Chapter 22: A Single Stroke to Kill

The martial contest on the stage was to be decided by the best of three rounds. Jun Zhantian’s defeat of Ji Yuntian had only earned him one victory. Only another win would secure true triumph.

Now, with Xu Huanhu unable to fight and Ji Yuntian gravely injured and defeated, only Ye Tiande remained.

With Jun Zhantian’s blade pointed at him, Ye Tiande’s expression darkened considerably. He was the very image of a smiling tiger, skilled in backhanded schemes and averse to direct confrontation. Yet at this moment, he had no choice but to step forward.

Ji Yuntian had already fallen. Should he lose again, it would not only be a matter of lost face—what would truly pain him were the losses in profit. The stakes of this martial contest were enormous assets, including many belonging to the Ye family.

Moreover, if he shrank back now, he would surely offend Ji Yuntian. Having already fallen out with the Jun family, to offend the Ji family as well would leave the Ye family with no place to stand in all of Jiangning City.

“The Ji family still has Ji Qingchen, but my Ye family has no heirs left. I cannot withdraw from this battle,” Ye Tiande weighed his options, then gritted his teeth and mounted the stage.

“A fence-sitter is doomed to a bad end!” Jun Wushuang sneered, seeing straight through Ye Tiande’s nature.

He had no concern for his father’s safety. With the strength of the first realm of the Divine Sea Stage, coupled with the immense spiritual energy of the Primordial Infinity Technique, his father could sweep aside the heads of both rival families. Once his father broke through to the fourth realm, he could even best Xu Huanhu in a direct fight.

The Primordial Infinity Technique was a divine-level martial art—defeating another of the same rank was utterly within its power.

“Master Ye, don’t give him a chance to recover. The fate of both our families rests on this battle!” Ji Yuntian, having taken a healing pill to steady his injuries, quickly called out to remind Ye Tiande.

He had already lost once. They could not afford another defeat.

Ye Tiande nodded. He too knew he could not allow Jun Zhantian any time to recover.

With a swift motion, Ye Tiande drew a pill from his storage ring.

“Raging Spirit Pill!”

The crowd gasped, shocked that Ye Tiande was resorting to such desperate measures from the outset.

This was a high-grade spiritual pill, precious and potent, famed for its explosive effects—temporarily unleashing a surge of power far beyond the user’s norm.

But the aftereffects were severe; anyone who took it would be left feeble for three months.

This was Ye Tiande’s trump card.

Yet now, to defeat Jun Zhantian, he did not hesitate to swallow it and absorb its power.

A violent aura erupted from within him like a storm, its fury so palpable it made all who felt it pale.

Empowered by the Raging Spirit Pill, Ye Tiande’s strength soared to the very threshold of the Divine Sea Stage. Lacking only spiritual force, he was otherwise nearly equal to a first-realm Divine Sea cultivator.

But Jun Zhantian, who cultivated the Primordial Infinity Technique, wielded spiritual energy far surpassing his peers—Ye Tiande was still no match for him.

Ye Tiande then drew a slender sword—also a high-grade spiritual weapon, thin as a willow branch, incredibly flexible.

He fixed his gaze on Jun Zhantian. Jun Zhantian, having reached the Divine Sea Stage and just bested Ji Yuntian, was indisputably formidable—no longer someone Ye Tiande could hope to rival.

His only hope lay in attacking with everything he had before Jun Zhantian could recover, gambling everything on a single desperate strike.

He dared not be careless. He could only fight with all his might.

“Advanced Profound Technique: Raging Rain Rhinoceros Sword!”

The aura of the ninth level of the Myriad Phenomena Stage burst forth, wild spiritual energy flaring out in every direction. As his slender sword thrust out, spiritual energy followed.

In an instant, the onlookers saw a flash of sword-light. The strike was simple, direct, like rain falling from the sky.

Ye Tiande’s sword style pursued speed, accuracy, and ferocity. Now the stage was shrouded in sword-light, as sharp and dense as a rainstorm, hundreds of blades enveloping Jun Zhantian.

Such a strike could skewer any martial artist of the Myriad Phenomena Stage—one blow, certain death.

But Jun Zhantian was a powerhouse of the Divine Sea Stage.

Could this sword truly defeat him?

“Ye Tiande, kill him, you must kill him!” Ji Yuntian’s fists clenched, his pale face twisted with fury, his eyes burning with hatred and wrath.

All his hopes were pinned on Ye Tiande.

Beside him, Xu Huanhu watched the stage with a heavy expression, eyes never wavering. Having boarded the Ji family’s pirate ship, he could only press on to the end. He too wished for Jun Zhantian’s defeat.

“Young master, they’re shameless, not even letting the head of the house rest,” Lin Mengyao protested anxiously to Jun Wushuang.

“Don’t worry. Father will be fine,” Jun Wushuang reassured her.

Despite his father’s series of battles, Jun Wushuang had no fear. The Primordial Infinity Technique was not to be underestimated. Moreover, he observed with his Violet Demon Eyes, confirming his father’s condition had hardly declined.

Ye Tiande, for all his Raging Spirit Pill, was no true threat.

Meanwhile, the crowd held their breath, eyes riveted on the stage.

They too wanted to see if Ye Tiande, empowered by the pill, could overcome Jun Zhantian.

“Trash is still trash—even with a spirit pill, you remain trash!” Jun Zhantian scoffed, never taking Ye Tiande seriously. Grasping his battle blade, he swung it in a single, decisive stroke.

A sharp clatter filled the air as the overwhelming blade aura swept across the stage, shattering the rain of sword-light.

At that moment, Jun Zhantian surged forward like a cannonball, tearing through the air towards Ye Tiande.

A wave of terror crashed over Ye Tiande. He wanted to evade, but Jun Zhantian was too fast. Gritting his teeth, Ye Tiande poured all his spiritual power into his slender sword, bracing for the assault.

A resounding crash. The battle blade struck the slender sword, cleaving it in two; the fragments clattered to the floor.

Ye Tiande’s plump body was sent hurtling backward as if struck by a wild beast, his feet gouging deep grooves in the stage over ten meters long.

Blood gushed from his lips, painting the stage red.

Barely had Ye Tiande caught his breath when Jun Zhantian was upon him again.

“Advanced Profound Technique: Sundering Mountains and Rivers!”

An earth-shattering slash.

The sight of it turned Ye Tiande’s face ashen, as if Death himself had come to claim him.

“Kill!” With nowhere left to retreat, Ye Tiande summoned all his spiritual energy and met the blade with his broken sword.

Another tremendous crash.

The shattered sword was sundered anew.

Ye Tiande felt as if a mountain had fallen upon him. He tried to move, but his feet would not obey.

“I yield—” Ye Tiande cried out, hoping to imitate Ji Yuntian’s surrender.

But in Jun Zhantian’s eyes, murderous intent blazed.

The battle blade howled as it fell, irresistible as a flood, cleaving Ye Tiande’s body.

Blood sprayed in all directions. The corpse collapsed to the ground.

With that one stroke, not only was the sword broken—Ye Tiande was split in two.

A single blow had ended Ye Tiande’s life.

The entire arena was struck dumb with horror.