Chapter 29: The Debt Is Settled
Lü Yan knew he could no longer afford to drag this out.
That brat was like a tireless monster, hurling thunder spear after thunder spear, his Spiritual Energy seemingly inexhaustible.
If this war of attrition continued, he might truly meet his end here in Wanggu City — and become the laughingstock of the entire Cultivation World!
"You forced my hand! Even if I destroy my own Dao foundation today, I will tear you to pieces!"
The aura around Lü Yan shifted violently, and a savage, overwhelming pressure far exceeding anything before erupted from his body.
The color drained from his face in an instant, replaced by an unnatural flush. A trickle of black blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and his crimson eyes blazed with a ferocious, all-consuming hatred.
Yet his aura surged relentlessly upward, shattering the limits of the Early Core Formation Stage in a heartbeat and reaching the threshold of the Mid Core Formation Stage!
"He's burning his blood essence!" The Clan Head of the Li Clan cried out in alarm from where he watched in the distance.
"Madness… absolute madness!"
Burning one's blood essence was a Cultivator's final, desperate gambit — a true fight to the death. Once begun, it could not be undone.
Anyone could see it: Lü Yan would rather perish and have his Dao extinguished than fail to drag Si Chen down with him.
Si Chen's brow furrowed slightly. The man before him had become dangerous again.
Without hesitation, he hurled the thunder spear already formed in his hand!
But this time, Lü Yan was far faster than before. His figure flickered, and he narrowly slipped past the lethal bolt of lightning, appearing before Si Chen as if he had teleported in an instant!
"Die!"
A sword-light saturated with blood and killing intent came crashing down!
Si Chen crossed his arms before him in a guard, covering them instantly with the power of thunder and vitality.
Boom!
A dull impact rang out, and Si Chen used the force to push himself back.
But Lü Yan gave him no chance to catch his breath or create distance. His sword strikes came like a raging storm, while Si Chen blocked and countered with fists and feet wreathed in thunder.
Boom!
Si Chen's fist slammed into Lü Yan's body. Lightning erupted on impact, and blood spilled from the corner of Lü Yan's mouth — but having already burned his blood essence, he had no retreat left.
The two figures clashed again and again, each collision unleashing a deep, thunderous roar and blinding flashes of spiritual light.
Lü Yan suffered in silence. The power he had forcibly drawn upon was like a rootless weed, burning through what little lifespan and foundation he had left at a frantic pace. It could not last long.
He had to end the fight before that power faded!
"Let's see how long you can hold on!"
Lü Yan's face twisted into a savage snarl. His sword strikes grew ever more vicious — a style of trading wound for wound, life for life.
Si Chen used the force of each blow to retreat, planting his toes against a crumbling wall to push off and create a sliver of distance between them.
He looked at Lü Yan, who raged like a man possessed yet whose aura remained ferociously powerful.
If one thunder spear wasn't enough… then he would use more.
He raised his hand again, and blinding arcs of lightning gathered once more in his palm.
But this time, both hands moved together — left and right in unison — as two Spears of Thunder took shape almost simultaneously!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two thunder spears tore through the air.
Lü Yan laughed wildly and forced his way through the gap between the two bolts of lightning, his sword slashing down once more!
"Futile struggle!"
Si Chen did not meet the blow head-on. He activated Thunder Smite Flash, his body dissolving into lightning and reappearing dozens of meters away.
Before his feet had even found their footing, both hands were already raised again, and new thunder spears began to condense!
One, two, three…
He moved at high speed, evading Lü Yan's increasingly frenzied pursuit, all while continuously condensing and hurling spears.
The moment one left his hand, lightning was already blazing in his grip again.
To any observer, it looked like a desperate, pointless squandering of Spiritual Energy.
"Ha ha ha! You've run out of tricks!"
Lü Yan dodged the seemingly chaotic barrage of thunder spears while taunting him, his assault growing ever more ferocious. How much Spiritual Energy could a Foundation Establishment cultivator possibly have? Burning through it like this would only hasten his death!
He could already picture Si Chen collapsing from exhaustion, helpless before him.
Si Chen paid his words no heed, continuing to condense and hurl spears, spending his Spiritual Energy without pause.
But gradually, Lü Yan began to sense something was wrong…
Ten spears, fifteen, twenty…
Just how much Spiritual Energy did this brat have?!
Dodging the last thunder spear, he knew he could delay no longer. A murderous gleam erupted in his eyes, and the killing strike he had been building up finally exploded forth!
"Die for me!"
A concentrated burst of sword-qi slashed toward Si Chen's chest in an instant!
With a tremendous crash, Si Chen was sent flying by the sword-light, crashing into a section of crumbling wall as dust and debris billowed outward.
"That should finally do it!" Lü Yan gasped for breath, his eyes locked on the cloud of dust.
Every onlooker in the distance held their breath, a single thought in their minds: it's over.
A savage grin of vengeance spread across Lü Yan's face.
Yet before he could savor the moment, Si Chen walked out from the slowly settling dust.
The front of his blue-grey cloth robe had been torn open, and there was blood — but beneath it, his skin was completely unharmed. Only a faint red mark remained, and even that was fading at a visible rate.
"How is that possible?!" Lü Yan's pupils contracted sharply, and for the first time, an expression bordering on despair crossed his face.
The killing strike that had made his name couldn't even break through his defenses?
Si Chen slowly raised his head and looked at Lü Yan, whose composure had utterly shattered. A faint smile touched the corner of his lips.
His blood-stained fingers lifted gently, pointing toward Lü Yan from across the air.
"Go."
A single, simple word left his mouth.
In the next fleeting moment, everything changed.
The thunder spears that had been so easily dodged or deflected earlier — the ones that had seemed to dissipate from exhaustion, or had buried themselves deep into the ground, or lodged into the rubble of broken walls — all simultaneously let out a low, resonant hum!
Hmmm——!
They had not disappeared. Si Chen had kept them tethered with an imperceptible thread of thunder, silently spreading them across the entire battlefield!
Every single thunder spear wrenched itself free from where it had come to rest!
One, two, three… a full twenty Spears of Thunder, from front and back, left and right, above and below — from every conceivable angle — simultaneously swiveled their tips to lock onto Lü Yan at the center of the field!
So that was it. Si Chen's earlier frantic hurling, which had seemed so panicked and wasteful, was never meant to strike its target directly.
He had been laying a net.
Across this field of ruins, he had silently woven… a web of absolute death!
An endless chill swallowed Lü Yan's heart in an instant.
He wanted to dodge, wanted to defend — but in every direction, every inch of space was sealed off by searing white lightning!
Too many. Too fast. There was no escape.
"No——!!!"
He only managed one last, desperate, unwilling shriek.
BOOM!!!!!!!!!
The lightning erupted all at once, swallowing Lü Yan's figure completely.
The blinding white light turned all of Wanggu City as bright as noon, and the deafening roar made the very earth tremble.
When the searing light and dust finally settled, all that remained was a scorched black crater, drifting wisps of smoke, and the acrid stench of burning.
Lü Yan was charred black, his Daoist robe in tatters, pinned to the ground by six Spears of Thunder.
One had pierced through his shoulder blade, two had skewered his thighs, one had run through his abdomen, and the two most lethal had crossed through his chest.
And yet he still clung to his last breath, his chest rising and falling in faint, shallow movements.
Those eyes stared fixedly at Si Chen as he slowly approached, filled with boundless venom and a trace of disbelief.
He could never have imagined that he would truly be defeated at the hands of a Foundation Establishment junior.
A rattling gurgle rose from Lü Yan's throat. With the last of his strength, he cursed in broken, halting words:
"…Liuyun Sword Sect… will not… let you go… you… will come to no good end…"
Si Chen walked slowly over and looked down at the old man who had caused him no small amount of trouble.
He didn't quite understand what purpose these dying curses served. They couldn't change any outcome.
He crouched down, reached out, and wrapped his hand around Lü Yan's throat.
Lü Yan's eyes flew wide open, the lingering venom in them dissolving into final, absolute terror.
Si Chen did not hesitate. His five fingers closed gently.
Crack.
A soft, brittle sound. Lü Yan's head lolled to the side, and the light in his eyes went out completely.
All his curses and hatred, with that quiet sound, vanished like smoke.
The wind swept the smell of char across the ruins, stirring the bloodstained hem of Si Chen's robe.
"The debt," he said softly, "is settled."