"Destiny Blade, huh… looks like a bad copy of the Fate Destroyer Blade," the demon sneered inwardly.
"Ha… now I see it. He must be a descendant of **************. It all makes sense now."
Then—
A heartbeat echoed.
Dam. Da. Dum.
The demon paused.
"What is this feeling?"
Its expression darkened.
"A fragment of mine has already been brought to life…" it murmured.
"Oh? Inside one of the human sects?"
"The connection is vague… faint…"
"But the fragment is growing rapidly."
The demon's lips curled into a smile.
"Fine. Then let's get this over with."
It shot forward. Twin scythes whistled through the air.
CLANG!
The weapons collided with Wang Gu's blade. The impact sent shockwaves tearing through the land, mountains crumbling and collapsing in the distance.
Wang Gu raised his left hand, tracing a seal in the air, then thrust it forward.
The seal struck the demon.
BOOM!
Blue flames erupted, engulfing its body. The demon staggered and dropped to one knee.
"True Flames, huh?" it laughed darkly.
"How dreadful… and they even carry a hint of world laws."
Without hesitation, the demon chopped off its own upper body, severing the burning half. A new torso regenerated instantly from the stump, while the discarded half shrieked and withered into nothing.
"You may carry the blood of the Fairies," the demon snarled,
"But you're still green, boy."
It leapt into the air, hurling crescent-shaped slashes downward. Wang Gu was forced back a single step as the attacks carved deep scars into the ground.
The demon vanished.
In the next instant, it appeared behind Wang Gu, its scythe descending toward his neck.
—but Wang Gu was already gone.
He appeared behind the demon instead.
An open palm slammed into its back.
BANG!
The demon was sent flying upward.
Before it could stabilise, Wang Gu was already above it.
"Wu Yue."
He murmured.
The sky darkened.
A giant spectral mountain materialised overhead and came crashing down, crushing the demonic entity beneath its overwhelming weight.
Bang!
The mountain slammed into the earth.
The demonic entity was still pinned beneath it.
The ground cracked and split apart, fissures racing outward as the landscape was violently reshaped, valleys collapsing, and stone turning to rubble.
"Shit…"
The demon's voice was hoarse as it writhed free from beneath the mountain. Its body reformed piece by piece as it staggered upright, coughing thick black sludge onto the ground.
"So, you even possess a version of Secrett Mountain — Wu Yue…"
Its laughter turned into a wet cough.
"I must end this quickly. If this drags on any longer, I'll draw attention to my true se—" but Wang Gu paused.
The demon froze.
Lian stood up from where he had been seated.
His posture was steady.
His breathing calm.
And—
His Qi was perfectly still.
"What happened to the other boy?" the demon thought sharply.
"Did his dantian break? I can't sense a trace of Qi from him… did he lose it entirely?"
Its gaze narrowed.
The demon stepped forward.
Dark flames wrapped around its body, each step scorching the earth beneath its feet. The ground blackened and cracked, turning brittle and dead.
The environment began to wither.
Blood rose from every nearby creature—beasts, insects, even remnants soaked into the soil, lifting into the air as if drawn by an unseen force, streaming toward the demon.
The air dried instantly, moisture evaporating into nothingness.
The demon raised a single hand toward the sky.
The heavens darkened, flames flowing above the blades.
Above them, thousands of crimson sparks formed—each one a razor-sharp shard of condensed blood, hovering ominously.
The demon's lips curled.
"Blood Rain."
The attack fell down like a deadly rain.
Lian stepped forward, blade in hand, using subtle movements, he was evading every attack that came to him, and striking down those he couldn't dodge.
His footsteps echoed softly as he advanced, each step calm and deliberate.
Then he stopped.
The tip of his blade gleamed with karmic energy.
He moved it through the air in a slow, graceful arc—his motions fluid, almost ritualistic. Golden Qi followed the blade's path, blooming into lotus flowers that lingered briefly in the air before fading.
"Hehehe… I knew it," Wang Gu's voice echoed faintly, filled with awe.
"Even though mine was imperfect. You saw it, didn't you? Body sword Fusion."
Body Sword Fusion, just as the name implies, is a state where the cultivator and their blade become one.
Every technique is amplified tenfold.
Intent, body, and weapon moved as a single existence.
Seeing Wang Gu wield the technique earlier, using nothing but his fingers, had pushed Lian into enlightenment.
This was the next realm beyond Sword Resonance.
For those who pursued the Path of the Blade, this is a critical threshold—
The point where one can finally be acknowledged as a true blade practitioner.
"Where there is life, there is death," Lian murmured quietly.
"So too is the cycle of existence."
"But death is not the end."
"Rebirth… is what follows."
His eyes sharpened.
Lian slashed downward.
"Blade of Rebirth."
The golden lotus petals surged forward, colliding as one—
crushing down upon the demon with unstoppable karmic force.
"May you be reborn kinder in your next life," Lian muttered.