Kang Baobao had gone pale, and panic was starting to show on her face.

She knew perfectly well she was no match for Liu Baiyi... Clutching the wound, she backed away fast, looking for a way out.

Liu Baiyi had fallen for Kang Baobao's tricks last time, and it had been eating at him ever since... He wasn't about to let her slip through his fingers again.

He kicked off, and his speed surged. The peachwood sword hissed through the air and stabbed at her like lightning.

Kang Baobao knew exactly how fast Liu Baiyi's sword was. In desperation she slashed out, sword beams flying.

Liu Baiyi gave a cold snort and didn't dodge at all. There was a sharp crack, and his peachwood sword stabbed her sword beam to pieces.

Kang Baobao was ashen and unsteady on her feet. Cutting loose two sword beams had all but drained the breath inside her.

She really was a strong fighter, but in a real fight she couldn't even beat Tantai Qingyue.

Liu Baiyi swept his sword across, and a thread-thin sword beam flashed through the air and was gone.

Kang Baobao blanched. There was no getting out of its way. All she could do was hold her sword upright in front of her and try to block it.

The sword beam slammed into the blade, plain and simple.

There was a loud bang. The sword flew out of her hand, the web of her hand split open, and everything inside her heaved. Blood spilled from the corner of her mouth as she was flung backward, and she crashed down a dozen feet away.

The sword Kang Baobao had been using was the Startled Swan Sword, the fine weapon Ning Chen had given Tantai Qingyue.

An ordinary sword could never have stopped Liu Baiyi's sword beam. Blade and wielder would both have been finished long before now.

Kang Baobao hit the ground and coughed up a mouthful of crimson blood. She struggled to get up, but suddenly went rigid.

The point of a peachwood sword was resting at her throat.

It was…