Chapter 480 - Stepping into the Second Phase
Fifth Ghost was a Tier 1 Swordsman. Although he did not possess Sixth Ghost’s frightening Strength, in terms of speed, he was significantly superior to the Berserker.
In particular, Fifth Ghost’s control over his center of gravity when using the advance attack technique Triple Cut surpa.s.sed Sixth Ghost’s. In addition, Fifth Ghost had used Wind Blade, increasing his speed significantly. At this moment, one could even vaguely see a fourth afterimage of his sword.
Presently, s.h.i.+ Feng had already focused all his power into defending against Sixth Ghost’s attack. He simply had no time to consider Fifth Ghost.
When Fifth Ghost saw his sword piercing s.h.i.+ Feng’s chest, a sinister smile appeared on his face. “Brat, although your strength is quite good, you are still ten years too early if you think you can fight against us Seven Ghosts.”
“Brother Five, be careful!” Sixth Ghost suddenly shouted in panic when he saw Fifth Ghost’s delighted appearance.
“Huh?” Fifth Ghost immediately sensed that something was wrong because his instincts were telling him right here and now that he had already arrived at death’s door. He then realized the sensation he felt with his hand—when his sword stabbed into s.h.i.+ Feng—was as if he had just pierced through air. Suddenly, he felt gooseb.u.mps rising all over his body. He immediately activated his lifesaving skill, Defensive Blade, and abruptly leaped forward.
However, he was still a step too slow.
Hua… Hua… Hua…
At the same time as he activated Defensive Blade, Fifth Ghost felt chilling sword auras striking at his back.
These piercing sword auras were the attacks s.h.i.+ Feng had launched at Fifth Ghost upon arriving behind the latter using Silent Steps. If Fifth Ghost had not activated Defensive Blade at the first sign of danger, allowing him to negate several instances of damage, he would have become a corpse by now.
Just who are these people? s.h.i.+ Feng knitted his brows slightly.
s.h.i.+ Feng found it truly hard to believe that such experts would actually appear in Underworld. He had also never heard of such experts in his previous life.
After using Silent Steps, he had swung the Abyssal Blade immediately. At such a short distance, as well as with the element of surprise, experts of the same level definitely would not be able to react in time. Yet, Fifth Ghost actually managed to activate Defensive Blade and leap forward before the Abyssal Blade landed on his body.
Furthermore, from the attack Fifth Ghost had sent out before, s.h.i.+ Feng could clearly perceive just how powerful Fifth Ghost was. When Sixth Ghost used Triple Cut, he was able to apply the technique only to a normal attack; he could not use the technique with a skill. On the other hand, Fifth Ghost was able to integrate Triple Cut together with a skill.
In fast-paced close combat like this, other than some special skills like Silent Steps and Instantaneous Movement, the difficulty of using attack skills in battle was extremely high. Such attack skills simply had too long a cast time and required one to go through fixed motions before the skill could be activated. The speed of using an attack skill was simply incomparable to the speed of a normal attack. Moreover, even if one was highly proficient with a skill and could activate it very quickly, excessive speed could easily result in distortions in the motions and, consequently, a drop in Completion Rate, rendering the skill practically useless. Hence, the fact that Fifth Ghost was able to integrate an attack skill into the battle was something extremely difficult to achieve. Performing such a feat was no longer something feasible for ordinary men. Even s.h.i.+ Feng’s current self would not be able to do so.
Moreover, s.h.i.+ Feng had clearly been the one to attack first, yet he was still a step behind Fifth Ghost.
This situation reminded s.h.i.+ Feng of Soaring Snake’s G.o.dlike reaction speed. Fifth Ghost might be similar to Soaring Snake—both of them possessing a reaction speed of less than 0.1 second. s.h.i.+ Feng estimated Fifth Ghost’s reaction speed at around 0.07 second. However, it was obvious that Fifth Ghost was more proficient at utilizing his reaction speed to his advantage.
Originally, s.h.i.+ Feng had thought of following up his victory with a hot pursuit. However, upon noticing Sixth Ghost charging at him, he had no choice but to s.h.i.+ft his focus.
“Brat, not bad. Not only are your Attributes so overpowered, you actually possess that sort of skill as well. You very nearly did me in just now. However, you will no longer get another chance like that.” After regaining his composure, Fifth Ghost turned around to look at s.h.i.+ Feng, a hint of greed flas.h.i.+ng across his eyes. He then took out a bottle of Haunted and drank it.
Every piece of equipment they had on them was top-tier. Yet, s.h.i.+ Feng had still managed to overwhelm them with his Attributes. This showed that s.h.i.+ Feng’s equipment was a cut above theirs. If they could kill s.h.i.+ Feng and obtain his equipment, it would definitely allow their combat power to rise to the next level.
In a two-on-one situation, s.h.i.+ Feng no longer held back as he used Purgatory Power, increasing his Attack Speed by 100%. He then used Void Steps, vanis.h.i.+ng from everyone’s eyes.
“He disappeared?”
Sixth Ghost was stunned. Before he could figure out what was going on, he suddenly discovered that s.h.i.+ Feng had already appeared directly beside him, the Abyssal Blade mere centimeters from his neck. Sixth Ghost hastily bent his body away with all his might.
However, he was still too late as a fountain of blood sprayed out from his neck, a critical damage of over -3,000 points appearing above his head.
From this attack alone, Sixth Ghost had lost more than half of his HP.
Immediately after, s.h.i.+ Feng followed up with another strike. One more hit was all he needed to finish off Sixth Ghost.
However, Fifth Ghost’s sword was already curving towards s.h.i.+ Feng. Moreover, Sixth Ghost was now aware of the danger, his saber moving to greet s.h.i.+ Feng’s sword. In this situation, s.h.i.+ Feng had no choice but to break off his attack. He then used Void Steps once more and disappeared from everyone’s sight.
“So you’re Black Flame. However, if you think you can rely on this footwork to defeat us, think again.” Before coming to the Watch Cemetery, Fifth Ghost had already received information on Black Flame from Youlan. He had also watched the battle between Black Flame and Summer Suns.h.i.+ne, so s.h.i.+ Feng’s Void Steps was still fresh in his mind. Now that he was seeing the footwork in action, he determined s.h.i.+ Feng’s ident.i.ty right away.
Then, Fifth Ghost abruptly changed his sword’s trajectory, swinging the weapon at the empty air beside him.
Fifth Ghost’s action confused the spectators; they could not understand what the Swordsman was trying to achieve with this action.
In the next instant, however, everyone immediately received an answer to their questions when s.h.i.+ Feng suddenly appeared in the path of Fifth Ghost’s sword. At this moment, s.h.i.+ Feng was using the Abyssal Blade to defend against Fifth Ghost’s attack.
He’s adapted to Void Steps already? s.h.i.+ Feng was slightly surprised.
s.h.i.+ Feng knew full well that Void Steps was not an invincible technique. Although the footwork could force others to ignore his own presence, making it seem as if he had vanished from thin air, someone who had undergone special training could still catch him once they let their eyes adapt to the technique. There was nothing strange in people like Fifth Ghost and Sixth Ghost being able to perform such a feat. However, the speed with which Fifth Ghost managed to adapt to the technique still exceeded s.h.i.+ Feng’s expectations.
During s.h.i.+ Feng’s moment of surprise, Sixth Ghost had also slashed his saber at s.h.i.+ Feng’s back, forming a pincer attack around s.h.i.+ Feng.
Left with no other choice, s.h.i.+ Feng activated Windwalk as well as Void Steps to retreat.
Although the two Ghosts had adapted themselves to Void Steps, there was still a brief moment of delay before their eyes could locate s.h.i.+ Feng. Hence, s.h.i.+ Feng still persisted in using Void Steps to retreat.
For a time, both sides entered a stalemate. The exchange between saber and swords created a storm that engulfed the audience. The surrounding spectators were shocked by this scene, and not even their eyes could keep up with the three combatants’ actions.
Looking at the high-speed battle between the three, even breathing seemed superfluous.
Despite s.h.i.+ Feng’s Attack Speed receiving a huge boost and the significant effect of Void Steps, s.h.i.+ Feng was still forced into pa.s.sivity. The two Ghosts’ attacks were extremely tricky to deal with. In particular, Fifth Ghost’s attacks would always strike from various different blind spots and never once would the Swordsman face s.h.i.+ Feng in a direct confrontation. If not for the fact that s.h.i.+ Feng had already entered the Refinement Realm, his grasp over attacks and movements becoming extremely precise, he would have long since lost his life to the two Ghosts.
Although s.h.i.+ Feng was currently locked in a pa.s.sive state, he was enjoying every moment of this high-speed battle. Ever since the increase in his brain activity, he had not had a chance to familiarize himself with the sudden boost to his perception as well as the sudden enhancement in his control over his own body. This battle was the perfect opportunity to get used to his new improvements. Chances to fight against experts were extremely rare, let alone against experts who were capable of forcing him into such dire straits, where even the slightest mistake could cost him his life.
Moreover, s.h.i.+ Feng could not help but admit that the coordination between Fifth Ghost and Sixth Ghost was indeed very amazing. Regardless of how he tried to attack or dodge, he could never fully defend against the attacks of the two Ghosts. As a result, he had lost close to half his HP already. However, under the steady onslaught, the accuracy of s.h.i.+ Feng’s actions was also gradually increasing; the damage the Ghosts inflicted was also gradually decreasing.
Their attacks really are precise. At this moment, even s.h.i.+ Feng could feel himself growing mentally tired.
“Die!”
Fifth Ghost took advantage of the moment s.h.i.+ Feng used Void Steps and vanished to slash at the latter’s back, giving s.h.i.+ Feng no chance to dodge or block at all.
At the moment of life and death, a slight change came over s.h.i.+ Feng. Suddenly, s.h.i.+ Feng’s movement stopped.
In the next moment, Fifth Ghost’s sword actually brushed past s.h.i.+ Feng’s body.
However, Fifth Ghost did not stop his attacks as he continued brandis.h.i.+ng his two swords. Sixth Ghost kept hacking at s.h.i.+ Feng with his saber as well, not giving him any chance to dodge or block.
Yet, no matter how hard they tried to hit s.h.i.+ Feng, he always managed to avoid their attacks ahead of time; it was as if s.h.i.+ Feng had long since known the trajectory of their attacks.
So this is the second stage of the Refinement Realm, the Flowing Water Realm. It’s no wonder I wasn’t a match for those people in the past. s.h.i.+ Feng could not help but smile while dodging the two Ghosts’ attacks.