Read Novel Full Chapter 1594: Rapid Escalation
Chapter 1594: Rapid Escalation
[Counter Strike]
Yan Hai’s bamboo borrowed the strength of this fist to power itself, but it also contained the strength of its own force. The two clashed, and the void — which usually manifests in this empty white space — suddenly turned dark as if the concept of light or color itself was temporarily cancelled from Heaven and Earth.
Yan Hai took a full step backward as her breath became uncontrollable. Typically, this kind of damage would require her to heal or deal with it in some way. But now, with her new, powerful body, she could focus on the thing she loves the most: attacking.
Dugu Baitian took a half step backward, and his breathing remained constant. However, a small trail of blood dropped from the corner of his mouth. Such an injury was not even considered minor for his level of body refinement. So, he followed the first attack with a barrage of attacks.
Yan Hai did not back down. The way she fought was overwhelming her opponent with unparalleled sword attacks. And her tactic was successful. After a dozen clashes, it was very apparent who had the advantage. The Sword Empress had the advantage in attack potency, so whenever both of them received a backlash from this clash, Dugu Baitian was the one who received the most damage.
However, after more than a hundred clashes, Yan Hai realized the latter’s plan. While both of them were in the Tenth Heaven of the Elder Fiendgod Realm, Dugu Baitian’s body was more perfect than hers. She has only recently entered that realm; meanwhile, her opponent had spent millions, if not billions, of Yuan Epoch refining and perfecting his flesh. Even if the improvement after reaching the Tenth Heaven is almost nonexistent, persistence will have its benefits, the most direct of which is the increase in control over the body.
’If this continues, my body will give up before his,’ Yan Hai analyzed. Most people — including Extreme Path swordsmen — would distance their opponent, but she knew Dugu Baitian. The worst decision when fighting him is to allow him to build momentum or control the rhythm of the battle.
[Outrunning Time Strike]
Yan Hai changed tactics; she used an attack that he could not react to quickly. And while this attack’s name suggested it was merely faster than time, that was far from the truth. It was an attack that pursued the pinnacle of speed: it was so fast that it was not bound by matter, energy, or the space-time continuum. It was so fast that death — the ultimate equalizer — could not determine if someone died from this sword.
Her sword was so fast that it even touched nothingness. However, Yan Hai’s skill was so refined that she did not lose her arm in the process; no, her sword speed even escaped the backlash from [Nothingness]. Such a brilliant attack is one of the many reasons she reigned supreme above the Sword Dao in the entire Chaos Universe.
[Divine Repository: 12th Sense]
[Divine Repository: Otherworldly Reflexes]
The human body is full of endless potential to tap into. They have many names: Gate, Acupoints, Aperture, Chakra, or Divine Repository. Even the dantian or Sea of Consciousness is part of those hidden potentials. The Dugu Clan’s body refining technique opened these potentials, and Dugu Baitian has pushed this technique beyond the limits that the clan thought were possible. He not only opened them and discovered new ones, but also found ways to evolve them to higher levels.
After being able to perceive the attack, Dugu Baitian opened the elemental Divine Depository of metal. He coated his fist and body with armor as he punched the sword with illogical speed. His approach was the best of both worlds: he could continue his previous tactic, and better protect himself.
The Void Battlefield felt the clash of this attack. Nothing exists in a vacuum, so Yan Hai’s sword, which escaped so many concepts, had some ramifications. The River of Time trembled, and the aftermath released enough energy to create a new space-time continuum. With space-time comes gravity, and with gravity comes matter and energy.
Death manifested its presence. After all, someone just used a technique that could kill someone without its detection. Meanwhile, Dugu Baitian’s fist brought force to the equation, which then created mass and acceleration. He also ushered the element of earth to the table. In the split moment of the class, all the powers and elements mashed together to create a new world with an imbalance of the earth element and incomplete laws of physics.
’Not backing down?’ Yan Hai thought as she breathed heavily. She ignored the creation around her, focusing on her target. ’In that case, let’s ramp things up even more.’ She linked to the fifth Grand Construct before swinging her bamboo sword.
[Flaw-Terminus Slash]
Any world, even the most basic one, is a complex system of rules and laws that work together perfectly to ensure its operation. Yan Hai’s attack exploited the world’s flaw to create a chain of events that ultimately led to the world’s destruction. Then, she harnesses that power of destruction for her sword attack.
Dugu Baitian’s expression was grave. He did not expect this woman to refuse to back down, but instead, escalate the situation. He gritted his teeth and also connected to the fifth Grand Construct. However, he knew his attack potency was not the same as hers and needed a boost.
First, he combined numerous defensive Divine Repositories into the Undying Body. Secondly, he used what could be called a secret ultimate skill. Secret skills have always been methods for cultivators to use in desperate times, such as burning their blood essence or soul.
Secret skills should have been more common in the Immortal Stage of Cultivation since cultivators can just abuse their immortal bodies and regenerate them. However, Heaven and Earth are all about balance. The rules imposed by Grand Dao regarding this matter are that overusing secret techniques will damage a cultivator’s foundation and potential, blocking their path ahead.
Dugu Baitian’s secret technique — which he elevated to an ultimate skill — was brilliant since he was not sacrificing his flesh or soul for more power. Instead, he built artificial Divine Repositories for the sacrifice; he also ensured that those artificial potential gates were created from foreign resources to prevent them from affecting his fleshly body.
The collision of these two beings — to which the word "god" would be an insult to describe them — tore apart the Anomalous Earth World in the Void Battlefield, but that event was inconsequential. What matters is the outcome.
Yan Hai’s face was pale, and blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, which was a sign of internal injury. No True Will entered her body, but the chaotic power from both their techniques had entered her body, delaying her regeneration by a few seconds. For people at her level who fought at a reaction speed beyond attoseconds, a few seconds was like an eternity.
Dugu Baitian was not faring any better — on the contrary, his injury was worse. A chunk of his shoulder was missing, followed by a few smaller cuts on his upper torso. He was suffering from the same fate as his opponent, with the chaotic power mixing with his internal organs.
A fierce light flashed in the Sword Empress’s eyes. She did not give him time to recuperate as she struck again. Although she used the same technique, she activated the infinite evolution or improvement of her Heaven Slashing Dao.
Supreme Might’s face became severe. He could not continue using secret techniques; he had only used them in the first place because his opponent had suddenly escalated the intensity of the battle. The Lightning Divine Repository was activated, but it was not just ordinary lightning: it contained True Destruction Lightning, which is a spiritual lightning born in Primordial Chaos that Dugu Baitian refined.
His approach was correct by trying to use a destruction element to counter Yan Hai’s destruction sword. Unfortunately, he was facing the woman known to have the second strongest attack potency in the Chaos Universe, and she did not hold the position due to a technicality.
Yan Hai became relentless, following the second slash with a third, fourth, and fifth one. She ignored her injury to press on, and with each swing, her attack became even more destructive. By the sixth slash, Dugu Baitian had no choice but to distance himself from her. He realized she was building momentum, and if he allowed her, it was only a matter of time before he was overwhelmed.
"And just like that, all that bravado is gone," Yan Hai sneered, her breathing slightly laborious.
"Any battle is constantly evolving. Losing grounds means nothing — we are ancient enough to understand such a basic truth," Dugu Baitian replied. The two took this opportunity to regain their breath and stamina. As expected, Dugu Baitian returned to his peak faster than his opponent.
He then used that slight difference to change tactics:
[Divine Repository: Essence, Spirit, Qi Harmony]
While Dugu Baitian was famous for his body refining accomplishments, he was not a pure body refiner — he was a Double Cultivator of Qi and Essence. He even created or discovered a hidden gate within his body that allows him to perfectly integrate his flesh with his Dao.
And now that he was using his Qi, this battle had truly started.