Chapter 133: Li Jiuyuan

He slowly closed his golden-and-silver eyes.

When he opened them again, his left eye remained golden, but his right eye had turned into a chaotic void.

“Left eye—daylight acceleration!”

Li Jiuyuan felt the flow of time around him suddenly surge severalfold.

His strength, spiritual power, even his life force, were being consumed at an astonishing rate.

His skin lost its luster; his hair began to gray at the edges.

“Right eye—eternal night descent!”

Simultaneously, an overwhelming wave of drowsiness and soul-separation struck him, as if dragging him into eternal slumber; his consciousness blurred, and the heavy sword in his hand grew impossibly heavy.

Accelerated consumption, coupled with spiritual decline!

This was Zhu Yin’s killing move—he would dismantle Li Jiuyuan from flesh to soul.

“Jiuyuan! Hold your mind!” cried Tie Shanhe from the human ranks, his face filled with panic.

Li Jiuyuan’s body was visibly aging and weakening; his gaze began to scatter.

He felt himself sinking deeper and deeper into mud, the light growing ever farther away…

Is this the end…?

No…

The honor of the Martial Alliance… the backbone of humanity… cannot break here!

A hollow voice echoed in his mind.

The way of the heavy sword… lies in the heart! Where the heart points, the sword follows!

An unyielding martial will, like a sleeping volcano, erupted violently in the depths of his fading soul!

He snapped his head up; his once-scattered eyes refocused, becoming purer, more resolute.

It was an absolute, unwavering belief in his own path.

“I have one sword…”

Li Jiuyuan’s voice was hoarse yet crystal-clear, echoing across the arena.

“...forged through a lifetime of cultivation, condensed from blood and spirit, born of will!”

He slowly raised the black iron heavy sword; though the motion seemed slow, it carried an uncanny rhythm, as if drawing the entire arena’s power into itself.

“This sword—”

“—Slices Heaven!”

BOOM!

A vast, boundless sword intent surged into the sky!

This intent was no longer mere gravity—it contained the supreme meaning of severing all laws!

Li Jiuyuan’s hair instantly turned from gray-white to pure white; his skin wrinkled deeply, as if this single sword stroke drained every last drop of his life essence and potential.

Yet the heavy sword in his hand blazed with unprecedented radiance!

The ancient patterns on its blade seemed to awaken, transforming into the primordial traces of creation!

“Slice!”

He poured everything into this sword strike—beyond his limits, embodying his entire life’s path of the sword.

The blade’s light was not dazzling, but immensely heavy, as if bearing the weight of a small world; where it passed, accelerated time was torn apart, and the sinking eternal night was cleaved in two!

A massive black fissure ripped through space, aimed straight at Zhu Yin!

For the first time, Zhu Yin’s expressionless face twisted in horror.

He sensed a lethal threat in this sword—this was a strike capable of severing time and destroying cosmic laws!

“Temporal Barrier!”

“Eternal River of Time, shield me!”

He frantically unleashed divine power, erecting layer upon layer of time-condensed shields, even summoning a phantom river of time to encircle himself.

“Crack! Crack! Crack!”

Yet before Li Jiuyuan’s [Slice Heaven] sword—forged from life and path—the temporal barriers shattered like glass; the phantom river of time was severed, its waters reversed.

“No!!!”

Zhu Yin roared in furious desperation, forcing every ounce of power from his golden-and-silver eyes to twist the sword’s trajectory.

But the [Slice Heaven] sword advanced relentlessly, locked onto his very essence!

“Slish!”

The blade pierced through all defenses and struck Zhu Yin’s chest with full force!

“Aaaagh!”

Zhu Yin let out a piercing scream; a massive wound, nearly splitting him diagonally in two, opened on his chest, gushing golden divine blood.

The subtle temporal fluctuations around him collapsed into chaos; his aura plummeted like an avalanche, and he crashed heavily against the arena’s edge.

He struggled to rise but could not—his wounds too grave. He could only glare at Li Jiuyuan, eyes filled with venom and disbelief.

He, a descendant of the Zhu Long, had been grievously wounded by a mere human—in such a brutal manner!

And Li Jiuyuan, who had unleashed that sword, was like a lamp burned dry of its last drop of oil—his white hair withered like straw, his body hunched, skin clinging to bone, resembling a skeleton wrapped in human skin.

He leaned on his now-dull black iron heavy sword, barely standing, his breath faint as if a gust could topple him.

But he had won. He had crippled the mighty Zhu Yin at the cost of nearly destroying himself.

The human ranks erupted in thunderous cheers; all were stunned by Li Jiuyuan’s horrific, magnificent strike.

“He won! Li Jiuyuan won!”

“Magnificent! Our human martial cultivators!”

“Quick! Get him down for healing!”

Yet just as two soldiers from the Demon Suppression Army rushed onto the arena to retrieve Li Jiuyuan—

Another change erupted!

Zhu Yin, lying at the arena’s edge, seemingly defeated, flashed a look of madness and hatred. He lifted his head and opened his mouth toward Li Jiuyuan.

A tiny, minuscule orb—containing his final, primal temporal power—coalesced within his mouth.

It was his last, desperate strike.

He would make this human who had crippled him die!

“Watch out!” Jiang Xia’s pupils contracted sharply as he shouted a warning.

But it was too late.

The minuscule temporal orb shot toward Li Jiuyuan like instantaneous teleportation—he was utterly defenseless, his life and energy spent.

Li Jiuyuan watched the approaching light of death; his face showed no fear, only a serene, resolute smile.

He knew he could no longer block it or evade it.

He slowly turned his head, his gaze sweeping across the human ranks, over familiar faces, finally seeming to see the Martial Alliance’s mountains and rivers, the future of humanity.

“Humanity… shall prevail!”

With his last strength, he let out a soul-shaking roar!

The next instant, as the temporal orb neared his body, he made his final choice.

He did not choose to endure passively—he reversed every remaining drop of spiritual power within him, igniting his final spark of life and soul essence.

“BOOM!!!!”

A more violent, more horrific energy surge erupted from Li Jiuyuan’s body—stronger than his prior [Slice Heaven] strike!

He chose self-destruction—a final strike fueled by the entirety of his life, soul, and cultivation as a Wanghou peak cultivator.

Blinding light instantly swallowed the entire arena.

A terrifying energy storm, like a tidal wave, slammed into the arena’s defensive barrier, causing it to shriek and shudder under unbearable strain.