The Red Armor Commander tilted its head to dodge, but it hadn’t expected Xu Wuyi’s spear thrust to be a feint. The real killing blow was from his left hand—

He gathered Qi and Blood in his left fist and threw a simple, unadorned straight punch, smashing it into the beast’s flank!

"BOOM!"

The Dark Gold Flame erupted the moment his fist made contact. Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the Red Armor Commander’s flank armor, and it roared in pain as it retreated.

Xu Wuyi pressed his advantage, his longspear in hot pursuit.

After reaching Perfection in the Basic Body Refining Technique, his understanding of Martial Arts had far surpassed what it once was. Every spear thrust was concise, efficient, and aimed straight for a vital point.

Ten moves later, the tip of his spear pierced the second Red Armor Commander’s jaw, running through its brain.

After a brief struggle, the third one was sent flying by Xu Wuyi’s spear. It slammed heavily against the rock wall before being engulfed by the pursuing Dark Gold Flame.

The battle was over.

Xu Wuyi stood with his spear in hand, breathing lightly. Sweat trickled down from his temples.

Killing four Red Armor Commanders in a row had taken a massive toll on him.

The five surviving Martial Artists stared at him blankly, then at the three Commander Level Star Beast corpses on the ground, speechless for a moment.

"You... You’re Xu Wuyi from Star Martial?" the saber-wielding Martial Artist suddenly asked, his voice laced with disbelief.

Xu Wuyi looked at him.

"I watched the live broadcast of the Youth Tournament last year," the Martial Artist said excitedly. "You’re that genius who made it into the top hundred as a first-year! I never... I never thought you’d already be this strong!"

The others also came to their senses, their eyes filled with admiration as they looked at Xu Wuyi.

Making it into the top one hundred of the Federation’s Youth Martial Arts Tournament as a first-year was already the stuff of legend. And now, that legend stood right before them, having slain four Commander Level Star Beasts as a Martial Artist!

Xu Wuyi paid no mind to their gazes. His attention was completely captivated by the rift in the center of the valley.

The Energy fluctuations there had become utterly violent. The dark red rift twisted and expanded dramatically, as if some behemoth was frantically battering it from within, trying to tear open the passage and descend upon this world.

At the edge of the rift, several figures were already hovering in mid-air—they were the top Martial Artists from Red River and Silver Port, working together to suppress the rift.

But the rift’s expansion did not stop.

"ROAR—!"

A roar far more terrifying than any before echoed from the depths of the rift.

The soundwave alone caused loose rocks to tumble down the valley walls. Some of the weaker Martial Artists felt their ears and noses start to bleed, their heads spinning.

Immediately after, a giant claw covered in heavy, dark gold armor and studded with menacing bone spurs emerged from the rift!

This claw alone was larger than an entire Red Armor Commander!

Its sharp talons easily tore through the spatial barrier at the rift’s edge, causing the rift to expand once more!

"It’s a Grand Commander! A Golden Armor Grand Commander!" a Martial Artist shouted in despair.

The Golden Armor Grand Commander, equivalent to a level 40 or higher Innate Martial Artist of the Human Race, was the most powerful being a Secondary Rift could sustain!

Once it fully descended, no one in the entire war zone would be able to stop it!

Several Martial Artists attacked simultaneously, bombarding the giant claw with all sorts of attacks, yet they only managed to leave faint white marks on its armor.

The giant claw continued to tear at the rift, which had already expanded to fifteen meters long and three meters wide!

Just as the Golden Armor Grand Commander was about to squeeze through—

"Vile beast!"

A cold shout seemed to forcibly tear through space from a great distance.

Immediately after, a streak of pure white sword light tore through the night sky, slashing toward the dark gold claw.

The sword light was incomparably sharp, carrying a razor-sharp Intention to sever all things.

"TSSSH—!"

The sword light precisely struck the giant claw’s wrist. The heavy, dark gold armor was cut open, and blood sprayed out.

However, the strike failed to sever the giant claw completely with unstoppable momentum!

A roar of pain and fury came from the depths of the rift. The giant claw, though hurt, did not retreat. Instead, the intense pain triggered its ferocity, and it began to tear at the rift even more frantically!

Only then did a white figure solidify in mid-air.

It was a man in his thirties, dressed in a white training uniform. He should have had a remarkable bearing, but his face was unnaturally pale.

He hovered diagonally above the rift, his right hand held in a sword-finger gesture, maintaining the posture of his attack. His chest rose and fell slightly, his breathing more rapid than one would expect.

"First Senior Brother!" another person exclaimed, their voice tense.

Xu Wuyi turned to look and immediately recognized him. During the three-school joint exam, this was the man who had been Su Yueling’s "proctor"—in reality, her Fourth Senior Brother.

He flashed forward, appearing behind and to the side of the white-robed man. His gaze quickly swept over his First Senior Brother’s pale face, but he seemed hesitant to speak.

The newcomer was none other than Grandmaster Ren Bai’s head disciple, the Innate Martial Artist Tang Xiuqi.

Tang Xiuqi seemed not to have heard his Fourth Junior Brother’s call. His entire Spirit was locked onto the still-struggling giant claw.

His eyes narrowed, and a trace of resolve flashed across his pale face. He abruptly raised his left hand, which had been resting at his side, brought two fingers together, and pointed from a distance.

"Break!"

He uttered a single word, his tone higher than before, faintly ringing with a metallic sound.

The pure white sword light, lodged in the giant claw’s bones, suddenly erupted a second time. It blazed brightly as countless finer strands of Sword Qi burst forth from within, completing the final cut!

"ROAR—!!!"

The roar from the rift’s depths was now tinged with shock and rage.

"CRACK!"

A horrifying, grating sound of snapping bone finally rang out.

The enormous dark gold claw was completely severed at the wrist. It plummeted to the ground with a thunderous crash, gouging out a deep crater.

The gushing dark gold blood and violent Energy from the stump were sealed tight by the residual white Sword Qi, forced back into the rift.

Tang Xiuqi’s figure swayed almost imperceptibly in the air before he forced himself steady.

His face seemed a shade paler, but his gaze remained as sharp as ever.

He no longer looked at the severed claw. His fingers, stained with the Star Beast’s blood, once again traced patterns in the air. Dozens of Sword Qi runes rapidly formed and shot into the rift’s edge.

"Seal!"

He let out a low shout. As the final rune fell into place, a tiny bead of sweat seemed to form on his temple, only to be instantly vaporized by the residual Sword Qi around him. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The violently fluctuating rift, which had been on the verge of expanding again, was suddenly halted as if seized by a great, invisible hand. It began to slowly contract, though the process was slow and the light at its edges flickered, indicating it was unstable.

After all this, Tang Xiuqi slowly descended, landing on the ground.

His posture was still upright, but his pale complexion was especially clear under the gradually brightening dawn sky.

The Fourth Senior Brother immediately drew close, his voice low and rapid. "First Senior Brother, why are you here... What about the ’Profound Abyssal Rift’?"

"It’s fine for now. Master ordered me to come at once," the white-robed man’s voice was steady, but held a barely perceptible hoarseness. "This rift is unstable. Someone needs to stand guard for a while to prevent a relapse."

Only then did he raise his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the ravaged battlefield and pausing on Xu Wuyi for a moment.

His gaze was clear and sharp, as if it could pierce through all illusion, but Xu Wuyi could sense an unconcealable exhaustion hidden in its depths.

The Fourth Senior Brother followed his gaze to Xu Wuyi, a complicated expression on his face. He said in a low voice, "First Senior Brother, that’s Xu Wuyi. Last year’s joint exam..."

"Mm," Tang Xiuqi nodded slightly, cutting his Fourth Junior Brother off. His voice was flat. "I see. His foundation is well-polished... I didn’t expect someone like him to be among our Junior Sister’s peers."

His assessment was brief, betraying little emotion, but for him to even comment that it was "well-polished" was a form of acknowledgment in itself.

However, after saying this, he withdrew his gaze and turned his attention back to the still-trembling rift, his brow furrowed slightly.

Seeing this, the Fourth Senior Brother swallowed the rest of his words and stood guard by his First Senior Brother’s side, on full alert for any potential disturbances.