The duel between Bai Yu and Shen Mo raged fiercely. For three intense minutes, saber clashed against longsword, Qi flared, and sparks flew in the forest clearing. Bai Yu relied heavily on his superior Azure Cloud Steps to evade Shen Mo's more powerful direct attacks, using the Flowing River Saber Arts' continuous motions to probe for openings and counter-attack whenever possible. Shen Mo, frustrated by Bai Yu's elusiveness and surprised by his opponent's tenacity despite the cultivation gap, pressed his attacks relentlessly, relying on his denser Qi and the aggressive techniques of the Shen Clan.
They were locked in a heated exchange, metal screeching against metal, when suddenly a bloodcurdling scream erupted from the nearby battle between the elders.
Both Bai Yu and Shen Mo momentarily broke contact, their heads snapping towards the source of the cry. They saw one of the two Mid-Stage Martial Master guards fighting Elder Jian staggering back, clutching the stump where his arm used to be. Blood spurted freely. His arm had been cleanly slashed off by Elder Jian's swift swordplay.
Before the other Shen guards could react or the injured one could even process the shock, Elder Jian pressed his advantage mercilessly. Without waiting, Bai Jian unleashed a powerful Spirit Grade Sword technique. His sword became an almost invisible blur of motion, tracing complex patterns in the air that culminated in a single, lethal flash of light. It instantly beheaded the injured enemy, his head flying through the air as his body crumpled to the ground.
Shen Mo saw this unfold with horrifying clarity, and a wave of anxiety washed over him. He had assumed his three guards, including a Late-Stage Martial Master, could at least hold off the old man, if not overwhelm him. But the Bai Clan Elder was dispatching them with terrifying efficiency. "Damn it! Peak Martial Master... He really is that strong! So this is the power of a true Elder of the Bai Clan!" Shen Mo thought, gulping nervously, his confidence shaken.
That momentary lapse, that flicker of distraction as he worried about his guards and Elder Jian's prowess, was the opening Bai Yu had been waiting for. While Shen Mo wasn't paying full attention, Bai Yu dashed forward. He channeled his Qi, recalling the feel of the technique, and executed the Meandering Stream Cut for the first time in this fight.
His saber slashed swiftly towards Shen Mo's neck, a seemingly direct and desperate attack. Instinctively, Shen Mo tried to hastily raise his longsword to defend the obvious target. But in the last crucial moment, Bai Yu flicked his wrist with practiced precision, fueled by his Qi Refining power. The saber's path curved sharply downwards, bypassing the hastily raised sword, and cut cleanly through Shen Mo's right arm just below the shoulder.
"AHHH!" Shen Mo screamed in agony and shock, stumbling back, looking in disbelief at his severed arm falling to the forest floor, his sword clattering beside it. Blood gushed from the wound.
Pain and humiliation twisted Shen Mo's face into a mask of pure, murderous rage. "I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" he roared, his voice raw with agony. Ignoring the catastrophic injury, he fumbled with his remaining hand into a pouch at his waist and swallowed a small, blood-red pill.
Bai Yu's eyes narrowed instantly, recognizing the ominous aura flaring from the pill. Immediately, Shen Mo's body began to swell and distort. His muscles bulged unnaturally, veins popped out across his skin like thick ropes, and his eyes turned bloodshot. Within seconds, he seemed to grow to nearly twice his original size, radiating an aura of berserk, unstable power far exceeding his Late Qi Refining stage.
A forbidden pill, Bai Yu realized with dread. It was clearly a forbidden strengthening pill – likely a Berserker Fury Pill or something similar – known to grant a massive, temporary boost in power at the cost of severe, often permanent, physical and spiritual damage. It had an enormous backlash, but in his current state of agony and fury, Shen Mo clearly didn't bother considering the consequences. All he wanted was revenge.