Liang Chen's eyebrows couldn't help but rise as he looked at Yan Ling, who flashed him a brilliant and excited grin. She looked the same as always, but he couldn't help but tilt his head somewhat suspiciously as he looked at her smile.
"What exactly are you hiding? Or rather, what is it that you haven't told me yet?"
Yan Ling was the person closest to him, the one person in the multiverse that he knew better than any other. So looking at that brilliant smile he could feel it, she was hiding something from him, something she seemed somewhat reluctant to say. Yan Ling stiffened slightly at Liang Chen's question, her lips twisting slightly as she grumbled at him, resembling an aggrieved child.
"Would it kill you to be a little less perceptive? Or at least be a bit more delicate if you're going to be that perceptive, give a girl some time to prepare herself rather than just put her on the spot like that."
Yan Ling pouted and grumbled, but it wasn't enough to distract Liang Chen, who continued to look at her with his head slightly tilted and his eyebrows raised. Yan Ling tried to shrink away from his gaze, but when she failed to do so, her eyes lit up as she got an idea.
"I wasn't going to tell you right away to save the suspense, but since you're so adamant, I'll relent. If you win our sparring match, then I'll tell you straight away rather than wait until later, how about it?"
Liang Chen's eyes narrowed slightly for a split second before returning to normal, his head and eyebrows also swiftly returning to a neutral position. It was clear to him that she wasn't hiding anything harmful, in which case it didn't matter if he played along with her. Of course, since he wanted to know what she was so reluctant to tell him, he had every intention of winning the sparring match, stretching out his arm and bending his fingers in a challenging gesture.
Yan Ling's grin returned when she saw Liang Chen's gesture, her feet kicking off the ground as she immediately shot forward and left behind a trail of golden lightning in her wake. Liang Chen wasn't surprised by the lightning, she had already shown her ability to control earth, metal, and lightning back when they merged the Azure Dragon and White Tiger bloodline into her already existing Star God bloodline.
Back then she could only use those three laws for minor parlour tricks, but from the looks of things, her time with the Nine Star Demon God had allowed her to greatly increase her control over those three laws. Liang Chen didn't move until Yan Ling was directly in front of him, his right hand raising and catching her fist, directly absorbing the lightning contained within her fist.
The lightning she used was weaker than his, and she didn't support it with a lot of Qi, and as a result, it was possible for Liang Chen to easily absorb it into his body. She didn't seem surprised to be caught by him so easily, she was well aware that there was no way she would ever be able to compete with Liang Chen when it came to speed. If he wanted to then he could just dodge around and she would never be able to lay a hand on him.
But right now he was grasping her fist so tightly that she didn't have to worry about him dodging. Her Anima Essence burst forth and invaded his soul, a rotating gust of wind appearing at the tip of her fist and sucking in Liang Chen's hand so that he couldn't let go even if he wanted to. She swung out with her other fist at the same time, several sharp metallic blades spawning both on and around her fist as it headed directly for Liang Chen's abdomen.
But faced with her invading Anima Essence, Liang Chen didn't even flinch, the invading energy quickly swallowed and eradicated. His soul cultivation was at the lowest stage of his three cultivation techniques, but his Anima Essence was stronger than his other energies thanks to the innate ability of the Sebettu.
As for the physical aspect of her attack, he dealt with it in a similarly simple manner. He threw his right arm up, lifting Yan Ling up off the ground as he flung her over him, her sharp attack sliding over his head harmlessly. But while she was slightly caught off guard by the sheer ease at which he flung her around while also resisting her Anima Essence, she didn't let go of this chance that revealed itself when he showed his back to her.
She spun her body around so that she would land on her feet, the arm that Liang Chen was stuck to by her rotating wind twisting nimbly so that it didn't break thanks to her movements. Yan Ling didn't even wait for her feet to touch the ground, placing her free hand on Liang Chen's back and unleashing a violent gust of wind that was filled with sharp blades, a razor-sharp tornado bombarding Liang Chen's back and launching him away.
She reversed the direction of the rotating wind that stuck her fist to Liang Chem's at the same time, loosening his grip on her so that she wasn't dragged along as he flew away. She could see the tornado tear open his back while her feet touched the bone-like earth again, but just as she expected, the wounds actually healed while they were being inflicted.
Liang Chen's body cultivation technique was extremely peculiar, having been created by an exceedingly powerful Universal Heart Ruler. And now that he had reached the Mortal God realm, the strength and sheer resilience of his body was not something that others at his realm could easily compare to. But this was something that Yan Ling had already expected, so she wasn't done with her attack just yet.
The bone-like earth around Liang Chen burst open, the still normal earth that had been hiding deep beneath the upper bone-like layer rising up like a ferocious serpent. The fangs of the serpent were made from water and metal, space around them creaking from the sheer pressure that they radiated and forced the surroundings to endure.
Liang Chen looked down at the incoming attack and then stretched out his arm, time in front of his hand halting so that he could stop himself from flying further. He then straightened his body into a standing position with his feet pointing at the incoming snake. And with a strong gust of wind, he launched himself downward like a descending meteor.
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His feet touched the fangs of the serpent, his shoes and pantlegs tearing as his veins bulged. And after a short second passed, the fangs shattered and he tore through the rest of the snake, crashing into the ground so fiercely that a shockwave rippled through the air around him. The torn-up earth around him was completely flattened and pushed down, forming a small crater around him.
But Liang Chen didn't even turn to look at where Yan Ling had been, a burst of energy rippling out from his body and halting the flow of time within a five-metre area around him. An act like this would previously have cost him an immense amount of energy, but now he felt like he could do it at least three more times, maintaining it for around three seconds each time even if there was someone with strength equal to his within the area. And it was thanks to this frozen time that he could leisurely turn his head to look behind him.
"Space and time are equals, so when it comes to a clash between them it all boils down to who has the higher strength and the finer control. What is it you said back then when we fought together in Snow Mirror nation? Nihihi, what happened to all that boasting you did earlier?"
Liang Chen smirked at Yan Ling, who was stuck behind him thanks to the frozen time. She had hoped to land a sneak attack by using her law of space while he was occupied, but that had clearly failed as he had been waiting for her all along. His words were sent directly to her ears, she was stuck in a frozen flow of space so she wouldn't be able to hear them otherwise. Liang Chen continued to smirk at her as he turned around, grabbing onto the outstretched fist that had aimed at his back.
"Now, I think I'll cash in my winner's privilege straight away."
He undid the frozen flow of time and used his grasp on her fist to pull her closer, wrapping his other arm around her waist and planting a kiss on her lips. Yan Ling knew that she had lost, since he had the time to explain things as well as turn around and grab hold of her then he also had the time to kill her.
She returned the kiss and wrapped her free arm around his waist, but there was an unmistakable trace of disappointment present between her brows. She had pulled out almost everything she had, but he had still beaten her with ease, exactly what she had worried about. The two ended the kiss after a short while, Liang Chen looking at Yan Ling with a gaze that made it clear what he wanted, leaving her with no recourse but to let out a sigh.
"Ha~ah, I know I know, you don't need to say it. I wanted to spend some more time with you before telling you, but since you're so adamant then I have no choice. I... I won't stay with you for long. Senior Nine Star told me about an infant multiverse whose elements are extremely closely attuned to my own, training there will give me three times the result for half the effort. Honestly, I was a bit hesitant about it at first, not quite sure if I should go."
Liang Chen's slight smirk receded as Yan Ling started talking, fully understanding exactly what it was she was about to tell him. But he still listened, hoping beyond hope that she would prove him wrong. But she didn't, grabbing onto the collar of his clothing while smiling nostalgically at him.
"But now, now I'm certain that I have to go. I did everything I could, fought and trained with everything I had just to catch up with you. Yet here you stand, so far ahead of me that even your back is turning blurry. You've gotten stronger, and not just physically, but also mentally. You're no longer the young child standing outside the Second Cloud Palace, hesitating about whether or not you should kill Liu Daning since you were worried about dragging us into things. Now you are able to stand tall with your head raised high and move forward with unflinching conviction, your every step shaking the surroundings."
Back then, their strengths weren't as far apart as it was now so she had been able to help him both physically and mentally. It was no lie to say that the time they spent together within the hidden realm had played a large part in shaping the current Liang Chen. It was part of the reason he could now stand with his head held high, his name already starting to spread some fear thanks to the actions he had performed with unbending determination. And comparing herself to that, Yan Ling felt so small and worthless.
"And then there's me, so weak that you could beat me with just your body and a bit of your law of time, you didn't even have to move too much to beat me. If I follow you, what will I be but a burden? A damsel you have to protect and worry about. I refuse to be that damsel. If you are to be a scourge then I want to be an apocalypse, I want people to think of me as a monster worthy of standing beside you. So I'll go with Senior Nine Star, I'll go to that infant universe as weak little me, but I'll return as an apocalypse worthy of you."
The things she spoke about could be considered rather grim, after all, very few people actually dreamt about becoming someone who was so ruinous that they could be considered an apocalypse. Yet, as Yan Ling spoke of it, she smiled so purely and sweetly that it stabbed right into Liang Chen's heart. He had chosen his path and walked it without regret, even if he was branded a sinner and a monster for it.
And standing in front of him was a girl who was willing to become a monster just to follow him along his path, smiling so enchantingly and proudly at him that she once again stole his heart. His arms were somewhat stiff as he wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her close, his voice soft as he practically muttered into her hair.
"You know I can't say no to you, so that's just cruel of you."