C10 It's Your Turn

"Step back a bit—it'll all be over soon," Chu Yan said, turning to Xiao Pei with a reassuring smile.

Xiao Pei bit her lip and retreated dozens of meters.

She understood that with her current abilities, clinging to Chu Yan would not only fail to aid him but would also distract him with the need to protect her, making her a liability.

Even at a distance, Xiao Pei harbored no thoughts of fleeing.

In her heart, she was Chu Yan's attendant, and she would follow him wherever he went.

If Chu Yan perished, she had no intention of living on in this world.

As he turned to confront Soulreaper, Chu Yan's expression had taken on a trace of cool detachment.

"I think not. After all, I have tasks at hand and people to safeguard," Chu Yan declared, positioning the Cyan Astral Sword horizontally before him and gripping the hilt firmly.

His voice was soft, yet it reached Xiao Pei's ears with crystal clarity.

In that moment, warmth flooded Xiao Pei's heart, and Chu Yan's silhouette loomed larger than life before her.

"How foolhardy. Do you really believe you're still the martial prodigy you once were?" Soulreaper bellowed, his foot striking the earth. In a flash, the immense force propelled him toward Chu Yan like a streak of white lightning.

"Spirit-Reaping Iron Claw!"

The iron claw sliced through the air with a swish, emitting a screeching boom as it viciously aimed for Chu Yan's heart.

Grasping the sword hilt, Chu Yan's eyes suddenly blazed with a brilliant gleam, as if a galaxy were bursting into life.

His sword unsheathed, its blade whirling with fury.

Light and air seemed to be drawn towards the sword's edge in that moment.

The Thunderbolt Sword Radiance met the iron claw head-on in a fierce clash.

With a resounding clang, sparks scattered in all directions.

Soulreaper was about to roar when he was abruptly overwhelmed by a titanic force, like a wild tiger bearing down on him with unstoppable might.

Crack!

His iron claw was severed by his adversary in a mere moment.

"How can this be?" Soulreaper's eyes bulged as an incredulous moan echoed within him.

In the next instant, an unprecedented terror crept up her spine.

Looking up, his pupils were instantly flooded with the gleam of the sword's energy.

The sword's relentless advance aimed to sever his head.

Soulreaper felt as though his cheeks were being ripped apart in agony.

As the sword's light neared his face, Soulreaper's body contorted at an impossible angle.

The blade skimmed by, nearly grazing his ear.

The bone-chilling sensation made it seem as though the blood in his veins had turned to ice, yet he was flooded with relief.

Thankfully, being at the Third Stage of Genuine Force, he could contort his body in ways ordinary people couldn't fathom. Otherwise, that sword strike could have claimed his life.

Simultaneously, Soulreaper seethed with fury and humiliation.

"So, Chu Yan has regained some strength and kept it well-concealed. We were completely in the dark! And now he's had the audacity to make a fool of me—I'll tear his limbs off myself!" A vicious glint sparked in his eyes as he glared hatefully at Chu Yan.

Although the Cyan Astral Sword failed to slay Soulreaper, Chu Yan swiftly switched tactics, brandishing his fist and launching it towards his adversary.

"I'll crush your hand!" Soulreaper bellowed, lunging with his other iron claw to viciously snatch at Chu Yan's fist.

Iron claw against flesh, Soulreaper was convinced of Chu Yan's impending doom.

But as the fist was about to clash with the iron claw, Soulreaper was taken aback.

He caught a glimpse of Chu Yan's lips curling into a smirk.

That smirk sent a shiver through his heart.

A dreadful premonition washed over Soulreaper.

However, before he could react, Chu Yan's thunderous roar resonated in his head.

"Furious Dragon Bind!"

In a flash, Chu Yan's arm surged with immense power, evading the iron claw like a coiling dragon, and seized Soulreaper's head.

In that moment, to Chu Yan, Soulreaper's head merged with the countless stone golem heads he had shattered before.

Bang!

His fingers descended with the ferocity of a thunderbolt, pulverizing the soul reaper's head into oblivion. A gruesome mix of red and white turned into a steaming slurry that erupted forth in an instant.

Chu Yan's actions were relentless. Seizing the soul reaper's neck, he hoisted the body aloft as if wielding a meteor hammer, swung it over his head, and with brutal force, slammed it onto the nearby carriage.

The carriage shattered with a thunderous crash under the soul reaper's hefty frame, collapsing completely.

The soul reaper's body crushed the carriage, embedding it into the earth.

Dust billowed up, filling the air.

Moments later, Chu Yan emerged from the settling dust, his gaze fixed on Spirit Plunder a short distance away. "Alright, you're next."

"You... you've regained your strength? Impossible!" Spirit Plunder frowned deeply, eyeing Chu Yan. "But your level is only at the second tier of the Genuine Force Stage. How could you possibly have killed a third-tier soul reaper?"

"You don't seem too broken up over his demise," Chu Yan observed the other's demeanor.

Spirit Plunder couldn't help but laugh, gripping the curved blade at his back. "Why should I mourn him? With his death, all the rewards fall to me. I should be thanking you. Be wary, Prince Chu Yan. I'm not a mere third-tier Genuine Force like that soul reaper; I am on par with you at your prime—the fourth tier of Genuine Force!"

Before he could finish, Spirit Plunder's figure surged towards Chu Yan.

"Spirit Plunder Twelve Slash Combo!"

In an instant, blinding flashes of the blade swept down on Chu Yan like a blizzard.

Chu Yan vaulted up, and the carriage behind him was cleaved as easily as tofu.

Xiao Pei, watching from a distance, clapped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide with shock, her heart pounding as if it might leap from her chest.

The blade's edge was a torrent, whipping up a screeching vortex of air in hot pursuit. Chu Yan's Cyan Astral Sword quivered and then cut through the air with breathtaking grace.

Clang clang clang!

A rapid succession of metallic clashes echoed, culminating in a burst of sparks that lit up the sky.

Chu Yan staggered back seven or eight steps before he finally steadied himself.

The Soul Snatching King recoiled four to five steps and, with a deeper furrow in his brow, stared at Chu Yan incredulously. "How is this possible?"

In the Genuine Force Stage, each level could handle at least five warriors of the preceding level.

Chu Yan was undeniably at the second level of the Genuine Force Stage, yet after their clash, the Soul Snatching King realized he had only secured a slight upper hand, far from the swift victory he had anticipated.

It was then that he sensed something amiss.

Glancing down at the scimitar in his grasp, he noticed several tiny notches marring its blade.

His pupils shrank as his gaze shifted to the Cyan Astral Sword in Chu Yan's hand, pristine and as sharp as ever.

"A Sixth Rank Weapon, the Cyan Astral Sword," he forced out through clenched teeth after a brief pause.