Chapter 2473: The Last Cut!

Winds Rise Across the Nine Provinces

Winds Rise Across the Nine Provinces

But as this thought crossed his mind, Lu Ye suddenly realized a problem: Had Ba Qiu truly missed?

For a powerful figure like him, if he intended to kill Lu Ye, there would be no chance of a miss. Even if Lu Ye's strength far surpassed that of an ordinary Dao Integration cultivator, it was nothing before Ba Qiu, who commanded the Harmonious Dao City.

But if he wasn't trying to kill him, then why did he do that?

Before he could fully grasp the key, a surge of energy locked onto him. Lu Ye raised his crimson eyes, seeing Pelling charging fiercely towards him.

He immediately thought of the bald Divination Clan member.

He had originally paid no mind to their divination abilities, but now he was starting to believe.

Indeed, a great life-or-death crisis lay in this direction. This crisis was not from Ba Qiu, but from Pelling of Hundred Battles City, whom he had initially disregarded!

Under the sealing power of Ba Qiu's Dao Soldiers, even with the enhancement of the Crag Blade, he could only unleash less than two hundred and eighty 'daos' of power. This strength was clearly inferior to Pelling's.

Pelling undoubtedly knew this was a prime opportunity to take advantage of the situation and was unwilling to miss it.

However, for Lu Ye, this was also an opportunity. His original plan was to quickly deal with Pelling, seize his artifact, and hand it over to the Battle Arena for processing. Afterwards, if the Battle Arena arranged a suitable death match for him, he could naturally assist Liao.

Now, it seemed he wouldn't need to go through all that trouble.

Compared to a death match in the Battle Arena, he didn't even need to deliberately suppress his strength now, because his current usable power was limited to this extent!

This was truly a fight where he had to exert his full strength.

Slightly rousing his power and suppressing the churning blood in his chest, Lu Ye slowly drew the Crag Blade from his waist. Facing the murderous Pelling, he did not retreat but instead advanced to meet him.

Pelling was startled at this sight. He had suffered at Lu Ye's hands before and thought that after taking a blow from Ba Qiu, it would be a good chance for revenge. To his surprise, Lu Ye showed no fear at all.

Was he not injured? Impossible. Pelling had witnessed Lu Ye's miserable state just now; how could he not be injured?

If he was injured, then he must be putting on a brave front!

With that thought, Pelling's gaze became much more resolute. In an instant, the two figures closed in on each other, a silver spear like a dragon, and a long blade slashing horizontally.

In a single clash, Lu Ye's Crag Blade swept upwards, his tiger's mouth (the web between thumb and forefinger) split open, and blood splattered. Pelling's slight unease vanished, for in this exchange of power, he clearly had the upper hand!

Seizing the advantage, his spear thrusts suddenly descended like a torrential rain, enveloping Lu Ye's entire body.

Lu Ye's long blade also danced impenetrably, his well-honed blade techniques, forged through countless trials, were displayed to their fullest extent at this moment.

Unlike the previous death match in the Battle Arena, where he could still unleash his true strength to resolve a life-threatening situation, this time was different. If he failed this time, he would truly die, and Pelling would show him no mercy.

The two figures moved swiftly, each giving their all. Blade glints and spear shadows fiercely clashed.

In just a moment, both Lu Ye and Pelling were covered in wounds, their clothes stained crimson with blood.

Their struggle, in fact, had an unavoidable flaw: their own defensive power could not withstand the opponent's offensive power!

Whether it was Lu Ye, Pelling, or other Dao Integration cultivators, no matter how strong they were, without defensive Dao Soldiers, their protective Dao power would at most be two hundred 'daos.' However, their current offensive power exceeded this level.

In such a battle, activating Dao power to protect oneself actually held little meaning. Thus, both Pelling and Lu Ye abandoned self-defense and went all out on offense.

Though Pelling had previously been chased by Lu Ye like a panicked dog, that was due to a vast disparity in strength. He was, after all, from Hundred Battles City and held the title of Son of the Star Abyss. On the Dao Integration level, those stronger than him were few and far between. Now, truly unleashing his strength, even Lu Ye found him incredibly difficult to handle.

Moreover, Lu Ye's current strength was inferior, so he had been at a disadvantage since the beginning of the fight.

Pelling, on the other hand, maintained a steady pace in his offense, gradually accumulating his advantage, intending to convert it into a winning position. His combat techniques were no less refined than Lu Ye's.

As time passed, Lu Ye's injuries were clearly far more numerous than Pelling's, and his disadvantage grew increasingly significant!

Pelling seemed to envision himself slaying Lu Ye and claiming final victory, and his offensive suddenly became much more ferocious in that instant.

Lu Ye had been waiting for this very moment!

Almost the instant Pelling's offensive shifted, Lu Ye sharply vibrated the Crag Blade in his hand.

Pelling's movements suddenly stiffened for a moment, and his suppressed wounds simultaneously burst open. Normally, such a disturbance would be nothing to him, merely flesh wounds. But at this moment, in a life-and-death struggle, any external influence was enough to turn the tide of battle.

That momentary stiffness allowed Lu Ye to seize an opportunity. The Crag Blade slashed horizontally, and the blade's light instantly became extraordinarily bright.

Pelling was greatly alarmed and quickly tried to block the strike with his silver spear held horizontally in front of him, but ultimately, he was half a beat too slow.

His heart trembled as he realized he might die here, filled with immense unwillingness.

Yet, at this critical moment, Lu Ye seemed to run out of momentum, and the strike he unleashed paused slightly.

Just as Lu Ye could precisely seize his mistakes, he too, at that instant, caught Lu Ye's lapse. The silver spear blocked the fatal blade strike at the crucial moment. Not only that, he also used the momentum to lash out with his spear, sending Lu Ye flying.

Without any pause, he pursued fiercely. The situation Lu Ye had painstakingly salvaged vanished, becoming even more perilous. The Crag Blade repeatedly blocked the opponent's powerful attacks, but with inferior strength, it ultimately couldn't stop everything.

His already heavily wounded body suffered increasingly severe injuries. Lu Ye felt an overwhelming sense of weakness wash over him, but in the face of death, he dared not let his guard down.

Until a certain moment, almost as Lu Ye's vision blurred, Liao's voice finally sounded in his ear: "Enough, final strike!"

Lu Ye had never found Liao's voice so pleasant!

The next moment, a pain shot through his chest. Pelling's ferocious face was inches away. He glared fiercely at Lu Ye, gritting his teeth and saying, "Keep being arrogant, why aren't you arrogant anymore?"

The long spear in his hand had already pierced Lu Ye's chest, exiting through his heart.

Lu Ye had actually seen this strike, but his body's weakness prevented him from blocking it in time.

Pelling continued to babble, "I'll take the Star Abyss Will's blessing upon you!"

As he spoke, Dao power surged, pouring into the silver spear, aiming to shatter Lu Ye's life force.

At the same time, Lu Ye slowly raised his blade and lightly struck the silver spear impaled in his body.

The sound of something shattering echoed from deep within his spiritual sea, and the reverberation made Pelling, who had just been so arrogant, his head buzz. He stared blankly at the fragments flying everywhere, unable to believe his eyes!

His artifact, the silver spear—an artifact he had spent nearly a thousand years nurturing—had actually shattered!

It had been shattered by a seemingly light strike from this dying enemy!

He had never dared to imagine that such an absurd thing could happen to him. That was an artifact; it shouldn't shatter even when facing a Harmonious Dao cultivator.

The shock of this scene left Pelling's mind blank for an instant. Only when a flash of brilliant blade light crossed his vision did he suddenly awaken.

The sharp blade had already cut into the flesh of his neck. Pelling's eyes were filled with horror. At this moment, he had no time to ponder why his artifact had shattered; he instinctively frantically channeled his Dao power to protect himself.

However, two hundred 'daos' of protective power could not withstand Lu Ye's full-strength final strike. After a momentary stalemate, his protective Dao power broke, and the Crag Blade sliced through his neck, sending blood gushing forth!

Lu Ye's body swayed. He vaguely felt something spilling out from Pelling and seeping into his own body, but he was currently utterly exhausted and had no strength left to carefully perceive anything.

This was a true life-or-death battle, one of the few arduous struggles he had encountered. If not for the unique nature of Liao's power, which disrupted Pelling's attack rhythm at a crucial moment, he might not have been able to hold on until the artifact shattered.

And if he hadn't managed to hold on until then, he would surely have died.

A sharp gaze fell upon him. Lu Ye turned his head to look. In his blurry vision, far in the distance, on a dilapidated Harmonious Dao City, someone seemed to be staring at him.

In that instant, enlightenment struck Lu Ye, and he understood something.

Ba Qiu... had not missed!

His strike had no intention of taking Lu Ye's life. In fact, the sealing of his power was all part of a calculation and under control. Because Ba Qiu himself possessed a supreme Soldier Clan artifact, he knew precisely how Soldier Clan artifacts ascended. His strike had sealed Lu Ye's strength to a level inferior to Pelling's, precisely to force Lu Ye into a life-or-death battle with Pelling, thereby allowing Liao to benefit.

From this perspective, his earlier guess about Ba Qiu having suffered a great loss at the hands of some human was also incorrect.

As for if Lu Ye's strength was insufficient and Pelling killed him... that probably wasn't a concern for Ba Qiu. Their encounter was merely by chance, perhaps just a powerful being's momentary whim, so he wouldn't give it much thought. If Lu Ye truly died, then he died; it would be no loss to Ba Qiu.

Nevertheless, Ba Qiu had indeed provided some assistance in this matter. If not for him, Lu Ye might not have been able to catch the fleeing Pelling. Once Pelling escaped the Wonder and received aid from Hundred Battles City's powerful figures, seizing his artifact would have been impossible.

Suddenly, an aura rapidly approached. Lu Ye immediately became alert. He truly had no remaining strength to fight anyone else now.

Immediately after, a familiar voice sounded in his ear: "Brother Dao, don't panic, I'm here to save you!"

Lu Ye soon felt the speaker sweep beside him, a gentle force enveloping him, carrying him away into the distance.

"This is a place of trouble, let's go, quickly!"