Chapter 78: Echo Slash
The pain in his chest quickly faded. The advantage of being able to brew his own potions was evident at this moment; [Vitality Concentrate] had diverse uses and didn't necessarily have to be drunk.
Su Xiao and King Duoyin were about thirty meters apart. He was very clear on one point: King Duoyin was not afraid of being approached in close combat. As for mid-range, he absolutely must not maintain that distance with his opponent.
While Su Xiao's mind raced through countermeasures, King Duoyin across from him swung another sword strike.
Clang!
Sparks flew, and a shockwave spread. A force transmitted through the hilt of Dragon-Slaying Flash into his hand. From over thirty meters away, King Duoyin could actually deliver a tangible slashing attack.
Being able to block this long-range slash was good news for Su Xiao. What he had feared were rule-based, underhanded abilities like a 'Certain-Hit Slash' or similar. If that were the case, combined with King Duoyin's powerful techniques and his flawlessly balanced attributes, the fight would be unwinnable.
Clearly, King Duoyin achieved this long-range slash through some kind of technique. As long as he deduced the principle, Su Xiao could counter it.
Su Xiao feigned a charge forward. Suddenly, a faint stinging sensation appeared on his neck—a 'Perception Sting.'
Su Xiao vanished from his spot instantly. A slash mark traced through the air. After reappearing a dozen meters away, he slashed towards King Duoyin.
Pfft.
Another bloody gash appeared on Su Xiao's chest. He halted his forward momentum. In that instant, he had perceived something.
A dozen meters away, the corner of King Duoyin's eye twitched almost imperceptibly. He had a vague feeling that his opponent was about to see through his 'Echo Slash.'
Drip. Drip.
Blood fell. Su Xiao sidestepped a few paces to the wall. A layer of crystal formed on his left hand as he swung his fist sideways, smashing it into the wall.
Boom!
After the shockwave spread, Su Xiao suddenly charged at King Duoyin.
Clang! Clang! Clang!...
The longsword and sharp blade became blurs. After a flurry of over a dozen exchanges, Su Xiao abruptly stopped. The enemy's keen edge was aimed straight for his neck.
'Blade Path Sword: Flow.'
With a pfft, blood sprayed into the air. King Duoyin staggered back a few steps, his left shoulder nearly completely severed. Behind him, a deep slash mark appeared on the wall.
After unleashing 'Flow,' Su Xiao stomped his foot on the ground. With a boom, a shockwave spread. He now knew how King Duoyin achieved his long-range slashes.
King Duoyin possessed an ability similar to 'Instant Spatial Movement,' but that was just a metaphor. It didn't feel like a spatial ability at all; there was no spatial fluctuation.
Before the battle began, Su Xiao and King Duoyin had clashed with their auras. Ultimately, blood energy triumphed over flames. In reality, King Duoyin had deliberately lost that exchange. When the flames were scattered by the blood energy, the empty room was filled with floating embers.
These embers drifted into every corner. King Duoyin had an ability that allowed him to instantly swap positions with these embers. The swap lasted less than 0.1 seconds, after which King Duoyin would return to his original position.
Because of this, the moment King Duoyin swung his sword, he swapped positions with an ember near Su Xiao. But the swap was incredibly brief, perhaps only 0.001 seconds. In that extremely short time, King Duoyin's slash had already reached Su Xiao.
This was also why Su Xiao could block King Duoyin's long-range slash with Dragon-Slaying Flash.
Therefore, by smashing the wall and stomping the ground, Su Xiao created shockwaves that blew away the surrounding embers. This prevented King Duoyin from performing his instantaneous long-range slashes.
"In another hundred years, I'll die of old age. With such a short life left, meeting an opponent like you isn't bad."
King Duoyin's expression was solemn. Judging by his tone, he wasn't joking. This old fellow still had nearly a century to live, yet he considered such a long life too short. The old man's pursuit of immortality was almost twisted.
With a click, the weapon in King Duoyin's hand transformed again, becoming a long-handled war scythe with a wide arc. The scythe's color was dull, flames burning on its blade. The middle section was hollow, containing a black eye.
Whoosh!
King Duoyin vanished from his spot. His figure flickered continuously around the area before reappearing behind Su Xiao, the scythe hooking towards his neck.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
A shockwave spread, slowing everything around them. Mid-air, King Duoyin's war scythe transformed again into a metal umbrella, which opened with a rustle.
Clang! The longsword struck the metal umbrella. King Duoyin flew backward. While airborne, he twisted the umbrella's handle.
Bang! Bang! Bang!...
Metal needles shot out from the umbrella's tip, piercing through layers of air, forming a triangular pattern aimed at Su Xiao's chest.
Su Xiao executed a horizontal slash. Choosing the precise moment, he deflected all three metal needles with one swing.
The three needles had only flown a dozen centimeters before they dissolved, forming a pinky-thick chain that wrapped around Dragon-Slaying Flash.
Clink. Clink.
Both ends of the chain pinned into the ground, firmly entangling Dragon-Slaying Flash. Across from him, King Duoyin, whose weapon had transformed back into a war scythe, arrived in front of Su Xiao with a whoosh, swinging the scythe horizontally.
Sizzle~
The Realm Severing Thread tightened. King Duoyin immediately changed his move. The 'God Hunter' in his hand turned into a fluid, forming a chaotic framework around him, intertwining like tree roots.
The Realm Severing Thread wrapped around the exterior of God Hunter. Seizing this chance, King Duoyin leaped up. He grabbed his weapon, which transformed into a metal spike—a form easier to break free from the thread's entanglement.
'Blade Path Sword: Slay.'
'Lost... All Beings.'
With a crisp ring, the blood-red chain unleashed by Blade Path Sword: Slay scattered. King Duoyin held his war scythe horizontally before him.
'Blade Path Sword: Azure Demon.'
Zheng~
A blue-green blade aura shot out, heading straight for King Duoyin's head. Seeing this, King Duoyin's God Hunter transformed again, becoming a weapon with a 1.2-meter handle and three massive claws at the tip, each nearly a meter long, curving inward like a beast's talons.
King Duoyin crouched low, his weapon sweeping sideways, hooking the incoming Azure Demon and deflecting its trajectory.
After successfully countering Azure Demon, King Duoyin spun his body, creating a tornado around him.
Su Xiao, who was about to counterattack, immediately leaped backward with full force. After three consecutive leaps, he thrust his longsword into the ground.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
With a thud, everything around slowed down. Su Xiao's pupils contracted slightly as he fully extended his perception.
The tornado ahead was massive. Flames ignited within it, gathering and compressing. The tornado abruptly stopped. King Duoyin swung his clawed weapon forward with all his might, sending flames scattering.
Three enormous flaming claw marks slashed forward from the front, their speed absurdly fast. Fortunately, Su Xiao was prepared.
The three flames entered the 'Time' domain. Their previously uncatchable momentum slowed. Su Xiao exhaled slowly.
'Blade Path Sword: Extreme.'
A slash seemed to cut through space itself, emitting a piercing wail as it left a black trail in the air. The three flames were cleaved apart, flying past Su Xiao on either side.
Seeing this, King Duoyin wasn't surprised. His weapon transformed back into a war scythe, which he thrust into the ground.
"Your time of life... is up."
Large cracks appeared on King Duoyin's face, flames seemingly burning within. The runic arrays on the surrounding walls all lit up, and flames surged out wildly.
King Duoyin clenched his fist. Flames filled the empty room. Just as these flames were about to undergo a qualitative change, reaching their maximum temperature to incinerate Su Xiao into ashes, all the flames dissipated.
Pale blue electric arcs surged across the surrounding walls. From the start of the battle until now, Su Xiao had been doing one thing: while countering King Duoyin's attacks, he was infiltrating the walls with his Cyan Steel Shadow Energy to break down the runic arrays on their surface.