From a distance, Su Han had indeed been blown to smithereens by the blue water droplet, but it was not his Original Body that was destroyed—it was a Shore Flower Clone.

At the critical moment, Su Han had once again used the Shape-Shifting Shadow to swap places with the Shore Flower Clone, allowing it to take the fatal blow for him.

At that moment, two massive, sky-cloaking hands suddenly clasped together, striking Lan Yi the Female Saint. The Heavenly Evolving Saint Runes adhered to her body, sealing her Domain and preventing her from using her powers of time. Thus, although Lan Yi was still very powerful, she stood before Saint You Heng like an unarmed enemy, easily killable.

"Heavenly Rank Low Level Martial Skill: Black Decay Underworld Palm!"

A pitch-black hand, swirling with thick Death Qi, appeared before Lan Yi and struck down fiercely. The hand didn’t resemble flesh and blood, but rather the palm of a Hell Nether God, imbued with the aura of Hell, intent on dragging the living down to eternal damnation.

Having lost her Domain and time powers, Lan Yi was utterly incapable of dodging this palm. She could only hold up a lotus-shaped Holy Artifact in a desperate attempt to defend herself. But Saint You Heng’s strength was tremendous, and this palm was a Heavenly Rank skill imbued with the aura of Hell, capable of annihilating life and rotting all it touched.

CLANG!

The Holy Artifact in Lan Yi’s hand could not withstand the attack and was sent flying. The Black Decay Underworld Palm then slammed into her body.

SPLAT!

Lan Yi’s face immediately darkened as if she had been poisoned. A jet-black, rotting palm print appeared on her chest, its foul energy corroding her flesh and blood, destroying her internal organs, and threatening to dissolve her into mud. With a single palm strike, Lan Yi the Female Saint was grievously wounded.

"Energy Physique!"

Seeing this, the Swordsaint immediately activated his Great Accomplishment Great Sun Sword Body. He burst into a dazzling, golden light, as radiant as a fierce sunbeam, yet it exuded a terrifying sharpness. He was like a Sun Divine Sword, capable of cleaving the sun, moon, and stars.

CRACK!

A sword strike slashed across the sky toward Saint You Heng, tearing a massive rift in space itself, as if to split the very heavens and earth apart. Even from thousands of meters away, Su Han was injured by the terrifying Sword Qi, his body riddled with holes as if stabbed by countless daggers.

Su Han’s Physical Body was comparable to a Semi-Holy Artifact, yet he still could not withstand this fearsome Sword Qi. If the Venerated Blood were still alive, he would surely have been gravely injured, if not killed outright. The Swordsaint truly lived up to his reputation as a peerless prodigy. When he attacked with full force, few in the same Realm could withstand him.

But Saint You Heng was no pushover. His Realm was higher than the Swordsaint’s, and while he didn’t possess a Special Physique, he had his own powerful trump cards. Otherwise, he never could have cultivated to the Saint Realm.

"Hell Nether Serpent!"

Saint You Heng tore open his clothes, revealing a palm-sized tattoo on his chest. It depicted a small, black-and-red snake with a single horn and blood-red pupils, looking utterly sinister. As Saint You Heng activated the tattoo, the little snake came to life, crawling off his skin and lunging straight at the Swordsaint.

The snake was tiny, only the size of a palm, and utterly incomparable to the Swordsaint’s magnificent Great Sun Sword Radiance. However, the small serpent erupted with a terrifying aura of Hell, as if it were an incarnation of Hell itself, come to the mortal world to unleash boundless disaster.

SWISH!

The Hell Nether Serpent pierced directly through the Great Sun Sword Radiance and struck the Holy Sword in the Swordsaint’s hand with pinpoint precision. This Holy Sword was extraordinary, but the serpent’s strike caused a crack to form on its surface, much to the Swordsaint’s heartache.

The Hell Nether Serpent’s momentum didn’t wane. It burrowed into the Swordsaint’s Great Sun Sword Domain, its intense aura of Hell annihilating one streak of sword light after another as it shot straight for the Swordsaint.

"Ah!"

Although the Swordsaint resisted with all his might and tried to dodge, he was still struck. The Hell Nether Serpent burrowed into his left arm, biting a hole the width of a finger before drilling deeper. The attack elicited a wail from the Swordsaint like that of a Fierce Ghost.

At the same time, his left arm began to rapidly wither and rot, like a tree at the end of its life, ready to decay and crumble. It was worth noting that the Swordsaint had manifested his Energy Physique. He was no longer made of flesh and blood, but of pure energy, yet he still couldn’t withstand the Hell Nether Serpent’s corrosion. This only hinted at the creature’s terrifying power.

SLICE!

The Swordsaint made a swift, decisive choice, swinging his sword to amputate his own left arm. The severed limb decayed rapidly, turning into nothingness until only a palm-sized Hell Nether Serpent flew out.

"What is this thing!"

The Swordsaint’s eyes filled with horror. He clearly hadn’t expected his Energy Physique to suffer such a severe injury. He also realized his left arm was now contaminated with the aura of Hell. To regenerate it, he would need an exceptionally special Immortality Medicine. But every stalk of Immortality Medicine was precious beyond measure. His left arm was essentially ruined.

"The thing that will kill you!" Saint You Heng’s face was pale and twisted in boundless agony. Clearly, the Hell Nether Serpent was not easy to wield, otherwise he would have used it against the Swordsaint much earlier.

SWISH!

The Hell Nether Serpent flew out once more, rocketing toward the Swordsaint.

Fear seized the Swordsaint. He had come here to kill for the Demon Slayer Sect, not to die. The ruin of his left arm had shattered his will to fight. No longer wanting to battle, he turned to flee. However, the Holy Rune Great Formation was already active, sealing spacetime and making escape impossible. What was meant to prevent Saint You Heng from escaping had ironically become the Swordsaint’s own deadly shackle—a fatal case of his plan backfiring.

"Lan Yi, I know you’ve always liked me," the Swordsaint said quickly as he rushed toward her, his eyes filled with cold resolve. "Today, you will sacrifice yourself for me!"

Lan Yi couldn’t understand why he would say such a thing, but a powerful sense of crisis washed over her.

He wants to kill me?

She didn’t retaliate, merely staring in disbelief as the Swordsaint rapidly closed in. She had devoted herself to him, heart and soul, even defying the Holy Master’s commands for his sake. Now, at this critical juncture of life and death, he was going to sacrifice her.

Lan Yi’s spirit broke. She stared blankly as the Swordsaint drew near, her heart turning to cold ash.

But the Swordsaint was ruthless. He thrust his sword into her Dantian, simultaneously detonating a mark he had placed inside her body long ago.

BOOM!

With that single strike, Lan Yi was detonated and exploded violently. A terrifying wave of destructive energy washed out like the apocalypse itself, blasting a hole clean through the imperfect Holy Rune Great Formation.

The next moment, the Swordsaint fled through the hole without a backward glance.