Wandering Swordsman |

Hua Tianyou flicked his wrist, and the sword broke free from its grip like a serpent, slashing horizontally with a backhand motion. Where the sword passed, cracks appeared on the seemingly indestructible ice surface.

Odin finally moved. He took a half step back with his left foot, flicked his sleeve, and seemingly casually blocked Hua Tianyou's full-force attack, turning it into nothingness.

Hua Tianyou felt as if the sword had struck an impenetrable wall, his tiger's mouth cracked open, and blood trickled down the hilt, blooming like red plum blossoms on the ice beneath his feet.

"Albert!" Hua Tianyou gritted his teeth and hissed.

Albert, watching from afar, suddenly narrowed his eyes, his aura surging. Just as he was about to rush to the rescue, a figure in silver armor appeared before him like a ghost.

Knight Commander Thorne slammed his longsword to the ground, his eyes filled with warning: "You are one of the Seven Stars, why get involved in personal grudges?"

"Get out of the way!" Albert stared intently at Thorne.

Thorne lightly touched the ice with the tip of his sword: "Since you insist on intervening, then today I might as well challenge the Seven Stars." Although he was not one of the Seven Stars, the cold light emanating from the tip of his sword was on par with the martial power emanating from Albert.

In the center of the ice, the battle had reached a fever pitch. Hua Tianyou's swordplay grew increasingly fierce, the sword light weaving into an impenetrable silver net.

Odin's palms flew, capturing all the sword shadows in the sky. "Your father, Hua Zhentian, was no better than this when he sparred with him back then." A trace of reminiscence flashed in Odin's eyes, and his right palm suddenly changed its move, grabbing Hua Tianyou's wrist like an eagle pouncing on a rabbit.

Hua Tianyou narrowly dodged the attack, but his left shoulder was struck by the palm strike, tearing his clothes and causing his skin to roll back.

The excruciating pain, however, ignited the latent fighting spirit within Hua Tianyou.

His swordplay suddenly changed, becoming completely unpredictable, with each strike carrying a resolute determination to perish together with his opponent.

Odin's eyes flashed with a sharp light: "He didn't dodge or flinch, letting the sword slice through his clothes."

As Hua Tianyou unleashed his final sword move, Odin suddenly stepped forward half a step, his left hand darting through the sword net like a venomous snake, and struck Hua Tianyou's acupoint at the Tanzhong point.

Hua Tianyou was struck dumb; his longsword flew from his hand, and he was sent flying three zhang (approximately 10 meters) backward, crashing heavily onto the ice. Blood seeped from his seven orifices, leaving long red streaks on the snow. Odin's robes were torn in three places, and a inch-long wound on his left arm was slowly oozing blood.

"Cough..." Odin wiped the blood from his arm, looked at Hua Tianyou who was struggling to get up, and said with a touch of desolation, "Unfortunately, he was still not quite there yet."

In the distance, Albert's eyes were bloodshot, his sword pointed directly at Thorne: "If you obstruct me again, I will take your life today!"

"It's my duty." Thorne blocked with his sword, sparks flying.

Odin flicked his wrist, the tip of his sword aimed at Hua Tianyou's heart. At that moment, a dark shadow swept in from afar. There was no earth-shattering sound, only the soft rustling of shattering ice crystals. Odin's sword was intercepted by the black energy formed from the demonic aura, unable to advance any further.

"My lord!" Hua Tianyou coughed up blood, disbelief flashing in his eyes.

Three zhang away, Shen Mo stood with his hands behind his back. He flicked his fingertips, and the wisp of demonic energy that carried Odin's full-force attack shot back. Odin retreated seven steps, half of his cloak being ripped off by the demonic energy.

The north wind whipped snowflakes across the icy plains, producing a sharp, bone-chilling sound. Odin, the invincible ruler, had beads of undried blood clinging to the tip of his sword; his grey robes fluttered, but his pupils contracted in an instant—that opponent's level far surpassed his own!

"My lord!" Hua Tianyou's voice was hoarse yet held a burning fervor rekindled within him after his defeat. "Please avenge my father!"

Odin shuddered, as if an ice spike had pierced his heart.

In his sixty years of life, he had never heard such a title before—Lord? This young man actually wanted Hua Tianyou to address him as Lord? His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice trembled slightly: "Who... exactly are you?"

Shen Mo stood with his hands behind his back, his black robes motionless in the wind and snow, as if he had become one with the icy plain.

He raised his eyes to look at Odin, his gaze as deep and unfathomable as a cold pool: "I am the Heavenly Demon God of the Heavenly Demon God Sect." Shen Mo's voice was not loud, but it resounded like thunder across the icy plains.

"The Heavenly Demon God?!" Odin staggered back half a step. He stared intently at Shen Mo, his eyes surging with disbelief and shock.

Back then, Hua Shenyong only managed to fight him to a draw, but this person in front of him... with just a single finger, crushed his proud "Seven Stars Leader" strength to dust!

Odin, the Invincible, swallowed hard, his eyes churning with disbelief and utter shock.

He had once traversed six kingdoms and looked down upon countless challengers, but he had never seen such a terrifying opponent.

That cannot be measured by human limits; it is an incomprehensible existence, like a god descending to earth.

"When did the Heavenly Demon God Sect produce someone like you?" Odin's voice was hoarse, his heart churning with an unquenchable storm of emotions—Hua Shenyong had once fought him to a draw, but now, this young man made him feel that he was not even as good as Hua Shenyong's shadow.

Shen Mo did not respond, but instead approached Odin step by step, like the Grim Reaper.

His pace was not fast, but it carried a heart-pounding rhythm, as if each step was shattering the shackles of time.

Although Odin felt that Shen Mo's aura was just like that of an ordinary person, the pressure Shen Mo exerted on him at this moment surpassed any crisis he had ever experienced. The air seemed to freeze, even the wind stopped moving, and only the sound of Shen Mo's footsteps remained in the world, like the drumbeats of death, striking Odin's heart.

Odin's sixth sense screamed: Invincible! Invincible! But his spine remained straight, like an ancient pine tree.

Even though Odin knew he couldn't defeat Shen Mo, he wasn't going to run away.

If he were to flee now, he would inevitably develop inner demons on his future path of martial arts. If he were to flee, then the highest fighting force he represented in the far west—the leader of the Seven Stars—would be a complete joke.

He had faced thousands of troops on countless battlefields without flinching, but never before had he felt such inner turmoil.

At this moment, he would rather die than let his name become a laughing stock of the six kingdoms.

"Come on!" Odin roared, thrusting out his palms with a fierce force that tore through the air like blades, aiming straight for Shen Mo's throat.

Shen Mo slightly shifted his body to avoid the palm strike, then gently raised his right hand and flicked it like plucking a flower. The palm force, powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, was dissolved as if ice and snow were melting away.

Odin made another move, his figure as fast as lightning, turning into a blur, his palms flying, creating a sky full of palm shadows, as if he wanted to tear the entire sky apart.

However, Shen Mo simply leaped lightly, dodging all the attacks as if strolling in a garden, without even getting his clothes wet.

Odin felt a chill run down his spine, realizing that the other party had been testing him.

He took a deep breath, and his inner energy erupted like a volcano, causing his aura to surge instantly, as if the air around him was distorted by his power.

He unleashed his most prized skill, his palm strikes pouring out like a rain of stars, each strike carrying a world-destroying force.

Shen Mo simply raised his hand, and each time he lightly parried, Odin's palm force vanished without a trace, like a mud ox sinking into the sea.

He seemed to be toying with an ant, each step carrying a mocking tone.