Sword intent works with anything. Just make it sharp

PISH—!

Li Chen turned, and his trembling eyes met Pig Yun's wide, lifeless ones.

Why did his heart hurt?

Had he really taken Pig Yun as a friend?

Sometimes it is at moments like this that true emotions reveal themselves. Though it wasn't true death, Li Chen's mind couldn't register that at first.

Before his eyes, Pig Yun burst into glowing particles, the sound of his axe hitting the ground echoing in Li Chen's eardrums.

Tiger Yi's expression changed. A crimson glint flashed through his blue eyes and the contours of his jawbone appeared as he clenched his teeth.

SWISH—!

SWISH—!

More arrows came but he redirected them with a single wave. With frighteningly calm eyes, Tiger Yi picked up Pig Yun's axe and put it in his storage ring.

At that moment, fourteen cultivators, men and women, emerged. "I got that fat one good." A young man chuckled. His smug expression was reflected in Li Chen's slightly trembling eyes.

"Haha, good shot, junior brother Ye." 

At that moment, Li Chen realized the crucial detail he had overlooked. That massive battle was a collision of different parties. Their job was to stop people from crossing!

It was possibly a single man's plan but unknown to him, others had the same idea and it led to a mini-war.

RUSTLE—!

Li Chen took a step forward, but an arm held him. 

"Little brother, go ahead. Take care of Miss. We'll try to catch up." Tiger Yi walked past him. With each step, the breeze got more restless.

The faint roar of a tiger echoed and he attacked.

"White tiger claws"!

Deflecting a spear, Tiger Yi pierced through a cultivator's chest. His eyes remained calm as he tilted his head, evading a sword that cut some strands of his white hair.

As his white hair hit the ground, two men burst into glowing particles. 

"What are you waiting for? Go!" Tiger Yi yelled at Li Chen. 

[As you wish.] 

SWOOSH—!

SLASH—!

SLASH—!

Li Chen flickered past, vanishing into the forest but...

In his wake, two individuals burst into particles—the man who disqualified Pig Yun and the man who replied to his mocking comment.

A smirk hung on Tiger Yi's lips. He ran, grabbed the legs of two women who were about to chase after Li Chen and threw them against the trees.

Shifting his angry glare to the rest, he growled and lunged.

****

Sheathing his sword while running, Li Chen looked back several times and decided to focus. 

Leaping over a fallen tree, he glanced sideways and knew someone had purposely brought down the tree.

Only the front part of his feet touched the ground as he ran. It seemed like he was floating due to this style but this was something Li Chen had researched.

Since his body was enhanced, he could perform tasks that would damage any mortal. 

As he ran on the ground covered with red leaves, the wind blew his hair backwards, and his coat fluttered softly.

Unbeknownst to him, several eyes watched from the floating island and among them were a pair of golden eyes.

"I knew their good days wouldn't last long. First that fat pig, and soon that white-haired one will follow. As for the masked one..."Tang Wulin turned to Xiu Ying.

Just like he thought, she was staring at him. All of them had met one another in a competition or another, but not once had Xiu Ying ever looked at him and he never got the opportunity to fight her.

But now, her phoenix eyes were glued to his face.

Tang Wulin focused on her eyes and scowled. 

"He'll be destroyed by Ning Chuan. Maybe Ren Xing will spare him the brutal demise by planting an arrow in his head." 

Xiu Ying smiled softly and she turned away. There wasn't even a flicker in her eyes and that made Tang Wulin clench his fist.

While running, Li Chen casually disqualified those he met. He kept moving until he arrived at an open space.

There weren't any trees with red leaves ahead and mountains, piercing the clouds, filled the horizon. About fifty meters away began a colossal structure that seemed to reach the clouds. 

Thick beams supported a roof and he didn't know where its length ended because, after the third beam, dense fog covered the other part.

"AHH!" 

Li Chen's head snapped towards the sound. He saw a man fly out of the forest and burst into particles. Causally walking out of the forest was a stout man garbed in purple robes.

He wore a helmet and arm guards. With a hefty hammer swung over his shoulder, he strolled out. 

"Someone made it before me. That's... nice. How do you breathe with that mask on?" 

[I don't know.] 

"Oh? It's an exquisite mask. How much is it worth?" 

[If you can pull it out of my face, take it for free.] 

SHING—!

Li Chen unsheathed his sword when Ning Chuan brought down his hammer and it dug into the ground. 

"I'll pull it out before I expel you from this realm," Ning Chuan snickered.

[Sometimes, be careful who you speak to.]

"Oh? Who might you be?" A feminine voice slithered into their ears as a lithe figure floated to the top of the last tree. 

She held a fairly large bow and wore a white robe. Ning Chuan blinked when he saw the pretty girl but since she seemed to be on his side, he planned to be less brutal when crushing her.

SLASH—!

Li Chen swung his sword and the tree fell. Ren Xing floated to the ground. She quickly knocked on her bow and shot.

Li Chen flickered past the arrow, closed the gap, and slashed upward, but she dodged it. He followed with a downward slash and Ren Xing dodged once again.

It was obvious she focused primarily on her movement technique.

Suddenly, his aura changed, and Ren Xing's smug look vanished.

'Is that the presence of intent?' 

Her guess came true when Li Chen's figure gave the impression of a sword. He leaned forward, lifted his sword, and channeled his energy into delivering a swift, lethal strike!

"Mountain Slash"!

In that second, he sensed a dangerous strike from his right.

From the corner of his right eye, he saw a hammer heading for him! Forcing himself to break his already-in-motion attack and defend, Li Chen lifted his sword just in time.

The impact launched him into the air!

BAM—!

Li Chen slammed a pillar and fell to the ground, groaning deeply. He lifted his head and saw his sword hilt. The force from their physical collision and energy had completely destroyed his weapon, which was just a 6-star-mortal-grade artifact.

PISH—!

As he got to his knees, an arrow sneaked past his recovering senses and pierced his chest. Seeing that Li Chen wasn't dying, Ren Xing knocked on her bow again.

However, a hammer came her way. 

"He's my kill!" Ning Chuan roared. They both knew Li Chen would be worth a lot of points. Winning wasn't about crossing the finish line. It was about being the one with the highest point.

Li Chen's boots scrapped the ground as he slowly got to his feet. Looking at the arrow lodged in his chest, his eyes gleamed.

"A swordsman without his sword is a free kill. Why should I let you take it?" Ren Xing yelled. She floated like a fairy and aimed at Li Chen.

Ning Chuan flung his hammer with a deep grunt. The earth attached itself to the hammer's head and formed spikes!

[You forget a swordsman also has an element.]

Both Ning Chuan and Ren Xing barely reacted to Li Chen's words when he shot forward with shocking speed.

Evading their attacks, he arrived behind them and grabbed his sheath. 

Seeing him stare at the sheath, Ren Xing had the feeling that Li Chen didn't consider his state. Did he think he was some otherworldly being or was his pride that large?

Even the arrogant Ning Chuan fell short of Li Chen's silent yet overwhelming pride.

These were her thoughts.

Ning Chuan jumped and slammed down on Li Chen. His strike was dissolved by a mere step Li Chen took. Reacting with a jab to stagger Ning Chuan, Li Chen stabbed the blunt end of his sheath against Ning Chuan's chest and it sent him four steps backward.

He spun and deflected Ren Xing's arrows with his gauntlets. Dashing forward, Li Chen grabbed an arrow, broke it, and flung the arrowhead towards Ren Xing.

Since it had light energy, Ren Xing couldn't dodge it on time, and it pierced through her chest. Right through the middle.

"You…!" She choked, her eyes widening to the limit.

"How can a 18-star-immortal human defeat me who has 25-stars!" Ning Chuan roared. "Times 2 Earth condensation"!

Two spinning, spiky earth balls rose off the ground!

Li Chen turned his head toward Ning Chuan and opened his left palm. First, it was a barely visible golden light but it grew into a golden-white ball in an instant.

"DIE!" Ning Chuan roared and...

BOOM—!!

Dust covered the platform, obscuring the audience situated on the floating island from spotting the winner.

After a while, a loud sound rang and a force blasted the dust away.

Left standing was...

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