Sword Qi instantly burst forth, and Qi Jian Xing’s figure radiated streams of light like a rainbow as he dashed straight in front of Yang Kai. The sword in his hand slashed down towards him like a curtain to trap Yang Kai beneath it, creating an inescapable shroud of death tens of meters in radius around him.

A screeching sound came from all around, like someone from the void was snapping the strings of a zither. If one looked carefully they would see tiny Sword Qi blades criss-crossing mid-air, which completely enveloped Yang Kai.

Within this flickering storm, Yang Kai’s expression became even more dignified as he ferociously pushed his Yuan Qi. His whole body exuded a sweltering heat, and he released two ferocious palm strikes to create a burst of Yuan Qi.

The two’s Yuan Qi collided, and a loud bang rang out seemingly from every direction. In that instant, more than half of the hundreds of sword waves were annihilated.

Qi Jian Xing face went cold as he cried out, “Brat, don’t get overconfident!”

Raising his sword to gather the remaining Sword Qi in the surroundings, he condensed them into a single shimmering blade and slashed down towards Yang Kai.

Yang Kai’s eyes shrunk, and he pushed his palms forward and drew out a drop of Yang Liquid from his dantian. Then he transformed it into a blood-red shield to block the sword strike before him.

*Peng* A metallic ring burst forth as the Sword Qi struck the shield dead center. The blood-red shield rippled and cracked, however it did not shatter. It did, however, exhaust Qi Jian Xing’s strike and caused its remnants to disappear.

In a flash, Yang Kai lifted the blood-red shield in front of himself and charged towards Qi Jian Xing. The latter was obviously shocked but still quickly retreated, and was instantly pursued by Yang Kai. The two became engaged in close quarter combat. Each one displayed their own exquisite movement skills, and while their cultivation levels were drastically different, they were actually evenly matched in terms of speed.

The two figures became entangled, and each one fiercely stuck towards the other.

Qi Jian Xing was stunned. He had never imagined that a second-class Sect Separation and Reunion Boundary Seventh Stage disciple could unleash such immense combat strength, which allowed Yang Kai to fight with him.

Rapidly becoming annoyed, Qi Jian Xing attacked more and more ferociously. His sword sliced through the wind, slashing and stabbing with the speed of a snake striking from its hole, fully displaying his extraordinary swordsmanship. His moves were fluid, ever changing, wild, and unpredictable.

The surrounding trees were all chopped to pieces as the two darted in and amongst them, causing dirt and sand to fly everywhere. Their battle became more intense with every clash.

After only ten breaths of time, the two had already exchanged more than thirty blows, and neither one managed to land a decisive hit. But anyone who was watching could see that Qi Jian Xing occupied the absolute advantage. For every ten moves made, eight would be him attacking.

Along with a sneer, Qi Jian Xing focused his Sword Qi and stabbed it straight into Yang Kai’s shield.

The blood-red shield, which had been formed by a drop of Yang Liquid, was finally unable to withstand this high intensity attack.

Yang Kai’s face went stiff, and he anxiously jumped back to leave Qi Jian Xing’s attack range, but how could his opponent let him get away so easily?

As if the sword had its own spirituality, after shattering the shield, it immediately flashed towards Yang Kai’s arm.

*Shua shua shau* Yang Kai’s sleeve was ripped apart, and cloth pieces flew everywhere.

Yang Kai roared furiously, and his Yuan Qi erupted forth to resist this attack. He rapidly retreated and simultaneously sent out a heavy punch, his fist was seemingly engulfed in burning flames that distorted the air around it.

Aware of this fist’s terrible power, Qi Jian Xing’s eyes showed a trace of fear. He swiftly stabbed his sword into Yang Kai’s shoulder, piercing three inches into his flesh, and used the ensuing rebound from his strike to withdraw.

However, he was still a bit too late, and Yang Kai’s Burning Sun’s Three Layer Blast managed to impact his chest.

*Pedal pedal pedal...* Qi Jian Xing was forced back ten steps to dispel the momentum of this strike, while at the same time he circulated his True Qi to resolve the hot Yuan Qi which had invaded his body.

For a moment, Qi Jian Xing’s face went pale, which forced him to take a deep breath.

He had managed to completely resolve the Burning Sun’s Three Layer Blast and eventually came out unharmed.

In contrast, Yang Kai’s right sleeve had been cut to pieces by Qi Jian Xing’s sword. His exposing bare arm now had countless small bloody lines, which instantly dyed his arm red and gave it a hideous look.

While Qi Jian Xing was neutralizing the Burning Sun’s Three Layer Blast’s Qi, Yang Kai was also lightly panting and shaking his arm as he tried to burn clean the other side’s invading Sword Qi.

*Hahaha...* Qi Jian Xing eyes flashed a ferocious light, and viciously glared towards Yang Kai, “A mere Separation and Reunion Boundary Seventh Stage brat having such strength! You are truly impressive!”

Speaking casually, he pointed his sword towards Yang Kai, “You are, without a doubt, the most powerful Separation and Reunion Boundary cultivator I have ever seen. Your Yuan Qi’s purity is already no less than a common True Element cultivator, your martial talent even exceeds my own! However... we were simply born different. My Nine Star Sword School’s sword skills are supreme, how could a random nobody like you compete with them?”

His face full of arrogance and his voice filled with indifference, Qi Jian Xing calmly continued, “Just now, I had only used seventy percent of my strength. If I use my full force, can you still resist?”

Gripping his sword before his chest, Qi Jian Xing’s face became serious, and with his True Qi bursting forth, he cried out, “Sword Body!”

*Zheng* A loud and piercing sword cry rang out as the sword in his hands trembled.

A sharp sword aura broke out from Qi Jian Xing’s body. The aura then channeled through his True Qi, where it merged with his entire presence and instantly pushed his momentum to its peak, which created a fierce wind as countless tiny sword blades enveloped him.

Looking at him, it was as if ten thousand swords were guarding his body.

The Nine Star Sword School’s sword skills were really profound.

Yang Kai narrowed his eyes as his face became even more dignified.

Qi Jian Xing was obviously enraged that he had been struck by a punch just now, so he did not hesitate to cast this “Sword Body” martial skill. By shaping his True Qi, Qi Jian Xing had become like a hedgehog. If Yang Kai wanted to strike him now, he would have to bear a certain amount of self inflicted injury.

“Forcing me to use Sword Body, you should be proud of yourself!” Qi Jian Xing stared coldly at Yang Kai, his face was filled with arrogance and disdain like he was looking down upon all creation, while he casually talked, as he slowly came over, step by step.

Yang Kai did not dare hold back, and activated Unyielding Will.

His Separation and Reunion Seventh Stage cultivation instantly surged to Peak Separation and Reunion Boundary.

When he was just Separation and Reunion Boundary First Stage, Yang Kai was able to use Unyielding Will to temporarily reach Peak Separation and Reunion. Unfortunately, now that he had reached the Seventh Stage, it was still the same.

This showed just how massive the watershed between the Separation and Reunion and True Element Boundary was. Once a cultivator completely transformed their Yuan Qi into True Qi, the difference in their strength was like the difference between Heaven and Earth.

Aware of the surge in Yang Kai’s aura, Qi Jian Xing face went cold as he sneered in disdain, “Good, so you’ve been holding back as well, but even so, you are now only Peak Separation and Reunion Boundary, you are still not my opponent.”

“Whether or not I am your opponent, once we fight, you will know.” Yang Kai grinned deviously, and stretched his hand forward as a new blood red shield appeared.

Qi Jian Xing expression darkened. Just now he had suffered a small loss when he confronted this shield head on and was unable to break it with his attacks for quite some time. Now, he saw Yang Kai easily form another, so naturally he was annoyed and shouted in anger, “Watch me shatter your piece-of-trash shield and beat you down!”

Qi Jian Xing suddenly accelerated, stabbing forward rapidly with his sword. The True Qi he had condensed outside his arm erupted out in all directions before ferociously flew toward Yang Kai.

Yang Kai quickly tried to dodge, but these True Qi swords were different from the ones he had previously faced. They seemed to be able to respond to Qi Jian Xing’s will.

As Yang Kai desperately evaded three or four times, Qi Jian Xing’s eyes filled with ruthlessness and he grinned, launching an extremely powerful sword skill, which ferociously slashed his Sword Qi towards Yang Kai.

Yang Kai swiftly lifted his shield to guard himself, *boom*. His shield trembled violently, and was almost unable to maintain its shape, which caused Qi Jian Xing to laugh viciously. Strike after strike, Yang Kai was being suppressed and constantly needed to block the Sword Qi attacks from Qi Jian Xing’s sword while being harassed by the unpredictable True Qi swords which swirled around him, and forced him to retreat, as he complained bitterly inside.

During the battle, both of them were rapidly consuming their Yuan Qi.

Engaging in such a high-intensity life and death fight was a massive load for any cultivator. In this case, physical strength was secondary, while Yuan Qi consumption was the most critical issue.

A powerful cultivator who could efficiently use their Yuan Qi would be able to pay the smallest price to cause his opponent the greatest damage.

Such control was currently impossible for Yang Kai and Qi Jian Xing. Their strength and experience had not reached that kind of realm yet. Both of them were only trying to push their Yuan Qi to its maximum extent in order to maintain their own attacks and momentum.

After just half a stick of incense, Yang Kai was unable to launch any offensive strikes. He was now completely on the defensive, which caused Qi Jian Xing’s killing intent to rise to a peak. Laughing as he ridiculed and tormented him, his eyes now saw Yang Kai as meat on the chopping block only.

(Silavin: half a stick of incense usually takes around 15 minutes to burn out while a full stick takes about 30 minutes. Of course, there are different kinds of incense sticks which take up different timing. My family usually buys one stick, about 1m long and 10cm thick for big event prayers. That thing will last about a day’s worth of time.)

Losing strength, Yang Kai seemed like he would collapse at any moment. Suddenly, he staggered slightly, and this misstep nearly caused him to fall to the ground.

Seeing such an opening, how could Qi Jian Xing let it pass? Finally striking with his real sword, he slashed straight towards Yang Kai’s neck.

Yang Kai lifted his shield in a panic to block this strike, but Qi Jian Xing was already prepared, and his sword flickered in mid strike, abruptly changing its path as it swept towards Yang Kai’s shield and fiercely slammed into it, which caused it to experience immense strain.

As Qi Jian Xing sneered even more, Yang Kai’s eyes suddenly flashed a trace of calm.

At the moment, his shield, which was about to be sliced by Qi Jian Xing’s sword, suddenly emitted a burst of light, and quickly transformed into a blood-red dagger.

Qi Jian Xing’s face was stunned, as he watched this blood-red dagger slice into his sword.

*Shing*, his sword was instantly cut in two!

Back when he was just an Initial Element Stage cultivator, Yang Kai could already destroy a Common Grade defensive artifact with a weapon condensed out of his Yang Liquid, and now that his cultivation had reached the Separation and Reunion Boundary, his Yang Yuan Qi was significantly more pure and rich, so with Qi Jian Xing’s sword being a plain steel forged weapon, and not even a real artifact, how could it possibly not be cut apart?

Yang Kai had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time and rapidly slashed his dagger forward.

As a soft ringing noise sounded out, Qi Jian Xing’s sword was sliced into several pieces, and if he had not retreated quickly, even the hand he was using to grip his sword might have been cut off.

“You...” Qi Jian Xing eyes filled with disbelief as he stared in shock at Yang Kai. Before, he had only used his Sword Qi and True Qi to attack and never needed to engage Yang Kai in a head on collision. Therefore, until now, there was never any worry about his sword being damaged, but how could he have know this tough defensive shield could actually transform.

All of a sudden, his weapon had been destroyed!

A Nine Star Sword School disciple without his sword was bound to suffer a drop in combat strength.

“Now, it’s my turn!” Yang Kai took a deep breath, and his former look of weakness and embarrassment disappeared as his eyes filled with confidence and emitted a thick murderous aura, while he stared arrogantly at Qi Jian Xing.

The latter also suddenly woke up. All along his opponent had only been acting, including when he had let his previously condensed shield be shattered. Everything had been deliberate. Yang Kai put on a good show to reduce his own wariness and make sure his guard was down, all for this single chance to destroy his sword.

Such a bold strategy, such unwavering determination! This was the first time since their battle had begun that Qi Jian Xing truly admired Yang Kai, and not just for his martial skills.

But despite all this, Qi Jian Xing remained fearless, and while tossing away the hilt of his broken sword, he proudly said, “So what if you have destroyed my weapon? You are still not my opponent!”