All of a sudden, Huang Shi saw a crimson light flash past Huang Bai's eyes. It wasn't the light of destruction from his own Calamity Lightning; it was different. It felt dark and evil, as if it were born from the devil itself.
What the fuck was that?
Despite his perilous situation, Huang Shi felt goosebumps rise across his body as he saw the strange look in his opponent's eyes. Yet, the pain quickly forced him away from his thoughts, and he felt a small sense of relief for the slight reprieve his enemy had given him.
My entire fucking body hurts... shit... everything is bleeding at this point...
Thankfully for him, his Heavenly Physique combined with his body cultivation method gave him an insane amount of endurance. This meant that despite his heavy injuries, his body was still working hard to heal itself, trying its best to keep him alive.
Huang Shi grit his teeth as he forced himself to stand, once again shrouding his body in golden flames and crimson lightning as he stared at his opponent in the distance.
My golden flames are slowly draining his vitality and spiritual energy... I need to cause some damage to his body if I want my destruction attribute to work... I need to go on the offense.
After making his decision, Huang Shi instantly forced his Primordial Sunfyre Halo to spin. It moved faster and faster until it started to glow with a scintillating golden light. Before long, his spiritual energy—which was already at the peak of the third level of the Nascent Profound Realm—started to slowly inch closer to the 4th.
My Nine Suns doesn't just have the ability to accommodate different types of Sunfyre within my body. These strange runes have the innate ability to force my spiritual energy to become berserk. If I can understand them more, maybe I can force myself to rise to the—
Before he could finish his thought, a massive dark lightning dragon suddenly appeared right in front of his face. Huang Bai barreled straight for him with a punch that aimed to break him once more.
"Did you really think I would give you the time to achieve some sort of breakthrough? Do you think I'm stupid?!"
BOOM!
As the punch landed straight on his chest once more, a few more of his ribs broke from the impact. He was smashed into the ground as more blood poured out from his wounds. It was clear that this time, Huang Bai had chosen not to send him flying into the distance, afraid that if given enough time, Huang Shi would find some way to become stronger.
As Huang Shi lay on the ground, his eyes becoming dim, Huang Bai raised both of his fists and laughed like a maniac.
"AHAHAHA! IT SEEMS YOU ARE NOT BROKEN YET. GOOD, THAT'S GOOD! IT WILL BE FUN BREAKING YOUR SPIRIT. SIT TIGHT THERE—I WILL SMASH YOUR FACE IN SO HARD, EVEN YOUR MOTHER WON—!"
BOOM!
However, before Huang Bai could finish his monologue, a massive explosion erupted from Huang Shi. A sea of golden flames and crimson lightning burst from his body, causing Huang Bai to fly into the distance. The explosion cracked the elder's rib cage, causing blood to spill from his mouth as he howled.
"YOU FUCKING WASTE! HOW DARE YOU!"
These runes represent one of the fundamental forces of the universe... entropy, decay, chaos. It is the embodiment of change. It is a truth, a law.
BOOM!
As Huang Shi achieved a preliminary level of enlightenment regarding the runes that surrounded his suns, his cultivation base started to run rampant, turning chaotic as it slowly inched its way toward a breakthrough. After a few seconds…
BOOM!
A massive amount of spiritual energy suddenly erupted out from Huang Shi's body as his power temporarily rose from the third level of the Nascent Profound Realm into the fourth.
All of a sudden, his wounds started to stabilize and heal at an astonishing rate. Spiritual energy began to seep out of the world around them; the trees, the grass, and all of the vegetation suddenly released an emerald green spiritual energy which all started to spiral straight toward him, forcing its way into his body and healing his most severe injuries.
[NOTICE TO HOST: THE GREENWOOD FOREST HAS ACKNOWLEDGED YOU AS A PERSON OF GREAT DESTINY AND HAS GIVEN YOU A GIFT. IN EXCHANGE, IT REQUIRES OF YOU A FAVOR IN THE FUTURE.]
What favor? What the hell is happening right now? Fucking hell!
Although Huang Shi was surprised at the changes that were taking place within his body, he knew that he didn't have time to waste. Even though his most critical injuries had stabilized, his other wounds were still severe enough that if he didn't get proper treatment, he would still die in a matter of hours.
"Alright, you fucking bitch, you want to fight to the death? Then let's fucking play. I will fucking slaughter you!"
WHOOSH!
All of a sudden, Huang Shi disappeared from his position. A punch filled with golden flames and crimson lightning appeared in Huang Bai's vision, and without giving him any time to react, the blow landed straight on his chest. The impact caused his bones to shatter as blood spurted out of his mouth.
BOOM!
As Huang Bai smashed into the ground in the distance, Huang Shi instantly waved his hand. The sea of golden flames instantly transformed into a massive golden fireball; the heat was so intense that it caused any remaining trees and vegetation in the area to spontaneously combust.
[Sunfyre Imperial Sphere]
WHOOSH!
As the massive ball of golden Sunfyre streaked through the air, heading straight for Huang Bai, a shrill, hysterical scream erupted from the elder.
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD, YOU DARE?!"
All of a sudden he raised his fist in a frantic act of retaliation and punched straight at the oncoming fireball. As his fist moved, a colossal black lightning dragon roared into existence, erupting from his knuckles with jagged, chaotic energy.
[Azure Thunderform Body – Black Lightning Fist]
The two forces collided mid-air—the radiant golden fireball and the abyssal black lightning dragon—and for a heartbeat, time seemed to stand still. Then, a titanic explosion erupted, the shockwave flattening the earth and turning the sky into a chaotic blur of gold and black.