Chapter 63: Desolate Beast White Fang (1)
As Chu Hailang clawed out, an illusory beast image appeared behind Chu Huailiang.
This beast was covered entirely in pitch-black fur. A single horn sat square in the middle of its forehead, and its back was covered in sharp spikes. Just the illusory image alone seemed to fill the entire sky, unleas.h.i.+ng pressure that hadn’t appeared in this battle until this very moment.
Desolate Beast White Fang!
As soon as this illusory image appeared, Chu Huailiang seemed to turn into a Desolate Beast himself. He begin to howl fiercely, his heart filling with boundless pride and arrogance.
This claw strike easily shattered a nearby mountain. Even a flowing river would be stopped in its tracks when he grabbed at it.
There was nowhere Su Chen could teleport to avoid the ferocious claw, and illusion techniques also wouldn’t help him stop it. Trying to withstand the blow with his physical body was completely out of the question.
Su Chen’s lips quirked into a smile. “So you’ve finally brought out the big guns? I don’t think that this is your last one, though.”
“It’s more than enough to kill you!”
The claw blotted out the sun as it descended.
Su Chen held the Lightless Ring in one hand, waving it through air. The piercing cry of a phoenix pierced through the air as a ma.s.sive flaming phoenix took shape almost immediately.
This phoenix almost seemed like a blazing sun. As it soared into the skies, a torrent of flames came pouring out of its beak.
Chu Huailiang’s claw strike was easily nullified by the might of the flaming phoenix’s fiery barrage.
Su Chen’s Flaming Phoenix had been greatly upgraded after he had absorbed the Demonic Lord’s fire-type Origin Crystal. Now, with the further support of the Lightless Ring, its effects were amplified to even more staggering heights.
This was Chu Huailiang’s first time witnessing such a shockingly powerful Origin Skill. Most importantly, this Origin Skill was not a bloodline Origin Skill. The appearance of this flaming phoenix startled him quite badly. “How is this possible? How can a common Origin Skill possess such power?”
“The hidden potential of humanity is unlimited, but you all rely on foreign bloodlines to vie for glory. That is a path that ultimately leads to destruction. Today, I will show you the true intrinsic power of humanity!” As Su Chen yelled, he jabbed forward with a finger, and the Flaming Phoenix crowed harshly as it blitzed towards Chu Huailiang.
At the same time, Su Chen slashed forth with his Mountain-Beheading Blade yet again.
Chu Huailiang had always known that Su Chen was very powerful, but never had he imagined that it was to such an extent. The Flaming Phoenix and Mountain-Beheading Blade were both incredibly imposing attacks despite the fact that they were ordinary, non-bloodline techniques. Chu Huailiang would have easily believed it if someone told him that Su Chen also possessed a Desolate Beast Bloodline.
However, Su Chen had no foreign bloodline at all. He was a bona-fide human, and his power came entirely from his human body.
The power of the human body!
How had he managed to raise himself to this kind of level?
Chu Huailiang didn’t dare believe his eyes.
Bloodline n.o.bility Clans could reach higher cultivation realms due to their bloodlines and also possessed much greater combat prowess when compared to bloodline-less cultivators.
Both the former and the latter notions were gradually being broken down by Su Chen and s.h.i.+ Kaihuang’s incessant research.
At this point in time, Chu Huailiang seemed to realize that the waves Su Chen was making would be far more impactful than he had initially believed — since Su Chen possessed this kind of strength, it followed that others could as well.
The Bloodline n.o.bility Clans would soon hold no advantage over those without bloodlines at this rate.
As soon as he realized this, a vicious killing intent surfaced in Chu Huailiang’s heart.
Even though he had come to kill Su Chen in the first place, he had not been afraid of failing. Now, however, his killing intent was further motivated by his recognition that Su Chen had the ability to change the entire world to the detriment of his clan.
He could not accept that kind of outcome no matter what.
This person must die!
As his killing intent towered, Chu Huailiang yelled angrily, “Only one of us will walk away alive today!”
As he spoke, he activated his bloodline to the limit. Powerful waves of energy began to undulate from his figure as the Desolate Beast image behind him grew more and more tangible. It even tilted its head back and howled madly at the sky.
In the past, the White Fang had been able to steamroll over any kind of fortification and freely ran wild. Nothing could stand in its way. The Ill.u.s.trious Divine Dynasty had allied with other races to exterminate this beast, but they had suffered the most casualties in the process. The beast’s offensive capabilities were staggering, and even the combined efforts of many Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivators could only partially nullify its attacks. The way they had managed to defeat White Fang was through counterattacking.
And now, the Chu Clan possessed the White Fang Bloodline in this day and age. Even though they were not nearly as powerful as the original Desolate Beast, the appearance of the illusory image alone seemed to bring the boundless power of nature to a boiling point. Chu Huailiang had personally activated one of the Chu Clan’s core Bloodline Origin Skills: Sky-Rending Blade.
Core Bloodline Origin Skills were skills that were innately contained in a bloodline, and were considered to be foundational skills for that bloodline. On top of this foundation, those with awakened bloodlines could apply the power of their bloodline in different fas.h.i.+ons, resulting in unique derivative Origin Skills.
However, Chu Huailiang’s Sky-Rending Blade was a core Bloodline Origin Skill, meaning that anyone from the Chu Clan who had awakened their bloodline could technically use it. However, not many people could claim to be more proficient with this skill than Chu Huailiang.
Ever since his bloodline had awoken, he had chosen to hone this skill endlessly. As such, his attacks were simple, incisive, and extremely difficult to defend against.
He used his hand as a blade to slash through the air. A white streak of light slammed into the flaming phoenix.
If the blade could even rend the sky, then what was a small phoenix to it?
The cries of the flaming phoenix in the sky were cut short as it was sliced into two. Under the power of the strike, the Theurgy Art could not be maintained and it dissipated as a result.
“Sky-Rending Blade!” Su Chen was actually aware of this skill as well.
The Chu Clan’s Sky-Rending Blade was quite well-known. Apparently, it could break through any material, and Su Chen had discovered firsthand that that definition included his Theurgy Arts as well. He couldn’t help but sigh with praise.
Yes, praise!
Only powerful opponents were worth fighting. How could a weak opponent draw out his full potential?
Su Chen didn’t seem to mind that Chu Huailiang had destroyed his Flaming Phoenix Theurgy Art. Instead, he complimented, “Not bad! That is truly a formidable skill. How can I resign myself to only seeing it once? You’ll need to show that to me a few more times before I’m satisfied!”
“What?” Chu Huailiang was taken aback by Su Chen’s presumptuous words.
Su Chen waved the Lightless Ring yet again, and another Flaming Phoenix Theurgy Art quickly took flight.
You can rend, but I can create. As Su Chen’s cultivation had progressed, his Flaming Phoenix Theurgy Art had become a central part of his combat repertoire, so it was no surprise that he could unleash them in rapid succession. Even if Chu Huailiang could destroy them with a single blade strike, Su Chen could just keep forming more.
Another flaming phoenix soared through the sky yet again, blazing intensely as the flames on its body seemed to leap into the sky.
Chu Huailiang was yet again taken aback by how casual Su Chen appeared. He knew that he had run into a tough opponent this time. Sky-Rending Blade after Sky-Rending Blade flew forth from his fingertips, but Su Chen was able to keep up and form Flaming Phoenix after Flaming Phoenix in response.
Anyone watching the battle would see flames rhythmically surging and extinguis.h.i.+ng, dispersed by razor-sharp blade strikes.
When the blade struck, the flames receded. When the blade’s momentum dissipated, the flames raged back.
This cycle continued for some time.
The two of them fought like this, a constant back and forth. Su Chen’s eyes began to glow with a faint l.u.s.ter as he activated his microscopic eye, observing how Chu Huailiang channeled his energy through his body as he unleashed attack after attack. After that huge battle at Three Mountain in Ravager Territory, his ability to observe Origin Energy had greatly increased. As long as he willed it, even the indiscernible flow of Origin Energy in the environment couldn’t escape his notice. However, Su Chen had never been able to find a suitable opponent that was worth observing in that much detail.
Chu Huailiang was strong enough to merit observation, but not so strong that he could force Su Chen to scramble in defense. Chu Huailiang also had a Desolate Beast Bloodline, more than qualifying him to be inspected by Su Chen. As such, he began to focus on observing and studying Chu Huailiang, actually somewhat holding back in the battle.
Chu Huailiang didn’t know about Su Chen’s special eyes, but he could still tell that Su Chen was distracted.
He was distracted!
He actually had the gall to focus on something else in the middle of a heated battle?
What an extreme humiliation!
Chu Huailiang was infuriated. He suddenly ramped up the pace of his attacks, unleas.h.i.+ng twelve Sky-Rending Blades in the blink of an eye. The sky was suddenly filled with bright white light, as if multiple rifts were forming all across the sky.
Even though Su Chen’s Flaming Phoenix was incredibly fast, it was not as fast as Chu Huailiang’s attacks.
Su Chen didn’t grow fl.u.s.tered, however; he prepared to evade by activating Whitetower Teleportation .
Chu Huailiang, however, was prepared and shoved his palm out. “You’re not going anywhere!”
Su Chen suddenly felt the surrounding spatial energy freeze, and he noticed that he had no way of activating Whitetower Teleportation.
No, he had managed to activate it, but the distance he could jump had decreased drastically. He had traveled a short distance, but not nearly enough to escape from the Sky-Rending Blades’ area of influence.
As he watched the blades descend on Su Chen, Chu Huailiang fiercely snarled, “Die!”
“Ai!” Su Chen sighed. “Why do you insist on going all-out? I haven’t seen nearly enough yet.”
As he sighed regretfully, the Primordial Blood Aspect appeared behind his back.
At this point, his Primordial Blood Aspect had changed drastically. It was still human-shaped, but it was surrounded by a vortex of violent wind that began to expand its domain in all directions.
“What is that?” Chu Huailiang was taken aback.
Was that a bloodline?
But if it was a bloodline, then where was the beastly aura? And given Su Chen’s actions and motivation, it was impossible for him to infuse himself with a bloodline.
This made no sense!
Before he had time to thoroughly evaluate Su Chen’s move, the Primordial Blood Aspect’s face in front of Su Chen suddenly opened its eyes.
The moment it opened its eyes, a blinding flash lit up its surroundings as the nearby s.p.a.ce began to congeal.
Yes, Chu Huailiang could control the surrounding s.p.a.ce, so why couldn’t Su Chen?
The Sumeru Void was s.h.i.+ Kaihuang’s bread and b.u.t.ter technique. It shackled s.p.a.ce-time, and it was also not much weaker than Chu Huailiang’s technique. It was only a bit weaker because it lacked the support of a bloodline.
However, once Su Chen activated the Primordial Blood Aspect, it essentially acted like a human bloodline, and the Sumeru Void correspondingly received a significant amount of support.
The Sumeru Void had been activated at the same time that the first of the four faces had opened its eyes.
Chu Huailiang suddenly felt that slicing down with his blade had become incredibly difficult, and the resistance only continued to mount the lower his blades went.
His Sky-Rending Blades could even tear holes in the sky, but it couldn’t rend the Sumeru Void. In the end, the name was only a name. Most of the time, a technique was barely as powerful as one percent of its description.
The speed of the Sky-Rending Blades drastically decreased due to the hindrance of the Sumeru Void technique. Even though they didn’t completely freeze in place, Su Chen had bought himself more than enough time to react.
He nimbly retreated, casually dodging the razor-sharp blades as he said, “If you want to fight seriously, then I suppose I should play along, shouldn’t I?”
As he spoke, a pair of wings suddenly unfurled from behind his back.
Chu Huailiang was taken aback. Su Chen was a human. Where had those wings come from?
As Su Chen unfurled his wings, the nearby clouds suddenly twisted violently as a blistering gale appeared out of nowhere. This gale was not one of Su Chen’s attacks; it was merely a manifestation of the power inherent in those wings.
Su Chen’s four-faced aspect had come from absorbing the Windbite Bloodline, so when he unfurled his wings, the aspect’s true power was finally channeled to its limits.
As he unleashed his full strength in that moment, Su Chen’s figure shot forwards with a powerful flap of his wings.
Yet another flaming phoenix had appeared, but this time the flames were black as they surged at Chu Huailiang.
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