The Severed Blade and the Shadow Sect’s Intervention

Although those in the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment stages are not yet able to display powerful magical powers, their speed and physical strength have already far surpassed those of ordinary people by many times.

The assassin took advantage of the moment when Li Tianliang was distracted, tapped the ground with his toes, and shot out like an arrow.

The dagger in their hand, imbued with chilling intent, shot straight for Li Tianliang’s throat.

Reacting with astonishing speed, Li Tianliang tilted his neck slightly, allowing the dagger to graze his skin, leaving a crimson trail.

Seizing the momentum, he twisted his body sideways and stomped his right foot forcefully onto the ground.

The ground instantly fractured beneath him, and leveraging this recoil, he surged forward like a phantom.

The greatsword, gleaming coldly in his grasp, carved a crescent arc through the air, aiming directly for the assassin’s shoulder.

This strike was immensely powerful and heavy, causing subtle ripples to appear in the air.

Upon seeing this, the assassin’s form abruptly twisted in mid-air, light as a fallen leaf in the wind, expertly evading the fierce attack.

The greatsword slammed into a nearby stone pillar with a resounding clang, sending sparks flying.

A deep gash was left carved into the pillar.

Capitalizing on the moment Li Tianliang’s old strength had waned and new power had yet to surge, the assassin pushed off the stone pillar with their toes, launching another assault.

The dagger in their hand darted out like a nimble viper, striking towards Li Tianliang’s abdomen.

Li Tianliang let out a cold snort, his left hand shooting out to clamp the dagger’s tip between two fingers as if they were iron tongs.

With a forceful flick of his wrist, he knocked the assassin’s dagger aside, simultaneously clenching his right fist and unleashing it like a cannonball towards the assassin’s chest.

Unable to dodge, the assassin crossed their arms, shielding their chest.

A muffled thud echoed.

The punch landed with crushing force on the assassin’s arms.

The assassin felt their arms go numb, as if their bones were about to shatter from the impact.

They were sent flying backward like a kite with a snapped string, sliding several yards across the ground before finally managing to regain their footing.

Li Tianliang would certainly not let such a golden opportunity slip away.

Before the assassin could fully recover their posture, he unleashed a fierce palm strike in their direction.

This palm strike was incredibly potent and heavy, imbued with the immense power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, creating visible ripples in the air as if a towering mountain were bearing down.

The strike landed directly on the assassin’s vulnerable lower abdomen.

Struck squarely by the attack, the assassin grunted several times, then was sent flying backward like a kite with a snapped string, crashing heavily into the adjacent wall.

With a thunderous crash, spiderweb-like cracks spread across the wall, sending bricks and stones tumbling down and kicking up a cloud of dust.

For a moment, the assassin was in such agony they could barely open half an eye.

They tried to quickly rise and assume a defensive stance, but the excruciating pain near their ribs felt like a thousand steel needles piercing them.

After several attempts, they found themselves utterly unable to stand.

“Hahahaha!”

Den Leader Li Tianliang burst into boisterous laughter.

In this moment, he felt as though he had trampled the Shadow Sect he once admired beneath his feet, freely humiliating them.

The past, after all, was merely the past.

“Can’t get up, can you, you mere Qi Condensation brat? Do you know how many bloody battles I, Li Tianliang, endured, how many corpses I stepped over to reach the Foundation Establishment stage?!”

“A mere Shadow Sect assassin dares to contend with me?”

“Prepare to die! I will not grant you a single moment to catch your breath.”

Li Tianliang showed no leniency, refusing to give his opponent even a sliver of respite despite his dominant position.

He gripped his greatsword tightly with both hands once more, stepping forward with unstoppable momentum, pointing it at the assassin, and raising the sharp Profound Iron Blade high above his head.

The blade glinted coldly in the moonlight, a reaper’s scythe poised to claim a life.

The muscle and bone strength of a Qi Condensation cultivator could simply not withstand the power of a Profound Iron blade.

Should this single strike cleave down towards their head, with their meager Qi Condensation cultivation, their skull would undoubtedly be shattered.

“Hmph!”

Li Tianliang roared, his voice echoing through the night sky, as the assassin raised their arms in a futile attempt to block, an act as hopeless as a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot.

“Whoosh!”

As the sound of the blade slicing through the air rang out, Li Tianliang froze instantly.

‘Why?’

‘Why had he not felt the sensation of the blade cleaving through flesh and bone?’

Li Tianliang initially thought he had missed, but immediately dismissed the notion.

As a Foundation Establishment Demonic Path cultivator who had endured countless life-or-death battles, how could he possibly miss someone who couldn’t even move!

Li Tianliang raised his Profound Iron Blade again, preparing to strike once more, but then he instantly detected something amiss.

The problem wasn’t with the assassin; it was with his own blade!

‘The blade… had it become lighter?’

A shock ran through him as he abruptly looked at the blade in his hand.

The blade that had moments ago been incredibly sharp and gleaming with a cold light was now merely half a hilt.

The severed hilt felt jarringly out of place in his hand, mercilessly mocking his incompetence.

Moonlight illuminated Li Tianliang’s face, highlighting his terrified and disbelieving expression; the muscles in his face twitched slightly from fear, as he utterly failed to comprehend what had just transpired.

“Are you Li Tianliang?”

The speaker’s tone was as cold as ice, their voice like millennia-old frozen snow from the depths of a ten-thousand-foot abyss.

Merely being near them evoked a bone-chilling cold that seemed capable of freezing all things in the world.

“Heh, interesting.”

“According to our sect’s records, decades ago, the Shadow Sect saved your life, yet you unexpectedly fell to the Demonic Path, bringing calamity to this region, and now you have even provoked the Xuantian Dao Sect.”

“You… are you truly members of the Shadow Sect?”

This time, Li Tianliang was genuinely terrified to his core.

Compared to his previous fear, an unprecedented chill now shot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head, causing his body to tremble uncontrollably.

“How is this possible? How did you find me so quickly?!”

He stumbled back several steps, finally discerning another motionless figure standing beside where the assassin had been.

The individual’s aura was so expertly concealed that even Li Tianliang had failed to notice them until now.

‘Could it be… that person had been observing the entire time, ever since the assassin first ambushed him?’

‘No… perhaps from the moment he stepped into this place, the other party had already been secretly watching!’

Li Tianliang instantly broke into a cold sweat; his back was already drenched as if he had just been pulled from water.

Having just been preparing to escape through the back door, he was utterly defenseless.

‘If this person were to seize the opportunity to strike, he would surely die!’