At this moment, the Demon Blade was clearly provoked by Xu Taiping’s consecutive strikes, igniting his competitive spirit and making him willing to engage in a blade duel with Xu Taiping.

Before this, he had completely disregarded Xu Taiping.

“Swish!” Xu Taiping was the first to draw his blade this time.

In the instant of drawing his blade, he used the momentum-gathering technique of the Demonic Severing Blade, adjusting the trajectory based on his previous observations.

“Slash!” However, the Red-Haired Demon Blade’s strike was still unbelievably fast. Before Xu Taiping’s blade could fall, it had already slashed at his head.

Yet, even so, just before his head hit the ground, Xu Taiping managed to slash the Spring Tiger saber in front of the Demon Blade.

Having learned from the previous two strikes, the Demon Blade carefully avoided Xu Taiping’s long blade.

But when he sheathed his blade and looked down, he found a cut on his shoulder.

The wound was insignificant, but for someone like the Demon Blade who pursued perfection, such a mistake was unacceptable.

“Again!”

The Demon Blade raised his hand, reviving Xu Taiping once more.

He no longer thought about torturing Xu Taiping; his mind was now solely focused on how to perfectly kill Xu Taiping with one strike.

“No more.”

Xu Taiping suddenly put down his blade and smiled at the Demon Blade.

“What do you mean?”

The Demon Blade was instantly enraged upon hearing this.

In an instant, thunder rumbled overhead, and a sea of blood churned around them.

“A bit tired, let’s continue next time.”

Xu Taiping simply sat down on the ground, sprawling out.

“You don’t get to decide that!”

The Demon Blade snorted coldly, and a surge of blade energy erupted from him, slicing into Xu Taiping.

Xu Taiping cried out in pain.

No matter how the Demon Blade tortured him, Xu Taiping refused to continue the duel.

Not for any other reason, but because he knew very well that with his current blade skills, if the Demon Blade got even a bit serious, he wouldn’t even have the chance to strike, let alone injure him.

If that happened, the Demon Blade would lose interest in the duel and focus solely on torturing him until his soul shattered.

More importantly, he felt the sealing power of the Ghost-Sealing Talisman growing stronger bit by bit.

“Dawn is breaking.”

After being revived by the Demon Blade once again, Xu Taiping suddenly grinned at him.

“Boom!”

The Demon Blade was instantly furious, and a surge of blade energy erupted from him, aiming to tear Xu Taiping apart once more.

But just as the blade energy flew out, runic imprints struck him like fists, shattering his blade energy and binding him like chains.

“Kid, don’t think you’ll be free after this. Next full moon, I’ll make sure your soul shatters and your Dao heart collapses!”

The Demon Blade glared coldly at Xu Taiping.

“I hope to see your true blade skills next time, senior. Don’t hold back like you did tonight.”

Xu Taiping grinned at the Demon Blade, pointing at his chest to deliberately provoke him.

He was intentionally provoking the Demon Blade, making him feel that only by killing him without a scratch would he truly win.

With this mindset, the Demon Blade would be tying himself in knots, making it easier for Xu Taiping to handle.

“Kid, next time we meet, you won’t be able to laugh!”

As the blade realm slowly collapsed, the enraged Demon Blade roared at Xu Taiping.

“Boom!”

With that roar, the blade realm completely collapsed.

When Xu Taiping came to his senses, he found himself back in Fan Tower.

A beam of sunlight shone through a small window, illuminating Xu Taiping’s bloodless face.

Xu Taiping’s chest heaved violently, and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead and cheeks.

Even though he had escaped the blade realm, the phantom pain from being tortured for days still lingered all over his body.

“Hiss… Huff…!”

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Xu Taiping lay flat on the ground.

“If I hadn’t managed to wound him when he was careless, and continued to be tortured like that, I might not have lasted until dawn before my soul shattered.”

Xu Taiping murmured in fear.

He had thought that no matter how brutal the torture, he could endure it with sheer willpower. But when the pain became endless, he realized that even the strongest will could collapse.

“But this time, at least I proved two things.”

“First, the Demon Blade pulls me into the blade realm mainly to shatter my soul, which would allow him to break through the Ghost-Sealing Talisman.”

“Second, the Demon Blade has a strong obsession with victory. He doesn’t just want to win; he wants to win perfectly.”

As Xu Taiping thought this, he took out an Eight Treasures Powder and a Qi Preserving Pill, swallowing them.

He also took a sip of Dragon Gall Wine.

Gradually, the dissipating blood energy in his body began to recover.

“But next full moon, if I can’t wound him again, he’ll lose interest in me and focus on torturing my soul to collapse.”

He frowned and murmured.

“For the next month, I can put other cultivation techniques aside and focus on comprehending the Demonic Severing Blade. Even if I can’t defeat him, I need to at least make him interested in my blade skills. If I can wound him once or twice more, that would be even better.”

Xu Taiping sat up and said.