Chapter 1711: Another King Tier
The great battle could happen at any moment.
Changsun Liang calmly stated, “I have cultivated a few more years than you have, so I will let you have the first three moves.”
“Then I’ll thank you for that!” Xiao Sheng bared his teeth in a grin, showing a faint hint of mockery.
‘…You can act proud only at this moment. After I defeat you, you will only be able to weep.’
Changsun Liang stood, his arms crossed behind his back. He had absolute confidence in himself. After all, there were not many prodigies that were the likes of Ling Han and the Empress. Even if there were, they should not appear in large numbers in a Two Star force, either.
Xiao Sheng did not rush to attack. Instead, he stared fixedly at Changsun Liang as he released his aura. He was really very strong. A red-colored aura surged out from within his body, turning into something akin to an ocean with patterns of great dao rippling within.
And this was still just aura. It was practically a sea of Regulations, a sea of fire!
Changsun Liang’s expression immediately became serious. This was a strong enemy, and definitely could not be underestimated.
He was definitely not inferior to Ling Han.
He, too, channeled his Origin Power to the fullest, his whole person suddenly seeming like a sharp sword that had just been unsheathed, exuding a forceful, cold sharpness that was breath-taking.
“Piercing Wind!” Xiao Sheng flicked a finger, and a powerful gale suddenly whipped out towards Changsun Liang.
Changsun Liang stretched out a hand and pressed down, meeting the incoming attack.
Peng!
He had sealed off this strong gale, but it immediately exploded in his palm, turning into surging flames.
Creak…
Changsun Liang was sent backwards three steps by this blow. Da, da, da. Blood was dripping from the palm of his hand, and his expression was grim.
Hiss! Everyone erupted in uproar. In this exchange, Changsun Liang actually was at a small disadvantage?
They had initially thought that Xiao Sheng wanted to use Changsun Liang to make himself famous, and this was indeed true. Xiao Sheng definitely was using Changsun Liang as a stepping stone. However, his ambition was much greater than that. He had not come to exchange a few blows with the latter, proving his own strength. Instead, he had come to defeat Changsun Liang.
Defeating a young king tier that had been renowned for a long time would naturally grant him overnight success, and he would be able to replace Changsun Liang as the top in the Genesis Tier.
All of Changsun Liang’s previous efforts would be equivalent to having been paving the way for him. He only needed to defeat Changsun Liang once, and he would be able to reap the fruits of all his prestige and honour.
“Yi, Brother Changsun, as it turned out, your strength is actually so low!” Xiao Sheng pretended to be baffled. He shook his head. “I’m really sorry about that. I thought you were very strong, so I used my full strength. I never thought that it would wound you.”
He put on a serious face, and said, “In the next move, I will definitely not try so hard!”
This was undisguised mockery!
Changsun Liang did not get angry. The battle between two king tiers was naturally not decided through chitchat, but through pure strength.
His strength was not inferior to the other party’s. However, he had firstly underestimated his opponent, and had not thought that Xiao Sheng’s offensive would be so frightening, and secondly, he was limited by his previous promise. Otherwise, after his opponent had delivered a powerful move, he could take advantage of the opening and counterattack, and it would definitely be able to cause some slight injury to Xiao Sheng as well.
Three moves, this was the trap that Changsun Liang had laid out for himself. For a king tier like himself, the words that came out of his mouth were as good as gold, so how could he go back on his word?
Xiao Sheng again began building up power for a strong move. He did not feel the slightest shame in making use of this loophole. In any case, a victory was a victory, so what need was there to be concerned about the means that he had used to gain his win?
A few breaths later, he finally made his move, and as his figure pounced out, fiery flames were entwined around his fist as he hurled a punch at Changsun Liang.
As the punch flew out, the whole sky was filled with flames, as if a shower of flames was raining down on them.
The sect master of the Black Moon Sect stretched out a hand, and this shower of flames was suddenly limited to a specific area to prevent those outside the battle zone from being injured as well.
Meanwhile, Xiao Dong showed a hint of ridicule in his expression. His purpose here today was to crash their gathering.
What Changsun Liang, a prodigy that could only appear once in millions and millions of years? Their Xiao Clan also had one, and one that was more outstanding at that!
Changsun Liang shouted, and set out a defensive s.h.i.+eld around him.
Limited by his promise, he had to let his opponent have the first three moves. Thus, he could only defend and dodge, but could not take the offensive, which caused himself to be trapped in an absolutely disadvantageous situation.
Xiao Sheng laughed loudly, his punch arriving. His fist had actually turned into a large mouth of roaring flames which “bit” towards Changsun Liang.
Peng!
Changsun Liang’s figure streaked back from the flames, multiple cracks appearing in the s.h.i.+eld around him, and then crumbling and collapsing with a bang.
How could he possibly block the attack of a king tier that was his equal just by staying on the defensive?
The best solution was to answer an attack with an attack of his own.
Changsun Liang’s expression was grim. Though he had blocked two blows, the situation was extremely unfavourable. His blood was surging in his body, and a mouthful of blood was close to being spat out of his mouth.
He still had to take one more blow!
“Brother Changsun, are you all right?” Xiao Sheng’s expression was filled with concern, but his eyes were filled with sneering derision. He had done it on purpose.
‘If you’re not happy about it, come here and beat me up!’
“Ai, ai, ai, rumors are really deadly. So Brother Changsun is not all that strong, after all, and I had been expectant for nothing, mistakenly thinking that I could finally find a worthy opponent. I did not think that you would be so weak to be unable to withstand a few strikes from me.” He continued to disparage Changsun Liang like mad.
Changsun Liang was indifferent. His composure control was definitely well-practiced. As long as the other’s mouth was not poisonous to the extent that Ling Han had been, he would not take it to heart at all.
…If Ling Han had known his thoughts, should he feel pride, or would he be grimacing?
“Skip the nonsense!” Changsun Liang stated calmly. He turned his fury into fighting spirit. He only had to survive one more move, and he would definitely be able to launch an aggressive counterattack, making the other aware what the words Changsun Liang meant.
A king tier that was invincible among his peers, how could that possibly have been a mere boast?
Xiao Sheng scoffed, and retorted, “Then take the third move from me!” He began building up power for another strong move again. This time, flames were surging out of his body, turning into a fiery beast. Then, the flames flickered, and a second beast appeared.
A third, a fourth, a fifth… He seemed to have turned into a cave of flames, with innumerable flaming beasts appearing out of him. Each and every one of them was formed from patterns of great dao that had taken the shape of flames. If one touched them, that would be equivalent to confronting the Regulations of Fire head-on.
“Stampede of Ten Thousand Beasts!” Xiao Sheng laughed loudly, and pointed at Changsun Liang. “Go!”
Boom, these beasts of fire suddenly charged towards Changsun Liang. They clearly were only manifestations of Regulations, yet created a thunderous commotion as they stampeded, like there was an army charging out.
Changsun Liang humphed, and launched multiple punches at these beasts of fire.
He did not dare directly confront these beasts of the Regulations of Fire with his bare fists, but had rather wrapped golden light around his fists, and it was similarly rippling with patterns of great dao as if liquid gold.
“Brother Changsun, could it be that you don’t know that fire can overcome gold?” Xiao Sheng laughed from a distance. He did not follow with the offensive. Otherwise, it would be considered as a fourth move, and Changsun Liang would be able to launch an aggressive counter back at him.
But if he did not move, then the third move was not completed, and Changsun Liang would still be unable to counterattack.
…He, too, wanted to use this chance to settle his Origin Power. After all, releasing the ‘Stampede of Ten Thousand Beasts’ was also quite exhaustive on him. It could be said that he had really used his “advantage of three moves” to its fullest.
Changsun Liang continued to launch a barrage of blows as he frowned deeply.
He naturally knew that fire could overcome gold, but as long as his strength surpa.s.sed his opponent completely, he could ignore this kind of natural trait. Of course, if it was like throwing a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood, then it would definitely be the water that would be instantly evaporated by the flames[1].
He was undoubtedly a king tier of the younger generation, and his strength could overwhelm all his opponents, so there naturally was no need to be concerned about elements that would overcome or strengthen one another. However, Xiao Sheng’s strength was truly not inferior to his, and this caused him to be stuck in unfavorable circ.u.mstances.
[1] In Chinese philosophy of five elements, gold/metal is countered by fire, while fire is countered by water (in simplified terms). As hinted in the next paragraph, there are also those that strengthen others (such as wood strengthening fire) and so on. Look up “wuxing” on wiki for details.