Chapter 9: The Peak Earth-Type Showdown
“As you wish.” Linley’s body suddenly radiated a brownish-yellow light, which instantly spread out to form a spherical space a thousand meters in diameter, directly enveloping the Redrock Lord. This time, Linley didn’t fully unleash the Blackstone Space; he only used fifty percent of its power!
But even at fifty percent, it startled the Redrock Lord.
The Redrock Lord’s body sank slightly, then he hovered in place again, looking at Linley with surprise. “Gravity space. What a bizarre gravity space!” Yet the Redrock Lord remained motionless in midair, speaking coldly, “Your gravity space is decent. Bring out whatever attacks you have! Once I make my move, you won’t have a chance.”
Confidence!
The Redrock Lord had reason to be proud. He wasn’t afraid of soul attacks at all. As for material attacks? As a master of the Laws of the Earth, the Redrock Lord was most confident in his material attacks. With strong soul and defense, that was the foundation of his pride.
Linley grinned to himself. “Go ahead and be cocky now. In a moment, when you’re dead, you won’t even have time to regret it.”
“Humm~”
Soul power, centered on the ‘Blackstone’ in his soul ocean, spread outward, rapidly sweeping toward the Redrock Lord.
Soul Chaos!
“Oh?” The Redrock Lord’s lips curled into a smile. He thought to himself, “Just as Gammerey probed—impressive gravity space and soul influence. He does have some tricks. But running into me…” Linley’s successive use of the Blackstone Space and Soul Chaos had indeed lulled the Redrock Lord into a false sense of security.
And at that moment—
“Die.” Murderous intent surged in Linley’s heart, and he moved.
“Boom!”
It was as if space itself exploded. Linley shot toward the Redrock Lord like lightning. As he shot forward, his robe violently burst apart. Cyan-gold dragon scales instantly covered his body, vicious spikes and a steel-like dragon tail emerged.
Instant Dragonization!
“What!” The Redrock Lord was still in shock, but his body suddenly sank.
Blackstone Space—Maximum Gravity!
The gravity of the Blackstone Space instantly increased from fifty percent to one hundred percent. This abrupt change indeed destabilized the Redrock Lord. Combined with Linley’s sudden dragonization, it stunned the Redrock Lord. Even he, foolish as he might be, now understood—this ‘Mr. Lei’ had been hiding his true strength all along! How laughable that he had wanted to recruit him as a subordinate!
“You’re asking for death.” The Redrock Lord roared inwardly.
The Redrock Lord’s body shook, and his shoulders expanded like a crab’s. Strangely, the space around him trembled with a ‘humm’ sound. Within the Blackstone Space Linley had cast, the gravity around the Redrock Lord’s body twisted, its power weakening. The Redrock Lord stared coldly at Linley, and as Linley charged at extreme speed, he swung his right fist like a whip—
From weakening the gravity’s effect to counterattacking, the Redrock Lord reacted incredibly fast!
“Sizzle sizzle!”
“Huh?” As he threw the punch, the Redrock Lord’s face suddenly changed drastically.
“Whoosh!” Space tore like paper, creating a massive crack. An invisible, shadowless sword instantly reached the Redrock Lord’s brow. In desperation, like a cornered beast, he opened his mouth and roared, spewing a clear brownish-yellow light wave that struck the invisible sword directly.
“Huh?” Linley was also shocked. “This Redrock Lord is even more terrifying than I knew.”
His sudden dragonization, the Blackstone Space reaching its peak, and at the last moment, the appearance of the divine sword ‘Afterimage’—especially the Afterimage Sword, which had no shadow at all. Under this sudden, violent assault, if one didn’t pay close attention, they wouldn’t even notice the invisible sword. Yet this Redrock Lord was too strong.
When his Afterimage Divine Sword approached the Redrock Lord, Linley only then discovered that the Redrock Lord had formed a peculiar ‘gravity field’ around his body.
“This gravity field is centered on his shoulders.” Linley couldn’t understand this technique. The Redrock Lord’s shoulders vibrated, creating a special gravity field shaped like a double ring, with different gravitational strengths in different areas. This also affected Linley’s sword strike.
But even so—
Linley’s hidden moves were too deep. The sudden eruption of dragonization, Blackstone Space, and Afterimage Divine Sword left the Redrock Lord no time.
“Pfft!”
The Afterimage Divine Sword was deflected slightly, and the Redrock Lord’s right shoulder swept over like a wing, attracting Linley’s sword like a magnet. Linley sneered and unleashed his strongest attack. With a ‘pfft’ sound, the Afterimage Divine Sword pierced through the Redrock Lord’s right chest, directly stabbing through his lung.
“Bang!”
The Redrock Lord angrily punched at Linley.
“Boom rumble~” Space exploded in succession, surging toward Linley.
“Whoosh!” In his dragonized state, Linley moved like lightning, instantly retreating far away. The Redrock Lord’s eyes glowed purple as he glared at Linley, coughing slightly as he breathed. His lung had been pierced. Of course… it quickly healed completely.
“You. You hid it well!” The Redrock Lord stared at Linley.
“Just average. I’m sure you, Lord, also have hidden trump cards.” Linley said coldly.
“Tell me. Your real name! Which elder of the Azure Dragon clan are you? I’ve never heard of a strong one named ‘Lei’ in the Azure Dragon clan.” The Redrock Lord said coldly. At this point, seeing Linley’s dragonized form, if he couldn’t guess Linley was from the Azure Dragon clan, that would be foolish.
Linley’s dark-gold eyes met the Redrock Lord’s purple eyes.
“Let me reintroduce myself. I am an elder of the Azure Dragon clan—Linley!!!” Linley said coldly.
Silence!
The billions of gods in the Eastern Wilderness watching this scene were completely stunned. Though they knew in their hearts that this duel might produce a new Nine Nether Lord, that was only a slim possibility. Almost everyone thought… this battle would be the Redrock Lord’s show!
Perhaps this Mr. Lei would show something surprising. But almost everyone came to watch because of the Redrock Lord. Yet the battle’s start left them dumbfounded.
In midair, a figure covered in dragon scales, with vicious, sharp spikes on his knees, elbows, and back, and a swinging dragon tail—the original Mr. Lei had completely transformed. And their Redrock Lord, compared to before the battle, now had a large hole in his chest and was covered in blood.
One exchange—
The Redrock Lord was injured!
“Lin… Linley?” Everyone’s eyes widened.
“Elder Linley of the Four Divine Beasts clan! I’ve heard of him. He once killed five Seven Star Demons alone.”
“It’s him. I’ve seen his floating images.”
Instantly, the entire Eastern Wilderness erupted again. Everyone was excited, thrilled. They had thought this would be a one-sided exhibition match, but now it seemed—this was the legendary, thrilling duel between Elder Linley of the Azure Dragon clan in the Four Divine Beasts clan and their Redrock Lord!
The noise suddenly died down. Everyone focused again on midair.
Because… the Redrock Lord had now taken out his weapon.
A pitch-black short blade. The Redrock Lord held this short blade, staring coldly at Linley. “So you’re Linley! I was wondering how such a strong one suddenly appeared in my Redrock territory. From that last move, I admit you have the qualifications to be my opponent. As a sign of respect, I will go all out.”
Linley watched coldly.
“This Redrock Lord. Beating him won’t be easy.” Linley’s mind raced. In such a favorable situation, his dragonization, Blackstone Space, and Afterimage Divine Sword had all erupted suddenly, yet he had only wounded his opponent. This showed the opponent’s strength.
“What a bizarre gravity space.”
The Redrock Lord seemed uncomfortable, shaking his body twice as if to get used to the gravity space. But with this simple action—
“Huh?” Linley was startled.
He clearly sensed that the Redrock Lord’s double-ring gravity field, centered on his shoulders, had also changed. Though its gravitational pull was far weaker than Linley’s ‘Blackstone Space’, it still weakened the Blackstone Space’s influence, like being in a quagmire. The Redrock Lord formed a protective layer on his body’s surface, allowing him to move faster.
“Whoosh!” The Redrock Lord suddenly moved in a twisted curve, charging at Linley.
This strange curve was incredibly fast.
“Fast enough. But not as fast as me.” Linley’s speed also erupted. Clearly, Linley was nearly twice as fast as the Redrock Lord. The ‘Blackstone Space’ was originally a technique of Reisgem. After Linley was trapped for five hundred years and comprehended part of it, combined with the ‘Blackstone’, its power could now rival Reisgem’s use.
Under this technique, though the Redrock Lord adapted better than others, his speed was still greatly reduced.
“Whoosh!”
Like a bolt of lightning, space split open with a crack. The invisible Afterimage Divine Sword stabbed directly at the Redrock Lord. The only thing the Redrock Lord could sense was the terrifying energy, capable of easily tearing apart the space of the Netherworld. Facing this, the Redrock Lord suddenly slowed.
“Slap!”
He swung his arm, his fist shooting out like a stone from a catapult. The fist, faintly glowing with brownish-yellow light, also strangely had a black halo.
“Bang!”
The fist directly struck the tip of the Afterimage Divine Sword.
As he threw this punch, the Redrock Lord used the recoil to spin his body, his left hand holding the black blade and stabbing directly at Linley’s head. “Whoosh!” Where the black blade passed, space shattered inch by inch. The terrifying attack made one’s face change.
But Linley reflexively struck out with his left fist!
The dragon-claw fist pressed forward like a mountain. Terrifying power and Earth-type divine power fully erupted—Void Shattering Strike!
“Bang!”
The black blade and fist collided. Space directly exploded.
“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”
Both Linley and the Redrock Lord rebounded backward.
“Tough fist.” Linley stared coldly at his opponent. This Redrock Lord actually dared to use his fist against his divine artifact.
“Sharp divine sword.” The Redrock Lord looked at his right fist. The knuckles had been pierced. This fist of his could shatter high-level divine artifacts, yet it was injured. Of course, being wounded by a divine artifact wasn’t entirely his fault. The Redrock Lord glanced at Linley’s fist. “Your fist is pretty tough too.”
The dragon scales on Linley’s fist had also cracked a little.
After this brief exchange, both Linley and the Redrock Lord understood one thing: they couldn’t let the other hit their vital points. Linley had only used his fist, employing profound mysteries, to withstand that blade. If that blade had struck his head, relying solely on dragon scales wouldn’t have been enough.
Similarly—
If Linley’s sword pierced the Redrock Lord’s forehead, it would also penetrate and kill him.
The countless spectators in the Eastern Wilderness held their breath. The two supreme powerhouses in the sky were simply too formidable.
“That Elder Linley has an invisible weapon. The Lord is also amazing, daring to use his fist to block it.”
“Lord Linley is also strong, using his fist to block the Lord’s blade.”
The billions of watching people were completely captivated by the sheer strength of these two powerhouses, all staring intently to see how this battle would unfold.
“Ah, look! What’s happening?”
“What’s going on? How is this possible?”
Suddenly, everyone’s faces changed drastically. “The Lord, the Lord can also transform?”
At this moment, Linley’s face also changed drastically. He had never seen from floating images or records that the Redrock Lord could transform.
“Back when I challenged the previous Redrock Lord, I wasn’t forced to transform. Congratulations… you are the first person, since I became the Redrock Lord, to make me use all my strength.” The Redrock Lord’s purple pupils stared at Linley, and his body rapidly began to change. His shoulders started to bulge, and his entire body began to emit a black light…