"Cut me down with a single sword?"
"Huh?"
The terrifying, massive fire python formed from Huokuang's Martial Soul True Body emitted a buzzing screech.
He burst into laughter, filled with disdain.
"Don't take it as me looking down on you,"
"but the thought that you could breach my defenses is a far cry from reality."
"Not just one sword, even if you had a hundred or a thousand chances, what would it matter?"
Luo Yu looked up, his eyes locking onto the fire python.
His movements were slow as his fingers lightly caressed the edge of the Zhu Tian Sword.
Huokuang said wisely:
"Kid, I've seen through your toughness."
"If it weren't for my poor condition, you'd be scared stiff right now."
"Don't say I'm bullying the weak. Today, I'll let you strike three times first."
"Are you sure?" Luo Yu asked with a peculiar look in his eyes.
"I'll stand right here without moving an inch. If I retreat a step, I, Huokuang, am a coward."
"Understood."
Luo Yu nodded and then he moved.
The five blood-red soul rings on the Zhu Tian Sword emerged rhythmically from within.
The five-meter-tall fire python's body clearly trembled.
Huokuang exclaimed in a changed voice,
"Five hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings???"
"No, this aura... it's not ordinary hundred-thousand-year soul rings."
"How could this be, it's impossible!"
Luo Yu's pupils were utterly focused, undisturbed by any external influences.
In a state of complete self-forgetfulness, he swung his sword.
"Fifth Soul Skill: Sky-Cleaving Sword Technique!"
Having used this soul skill once before, Luo Yu found the name given by the System inapt and changed it accordingly.
At this moment, as Luo Yu drew out the Zhu Tian as fast as purple lightning,
he extended his arm and made a slash forward.
A heaven-shaking sword light surged forth, with a continuous hissing sword cry.
The Zhu Tian, originally four feet three inches long, instantly transformed into a sky-obscuring giant sword, spanning the entire arena.
Under the control of Luo Yu's single arm, it slashed down from the sky.
The sword's Qi was so sharp as if there were nothing in the world it could not cut through.
The earth-shattering force of the slash even created rolling wind and waves.
Above the martial arts arena, the sound broke through the air, and a sudden gust of wind arose.
Huokuang, who had been laughing loudly just before, now seemed as if someone had grabbed his throat.
His voice abruptly stopped.
In his pupils, that sky-obscuring giant sword was rapidly enlarging.
His five-meter-long immense serpentine body appeared so trivial before the sword's edge.
"It's fake!"
"It must be fake!!"
"This can't be happening."
Huokuang let out an incredulous cry, completely shocked by Luo Yu's sword.
Is this really a sword strike that a young man could deliver?
Even Titled Douluo don't seem this frightening.
At this moment, he had completely forgotten the grand claims he had made earlier.
"Letting this guy strike three times?"
"What a joke, as if I would allow that."
Realizing just how ridiculous his previous words to Luo Yu were, Huokuang burst into laughter.
"This isn't about letting three strikes."
"This is clearly about allowing him to take my life, damn it."
Huokuang was not ready to die, even if it meant losing face. At this moment, he had to make a move to defend himself.
He opened the blood basin of the fire python.
A thick beam of fiery light burst forth to the heavens, aiming straight for the swiftly falling giant sword.
Then, as the thick beam of light collided with the blade, it was split in two by the sword's edge and immediately extinguished into tiny burning sparks by the overwhelming force of the sword's strike.
The scene made Fire Maniac's scalp tingle instantaneously.
The giant sword's momentum was undiminished as it swept down from above.
Feeling the overwhelming aura of the sword, Fire Maniac was petrified, his courage and gall nearly split apart.
He regretted it, regretting provoking this person.
How could he be so monstrous?
In all his life, he had never seen such an abnormality, and he was utterly unprepared.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Fire Maniac fought as he retreated, desperately mobilizing his Soul Power, squeezing every last drop from his meridians, and unleashing every technique at his disposal.
Yet the giant sword continued to obscure the sky and extend endlessly.
Its speed was incredibly fast.
Fire Maniac simply couldn't dodge in time; his eyes turned blood red, and extreme fear led him to insanity.
"Damn it, I'm going all out against you today."
He twisted his massive Fire Python body, each scale bursting forth with a blood-red light, igniting the source of his Soul Power, releasing the most dazzling and intense flames.
"Heh."
Luo Yu sneered, his arm muscles bulging like coiling dragons, veins standing out sharply.
The overpowering aura of the Zhu Tian Giant Sword became even more tyrannical and unstoppable, its resounding sword cries causing the audience below to cover their ears involuntarily.
"Clang!"
The longsword hung high in the sky, cutting down with tremendous force.
A flash of light.
Clearing away the flames, the sword slashed across the giant python's body.
"Slash!"
Fire Maniac was aghast, thinking he had the strength for one final fight when he gambled everything.
But he miscalculated, grossly so.
The solid scales could not withstand the blade's edge even for a second; in an instant, the sword split them in two without any resistance, and the immense Fire Python was severed into two parts in a single breath.
After slashing through the giant python, the sword's residual power remained unabated, heavily striking the ground.
"Boom!"
In a blink of an eye, the earth shook and mountains trembled.
Dust and rocks flew everywhere, clouds of dirt rose.
Tens of thousands in the crowd, even though they retreated to a distance, staggered in the earthquake.
Stumbling and swaying.
When the Heavenly Water Girl Group, along with the spectators, steadied themselves,
The smoke had just dissipated, and they eagerly peered inside.
As everyone got a clear view of the scene ahead,
their expressions suddenly quivered, staring in shock at the spectacle before them.
The vast Sky-Water Academy Martial Arts Arena was split in two.
In the middle was not just a simple crack; it resembled a deep, dark canyon.
On either side of the fissure,
Huo Wu stood with her silver eyes transfixed, mouth slightly agape, breathing in an unusually rapid manner.
Huowushuang was still lying on the ground, the crack less than half a meter from him.
He was trembling all over, wishing he could slaps himself.
Why did he think just now that they would win?
Why would he have such an illusion?
Now he truly understood; this was a 'big daddy,' someone absolutely beyond provocation!
As for Fire Maniac who previously relied on his seniority, he now lay on the ground like a dead dog, his Martial Spirit extinguished, Soul Light dispersed, submerged in a pool of blood.
Terrified eyes, with the appearance of a departed soul.
And at the origin of that crack,
there was a wheelchair, upon which sat an ethereal young man resembling a Banished Immortal.
Amidst all the commotion, he alone sat there quietly,
appearing so transcendent and exceptional, standing out from everyone else.
He slowly sheathed his sword.
His eyes remained indifferent,
as if what he had just felled was not a Soul Sage but a mere insubstantial insect.
Countless gazes, from men and women alike, were all focused on him...
————
Fifth update, brothers, I feel like my back is about to break!