Li Zhaoye was a battle fanatic through and through—arrogant, brash, and utterly unyielding.
This kind of temperament inevitably led to one problem: he and Luo Luo were always punching above their weight.
To make matters worse, their master was particularly unreliable. Every time Luo Luo asked why the demons were so hard to kill, he’d dismiss her with a lazy, "If you’re weak, train harder."
So Luo Luo trained. Diligently.
Over time, she honed herself under Li Zhaoye’s relentless tutelage—developing a body tough enough to endure brutal beatings, razor-sharp combat skills, and inhuman speed (mostly from running for her life).
Their daily routine? Defeating the strong while weak, picking fights with anyone, and radiating sheer audacity.
An enemy like that was headache-inducing enough on their own.
But two?
Daoist Cangyue’s shoulder bone cracked under Li Zhaoye’s kick, and his instincts screamed danger.
No time to think—he teleported out of the fray in an instant.
Yet before he could steady himself, a chill crawled up his spine.
Li Zhaoye, mid-kick, had already predicted his movement. Vanishing at the same time, he reappeared right behind him.
To the onlookers below, it was as if both men had dissolved into ink mid-air—ghostly and showy.
In less than a blink, their figures rematerialized far away.
Li Zhaoye swung his leg again, another flying kick aimed straight at Daoist Cangyue’s face.
Daoist Cangyue: "..."
Since when did Daoist cultivators fight like this?
No honor! No rules!
He crossed his arms in a desperate block. A dull thud echoed as the impact sent shockwaves rippling outward, triggering sonic booms in the distance.
As they broke apart, Daoist Cangyue caught a glimpse of Li Zhaoye’s eyes—filled with murderous rage, like a vengeful ghost who’d been trapped in a dungeon for centuries.
"BOOM!"
Luo Luo’s flaming sword slashed into the battle.
Daoist Cangyue would rather fight her.
He flipped his Silvermoon Sword, unleashing a mirror-like cascade of moonlight toward her.
Luo Luo laughed. "Bring it on!"
The silver crescent sliced horizontally. She flipped backward, the gleaming edge grazing her back and hair.
"SWISH!"
Spinning mid-air, she swung her heavy sword down in a brutal slash the moment she cleared the attack.
"CRACK!"
The blade, bathed in moonlight, gleamed pure and serene—until the unleashed energy dyed the silver crescent blood-red.
Flames surged like crimson clouds rolling in from the horizon.
Daoist Cangyue instinctively tried to retreat—only to freeze.
Li Zhaoye had already sealed his escape, grinning like a predator in the shadows.
One attacked. The other guarded.
Perfect synergy.
Daoist Cangyue’s heart clenched. His fingers flicked in a rapid seal, and his sword erupted with radiant light, firing multiple crescents toward the inferno.
Silver moonlight wove into a net, crashing against the scarlet tide.
For a moment, the sky blazed—flames and moonlight clashing, colliding, annihilating in bursts of dazzling sparks.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
Luo Luo and Daoist Cangyue flickered across the battlefield, their afterimages trailing tsunamis of spiritual energy. Every clash split the heavens in two.
Fire versus moonlight.
A storm of destruction.
Then—silence.
The chaotic light froze.
A single, crystalline clang shattered the stillness.
"CLANG—!"
At the epicenter, the Silvermoon Sword locked with Luo Luo’s Autumnwater Sword.
Her spiritual energy whirled like a typhoon, flames roaring along the blade, eyes alight with battle lust.
"A mere Daoist?" She grinned.
"Nothing special!"
With a push, both fighters recoiled.
Before momentum faded, Luo Luo raised her sword high—then brought it down in a devastating arc.
But Daoist Cangyue was gone.
Luo Luo clicked her tongue. "Tch."
Typical of the Moon Sect—always slinking away.
Feng Baiyan, watching from afar, gaped. "Seriously, Cangyue? You’re running? You only pick on the weak, huh? The second someone fights back, you turn tail!"
Luo Luo pointed her sword to the side.
"Fight me. Don’t chicken out."
Daoist Cangyue reappeared under the moon, face dark. "You’ve ascended. You know a Daoist’s attacks harm both parties. Why court mutual destruction like a fool?"
Luo Luo blinked. "Oh. I didn’t know. I just ascended."
Daoist Cangyue: "...Idiot!"
Luo Luo deadpanned: "You’re calling me stupid? Getting your ass kicked by an ‘idiot’ must feel great, huh?"
From the shadows, Li Zhaoye’s voice dripped with impatience: "Luo, are you done playing?"
She beamed. "Three more moves. Just three!"
He growled. "Hurry up."
"Okay, okay!"
To the onlookers, their casual bartering over beating a Daoist was downright insulting.
"Daoist Cangyue, show them your power!"
"They’re newly ascended—how strong can they be?"
"If we don’t crush them now, the Profound Sky Sect will have three Daoists!"
"Daoist! Remember your disciple’s death!"
Daoist Cangyue’s mouth tasted bitter.
Easy for them to talk. Did they not feel the pressure bearing down from the sky?
Luo Luo struck.
Her swordplay was born in hot springs—fluid, serene.
The world slowed in her perception, space itself flowing like water.
The heavens breathed.
"Here I come."
Eyes closed, her blade lifted—slow, deliberate.
"WHOOSH—"
Flames flickered in time with the universe’s pulse.
She vanished.
Reappeared.
Her sword crashed against Daoist Cangyue’s with a deafening "CLANG!"
Firelight bathed her face, eyes burning like embers.
She pivoted, kicked off the air, and—guided by the world’s rhythm—thrust a second strike.
"CLANG!"
Daoist Cangyue’s breath hitched.
His sword trembled ominously. One more direct hit, and his lifebound weapon would shatter.
The third strike—he could not block—
His pupils shrank.
Luo Luo’s blade didn’t aim for him.
Instead, she spun and stabbed downward—into empty air.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
Hellfire erupted in concentric rings, a blooming lotus of annihilation.
Daoist Cangyue raised his sword.
The impact sent him flying, battered by explosion after explosion.
Luo Luo didn’t pursue. She leaned on her sword, tilting her head back with a wild laugh.
"Done!"
The flames had shattered Daoist Cangyue’s jade hair crown.
He emerged from the flames, his robes singed at the hem, hair disheveled, a picture of utter disarray.
Li Zhaoye grinned darkly, his form blurring as he lunged forward, fingers splayed like claws aimed at Daoist Cangyue’s shoulder.
"Brat!" Daoist Cangyue swung his sword to block, but Li Zhaoye didn’t flinch. His iron-hard fingers clashed against the blade with a metallic clang.
His grip tightened, and the already cracked sword—damaged earlier by Luo Luo—splintered further with a series of sharp snaps.
Daoist Cangyue’s pupils trembled in shock.
What kind of monstrous physical strength was this?! Was he even human?!
Li Zhaoye yanked the sword toward himself and delivered a brutal kick.
"Boom!"
The blow landed squarely on Daoist Cangyue’s shin.
The Daoist’s face twisted in pain as he staggered back. "You—"
Before he could finish, Li Zhaoye vanished, leaving only a wisp of his black robe in the air.
"Thud!"
A crushing strike hammered into Daoist Cangyue’s back.
The resentful wraith had slipped behind him without a sound, driving an elbow into his spine.
"Gah!"
Before Daoist Cangyue could even curse, fists and kicks rained down on him like a storm.
Every blow struck flesh, ruthless and savage.
As a sect elder and a Dao Fusion powerhouse, Daoist Cangyue hadn’t been forced into such a brawl in millennia.
While a Dao Fusion body was incredibly resilient, when two experts of the same level clashed, pain and injury were inevitable.
The battle raged, shaking the heavens.
"Boom! Boom! Boom—"
Li Zhaoye pummeled his opponent midair, the force of their clash making the mountains tremble below.
"Slow," he taunted, his tone infuriating. "You’re too slow."
Daoist Cangyue seethed. "Brat!"
Li Zhaoye teleported, launching a flying kick.
"Can’t keep up with my speed?" he jeered. "Fine, I’ll give you a handicap—one hand behind my back."
Luo Luo opened her mouth but hesitated.
Honestly, he was just begging to be punched.
The sky became a battleground of fists and feet, the earth quaking beneath them.
Daoist Cangyue roared in fury, "Brat! Don’t think I fear you! I just refuse to waste my life on you!"
Li Zhaoye laughed, loud and mocking. "Come on then! Let’s die together!"
His strikes grew even fiercer, his lips curled into a merciless smirk, every punch saturated with unbridled malice.
"Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!"
On the ground, Feng Baiyan finally reunited with Jiang Ling.
He immediately shoved her senior brother aside—he’d disliked the guy for ages.
Jiang Ling sighed. "Brother, Senior Brother risked his life to protect me."
Feng Baiyan scowled. "Useless. If he couldn’t even do that properly, what good is his life?"
Jiang Ling deadpanned, "I was so moved when you charged into battle earlier. Turns out it was just useless heroics."
Feng Baiyan: "...&(%$!!!"
Above, Li Zhaoye was a vengeful specter, his entire being radiating restless fury as he beat Daoist Cangyue until blood sprayed from his nose and mouth, his spiritual energy scattering.
"If not for the fear of being eroded by the Heavenly Dao… Ugh!"
Li Zhaoye drove a knee into Daoist Cangyue’s jaw, the crisp sound of shattering teeth echoing in the wind.
Luo Luo suddenly understood. "Ah…"
She recalled the ancient Three Sovereigns mentioning this before.
Dao Fusion experts rarely fought because merging with the Dao meant wielding heaven’s power—but also submitting to its assimilation.
The Heavenly Dao was the way of nature, the law of the universe.
This was common knowledge, something Luo Luo had heard so often it bored her.
But now, having reached Dao Fusion herself, she finally grasped the truth of it.
After merging with the Dao, one had two paths: follow the human path, resisting the Dao’s assimilation with sheer will—until madness and death claimed them. Or embrace the Heavenly Dao, becoming desireless, passive, letting nature take its course.
The former was like Chen Xuanyi.
The latter, like the legendary Sage.
Luo Luo fell into thought. "Then what about me… and Li Zhaoye?"
A deafening crash snapped her back to reality.
From the sky came Li Zhaoye’s ridiculously arrogant laughter.
Utterly shameless.
Daoist Cangyue, now battered beyond recognition, his Dao heart shattered, wailed, "I’m an old man! You’ve already ruined my lineage, left me heirless! And now you’re beating me down to ruin my cultivation?! What grudge do you even hold against me?!"
Li Zhaoye’s expression turned eerie. "...No grudge, really."
Daoist Cangyue spat blood. "Then why?!"
A strange smile curled Li Zhaoye’s lips. "For my brother."
He’d been stewing in resentment for so long.
Finally achieving his power, barely getting a taste of freedom—and then this old fool had the audacity to get in his way.
How could he not use him as a punching bag to vent?
Hearing this, Feng Baiyan on the ground shuddered, his entire being electrified.
"Did you hear that?! Did you hear that?!" He was beside himself, swelling with pride. "Dao Fusion expert Li Zhaoye calls me his brother! He considers me his brother!"
Luo Luo: "..."
Wake up, buddy. Li Zhaoye’s "brother" is a [censored]!
