Elder Zhao’s solar sword unleashed a blinding beam of sacred light that cleaved through the mountain air, turning the surrounding mist into rising steam. The sheer heat scorched the stone cliffside, threatening to incinerate anything in its path.
Li Chen did not retreat.
He raised his left hand, spreading his fingers wide. The violet-black aura swirling around him condensed instantly, forming a massive, jagged barrier of compressed shadow in front of his chest.
CLASH!
The golden light slammed violently into the shadow barrier, sending shockwaves through the valley. Ancient pines exploded into splinters, and the ground split wide, leaving deep fissures in the earth. The disciples behind Elder Zhao cheered, believing their master’s divine technique had struck down the heretic. Find the original chapter at novelping dot com.
Yet, as the blinding glare faded, Elder Zhao’s face paled.
The solar sword’s radiant beam was not shattering the darkness; it was being consumed. Fine crimson veins spread across the black surface of Li Chen's barrier, rapidly drinking in the holy flames, draining their heat and converting the light into raw, corrupted Qi.
— Im-impossible! — Elder Zhao gasped, taking a involuntary step back. — The Divine Solar Flame purges all filth! It cannot be refined!
— Filth? — Li Chen’s voice echoed from behind the dark shield, distorted and layered as if spoken by a hundred voices at once. — You call pure power filth because it does not bow to your hypocritical righteousness.
Li Chen clenched his hand into a tight fist.
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The shadow barrier erupted outward in a tidal wave of pitch-black spikes. They shot forth at blinding speed, piercing through the spiritual shields of the surrounding disciples like paper. Desperate screams filled the valley as the black spikes absorbed every drop of blood they touched, turning the disciples into withered husks within seconds.
Thin streams of crimson mist surged back into Li Chen’s body, feeding the hungry Dark Dan residing within his Dantian. His aura swelled, pushing his cultivation directly to the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm in a single breath.
Elder Zhao stood alone amid the ash and blood of his fallen sect members. His hands trembled as he gripped his solar sword, its radiant glow now flickering like a dying candle.
— Demon... — Zhao whispered, horror choking his throat. — The righteous sects will hunt you to the ends of the earth!
Li Chen stepped through the drifting ash, his scarlet-violet eyes fixing upon the old man. Dark Qi coiled around his arm, forming a long, pitch-black blade that hummed with the lamentations of dead souls.
— Let them come, — Li Chen said softly, raising his blade. — They will only serve to fuel my ascension.