The strike had come precisely when Lu Yun’s strength was spent, right before he could recover. But he remained vigilant nonetheless, so the sneak attack from Sword Divine merely grazed past his left shoulder before landing on the Sovereign Arena, almost cleaving the giant edifice in two.

Blood flowed down Lu Yun’s left arm, and inside Jadeite Manor, a sinister wound likewise appeared on the left shoulder of Lu Yun’s real body.

“What’s the matter! Where did that sword light come from?!” shouted the immortals in Destiny City, including origin dao immortals. They hadn’t seen the attacker at all, nor could they tell where the sword light originated from.

“There’s a really formidable powerhouse inside the arena. We can’t even see him!” Cold wracked the bodies of the already-eliminated cultivators as shivers coursed down their spines.

……

Lu Yun turned his head to the left and observed the painful wound on his shoulder, surprised to find out he couldn’t immediately heal the damage with his current ability. Clearly, his true body had also been wounded.

The Sword Atlas appeared once again in a multicolored cloud of light that curled around him,  a dense legion of illusory swords forming an impenetrable shield all around him.

Sword Divine slowly came into view. His figure was shrouded in hazy shadows that hid his true appearance. By comparison, the sword in his hand seemed exceptionally clear: the Sword of Chaos.

“I warned you not to meddle in my affairs.” Somewhat hoarse, Sword Divine’s voice had obviously been muffled on purpose to hide his identity. “But you chose to interfere anyway, so I must get rid of you.”

As his voice fell, he started moving once again.

Like a living thing, the Sword of Chaos streaked across the sky and hacked at Lu Yun. The Dusk lord’s eyes narrowed as he cried out despite himself, “Simplicity is the essence of dao! An attack that contains the greatest of dao itself, who on earth are you?!”

Simplicity was the essence of dao!

The same concept had been showcased by the long-haired black monster standing on the path of cultivation and preventing cultivators from entering the void realm!

However, from what Lu Yun knew, a weapon of dao was also required to perfectly execute such an attack. In the absence of said weapon, Lu Yun himself could at most blend the power of the great dao into his own sword technique in a pale imitation.

Yet Sword Divine had unleashed a perfect version of it!

Although thoroughly aghast, Lu Yun reacted at lightning speed. The moment the sword strike was about to land on him, the Sword Atlas curling around him fashioned a sword formation to block the incoming attack.

One couldn’t use supplemental daos in the Sovereign Arena, but Lu Yun’s sword formation had evolved into an authentic combat art in its own right.

Boom!

Carrying with it the essence of dao, the Sword of Chaos struck the Sword Atlas and instantly shattered it!

The sword slash lost none of its momentum in the process. It crashed heavily onto Lu Yun’s chest and sent him flying far away, an arc of spewed blood trailing behind him.

“This is all you amount to,” sneered Sword Divine. His figure suddenly vanished. By the time he reappeared, he was already standing in front of Lu Yun, his sword poised to stab down.

“Master!!” Silver radiance suddenly flashed across the sky as Yuan Tong’s giant frame landed in front of Lu Yun, a giant shield shaped like a turtle shell in its hand.

Yuan Tong and the Silvermoon Wolfking had been keeping a close eye on Lu Yun’s fight. While they couldn’t see Sword Divine, they could feel the terrible sword intent, so Yuan Tong had sprung into action the moment it’d seen the young man sent flying.

It was calling upon the full might of its Scarlet Ape bloodline; the giant shield refined through shamanic arts flickered with rays of blood-red light as it clamped protectively over Lu Yun.

Boom!!!

At the same time, a sword slash landed heavily on the shield. Blood overflowed from Yuan Tong’s mouth and its vitality decreased at an alarming rate, but there was a gleam of satisfaction in its eyes. 

“In this world, only two have ever treated me well and given me a sense of self-worth. One is the Wolfking, and the other my master…” it murmured even as its vision began to blur.

“To think I’d die like this. I… really am dying,” it uttered, conjuring the last of its strength. 

“You’re not going to die.” Lu Yun quickly pressed his hands on the gorilla’s chest, forcing its elimination a split second before the Sword of Chaos could land the killing blow. Then, he took the giant shield and hid behind it. Flung into the air again by the terrifying counterforce from the impact, he landed heavily on the ground. 

This time around, he too had suffered critical damage. Countless bones in his body were shattered and he was almost completely immobilized.

……

“I’m still alive!” Yuan Tong lay bonelessly on the ground like a bag filled with rags. Although its wounds were heavy, its life had been saved. And thanks to a pill Scarlet Ape fed it, it quickly recovered from the worst of its injuries.

“Did you see who the attacker was?” Scarlet Ape asked. Beside them, Lu Yun’s body was also dyed a bloody crimson. Although Ge Long was tirelessly providing first aid, the young man’s wounds couldn’t be mended before his return.

“Master called him Sword Divine, but I couldn’t see him.” Yuan Tong shook its head.

The next moment, Silverblaze also regained consciousness with a wry smile on her lips.

She hadn’t been wounded; instead, she’d been eliminated by Qing Han’s sword. Her mistress had obviously been worried she’d follow in Yuan Tong’s footsteps. The two of them had eliminated quite a few cultivators in the arena, so they’d earned ample rewards.

“To think humans would protect monster spirits… Strange, how truly strange.” Scarlet Ape looked at the distant Lu Yun in the arena, its eyes filled with incredulity. This would’ve been utterly unfathomable back in its own era.

When Yuan Tong had taken the blow for Lu Yun just then, it would’ve been easy for the young man to use this occurrence to escape completely unharmed.

But he hadn’t done so. Instead, he’d struck Yuan Tong and sent him out. It was this very palm strike that’d caused him to miss the most optimal timing to dodge the incoming attack and condemned him to suffer the blow from the Sword of Chaos in full, leading to heavy injuries.

……

“Sidekick isn’t invincible, it seems. At the very least, the invisible powerhouse can kill him!” Countless immortals cheered when they saw Lu Yun get wounded. He hadn’t eliminated many people, but each of them had been a matchless genius from one of the top clans. By now, he’d offended all of the factions standing behind the ten lords.

More importantly, he’d skinned quite a few powerhouses and refined their bones into shamanic weapons. While those cultivators hadn’t truly died, they’d gone through the very real experience of feeling their skins peeled off and their bones ripped away.

“Just now, I saw him betray the silverback gorilla that tried to help him…”

“Whatever the case may be, the Sovereign Ranking battle will return to normal after he’s out.”

“What a shitstirrer!”

……

Meanwhile, Lu Yun lay on the ground. The giant shield had landed not far away from him, and Sword Divine was presently standing beside him. He could feel eerie two beams of murderous intent shooting out of the blurry face and stabbing viciously into him.

“I’m going to die anyway, so before I do, let me see who you really are.” Lu Yun heaved a helpless sigh.

“A soon-to-be ghost doesn’t need to know that.” Sword Divine didn’t fall for it, lifting his sword instead and stabbing right at Lu Yun’s forehead.