That slash of the saber was incomparably brilliant.

So brilliant it blinded the eye, brilliant like the blazing sun, making anyone who saw this slash feel their eyes sting.

In that instant,

It was as if a tide surged forth behind Gu Zhan, raging and terrifying,

In that instant,

It was as if the four seas converged,

When the saber fell,

It was like a sea overturning.

The Floating Feather Sword Array shattered in an instant; the manor’s gate crumbled in an instant; stone walls collapsed, dust billowed across the sky.

Liu Ziyuan was suddenly startled,

He retreated swiftly, his figure floating like a falling leaf, drifting into the manor engulfed in roaring flames. In the next moment, he descended from the sky, grasping a green long sword, charging at Gu Zhan,

That sword strike—so light,

But that sword strike was incredibly fast,

Gu Zhan could only barely withdraw his saber to block,

The tip of the green long sword pierced the blade of Horizontal Saber,

"Clang"—a soft ringing sound,

Gu Zhan’s body veered from the ground, flying back,

Liu Ziyuan followed closely, his sword transforming into thousands of shadows, truly like late autumn winds sweeping up countless leaves—chaotic yet meticulous. For the moment, Gu Zhan could only defend, unable to break through.

"Gu Zhan, you are indeed strong, so much so that I cannot deal with you now. But, I am a Celestial Destiny Realm great cultivator; if you have not entered Celestial Destiny, you simply do not understand the mysteries of this realm. It’s true I cannot defeat you, but neither can you slay me,

I may not be able to kill you, but you cannot kill me. Because if you cannot kill me, that means you have lost!"

The Floating Feather Sword Technique is one of the Liu Family’s absolute techniques,

This sword technique values unpredictability,

And the cultivation of Celestial Destiny Realm can bring its strange qualities to the extreme.

Because Celestial Destiny Realm cultivators, compared to ordinary great cultivators, possess the most wonderful ability—knowing the Great Dao and knowing Celestial Destiny.

Knowing the Great Dao is self-awareness of the will,

While knowing Celestial Destiny is an ability—crudely put, knowing fortune and misfortune, knowing auspiciousness and calamity.

Upon knowing the Great Dao, one gains especially keen perception toward the universe, thus knowing Celestial Destiny, able to predict fortune and misfortune, and discerning the rise and fall of heaven and earth primordial qi.

In battle,

One can foresee danger and evade ahead of time.

This is why Gu Zhan spent so long luring—akin to ambushing—using the ultimate move of Four Seas Unification Blade Technique, yet Liu Ziyuan still evaded it with ease.

Gu Zhan’s slash could have wounded or even killed Liu Ziyuan, but precisely because of Celestial Destiny Realm’s abilities, Liu Ziyuan foresaw the danger—he evaded before the Floating Feather Sword Array even broke,

Which resulted in Gu Zhan’s strike landing empty,

Relying on foreknowledge, Liu Ziyuan charged up a sword strike in advance and again seized the advantage, forcing Gu Zhan onto the defensive.

Sword qi roiled,

Gu Zhan fought as he retreated, seeking an opportunity to counterattack, but could not find one at all.

Liu Ziyuan’s sword erupted with shadow after shadow, impenetrable, flawless. Even if a flaw occasionally appeared, he gave Gu Zhan no chance to strike back, relying on his Celestial Destiny awareness; he always remedied vulnerabilities in time.

"Gu Zhan, you’ve lost!"

Liu Ziyuan spoke as he kept attacking: "I can make many mistakes, but you cannot make even one.

I know your defensive martial arts are profound, perhaps you can stalemate me forever, but your Embroidered Uniform Guards can’t, the Gu Family followers can’t; they won’t hold off for long."

Gu Zhan swung his Horizontal Saber fiercely, eyes cold. "You sure talk a lot. Are you afraid?"

"Fear? Not so. Just wary," Liu Ziyuan said. "After all, you’re a Celestial Pride List elite. Naturally, I must be cautious. If I were you, I’d be thinking about escaping right now—if you miss your window, you’ll have little hope to flee!"

Gu Zhan snorted coldly, suddenly slashing—a surge of saber qi swept the sky like a tidal wave!

"What reason do I have to fear you!"

Liu Ziyuan’s sword erupted with dazzling divine radiance, all his true essence gathered in this strike, but condensed without dispersing; in the blink of an eye, sword qi shot up to the heavens—this sword seemed able to shatter mountains, sever rivers, its sword intent astounding,

In an instant, heaven and earth primordial qi surged wildly,

Countless sword qi transformed into thin blades, pouring forth like torrential rain.

Gu Zhan advanced against the threatening sword strike, his body’s golden light surged even more; at last, his whole form was wrapped in golden radiance, manifesting a golden gang shield, withstanding the endless sword rain head-on.

Yet within that gold light, Gu Zhan’s figure stood tall, continually parrying with the Horizontal Saber.

Liu Ziyuan spoke coldly: "Do you still think I should fear you? Gu Zhan, you overestimate yourself. Guard too long and you will lose—let’s see how long you can defend, or rather, how long your Embroidered Uniform Guards can still hold out, and how long you can endure?"

Gu Zhan’s expression darkened. He quietly tilted his head to glance aside,

Sure enough, the Embroidered Uniform Guards, after fierce battle, had already been forced onto the back foot; even the Gu Family disciples suffered heavy losses—Gu Fengwei and Gu Mo both injured. The situation looked grim.

At that very moment,

Liu Ziyuan’s face twisted into a cold smile. He suddenly withdrew his assault, his figure vanished, transforming into lingering shadows, appearing behind Gu Zhan,

In that fraction of a second,

Heaven and earth primordial qi surged wildly; streaks of flowing sword qi swept the land like gusts over withered leaves—a sword came from within the mass,

This sword seemed to steal all brilliance from heaven and earth, all natural fortune within creation.

In that instant,

Gu Zhan spun in alarm, hastily swung his Horizontal Saber,

That slash, too, was dazzling,

But facing the endless sword, it seemed somewhat inferior,

One sword directly severed the Horizontal Saber,

"Clang"—

The Broken Saber scattered as a streak of light, thrown aside,

Yet the green long sword still advanced, piercing through the first layer of Creation Golden Body defense, shattering the gang shield, thrusting toward Gu Zhan’s throat,

Gu Zhan suddenly thrust out his palm,

His whole body’s true essence manifested Creation Golden Body—a palm like the golden hand of a temple deity, heavy and sacred, placed before the sword tip.

"Clang!"

A fierce clash of metal rang throughout the land,

Liu Ziyuan made a spell gesture, pointing at the sword hilt,

In that moment, strange rune patterns burst forth with radiance upon the green sword, mystical light coursing along the lines,

Instantly, terrifying sword intent pierced Gu Zhan’s Golden Hand, 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Creation Golden Body shattered,

Blood spilled out in a haze,

Gu Zhan clenched his fist, gripping the long sword tightly.

Liu Ziyuan let out a faint laugh. "I told you, you don’t get a single mistake. Eventually, you revealed a flaw. Gu Zhan, you—"

Gu Zhan snorted, his mind sounding with the system’s prompt:

[Spend 1 million Experience Points]

[Frost Ice Finger upgraded to Great Success Realm]

...

In that instant,

Liu Ziyuan’s brow furrowed sharply, his heart gave a sudden jolt,

He foresaw a thread of looming crisis,

Yet he couldn’t fathom what crisis could come now,

His study of Gu Zhan was thorough,

Especially Gu Zhan’s famous battle—Lingxi Mountain,

In that battle,

Gu Zhan played all his trumps,

Thus, Liu had been ever on guard,

Against that powerful defensive martial arts, terrifying saber technique, mysterious flying knife skill, as well as Lingxi Sword and Wangchuan Swordsmanship of Lingxi Sword Sect,

He was vigilant against all of them,

And now, Gu Zhan had shown all his cards,

Liu Ziyuan just couldn’t figure out what crisis remained,

Still, he didn’t hesitate—immediately prepared to abandon this best chance to kill Gu Zhan,

Though now, it seemed but one step from success,

Liu Ziyuan stopped, retracting his sword in an instant,

Yet—

Just as he drew back, sudden change erupted,

The world abruptly grew cold,

Gu Zhan abruptly pinched his sword between two fingers,

And in an instant, thick frost enveloped the blade, morphing into a layer of ice in the blink of an eye.

"Crack!" "Crack!" "..."

The sound of ice forming echoed out,

The long sword was completely frozen,

Liu Ziyuan was aghast, about to abandon his sword, but the freezing was so swift that it traveled up the blade, trapping his arm together,

In that moment, he failed to let go,

At once, he urgently surged his true essence,

"Boom"—

The ice shattered instantly, he dropped the sword and retreated,

Gu Zhan, from afar, pointed a finger!