Facing the massive sword, its momentum like a tidal mountain about to cleave her, Luolin didn't raise her gun this time. She lifted an Earth-shield, slow as a rising cliff, its center carved with the ancient “earth” character.

“Reverse.”

As the giant blade fell and kissed the shield, it slammed into an absolute wall. Its advance froze. Then its energy bled away, like light swallowed by a bottomless well.

This is bad!

A cold premonition knifed through me; the next heartbeat proved it true. From the shield’s heart, a laser flared—an energy signature I knew too well. It screamed out fast enough to erase thought, offering me not even half a second.

“Coordinates locked. Move.”

Under death’s looming shadow, I didn't dare hesitate. I burned my last strength and triggered a short warp. This is the sword-art I only recently grasped. Easier to cast than a mage’s blink—just lock a coordinate in space with Sword Intent, then shift. But it drains me twice as hard.

BOOM!!!

Not good, my warp hadn't finished. The laser punched where I'd stood, and the world detonated. Shockwaves chewed through every inch of space around me. Luckily I was at the tail end of the shift; any earlier, I'd have drifted away in torn space.

Half a minute later, the blast-smoke thinned. I was fifty meters west of Luolin, gulping air in ragged waves. My stamina was nearly spent; fighting on wasn't possible. Luolin watched me with a calm scraped down to ice. “Do you need a pause?” she asked. “You look in rough shape.”

Damn, she's strong—unreasonably strong. My best strike hadn't even scratched her. She absorbed it and sent it back. I almost died to my own blade-light.

There's no helping it. Even if I wanted to keep going, my body wouldn't agree. Even if I snapped back to peak right now, it wouldn't matter. Against Luolin alone, I have no winning line. Truth is, she’s been pressing me the whole time—without ever taking the first swing.

I shelved my tattered pride. When my breath eased and a sliver of strength trickled back, I straightened from a half-crouch, using the Shattered Light Sword as a crutch.

“I do need a pause.”

I gave her a wry smile. This fight had lasted not even two minutes. Luolin hadn't moved first once. I couldn't even close the distance, and now I had to ask for time. This one was a complete loss, bones and face both.

“Granted,” Luolin said, crisp as a blade. “When you finish resting, return here and call for me. I'll be training.” Her figure vanished without a trace.

“Sigh. For now, follow FrostyLily Dream’s hint and go find the rescue.” I cast a few speed-boosting sword-arts on myself, then headed west without stopping. I remembered the rescues were at the far west and far east. Who are they, anyway? FrostyLily Dream keeps teasing “surprises.” Luolin’s strength is absurd. Would any rescue even help?

Unless it's someone near Luolin’s level… Yeah, no, that’s fantasy. Whatever. I'll understand once I meet them.

I pushed the pace a little. The earlier burn had been brutal; fatigue seeped into bone, and hunger gnawed my gut. People say the fastest way to regain strength is to eat like a wolf. But I had no food on me. Great. My head swam.

I can't slow down. Maybe the one who rescues me will be kind enough to share a bite. Rescue, right? On that thought, a trickle of power welled up. Belief is a scary engine.

I was still slogging toward the far west. Above me, an endless wash of blue sky and white cloud. The arena's edge was nowhere. How big is this Divine Refinement Realm, anyway?

FrostyLily Dream, seriously—why make it this huge? Just running from the center to the far west hurts. And after I find the rescue, I still have to cross to the far east? Worse. Thinking about that endless distance, I almost fainted.

For Xinuo, this distance is nothing. She just flicks a finger, and no place stays distant. For me, moving with old-fashioned legs, it's a nightmare. I'll probably run till my legs snap.

No, that's not right. From FrostyLily Dream’s tone, I could feel she really wants me on the ninth layer. She wouldn't give an impossible tip. Honestly, the reason I've breezed through these layers—aside from a few wardens going easy—has a lot to do with her hints.

So the distance problem should be solved by the rescue, right? Food and travel, all handled—what a saint. My expectations spiked.

An hour later, my fuel was ash. Of the several boost sword-arts I'd stacked, only one still flickered, and my speed lagged hard. My mind drifted, my limbs felt boneless, and weakness hollowed me out. Only a thin thread of resolve kept me moving.

Luckily, the arena’s boundary line was clear now. That meant the far west—and the rescue—was near. FrostyLily Dream hadn't said an exact spot, but I trusted that reaching the far west would be enough. Why? Call it instinct.

After some ten more minutes, I finally reached the place. A delicately adorned pavilion rested there, like a jade ornament set on grass. Inside sat a young girl.

My arrival startled her. Then, in a blink, surprise softened into a smile bursting with joy, excitement, warmth—every bright thing. She sprang up and rushed toward me.

I didn't even manage to see her face before the world went dark. I dropped. My body had crossed its limit long ago.