Trading Lives

The final distance between them was only one zhang.

The Black Dragon Spear charged straight ahead beneath the Black Dragon phantom, black qi spiraling around the spearhead and forcing the air before it to explode in rings, while the stone beneath Duong Quang’s feet shattered continuously with every advancing step.

He did not change direction.

Neither did Hao Nhien.

The invisible Spirit Wings behind Hao Nhien suddenly burst, not carrying him away from the spear’s path but instead driving his entire body directly forward.

For the first time, Duong Quang’s pupils contracted slightly.

He had not expected Hao Nhien to choose this.

But the Black Dragon Spear did not stop.

Slash!

The magma-like scales across Hao Nhien’s chest exploded the instant the spearhead struck.

The inner armor beneath his robe lit up at the same time. Formation lines had barely appeared before the force pressing against them—already nearing the limit the space of the Western Wastes could withstand—crushed them inward.

Crack!

One defensive layer shattered.

The spearhead continued forward.

Thrust!

Agony erupted through Hao Nhien’s chest, so cold and sharp that his entire body seemed to lock in place for an instant.

He could clearly feel the spear’s trajectory.

Straight toward his heart.

If it continued for even one more beat, his heart would be pierced.

At that exact moment, Soul Art began circulating within his sea of consciousness. The invisible Soul Sword took shape almost simultaneously with his thought.

Hao Nhien looked directly into Duong Quang’s eyes.

He did not need to destroy his soul.

He did not need to seriously injure him.

He only needed one beat.

The Soul Sword stabbed forward.

Hum!

There was no explosion or flash of light outside the arena.

But Duong Quang’s gaze suddenly froze.

Very briefly.

Only for an instant.

The Black Dragon Spear continued advancing, but the driving force behind it slowed for exactly one beat.

For anyone else, that fragment of time might have changed nothing.

For Hao Nhien, it was enough.

His left shoulder immediately dropped, his waist turned aside, and his entire chest shifted away from the spear’s line while the invisible Spirit Wings behind him burst again for one extremely short instant.

Only a few inches.

Not enough to evade the Black Dragon Spear.

But enough to change where it pierced him.

Slash!

The spearhead passed beside his heart, tore diagonally through his left lung, and burst out through his back.

Blood sprayed into the air in a red line.

Cries rang out from beyond the barrier almost at the same instant.

“Hao Nhien!”

“Young Master!”

But Hao Nhien no longer had the attention to look outside.

Because the instant the Black Dragon Spear pierced his body, the black scale-like patterns along the shaft all lit up.

Hum!

An icy suction force immediately erupted from the runes carved into the spear.

Hao Nhien had expected it to drain spiritual qi.

Instead, what it pulled away was life-force.

His entire body rapidly grew cold. The blood inside him seemed to be dragged backward toward the wound by an invisible force, while strength drained visibly from his muscles after only a few breaths. The firelight across the magma-like scales dimmed, and even the Hoa Ky Jade driving Rage trembled violently as though an unseen hand were forcibly pressing it down.

Duong Quang recovered from the momentary disruption caused by Soul Art.

His gaze immediately cleared.

Then widened.

Hao Nhien was still moving forward.

Unofficial copy! This story was published elsewhere by its author and copied here without anyone asking them.

He did not retreat from the spear that had pierced through his chest.

Instead, his left hand snapped down and seized the Black Dragon Spear.

Crack!

The magma-like scales across his palm shattered.

The sharp edges along the spear shaft cut deep into his flesh, blood quickly flowing between all five fingers.

But Hao Nhien did not let go.

Duong Quang reacted instantly and jerked the spear backward with force.

It did not move.

Hao Nhien had locked it in place with both his hand and the weight of his own body.

Only then did Duong Quang truly understand what he intended.

“You…”

He had barely spoken when the Spirit Wings behind Hao Nhien erupted one final time.

Boom!

Not to retreat.

To drive him farther forward.

Hao Nhien’s body slid along the spear shaft, tearing the wound through his chest wider at once. Blood surged into his throat, some spraying from the corner of his mouth, but the distance between them disappeared completely.

Less than an arm’s length remained.

Duong Quang immediately released one hand from the spear shaft, preparing to strike Hao Nhien directly in the head.

But the Fire Spirit Sword arrived first.

Hao Nhien’s gaze locked onto the left side of Duong Quang’s chest.

That was exactly where Shatter had destroyed most of the inner armor, leaving a completely exposed section of defense over the still-charred wound.

It was the result of the previous attack.

And now it had become the only path to the heart.

The Fire Spirit Sword thrust straight forward.

Duong Quang immediately circulated his spiritual qi, trying to use his remaining protective layer to lock the blade in place.

Clang!

The sword tip was stopped for one beat.

But the chest that had lost its armor could no longer withstand another direct collision.

Hao Nhien clenched his teeth and drove every remaining trace of Fire he could draw from Rage into his right arm.

Crack!

The layer of spiritual qi protecting Duong Quang’s chest shattered.

The sword moved forward.

Thrust!

The Fire Spirit Sword pierced into his chest.

Duong Quang’s entire body stiffened.

The blade continued through flesh and drove directly into the heart.

Thrust!

The sword tip emerged from his back.

The two men stood almost chest to chest in the middle of the arena.

One had the Black Dragon Spear driven diagonally through his torso.

The other had the Fire Spirit Sword piercing straight through his heart.

Blood from both men fell onto the stone, mixing with the black cracks left by their earlier collisions.

Duong Quang opened his mouth.

Blood ran from the corner of his lips.

The disbelief in his eyes deepened into something almost incomprehensible.

“You…”

His voice had become barely audible.

“You really… dared…”

Hao Nhien was also struggling to breathe. Every movement of his chest caused the Black Dragon Spear to tear farther into the wound, but his right hand remained tightly wrapped around the sword hilt.

“You…”

He paused for one breath as more blood spilled from his mouth.

“forced me to choose.”

Duong Quang stared at him.

His blood-covered lips slowly curved upward.

“And you…”

“chose to die?”

Hao Nhien looked directly into his eyes.

“No.”

His grip tightened around the Fire Spirit Sword.

“I chose… for you to die first.”

Boom!

Fire erupted inside Duong Quang’s chest.

It did not spread outward into a sea of flame.

Every remaining trace of Fire was forced through the Fire Spirit Sword and detonated directly inside his body.

Duong Quang immediately doubled over.

The forbidden pill that had been forcibly driving his spiritual qi to its limit lost balance almost instantly. The streams of power compressed through his meridians began crashing into one another chaotically, while Fire from the sword continued spreading through the pathways already torn apart.

The Black Dragon phantom behind him released a furious roar.

ROAR!

Its tail began dissolving first.

Then the body.

Finally the dragon’s head.

Boom!

The entire Black Dragon phantom shattered into streams of black qi and rapidly dispersed into the air.

At the same time, Duong Quang’s aura collapsed.

The pressure that the forbidden pill had forcibly driven close to the dangerous threshold of the Western Wastes disappeared rapidly. The flickering black lines around the arena also stopped appearing.

Duong Quang remained standing for several more breaths.

One hand still rested on the Black Dragon Spear, but the strength in his fingers was fading.

He looked at Hao Nhien for a long time.

The fanaticism in his eyes slowly disappeared.

In the end, only a deep and unreadable look remained.

“Quan…”

His lips moved faintly.

But the sentence was never completed.

The hand holding the Black Dragon Spear released.

His head lowered.

His aura vanished completely.

Duong Quang was dead.

Hao Nhien looked at him for one more beat.

Then he pulled out the Fire Spirit Sword.

Slash!

Duong Quang’s body immediately lost its support and collapsed onto the stone.

Thud.

At the same moment, Rage inside Hao Nhien began to recede.

The Hoa Ky Beast phantom behind him rapidly faded. The magma-like scales across both arms cracked apart one after another before dissolving into firelight, while the aura that had been forcibly raised by the Hoa Ky Jade dropped sharply.

Within only a few breaths, all of that explosive strength was gone.

The cost became immediately clear.

Hao Nhien’s legs weakened.

His vision swayed.

The Black Dragon Spear was still lodged through his chest, and although the runes along the shaft had dimmed greatly, they had not completely gone out. The suction on his life-force had weakened, but it was still drawing away what little vitality remained.

Hao Nhien raised his left hand and gripped the spear shaft.

He tried to pull it out.

The moment he moved, agony erupted from his lung and the area beside his heart, bleaching his vision white.

He stopped.

He could not remove it now.

Outside the barrier, the formation had already begun opening.

The black lines in space rapidly closed as Duong Quang’s power source disappeared.

Hao Nhien forced himself to raise his head.

Through vision already beginning to blur, he saw Cat Thanh rushing toward him.

“Cat…”

The sound was barely audible.

Cat Thanh appeared before him almost instantly.

“Hao Nhien!”

“Cat Loi…”

Hao Nhien had to pause for breath before continuing.

“Duong Quang is dead.”

Cat Thanh froze.

Only for one beat.

Then he understood exactly what Hao Nhien meant.

The three Heavenly Eye armies waiting outside no longer had reason to gamble against Thunder Burst now that the man sent to deal with Hao Nhien was dead.

Cat Thanh immediately nodded hard.

“I know.”

“I’ll handle it.”

“Stop talking.”

Hao Nhien heard him.

The corner of his mouth lifted faintly.

That was enough.

The Fire Spirit Sword slipped from his hand.

Clang!

His knees weakened.

His entire body began to fall.

But before he hit the stone, someone rushed forward and caught him.

“Young Master!”

Tieu Lan’s voice sounded very close.

Then Quan Nha arrived.

Then Tieu Nhan.

Familiar faces appeared in Hao Nhien’s rapidly blurring vision.

He saw Tieu Lan kneeling beside him, both hands trembling as she looked at the Black Dragon Spear still piercing his chest.

Quan Nha was saying something.

Cat Thanh and Lieu Thien Van had arrived as well.

The sounds around him began stretching and distorting.

“Don’t pull it out…”

“Seal the heart meridians first…”

“This thing is still draining…”

The words drifted past as though coming from very far away.

Hao Nhien could no longer tell who was speaking.

He only felt a very warm hand press against his chest, followed by a familiar stream of Wood spiritual qi entering his body.

Tieu Lan.

He recognized it.

Pale green light appeared before his eyes, but quickly blurred into indistinct patches.

“Young Master…”

Her voice trembled.

“Don’t sleep.”

Hao Nhien wanted to tell her he was fine.

But his lips would no longer move.

His vision continued darkening.

In the final sliver of light that remained, he saw Quan Nha leaning very close, one hand supporting his shoulder, while Tieu Nhan stood behind her with reddened eyes.

Farther away, Lieu Thien Van and Cat Thanh were speaking rapidly.

Hao Nhien could no longer hear them clearly.

Only the green light from Tieu Lan’s hand remained.

Growing dimmer.

Fainter.

Until at last, it disappeared.

Darkness closed completely.