The sky remained split long after Li Tian lowered his blade.
The Nascent Soul elder stared at the thin crimson line across his chest. For a moment, he did not understand.
Then his body divided cleanly in two.
Silence swallowed the battlefield.
The remaining assassins fled without hesitation.
Li Tian dropped to one knee.
His meridians burned as if molten iron flowed within them. The first revolution of the Heaven-Defying Nine Revolutions had devoured nearly all his qi.
Su Yan caught him before he collapsed.
"You forced a realm-crossing strike," she whispered in disbelief.
Li Tian coughed blood but smiled faintly.
"Seems… the heavens bleed too."