“We can’t let it finish!” Dustin’s eyes turned cold. He would test it no longer. The Xuanqing true qi within his body surged like a raging river, flooding into his sword. The blade hummed, shining with dazzling azure light. Above him, a colossal phantom blade of pure sword-qi—over thirty feet long—took form, as solid as reality itself. “Cut!” Dustin gestured with his fingers, and the immense sword descended with peerless sharpness, like a heavenly judgment, slashing straight at the beast just as it tried to complete its energy sphere. The killing intent of the strike locked the very space around it, leaving the flying beast no room to escape. Sensing mortal danger, the monster’s single eye flashed with fear. Its unstable energy sphere detonated prematurely, surging forth to meet the descending azure sword. BOOOOM—!! The explosion shook the canyon more violently than ever before, as if the cliffs themselves were about to collapse. For a brief instant, the black sphere and azu...