"Fight!"
No wasted motion. No soul skills released. Long Aotian simply raised his right hand and made a subtle pressing gesture toward Chen Junting.
Instantly, the entire arena trembled faintly. To Chen Junting, his opponent was no longer just Long Aotian—every molecule of air within the protective barrier, even the sunlight itself, had become part of his adversary.
It was as if the whole world had turned against him.
So this is Unity with Heaven and Earth.
Excitement flickered in Chen Junting's eyes. A smile curled his lips. Battle intent blazed like wildfire.
Perfect!
If his opponent used pure martial technique, then so would he.
He lifted his sword slightly. Crimson Slaughter Sword Intent erupted from his body.
In Long Aotian's perception, Chen Junting transformed—from a sharp blade into a weapon drenched in slaughter. Around that sword lay mountains of corpses and seas of blood, severing even Long Aotian's connection to that space through his Unity with Heaven and Earth.
Hiss—!
Killing intent solidified, wrapping around the Seven Kill Sword. Instantly, waves of white killing aura surged from the blade.
Gale-force winds howled, slicing through stray hairs.
As the sword swept forward, a strand of Long Aotian's hair fell—unknowingly severed. But this was only the beginning. Chen Junting's sword slashed straight toward Long Aotian's outstretched palm.
Whoosh—!
Sword met palm—but no explosive collision sounded.
At the moment of contact, all of Long Aotian's offensive power condensed into a single point in his palm, just as Chen Junting's attack focused entirely on the tip of his blade.
A cataclysmic shockwave erupted—a storm of energy radiating outward from their clash.
The already-ruined arena suffered further devastation. The expanding pressure wave crushed the fractured ground, sending debris flying in all directions.
Crimson and jade-white—two utterly opposing energies—exploded from the two figures, now resembling warring gods. Their auras clashed, devoured each other, and sent terrifying ripples across the battlefield before detonating into twin layers of light that rippled across the arena.
In the preparation zone, the Snow Demon Sect members stared in disbelief at this "explosive opening."
That vice-captain from Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect…
He actually blocked Long Senior's martial technique with his own?!
How was this possible?!
They'd never seen Chen Junting fight before. When his red and orange rings appeared, they'd assumed his strength lay solely in soul skills.
Yet here he was—matching their leader purely through martial prowess.
But even the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect members themselves knew little of this side of Chen Junting.
"Again!!!"
Long Aotian roared with exhilaration, suddenly retracting his hand.
Yet the residual energy from their clash swirled into a vortex between them.
He took a swift step back, raised his right arm high, and formed a knife-hand strike. Muscles bulged along his arm, veins throbbing. His entire body—and arm—turned jade-white, while behind him, a twisted longsword materialized from compressed air.
Feral power. Razor-sharp precision.
Now fused into one.
"Slash!"
With a thunderous shout, the jade-white blade descended—a piercing shriek following in its wake.
Chen Junting responded with a reverse sword strike.
Though seemingly heavy, his move arrived first.
Heavy Sword, No Edge!
The Seven Kill Sword's sharpness vanished, replaced by overwhelming weight and brute force.
BOOM—!
The collision between heavy sword and longsword created a muffled thunderclap, sending concentric white shockwaves rippling outward.
The vortex shattered instantly. The jade blade disintegrated into dust.
This time, Long Aotian stepped back one pace. Chen Junting remained rooted in place, Seven Kill Sword steady in hand.
He'd won the second exchange.
Just as Long Aotian prepared to strike again, he sensed a shift in Chen Junting's aura—his sword had grown cold.
But it was not the chill of killing intent.
But the sudden drop in temperature.
The sword of slaughter, once evoking mountains of corpses and seas of blood, had transformed into a blade of absolute frost.
And yet…
"Wait—what is this?!"
Long Aotian's expression turned grave. In his Unity with Heaven and Earth state, his senses were razor-sharp. No detail escaped him.
He realized—he'd been wrong from the start.
Chen Junting wasn't wielding a blade of frost.
"This is the Sword Intent of Absolute Freeze—the Frozen Extinction Blade."
A whisper slipped from Chen Junting's lips—inaudible to outsiders, but echoing clearly within his sea of consciousness.
There, a snow-capped mountain stood eternal.
Snowflakes drifted. Only Snow Empress remained, proud and solitary.
Unshielded by Chen Junting, she could clearly "see" everything unfolding outside.
And this Absolute Freeze Sword Intent… it moved her deeply.
"He has forged his own path in ice."
In less than a year under her guidance, Chen Junting had carved his own Dao in ice. As his half-teacher, Snow Empress couldn't decide whether pride or astonishment dominated her heart.
Absolute cold—the first layer of this sword intent.
Solitude—the second layer, hidden within.
Death—the third, concealed beneath.
Life withers from extreme cold, grows desolate, and ultimately cannot escape extinction.
This was Frozen Extinction.
The death hidden within this sword intent triggered massive reactions—most intensely from the Holy Spirit Cult and Ye Guyi.
But their responses differed vastly.
Zhongli Wu nearly leapt from his seat. Staring at the death within the Absolute Freeze, his eyes trembled. Such pure death! Combined with that slaughter intent… He must not die. He is the perfect candidate for our sect's Saint Son!
Meanwhile, Ye Guyi's face darkened—she'd thought Chen Junting deceived her. But remembering his status as a core disciple and future Grand Elder of Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, she calmed herself.
Still… death remained a thorn in her heart.
"Let me see what tricks you truly hold."
But as she probed that deathly aura, shock replaced her displeasure. She gasped aloud:
"How is this possible?!"
Her outburst drew annoyed glances.
Ye Guyi quickly apologized—but her stunned expression remained.
"How can death… contain holiness?!"
---
On the arena—
Chen Junting didn't stop after unleashing the Absolute Freeze Sword Intent.
The next second, another sword intent surged forth.
Vast as the ocean. Profound as the forest. Expansive as heaven and earth.
Its initial manifestation was infinite variation—yet it ultimately settled into an icy domain. The chill made one feel as if standing in a frozen wasteland.
"A thousand mountains—no birds in flight.
Ten thousand paths—no trace of man.
Lone boat, old man in straw rain cape,
Fishing alone in a snow-cold river."
Chen Junting chanted softly, Seven Kill Sword moving slowly.
Under his technique, the two sword intents merged.
Watching this fusion of similar yet distinct intents, Long Aotian's heart clenched. Blood surged through his veins. Every hair on his body stood erect. Despite his cultivation and Unity with Heaven and Earth, cold sweat broke out on his back.
Within seconds, the sweat froze into ice crystals.
But in the next breath, his gaze sharpened. That primal fear was instantly suppressed.
He calmly analyzed Chen Junting's aura.
Then—whoosh—!
Chen Junting's sword descended in a vertical slash, leaving a trail that shifted from gray-blue to gray-white.
Where the terrifying blade passed, the air itself cracked—frozen solid, then severed, life extinguished.
Facing this strike, Long Aotian's spirit, will, and power condensed to their peak. All distractions washed away like receding tides.
He and the universe became one. Utter silence surrounded him.
Body, mind, and technique unified. A tangible shockwave spiraled around his forearm, distorting space itself.
Then—he threw a punch.
Fist wind exploded into a hurricane, meeting head-on Chen Junting's fused strike of Absolute Freeze and Entanglement.
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