With a soft sound, a burn mark appeared on Shi Changluo’s chest. Gray mist appeared in his eyes as his body flew back, but his feet kept contact with the ground as he slid.

Zhao Ce was still in his posture of swinging the sword. The whirlpool in front of him had been cut apart by a sword mark, and then started to burn. Just a few feet from him, a hand-sized gray dust wildly inundated the air, like a pile of parasol leaves blown and carried up by the wind.

There was a layer of black energy where Shi Changluo’s feet were in contact with the ground. A terrifying power kept on landing on the ground under his feet,causing spiderweb cracks appearing on the ground.

Shi Changluo was very shocked. He could not understand how a casual slash from the other was so strong.

Zhao Ce was also slightly shocked. He could not understand how his sword essence had invaded the other’s body, but the other used a strange method to dissolve the power that had gone deep into the body.

Shi Changluo was flying back, while Zhao Ce was motionless.

This scene, in the eyes of everyone inside and outside the city, was that Shi Changluo was losing.

But at this time, Zhao Ce and some of the strongest cultivators on the battlefield right now inside some details. From the spiderweb contraction on the ground, some gray energy was rising up.

The deep gray energy was like dried bones stabbing out of the ground, giving off a rotten smell. However, they pulled fresh energy from the world.

Fresh was newly formed, but relative.

The essence of the energies gave off a strong dark air. They came from the energies and bodies of many cultivators on the battlefield who had just died. This yin energy was what cultivators who cultivated the ghostly path needed. This came from death. This came from the presence of beings who had once been very powerful and accumulated a lot of primal energies which they released after death.

This was the reason that cultivators on the ghost path usually needed to cultivate near ancient graves. Yet few could gather such large amounts of yin energy to face the enemy. Especially on a battlefield like this covered in corpses. Such means could only be described as terrifying.

The cultivators who could sense this, including Zhao Ce himself, knew that Shi Changluo’s next attack would be stronger. From a certain point of view, the attack Zhao Ce had just done possessed some of the air of that legendary Zhao Sword Furnace grandmaster, and was not very different from his master back then.

This was the strongest attack that Zhao Ce could perform. If even this could not win against Shi Changluo, then was there a chance to win?

All the cultivators who noticed this thought that Zhao Ce would undoubtedly lose. But Zhao Ce did not think so.

He attacked. The sword mark just now had been a light swing through the air, but when he used his sword this time, he crisply raised his sword and then cut down at Shi Changluo in front of him.

The air in front of him suddenly grew heated. Even the people hundreds of feet away sensed the incoming waves of heat.

Such heat was not unfamiliar to the surrounding cultivators. In the many records of the cultivation world, the cultivators of the Zhao Sword Furnace were accompanied by the flame for long times. In their usual cultivation, their body contained endless he’d, and the primal energies that had accumulated in their bodies grew usually hot. But to their shock, the heat now surpassed any of Zhao Ce’s previous attacks, and was incredible to them.

At this moment, many gasps sounded.

The red sword in Zhao Ce’s hand started to burn. This was unprecedented heat, coming from the sword burning in his hand.

Before, his sword had been flowing with fire, and even the sticky energy like that of magma. But now, all the cultivators who could not help gasp because they could see that his sword was truly burning from the inside!

The sword giving off powerful lifebond presence was naturally Zhao Ce’s lifebond sword that had been nurtured for many years. The vital energy and primal energies of the universe in the bodies of Zhao Sword Furnace cultivators were so hot they could melt metal. So the sword nucleus they spent so many years to smelt were the best in the world. No one knew how high a temperature they could endure. Especially a lifebond sword that had formed after many years of cultivation. This was a divine weapon that no craftsman in the world could create.

But at this time, Zhao Ce used a violent method to cause his sword to start burning. Truly burning, cracking apart like firewood. This had nothing to do with sword essence.

This was just a pure slash, but the mad increase in temperature brought along a mad increase in power. There was no room left for retreat.

In this moment, his lifebond sword turned into a fierce ball of fire with a boom. Then he raised this scorching flame and cut at Shi Changluo.

But this was just the start.

His vital energy and primal energies of the universe started to burn, turning into terrifying heat.

Buzz buzz buzz….

There were explosions through the air. The threads of yin energy coming out of the ground started to burn. The entire space seemed to be locked down by fire, but there were still primal energies being madly pulled in.

One monument ago, Shi Changluo’s expression had been calm. He believed that he could win this battle. But in this moment, his face was ashen, and his eyes filled with disbelief.

This was the burning of a sword that a cultivator had forged for a life, his vital energy and life burning together with resolve and courage that was hard to surpass in the world. He could not face the power of a sword like this. He knew the basic reason that he could not match this. He thought that the victory on the sword path was determined by life and death. But facing the other’s sword, he could not ignore life and death. Regardless of whether he would win against this sword or not, the other would die, and he would also die.

What was the meaning in a sword like this?

“Sword of death!”

These three words appeared clearly in his mind.

This was the opinion that Wang Jingmeng had expressed of the Zhao Sword Furnace cultivators. Now, these three swords appeared in his mind. An indescribable bitterness formed in his mouth and through his body.

Even after many years, if he faced Wang Jingmeng of the past, he still could not win. Because back then, Wang Jingmeng knew what was truly terrifying about the Zhao Sword Furnace cultivators, but knowing that they were so strong because they would fight disregarding death, he still had the courage to make an appointment to fight that grandmaster.

Right now, he did not have the courage to face Zhao Ce’s sword.

A cry of pain and indescribable meaning came out of his mouth. All of the vital energy and primal energies in his body went out, countless black flowers blooming in the air. The power of these flowers were not directed forwards, but wrapped around him, andtory the space behind him.

In everyone’s sight, Shi Changluo’s skin was burnt black. All he could do was madly flee black, turning into a wisp of green smoke. This sword had forced him to use all his power. The burning lifebond sword in Zhao Ce’s hand disappeared. His vital energy had all been forced out, and turned to hundreds of streams of fire in front of him. He had burned up most of the energy and blood in his body. When he breathed right now, he would cause several wisps of flame.