The Stone-Soul King's expression, Chengong's expression, sank drastically when he saw Liang Chen suck up the poison and death energy that lingered after he sacrificed his own scorpions to empower himself. The more he saw of Liang Chen, the more shocked he became.
Was this the result of having the bloodline of an upper-ranked Divine Beast, or had he already stepped into the realm of Primeval Divine Beasts? Chengong didn't know the answer, but he knew what his next step had to be, the finger on his right hand turning into a sharp talon as he spoke.
"You have convinced me, God of the Pit is certainly a fitting name for a being such as you. I don't know if you have the bloodline of an Upper Divine Beast or a Primeval Divine Beast, but whatever you have, it is enough to force my hands to the utmost limit."
Liang Chen didn't know about the different rankings of Divine Beasts, but that was a fairly common matter, the spreading of cultivation had made it so that even Divine Beasts could cultivate to close up the gap between the various ranks. Of course, the difference in bloodline would still be there, signifying a difference in natural abilities and starting point, so most Divine Beasts would not give up an opportunity to strengthen their bloodline.
But even if he had his questions, now most certainly wasn't the time to state them, Chengong was springing into action. But contrary to Liang Chen's expectations, Chengong didn't point the sharp talon at him, he pointed it at his own chest. He plunged the talon deep into his own heart, a ripple spreading out with Chengong as the centre.
The ripple moved harmlessly over Liang Chen, Yumao, and Shen Fei, but every Stone-Soul Scorpion touched by it immediately died. In less than a second, the last of the scorpions that had been brought along died under the ripple, all the power contained within the nearly 29 000 scorpions descending on and sinking into Chengong.
Chengong's body immediately swelled as he changed into his true form, turning into an ashen scorpion that was 300 metres long and about 100 metres wide, three sharp stingers extending behind him, nine sturdy legs growing from his side, and three pairs of pincers extending in front of him. Unlike the Stone-Soul Scorpions that Liang Chen had seen previously, the true form of Chengong only had three eyes, but they constantly moved around on his head, seemingly not having a set position where they resided.
Faint bloody lines appeared all over Chengong's true form, a stuffy scent seeping out from his body as the sheer pressure he radiated increased further. It really was as he said, his hands had been forced to the utmost limit and he had to pull out everything he had. He entered his true form, he absorbed the strength of his entire herd in one go, and he even aggravated his bloodline, burning it for another boost to his strength.
Should he still be alive by the end of his battle, his bloodline would be so crippled that he would even stop being a Divine Beast. That was how serious Liang Chen had forced him to become after their quick exchange, there would be no escape or pleading, he would either win and transcend his past, or he would fall and become a stepping stone for another monster.
Looking at the large frame of Chengong's true body, Liang Chen's expression didn't change all that much. He had viewed this battle seriously from the start, the change in Chengong only meant that he would have to put in even more effort and endure a bit more pain. He grasped his spear tightly and drew in a deep breath, the world around him moving in response to his silent call.
The storm that covered the area immediately condensed and gathered around him, the night sky revealing the bright stars once more as all the clouds were sucked directly into Liang Chen's body. The poison and death energy emanating from the thousands of corpses did the same, rushing over and entering his body through his nose, his soul greedily eating it all up.
Chengong had abandoned any thoughts about a battle of attrition upon seeing that Liang Chen could just follow him step for step, so his only choice was to end the battle in the swiftest manner possible. Like this, it wouldn't matter how many times Liang Chen could heal or restore his energy, he would be dead before he got the chance to do so. And since that was the case, Liang Chen could only follow suit, not quite confident in his chances of outlasting Chengong should he actually try to maintain his previous style.
Liang Chen immediately felt his veins swell as he took in all the energy, the stone beneath his feet melting at a rapid pace. The petrified lake vanished, but Liang Chen remained standing in the air, dull violet lightning with a few tints of grey crackling violently around him. The different types of energy he just took in constituted almost all of his laws, missing only his most supreme laws, so all three of his energies shot up.
But he was already used to handling rampant energy, and even his meridians had been altered to suit his body cultivation laws. So while he felt a painful bloating and rupturing feeling pervade his entire body, the influx of energy didn't cause any actual harm.
Liang Chen cast a sideways glance at Shen Fei, who had yet to move from his spot despite the rampant waves of energy. Shen Fei only flashed him an excited grin and waved his hand, beckoning for him to quickly finish the fight so that they could engage in their own battle. He didn't seem the slightest worried about getting caught up in the battle, so Liang Chen decided to ignore him.
And the moment he decided to ignore the gleeful onlooker, Liang Chen made the first move. He raised his spear and brought it down in a simple arc, an exceedingly strange scene taking place. His attack should have hit empty air, but the spear ended up on top of Chengong, crashing into one of his three eyes without giving him time to resist.
Chengong had been standing in the air since the lake vanished, the attack immediately sending him smashing down until he hit the earth that was hidden beneath the lake. Cracks immediately spread out as a small crater formed around him, Liang Chen stabbing his spear downwards in a simple manner.
And the same scene repeated itself once more, the spear simply appeared right on top of Chengong without warning, stabbing directly into his eye as if it had always been there. And as far as the universe could be bothered, the spearhead had indeed always been inside Chengong's eyes, or at least, there had never been any distance between them. After all, Liang Chen had just used the law of the void twice in quick succession to completely remove the distance separating his spear and Chengong's head.
His law of time was finally starting to reveal its splendour as he got stronger, but how could the same not be true about his law of the void? A peak law residing above all else, only in the hands of someone of supreme power could it reveal its true and terrible brilliance. And when Liang Chen added in all the power from the summoned storm and the death around him, he just barely managed to cross that threshold.
Liang Chen pulled back his arm again, Chengong immediately reacting and releasing a shrill screech. A translucent ripple erupted from his body, his eyes repairing themselves while thee ripple turned everything it touched into stone. Even the hundreds of dark spears that Yumao sneakily formed using Chengong's own shadow turned to stone and fell apart.
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Under the gathered strength of his own subordinates and the aggravation his bloodline, Chengong's poison had even grown strong enough to affect the air it touched. Stone formed out of nowhere as the air was petrified, Liang Chen feeling the air around him get thinner as parts of it rushed down to replace what had just been petrified. But looking at that ripple, he only pulled back his spear and let out a soft sigh.
"I guess a quick end really is more my style, I'll just have to cultivate a bit harder to reach this stage in the future so that I can feel it again."
As he stood there and felt the vast power coursing through him, he understood why people feared those who had one of the few exalted laws. He also understood why the battles between strong cultivators always seemed to end faster than battles between weak cultivators. Chengong chose to go all out in such a manner because he felt that it was the best choice, but all he did was hasten his own death.
Chengong heard but didn't understand Liang Chen's words, so when he saw Liang Chen put away his spear, confusion and worry seeped into his heart. And that fear was immediately proven correct as Liang Chen pushed his hand down, every drop of energy in his body erupting forth and turning into an invisible shockwave that washed over Chengong.
Liang Chen had no energy left to even keep himself afloat after pushing his hand down, but Yumao appeared out of his shadow and expanded beneath him so that he didn't fall. As for Chengong, his body stiffened and trembled faintly, a violent cough escaping from his bestial maw. No blood or saliva came out along with that cough, only a thick cloud of dust spread out.
Chengong lost control over all his energy, the ripple of poison dissipating as he continued to cough out thick clouds of dust. His large frame shrivelled up at a visible pace, turning wrinkly and soft as he became smaller and smaller. There was no determination, no resignation, no anger, none of these emotions were present within his three eyes. The only thing they held were sheer and unbridled terror as he gazed up at his still calm enemy, at the God of the Pit.
"Stepping...Stone...Monster..."
Chengong wasn't even able to get out his final words properly before Liang Chen's law of time aged his organs to a point where only dust remained within him. Forget about Divine Beasts, perhaps even Origin Beasts would die if all their organs turned to dust within them. Since he was unable to handle the full assault of Liang Chen's law of time, the only end left for Chengong was death. And the only thing he left behind was a 50 metre long and 10-metre wide body that looked like it was covered in old and cracked rubber.
Looking down at the shrivelled up corpse, Liang Chen let out another sigh. He had thought about many ways that this battle could go and different ways that it could end, but this almost disappointingly quick end had never been one of the possibilities.
Just absorbing the storm he summoned was not enough to make this end a possibility, it relied on the massive number of dead poison-type Demonic beasts that Chengong created. From the moment Chengong decided to bring his entire herd with him to the fight, he had pushed himself into a dead-end of his own creation.
Liang Chen pat Yumao on the head and had him descend down to the corpse. The corpse was much weaker now, but it was still the body of a dead Divine Beast, so the energy-deficient Liang Chen had no way of piercing it. But Yumao wasn't the same, he was still full of energy and raring to go.
He easily tore off the shrivelled head, allowing Liang Chen to gather up all the blood before picking up the body. The body and head could be used to show the people of Moonset city that they didn't have to worry about being attacked any more, but the blood would be slightly useful to Liang Chen. It was of too low of a grade to improve his own bloodline, but the poison within it was what interested him, the petrifying aspect of it intrigued him.
He stored the blood in a separate container to prevent it from getting contaminated or end up altered in some way, patting Yumao on the head once more to make him leave the crater left behind by Liang Chen's poison and Chengong's body. The end could be considered disappointingly quick, Shen Fei most certainly thought of it like that at least.
But that was just how some battles ended as the participants grew stronger. Some laws would only grow stronger and stronger with their user, some were so excessive that even Sovereign Gods could kill other Sovereign Gods with a single attack. But while Shen Feit was a bit disappointed at the quick end, he was exceedingly interested in the two attacks Liang Chen had launched after absorbing all that energy.
He had no idea what sort of law or technique they used, they simply appeared on Chengong as if they had always been there. How were you supposed to guard against an attack like that, how were you supposed to counter it? Shen Fei had no idea, but he was looking forward to finding it out for himself, grinning widely when his gaze landed on Liang Chen, who spoke casually as he put on the Heaven Altering Mask again.
"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my oath. I'll deliver the corpse and rest for a bit to restore my energy, I'll fight you aft...?"
Liang Chen's voice trailed off towards the end, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Shen Fei couldn't detect it, but Liang Chen's Bloodwind Code vibrated for a short second while he was talking. He thought that it might be Kuan De Niu, the King of Heaven Embracing Justice that contacted him once in the past, but the Bloodwind Code didn't wait for him to touch upon it before the voice of the Bloodwind Emperor resounded in his head.
"Voidling, when you've finished your business, speak out the name Yao Jun, Nine Star says that he has someone who's trying to meet you."
Liang Chen's brows only furrowed further when the Bloodwind Emperor cut the contact. Nine Star was obviously the Nine Star Demon God, but who exactly would try to go through the Nine Star Demon God just to meet with him? And for that matter, who was actually qualified to make the Nine Star Demon God help them with something like that?