Yan Ling"s right hand trembled faintly as she looked at Qian Liao, a very primal fear of death creeping into her soul. Qian Lian had most definitely entered Primordial Immortal realm, but she was unable to tell if he had already reached the middle stage or if he was just at the very peak of the early stage. Looking at him she felt something similar to back when the Nethersky Wyrm Queen had charged directly at her, she felt like her legs would freeze up and refuse to move.But she could not, would not, allow fear to seize her this time, she was done with letting fear control her body. Back then Liang Chen had pushed her away and taken the charge of the Nethersky Wyrm Queen, being swallowed whole. He had surely been afraid back then, he"d probably also been afraid when they faced Huang Dong, there were probably plenty of other times he had also been afraid to the point of freezing.
But he had never let that stop him, he always charged forward, tearing through every blockade like a rampaging bolt of lightning. Now it was her turn to conquer her fear, it was her turn to stand in front of him and protect him. If she couldn"t even do that, then what right did she possibly have to be by his side?
She cast a sideways glance at Yumao, who was flying at her side. He was glaring at Qian Liao with resolute eyes, but she could tell that the feathers running down his back were bristling and moving slightly, he clearly wasn"t as calm as he tried to look. Qian Liao"s gaze also landed on Yumao, a casual smile surfacing on his face.
"That one looks quite similar to my own, why don"t we let the two of them play?"
Qian Liao"s shadow started to wriggle slightly as he finished his sentence, a serpentine creature slithering up from the darkness. The creature looked like a 20-meter long snake covered in black scales, two jagged horns growing out from the side of its head. But there were several places on the snake"s body where its scales had been torn away, revealing rotten flesh and bones. The snake"s three eyes were also completely blank and lifeless, it had clearly been dead for some time.
Yan Ling"s eyes turned even graver when she saw this snake and sensed the law of death circulating within its body, it was likely the corpse of the mutated Nethersky Wyrm Emperor that Qian Liao had used to cultivate. Just like that, the only advantage she and Yumao had over Qian Liao had been erased, the battle would become even harder.
The dead snake suddenly vanished as a particularly bright bolt of lightning lit up the sky and created a shadow beneath it. The snake jumped out from Yumao"s shadow at a speed so fast it was barely a blur, smacking Yumao with its tail and sending him flying. But as Yumao was sent flying, one of Qian Liao"s eyebrows rose in surprise.
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"Oh, it"s capable of tearing through Lil Zizi"s scales with its teeth? It must be quite a special little snakey, should I take him off your hands for you?"
Several scales on the snake"s, on Zizi"s tail, had been crushed and torn off by Yumao, who retaliated with a bite the moment Zizi"s tail smashed into him. Yan Ling glanced with worry at Yumao, but he simply responded by stretching out his body and wings, raising his head towards the dark sky and hissing so loudly it was practically a roar. He was telling her that he would handle it, that he could handle it so that she could focus on her own battle.
Despite how he acted most of the time, Yumao had his own pride. He had never really gotten to help Liang Chen ever since he was born, he had never gotten to repay Liang Chen for handing over his blood and helping him being born, never repaid him for every time Liang Chen brought him food or helped him. This time he would fight, this time he would show that he was capable enough, that he was worthy of staying with Liang Chen and the others.
Yan Ling gave a fractal nod of her head and returned her gaze to Qian Liao, who had yet to make his move, calmly smiling at her. Zizi shot after Yumao, who flapped his wings and soared high into the sky so that they wouldn"t distract Yan Ling by accident. Qian Liao followed the two with his gaze for a short moment before his eyes once again landed on Yan Ling, his four arms stretching out as he clenched his fists.
"Well then, should we start as well?"
A scarlet light flashed in Qian Liao"s hand as a single long halberd appeared in his grasp, all four hands tightly holding the handle. The head of the scarlet halberd had an axe on the left side, the head of a spear on the tip, and the head of a hammer on the right side, a faint light traveling down the sharp edge of the axe.
Qian Liao"s eyes grew serious as he brought out his weapon, taking a step forward and turning into a blur as he shot forward. Yan Ling"s eyes shot open as her bloodline activated and she unleashed all the energy in her body, slashing down at her right side just as Qian Liao appeared there and swiped at her with the hammer part of his halberd.
The edge of her blade collided with the hammer and unleashed all the energy she had gathered in it, wind and a heavy pressure pushing against the hammer in an attempt to slow it. But even when she put all her might into blocking it, the hammer was still able to push her sword back and smash into her waist, the taste of blood flooding her mouth as her entire body bent to the side.
Yan Ling grit her teeth and stretched out her left arm as fast as she could, even using what little she could of the law of s.p.a.ce to shorten the distance between her hand and her target. Speed clearly wasn"t Qian Liao"s forte, her hand coming into contact with the elbow of the lower one of his two left arms, her law of slicing bursting forth and cleanly cutting through the elbow.
But as the elbow started to fall to the ground, chains of metal stretched out from the stump that remained, hooking onto the severed arm and pulling it back. The arm attached itself back to the stump, Qian Liao"s strong body quickly healing the cut. Qian Liao frowned slightly, his left leg kicking out and colliding with Yan Ling"s abdomen the moment she cut off one of his arms.
Yan Ling involuntarily spat out some blood as her body curled itself around Qian Liao"s foot due to the force of the kick. Just as her body started to fly backward, she had her left hand slide along Qian Liao"s leg, leaving a deep gash in it thanks to her law of slicing. But just like the previous wound, it quickly healed itself, the specialty of the FiendG.o.d race.
Yan Ling flew back and crashed through two of the crystalline trees before she managed to stop herself, standing in the air with blood leaking down the corners of her mouth. Qian Liao didn"t seem intent on giving her any chance to rest, chasing after her the moment she was sent flying, arriving in front of her a mere half second after she managed to stop herself.
He stopped himself by stomping the ground and transferred all the force into his halberd, stabbing out with the spear tip attached to the tip of the weapon. Yan Ling looked at the incoming attack, but she didn"t step back or try to move out of the way, Liang Chen was behind her, and she refused to leave the path open for Qian Liao.
She stepped forward to meet the attack, slashing at the spear tip with a sideways swipe. Her sword once again collided with the weapon, a cold feeling seeping into her fingers the moment the two weapons made contact. She managed to push the weapon slightly aside, but fully parrying it was clearly impossible, the difference in physical strength between the two of them was too great for that.
The spear tip pierced through the side of her abdomen, the hammerhead that was facing towards her body smashing into her waist as the spear tip fully pierced through her. But once again, Yan Ling simply grit her teeth, letting go of her sword and stretching out both arms as fast as she could. She utilized that she was a bit faster than him, as well as the fact that he was so close to her thanks to stabbing through her waist, clenching both her fists and smashing them sideways into his temples.
The law of pressure and the law of crushing both poured into his head as she utilized a somewhat strengthened version of her strongest skill, the Storm King"s Fist. Qian Liao"s head actually cracked under the force of the attack, collapsing in on itself and turning into a b.l.o.o.d.y pulp. Yan Ling took this chance to pull back her arms and punch Qian Liao in the chest, her law of wind pushing him back while the law of pressure and the law of crushing flooded into his chest, causing the chest to fully cave inwards as he flew backward and crashed into one of the metallic trees, sliding to the earth.
His weapon was forcefully torn out of Yan Ling"s waist as he flew back, worsening the wound in her waist. Luckily she had a strong bloodline and had already started her body cultivation so the wound already showed faint signs of healing, her flesh wriggling slightly.
She spat out a large glob of blood, something hot splashing on her head and causing her to raise her head. Yumao was currently locked in battle with Zizi, but he was clearly on the losing end. One of his wings had been bitten into and was thus missing half its base, he also had several other bite marks covering his body, as well as a few places where he seemed to have been pierced by something long and smooth, possibly tendrils of darkness.
Zizi also had a few bite marks on its body, but due to the size difference between the two of them, none of the wounds could be called serious. Yan Ling"s attention was suddenly pulled back by a sound coming from the place where Qian Liao had landed, her gaze quickly rotating over. Qian Liao"s headless body suddenly sprung up into a standing position, a black mist rising up from the ground and entering his body. His caved in chest and collapsed skull rebuilt themselves in a single second, his gaze already locked on Yan Ling as one of his arms rubbed his neck.
"I gotta say, I didn"t expect that, you actually killed me once. Pressure and crushing, no? There"s also that one strange law you used to shorten the distance, can"t say the reports mentioned anything about that. Water, wind, slicing, pressure, crushing, that strange law, you also seem to have slight control over metal, otherwise, my own law of metal would have ruined your insides the moment my weapon pierced you. Really, a myriad of strong laws, triple cultivation, a mighty bloodline, just what sort of monster are you?"
Yan Ling"s pupils trembled slightly as she looked at Qian Liao, who didn"t seem affected in the slightest. She hadn"t expected that attack to kill him, but for him to look that unaffected by it? She knew that something like that was impossible for normal FiendG.o.ds, even they would be greatly affected by having to regenerate their heads. Seeing the scene, she wanted to shout out and curse. His f.u.c.king head had been crushed G.o.dd.a.m.nit, couldn"t he at least look a little affected?
Qian Liao stepped forward and turned into a blur once more, arriving in front of Yan Ling almost instantly and stabbing out with his halberd once more. Yan Ling slashed diagonally upwards with her sword, aiming to once again parry the attack just enough to not leave her with a mortal wound and take the chance to counter-attack. But just as her sword was about to touch Qian Liao"s halberd, the veins in his four arms bulged and he unleashed all his physical might.
The head of the halberd was forcefully raised, the handle of the halberd rising up to take its place. The stab turned into an upwards smash with the handle of his halberd, Yan Ling"s sword colliding with it at full force. She did her best to resist the tremendous might behind the attack, but the fingers on her right hand suddenly grew weaker and stopped listening to her, the power supporting her sword weakening as a result.
The weapon was already somewhat broken after having been used for so long and having to endure Yan Ling"s ever stronger laws, now it had even been forced to endure two of Qian Liao"s attacks. This third attack proved to be too much for it, especially after Yan Ling"s fingers weakened and she became unable to properly support it. The sword that was a gift from her father shattered, the handle of Qian Liao"s halberd smashing into her chest and sending her flying backward, a cold feeling invading her body.
As she flew backward, she stretched out her right leg and had the tip of her foot brush past the lower of Qian Liao"s two right arms, her law of slicing severing the arm and causing it to fall to the ground. She crashed into a metallic tree and slid to the ground, quickly standing up with unsteady legs and making sure to keep her eyes locked on Qian Liao. She could feel that over half of her ribs had shattered under that attack, but now was not the time to bother about them, nor could she bother with the blood and small chunks of flesh pouring out from her mouth.
She saw Qian Liao look at his severed right arm and frown slightly, but the arm was already starting to grow back from the stump, a new one rapidly growing to replace the cut off one. Yan Ling once again felt like cursing, gritting her teeth while moving her sword over to her left hand, tightly clenching the handle of her broken sword.
And then she noticed that the cold feeling in her chest was starting to spread through her body, her vision starting to blur as her entire right arm was starting to lose power and weaken, hanging limply at her side before long. Her eyes shot open in alarm, her gaze drifting towards her arm for a quick second. Qian Liao seemed to have noticed the movement of her eyes, speaking up.
"You know, most people think that the law of death is all about draining the lifeforce of everything, but it can be so much more than that. In my experience, death is when something ceases to function. Right now, your right arm has "died", and your eyes will be the next to "die"."
Qian Liao spoke without concern about his techniques being revealed to others, Yan Ling was clearly already dead in his eyes. Yan Ling continued to tightly grasp her sword, her eyes unyielding as she looked at Qian Liao. Looking at her gaze, Qian Liao actually let out a light sigh and made her an offer.
"Tell me, can"t you let me pa.s.s? If you just let me pa.s.s and get to the Scourge King then I can swear to you that I will make it painless for the both of you, consider it a sign of my admiration for you and your resistance."
They had killed his friend so he had to kill them, this was Justice. But he still respected and admired Yan Ling"s resistance and her strength, so he did not mind giving her an offer like this. But Yan Ling simply sneered at his offer, her eyes remaining unyielding and resolute as she brandished her broken sword, blocking the path behind her.
"I already told you, I won"t let anyone lay their hand on him, this road is impa.s.sable."
Qian Liao searched Yan Ling"s gaze, but found no signs of hesitation or regret, her words were true and came from the heart. He brandished his halberd once more and took up his position, letting out one last sigh.
"Truly admirable. If you got your hand on the Bloodwind Code you would certainly become a Ruler of Fort.i.tude or Charity before long, what a shame."