The light above the orb gathered together and formed the image of a man from the White Orchid race, he had ear-length blue hair and brown eyes that were slightly slanted and narrowed. Written beneath the image was a bit of his information, such as his name and how long he had been on the floor. Yan Ling studied the image and information with a curious expression, somewhat surprised at what she read.
"Liao Cui, been on the fifth floor for three days, no recorded challenges. I kinda said it as a joke, but it seems like he really has been here awaiting our arrival."
Liang Chen also read the information, now fully convinced that this person had truly been waiting for the two of them to head up to the fifth floor. He tapped his chin slightly, memorizing the minuscule amount of information before muttering quietly and turning to Yan Ling.
"The challenge doesn't say anything about him having a partner, so he should be alone. If we accept the challenge, we should check with the judge if this will count as a victory for both of us or just one of us. What do you think?"
He too wasn't afraid of the fact that someone had been waiting for them. They had quickly gone through the fourth floor, but neither had revealed all their strength in that time, there had never been a need to. And even if they failed to win the fight, they could always just surrender and flee, if both of them focused fully on fleeing, it would be exceedingly hard to stop them. Yan Ling glanced at him, her smirk growing a bit wider.
"What do you think, we'll accept of course! They want to lay ambushes for us? Fine, we'll just crush them head on."
Yan Ling inserted her Qi into the orb, accepting the challenge and arranging for it to take place in three days. Yan Ling's confidence and pride were already bone-deep, having seeped deep into her very core after emerging alive from so many bloody battles. She also wasn't alone, she had Liang Chen at her side.
Together they had dared start a fight with Huang Dong, which was borderline suicide, together they had ambushed Demonic beasts carrying Origin Beast bloodlines, together they had started a massacre on the third floor, there was nothing the two didn't dare do when they were together. After accepting the challenge, Yan Ling casually stretched her body, grinning at Liang Chen.
"Now then, I believe you were about to invite me to the bath?"
She was completely relaxed, not carrying the slightest sliver of tension, she clearly wasn't worried in the slightest about the upcoming battle. Liang Chen let out a light breath before presenting his elbow so that Yan Ling could hook hers around his.
"Aye, that I was. Well then, Milady, would you please follow me?"
Since she wasn't nervous in the least, what reason did he have to be nervous? Should things somehow go wrong, they would overcome them together, just like they always had. Yan Ling was not one to miss an opportunity to play along with Liang Chen's jokes, wrapping her elbow around his and giving him a polite bow.
"Ah, most certainly. Milord, please do take the lead."
A black light flashed out from Liang Chen's dantian, Yumao rolling his eyes at the two before flying into a different room, not willing to hang around while they went about their private business. The two walked arm in arm to the bath, enjoying both the warm water as well as the presence of the other, awaiting the upcoming battle.
The days quickly passed, the day of the battle arriving within the blink of an eye. Both Liang Chen and Yan Ling woke up as the sun rose in the early hours of the morning, both of them quickly getting dressed and prepared. It had gotten easier for Liang Chen to sleep lately, as long as Yan Ling was close enough that he could touch her, he could sleep without getting nightmares.
Yumao hid away within Liang Chen's dantian, just in case there ever came a need for him to quickly reveal himself to save them. The two then left the house, their expressions growing more serious the moment they stepped out of the door. Being relaxed when alone was one thing, but they still had to take this battle seriously.
The closest arena wasn't far from their house, only half an hour away. This arena was quite a bit grander than the ones on the lower floors, it resembled a pentagonal coliseum that could easily house at least several tens of thousands of spectators. The two entered the coliseum through one of the countless entrances carved into the base of the coliseum, following a long hallway to the square stage located at the center of the coliseum.
The battle was still a bit off, but that didn't stop the audience seats from being nearly filled. The spectators also acted differently from the spectators on the lower floors, there was no cheering or hollering, everyone was just quietly observing the battle, hoping to learn something new. Their opponent had yet to arrive so they stepped onto the stage and addressed the judge, a man from the Fiendgod race.
"Liao Cui was the one who challenged us alone, despite knowing that we are a tag team. If we win, does that mean it counts as a victory for both of us or just one of us?"
The judge turned to face the two of them, tilting his head downwards to properly look at them. They expected the judge to spend a bit of time thinking first, but he actually answered them immediately.
"I have already received word from your opponent, he plans on using a puppet as his partner, so if you win it will count as a victory for the both of you."
The two were somewhat curious what type of puppets Liao Cui would use, they would prefer to not face the same type of illusion puppets like the ones they had faced on the third floor, they were rather unpleasant. But there was no way the judge would tell them, so they could only quietly wait for Liao Cui to arrive.
Liao Cui only needed a few more minutes before he too made his entrance, calmly walking up to the stage and jumping onto it. He was clad in rather tightfitting leather clothing that seemed flexible enough to not hamper his movements and he had two curved daggers hanging from his waist, one on each side. He had only reached the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, but neither of them underestimated him for this. He stopped in front of the two and gave them a courteous bow, introducing himself.
"Greetings, Wolf Queen, Scourge King, I have come to kill you, please don't hold it against me."
Liao Cui swiped his interspatial ring after he introduced himself, a puppet refined from a Fiendgod corpse appearing next to him. The skin of this puppet shimmered faintly, the stage beneath it creaking from the sheer weight of it. The four hands of the puppet had spiky brass knuckles embedded directly into them, greatly enhancing its physical attacking power. Yan Ling and Liang Chen glanced at each other for a quick second, Yan Ling pointing at Liao Cui and the puppet with her thumb.
"I'd ask how we should split them up, but I already know you intend to hog him for yourself so I won't even bother asking. Just make sure you don't underestimate him, he certainly has his own tricks."
Liang Chen's lips curled into a smirk and he gave a nod of his head, that was indeed what he had been planning. Liao Cui felt far more dangerous than the puppet, so if he could help it, Liang Chen wanted to be the one to fight him. But of course, he had to play around a bit with Yan Ling first, giving his head a light shake.
"Ah, so now its the reckless one that is giving me advice? What a time to be alive."
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Yan Ling rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue, stretching out her arm and rapping Liang Chen on the head with her knuckles. She spoke up, waving her fists around to emphasize her point.
"Let's see if you still have that attitude after this, I'll kick your ass so bad you won't be able to sit straight for a damn week."
Liang Chen didn't think much of her threats, he had heard them countless times already after all. He simply cast a sideways glance at her thighs, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.
"That's fine, I'll just lie down and use your lap as a pillow."
Yan Ling looked at Liang Chen sweeping her thighs with his gaze, slumping her shoulders and letting out a deep and over-exaggerated sigh, both of them seemingly completely oblivious to the enemy standing in front of them.
"You used to be so serious that it gave you a mysterious charm, now look at how you ended up."
Of course, despite saying this, she still found his more natural joke-like personality far more charming. But as they were currently playing around, there was no way she was going to tell him that. Liang Chen gave a serious nod of his, grinning at Yan Ling.
"Aye, you've corrupted me, so you better take responsibility."
Liang Chen was certain that he would have become someone completely different if it hadn't been for Yan Ling, he would likely have been far quieter and serious, a much darker and gloomier person. Yan Ling was about to retort when Liao Cui clapped his hands, addressing the two of them.
"Excuse me, are you perhaps done?"
The two turned their heads to glance at Liao Cui, who was looking a bit impatient. They had expected him to at least attempt a sneak attack while they were playing around, but it seemed like he had no intention of doing so for some reason. The two locked eyes once more, nodding their heads and approaching their respective enemies.
Liang Chen brought out his golden spear and focused on Liao Cui, who had drawn both of his curved daggers and held his arms in a crossed position in front of his chest. Liang Chen lightly kicked off the stage, his bloodline activating as he shot forward and turned into a blur. His bloodline had awakened far more after the massacre on the third floor, but his gray scales had yet to cover his entire body, his legs still remained normal.
He stabbed out with his spear, emerald and crimson lightning dancing around the tip while a faint white mist started to spread through the area. Liao Cui faced the attack with a serious expression, twisting his body slightly so that the attack slid along the edges of his daggers and giving him the opportunity to lash out with his elbow, aiming at Liang Chen's chest.
Liang Chen slid his left hand down the handle of the spear and gave it a quick push that caused the entire spear to enter an upright position, Liao Cui's elbow colliding with the handle of the spear. A surge of lightning and rotting energy coursed towards Liao Cui from the spear, aiming to infiltrate his body and eat away at his body and soul.
But just as the attack touched Liao Cui's elbow, it seemed to simply vanish. And right after the attack vanished, Liang Chen felt a faint sense of pain coming from his own right elbow, a strange surge of energy flooding his arm. Liang Chen quickly drowned the strange energy with a torrent of corroding poison, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at Liao Cui.
He slammed down the upright spear, the base of it smashing into Liao Cui's left foot. The moment the spear hit Liao Cui's foot, Liang Chen felt pain coming from his own left foot, his eyebrow twitching for a short second. Liao Cui took advantage of this short second to slide his foot slightly to the side, destabilizing Liang Chen's spear and providing a small opening in his defenses where Liao Cui could sneak the dagger in his left hand through.
The dagger came straight for his heart, so Liang Chen had to block it unless he wanted to get injured. He let go of the spear and lashed out with his left arm, pushing Liao Cui's incoming arm upwards and giving himself enough room to bend his body and twist it beneath the dagger. His bow appeared in his grasp as he twisted his body, an arrow made from poison quickly forming before being shot at Liao Cui.
Liao Cui took a quick step back and pulled back his outstretched left arm, his dagger cutting through Liang Chen's scales and leaving a wound on his arm. The arrow whizzed past his chest, but Liao Cui still felt nauseous, a single drop of blood leaking from his nose.
Liang Chen didn't let him rest, charging after him and producing another arrow, this one made using green lightning. The arrow was loosed and turned into a green line that shot at Liao Cui, far faster than the arrow of poison had been. Liao Cui quickly raised his right arm and just barely managed to block the arrow with his dagger, causing the arrow to explode and send him soaring backward.
Green arcs of lightning filled the air and blinded Liao Cui, barely giving him any time to react to the next five lightning arrows that came flying in quick succession. Liao Cui frowned slightly, flourishing both his daggers to not block, but deflect all five arrows, subtly changing their direction so that they just barely grazed his body.
He quickly charged forward after deflecting the arrows, which exploded when they touched the stage a good distance behind him. He reached Liang Chen again almost instantly, both his daggers stabbing out at the same time, one aiming for the head and the other for Liang Chen's abdomen.
Liang Chen already knew that these daggers could easily slice his scales, so blocking them with his body was a no go. He grabbed the bow and blocked the daggers using the body of the bow, spinning the bow to push the daggers away from his body. Liao Cui quickly reacted, letting go of the daggers and dropping into a crouching position, sweeping at Liang Chen's foot with his right leg.
Liang Chen quickly raised his right leg and then immediately brought it down, stomping down on Liao Cui's shin. But once again, the moment he did so, pain flooded his own shin. Liao Cui quickly pulled back his own leg before Liang Chen could fully stomp it into the ground, picking up his two daggers and jumping back a step to fix his position.
Liang Chen didn't immediately chase, dashing over to his own spear and picking it up again, returning his bow to his interspatial ring. He glanced at his own shin, as well as the few other places that now hurt slightly after their quick exchange. He clicked his tongue once, the corners of his lips raising slightly as he pointed his spear at Liao Cui.
"So you're specialized in using the law of reflection, or at least a very similar one. But looking at how you blocked some of my attacks and deflected others, your reflection shouldn't be perfect. There is either a limit to how much strength you can bear to reflect, or there is a speed limit. Perhaps you need to be fully focused on the attack to reflect it, so you can't reflect attacks that move too fast?"
Liao Cui didn't respond, no one would be dumb enough to spill the secrets behind their own power. But Liang Chen was still confident in his theory, it was the one that made the most sense. He lowered his spear slightly, the tip touching the stage and starting to dissolve the stone as he spoke.
"Well then, let's see just how much strength you are able to reflect before you become unable to bear it."