Naked Sword Art

Chapter 475: Inevitable

’What in the hell... is happening up there?’

Across from Yu Hanlin, Xiao Hei—her body battered, clothes torn—tilted her head back, eyes glimmering with awe.

"Woah..." she breathed, her voice almost lost beneath the rumbling storm.

Xun Wei’s gaze followed theirs, her voice trembling between exhaustion and resolve.

"Fang... hurry," she whispered through ragged breaths, blood streaking half her face. "We can’t hold him back much longer."

Yu Hanlin clenched his jaw. He knew his time was running out — reaching Xiao Fang’s spear was all that mattered now.

Finally regaining his balance against Xiao Hei’s disorienting technique, he growled under his breath,

"I don’t have time for this."

Meanwhile, high above, Yu Liangcheng’s jaw went slack. His voice came out as a faint whisper, drowned beneath the rolling thunder as he stared in disbelief at Xiao Fang’s speed.

"He’s... not human..."

Inside the storm, Xiao Fang’s form blurred, his lightning-clad body closing the distance. Not upward — but inward, as the spiral tightened.

The pressure crushed the air itself.

Desperate, Liangcheng cut off his [ Great Tide ] technique, forcing his Qi into a single Divine Realm offensive art. His seals ignited, divine light radiating around him like a miniature sun.

[ Divination Art: Divine Fate Arrow ]

A radiant bow formed in Yu Liangcheng’s hands, its string drawn taut with condensed Divine Qi. A single golden arrow materialized — pulsing, alive, vibrating with the power of fate itself.

When he released it, the heavens split open.

The arrow streaked downward faster than sound, faster than thought — a beam of divine judgment tearing through the clouds toward Xiao Fang.

Liangcheng’s lips twisted into a grin, he was convinced he just needed one good hit to send Xiao Fang to the afterlife.

"That’s it... one more hit and you’re finished."

Xiao Fang was bloodied from head to toe, but even in the face of his impending fate, his will remained unshakable. Seeing that, Liangcheng couldn’t shake the bad feeling he was getting.

The [ Divine Fate Arrow ] screamed downward, the pressure of its Divine Qi enough to shatter mountains — and for a heartbeat, Liangcheng felt victory.

But then —

Xiao Fang vanished.

A deafening thunderclap followed. Lightning exploded outward, fracturing the clouds like glass. The golden arrow tore through nothing but his afterimage, the trail of lightning he left behind.

Even as the arrow followed him, it seemed as if the gap between them was only growing.

"He’s..." Liangcheng’s voice trembling.

The lightning roared in answer.

"...outrunning fate."

Xiao Fang’s lightning spirit attribute, fused with the power of his Blue Beast Core and the Divine Movement technique, propelled him to speeds beyond comprehension.

Liangcheng froze — disbelief tightening his chest. Xiao Fang had always been fast, but this... this was something no mortal body should be capable of.

He hastily summoned two Heavenly Fate Shields — one for each arm — before pulling them close, layering them into a sphere of golden protection. His eyes darted wildly through the storm, searching for even the faintest trace of movement.

Then he saw it — a flicker, a fleeting silhouette suspended in the sky for less than a breath.

Lightning split the sky.

Xiao Fang’s sabers flared with blinding blue light, their edges thrumming with lethal intent as he slashed.

[ Divine Sword: Splitting Sea ]

The twin arcs struck the shields, sparks scattering across the storm like meteors. But before Liangcheng could even brace himself, Xiao Fang vanished — the thunder trailing behind him.

Another flash. Another strike.

Then another. And another.

Each time Xiao Fang appeared, a new explosion followed — blue arcs slamming into the golden barrier from a different direction, faster and faster, like the sea itself crashing endlessly against the shore.

Liangcheng roared, his arms trembling as the storm of blows shook his shields to their core.

"He’s—he’s everywhere!"

Xiao Fang’s voice echoed faintly through the lightning, calm and cold.

"You rely on fate to protect you..."

He vanished again — this time reappearing right behind Liangcheng, his sabers drawn back, blue light coiling like a hurricane.

"...but fate can’t save you from me."

[ Divine Sword: Splitting Sea ]

The blades crossed, detonating in a blinding surge of power at point-blank range.

BOOM!

The explosion shook the sky. Clouds evaporated in the wake of Xiao Fang’s strike, and Liangcheng’s body was sent hurtling down towards the ground, blood spraying in golden mist.

Liangcheng’s body finally shot out of the dark clouds above.

As he tumbled, he could still see that storm of lightning burning above him — and at its heart, Xiao Fang, descending through the clouds like divine retribution itself.

"You can’t... outrun fate..."

Yu Liangcheng’s voice trembled as he looked up through the storm — at the silhouette descending like a god of lightning. Xiao Fang’s body was wreathed in blue light, his eyes still closed, his twin sabers burning like the eyes of some ancient beast.

Xiao Fang’s voice rolled through the thunder, calm, cold, and absolute.

"This fate you speak of..."

Before the words finished leaving his lips, the [ Divine Fate Arrow ] came screaming down from the dark clouds above — a golden streak of divine light, finally catching up to him.

In a single motion, Xiao Fang turned. Lightning erupted down his arm as he reached back — and caught it.

The sky froze. Even the thunder dared not speak.

Liangcheng’s eyes widened in disbelief. Too stunned to speak.

Xiao Fang’s grip tightened. The divine arrow shattered in his hand, fragments of golden light scattering into the storm like dying stars.

"What good is fate when your death has already been decided by me," he said, his voice cold as steel.

Appearing in front of him again, Liangcheng waited to get hit by another attack, but the attack never came.

Suddenly, he felt Xiao Fang grabbing him through his shield with his eyes still sealed closed. It was one shocking thing after another, Liangcheng didn’t know what to think anymore.

"I—I’m the disciple and embodiment of fate, but you... what are you," Liangcheng stared up at Xiao Fang in disbelief.

"I... am inevitable."

Spinning his body, Xiao Fang’s muscles flexed as he prepared to throw Yu Liangcheng down towards the ground.

[ Javelin ]

.

.

.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Xiao Hei let out a sharp cry as a golden band of divine light struck her square in the chest, sending her crashing through the dirt. The bindings coiled tightly around her limbs like living serpents, glowing with Heavenly Fate seals that pulsed with suppressive power.

A few meters away, Xun Wei struggled to stay standing. Blood streaked down her cheek, staining her robes crimson. Her breathing was ragged, her sword arm trembling. With Xiao Hei bound and barely conscious, there was no one left to take the blows for her — no one left between her and Yu Hanlin’s next strike.

Hanlin raised his hand, golden energy gathering at his fingertips like the rising sun.

"This ends now," he said coldly.

But before he could release the strike, the sky erupted.

A blinding flash tore through the sky, followed by a deafening crash.

Everyone froze — even Hanlin.

A heartbeat later, another shadow descended through the smoke and thunder — his presence unmistakable, his aura suffocating.

Xiao Fang.

Lightning flickered across his skin as he landed.

"Fang—" Xun Wei’s voice cracked.