his strikes were like mountains collapsing. Palm after palm hammered into Tie Hongchen, her sword barely able to deflect his relentless assault. Her body was slammed back again and again, blood spraying from her lips.
Minutes passed. Dozens of exchanges. Then hundreds.
Their battle spanned earth and sky, tearing through walls, ripping the ground apart. By the thousandth clash, both retreated several steps.
Tie Hongchen's body was battered, her clothes shredded, pale skin streaked with blood and bruises. Palm prints marked her flesh, each carrying bone-crushing force. She panted, her lips crimson with blood.
And yet—her aura had only grown stronger. Her eyes gleamed with manic light.
She was adapting. Growing. Treating Di Yi as her whetstone.
Di Yi's gaze sharpened slightly. He bore only a handful of cuts, his condition far better than hers, but he understood the danger.
A slow grin spread across his face.
"Finally… a good opponent. You are now worthy of my weapon."
With a flick of his hand, a golden halberd appeared in his grasp, summoned directly from the depths of the pagoda. Its aura surged like a blazing sun, oppressive and destructive.
Tie Hongchen's grip tightened on her sword. She raised the blade, pointing it directly at Di Yi. Her crimson eyes burned with resolve.
This was her declaration.
For years, she had dreamed of this moment—the moment she would stand against the man responsible for her mother's torment.
Di Yi's earlier schemes—the Purple-Robed Emissary, the subtle manipulations—meant nothing now. Tie Hongchen had shed all hesitation, all restraint.
The true battle was about to begin.
Di Yi's halberd gleamed. Tie Hongchen's sword screamed with killing intent.
Their auras clashed, splitting the heavens.
And then—both moved at once.
The fight of life and death had begun.
The air between them quivered, torn apart by the clash of two towering auras. Tie Hongchen's crimson eyes glowed like burning rubies, her sword raised with both hands. Di Yi's golden halberd hummed with restrained fury, its phoenix engravings flickering with light as though alive.
Neither spoke.
Their weapons did the talking.
With a single step, Tie Hongchen vanished, her figure blurring as she reappeared above Di Yi, blade descending like a crimson waterfall.
Clang!
Halberd and sword collided, releasing a thunderous shockwave that sent cracks spiderwebbing through the earth. Dust and rubble exploded outward, tearing soldiers from their feet.
Di Yi's eyes remained calm, his voice low and disdainful.
"Too direct. Too reckless. You mistake ferocity for mastery."
He swept his halberd sideways, a golden arc slicing through the air. Tie Hongchen twisted her body, barely avoiding the full force, but the edge grazed her arm, blood spraying.
Yet she laughed, her lips curling in madness.
"If I wanted mastery, I would've chosen the path of patience. What I want—" her aura flared, red lightning crackling around her "—is destruction!"
Her sword roared, releasing a wave of killing intent that shook even the elites watching from afar. She spun mid-air, blade slashing in a spiral pattern—
Blood Lotus Bloom.
A storm of scarlet petals manifested from her strike, each petal a razor of sword intent aimed at Di Yi's chest.
The guild master's golden halberd whirled, each sweep precise, deliberate. His calm movements shredded the storm apart, scattering the petals into harmless sparks.
"You use power to drown your weakness," Di Yi said coldly. "But weakness cannot be concealed forever."
Tie Hongchen landed hard, her feet cracking stone, but her gaze only grew sharper.
"And you? You drown in eternity. You have lived too long, Di Yi. So long that you've forgotten how to burn."
Her words struck deeper than her blade. For the first time, the halberd trembled faintly in his hand.
Then his aura surged. Golden flames enveloped his weapon, its shadow stretching like the wings of a phoenix. He stepped forward, his movements no longer leisurely—now they carried the weight of authority, of a king descending upon his court.
Halberd Art: Sky-Sundering Talon.
The strike descended like a divine judgment, tearing through space itself.
Tie Hongchen crossed her blade in front of her, pouring everything into her defense. The impact sent her crashing into the earth, the ground caving into a deep crater. Dust engulfed the battlefield.
For a moment, silence.
Then—she rose again, blood streaming down her body, her sword trembling but still raised. Her red aura grew more violent, her canines lengthened further, her presence now resembling a bloodthirsty demon rather than a woman.
Di Yi's brows furrowed. She adapts. With every wound, she grows sharper. This one… truly defies reason.
Tie Hongchen wiped the blood from her lips and smiled, wild and unbroken.
"Do you know why I don't fear you, Di Yi? Because unlike you, I have someone to fight for. My blade is not mine alone—it carries his will, his love, his wrath."
Her sword ignited, crimson light surging skyward. The soldiers behind her roared as if answering her cry.
She leapt again, her blade splitting into countless afterimages—
Crimson Moon Eclipse!
Di Yi countered, his halberd blazing brighter.
Golden Phoenix Ascension!
The sky itself shattered as sword and halberd clashed, their techniques colliding in an explosion of red and gold that illuminated the battlefield like twin suns.
The ground buckled. Armies staggered. Even the elites of the Shadow Guild took involuntary steps back.
When the light faded, both stood at a distance, chests heaving, eyes locked.
Tie Hongchen's body was drenched in blood, yet her aura only intensified, as if every wound fed her strength.
Di Yi's robe was torn, his golden armor scarred, and a faint trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
He chuckled softly, shaking his head.
"Remarkable. Truly remarkable. Perhaps… you two are the kind of opponents I have waited centuries for."
Tie Hongchen raised her sword again, unwavering.
"Centuries mean nothing. Today, Di Yi—your era ends."
The battlefield trembled as the two launched forward once more, their blades promising nothing less than annihilation.
The true battle had only just begun.