One Sword, Shattering the Body

Two blinding beams of light erupted like twin miniature suns above the lakeshore. The balance of heaven and earth was thrown into chaos; even the howling wind seemed frozen in place.

The handsome man’s body shuddered. From his left nostril trickled a bright red stream, blooming into a sinister flower upon his robes.

Instinctively, he raised his hand, fingers brushing the blood at his nose. The sight of crimson on his fingertips filled his once-cold eyes with blazing fury.

Never before had he suffered such humiliation. Not only had his spiritual force failed to suppress his foe, but he himself had been injured in turn.

“You dare court death!”

His roar cracked the skies like thunder. The white light around him suddenly swelled severalfold.

The once-clear heavens darkened, black clouds boiling with writhing purple lightning serpents that hissed with searing sound.

With one hand raised high, he drew upon the storm. His dwindling spiritual force merged with the fury of heaven’s thunder. From the clouds poured bolts as thick as bowls, all converging upon his palm like rivers returning to the sea.

There, a weapon took form: a spear of pure lightning.

The spear stretched three zhang long, its tip sharp as a blade, gleaming with a cold light of annihilation. Ancient runes etched across its shaft blazed with thunder’s power, exuding suffocating pressure.

The very air twisted and burned. The lake boiled, spilling white steam. Cracks split the ground like a spider’s web, stones torn free to hover under the spear’s magnetic pull.

“This… this is the power of summoning heaven’s lightning!” gasped the onlookers in the distance, their faces pale.

The spear completed, the man hurled it downward. His arm strained, veins bulging, as the thunder-spear tore through the air toward Dustin.

As it flew, space itself screamed. The air split into a black fissure, the white mist along its path burned into nothingness. Lightning splintered from its shaft, blasting craters into the ground, ripples warping the very fabric of reality.

Before this earth-shattering strike, Dustin did not retreat. Instead, a fierce gleam ignited in his eyes.

He rose swiftly, his sword ringing in his grip. Azure sword qi burst forth like a volcano, shattering the remnants of the stone table into dust.

“Good! Come then!” Dustin roared, both hands gripping his sword. He poured his entire reservoir of Xuanqing True Qi into the blade.

The cloud patterns upon the weapon blazed bright, coiling into the shape of a great azure dragon. Its roar thundered across the heavens.

“Azure Dragon Break!”

With a twist of his wrist, Dustin swung. His sword, wreathed in the dragon, surged to meet the thunder-spear.

The blade moved so swiftly it left only a phantom afterimage. The dragon bared its fangs, intent on devouring lightning itself.

At the instant of impact, time seemed to halt.

First came silence—an unseen shockwave flattened the lakeshore. The camp’s tents were obliterated, ancient trees centuries old snapped like twigs, splinters hurled skyward.

Then came the roar—an explosion that deafened all. Sword qi and lightning intertwined, forming a colossal orb of energy in the heavens. Within it flashed stars of azure and violet, radiating an aura of utter destruction.

Onlookers clutched their ears in agony, yet still the pain stabbed their eardrums.

They watched in terror as the energy sphere swelled, distorting space itself, bending light until even the sun could not pierce its edge.

Just as it seemed ready to explode, Dustin’s gaze hardened. He forced out every ounce of spiritual power. The sword-dragon swelled several times larger, crashing straight against the lightning spear’s tip.

Crack—!

Runes along the spear splintered. The purple glow dimmed.

The handsome man’s face twisted in shock. He tried to reclaim his weapon, but the sword qi surged back along the shaft, numbing his arms.

Before he could react, Dustin seized the moment. Borrowing the counterforce of his sword qi, he transformed into an azure streak of light, racing down the spear itself.

The shriek of air being cleaved stabbed at the ears. His aura sharpened into a piercing cone, smashing through the remnants of the thunder’s power.

“No—!”

The man’s pupils shrank. Terror flooded his features.

He tried to evade, but the domain of sword qi bound him tight, holding him motionless.

He could only watch as Dustin, sword in hand, shot forward like an arrow loosed from the bowstring, the blade driving toward his chest.

With a wet sound, the sword pierced clean through, bursting from his back.

Azure qi poured into him, tearing apart his meridians and shattering his spiritual core in an instant.

The man stiffened, head bowing as he stared at the sword buried in his chest. Blood streamed down his robes, soaking them crimson.

The rage and arrogance in his eyes dissolved into naked fear. His lips parted, as if to speak, but only hollow wheezes escaped.

His body convulsed violently. The white light around him receded like a dying tide. Beneath his skin, faint sparks of light flared wildly—something inside was about to rupture.

Boom—!

His body exploded.

Blood, flesh, and shattered bone rained across the lakeshore, staining earth and water alike in scarlet.

The phantom light that had kept him aloft vanished entirely, leaving only the stench of blood and a fading trace of spiritual energy.

Deprived of its anchor, the energy sphere also burst. Tiny fragments of radiance scattered like shooting stars, sprinkling the land in fleeting sparks before vanishing.

Silence reclaimed the lakeshore. Only the whisper of wind through leaves and the gentle ripple of water remained.

Slowly, Dustin sheathed his sword. Blood dripped from its tip, pattering onto the ground to form a dark red pool. - Marinien