Chapter 56 - 31: Rift

Li Shuang’s figure was almost completely invisible within the blinding golden light of the sword.

A smug smile crept across Ye Zhaozhao’s lips.

The Dragon Roar Sword’s current might was, of course, all thanks to Li Shuang’s nurturing. But so what?

When he was with Li Shuang, Long Yan had always delayed and refused to sign a contract. But now, he had taken the initiative to sign the strictest master-servant pact with her!

He had even attacked Li Shuang without a moment’s hesitation, all for her sake!

This was proof enough of what a complete failure Li Shuang was as a person.

Now, it was time to savor the look of agony on her face in defeat.

Ye Zhaozhao held the Dragon Roar Sword, eager to see the look of despair on Li Shuang’s face.

Long Yan, controlling the Dragon Roar Sword, unleashed the might of the Golden Dragon and lunged fiercely at Li Shuang!

This was his final move. Back when the Dragon Roar Sword was ascending to the Fourth Rank, Li Shuang had gone to great lengths to find a True Dragon Stone. She had forged it into the sword, further enhancing its power. Not only did its daily attacks now carry a trace of True Dragon Power, but if that power was saved, it could be used to deliver a fatal blow at a critical moment.

In all these years, Li Shuang had never once drawn upon the True Dragon Power, which now made things convenient for him.

Of course, mobilizing the True Dragon Power wasn’t that simple. At the very least, Ye Zhaozhao, whose Spiritual Power was currently suppressed to the Foundation Establishment Stage, couldn’t do it. Long Yan could only unleash this earth-shattering move by burning his own soul body.

The consequences of this move were also extremely severe.

Originally, his Spiritual Body had been incredibly solid, almost indistinguishable from that of a real human.

But now, because he had burned his Spiritual Body, his once-solid form had become faintly illusory.

If he recuperated properly, he could barely manage to maintain his physical form.

But if he encountered another mishap, he would likely undergo Void Transformation directly.

He had paid such a heavy price just to defeat Li Shuang fair and square, just this once.

He wanted everyone to know.

That he, Long Yan, had never existed just as an attachment to Li Shuang. Even with a new master, the Dragon Roar Sword was still a Peerless Treasure Sword, and he was still a peerless Sword Spirit.

Closer, closer.

Soon, he would defeat Li Shuang!

Long Yan was trembling with excitement. Ye Zhaozhao was already wearing a victorious smile in anticipation.

However, at that very moment, within the golden light, Li Shuang raised her hand. And then, her sword moved!

Ye Zhaozhao froze, her pupils constricting violently.

At this moment, for some reason, she felt as if she were frozen solid. A terrifying, icy energy was radiating from Li Shuang.

Then, she witnessed a magnificent sight she would never forget for the rest of her life.

A lotus formed from ice and snow slowly bloomed on the arena stage.

The lotus was translucent, its petals made of ice and its stamen of frost.

A deadly beauty, holding a fatal danger.

The instant the Ice Lotus appeared, an astonishing Ice Attribute Sword Qi shot toward the heavens.

The Black Abyss seemed to transform into a blade of ice, striking the Golden Dragon’s head in an instant.

The Golden Dragon circling in the air let out a mournful cry before instantly shattering into a million points of golden light.

The moment the Golden Dragon was defeated, the True Dragon Stone embedded in the hilt of the Dragon Roar Sword began to tremble.

CRACK!

It crumbled to dust!

The wind blew, and the dust scattered. A crack slowly appeared on the body of the Dragon Roar Sword.

The light of the Dragon Roar Sword dimmed instantly.

Long Yan’s face went completely pale!

The Dragon Roar Sword!

It had been Demoted!

The Dragon Roar Sword had once been nurtured by Li Shuang into a Fourth-rank Treasure Sword.

But now...

The True Dragon Stone had shattered, and the Sword Spirit’s Spiritual Body had grown unstable. It could no longer sustain the treasure sword’s power.

The Dragon Roar Sword had been forcibly Demoted to a Third-rank Treasure Sword.

The Ice Lotus bloomed, and Li Shuang walked out from within the ice, slowly approaching Ye Zhaozhao.

She swung her sword, and lotus petals swirled around the Black Abyss, a bone-chilling cold radiating outward unceasingly.

"Ye Zhaozhao." Li Shuang’s voice was as if frozen by ice and snow. "Long Yan lost. Everything he used, every insight, was from my Sword Dao. It was all *my* Sword Dao. And you? What about your Sword Dao, Ye Zhaozhao? Come. I’ll give you a chance. Show me."

As her voice fell, Li Shuang pointed her sword at Ye Zhaozhao.

Ye Zhaozhao’s face was ashen, her lips trembling slightly.

At this moment, an endless panic flooded her heart.

’Li Shuang!’

’How could she!’

’Li Shuang!’

’How dare she!’

’I’m the one who should be welcoming victory right now!’

Ye Zhaozhao screamed frantically in her heart, "Long Yan! What are you doing! Attack again! Use that move one more time! I refuse to believe Li Shuang can make a second Ice Lotus."

Long Yan’s Spiritual Body wavered. He said helplessly, "Zhaozhao... The True Dragon Stone is shattered. I can’t use that move anymore. Even if the stone were intact, my Spiritual Body is already unstable. I couldn’t use it a second time."

"So what if your Spiritual Body is unstable? If you can’t defeat Li Shuang, what use are you to me!" Ye Zhaozhao’s voice was laced with venom. "Quick! Think of something! Are you just going to stand there and watch Li Shuang humiliate me like this?!"

Ye Zhaozhao was on the verge of madness.

Ever since she transmigrated, everything had been smooth sailing for her.

Even the former favored daughter of heaven had been pulled down from her pedestal by her, bit by bit.

So what if Li Shuang was the Heavenly Dao Female Protagonist?

’I’m a transmigrator!’

’I have the help of a civilization from another world, yet I can’t even beat a native?’

When Ye Zhaozhao looked at Li Shuang, she had always felt a sense of superiority. So what if she was the Heavenly Dao Female Protagonist? Wasn’t she just wrapped around her little finger?

No matter how she feigned respect, in her heart, she always looked down on Li Shuang.

But now, this person she had never taken seriously was rising from the ashes of despair, achieving a Nirvana of her own, and had even cornered her to this extent.

This couldn’t be happening.

This absolutely could not be happening.

"Long Yan! Keep attacking!" Ye Zhaozhao continued to scream.

Long Yan remained silent.

Fury rose in Ye Zhaozhao’s heart, and she couldn’t stop herself from cursing wildly.

A trace of bewilderment flashed in the depths of Long Yan’s eyes.

The curses were so harsh they sent him into a daze.

’It shouldn’t be like this.’

When he first met Ye Zhaozhao, she always had a sweet smile on her face, her eyes curved like crescent moons.

Even though he was a Sword Spirit, Ye Zhaozhao had treated him like a real person. She would worry if he was tired, rack her brains to tell him stories from all corners of the world, and be the first to notice the slightest change in his mood...

’But now...’

’Hasn’t she noticed how incredibly unstable my Spiritual Body has become?’

’Hasn’t she noticed that my face is as pale as paper?’

He knew his Zhaozhao wasn’t as harmless as she appeared on the surface; otherwise, she wouldn’t have hinted for him to kill Li Shuang.

But at the time, he just thought that this slightly wicked side of Zhaozhao was also a little cute.

Zhaozhao had said that she wanted to get rid of Li Shuang all for his sake.

That she only chose to move against Li Shuang because she wanted to be with him day and night.

Those sweet nothings still echoed in his ears, but Ye Zhaozhao’s sharp, frantic curses dragged him back to reality.

Long Yan’s lips trembled as he looked toward Li Shuang in a daze.