Unrestricted Dao Lord

Zhang Su lifted his head and looked at the sky.

Without him realizing, it had started to rain.

The drizzling rain felt a bit chilly in the night.

’I just wonder if Jiang Taizhen will still come, now that it’s raining.’

Maybe he would.

Maybe he wouldn’t.

Zhang Su wasn’t sure.

But he continued to wait.

Time trickled by until nine o’clock.

Cold raindrops landed on his face, bringing a chill with them.

"Hm?"

Just then, Zhang Su abruptly raised his head and looked into the distance.

His keen perception had already sensed a figure up ahead, slowly approaching the drum tower.

Finally, Zhang Su saw him.

Under the cover of night, a figure slowly arrived at the base of the drum tower.

The figure was dressed in a blue robe, a longsword in hand, emerging slowly from the darkness.

Zhang Su’s eyes narrowed slightly.

His gaze fell upon the figure.

"Jiang Taizhen!"

Zhang Su said slowly.

"That’s right. It’s me."

Jiang Taizhen had seen Zhang Su as well.

It was actually the first time the two had met, but they had been acquainted by reputation for a long time.

After all, one was first on the Guiyuan Sect’s bounty list for Inner Force Martial Artists, and the other was first on the Five Elements Sect’s list.

Both were people their rival Sects were itching to eliminate.

Zhang Su wasn’t just observing Jiang Taizhen; he was also scanning his surroundings.

"No need to look. There’s no one behind me—no Huajin masters, no other Martial Artists. Perhaps they’re following from a distance, but they’re definitely keeping their space. Tonight is our final battle. We’ll have enough time to kill each other!"

Jiang Taizhen seemed to know what Zhang Su was thinking.

Zhang Su was worried that a Huajin master was following them.

Jiang Taizhen felt the same way.

However, he had already checked.

The Guiyuan Sect’s Huajin masters were also within the Guiyuan Sect’s encampment.

They were also some distance away from the two of them.

Clearly, the Huajin masters from both sides had done this intentionally.

Their goal was to leave the two of them enough time and space to fight, undisturbed.

This was the outcome both of them wanted.

"You’re... very confident!"

Zhang Su said coolly.

"Of course. With my Three Meridians Unite, I’m catching up to our Five Elements Sect’s Celestial Pride, Shi Buyi. Of course I’m confident. You might be strong, but even your Guiyuan Sect’s Celestial Pride, Yu Hualong, lost to Shi Buyi. You’ll be no different. You’ll lose to me, too!"

Jiang Taizhen’s confidence was genuine.

It was different from Zhong Lixuan’s arrogance.

Arrogance stems from a lack of understanding of the world.

But Jiang Taizhen understood all too well.

It was precisely because of his clear understanding that he was so confident.

He was already comparing himself to the Five Elements Sect’s Celestial Pride, Shi Buyi. It seemed he believed that, given time, he could definitely catch up to Shi Buyi and be his equal.

"A Celestial Pride..."

Zhang Su shook his head.

He was still far from being a Celestial Pride.

Strictly speaking, he was currently just an Outer Force Martial Artist.

And no matter how confident or boastful Jiang Taizhen was, he was still just an Inner Force Martial Artist.

"After tonight, you won’t have the chance to stand alongside Shi Buyi."

Zhang Su’s tone was calm.

It was as if he were merely stating a simple fact.

But his tone was firm.

It seemed as if no one could sway his resolve.

"I’m curious. You want to kill me this badly—is it for that Shen Mo? His swordsmanship was decent, but he was a real fool. If he hadn’t insisted on fighting to the death without retreating, he actually might have survived."

Jiang Taizhen mentioned "Shen Mo."

It seemed like a simple question.

But in reality, he was trying to disrupt Zhang Su’s state of mind.

Zhang Su didn’t answer.

He slowly rose to his feet.

The drizzling rain fell upon them, seeming to blur their vision.

Zhang Su’s hand slowly gripped the hilt of his Cold Frost Sword.

"SHING."

Zhang Su had drawn his sword.

The Three Forces Unite within his body, transforming into a violent torrent of Little Three Yang Power.

At the same time, his Twelve Layers of Internal Strength erupted.

These were all the techniques Zhang Su had used to kill Wei Yunzhou on the fighting stage.

Now, he unleashed them without holding anything back.

"SWOOSH."

Jiang Taizhen drew his sword as well.

He hailed from Geng Metal Peak and cultivated the Taibai Splitting Light Sword.

Taibai Jinxing governs slaughter.

The light from his sword split into afterimages, each one possessing the terrifying Sharp Gold Power.

It seemed capable of destroying anything.

Both of their swordsmanship techniques were Unparalleled Swordsmanship.

The kind of swordsmanship with utterly terrifying power.

And both had been cultivated to the level of Perfection.

Finally, the lights of their swords clashed violently.

There were no fancy moves.

Just a solid, direct collision.

In that instant, Jiang Taizhen unleashed the power of Two Meridians Unite.

He felt that Two Meridians Unite was more than enough to handle Zhang Su.

Likewise, Zhang Su unleashed his Little Three Yang Power and the Twelve Layers Killing Sword.

This power was enough to kill a Half-Step Huajin Martial Artist.

"BANG."

A dull thud echoed.

Both men felt an immense force travel up from the other’s sword.

The terrifying power vibrated through their bodies.

One strike, two strikes, three strikes...

After the third strike, both retreated simultaneously.

"THUMP, THUMP, THUMP."

Jiang Taizhen took three steps back before steadying himself.

Zhang Su also took three steps back and steadied himself in the same way.

Both men stared intently at each other.

For the first time, a look of astonishment appeared on Jiang Taizhen’s face.

It was as if he was seeing Zhang Su for the first time.

"You’re strong! Stronger than I imagined! This is the first time I’ve faced a Martial Artist below the Huajin realm who could block my Taibai Splitting Light Sword head-on while I’m using Two Meridians Unite."

Jiang Taizhen’s expression slowly turned grave.

"That idiot Zhong Lixuan... even if he hadn’t been slain by your Guiyuan Sect’s Huajin master, had you truly fought him, I’m afraid he would have been no match for you."

He had already held Zhang Su in high regard.

But he never expected Zhang Su to be even stronger than he’d imagined.

"That must have been your Two Meridians Unite. It’s truly extraordinary. But you haven’t used your full strength yet. Your Three Meridians Unite will be even stronger!"

Zhang Su said calmly.

Jiang Taizhen laughed. "I can see that your eyes are still calm. You also have a final technique you haven’t used yet. Let’s stop probing each other. With my next strike, I will use Three Meridians Unite. If you can’t take it, you die!"

Zhang Su nodded.

"I have a sword technique as well. Though I only comprehended it recently, it should be enough to kill you..."

The drizzling rain fell on them both, yet it seemed unable to extinguish the killing intent radiating from their bodies.

"Good. I’d like to see what kind of sword technique can stop my Three Meridians Unite."

Jiang Taizhen circulated the Armor-Breaking Force of the Geng Metal Lineage, the Cold Ice Force of the Ghost Water Lineage, and the Withered Wood Force of the Wood Lineage within his body.

Of the Five Veins of the Five Elements Sect, he had already cultivated three.

And now, he was uniting all three.

Metal begets Water, and Water begets Wood.

This was no ordinary fusion of three types of Inner Force.

At the same time, Zhang Su also struck.

The style of Zhang Su’s sword changed.

It was no longer the Twelve Layers Tower Killing Sword.

Instead, it was the Wind and Thunder Sword Technique.

However, the Wind and Thunder Sword Technique of this moment seemed completely different from before.

This time, the Wind and Thunder Sword Technique seemed to have... come alive.

"RUMBLE."

From within the light of Zhang Su’s sword, great peals of thunder could even be heard.

They were incomparably clear in the rainy night.

Many people raised their heads, looking toward the sky.

There was no thunder.

"This is..."

Many people watched this scene in shock.

’No matter how strong the Wind and Thunder Sword Technique is, it can’t possibly create real thunder.’

The light from their two swords seemed to instantly illuminate the pitch-black, rainy night.

"SWISH."

The next moment, both of them stopped.

The light from their swords vanished.

All that remained was the drizzling rain, falling on the two men and on the swords in their hands.