Zhang Dong and the Dark Palm Sect leader clashed a couple of times. A golden fist collided with a tip of a scythe that was being held up by a giant skeletal specter in a black robe. Each time the two masters connected with their blows a shockwave of mixed Qi energies were sent out into the surroundings.
It was a peculiar sight to behold. The energies that the younger cultivator was exuding, energized the soil, and made the grass and plants grow. On the other hand, the energy that the old man was giving out caused everything in the vicinity to die and rot away.
Somewhat further away there was another large battle taking place. There were four beasts attacking a larger one, the bigger one was a golden dragon that was shooting out lightning bolts from its maw. The four soul-beasts belonged to the four grand elders while the golden dragon was the one Zhang Dong was controlling.
The dragon beast was somehow holding its ground, but it was mostly on the defensive. The other beasts didn't give it much of an opportunity to counter-attack. The opponents varied by size and stature, one looked like a giant crane with a crimson red beak. Another one that was the closest to the golden dragon's size looked like a snapping turtle with an outer shell coated with huge green spikes. The third one was a giant cobra that spit copious amounts of venom, the last one was a giant ox with a fiery mane.
All of those colorful creatures were charging at Zhang Dong's soul beast. The dragon repelled the Ox with its tail only to be attacked by the giant spikes of the turtle that fired them off. One of the spikes connected with the beasts scaly hide and shattered into many tiny pieces unable to pierce it. Before the Dragon could counter-attack with its long-range breathing attacks the cobra spit venom and the crane kicked up blade-like winds. The golden beast could do nothing more than protect itself by curling up with its wings together and focusing its Qi on a protective barrier that deflected the attacks.
"That Soul beast is strong, how can it contend with the four of ours!"
Elder Wan shouted out while the other three elders tried pushing the golden monster back. In response, it roared and produced a storm cloud that started shooting out lightning bolts indiscriminately. The surrounding area was filled by golden thunderbolts that gave Zhang Dong's Soul beast some space but didn't deliver that much damage to its enemies that quickly retreated.
'My Dragon is having problems... I need to beat Skeletor here and go help him out.'
Matt thought while continuing his battle with Yang Guanyu. This old man looked like a walking corpse but was quite strong, he couldn't just blitz him like the other elders with his superior speed and power.
He threw a punch forward, it generated a surge of golden lightning energy that flew at his opponent. The reaper soul beast didn't move from behind the old man and just preformed a half-circle motion with the tip of its scythe. This motion produced some kind of illusion of a red moon that looked like it was soaked in blood. The moment the energy fist connected with the bloody moon, the moon rippled as if it was made from water. It was as if he hit a reflection of a moon from a pond, this ripple motion subsided after a moment as if it was never there in the first place.
"You have a lot of gall to try and fight me without your soul beast."
The old man showed an eerie smirk. He pointed out forward with his thin index finger, the reaper behind him swung forward and his scythe looked like it cut open the sky itself. Matt felt a shiver run down his spine the moment he saw that attack, he immediately propelled himself downward. The moment he performed his evasive maneuver, a large scythe appeared behind him aiming for his neck. He was quick enough to evade it but he lost an inch of his hair while at it.
'This guy is strong...'
Matt gulped, sweat running down his forehead as he almost got decapitated. He needed to step it up a notch if he was going to land a decisive blow but he was hesitating to go all out. One reason being the other four cultivators fighting his dragon, if he went all there was a big chance that he would lose against the elder quartet due to the draining nature of his techniques.
'Should I go for it... or should I buy more time for the others...'
He stared focused his spiritual sense behind him, the large armada of ships was heading for his city and the cannons weren't as effective as before. The flying ships had some sort of protective formation, the barrage of Qi bullets couldn't penetrate it effectively enough and they were advancing further and further. If this continued they would get into range and start returning fire.
Before he could make a decision he felt another of those dimensional scythe attacks coming his way. It wasn't one though as the grim reaper looking soul beast started swinging his scythe around at all sorts of angles. Matt finds himself dodging pointy black ghost blades left and right, his armor and clothes even ripping in various spots as he backed away.
"Getting distracted? You really have a death wish!"
Yang Guanyu shouted out while he started waving both of his hands around. The soul beast behind him increased in size slightly while the attacks continued, more ferocious and deadly than before.
"Don't get too cocky, you old fart!"
Zhang Dong's body started exuding a massive amount of Qi, he gave out a loud shout before charging forward. While flying forward he was continuously evading those dimensional blades. His body started transforming, golden lightning wrapped around his whole form and his muscles bulged out.
The scythe blades came from all directions, tiny rifts appeared around Zhang Dong's location. They shot out, going towards his body as they tried to impale him from multiple directions. The only thing they hit was his afterimage that exploded into thousands of tiny electrical sparks that caused some damage to the reaper soul beast.
Zhang Dong appeared right next to Guanyu while in his improved Embodiment of the Thunder God form. He was holding his right hand back and then threw it forward in a palm strike. Everything happened in a fraction of a second, the Dark Palm leader mustered up all of his power to block this attack.
An illusory figure appeared behind Zhang Dong as he was throwing his palm forward. It looked like a giant golden statue, similar to a buddha in appearance. This statue was sitting down in a lotus position and had multiple sets of arms. One of these arms was mirroring the attacking pattern of the Zhang Patriarch as he was pushing his palm forward.
Matt was lacking high-level techniques after ranking up into the nascent soul level. Luck was on his side though, he was able to get a nascent soul technique when he leveled up his body refining into the true golden body. This was an attacking technique that summoned a giant golden statue behind him. This statue looked like a cross between an Ashura and a Buddhist monk.
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The shining palm went forward crashing into the defenses of the Dark Palm leader. The man formed a shadowy barrier in front of him, the reaper soul beast also used its scythe to defend against this attack. Guanyu found himself getting pushed back, slight cracking noises echoing as the attack connected fiercely.
The enemy cultivator flew backward and crashed into the ground, the golden statue faded away into nothingness after the attack finished. Zhang Dong remained floating in the air while panting slightly.
'Damn, this body refining attack uses up a lot of my stamina instead of Qi... can't use it that often.'
The Dark Palm cultivators on the side reacted in shock, their eyes going wide after witnessing the giant explosion that almost made their ears explode. The four grand elders even stopped attacking the golden dragon that was even getting injured by them at this point.
"T-the Sect Leader got pushed back?"
"I...is he able to fight?"
The four of them looked at the man hovering in the air, he was exuding massive amounts of radiant Qi. He was giving off an aura of someone that they shouldn't be messing with. They then turned to the spot that their leader was smacked away towards, hoping to see him uninjured.
Matt on the other hand was already pointing out with his finger, aiming at a spot behind all the smoke and dirt.
"You think I'll let you recover?"
A beam of light shot out of Zhang Dong's index finger, it impacted into the ground and caused another explosion to occur. Even though he wasn't able to see his enemy with his eyes he had other senses that allowed him to see through the smokescreen. He could clearly tell where the man was standing and didn't want to let him recover.
'I have to strike the iron while it is hot!'
He took off going for his target that was the tall and lanky Dark Palm sect Patriarch. The man had suffered a setback after receiving these two strikes and was retreating. He burst out of the ground while frowning, some blood coming out of his mouth. Before he could shout out some curses at his opponent he saw a fist coming his way. The only thing he could do was to turtle up and set up a ghastly barrier made from purple soul energy.
Lightning-fast attacks rained down on Yang Guanyu who couldn't get a hit in between the barrage. He found himself on the defensive while the opponent that was clad in a mantle of golden lightning continued to attack. Soon his barrier burst like a soap bubble and the familiar golden palm speed for his face once more. The palm descended once again with even more power behind it.
"I won't let you!"
Before the strike could be delivered Zhang Dong had to move his forearm upwards to cover his face. He felt a massive blow that caused his bones to strain and his muscles to twitch. He was sent flying to the side before his golden palm attack could land decisively on Yang Guanyu's face. He looked to the person that interrupted his assault and discovered that it was one of the grand elders. He was a slightly larger man with a large two-handed battle hammer, it was a miracle that he didn't have a broken bone.
'Damn... my whole forearm is numb...'
He glared at the Dark Palm grand elder that came to the rescue of their leader. Before he could say anything he had to propel himself backward as another Qi attack was thrown his way, this time by the old lady cultivator that was also a nascent soul grand elder.
"Sect Leader, let us help you take out this man, he is far too dangerous!"
Zhang Dong panted, he had used quite a bit of his spiritual energy to rush this old slender-man looking elder. He hoped to end the battle fast or at least injure him before the other elders came to help him, his strategy had failed. He could see Guanyu rising up and his wounds healing rapidly as he circulated that demonic energy around him. The plants around the area started whithering and anyone below the nascent soul level would also be sucked dry as this demonic cultivator healed himself.
"Yes, he needs to die!"
The old man replied in a strange voice, his body had gotten paler and even lost some mass after this exchange. He had finally realized that this man he was facing was far more dangerous than expected.
"Hear my order, all grand elders are to focus on this enemy cultivator, the rest of the sect will attack the city on their own!"
Guanyu was positive that he wouldn't beat Zhang Dong on his own. He was far too powerful to be left alive and was also someone that used the holy Dao that demonic cultivators like him were weak against. The city in the back had no value, this man had to go down and he needed to die fast before they continued.