Facing the three black-furred corpse fiends, whose bodies were impervious to blades or spears, Dustin moved like drifting smoke, weaving effortlessly through their relentless assault. He no longer met their strength head-on; instead, his sword strikes became exceedingly precise and cunning, the tip always finding the weak points—the joints where the limbs connected or the nodes where the corpse talismans’ energy converged—piercing them with pinpoint accuracy.
Clang! Clang! Shhhh!
Sparks flew. One of the corpse fiends had its knee joint pierced through by a strand of sword qi, its movement freezing instantly. Another had the control talisman on its back sliced open by the sword tip, and it began staggering about wildly like a headless fly. The third, the fiercest of the trio, slashed straight for Dustin’s chest with razor-like claws—but he twisted aside with a move of flawless precision, then countered with a backhanded thrust, a streak of blue-white light flashing like a meteor piercing the sun. The sword stabbed directly into the creature’s gaping mouth as it spewed corpse qi.
Boom!
The sword qi erupted, shredding its skull from the inside out.
In just a few breaths, the three powerful corpse fiends were completely disabled under Dustin’s exquisite swordsmanship.
“Useless trash!”
Qing Mu’s face twisted in fury as his creation was dismantled before his eyes. His hands suddenly came together, and the green light surrounding him turned darker—so deep a shade it seemed to swallow the very light around it.
“Azurewood Divine Thunder — Extinguish All Life!”
He thrust both palms forward. A thick, dark-green bolt of lightning—wide as a barrel—shot forth, carrying an aura of annihilation. The air itself screamed as the thunder tore through it, a chorus of ghostly wails accompanying its descent toward Dustin.
This was no divine thunder of heaven and earth—it was a “false god thunder,” a corrupted imitation forged by combining deadwood energy with dragon-blood malice. Its power was immense, laced with corrosion and decay, made to devour the life force of all living beings.
Dustin’s eyes narrowed. He could feel it—this strike was stronger than any attack from the Dragonblood War Puppets he’d faced before.
He stopped holding back. What little profound qi he’d recovered surged wildly into his sword. The blade trembled under the strain, its etched cloud patterns flaring to life as a miniature azure dragon coiled around the sword, roaring silently.
“One Sword — Awaken the Dragon!”
With a breath and a shout, Dustin moved as one with his sword, his figure blurring into a streak of condensed blue light, an awe-inspiring strike that split the heavens. He didn’t evade, didn’t defend—he met the divine thunder head-on with pure, unyielding force.
BOOM!!!
Azure sword light and dark-green thunder collided midair, detonating in an explosion more violent than any that had come before. Blinding light engulfed everything, and the shockwave rippled outward like a tidal wave, sending wine and blood from the surrounding pools surging skyward. Jade columns trembled; those pleasure-seeking men and women nearby were flung aside, screaming as they fell.
When the glare finally faded, Dustin stood with his sword in hand. His robes were torn in several places by the stray arcs of lightning, and a trickle of blood ran down his lip—but his blade was still firmly pointed forward.
The dark-green thunder had been split in two. The residual energy slammed into the floor behind him, gouging a blackened crater that hissed and smoked from lingering corrosion.
Qing Mu stared, eyes wide in disbelief. His strongest attack—shattered, cleaved apart by a single sword strike?
Before he could recover from the shock, Dustin vanished.
He moved with impossible speed—too fast for the eye to follow. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared before Qing Mu.
It was too fast.
Qing Mu barely had time to register the cold flash of a blade filling his vision before a surge of mortal danger enveloped him. He tried to summon a wooden shield, to flee with a teleporting spell—but both came too late.
Pchhk!
A spray of blood burst into the air. Dustin’s sword pierced through the layered wooden armor hastily conjured around Qing Mu’s chest, sliding cleanly through to impale his left shoulder blade.
A surge of sword qi flooded his body, rampaging through his meridians and corrupting his eerie wood-element power.
“AAAHHH!!”
Qing Mu screamed in agony, his body flung backward like a kite with its string cut, slamming into a jade pillar before crumpling to the floor. His left shoulder bled profusely, the wound sizzling with the remnant sword energy that kept it from closing and steadily eroded his life force. His face went deathly pale, his breath weak and trembling. The look he cast toward Dustin was one of horror—and venomous hate.
With a single sword strike, Dustin had crippled Qing Mu.
The grand hall fell silent.
The once-playful expressions of the elegant man and the beautiful woman vanished, replaced by grim solemnity.
Ao Kun slowly rose from his jade recliner, and in his cold, abyssal eyes, flames of killing intent finally burned to life.
Dustin leaned slightly on his sword, his breath uneven from the relentless battles. He was near his limit—but even so, his back remained straight, and his gaze met Ao Kun’s monstrous stare without a hint of fear. - Marinien
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