A thunderous boom rang out as Yinglong and Jiuying collided. Blue and red flashes split the sky, triggering a hurricane that uprooted trees. In the center of the energy vortex, Luo Yan hovered with blazing blue eyes, dragon fangs growing from his jaws. Yinglong pulsed like a living heart, each vibration turning the ground to ice.
"You're not the only one bound by fate!" he shouted at Xiao Lin, whose body was controlled by Jiuying. The red sword spat out hellfire, but Yinglong froze it into deadly crystals.
Xiao Lin fell, blood pouring from his ears and eyes. In his head, Su Chen's voice whispered: *"Kill him! The traitor's blood must be spilled!"* But from the cracks of his memory, the image of the woman in the forest—the mother he had never known—shouted: *"Fight back! You are not a slave to the sword!"*
Shifu Mao, from behind a boulder, held the bottle containing Xiao Lin's hair. "Crazy! Both swords are rising at the same time? This can completely break the Seal of the Heavenly Demon!" But a greedy expression appeared on his face. "But if I can get their blood..."
Luo Yan attacked again, Yinglong creating a dragon-shaped ice wave. Xiao Lin dodged with bestial reflexes, Jiuying swooping down to cleave Luo Yan's head. But suddenly—
*Derrr!*
A stone spear inscribed with an ancient spell stabbed between them. From the mist, dozens of masked people in golden robes emerged. The leader, a silver-haired woman, raised a staff with blazing dragon eyes. **Ancient Dragon Worshippers**.
"The two swords are our ancestral heirlooms," she said in an echoing voice. "Hand them over, or we'll sacrifice you for the ritual!"
Luo Yan laughed bitterly. "You're too late." Yinglong in his hand stabbed the earth, and from the crack, a giant slimy hand reached up—the first claw of the Heavenly Demon!
Shifu Mao was hysterical, "He's free! We must—"
But the Dragon Worshipper woman bewitched him into a block of ice. "Shut up, old rat."
Xiao Lin, meanwhile, fell to the ground. Jiuying stabbed his own chest, his blood flooding the ancient inscriptions on the ground. An image of Su Chen appeared in the air, slamming into Tianmo with chains of fire.
"No!" Luo Yan roared. Yinglong snapped in the middle, and his body began to disintegrate into dark energy.
In that instant, Xiao Lin caught a glimpse of Luo Yan's memories:
*A little girl chained to an altar, her blue blood dripping onto Yinglong. "You will become Tianmo's strongest weapon," the High Priestess whispered. "Kill all of Su Chen's descendants."*
"Luo Yan...!" Xiao Lin croaked, regaining consciousness for a moment.
But Tianmo was already half free. Her seductive voice penetrated his soul:
*"With your blood, I will be complete. Let us destroy this world together!"*
Jiuying and Yinglong floated, merging into a **black sword with a heart hole**. Xiao Lin and Luo Yan, drawn by its gravity, held each other's hands—unaware that their blood, red and blue, was flowing into the sword.
The Dragon Worshipper screamed in terror: "That's... *Jiuyinlong*! The sword that destroys the heavens!"
The seal broke.
The sky collapsed.
And Tianmo laughed.
---
In the midst of the destruction, Xiao Lin and Luo Yan's hands remained attached. Jiuyinlong circled above them, sucking all the life energy in a radius of a hundred li. Shifu Mao, whose ice had melted, smiled maniacally as he watched his own body evaporate:
"You... will all die..."
Luo Yan pulled Xiao Lin close to her. "There is one way," she whispered, tears of blue blood flowing. "But you have to believe."
She kissed him.
The world exploded in white light.
---