Chapter 64: Clash of Blades

The snow-white blade light that sliced through the air arrived in an instant, and Xiang Pangyun’s face twisted into a hideous grimace.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Dongbo Xueying’s spear suddenly surged upward. With a whoosh, the spearhead, like a rising dragon, collided head-on with the descending white blade light that carried a fierce downward momentum.

Boom!

The clash erupted with a deafening explosion, sending visible shockwaves radiating outward in all directions. However, within the protective dome of the The Power of Heaven and Earth (Celestial Force), these shockwaves continuously weakened and eventually vanished.

At the moment of impact, Dongbo Xueying’s feet slammed downward, sinking into the ground up to his knees. Yet, with a sudden burst of strength from his legs, the earth and stones exploded outward. Xiang Pangyun, on the other hand, used the rebound force to land gracefully.

“You’ve got some strength!” Xiang Pangyun grinned widely, but suddenly a blood-red dart appeared in his left hand.

Xiu!

The dart streaked through the air like a shooting star, directly aiming at Dongbo Qingshi, who was anxiously watching from the main tower of the castle.

Chi chi chi chi~~~

The dart, originally moving at lightning speed, was constantly obstructed by the Celestial Force dome maintained by Dongbo Xueying, which protected his younger brother, Uncle Zong, and Uncle Tong. Though the strength of Title-level warriors varied, both Dongbo Xueying and Xiang Pangyun could harness the same level of Celestial Force, neither able to overpower the other.

If one was determined to protect a certain area, the opponent would find it impossible to break through.

Chi chi chi~~~

The moment the dart left his hand, it was continuously blocked by the Celestial Force, causing its speed to decrease. Additionally, the Celestial Force pushed against it from the sides, altering its trajectory. Dongbo Xueying clearly sensed the dart’s flight path bending.

Bang!

The dart struck the wall of the castle’s main tower from a distance, landing over three meters away from Dongbo Qingshi and Zong Ling.

“They say you’re the strongest in Qinghe County, Xiang Pangyun, yet now that we’re fighting, you’re trying to use my younger brother to distract me,” Dongbo Xueying sneered. “You truly disgust me.”

“Tsk tsk tsk, still arrogant to this point. I’ll make you die convinced,” Xiang Pangyun said, flashing his blade once again.

The blade was extremely fast.

Yet Dongbo Xueying’s spear techniques were equally swift.

Dang! Dang! Dang!

In an instant, the two became blurred figures exchanging blows, their steps shifting rapidly. Xiang Pangyun kept attacking, relentlessly advancing, trying to close the distance with Dongbo Xueying.

Retreating, retreating, retreating—Dongbo Xueying kept stepping backward!

As the saying goes, length brings strength. Using a long spear required maintaining sufficient distance from the opponent to fully exploit the spear’s advantages. If they closed in for close-quarters combat, Xiang Pangyun, wielding a blade, would gain a significant advantage. Xiang kept advancing, attempting to close the distance, while Dongbo Xueying kept retreating to maintain the gap.

Suo suo suo!!!

How fast were they?

One kept advancing, one kept retreating.

In just a few exchanges, they had fought onto the castle walls, then beyond, exiting the castle entirely.

“Quick, quick, quick! We must hurry and follow them!” Qingshi was anxious and worried.

“We can’t go,” Tong San quickly replied.

“Qingshi, we’ll just watch from here,” Zong Ling said. “This vantage point is high enough, and we can still Reluctantly (barely) see the distant battle. If things go wrong, we can retreat into the main tower and escape through the underground tunnels. If we get too close to the battlefield, at the level of your older brother and Xiang Pangyun, even a slight accidental injury could kill Silver Moon-level warriors.”

“Alright,” Qingshi clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white. At this moment, he suddenly hated himself for not working hard in cultivation before. Now, he couldn’t help at all!

Back then, his older brother had told him, “You must cultivate diligently, so that one day you can rescue our parents!” Though he had tried hard for a short time, he soon lost his willpower. Truthfully, his parents represented something very special, and he knew they were important—but he had no real memory of them. He couldn’t bring himself to persist and soon became lazy.

But at this moment—

He felt an unprecedented sense of tension, because this time, it was his older brother in danger!

“My older brother is very strong—he will definitely win, he must win,” Qingshi muttered, leaning against the railing, gazing at the two rapidly moving figures outside the castle walls in the distance. He couldn’t even make out their forms clearly, only seeing a series of afterimages.

…

Peng! Peng! Peng!

Dang! Dang! Dang!

The sounds of impact alternated between deep and sharp, each strike revealing the different techniques—defensive or offensive—used by the two combatants. Even the sounds of their weapons clashing varied. Meanwhile, the Celestial Forces they manipulated—Dongbo Xueying’s invisible dome and Xiang Pangyun’s crimson waves—collided repeatedly.

Dongbo Xueying was forced to retreat several steps, his expression grave.

“Hmph, we’ve already left your castle grounds?” Xiang Pangyun smirked, glancing at the Snowstone Castle a mile away. “Tsk tsk tsk, you really are impressive. Even while constantly retreating during our fight, you’ve managed to lead me out of the castle. Are you afraid our battle might harm your subordinates or loved ones?”

“Your subordinates died, and you feel no grief or anger?” Dongbo Xueying suddenly asked.

He had sensed no sorrow or fury from Xiang Pangyun over the deaths of Feng Mo and the other three assassins.

“Anger? What’s the point of anger? Choosing to be an assassin means accepting death as a possibility. Besides, what do their deaths have to do with me?” Xiang Pangyun replied casually. “If I hadn’t come along, wouldn’t those four still have died? At least now I can avenge them. They should be thanking me, their big brother, for coming along—hahaha!”

“Avenging them? You’re quite confident,” Dongbo Xueying sneered. From their brief exchange, Dongbo Xueying judged that Xiang Pangyun had only a slight advantage over him in combat. Even if Xiang had more powerful techniques, Dongbo hadn’t yet unleashed his full strength or bloodline power.

Moreover, based on descriptions of some powerful figures on the Longshan Rankings.

Dongbo Xueying believed that before achieving Harmony of Heaven and Man, he had barely qualified for the rankings, perhaps placing in the two or three thousand range. Now, having achieved Harmony, his body absorbed Celestial Force daily, growing stronger, and his overall power had increased. Having mastered the ‘Blood Rain’ spear techniques, he should now be able to break into the top one thousand. His gap with Si Lianghong and Xiang Pangyun had greatly narrowed.

Victory might still be difficult, but the chance of Xiang killing him should be low.

Of course, all this was based on external intelligence and analysis. To truly determine life or death, they would have to fight it out.

“You’re unusually confident in front of me,” Xiang Pangyun scoffed. “True enough. At twenty-two, you’ve achieved Harmony of Heaven and Man, and you’re already a master of spear techniques with Perfect Unity of Strength! Tsk tsk tsk, you’ve reached Perfect Unity so quickly. Did you attain Harmony first, or Perfect Unity first?”

“You guess,” Dongbo Xueying replied.

Achieving the Master-level of Perfect Unity of Strength was extremely difficult.

Like that Divine Envoy, who had long achieved Harmony of Heaven and Man but had yet to attain Perfect Unity of Strength.

Harmony of Heaven and Man was a refinement of the soul!

Perfect Unity of Strength was the pinnacle of technique!

Many Title-level warriors first mastered Harmony of Heaven and Man, and only after their soul-force became strong enough to clearly sense their own bodies did they gradually achieve Perfect Unity of Strength.

But Dongbo Xueying was different. He didn’t walk the path of refining through life and death struggles. Instead, he pursued an extremely solid foundation, constantly improving himself with an astonishingly firm base and incredible insight—forcing himself to reach the realm of Perfect Unity of Strength. His spear techniques had already reached a level of supreme mastery.

However, superior techniques did not necessarily equate to rich combat experience. That was why, during Dongbo Xueying’s first trip into the Ruin Mountains, he had initially been hesitant and constrained, but soon calmed down, gradually unleashing his true skills.

…

Skill approaching the Dao!

Beyond the peak of technique lay an even higher realm. At that level, spear techniques, sword techniques, and other martial arts became extraordinary—usually attainable only by transcendent beings.

“If you achieved Perfect Unity of Strength before attaining Harmony of Heaven and Man, then you’re even more monstrous,” Xiang Pangyun’s blood-red eyes flashed coldly. “But no matter how monstrous you are, tonight you will die without fail!”

Hu!

As the words fell, Xiang Pangyun surged forward once again, enveloped in crimson waves.

Dongbo Xueying instantly thrust his spear forward like a venomous snake striking, almost immediately unleashing three consecutive strikes aimed at Xiang Pangyun’s face, heart, and throat.

At this moment—

At the Mage Tower atop Xueshi Mountain, a large crowd, including Mage Bai Yuanzhi, Kong Youyue, and others, had all come out. In fact, the commotion within Snowstone Castle had already caused some confusion and surprise among the Mage Tower residents. As Dongbo Xueying and Xiang Pangyun’s battle spilled outside the castle walls, the noise grew louder, and everyone at the Mage Tower turned their attention toward the battle unfolding below.