Evan Chu froze for a split second at the sight of that golden sword-light. No way—this guy actually grasped gold-element power? That was almost unheard of. Evan had barely ever tangled with gold-element attacks before, so he instantly got way more guarded.
He didn’t waste a breath—Evan blasted out the seventh move of Demon-Breaking Fist, jamming ice and fire elements into the punch. Bang! Their attacks slammed together, neither side backing down.
The golden sword-light smashed into Evan’s fist force. "Boom!" The shockwave was insane—the gold sword-light was sharp enough to cut through anything, but the water and fire energy exploded like a bomb. Instantly, a wild energy storm erupted between them.
In a heartbeat, the ten-meter patch around them was wiped clean. Branches and leaves got shredded to powder by the energy storm, and the ground beneath both fighters had collapsed into a pitch-black pit, spiderweb cracks crawling outwards.
The shockwave blasted Evan and the peddler back a few meters, but neither of them had a single scratch. Both were stunned. Evan was like—damn, this guy hits hard! That punch should’ve flattened most people, but this dude’s packing Eighth-Layer, maybe even Ninth-Layer Divine Martial Realm power. (In this world, every cultivation realm has layers—the higher you go, the nastier you get.)
If he didn’t have that kind of power, no way he’d walk away from my punch. Hah, looks like this guy’s another one of those fake weaklings—pretend you’re harmless, then go for the throat when nobody’s looking. Classic! Gotta keep my guard up. (In Chinese, we call this 'playing the pig to eat the tiger'—acting all soft and clueless just to catch the strong off guard.)
The peddler was even more gobsmacked. The kid in front of him was, at best, Fifth-Layer Divine Martial Realm—yet he’d just tanked a full-power attack. That move was something the peddler almost never used since he’d mastered gold-element power, but Evan didn’t even have a scratch. Unbelievable.
Evan looked down at the Flame Dragon Sword and cracked a cocky grin. "Not bad, old man! Didn’t think you had Ninth-Layer Divine Martial juice. You caught me off guard for a second. Too bad you’re not Saint Martial Realm though—today’s your unlucky day. You’re gonna die right here, and it’ll be by the Flame Dragon Sword you were drooling over!
"Kid, you’re tough. For someone your age to have these moves, there’s maybe a handful in the whole Azure Tide Ruins. Today, I wanna see what other tricks you’ve got—can you really finish me off?" The peddler flashed a wild grin, eyes burning with fighting spirit.
Suddenly, golden light started pouring off his body, and the giant sword in his grip flared up even brighter. No doubt about it—he was about to bust out a martial art that could level a mountain.
Evan gritted his teeth and poured all his Chaos Dragon Force into the Flame Dragon Sword. At the same time, he activated Earthshift—a martial technique that let him wrap himself in a thick shell of stone armor, perfect for defense and tunneling underground if things got ugly.
A full thirty seconds ticked by before the peddler’s martial art was ready. Even for someone at Ninth-Layer Divine Martial Realm, charging up a move that long meant it was going to be a monster.
Evan didn’t dare slack off. If this sword strike didn’t hurt the guy, he’d probably get smashed himself. Of course, if things went south, he could always burrow away with Earthshift and bail.
Right then, the peddler bellowed, "Let’s see if you can handle my Heaven-tier martial art!" A streak of golden light shot straight at Evan, fast as lightning.
Evan didn’t hold back either—he let loose with Tyrant Cleave. The Flame Dragon Sword roared with a deafening dragon’s cry, and a wave of destructive sword qi, wrapped in raging Flarefire, exploded from the blade.
That swing sucked half the Stellar Power right out of Evan. He could tell this strike was way stronger than the one he’d used to kill the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion’s Grand Elder. That dragon’s roar was definitely the Fire Dragon King, and those flames were pure, burning Flarefire—no way was the Fire Dragon King just going to sit this one out.
"Boom!" Another earth-shaking blast slammed out. Evan’s sword slash ripped a crack in the air itself, sending its destructive force hurtling toward the peddler.
The peddler’s golden sword-light didn’t split open space, but it made the air shake like crazy. Compared to Evan, he was clearly a notch weaker. The moment he saw that spatial crack, his jaw nearly hit the ground.
That kind of spatial tear only happens if you’ve hit Saint Martial Realm. Could this kid have already reached that level? No way—that was nuts!
Sure, if two top experts clash, their combined power can rip space open—but Evan managed it solo. That was enough to blow anyone’s mind.
Only now did the peddler realize he’d massively underestimated his opponent. Maybe today was the day he’d get sent to the afterlife. Too late for regrets—and running was out of the question. All he could do was grit his teeth and face Evan’s monster attack head-on.
The raging energy storm tossed both of them into the sky. Evan’s sword qi smashed right through the peddler’s defenses, leaving him with wounds so deep you could see bone—flesh torn open, blood pouring. The humiliation was brutal.
And that sword qi was loaded with Flarefire, making things even nastier. Just one slash and the peddler was left hanging by a thread—half-dead.
Blood sprayed from his wounds like a fountain. He couldn’t believe it—his body defense was supposed to be insane, thanks to his Diamondhide Physique. He hadn’t mastered it yet, but most attacks couldn’t even tickle him.
If he hadn’t had that freakish defense, Evan’s sword would’ve chopped him up like firewood. Now, floating in midair, he couldn’t even move a muscle.
Evan was looking pale too. His stone armor from Earthshift had already been shattered by the golden sword-light, and he’d picked up a few cuts—not too deep, and they were already healing thanks to his body cultivation.
In the middle of all that chaos, Evan couldn’t steady himself either. The only silver lining was that the spatial crack didn’t open overhead—it was already closing up. If it hadn’t, things could’ve gotten ugly.
After a few breaths, the storm finally faded. The peddler, too busted up to move, crashed to the ground, while Evan slowly drifted down.
Evan glanced around at the wrecked forest and couldn’t help sighing. Just moments ago, it was a lush green woodland—now it was wiped off the map.
The peddler hit the dirt and spat up several mouthfuls of blood, way too wrecked to stand. Eyes wide with terror, he stared at Evan and croaked, "Who the hell are you? How can you be this strong?"
Evan shot him a lazy, cocky grin. "Wanna know who I am? Easy—spill your own story first. Anyone who can pull off a Heaven-tier martial art must be from one of the Nine Great Sects, right? Don’t even try to play dumb. Only top dogs have moves like that."
The peddler’s face twisted with pain and humiliation. He knew there was no way out—the kid’s freakish strength had crushed him, and he’d been way too careless. All he could do was spit out the truth, voice trembling with regret: "I’m from Sacred Sword Sect, but not anymore. I betrayed them for the Flame Dragon Sword, and now you’ve snatched it away. It’s killing me inside! Damn it, I lost everything!"
"Sacred Sword Sect, huh? No wonder you’re so tough. But if you got your hands on the Flame Dragon Sword, why’d you sell it? Wasn’t that just asking for trouble?" Evan shot back...