Grasping the deep blue sword, Yin Long felt more energized than ever before. He was a sword, and his swords were him, he drew power from them whenever he wielded them. Generally, the effect was quite low, slightly hastened recovery or slightly fiercer attacks. But everything was different when he held this blade, subdued howls of pain seeping out from it.

His veins felt like they were twisting around in his arm, carving new paths through his flesh as they did their best to contain the immense power that now coursed through them. He could feel his body howl in tune with the cries of the blade, an almost ecstatic mixture of pain and a sense of power washing over every inch of his being. 

Right now he was stronger than ever before, that was a fact he was confident of. But at the same time, it was a power too great for him, he simply couldn't control or contain such an amount of energy. If he tried to hold on to that blade for too long then he would just explode into a bloody mess. 

But there was actually one other fact that he was a bit more preoccupied with. The sword he was holding, he could feel it quiver. The tiny vibrations felt like whispers, a gentle but childish voice tickling his ears.

Is this the world? Does everywhere look blocky like this? Is there soft wind like this everywhere? Happy, Happy, What a happy thing, what a beautiful world.

It felt like a voice tickling his ears, but at the same time, he was sure that he couldn't hear anything. The voice was simply there, emotions translated into something easier for him to understand. The sword, the strongest he had ever wielded, was happy. The world it saw for the first time, the caress of the wind, it was all so new to it, all so beautiful.

Why did this sword feel so much more alive than the others he had made before? Had Hongzai left behind something in the Qi used to form the core of this sword or was it because it was too strong for Yin Long to properly control? He didn't know, a situation like this was far removed from anything he had experienced before. And right now wasn't a good time for him to experiment, the voice of Tiankong drawing his attention.

"That blade... That's not something you should be able to wield, it'll run rampant until you can't contain it any further. Can you even swing that blade?"

He maintained his strong facade, but Yin Long could tell that Tiankong had scattered his energy evenly throughout his entire body while subtly taking a few steps back. There wasn't any single spot where his defence was greater nor weaker, it was perfectly even, meaning that he could reinforce every single inch at a moment's notice. He had noticed, this blade was dangerous, this blade was not something he could show the least bit of negligence towards. 

Yin Long glanced down at the blade he was holding. Its tip was tilted towards the ground, almost resting on the stage. He wasn't sure if it was the rampant energy or the difference in strength between him and the blade, but he was sure that this was the heaviest weapon he had ever held. It felt like a boulder of pure iron in his grasp, just maintaining his grip required a great deal of his physical strength. But even so, he was confident. It would be enough. 

"Correct, this sword is not something I can wield right now. I probably only have another 10 seconds at most before I fail to contain the energy. But don't worry, Tiankong, I have one swing in me. And that one swing, coupled with the earlier hit, will be enough for me to live up to my previous words."

His sword had only reached Tiankong once so far, that single utilization of Esi. But Yin Long said he would use his own effort to reach Tiankong at least twice, and now it was time for that second time. He tightened his grasp on the handle, he wasn't sure if it could hear him as he heard it, but he still tried to internally speak with the blade.

I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, please, two swings is all I ask for.

The blade quivered faintly again, seemingly responding to Yin Long's words. The cracks spreading across the devouring domain around the blade grew larger as it unleashed more energy, the burden on Yin Long growing a bit lighter as the energy was released into the surroundings rather than into him. He let out a somewhat stifled breath as the sword quivered, the corners of his lips pulling up softly. 

Thank you. Well then, you and I, let's go.

He put his energy into his legs and kicked off, launching himself forward and rushing towards Tiankong. Tiankong's throat rolled slightly as Yin Long charged towards him, the horrible pain of thirst contained in the blade was affecting him long before the blade even touched him. There wasn't too much distance between the two, if Yin Long was allowed to charge freely then the distance would be passed in barely a handful of seconds. But would Tiankong actually allow him to do that?

The blackened air all around Yin Long twisted, the entire domain shrinking to strengthen the myriad of spears that formed. Each spear was pitch black and had fang-filled maws running across the tips, a sound akin to maniacal giggling coming from each one as they launched themselves at Yin Long to halt him.

He was surrounded on all sides by spears, his wings could protect his back but not the rest of his body, they simply weren't large enough. He also couldn't divert any of his attention by using another blade, the sword he was holding required his all. But swinging the blade to deflect the spears was out of the question, every swing was extremely precious, and he already had a plan for the two swings he was capable of. 

"More, I need more."

His eyes were bloodshot as he muttered to himself, his mind straining itself to the point of breaking. In fact, his mind took it one step further, it moved past the point of breaking. His brain shut down from the overload, shutting down his organs as his life reached an end from overexertion. But to him, death just meant that his final trump card kicked in. 

The dim grey stone sword he had created during the fight collapsed, the azure sword made from Yin Yu's lightning quickly following suit. The two weapons turned into pure energy that flowed into Yin Long's body, restarting his brain and the organs that had shut down, reacting so quickly that the outside world hadn't even noticed that he just died. 

His mind was forced to endure the overexertion, giving Yin Long just enough time to force a certain part of his body to listen. The two crimson wings on his back suddenly trembled, folding up against his back as they suddenly started to melt. The wings were a result of his bloodline activating and were heavily tied to blood, they could melt to restore their own gaping wounds thanks to the fact that they were practically just blood given form. 

And if that was the case, did they really need to be in the shape of wings? It was good for if he wanted to fly or defend his back, or if he wanted two additional appendages he could use like swords. But right now it wasn't enough, right now he needed something else. And so he gave the order, and his blood moved to obey.

The wings melted onto his back, drawing in all the blood he and Tiankong had spilt so far. The molten patch on his back rapidly grew and coiled around Yin Long's body, morphing into something that could accomplish his order, something that could defend him on all sides. 

In the end, the pair of wings melted and wrapped around Yin Long's entire body, forming a crimson robe and billowing cloak. Feather-like decorations adorned the bottoms of the cloak and the robe, yellow veins running across the cloth like thin decorative threads. That was the image the blood decided on, the one most suited to defend all of Yin Long's sides.

The cape billowed and stretched unnaturally as it reached towards the spears that came from behind and above Yin Long. The robe itself also moved, the loose bottom stretching out somewhat jagged patches of cloth to deflect the spears that came from the front and the sides. 

Just his wings alone wouldn't be able to deflect these spears, but now his wings had drawn in more blood and were also supported by the immense energy of the blue blade, giving them enough strength to push aside most of the spears. A handful still reached Yin Long, but after having to pierce through the cape and the robe they had ended up losing so much strength that they came to a grinding halt when they stabbed into his bones. 

It was obviously immensely painful, especially the sensation of the devouring law inside the spears eating away at his insides. But he was Yin Long and he held the law of Yin, pain was fuel. It didn't matter what sort of pain it was, the fire burned regardless of the firewood. 

"Tch."

Tiankong clicked his tongue quite audibly in apparent frustration, he'd only shown this level of frustration when Yin Long's sword reached him earlier. He didn't want to risk trying to defend against the blade, not now when he had just unleashed a large-scale devouring attack and thus drained a good portion of his Qi. And since that was the case, dodging was clearly the best option, Yin Long would never be able to catch him if he focused on staying away. 

But how could Yin Long not have prepared for something so simple? Would he really pull out a trump card like this one if he wasn't confident that he could make it work? The answer was no, he had made his preparations, and now it was time for Tiankong to suffer thanks to them. 

A bit of Yin Long's Qi seeped out as his thoughts moved, activating the three blades he had specifically prepared. A strong force suddenly acted on Tiankong's body, halting his steps as he tried to move to the side. The force tugged at him from behind, pulling him backwards and close to the edge of the stage.

"What the?!"

He hurriedly cast a glance over his shoulder to find the source of the tugging force, his pupils shrinking fiercely when he saw the culprit. Three blades had embedded themselves in the stone close to the edge of the stage, two black ones and a cyan one. And all three swords were currently radiating energy, one drawing in the wind, one unleashing a strong swallowing force and the final one unleashing an all too familiar devouring force. 

One of them alone wouldn't be enough to move Tiankong, but right now there were three of them working together, he was even a tiny bit weakened thanks to the exertion. As a result, his attempt at dodging came to a grinding halt, forcing him to meet Yin Long head-on. 

He brandished his spear as Yin Long raised the blade he was holding, raising it high before bringing it down towards Tiankong's shoulder. But Tiankong was no fool, he instantly recognized the faint movements of Yin Long's muscles and discerned what type of attack he wanted to use. It looked like a simple slash but it was in fact the same as the first slash that had reached him, the one that forced the pain of starvation upon Tiankong. 

He instantly figured it out, and as such, he immediately moved to counteract the technique. The dangerous part of the technique was in the sudden change of direction, it would slip past most defences and catch the opponent off-guard. As such, the way to beat the technique was to react before he got the chance to alter the direction. 

Tiankong knew that a normal way of blocking wouldn't work, Yin Long would probably figure out a way to counteract it, he was skilled enough to pull that off. So he had to block in a way he wouldn't expect, a tricky way that made little sense. 

He moved the second he came to the conclusion, sliding his grasp on his spear forward until his hand was practically grasping the spearhead. He stabbed the spearhead into the stage so that the shaft rose upwards, exerting all his might so that the spearhead cut through the stage so that the shaft could finish its half-moon shaped arch. 

The end of the shaft ended up right beneath Yin Long's wrist, catching it before he could alter the direction of his blade. And even if he did manage it at that last second, Tiankong had tilted so far forward that the blade would pass over him. Yin Long's wrist slammed into the shaft, a dull cracking sound coming from his bones due to the strength he had swung his arm with.

But it was at that moment that Tiankong saw Yin Long's other arm move, just barely catching it out of the corner of his eye. The hand that held the sword loosened its grip, the dark blue blade falling towards the ground seemingly in slow motion. It felt so slow but happened so fast, Tiankong had no choice but to just watch it happen. 

Yin Long's other arm rose to catch the blade, grasping it shortly before it reached the ground. And then it continued to rise without interruption, the already blocked descending slash suddenly becoming an ascending slash that Tiankong could only watch, it was already mere centimetres away from him.

His pupils shrank until they were practically invisible, the energy radiating off of the blade causing his skin to tingle. He bit down on his tongue and swallowed some of the black blood that seeped out, the veins on his face wriggling like worms as they bulged out and turned as black as the night. His mouth opened and sludge-like darkness covered in giggling maws spilt out, the mud-like darkness that had merged with his shadow earlier also rising. 

The sludge that rose from his shadow covered his body like armour while the sludge that spilt from his became a defensive line between him and the incoming blade. The sword touched the sludge and unleashed a sharp and violent energy, cutting directly through the sludge and smashing into Tiankong's defensive suit. 

The pain was the first thing Tiankong noticed as the weapon struck him. His throat felt like it was burning, as if grains of sand were grating against. His stomach had never felt more empty, he felt so hollow that he feared that his stomach may turn on itself, or worse yet, that it may turn inside out and attack his organs. 

The next thing he noticed was that he could no longer feel the stage beneath him. His feet had left the ground and his body had been tossed into the air, his hastily prepared armour torn open by the blade. A gash had been carved into his torso, going all the way from his left shoulder to his right waist, splattering his blood everywhere. 

But the pain from that wound barely registered in his mind, his instincts were also telling him that it looked far worse than it actually was. What followed however was far worse than pain. The starvation and thirsts he felt grew in magnitude without end, threatening to swallow his mind. But as he peered into that pain, was embraced by it and shrouded by it, he felt sorrow. The sorrow of loss, of loneliness, of burden, of betrayal and anxiousness, sorrows he had never experienced emerged in his chest one by one as he delved deeper into the pain.

His gaze slid down somewhat as he soared into the air, landing on Yin Long. His entire arm seemed to have burst open from that second swing, the veins rupturing and splattering out blood. But all of that blood just became part of the crimson robe and cloak adorning his body, just another layer to the king's regalia. 

Tiankong knew, all he had to do to win was get back down to the stage. He had a large gash in his torso, but he would still be able to go for several more exchanges, he was that strong. Yin Long on the other hand would fall over if a stiff breeze touched him, he would be easy prey.

But Tiankong couldn't get back down to the stage, the pain and sorrow assaulting him interfered with his mind so he couldn't form any coherent thoughts. And those three swords were still unleashing their tugging force, but now he couldn't dig his feet into the ground to resist it. He was drawn in by those three swords while still in the air, the pain and his weakened state preventing him from stopping it. 

When the three swords finally stopped acting on him he had already passed them. As such, when he finished descending to the ground again, he fell to the ground just outside the stone stage. He was dumbfounded as he laid there, not even the pain and sorrow really registered in his mind any longer. He was outside the stage, he had left the premises of the battle, and that meant only one thing according to the rules of the championship. Even the voice of Yin Long barely registered in his mind as he laid there. 

"I told you, Tiankong. Twice my sword will reach you, and while this is the end, it's not for me."