Ding Run struck his blade again, sending out a crisp note that resonated all around. Sang Hong immediately took to the air.

The moment he leapt up, a groove several meters long was carved out of the ground where he had been standing.

Ding Run struck his blade again. Sang Hong couldn’t evade while in midair, so he picked up a nearby tree and pulled it in front of himself. The massive tree was cut apart as though it was made of paper, and was instantly cleaved into two by the invisible blade ki.

The blade ki didn’t stop after slicing through the tree, but continued onwards, cleaving towards his body.

However, the streak of invisible blade ki left traces of its movement in the debris left over by the shattered tree.

Sang Hong thrust out the chains in his hands. With a loud crash, the blade ki was forcefully scattered.

Ding Run was unfazed, continuing to strike his sword.

He struck a different part of his sword each time, and each time, a different note rang out, almost as if it were a real musical instrument. The notes flowed together, just like a song.

Compared to the music of other instruments, though, this one was full of killing intent.

Sang Hong had learned his lesson from that first exchange. He swept up the surrounding leaves, grass, branches, and other loose objects with his chains, even sweeping up the surrounding earth. The air around him was littered with debris. The invisible sword ki could now be traced, which made it much easier to deal with.

Only now could Zu An and the others see the trajectory of the sword ki. More often than not, they didn’t fly straight out towards Sang Hong, but instead came from behind, from the side, from diagonally below him, and many other unexpected angles.

They had no idea how Ding Run was able to launch such attacks against Sang Hong even though he was clearly standing far away.

The furrows on Sang Hong’s brow grew deeper and deeper. Even though he had all manner of methods to evade his opponent’s blade ki, he would never seize the advantage this way.

The main issue was that the blade ki came towards him at incredibly tricky angles. A single moment of carelessness, and he would be hit.

If this continued, Sang Hong was worried that he might just be defeated. He tried to close the gap several times to engage his opponent at close quarters and make it difficult for him to launch these blade ki attacks.

Unfortunately, Ding Run continued to back up. In addition, his control over his sword ki was immaculate, and he managed to maintain the distance between the two of them.

Two loud bangs sounded in quick succession. The chains around Sang Hong exploded. They had finally given out after being heated by his flames and suffering repeated blows from the incredibly sharp blade ki.

There was no way Ding Run would give up such a good chance. Five fingers struck the blade in quick succession. Several streaks of sword ki lanced towards Sang Hong’s vital areas one after another from different directions.

Without a weapon in hand, Sang Hong could only use his own flesh to protect himself. His situation looked grim.

Sang Hong roared in anger. Suddenly, four blazing wheels appeared around him, spinning and whirling all around him. The five streaks of sword ki that were about to strike him were all blocked by the protective net formed by the spinning flame wheels.

“Windfire Wheels! My dad has activated our clan’s best skill!” Sang Qian cried out excitedly.

“Windfire Wheels?” Zu An had an odd expression on his face. Your dad doesn’t seem to have any of Nezha’s charm...[1]

Sang Hong was already on the move, using the protection offered by his Windfire Wheels to charge straight at Ding Run.

Ding Run sent out several blasts of sword ki in an attempt to stop Sang Hong, but he couldn’t break through his opponent’s defenses.

Sang Hong closed the distance quickly. He thrust out a hand, and the Windfire Wheels around him came together to form an even larger wheel, which crashed down onto Ding Run.

Ding Run hurriedly raised his long blade to block it, his body shuddering considerably. This blow had clearly dealt a substantial amount of damage.

Sang Hong wasn’t about to throw away his advantage, and continued to unleash a flurry of attacks.

Ding Run tried to retaliate, but all his efforts were deflected by that massive wheel.

The sky was covered in flames, and Ding Run’s body was only faintly discernible within the vicious barrage of attacks. Sang Qian wore a look of excitement. “Wonderful! Dad is really amazing!”

Zu An didn’t share his optimism. Right from the first exchange, it was clear that Sang Hong’s cultivation was lower than Ding Run’s. Sang Hong already brought out his ultimate move—how could Ding Run possibly not have one himself?

Sure enough, a sudden roar pierced the air. Even from a distance, they could feel an immensely powerful pressure.

“What… what is this…” Sang Qian’s eyes widened, and he felt his chest grow tight.

On the battlefield, a fierce purple tiger suddenly took form. This tiger wasn’t a real creature, but rather, a phantom made from lightning.

Although it was a phantom, sparks shot out in all directions wherever this purple tiger’s claws clashed with Sang Hong’s Windfire Wheels. It seemed to exist in the space between the material and the immaterial world.

Zu An looked more closely, and noticed that this tiger floated behind Ding Run. This was surely something that he had conjured up.

Is he a wielder of the lightning element?

No wonder his sword was so quick.

Zu An sighed, then realized that his conclusion was wrong. Compared to before, Ding Run’s speed seemed to have almost doubled.

He seemed to have completely disappeared from the battlefield. Only a vicious purple tiger remained, roaring and pouncing at Sang Hong. Each time it attacked, sparks and lighting flew, accompanied by thunderous booms. His power was clearly much greater than before as well.

As the battle raged, the vegetation around them was razed to the ground, exposing the earth underneath. Zu An and the others quickly backpedaled to avoid being caught up in the blast waves.

They didn’t use this chance to escape, mainly because their cultivations were sealed. They wouldn’t get far even if they ran. If Ding Run emerged victorious, it would only be a matter of minutes before he caught up to them.

If Sang Hong won, there wouldn’t even be a need to flee.

The best choice was to wait for the result of this battle.

At the moment, however, the scales were tipped in Ding Run’s favor. Red flames were rushing into the heavens just a moment ago, but once Ding Run unleashed his power, purple lightning dominated the battlefield.

A huge boom echoed across the area. The purple tiger pounced on Sang Hong’s massive wheel of fire, crushing it and breaking it into four separate pieces.

Then, the tiger brandished its claws, swatting the smaller wheels into the distant forest.

The purple tiger pounced on the defenseless Sang Hong.

Sang Hong let out a horrible scream. His body hit the ground like a leaky sandbag. He tried to struggle back to his feet, but his knees buckled, sending him back down. He could just barely support himself off the ground with his arms.

Blood gushed out of his mouth. His chest was visibly caved in, the indentation shaped vaguely like the paw of that purple tiger. There was a deep blade wound on his chest, which barely stopped an inch from his heart.

“I’m impressed by your reactions, Lord Sang. You were actually able to evade my lethal strike at the last second.” The giant phantom purple tiger behind Ding Run gradually dissipated as his blade returned to its sheath.

The outcome of the battle was already decided. Even though Sang Hong had dodged the last lethal strike, he no longer had the strength to continue fighting.

Seeing how Sang Hong could barely even move, Ding Run shifted his attention to Zu An and the others. “Perhaps it’s better if I deal with you all first. I don’t want to see another one of you jump out and tell me that your seal has been undone.”

Even though their level of cultivation was not enough to threaten him, the first rule of being a hit man was to limit the number of variables.

He drew his blade, but in that instant, for the first time in his life, he hesitated. He wanted to take care of Sang Qian first, but he suddenly recalled the cleverness Zu An had displayed earlier. This kid had also been way too calm throughout this entire process, which set Ding Run’s danger sense tingling.

As such, he changed targets midway, thrusting his sword towards Zu An’s throat.

1. Nezha is a character from Chinese mythology. He flies through the air by standing on wheels of fire.