Chapter 195: Xuanxing Network Thunder, Suffocation on the Edge of Life

Time flies by in haste, and our lives are short, yet we experience so much. After countless stories come to an end, how many times have we been truly moved, touched, or brought to tears?
Perhaps many, many times… But that’s just momentary emotion. Out of all these fleeting moments, how many remain in our memories to withstand the force of time?
Looking at the arena, all one can see are two figures in black and white moving swiftly, while the sound of weapons clashing fills the air. Stones on the arena are constantly sent flying in all directions, and sparks erupt from the collisions of swords and blades. Under the black and red sky, everyone’s gaze is fixed on the silhouettes of the two fighters.
Suddenly, both the black figure and the white warrior stop moving. In an instant, there are no more flying stones or the sound of weapons clashing. Yet the wind grows stronger, and the gray and red sky presses lower, giving the impression that heaven and earth are merging.
Lei Jun’s long sword emits a purple-green glow, with white sparks constantly flashing across its surface. The surrounding stones slowly float upward under these sparks before cracking into dust. Liu Yi’s long sword hangs diagonally on the ground, its black blade radiating a merciless killing aura. Four dragon shadows coil around the blade, distorting the space around it as if it might split at any moment.
Lei Jun sighs deeply and says, “We don’t need to waste time like this anymore.”
Liu Yi doesn’t respond. At this moment, he feels oppression, a thirst for blood, and a desire to kill. His blood seems to be boiling, as if only blood can restore him. At the thirteenth level of his demonic cultivation, his heart filled with destructive intent has transformed him into a different person. After a pause, Liu Yi speaks coldly, “Please.”
Lei Jun looks at Liu Yi’s expressionless face and sneers, “It’s time to end this. Let’s see what strength you really have.” With that, he moves.
In an instant, his “Nine-Foot Star Sword” changes from being held diagonally in his right hand to being raised high. Though the movement seems slow, it creates a trail of afterimages. It’s just that people’s perception is slow—vision is delayed. The sword emits a purple-green light, illuminating everything around it, as if the entire world exists within that blade.
Powerful true energy is continuously poured into the sword, turning its metallic sheen into a faint light source—a white sword of light. The surrounding sparks turn purple as the light expands. Above Lei Jun, the sky changes; the gray clouds gradually part, revealing a deep blue night sky. Everyone is amazed—this sword’s power overshadows even light, bringing darkness sooner than usual.

At that moment, the deep blue night sky seemed like a vortex, beginning to twist and spin. As the stars rotated, streaks of white light instantly merged into the blade. Meanwhile, the gray clouds that had separated around them were filled with thunder and lightning; white bolts of lightning illuminated the entire world. In the instant when the lightning streaked across the night sky, the whole world turned pale. Amidst this paleness, humans appeared even more insignificant compared to nature.

The powerful forces of nature kept striking around Thunder Lord, causing the entire arena to shake. Black stones flew everywhere, and Thunder Lord’s black cloak flapped even more violently. Under the white lightning, his face turned dark and terrifying as he said coldly to Liu Yi, “This sword was created over ten years of my effort. You may not understand it, but I can tell you that in our Netherworld, we call such techniques Magic-Martial Arts. They possess greater power than mere self-training in the human world.”

Liu Yi’s world was black, but at that moment, the long sword seemed like a true light source, a sun, turning his world white. Hearing Thunder Lord’s words, Liu Yi frowned. He had never heard of Magic-Martial Arts before. Yet, relying on his keen senses, hearing, and observation of his vital energy, he knew this sword must not be underestimated. The immense power made Liu Yi instinctively raise his vital energy to its limit before responding, “Please.”

Yu Chenxing below the arena couldn’t help but ask the old man behind him, “Is this really a Magic-Martial Art?”

The old man on the left examined it carefully and said, “Such powerful energy… It must be.”

Yu Chenxing shook his head. “That’s not right. Didn’t the King say that no one in our Netherworld can master Magic-Martial Arts yet?”

Another old man also seemed puzzled and shook his head. “Magic-Martial Arts are indeed very complex. Not only does it require special vital energy, but the weapon also needs special materials. Moreover, mastering such skills demands great perseverance and a lot of time. Only by mastering both aspects can one use Magic-Martial Arts. It seems that Thunder Lord has summoned natural forces—this must be a Magic-Martial Art.”

Yu Chenxing thought for a moment and said, “No wonder Thunder Lord hasn’t shown up. He must have gone to master Magic-Martial Arts. It seems the Emperor isn’t Thunder Lord after all, right?”

Another old man behind him shook his head. “Well… I wonder what the Emperor has achieved in the human world over these ten years. If his cultivation level remains the same, I think Thunder Lord could stand a chance against him.”

Hearing their conversation, July snapped, “Just wait! Once Lan Ying returns, you’ll see how powerful he is. What he’s gained in the human world is far more powerful than this crappy Magic-Martial Art.” July was just speaking out of anger—she never had a good impression of Lan Ying, and her impression of Yu Chenxing was even worse, so she blurted out those words casually. But she had no idea that what she said turned out to be true—Lan Ying had indeed obtained something even more powerful than Magic-Martial Arts.

Yu Chenxing didn’t seem to have a very good impression of July either, but the person before her could directly call out the Emperor’s name—clearly, she wasn’t ordinary. Regarding July’s words, Yu Chenxing frowned; they couldn’t be taken entirely at face value, but as a shrewd leader, she also knew they couldn’t be ignored either. Her gaze fell once again on the arena, where changes had become even more significant. On the side of Thunder Lord, white lightning struck after strike, illuminating his surroundings. His nine-foot-long sword had now gathered thick layers of light. Thunder Lord finally acted—he quickly grasped the hilt with his left hand and shouted, “Catch it!” As the sound rang out, the sword was swung out violently with his rotation. This time, instead of a crescent-shaped blade aura, a white light sphere was emitted. The sphere was only the size of a fist, with purple lightning flashing around it. Something was flowing inside the sphere, looking quite strange. After the sword was thrown, light accumulated from the tail to the tip before shooting straight toward Liu Yi. Its speed was only slightly faster than that of ordinary blade auras, so evasion was impossible—only defense remained. As the light sphere was sent out, there was no time for anyone to think; it appeared just three inches in front of Liu Yi. Liu Yi, who had been prepared, tightly gripped his long sword, and four-colored dragon shadows emerged to block in front of him. Then came a “zha” sound, but it was definitely not the sound of weapons clashing. After hearing that sound, everyone had only one thought: Thunder Lord’s so-called ten-year cultivation of a magic martial skill had been blocked by this blind man, because they saw Liu Yi gripping his sword with both hands to block the white light sphere, after which the sphere disappeared. The arena fell silent again; no one made a sound. Yu Chenxing below thought to herself, “Strange. If this really is a magic martial skill, it shouldn’t be so easily blocked by this blind man. Or is this blind man’s cultivation level simply too high, splitting that magic martial skill apart?” The two elders behind him also expressed doubt but couldn’t explain it. If this were indeed a magic martial skill, it seemed unlikely—according to legend, those who cultivate magic martial skills must endure hardships beyond ordinary people’s capacity, can only master one such skill in their lifetime, and become extremely weak after using it, needing fifteen minutes to recover. Such a difficult skill couldn’t possibly be so weak. Of course, Ye Luo Baihua and Ye Luo Jianmu were also masters of swordsmanship, but still, Thunder Lord’s magic martial skill seemed to disappoint them greatly. However, what was seen might not always be true. At that moment, Thunder Lord’s face turned slightly pale, clearly having expended too much vital energy using his magic martial skill. He gasped for breath while staring at Liu Yi. Then, that white light point reappeared, appearing in a way that defied logic. Suddenly, a white circle appeared beneath Liu Yi’s feet. As the circle formed, white light instantly enveloped his entire body. Liu Yi could only sense a vast amount of vital energy surrounding him. He tried to move but found his body unresponsive—no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move.

Lei Jun forced himself to stand upright and sneered coldly, “Give up. Do you know what magic-martial art I practice?”
Liu Yi was shocked and thought to himself, “Wrong. The problem lies in that slash—I shouldn’t have tried to block it.”
It seemed Lei Jun could read Liu Yi’s thoughts as he continued coldly, “How could a master of your skill level fail to resist my magic-martial art? My art is called ‘Mystic Star Net Thunder Technique.’ As long as you come into contact with the Mystic Star Energy I generate, you’ll be under a curse for half an hour—your entire body will turn to stone, leaving you completely immobile. Whether you’re a god or a demon, you can only wait for the attacks of the net thunder. You weren’t careless, but you lost because you didn’t understand your opponent.”
At that moment, a white glow kept gathering, and within the flow of purple light, it was clear to see Liu Yi standing motionless, his entire body enveloped in it. Everyone began to reassess Lei Jun’s magic-martial art.
Just then, the backlash of Lei Jun’s ‘Mystic Star Net Thunder Technique’ began. The gray clouds above Lei Jun’s body were continuously drawn into the deep blue sky. As the sky twisted, white lightning bolts flashed instantly. These white bolts, as if they had eyes, did not strike around Lei Jun’s body but instead targeted Liu Yi’s body and the white glow surrounding it.
With each strike of white lightning, the white glow around Liu Yi was instantly mixed with purple sparks. At the same time, those purple sparks began to spread slowly. As more and more lightning struck, they formed a web-like structure that enveloped Liu Yi’s entire body.
This wasn’t a single phenomenon. Upon closer inspection, the purple sparks kept branching, connecting one to another, then branching again and connecting further. In this repeated process, Liu Yi’s body was instantly surrounded by the purple web. Soon, a painful expression appeared on his face.
The dark world was no longer dark. Countless streams of vital energy connected around his body. As those energies contracted repeatedly, Liu felt as though his whole body was being squeezed by some force, with each pore as if pierced by a blade. Pain—unhidden—spread through his brain.
Time passed slowly. The purple sparks around Liu Yi flickered more and more intensely, and his entire body seemed on the verge of collapsing. He couldn’t move; he could only wait, waiting to die from the torment of this strange force. The purple sparks, as if tangible, gradually compressed him, each contraction feeling like a blade digging deeper. Big drops of sweat fell from Liu Yi’s face and landed on the ground.

Liu Yi originally intended to use his true energy to resist and his protective aura to stop the contraction of those purple lightning sparks. But once he had gathered his true energy, he realized he was wrong. The external true energy quickly merged with his own, and with each flash of lightning, it felt as though knives were slicing through his skin. All he felt was pain—pain that penetrated his bones, so intense it made him want to scream. Yet now, the pain had left him without any strength, not even the ability to shout.

Lei Jun’s true energy was slowly recovering. Seeing Liu Yi’s expression at that moment, he sneered coldly, “I don’t know what you’re doing in the Netherworld, nor do I care if you’ve come to marry Ye Luobaihua. But… if that’s all your cultivation allows, then let me end your suffering sooner.” With that, he raised his long white blade again, bending slightly as he prepared to strike.

Obviously, anyone could immediately understand the situation on the arena, but everyone found the changes too fast. Lei Jun wanted to kill the person before him right after regaining his strength—something they hadn’t expected. But considering Lei Jun’s personality—always solitary, acting according to his own will, and known as cold and heartless—it didn’t seem excessive by that standard.

What was even more surprising was that Lei Jun actually struck, without any warning. A white figure, accompanied by a dazzling blade glow, rushed forward like a meteor crossing the horizon, leaving behind a perfect trail of light.

Yet, to everyone’s surprise, the moment Lei Jun attacked, someone stepped forward to block in front of the blind man. Clearly, this person had been prepared; otherwise, who else could have a higher level of cultivation than Lei Jun? With the appearance of that purplish-red figure, everything changed again.

Lei Jun’s blade stopped just an inch above the person’s forehead. The nine-foot-long blade glow illuminated the determined face before him, while the wind generated by the blade blew July’s black hair backward. The distance between the blade and the person was only an inch—meaning that if Lei Jun moved his blade slightly, July’s body would be the first to be cut in two.

A pair of star-like eyes scanned July, who was standing in front of Liu Yi. There was a hint of surprise and doubt in those eyes, along with a touch of sadness. Lei Jun slowly lowered his long blade, but his gaze remained fixed on the person’s face.

July crossed her arms, keeping her eyes on Liu Yi. Watching his suffering broke her heart. If she could form an eternal contract at that moment, she wouldn’t regret it. July knew she was willing—to bear all of Liu Yi’s pain, even taking it on herself. But fate hadn’t given her such a contract, so she could only suffer in silence. Perhaps only July herself knew that seeing him suffer hurt her even more.

But the changes were too rapid. To July’s surprise, Lord Lei actually intended to kill her and struck without any warning. She could have used her sword to defend herself, but in that moment, she panicked. Seeing his life coming to an end, she was completely at a loss. She didn’t think much—she only knew she could block that blade for him. No matter what happened afterward, she just wanted to block that blade so she wouldn’t have to watch him die…

With her eyes closed, July felt a strong wind causing pain on her face. But nothing happened as she had imagined. Slowly, she opened her eyes—tears still unshed. She saw the nine-foot-long sword just inches away from her. She watched as the sword slowly moved away, and she saw… his eyes looking at her.

Lord Lei suddenly smiled and then asked in incomprehensible words, “Have you given up on your life?” But as he spoke, he realized how foolish he was. If the woman before him wanted to die, why would she rush forward?

July’s gaze held a hint of anger. “What is this? Attacking someone from behind—how is that being a gentleman?”

Hearing July’s words, Lord Lei suddenly found it amusing. Were there still gentlemen in this world? What exactly was a gentleman? He had never known. All he knew was—success made one a king, failure made one a bandit. In just an instant, Lord Lei burst into hearty laughter, his laughter filled with joy and emotion. After that laugh, everyone was puzzled, including Ye Luobaihua and Yu Chenxing. Everyone knew Lord Lei’s personality in the underworld, but his laughter just now seemed extremely happy.

Answering July’s question, Lord Lei said, “I didn’t say I’m a gentleman.” With that single sentence, all of July’s prepared answers to buy time became meaningless.

Lord Lei stepped back a few steps, then suddenly turned sharply. The nine-foot-long sword passed through the gap beside July’s face, its tip pointing at Liu Yi’s forehead. “What is he to you?” That question stunned everyone even more. Why would Lord Lei ask such a trivial question? If he swung the sword, wouldn’t that person die?

Hearing this, July slowly lowered her arms. It was a simple question, easy to answer for anyone. But for July, how should she respond? All she could think was the painful question echoing in her heart: “Yes? Who exactly am I to him?”