Li Jue Tian suddenly roared fiercely as his aura surged violently.
"There's no need to waste your words! We can see the truth! The four of us wish to seek advice from the so-called frightening Lord of the Tian Fa today!"
He laughed loudly, and then, despite the severe injuries tearing through his body, Li Jue Tian took the first step forward.
Someone always had to strike first in a battle between five masters, and the one who did would inevitably bear the greatest risk.
But that sacrifice could also create the opportunity for the others.
The other four Great Masters exchanged brief glances.
Shi Chang Xiao's calm reasoning had successfully dispelled the lingering effects of Venerable Mei's words.
They had never truly feared her strength, and now that everything had reached this point.
There was no longer any path of retreat, yet there was one final truth lingering in the hearts of everyone present.
Even if this battle ended in defeat, most of the Great Masters would not suffer catastrophic losses.
Only one man had already reached the edge of the cliff.
It was Li Jue Tian.
His Xue Hun Manor had already lost half its strength during the war between humans and Xuan Beasts.
His reputation had been shattered by humiliation.
His name had been stained by accusations of betrayal.
If he failed to defeat Venerable Mei today, then whatever remained of his dignity would vanish forever.
The others still had choices, but Li Jue Tian had none.
And so, with blood burning in his veins and pride screaming in his heart, he dashed forward without hesitation.
Shi Chang Xiao, Solitary Falcon, and Lei Wu Bei didn't dare to neglect that dash by Li Jue Tian.
They quickly changed positions and took their respective places in a split second, preparing to attack in sequence.
Everyone looked at the battle in anticipation, thinking that the battle would at least be a little bit close.
But before Li Jue Tian could even touch Venerable Mei, she moved. Her figure blurred like a drifting wisp of smoke.
Before Li Jue Tian could react, a pale palm had already pressed against his chest.
Bang!
His body shot backward as if struck by a mountain. He smashed into the ground several dozen feet away, dust exploding into the air as he coughed out a mouthful of blood.
Venerable Mei slowly withdrew her palm, her expression calm, almost indifferent, as though she had merely brushed away a speck of dust.
Without giving anyone time to breathe, she moved again. Her robe fluttered as she glided forward.
Shi Chang Xiao roared and rushed toward her, his fists carrying a violent surge of Xuan Qi.
At the same time, Lei Wu Bei attacked from the side, his palm striking out like thunder.
But Venerable Mei simply raised her hand as her sleeve flicked once.
Bang! Bang!
Two muffled explosions rang out.
Shi Chang Xiao and Lei Wu Bei were instantly sent sliding across the ground like broken kites with their strings cut. Both of them spat blood as their bodies scraped across the earth before finally stopping.
For a moment, the entire battlefield fell silent.
"Impossible!" Lei Bao Yu cried out in shock, his face pale. "She… she has made another breakthrough!"
His voice trembled as if he had just witnessed something unbelievable.
Not far away, Bu Kuang Feng's eyes trembled violently. His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword until his knuckles turned white.
"…She has grown stronger than before," He muttered hoarsely. "We must report this back to the Empress…"
Meanwhile, Solitary Falcon let out a long breath before stepping forward.
"VenerableMei," He said with a crooked grin, "let this Falcon test your strength."
Beside him, Feng Juan Yun laughed loudly. "If you're fighting, how can you leave me out?"
The two great experts attacked together.
Solitary Falcon's figure flashed through the air like a hunting hawk, his palms slicing through the wind with sharp, piercing force.
Feng Juan Yun followed closely behind, his strikes surging like rolling waves.
For a moment, their combined assault seemed overwhelming.
But Venerable Mei merely stood where she was. Her expression remained serene.
When Solitary Falcon's palm descended, she lightly raised her hand.
Clap!
The two palms met.
Solitary Falcon's expression instantly changed. He felt a terrifying force rush through his arm like a raging flood.
Before he could react, he was blasted backward.
Boom!
At the same moment, Venerable Mei turned slightly. Her sleeve flicked toward Feng Juan Yun.
It was such a casual movement, yet Feng Juan Yun suddenly felt as though the sky had collapsed on top of him.
Bang!
He was sent flying across the battlefield, crashing into the ground and rolling several times before stopping.
Solitary Falcon staggered back to his feet, coughing blood, his face filled with disbelief.
Feng Juan Yun lay on the ground, groaning.
The two had joined forces and still lost.
Venerable Mei stood quietly in the center of the battlefield, her white robes fluttering gently in the wind.
Not a single strand of hair was out of place.
She had won the third round with a landslide, coming out of the battle completely unscathed.
Demon Lord chuckled softly as he had already anticipated this ending, completely relaxed as he knew that Mei Xue Yan would win.
Finally, it was time to take the final price and cut off Li Teng Yun's legs.
But Jun Mo Xie couldn't be satisfied with it. His killing intent surged like a tide, and his fist twitched as he was ready to make his move to kill both Li's father and son at any moment.
Li Jue Tian raised his head toward the sky and made a vow in a ferocious manner. His vow echoed across the battlefield, a thunderous promise woven from fury and desperation.
"I, Li Jue Tian, take a vow that I will destroy everyone present here… and their families to the ninth generation if anything bad happens to my son today!"
The words hung in the air, a curse etched into the moment, binding the fate of thousands to the survival of one wretched young man.
The assembled warriors felt a collective chill.
After all, a vow from a father of such power was no mere threat; it was a seismic shift in the future, a promise of blood that would stain generations.
But the heavens, it seemed, were not in the mood for negotiation.
"Hmph!"
A single syllable echoed across the battlefield. It was a playful, icy exhalation that dripped with contempt.
It rolled down from the hilltop, crisp and clear, cutting through Li Jue Tian's vow like a razor through silk. The sound was not loud, yet it commanded absolute silence.
It was the sound of an entity that found mortal oaths almost amusing.
Before the mind could process the mockery, the action followed.
A cold light flashed, and a presence suffocated everyone present. It was a slice of pure intent, a silver line of annihilation drawn by an invisible hand.
It passed over Li Teng Yun, who was still propped up in his father's desperate embrace.
The result was surgical, brutal, and absolute.
His legs, from the thighs down, were severed cleanly.
It was not a messy hack, but a divine-cut separation, as if the universe itself had decided his limbs were no longer necessary. And with the same motion, that cold light removed his manhood.
It was an added punctuation, a statement of complete desolation.
The young man's future as a man, as a lineage, was all erased in one elegant, cruel stroke.
Li Teng Yun did not scream immediately. For a heartbeat, there was only a shocked, silent void in his eyes. Then, the pain arrived like a tsunami of agony that ripped through his nervous system.
"AAAAAGHHHH—FATHER!"
His roar was not human; it was the sound of a soul being shredded. He collapsed into the pool of his own blood, a crimson blossom spreading beneath him, his severed limbs lying a few feet away like discarded props. He writhed, howling, crying, a broken puppet whose strings had been cut by a god.
The battlefield stood frozen.
One second.
That was all it took.
From vow to violation.
Nobody had blinked and had breathed harder.
It was an intervention at the speed of thought.
When the senses returned, the evidence was undeniable: Li Teng Yun was a torso now, a weeping, broken core of a person. His legs were not just broken; they were gone.
The pool of blood was not just a stain, but it was a moat around his ruin.
--- ✦ ✦ ✦ ---
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