Before the Ghost Peak, the sky burned gold, and lightning danced around Lei Jiang's body, each spark rippling with power that distorted the battlefield. He was no longer a man but a storm incarnate—his veins pulsed with pure thunder, his gaze a smoldering brand against the broken ground. The air itself seemed to kneel before him, crackling under the weight of his presence.
Lu Shen and Wei Jun stood a dozen paces away, their chests rising and falling in labored breaths. Blood trickled from the corner of Wei Jun's lips, while Lu Shen's fingers trembled around the hilt of his sword. Their martial souls hovered behind them, but the once-proud Sovereign Dragon's golden scales had lost their brilliance, and the War God's blazing aura flickered, struggling to hold form.
Lei Jiang smirked. "Not bad, not bad." He rolled his shoulders, his movements slow, almost lazy. "You actually made me go this far."
He flexed his fingers, and golden lightning coiled around his arm like a living serpent. Then, in the space between one heartbeat and the next, he vanished.
BANG!
A thunderclap split the air.
Lu Shen barely had time to raise his sword before Lei Jiang's palm struck him dead center in the chest. The impact shattered the earth beneath them, sending a shockwave across the battlefield. Lu Shen's feet skidded backward, carving trenches into the dirt as he fought for balance.
Wei Jun lunged from the side, his gauntleted fist a blur of crimson light. Lei Jiang twisted, sidestepping in an instant, his body flickering like a mirage.
"Predictable."
Before Wei Jun could react, a golden elbow crashed into his spine. The force hurled him forward, his body bouncing against the ground before slamming into a jagged rock formation. Dust and debris exploded in his wake.
"Third Brother!" Lu Shen's shout was raw, desperate.
Lei Jiang's smirk widened. His lightning-clad gaze shifted back to Lu Shen, gleaming with amusement. "Oh?" He took a step forward, his presence an oppressive weight that made the air itself hard to breathe. "Now that is an interesting turn of things." He shook his head, clicking his tongue. "How stupid."
Lu Shen's grip on his sword tightened. The heat in his chest burned, a wildfire of rage and defiance.
Lei Jiang laughed.
And suddenly he was in front of Lu Shen again, too fast for the eye to follow.
Bang!
A golden palm slammed into Lu Shen's ribs, sending him airborne. His vision blurred as pain exploded through his body, his insides screaming in protest. He twisted midair, barely landing on his feet, but his breath came ragged, uneven.
Lei Jiang stood tall, arms folded. "See? Too weak."
Lu Shen wiped the blood from his mouth, forcing himself to meet Wei Jun's gaze. They didn't speak. They didn't need to. In that single look, everything was understood.
No more wasted movements. No more unnecessary risks.
It was time to take this battle to its highest peak.
Wei Jun exhaled. Lu Shen shifted his stance. The world around them seemed to slow, and in the next instant—they vanished.
Their figures blurred, indistinct shadows weaving through the battlefield like an untouchable dream. Lei Jiang's smirk finally faded as the first strike came from the left—Lu Shen's blade, flashing like a streak of moonlight. Lei Jiang barely dodged, twisting just enough to avoid the killing blow—
Only for Wei Jun to appear at his blind spot.
Bang!
A gauntleted fist crashed into his ribs.
Lei Jiang grunted, his body jerking slightly to the side. He countered with a thunder-infused backfist—but it hit nothing.
'An afterimage.' His instincts flared. Another sword stroke came from behind. He turned, parrying with his forearm, but even before he could fully deflect—
Wei Jun was already there again.
They weren't two fighters anymore. They were a single flowing force, their attacks weaving together with impossible precision. Every time Lei Jiang countered one, the other was already striking from another angle. Their bodies shifted between reality and illusion, flickering like ghosts on the battlefield.
Lei Jiang frowned.
"Die!" He lashed out, golden lightning erupting from his fist. The force should have torn through the battlefield—but his attack passed through a mirage.
A feint.
The real Lu Shen was above him.
While the real Wei Jun was below him.
Two strikes. One instant.
Blade and fist crashed into him at the same time.
Boom!
The earth split beneath them as Lei Jiang was sent skidding back, his feet dragging through the dirt. A faint trail of blood dripped from his lip.
A deafening pause erupted for a moment.
Then Lei Jiang chuckled. A deep, rumbling chuckle that soon grew into a full, booming laugh.
Lu Shen and Wei Jun stood rigid, their bodies tense.
Lei Jiang rolled his neck, cracking his shoulders. The amusement in his eyes was gone, replaced with something colder. Sharper. His golden aura surged again, stronger than before, the storm within him reigniting.
"You're good," he admitted. "Your synchronization? Almost perfect." His smile returned, but this time it was edged with something sinister.
"But 'almost' isn't good enough."
Rumble!
Lightning surged and the ground shook violently.
Swoosh!
Lei Jiang moved faster than they could react.
A golden explosion swallowing them both.
Lu Shen felt his body lifted from the ground, his consciousness spinning as he crashed through a mountain, pain splintering through every nerve. Wei Jun's cry echoed as he slammed into the ruins of a broken rubbles, his blood staining the cracked stone.
Lu Shen's fingers twitched. He tried to rise, but his body refused to obey. His vision swam. His martial soul—Gone.
His Qi—Drained.
And above him, Lei Jiang still stood, a living calamity, his power undiminished.
"Disappointing," Lei Jiang mused. "I expected more from the Sword God Sect's so-called geniuses."
A deep, ragged breath beside him. Wei Jun forced himself up, swaying. Blood dripped from his forehead, his voice hoarse yet sharp with defiance.
He turned his head slightly, lips curling into a faint smirk as he whispered, "Second Brother… you better bring your ass out soon."
The battlefield was a ruin of shattered stone and scorched earth. The once-proud hallway of the Ghost Peak now lay in crumbling devastation, illuminated only by the flickering embers of battle.
Lu Shen and Wei Jun stood side by side, their bodies ravaged by exhaustion. Their robes were in tatters, blood seeping through the cracks in their skin, yet their eyes still burned with an unrelenting fire. Their martial souls had long dissipated, and their energy was all but spent. Yet, arrogance and defiance still radiated from their battered frames.
Across from them, Lei Jiang loomed like a god of destruction. The moment he had merged with his martial soul, the battlefield itself seemed to bend under his presence. His flesh glowed with crackling golden lightning, veins surging with raw, unchecked power. Ethereal thunder dragons coiled around his limbs, their celestial roars shaking the very air. His once-human face was now something far more sinister, his smirk stretching impossibly wide, his eyes gleaming with sadistic pleasure.
He took a step forward. The air around him cracked apart as arcs of golden lightning surged outward, splitting the sky with a deafening clap.
Lu Shen tightened his grip on his broken sword. His hands trembled, whether from pain or rage, he could not tell. Beside him, Wei Jun barely remained standing, his War God aura nothing but a faint flicker. And yet, even in the face of death, the two refused to kneel.
Lei Jiang chuckled darkly. "Still standing?" His voice rumbled like a storm, thick with amusement. "Admirable. But foolish."
Wei Jun spat blood, grinning through crimson-stained teeth. "You talk too much."
Lei Jiang's smirk widened. "Very well."
With a single motion, he vanished.
Boom!
The world erupted in golden chaos.
Lightning flashed, the air ignited, and an explosion of force sent both Lu Shen and Wei Jun flying backward. Lei Jiang materialized in midair, appearing behind them in an instant. His fist, wrapped in a storm of golden fury, rocketed forward—aiming to end them in a single blow.
Lu Shen's instincts screamed. He twisted mid-air, raising his shattered blade—too slow.
Wei Jun pivoted, but his body was sluggish—too late.
CLANG!
Right then, a brilliant golden sword slashed in between them.
A shockwave blasted outward, a crescent arc of pure force slicing through the storm. Lei Jiang skidded back slightly, his narrowed eyes locking onto the new figure standing in his path.
There, amidst the wreckage, her robes flowing with the wind, her face streaked with blood and sweat, stood Huang Ling.
Her breathing was ragged, her arms trembling, but her stance—her stance remained unyielding. In her grasp, her sword, Radiant Moon, gleamed with defiant brilliance, cutting through the suffocating pressure of the battlefield.
Lu Shen coughed, looking up through blurry vision. "J-Junior Sister...?"
Wei Jun exhaled sharply, a flicker of something between relief and irritation flashing in his eyes. "Took you long enough."
Huang Ling didn't respond. Her focus was locked on the thunder-clad titan before her.
She pointed her sword at Lei Jiang. Her voice was smooth but unwavering. "If you want them… you'll have to go through me first."
Lei Jiang's smirk widened. The glow in his eyes intensified, his aura crackling with renewed excitement. "With Pleasure."
Boom!
Lei Jiang disappeared, a flicker of gold, and a sudden shift in the air.
And then—Lightning exploded.
Lei Jiang reappeared in multiple places at once, flickering through the battlefield like an unstoppable force. The world blurred under his sheer speed, leaving only streaks of golden light in his wake.
Huang Ling's grip tightened around her sword.