The wind around Liang Chen quickly grew ferocious as thin arcs of lightning started to fill the air around him, some green and some crimson. A few of the bolts clashed with each other and repelled each other, others started to slowly merge into a single brown arc, the air around them becoming nearly completely silent and repressed. Liao Cui's expression was solemn, both his daggers held ready as he kept a close watch on Liang Chen, observing even his smallest movements.
Liang Chen took a step forward, the stage beneath his feet melting as his body shot forward and turned into a blur, a thunderous boom resounding throughout the entire arena. Liao Cui's eyes quickly shot up as he ducked down and spun around, stretching out his left arm to deliver a backhanded stab with his dagger.
Liang Chen appeared behind him just as Liao Cui ducked down, his spear going just above Liao Cui's head and scorching some of his hair in the process. Liao Cui's dagger went straight for Liang Chen's left knee, forcing Liang Chen to use a forceful gust of wind to kick his own feet out underneath him and put him into a horizontal position in mid-air.
Liang Chen stretched out his left arm and hardened the air beneath it, forming a stable platform he could place his weight on. He dug his fingers into the hardened air and exerted all his physical might in an instant, lifting his body up into a handstand in mid-air and then giving his body half a spin and slamming his right heel down towards Liao Cui's scalp.
Liao Cui quickly raised his right arm and blocked the heel with his wrist, a crunch sounding out as the wrist became unable to withstand the force and caved inwards, crashing into Liao Cui's head. Liao Cui grit his teeth slightly and forcibly altered the movement of his left arm, actually breaking his own elbow so that he could point the tip of the dagger upwards and drive it into Liang Chen's leg, just a bit above his heel.
The stab forced Liang Chen's foot away and gave Liao Cui time to roll backward and put some distance between the two of them. He rolled into a crouched position and quickly sprung up, the sound of bones grinding against each other ringing out as his shattered wrist and elbow quickly healed themselves. He clenched his hands a few times to make sure that they were fine, sending Liang Chen a slight glare.
"Hurts, doesn't it?"
He looked at Liang Chen's leg and arm, his right foot was bleeding from getting stabbed and his own right wrist had caved in slightly, a result of Liao Cui reflecting the force of his own attack back onto him. Liang Chen didn't even glance at the wounds, he simply channeled his Fiendgod Essence into them, causing them to rapidly heal, albeit a bit slower than Liao Cui's own wounds. He gave a slight nod of his head after his wounds finished healing, his eyes never leaving Liao Cui.
"Aye, it does indeed hurt a bit."
Liang Chen was a body cultivator, his Fiendgod Essence was a result of his highly concentrated life force and physical power. Mixing this energy with his already strong healing factor from his bloodline, wounds like these were not too hard to recover from if he just focused on them. Liao Cui's expression sank a little when he saw that Liang Chen was able to recover from his wounds this quickly, a faint mutter escaping from his lips.
"So that's why he warned me... Very well, then it seems like I must truly do as he said and forego all caution and desire for tomorrow."
Liao Cui straightened out his back, a regal light flashing in his eyes as he looked at Liang Chen with a proud expression. He grasped his daggers tightly, plunging both of them into his own chest and declaring in a loud and proud voice.
"Scourge King, you have gained my recognition, so let me show you my final move! I am the reflection of the moon on the cold lake, as transient as a dream but as real as the light of the sun!"
Eight large orbs of water started to appear around Liao Cui as he shouted, each of them quickly condensing and forming an exact replica of Liao Cui, they even had his daggers and clothes. As for Liao Cui himself, his bones started to creak as his muscles bulged, all the blood vessels in his eyes exploding and dyeing his eyes crimson. The stone beneath his feet shattered as the energy his body unleashed grew even stronger, the tight leather clothing that covered his upper body tearing and revealing the bulging veins on his chest. A vein in his chest exploded and burst through the skin but it was quickly sucked back into his body, the wound repairing itself instantly.
Liang Chen's expression changed slightly as he looked at the spectacle, which unfolded within a span of merely two seconds. Each of the eight clones felt the exact same as Liao Cui, as if they were truly real and filled with power. It was also when he saw this spectacle that he guessed exactly which law Liao Cui had put all his focus on, the law of water. To be more specific, he seemed to have focused on both the healing capability as well as the reflective properties of water. Liao Cui pulled his daggers out of his own chest, blood leaking from his mouth as he looked at Liang Chen.
"Come, Scourge King, let us see if either of us will be able to see the light of dawn tomorrow."
All nine Liao Cui's shot forward right after he finished his words, the stone stage beneath them completely shattering as they moved. They quickly surrounded Liang Chen, the true Liao Cui arriving directly in front of him and aiming a downward slash at Liang Chen with the dagger in his right hand, the eight clones using their daggers to stab at Liang Chen. As the daggers all came for him, he heard a loud shout from Yan Ling directed at him.
"You seem to be a bit swamped, need some help?"
Liang Chen cast a sideways glance at her and saw that she was currently tying down the puppet that Liao Cui had brought out, using superior speed and flexibility to outmaneuver the puppet that only had pure strength. Liang Chen quickly responded, turning his eyes back onto Liao Cui.
"no need, just keep focusing on the puppet, the last thing I need is one more enemy to focus on, I can already feel my eyes spinning!"
Liang Chen wanted to take on Liao Cui on his own, he wanted to use the battle to hone himself. After all, there was no better whetstone than a strong cultivator like this. There was also the fact that he could see that she wasn't having an easy time with the puppet, she simply wasn't used to dealing with opponents that only had pure power and nothing else, fighting the puppet would be a good experience for her.
Liang Chen quickly raised his spear, pushing the dagger to the side using the side of the spear, deflecting it while also punching out with his left arm, white dust coating his hand. Even if he tried to block or dodge all the attacks coming at him, he would at best be able to avoid four out of the nine, the others would hit him. In that case, he might as well ignore the other eight attacks and put all his focus on killing the true Liao Cui.
But when his hand came into contact with Liao Cui's chest, it pierced straight through without resistance, as if he had plunged his hand into a lake. And at the same time, the attacks of the eight Liao Cui's landed on his body, each of the daggers shattering his scales and piercing his flesh. The attacks were somewhat weaker than the attacks that Liao Cui had used at the start of the battle, the daggers a bit duller, but they were still strong enough to wound him like this. Some blood forced its way up Liang Chen's throat and out of his mouth, the voice of Liao Cui coming from behind him.
"I told you, I am the reflection of the moon on the cold lake. All of me is both real and fake at the same time."
Liang Chen spat out a glob of blood and unleashed several thick bolts of lightning from his body, forcing the nine Liao Cui's to jump back and put some distance between them. He spat out another glob of blood and quickly focused on healing his wounds, observing the nine Liao Cui's with a sweeping gaze as they dashed closer to him again, each of them slashing out with their daggers.
Liang Chen locked on to the Liao Cui that had just spoken from behind him, arcs of lightning and sharp wind surrounding the area around his own body to hamper the offensive of the Liao Cui's. He then took a step forward and faced the Liao Cui he had locked onto, flourishing his spear and drawing arcs of emerald and white in the air.
The tip of his spear collided with one of the daggers and pushed it down, Liang Chen quickly tilting the spear so that the base of the handle collided with the other dagger, pushing it and the other dagger aside in a single swift motion. He then swiftly tilted the spear upwards again, the spearhead cutting through Liao Cui's chin and splitting his head in two, the lightning within the spear causing the head to explode while the poison ate away at the neck and chest, the flesh rotting away and revealing the dissolving bones.
But just as he finished this, the other eight Liao Cui's reached his body and sliced at him with their daggers, their own bodies getting sliced open and scorched by the lightning and wind. Clearly, Liao Cui had completely given up all regard for his own safety and put the death of Liang Chen as his highest priority. The daggers cut through his scales and left gashes on his body, blood pouring forth and staining his robes further.
The eight Liao Cui's didn't relent in their attacks, even ignoring it when Liang Chen unleashed an even stronger burst of lightning to force them away. Even worse, water started to gather around the Liao Cui he had just killed, reforming the head and chest and expelling the poison, the new Liao Cui quickly joining the fray again and assaulting Liang Chen.
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Faced with the simultaneous attacks of nine Liao Cui's, it was hard for Liang Chen to even put any thought on healing his wounds, he had to constantly block, dodge, and attack to somewhat weaken the force of the assault. The nine Liao Cui's suffered from his attacks, but they would simply heal the wounds and reform themselves from water when he killed them.
After suffering their assault for almost five minutes, Liang Chen stabbed out with his spear and pierced through the chest of one of the Liao Cui's. He gave the spear a little twist, a burst of poison sped up using time causing the entire torso of this Liao Cui to dissolve and his body to collapse. A strong burst of lightning followed right after the poison, scorching and blowing away the two Liao Cui's closest to the dead one.
Liang Chen took this chance to dash through the opening that had appeared in their formation, putting distance between them again. His body was covered in wounds and blood, his breathing a bit ragged. He could heal the wounds now, but if he continued to suffer more of them, his Fiendgod Essence would eventually run out. He let out a deep breath, his narrowed eyes piercing through the various Liao Cui's.
"So that's your trick, it really is quite clever. You create eight clones out of water so condensed that it is able to carry actual force and then surround your enemy, abandoning all defense and allowing all attacks to hit you. Whenever your actual body would suffer damage, you use some special technique to change place with one of the clones, creating the illusion that all nine bodies are immortal."
Liang Chen had kept a very close eye on all the Liao Cui's after he killed the first one, and except for one of the Liao Cui's, the other's had all died at least once already. He tracked which Liao Cui had already died by the poison and lightning he had used to kill them, always leaving a minuscule trace of it within their bodies, practically impossible to see. Just as he had been about to kill the last of the nine Liao Cui's, a different Liao Cui, one which had already been killed earlier, switched places with it, causing Liang Chen to come up with his theory.
The nine Liao Cui's didn't respond, but one of them had one of his eyebrows tick for a short instant, and that was all Liang Chen needed to affirm his guess. Liang Chen spat out some blood, raising his spear and pointing the tip at the nine Liao Cui's, his lips curling up slightly.
"I've figured out your trick, and now I'll figure out how to kill you."
Knowing the trick and knowing to kill him were two very different things, he had to find a way to kill Liao Cui before he could switch with one of his clones. It also had to be a truly instantaneous kill, as his rapid healing would otherwise allow him to recover and immediately switch with one of the clones. For the first time since Liao Cui created his eight clones, it was Liang Chen that charged forward, a trail of lightning tearing through the air in his wake.
He charged into the nine Liao Cui's like a deranged beast, stabbing and sweeping out with his spear. He barely even bothered with the attacks that came for him any longer, only blocking or deflecting those that might prove fatal by hitting his head or heart. Liao Cui couldn't quite understand what Liang Chen was trying, continuing his own relentless assault, but Liang Chen was very clear on what he was trying to do.
Speed, he needed more speed. He had to be faster than Liao Cui's healing, faster than him switching between his clones, so fast that it filled Liao Cui with nothing but despair. Slowing down Liao Cui with his law of time wasn't enough, it would take too much energy to slow down Liao Cui's entire body by enough. Liang Chen had the law of time and the law of lightning, two of the five fastest laws in existence, he would be a disgrace to these laws if he failed to find a way to be faster than his opponent.
Blood continued to splash as Liao Cui and Liang Chen tore away at each other, their fight even spilling over into the audience seating area after they completely ruined the stage. Liang Chen cast a sideways glance at Yan Ling's battle occasionally and saw that the puppet was actually growing stronger and faster, its movements more refined and controlled despite the fact that Liao Cui was this pre-occupied. From the looks of it, the puppet might not actually be his, it was likely controlled by someone else in a different location.
Liao Cui's expression was a bit dark as the battle continued to drag on, not because of the fact that his energy was rapidly draining, only able to somewhat maintain itself thanks to a treasure his master had prepared for him. No, the fact that caused his expression to darken was the fact that with each attack Liang Chen launched, he was growing faster, his attacks sharper and deadlier. He couldn't understand it, how could he improve so quickly, at a rate visible to the naked eye?
But Liao Cui didn't know Liang Chen's age, he didn't know how young he actually was. He was in the prime of potential and had plenty of room to improve, this battle was helping him squeeze out all that potential, forming it into something useable, something terrifying and dangerous.
Liang Chen's eyes were blazing as he continued to attack and dodge, his vision blurry as Liao Cui didn't even register in his eyes any longer. Liang Chen wasn't chasing Liao Cui any longer, he was chasing a scene from his past. He was standing on ashen gray earth, a withered forest of dried up and contorted trees spreading out around him, giant bones protruding from the ground. Snow slowly fell from the sky, dissolving just before it touched the ground, this was the site of the third trial in the Mystic's Hidden Realm.
There were people all around him, but his vision was focused completely on the one who stood a short distance away from him, Yan Ling. A massive black serpent with four tiny limbs was right in front of her, its maw filled with razor sharp teeth opened directly in front of her, less than a second away from crushing and swallowing her.
But the snake didn't move, nor did Yan Ling or the other people in the area, everything was perfectly frozen in Liang Chen's eyes. This was the first time Liang Chen had ever touched upon his law of time, and it was this instant he was chasing after, this speed that caused the entire world to stand still in front of his eyes.
He tried countless things to replicate this effect, but no matter what he tried, it would always result in failure. But each failure paved the way for the future, each failure brought him one step closer to success and victory. And ever so slowly, the law of time started to seep into his body, fragmenting into pieces so small that they couldn't be seen by the naked eye. It spread through his entire body, sinking into his flesh, his veins, his organs, even his very nerves and brain.
And in that instant, when the law of time had entered every single nerve in his body and was moving through them like an electrical current, Liao Cui's speed slowed down drastically. Liang Chen's lips curled up, it was far from as good as it had been back then, but it was a start, it would do.
Liang Chen dashed forward without creating a single sound, the law of time merging with the electrical currents that ran through his nerves and brain, focusing entirely on forcing his nerves and mind to operate at a monstrous speed. His body reached a speed it had only reached during that one eternal moment in the past, his mind slowing down the entire world around him to aid him properly utilize his blinding speed.
He dodged the daggers of the eight fake Liao Cui's, arriving directly in front of the real one and stabbing out with his spear. This utilization of the law of time was incredibly draining on the mind, as it required him to focus on countless minuscule places at the same time, he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep it going for much longer, so now was his only chance. He didn't waste the chance, immediately unleashing his strongest attack with an inaudible mutter.
"Second step splits the waterfall."
Liang Chen's body had grown much stronger over time, he could now safely unleash the second part of the Dragon Lord's Three Steps. The tip of the spear touched Liao Cui's chest, an incandescent crimson light blooming at the tip of the spear, a thunderous boom that sounded like the roar of a furious dragon drowning out everything else.
A bolt of crimson lightning, tipped with a bit of white that released the smell of flowers, almost a meter thick tore through Liao Cui's chest and destroyed the already evacuated seating area around them. The bolt of lightning continued into the distance, leaving a five-kilometer long and one-meter wide scar on the ground, the poison at the tip of the lightning dissolving three houses the moment they got in contact with it. Had it not been for the fact that every battle on these higher floors was spectated by practically everyone living on the floor, the people inside those houses might have been killed instantly before even knowing what happened.
The light slowly dimmed down, Liao Cui's ruined body collapsing to the ground. He was missing most of his torso, but even so, his body was still trying to slowly regenerate itself, fighting against the poison that was eating away at his body. But it was too late, all his energy was drained or eaten away, his death was set in stone. His completely blank eyes looked directly into the sky as he used the last of his Qi to send a few words to Liang Chen.
"Scourge King, I did not believe my Master when he said that two humans might be a calamitous storm for this planet, but now I believe. But let me tell you, Scourge King, no storm is eternal, especially not one like you and her. Just like me, you will be torn apart at the hands of someone else, forever fading and vanishing."
Liang Chen looked down upon the ruined Liao Cui, blood staining his entire body and his breathing ragged from practically draining all his energy and overloading his mind. But even so, his eyes were still as strong as before, a cold light visible in them as he placed his spear against Liao Cui's forehead and casting a sideways glance at Yan Ling, who was starting to approach the end in her fight against the puppet, slowly disabling it by ruining its joints.
"Thank you. Liao Cui, for helping me take a step closer to the strength needed to make this storm eternal."
Liang Chen would not let anyone tear him and Yan Ling apart, he would continue to walk and fight at her side no matter what. He plunged his spear into Liao Cui's head, flooding his brain with the last of the lighting and poison he could muster up, reaping his life.