Jiang Li’s icy words detonated the battlefield.

  This was the opening match of the Heaven and Earth Grand Tournament; every eye in the Nine Heavens was locked on it. Warships and spirit vessels formed an iron ring around the Five Phoenixes, some here to compete, others simply to watch the spectacle.

  A gamble of origin dao essence, a gamble of a world’s fortune—every clash was heart-stopping. Billions of lives across countless realms were watching.

  BOOM!

  Battle erupted in an instant.

  Jiang Li’s roar thundered across the arena:

  “I’ll shut your mouth first!”

  Du Longyang, Ye Shoudao, Ni Chunqiu, and Young Master Tianxu moved the moment his words fell.

  From the day Qi Liujia informed them of the tournament, they had trained relentlessly together. The four had known each other since the Tian Yuan era—rivals, friends, brothers-in-arms. After merging into the Five Phoenixes and surviving countless wars, their synergy was instinctive.

  As for the fifth member—Qi Liujia had chosen Jiang Li.

  The perfect choice.

  Jiang Li was a born commander. After inheriting the War God legacy in the ancient tomb, his talent and presence had soared. Now a Unity Realm expert leading four others of the same level, this was the strongest team the Five Phoenixes could field.

  Even Lu Fan had no objections.

  (Though Qi Liujia suspected the Young Master simply couldn’t be bothered to care.)

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  On the blood-colored battlefield, the vast cyan-brick plaza exploded into combat.

  Terrifying Unity Realm auras flooded the air.

  This would be a brutal fight.

  From the moment the draw was revealed, every Five Phoenixes cultivator knew it.

  Ninth-grade versus Seventh-grade.

  Two entire grades apart—an insurmountable gap.

  On the sidelines, the hundred thousand troops fell deathly silent. Xue Tao stood ramrod straight, spear in hand, staring unblinking at the plaza.

  He admired Jiang Li. He would gladly die under Jiang Li’s command.

  But today, he had no place on that stage.

  Not a single soldier dared cheer again, terrified their voices might disturb the five warriors.

  Jiang Li’s silver spear tore through the sky like a comet, ripping the air with a hollow shriek as it stabbed straight at the crescent-marked youth’s face.

  The youth’s heart jolted.

  But as the enemy commander, he refused to flinch.

  Tribulation Transcendent aura exploded outward. Dazzling energy bloomed around him like a radiant flower.

  The crescent on his forehead blazed. His eyes turned pure white, killing intent boiling within.

  He would show no mercy, no carelessness.

  Ten strands of dao essence were on the line—his world’s foundation, its fortune. If he lost because of arrogance, the Saint Lord of Star-Moon would execute him personally.

  CLANG!

  The unstoppable spear met an invisible energy barrier and was halted inches from his face.

  BOOM!

  Shockwaves rolled like tidal waves.

  The youth was sent flying.

  Across the plaza, Star-Moon’s four Unity Realm experts charged.

  “It’s a military formation!” the youth roared, clutching his chest. That single strike had nearly pierced his heart!

  “Sever their connection!”

  They had two Tribulation Transcendents—this should have been a stomp.

  Yet Jiang Li’s formation fused the four Unity experts’ power into something rivaling a Transcendent!

  “Even combined, it’s only one Transcendent. The two of us can crush him!”

  The youth landed, a starry scepter falling into his hand.

  Buzz…

  He raised it. Starlight flickered.

  Above the battlefield, thick clouds gathered.

  BOOM!

  Beams of starlight rained down like a meteor shower, blanketing the entire plaza.

  From the warships, confident laughter rang out.

  “No suspense. Two Transcendents, one wielding a high-grade sacred-tier artifact—total slaughter.”

  “The Five Phoenixes actually figured out military formations. Impressive.”

  “But everyone here has comprehended Dao Intent. Their advantage isn’t that big.”

  On the plaza—

  Jiang Li’s team faced annihilation.

  The star rain wasn’t harmless; every drop carried horrifying corrosive and destructive power.

  Jiang Li constantly directed the others to evade, straining their primordial spirit link.

  Star-Moon’s second Transcendent closed in.

  “DIE!”

  A cold, murderous voice.

  “Ye Shoudao—block him!”

  Jiang Li barked.

  The blood-colored war god illusion contracted, wrapping tightly around Jiang Li like armor.

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  Ye Shoudao was ejected from the formation.

  “Leave it to me.”

  His single sleeve flapped wildly.

  He flung his great blade skyward in a strange arc.

  Black light pulsed beneath his feet. His body swayed left and right, afterimages trailing as he danced through the corrosive rain unharmed.

  He leapt above the war god illusion.

  A low growl.

  His blade spun.

  Blade light exploded into a blooming lotus of death above his head—a shield against the stars.

  Clang! Clang! Clang!

  Starlight crashed against blade light.

  Ye Shoudao grunted.

  This wasn’t ordinary rain—it was a Transcendent’s technique. Despite years of bitter training, he was still only Unity Realm.

  Each drop felt like it could punch through his body.

  But he held.

  The rain was dispersed across thousands of drops; the Transcendent’s power was diluted.

  Ye Shoudao bought them time.

  The formation stabilized.

  Du Longyang, Ni Chunqiu, and Young Master Tianxu poured their strength into Jiang Li.

  The second Transcendent arrived.

  Jiang Li’s eyes blazed.

  Silver light flashed.

  BOOM!

  The Transcendent’s expression changed.

  Without distraction, Jiang Li’s strike matched him blow for blow.

  “Fifth-sequence Valor Spear Intent!”

  A roar exploded in the Transcendent’s ear.

  He tried to retreat.

  Too late.

  Du Longyang’s Dao Intent fused into the spear.

  Power surged!

  PFFT!

  The spear punched clean through the Transcendent’s shoulder, pinning him to the cyan bricks and shattering them.

  Silence.

  Then chaos from the warships.

  “Impossible?!”

  “Idiot! This is a deathmatch—how do you get careless?!”

  “They sacrificed one Unity expert to block a Transcendent, then four combined to kill another. Ruthless and decisive!”

  “Are the Star-Moon contestants brain-dead?! They had total advantage!”

  Jiang Li flicked his spear.

  Blood sprayed dozens of meters across the bricks.

  The wounded Transcendent roared in fury, slamming star-clad palms together.

  BOOM!

  Jiang Li staggered back.

  The Transcendent clutched his bleeding shoulder, howling.

  “You court death!”

  He had been gravely injured in one strike!

  That burst of fifth-sequence Dao Intent had blindsided him.

  Fifth-sequence…

  The Five Phoenixes had hidden depth!

  But that was all.

  Star-Moon’s three remaining Unity experts finally arrived, too late to stop the kill.

  Now with three more Unity experts supporting, victory was assured!

  “Jiang Li—finish him!”

  Ni Chunqiu’s red robes flared, her stunning face twisted with killing intent.

  They had to kill one Transcendent before the others closed in!

  It was difficult, but it was their only chance!

  Jiang Li charged again, spear coiling like a dragon.

  The plaza became a maelstrom of killing intent.

  Ye Shoudao’s voice rumbled.

  “I’ll handle it!”

  His blade, already half-corroded by star rain, slashed downward.

  One slash became two, two became four, four became ten thousand.

  The technique Lu Fan had taught him when he first broke through.

  Countless cyan bricks empowered by starlight were shattered.

  A clear path opened for Jiang Li!

  PFFT!

  Ye Shoudao coughed blood. His back was a mangled ruin, flesh melted away.

  Without blade light to shield him, the full force of the star rain had struck.

  This wasn’t just physical damage—it scorched the primordial spirit.

  He was a realm below and had taken it with his body.

  He spun, single arm swinging the corroded blade, weaving another lotus shield.

  Droplets slipped through, but he danced untouched.

  Jiang Li trusted him completely.

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  Shards of star-empowered bricks sliced Jiang Li’s face open, but he didn’t care.

  Only killing intent filled his eyes as he locked onto the wounded Transcendent.

  Both hands gripped the spear.

  He leapt.

  The blood war god condensed into a thin membrane of power over his armor.

  Like a lion descending from the heavens, he stabbed downward!

  Du Longyang’s Dao Intent flared again.

  But the same trick wouldn’t work twice.

  Starlight wrapped the Transcendent’s arms.

  He reached to catch the spear barehanded, prepared for the fifth-sequence explosion.

  BOOM!

  Smoke and shattered bricks filled the air.

  Then—

  A wet ripping sound.

  The Transcendent stared in disbelief.

  The spear had pierced his throat, shattering his spine and pinning him to the ground.

  How?!

  The youth in the distance paled.

  The first kill was carelessness.

  The second?

  Only the dying Transcendent knew.

  When he reached to grab the spear, the Dao Intent had shifted—from Du Longyang’s rigid valor to Young Master Tianxu’s soft, yin-flexible intent.

  One rigid, one soft.

  The sudden change left him grasping air.

  The spear tore through his neck unimpeded.

  Jiang Li’s face was ice.

  Du Longyang disengaged from the formation.

  Killing intent boiled.

  His Martial Emperor Spear swept out, locking down the three incoming Unity experts.

  Same realm—he feared no one.

  His fifth-sequence Dao Intent, honed over a century, had nearly condensed a primordial spirit flower.

  In Lu Fan’s system, Unity Realm experts needed to condense the primordial spirit flower before Tribulation.

  That was Du Longyang’s confidence.

  He might not beat a Transcendent, but three Unity experts?

  He would hold.

  He had to buy Jiang Li time to kill!

  CLANG! CLANG!

  His spear split into three shadows.

  The three Unity experts attacked furiously.

  Sparks flew. Shockwaves carved cracks across the plaza.

  Yet all three were forced back.

  Du Longyang stood alone, black robes fluttering, spear in one hand, killing intent blazing.

  One man against three—unyielding!

  Jiang Li ignored that side.

  His spear bent under his grip.

  Then snapped straight.

  The Transcendent’s head exploded in a shower of red and white.

  His primordial spirit shot skyward.

  Jiang Li’s eyes flashed.

  A bloody battlefield vision unfolded—setting sun, corpses wrapped in horsehide, a general waving his hand as millions fell.

  His Dao Intent.

  Fourth-sequence…

  Blood General!

  BOOM!

  Like a bloody sun, it slammed into the fleeing primordial spirit.

  Without a body, even a Transcendent’s spirit was merely Unity-level.

  PFFT!

  Spear intent wrapped in Blood General Dao shredded it instantly.

  Gale-force winds swept the plaza.

  “Damn it!”

  The scepter-wielding youth roared, star rain intensifying.

  BOOM!

  Ye Shoudao crashed to the ground.

  His remaining arm had been corroded to bare white bone.

  He swung that white bone arm, still weaving blade light with sheer will.

  “KILL!”

  Jiang Li’s eyes turned red.

  Ni Chunqiu and Young Master Tianxu burned with rage.

  Du Longyang’s spear danced faster, dominating three enemies alone.

  Ye Shoudao knelt, gasping.

  His blade was gone, corroded away.

  But he still had one arm…

  That arm would carve a sky for his comrades!

  Jiang Li charged the youth.

  The Transcendent youth cursed, retreating.

  He couldn’t let Jiang Li close—his fighting style forbade it!

  The blood-colored battlefield fell deathly silent.

  Every warship, every spectator—silent.

  The first match of the Grand Tournament was cruel beyond words.

  No one had expected this.

  A Tribulation Transcendent… dead!

  The situation had spiraled beyond comprehension.

  Disciples of the Absolute Blade Sect stared with bloodshot eyes at Ye Shoudao—kneeling, barely conscious, swinging a white bone arm against the star rain.

  Their hearts shattered.

  Across the Five Phoenixes, cultivators felt the same shock.

  This was a fight to the death.

  Not a performance.

  Many were shaken to their core.

  Emperor Tantai He stood, hands trembling.

  Jiang Li’s earlier roar echoed in his mind.

  “The Five Phoenixes will fight to the end!”

  With what?

  With their lives.

  …

  Lake of Origin, Heart Island.

  Lu Fan watched coldly.

  Ye Shoudao’s stubbornness surprised even him.

  Ruthless Blade Intent—ruthless to others, ruthless to himself.

  Lu Fan exhaled slowly.

  On the empty Spirit Pressure Chessboard, he placed a black stone.

  Like adding a name to a notebook.

  …

  On the ancient warship.

  A gaze watched silently.

  The mist-shrouded attendant’s voice carried faint surprise.

  “I didn’t expect… the Five Phoenixes to do this well.”

  “But there’s still one Transcendent left—with a high-grade sacred artifact. They cannot win.”

  The Upper Realm chose the Five Phoenixes as the venue for one reason: to bleed them dry.

  The outcome was predetermined.

  …

  Du Longyang held three enemies.

  Jiang Li, Ni Chunqiu, and Young Master Tianxu—three against one Transcendent with a sacred weapon.

  The rain stopped.

  The youth couldn’t risk being enveloped.

  Jiang Li knew exactly how to deal with ranged fighters.

  Close the distance. Beat them at point-blank. Grind their face into the dirt.

  That was their only chance.

  The blood war god surged again.

  Charging the youth.

  The youth smiled coldly.

  He had already won.

  How could three kill him?

  He swung the scepter. Starlight formed a storm.

  A curtain of stars descended like closing drapes—his ultimate defense.

  Once it sealed, no one could break through.

  His body was fragile; if Jiang Li reached him, he’d die faster than his comrade.

  BOOM!

  The starlight storm blasted outward to halt Jiang Li.

  But—

  PFFT!

  A figure stepped in front.

  Young Master Tianxu.

  Starlight slammed into him. His pristine robes shredded. He was hurled thousands of meters, leaving a long trail of blood.

  The fastidious Young Master who once screamed over a paper cut…

  Didn’t make a sound.

  The storm was blocked.

  The youth didn’t care.

  His scepter blazed again, firing a terrifying beam.

  Jiang Li’s killing intent peaked.

  Red robes flared. Black hair snapped.

  Ni Chunqiu blocked next, red strings weaving a shield—shattered instantly.

  Jiang Li passed her.

  Closer.

  Trading lives for a path!

  The youth’s pupils shrank—panic for the first time.

  The star curtain fell.

  It sealed.

  But in that final instant—a silver flash slipped inside.

  BOOM!!!!!

  Cyan bricks exploded.

  The cold scepter pierced Jiang Li’s shoulder, blood dripping from its tip.

  And the youth—

  Was grabbed by the throat with a rusted-gauntleted hand.

  Slammed into the ground.

  The plaza caved in.

  His head burst like fireworks—splattered in every direction.

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