"Are you done with your instructions?"

Liens's indifferent voice reached Bard's ears.

He didn't care about Adonis's departure; this was an Instance, and if it were reality, he might have had some inclination to try and kill Adonis in front of the old man.

But now, his entire attention was almost entirely focused on the old man in front of him.

Bard didn't reply, instead pointing his longsword at Liens as a response; then, Wind and Fire appeared on Liens and Bard respectively, as if reaching straight to the heavens.

Immediately after, Liens and the old man's figures vanished, and in the next instant, the two met in the middle of the road.

The longsword wrapped in a hurricane and the longsword burning with fierce flames stirred up even greater storms before they even collided.

Wind and Fire ravaged the surrounding roads and buildings.

At the point where the two swords met, countless tiny particles constantly collided in the narrow space, causing extreme visual distortion of the space.

Relying on the influence of Momentum on Heaven and Earth, Liens could barely contend with Bard, a Fire Great Knight, in terms of strength.

Because Bard was not only fighting Liens's strength alone but also the pressure from the surrounding Heaven and Earth.

The two swords completed their collision, emitting a crisp metallic clang.

But under the howling storm around them, that sound was like a whisper in a bustling market, with no sense of existence.

After one strike, Liens and Bard's longswords continuously intersected.

Slash against slash, thrust against thrust…

Neither gave way, showing no defensive stance at all, completely substituting offense for defense.

Sword after sword, slowly, the crisp sword hum gradually overshadowed the howling of the storm.

This was not because the sword hum grew louder, but because the surrounding Wind had ceased.

At the same time, the fierce flames on the old man also dissipated.

This did not mean that Liens and the old man's states had declined; on the contrary, at this moment, they were at their strongest offensive.

Because they had completely abandoned defense, concentrating all their power onto their swords.

If anyone had keen enough eyesight to keep up with Liens and the old man's speed, they would see that there was no elemental light on Liens and the old man at this moment.

Their only light came from the cyan Wind and red Fire in their hands.

Wind Sword and Fire Sword continued to intertwine, constantly vibrating the surrounding air.

At this point, Liens and Bard's attacks no longer produced the grand spectacle they did at first, but the spatial distortion when the two swords intertwined became even more severe.

It even began to affect Liens and Bard's figures in the eyes of outsiders.

Their figures became blurry, with only the continuous ringing of swords proving that their battle was still ongoing.

Time gradually passed, and Liens did not experience any emotional fluctuations due to the stalemate of the battle.

He didn't even have many emotions now, only an almost heavenly indifference.

Bard was very strong; although he had not stepped into the Grandmaster Realm, he had long been deeply proficient in the elemental domain and Sword Style, especially Sword Style.

"Concentration"—that was the characteristic Liens felt from his sword, as if every one of his strikes concentrated all the power in his body.

Extremely terrifying.

Because this "concentration" was not just the concentration of physical strength; he seemed to have concentrated the power of the entire elemental domain onto his sword.

After several rounds of engagement, Liens realized that his normal Momentum was completely insufficient to contend with the opponent.

So, without hesitation, he directly entered the state of Heaven and Man as One.

However, even so, he only managed to draw with Bard; even when facing the power of Heaven and Earth, Bard did not falter in the slightest.

Previously, he thought his strength was already on par with a Great Knight; now it seemed he was still a little short.

With a shift in his thoughts, Liens forced the old man back with a move, then retreated ten meters away in an instant.

"Are you trying to escape?"

Although Bard saw that Liens had no intention of fleeing, he still spoke such provocative words.

Liens was a Wind Knight; relying on the Heaven and Earth blessing unique to the Grandmaster Realm, his speed was no slower than his own explosive state, and if he really wanted to run, he might not be able to stop him.

"One sword."

Liens ignored the old man's provocation and instead softly uttered a short phrase; he was about to use his ultimate move, because if he didn't use it now, he wouldn't be able to.

Hearing this, Bard's expression instantly became more serious; he understood the meaning of Liens's words.

Wind howled on Liens's sword, then spread to his body, and subsequently, his figure seemed to be erased.

Only the longsword was left, continuously humming.

Bard silently watched this scene; he wanted to interrupt, but a feeling of being firmly locked on made him abandon the idea.

The reason he didn't choose to pursue immediately after being forced back earlier was also this.

He had a premonition that if he acted rashly, in an instant, he would very likely suffer severe injuries.

Bard held his sword horizontally in front of him, and the surrounding Fire elements continuously gathered within his body, causing a warm firelight to begin to emerge from him.

"Fire of Protection!"

Bard murmured softly; this was the will he had condensed from protecting his family for a lifetime, and this will, in turn, changed the nature of the surrounding Fire elements.

Bard looked straight ahead; the longsword, which seemed to be uncontrolled, was gently raised, and then pointed at him.

Subsequently, the Wind stopped.

Heaven and Earth also seemed to become exceptionally quiet at this moment.

"Extreme Wind!"

Liens silently chanted in his heart.

In an instant, distance seemed to lose its meaning, and the longsword appeared directly in front of Bard's chest. Find this chapter's source on *.

Seeing this, Bard's pupils contracted; he hadn't anticipated that Liens's attack would be so incredibly fast, so much so that he only reacted when the longsword was about to pierce his body.

In a flash, the change in his thoughts couldn't keep up with his instinctive reaction; Bard instinctively mobilized the "Fire of Protection" on him, concentrating it on his chest, attempting to block this sword.

However, although this measure played a certain role, it still couldn't stop this longsword, which had accelerated to its extreme.

"Pfft!"

The longsword passed through Bard's body and stopped a few meters behind him.

And Liens's figure also appeared there, at this moment, he was holding the longsword motionless, as if he had been immobilized by something.

But very quickly, he collapsed to the ground as if falling apart.

At the same time, a large number of wounds suddenly appeared on the surface of his body, like tears or like blood vessels bursting on their own.

In short, the blood in his body was like a prisoner gaining freedom, desperately trying to leave his body.

On the other side, Bard was half-kneeling on the ground, his right hand holding his sword plunged into the ground, while his non-sword-holding left hand was placed on the left side of his chest, corresponding to his heart.

At this moment, that area had been torn open, forming a hole.

The hole was so large that even the old man's rough palm couldn't fully cover it.

The hole was empty; there was nothing inside.

Bard was breathing heavily to alleviate his physical weakness, and at the same time, warm-toned flames emerged from his left hand and poured into the empty cavity in his chest.

It was this action that prevented the blood from seeping out of the hole in his body, temporarily curbing the worsening of his injuries with the healing properties of the flames.

With a thought, Bard retrieved a bottle of potion from his spatial equipment, opened it, and drank it.

Subsequently, a vibrant green light appeared on him, and a feeling of surging Life emanated from his body.

Even on the ground where he knelt, some green shoots began to emerge.

Feeling the flesh in his chest regenerating and the feeling of weakness in his body rapidly dissipating under the effect of the potion, Bard let out a long sigh of relief.

Fortunately, six months ago, he thought his discomfort was due to old age, so he had exchanged some favors and benefits for the water of life, which he hadn't had time to consume yet.

Otherwise, he would have been finished today.

After taking the potion, Bard stood up and turned to walk towards where Liens had fallen.

At this moment, Liens was not yet dead; he struggled to get up, wanting to confirm the result of his strike.

Seeing Bard stand up and walk towards him, a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

He hadn't expected that even that one sword wouldn't finish off the opponent.

One must know that the "Extreme Wind" sword was the only sword he could wield in front of a Legend, and it was a move that had been evaluated by that Legend with a simple "not bad."

He hadn't expected that the first time he used it on someone else, he couldn't even kill a person.

"Next time, aim for the head."

"For high-level existences, the heart might no longer be a fatal wound."

Liens thought to himself.

Then, without waiting for the Count to do anything to him, he exited this Instance.