Chapter Seventy: A Single Sword Shatters the Grand Lord

At this moment, the Grand Lord stood majestically, eyes full of menace, clad in garments custom-tailored from who knows where, giving him a rather dignified appearance.

“Well now, what a novelty! The Grand Lord himself has come out to greet me—how very courteous.”

Qin Chuan, clearly here to plunder, sounded more like an honored guest paying a visit.

The Grand Lord, however, was in no such mood. Coldly, he replied, “Hmph! Dark Demon Sword, you destroyed all my efforts and killed two of my sons. Today, we settle this once and for all.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Are you challenging me?”

“Why not attack me all at once?”

“I’d actually prefer if you all came at me together—save us all the trouble!”

Qin Chuan’s tone was laced with mockery as he leisurely jumped down.

With a metallic clang, the Grand Lord revealed a pair of razor-sharp claws, snarling, “That’s right—I want a duel. Do you dare accept?”

The infamous Grand Lord, challenging the Dark Demon Sword to single combat! All the spirit beasts found this unbelievable, yet it was happening right before their eyes.

The question nearly made Qin Chuan laugh—a level twenty-one Grand Lord, asking if he dared face him one-on-one.

But Qin Chuan agreed without hesitation: “A duel? Fine. I accept!”

The Grand Lord’s calculation was clear—he wanted to minimize losses and so resorted to provocation, and Qin Chuan, in truth, fell for it.

Hearing Qin Chuan’s reply, the Grand Lord was ecstatic, a sly grin creeping across his face. “I admire your courage, but it ends here.”

To the onlooking spirit beasts, this should have been a battle between equals. The Dark Demon Sword’s reputation was so fearsome that, in their minds, he was already on par with the Grand Lord.

A hush fell over the scene. Both sides stood quietly.

A towering, more than two-meter-tall Berserk Spirit Bear glared menacingly at a three-foot black sword—a bizarre tableau.

But the spirit beasts believed this would be a duel to the death.

The Grand Lord had learned from his subordinates the details of Qin Chuan’s combat abilities—he knew Qin Chuan possessed numerous instant movement skills and devastating attacks.

Comparing carefully, the Grand Lord unconsciously regarded Qin Chuan as an equal.

Qin Chuan had fought the Berserk Spirit Bear before and knew the Grand Lord’s skills well: three active skills—Bear Claw Shadow, Berserk Bear Roar, and the ultimate, Giant Bear Claw.

After a brief pause, the Grand Lord finally couldn’t hold back and launched his attack, slashing three times with his claws, leaving behind a flurry of afterimages.

“Bear Claw Shadow!”

The Grand Lord used this skill to force Qin Chuan to blink away or retreat—ideally, to force him to jump.

To his delight, Qin Chuan really did leap into the air, the sword rising two meters high.

“Haha, foolish enough to jump right up!”

“Berserk Bear Roar!”

A thunderous roar burst forth, instantly enveloping a five-meter radius—the range of a tier-three Berserk Spirit Bear’s skill, clearly much increased.

And so, Qin Chuan, suspended in midair, landed squarely within the skill’s area of effect.

If the skill hit, it would cause a 1.5-second stun.

A second and a half may seem brief, but in a fight at this level, it was enough time for the Grand Lord to strike several times—possibly killing Qin Chuan outright.

So, was Qin Chuan hit?

Indeed, he was—but it had no effect.

The very instant the Berserk Bear Roar resounded, Qin Chuan blinked right up to his opponent, delivering a swift, direct strike.

“This can’t be!”

The Grand Lord knew of Qin Chuan’s blinking skill, but he didn’t know it granted 0.6 seconds of immunity after use.

And so—

Bang!

Ding! Critical hit triggered—damage increased by 150%.

Ding! Lethal strike triggered.

Ding! You have slain a level 21, tier-three middle-grade mutant Berserk Spirit Bear Grand Lord. Gained 50,000 experience points; cross-tier kill bonus: 100% additional experience. Congratulations, host, you have gained 100,000 experience points.

Ding! You have killed the ruler of the Plains of Strife—extra reward: 2,000,000 experience points.

Ding! Congratulations, host, you have attained the title of Grand Lord. Do you accept the territory?

...

This string of system notifications left even Qin Chuan stunned.

“Damn, this luck is out of this world!”

A critical hit and a lethal strike, both at once—what an unfortunate fellow.

A single blow from Qin Chuan had burst the Grand Lord’s head; the critical damage was terrifying, sharpness nearly off the charts.

And with the lethal strike triggered, death was inevitable.

Hiss—

The Grand Lord’s death by a single strike made all the spirit beasts gasp in shock.

What they expected to be a battle between equals had ended in one swift stroke.

Now, every spirit beast saw Qin Chuan as a devil incarnate.

“The Grand Lord is dead! Run for your lives!”

Someone’s shout snapped the crowd out of their stupor, and all the spirit beasts scrambled to escape, cursing that they didn’t have more legs to run on.

Thus, Qin Chuan’s name spread far and wide, earning him a fearsome reputation as the Dark Demon Sword of the Plains of Strife.

He had forged a legend that no spirit beast could ever hope to surpass.

Drowsybug stared, dumbfounded, at the Grand Lord’s fallen body, swallowing hard.

“B-boss, you took down the Grand Lord with a single strike! That’s just... too ruthless!”

“Haha, well, it was a bit of a surprise.”

Qin Chuan had expected to need ten or so strikes, but the Grand Lord’s luck was just too miserable.

“Boss, all the spirit beasts ran away from you.”

“Oh, they all ran? Damn, there goes my experience! Am I really that terrifying?”

Drowsybug looked at Qin Chuan earnestly and nodded repeatedly. “Mm, boss, when you’re angry, you’re really scary!”

“Well, scary is scary. Come on, let’s go collect the spoils!”

“Mm!”

Of course, before leaving, Qin Chuan didn’t forget to devour the Grand Lord’s essence.

Not long after, the sword and the bug uncovered a massive treasure vault, filled to the brim with sparkling treasures.

“Boss, I feel like I’m about to faint from happiness—how long will it take to eat all this?”

Staring at the overflowing vault, Qin Chuan also felt happiness had come too suddenly.

“The Grand Lord was truly a colossal tycoon—who knows how many years he spent hoarding all this.”

“Mm, boss, after this we’ll probably both reach level twenty.”

“Yes, level twenty, tier three—something to look forward to indeed.”

If anyone was excited, it was Drowsybug—ever since he’d followed Qin Chuan, his upgrades and evolutions had felt like riding a rocket.

From level twelve to almost level twenty in less than a month—a feat he’d never dared dream of before. He’d spent centuries to reach level twelve, and now, in the blink of an eye, he was about to reach tier three.

It was like a dream.

“Boss, could you hit me, really hard?”

“Why would I do that? Have you lost your mind?”

“No, boss, I just want to know if it hurts. I’m afraid this is all just a beautiful dream.”

“Wow, I’ve never had such a request in my life! But sure, I can oblige!”

Bang!

“Ow! It hurts! Stop, boss, I believe it’s real!”

“Haha, you’re something else!”

...