Li Ang gripped the front of the long shuo shaft with his right hand, firmly locking the blade of the two-handed sword, preventing Ju Que from drawing back. His left hand formed a palm from a fist, swooping towards Ju Que's right shoulder like an eagle's claw.

In the sky, a storm of sharp, bird-shaped projectiles whistled down, covering half of the rooftop.

These finger-length spikes were either coated with deadly poison, contained parasitic eggs, concealed poisonous gas, or were equipped with miniature bombs. They might not be able to harm Li Ang, clad in the Mirage Dragon Red Mane Coat, but they could potentially breach Ju Que's armor,

relying on their sheer number to inflict multiple instances of damage.

Facing this airtight, suffocating offensive, a glint of determination flashed in Ju Que's eyes.

Buzz—

The heavy, unadorned sword vibrated inexplicably. The edges of the blade first lit up with a faint glow, flickering like a candle in the wind, unstable.

Then, the sword's radiance blazed forth.

【Name: Ju Que · Black Iron】

【Type: Weapon】

【Quality: Perfect】

【Attack Power: High】

【Effect: No Edge. Generates an exceptionally sharp sword qi along the blade. The shape and length of the sword qi depends on the total amount of sword qi invested.】

【Consumption: Consumes at least 20 points of spiritual energy and stamina per second】

【Cooldown: 5 minutes】

【Equipment Requirements: Advanced Basic Swordsmanship skill, Strength greater than or equal to 12】

【Note: It pierces through copper cauldrons, shatters whetstones, and cuts through Xu iron as easily as rice grains. Thus, it is called Ju Que.】

Ju Que's blade was already as wide and thick as a door, but with the addition of the sword qi, it became like a city wall, standing between Li Ang and Ju Que.

Buzz!

The edges of the sword qi flickered and swayed like pale flames, silently eroding and annihilating the concrete ground it touched.

The instant Li Ang saw the sword's radiance erupt, he retracted the Tyrant's Sweep Shuo and the left palm he had unleashed. However, he was still a fraction of a second too slow—

His left forearm was scorched by the sword qi. The left sleeve of his white coat exploded, and his entire left arm snapped back with a "bang."

The Mirage Dragon Red Mane Coat was undamaged, but beneath it, the skin, muscles, blood vessels, and bones of his left forearm shattered, the severed arm dangling, held together only by shreds of skin and the Red Mane Coat.

【Criticalhit！】

【Criticalhit！】

Two system notifications rang out almost simultaneously, one blue and one red, briefly appearing in the sky.

The suddenly surging sword qi also injured Ju Que himself—he had been holding the sword upside down in his right hand, the tip pointing downwards, his right forearm parallel to his forehead.

To block Li Ang's incoming palm strike, the sword qi radiated outwards from Ju Que's sword, the blazing light covering his right arm.

【Ju Que · Black Iron】 did not have an enemy identification function. Its sword qi could penetrate even Li Ang's Mirage Dragon Red Mane Coat, let alone Ju Que's own armor.

Chi—

A sound like cloth being torn apart by brute force rang out. Ju Que's right arm was severed at the shoulder, the entire limb spinning in the air. Before it could fall to the ground, it was struck by the unabated flames of the sword qi.

By the time it hit the ground, it was riddled with holes, like minced meat.

Blood gushed from the jagged cross-section of the severed arm,

Intense pain assaulted his brain,

Ears ringing, vision darkening,

Ju Que clenched his teeth, turning pain into rage, and advanced instead of retreating.

Grasping the falling heavy sword hilt with his left hand, he reactivated the pale sword qi, slashing upwards!

As spiritual energy poured in, the already tumultuous sword qi surged again,

Boom!

The concrete ground offered no resistance, splitting apart.

Gravel splashed, and the cold moonlight shone through the cracks into the building's interior, illuminating the steel bars buried in the concrete and the grid-like large office floors below the rooftop.

Li Ang activated [Soaring Cloud Steps], stomping heavily on an invisible step with his right foot, and sidestepped the upward slash while wielding the Tyrant's Sweep Shuo.

The various types of spikes raining down from the sky were merely scorched by the sword qi, reduced to ashes, unable to unleash their attacks.

Another strike!

Ju Que wielded the heavy sword with one hand, using the momentum of the upward slash to flip the blade and chop downwards diagonally,

The blazing sword light, like a bone-attached maggot, followed Li Ang relentlessly.

The area covered by the sword qi was too vast; a casual sweep could cover half of the rooftop.

[Boots of Phasing] was still on cooldown, unable to provide acceleration, so there was only...

Li Ang's gaze sharpened. He pointed the Tyrant's Sweep Shuo diagonally at the ground and, with the weapon and his body as one, flashed to Ju Que's right side.

His modified body, combined with the capabilities of the Biological Motherplate, allowed his severed left hand to heal rapidly.

Nerves reconnected, muscles reknit, bones reformed.

Although a ring of stinging pain persisted at the severed surface of his hand (Ju Que's sword qi was condensed and unyielding, constantly hindering self-healing), his left hand, barely regaining its mobility, could still raise its index finger.

[Finger Severing Spell]

A ghastly green light shot out along Li Ang's index finger, directly towards the cross-section of Ju Que's right shoulder.

It was obvious that this beam of green light was Li Ang's hidden trump card, revealed only at this moment of desperation.

Facing the dissolving beam, Ju Que did not dodge or evade. Instead, he rotated his left wrist upwards, pointing the sword at Li Ang. He intended to trade injury for injury, willing to be struck by the dissolving spell in order to land a blow with his sword light.

The blazing sword qi roared forward. Li Ang, leaping into the air, used the [Scatter Debris] skill, creating repulsion force out of thin air beneath his feet, pushing his body back to linger in the air for a moment longer and adjust the position of his legs.

He stepped on an invisible step formed by Soaring Cloud Steps, narrowly avoiding the sharp sword qi. The long shuo in his hand, like a venomous snake, stabbed towards Ju Que's neck.

This strike was swift and fast. If Ju Que's right arm was still intact, he could have used it to grasp the shuo shaft and block the attack.

But his right arm was severed, and the residual effects of emergency treatment potions were blocked by the indiscriminate Ju Que sword qi, unable to stop the bleeding from his right arm.

[Blink]!

Ju Que pushed off the ground with both feet, his figure dragging out afterimages, avoiding the Tyrant's Sweep Shuo while silently flashing below Li Ang.

The inertia of the heavy sword remained, cutting smoothly towards Li Ang's position in the air.

The situation changed in an instant, the advantage constantly reversing.

The Tyrant's Sweep Shuo had already been thrust out, leaving no time to defend. Scatter Debris and Finger Severing Spell were also on cooldown.

Soaring Cloud Steps was activated once more. Invisible steps formed beneath his feet, and Li Ang stomped on them in a continuous sequence, performing a one-hundred-eighty-degree spin like a stunt car, narrowly avoiding the heavy sword's diagonal slash.

Ending his spacewalk, Li Ang canceled Soaring Cloud Steps. His body plummeted downwards, and the long shuo changed from a thrust to a chop, heavily striking Ju Que's shoulder, tearing open a deep wound from his left shoulder to his right waist.

At the same time, the flocks of birds in the sky had also adjusted their tail directions, launching another volley of fire towards the edge of the rooftop.

Bang bang bang bang!

Dense rain of projectiles descended from the sky, dust filling the air...

When the dust settled, only Li Ang's figure remained on the pitted, broken rooftop.