Chapter 1448 Tian Xuan vs Ji Chengming (I)
Chapter 1448 Tian Xuan vs Ji Chengming (I)
As soon as they entered the tower, Sir Lu appeared between them. "Do you guys understand the rules? You have chosen a life and death battle, meaning no outside interference until one person dies."
"We know," Ji Chengming said coldly.
"No, you don't understand. If someone loses, the tower will be responsible for annihilating the loser — whether they are a Boundless Paragon or not. That's what you are agreeing to."
Tian Xuan and Ji Chengming frowned as they understood the implications. Their kind was not easy to kill, so their current animosity might be resolved when they realized the difficulty of killing each other. But under the trial's rules, this was a true life-and-death battle.
"That's fine by me," Tian Xuan said first.
"I am no coward," Ji Chengming replied, still prideful and confident.
"Good," Sir Lu nodded with a smile. Since they know the rules and agree, no one can complain to them afterward. "According to the trial's rules, your battle will be exhibited to other participants at a price. 80% of the proceeds will go to the victor, and the rest to us. Is that understood?"
"Stop wasting time!"
"Don't rush me," Sir Lu complained. "One last thing: do you want to choose an environment for this battle or fight in the void?"
"If this loser needs to choose an environment to give himself an advantage, I don't mind," Tian Xuan said casually.
"The void is fine," Ji Chengming replied. Anyway, everything will be destroyed, and unlike what his bastard of an opponent suggested, he did not need an advantage.
"Then, let this fight begin," Sir Lu announced. The people outside had already paid an exorbitant price for this fight, and through their token, they could watch it as if they were next to the fighters. As soon as Sir Lur uttered these words, Tian Xuan and Ji Chengming started the fight with an aura clash.
'Hmm? Tian Xuan's cultivation has reached the First Heaven,' Wang Wei immediately noticed, but that was the least of his surprise. 'That aura — he's a Dao Overlord.' His aura was not of someone who used an Outlaw Dao but was granted an exception by Grand Dao, but that of someone who passed the Outlaw Trial.
'Well, it makes sense. If Grand Dao wanted someone to stop me, it has to be someone who can match me physically and intellectually,' Wang Wei analyzed calmly as he continued watching this battle.
The two participants started stacking their strength, and in a few seconds, they both reached 8-fold of the Battle Realm.
'As expected, this Ji Chengming is not simple,' Wang Wei thought. Tian Xuan's cultivation was higher than the latter, but Ji Chengming's Battle Realm reached the same level. More importantly, Wang Wei discovered one of the techniques the latter used for stacking involved obsession, and it was more refined than Xu Shi's or his technique.
Swish!
The two teleported toward each other and punched forward. The energy wave created by their clash would have devastated worlds if not for their current environment, but no one cared about that. In this clash, Tian Xuan remained in place while Ji Chengming flew back a few meters.
"I forgot you people are a bunch of savage gorillas who value your flesh over your soul," Ji Chengming sneered before using another technique: [Spirit-Essence Harmony]. His powerful soul resonated with his body, fueling its ascension. So, in a matter of seconds, Ji Chengming's weak, fleshly body reached the level of Inextinguishable Paragons.
"Your clan still hasn't figured out the importance of the body? No wonder your founder failed."
"You take that back!"
"Did I say something wrong? It's not my fault if you people inherited his stupidity," Tian Xuan responded calmly. It did not help that he said these words with such a handsome face and an aura that his words were the laws or truths of Heaven and Earth.
'This guy is not stupid, so why is he antagonizing the Heart Desire Palace to such an extent? Is he really that confident about Grand Dao's protection?' Wang Wei thought. His senses have already detected that the woman dressed in men's clothing was looking at Tian Xuan with intense killing intent after what he said.
"Good! Good! Good!" Ji Chengming repeated thrice. "You dare insult my ancestor? Good. My name will no longer be Ji if I don't eradicate you from this mortal coil."
[Horror Soul]
Ji Chengming used his unique Soul and Emotion Dao to artificially create a soul creature, and as soon as the thing appeared, everyone — including Wang Wei — was shocked. The creature was humanoid with an octopus head and red eyes. However, its appearance was not the shocking aspect, but its presence.
Anyone who laid eyes on this creature felt an overwhelming sense of dread and horror that rapidly consumed their souls. Luckily, the trial activated their protection mechanism, or most of these participants would have become mad and killed themselves.
'That's Cthulhu,' Wang Wei thought. 'The Heart Desire Palace must have studied Cthulhu's body to create this technique.' Wang Wei has theorized the creature in the Abyss was nothing but a projection or a follower of the real Cthulhu. Now, he had further proof for his theory.
'This revelation has so many implications,' Wang Wei thought as he focused on Tian Xuan. The latter's body was releasing an aura of revolt and disgust; it appeared that the horror creature summoned was the vilest and most disgusting thing between Heaven and Earth.
'These emotions are not from him, but his status as Grand Dao's son/vessel,' Wang Wei analyzed. 'My conjecture was correct. Cthulhu did not originate from this Chaos Universe but was an intruder from Hongming or another Chaos Universe. That's why Grand Dao finds it so revolting — it represents the fact this universe has been invaded and contaminated by foreign entities.'
Wang Wei squinted his eyes: 'According to myths, the Elder Gods can create endless clones, so it's possible the one in this universe was one of Cthulun's endless clones.' Wang Wei rapidly confirmed and deduced many things from this one technique.
'I always knew and operated under the premise that the stories and myths from Earth were real or contained some level of truth. Now, I know for a fact that's true. This anomaly explains why Grand Dao is so interested in that world, but what is that so?'
Grand Dao is obviously not responsible for the uniqueness of Earth; otherwise, he wouldn't need to summon a Fate Seed from there to enact Earth's ideas for the development of the Chaos Universe.
'It appeared that returning to Earth is more important than I thought,' Wang Wei concluded.
"Die, you foul creature," Tian Xuan roared as he manipulated his Destruction Dao to summon lightning bolts and fling them so intensely that people would think this was the Immeasurable Tribulation.
[Scream of Madness]
The horror creature opened its mouth to scream, releasing a black aura from its mouth that blocked the bolts of lightning bolts. 'Not affected?' Ji Chengming thought. This technique was enough to destroy the will of some of the best Inextinguishable Paragons, but this person seemed completely fine. 'Then, let's add to it.'
[Nightmare Soul]
Another creature appeared. It was humanoid but without a face or other noticeable features since its body was composed of darkness. The creature had no legs and a floating cloak instead. As soon as it appeared, a resonance formed between the two creatures, and Tian Xuan's body stopped mid-attack.
A look of struggle flashed on his face, but he reacted swiftly by destroying all distractions and influence on his mind.
[Wrath of Heaven and Earth]
Tian Xuan waved his hand to manifest an enormous red-dark hand that embodied destruction itself. The hand was large enough to target everyone on this battlefield, so it descended with the utmost impunity. Ji Chengming was about to respond with a technique on his own, but Tian Xuan was faster:
[Resistance Destruction]
By destroying his opponent's resistance, Ji Chengming and the two creatures stood by without moving. Even their minds operated at an immensely slow speed to prevent them from coming up with any countermeasures.
Boom!
The destruction hand annihilated everything in its path, or so it should have. The creatures were gone, but Ji Chengming was surrounded by a Soul Shield boosted by his Dao Will.
'Hmm?' Wang Wei noticed something. 'His Dao Will is alive. No, it's better to say Ji Chengming instilled independent emotions and desires into his Dao Will, creating a pseudo-intelligent creature whose sole purpose is to aid him in battle and protect him when necessary. What a brilliant application of Dao Will.'
Such a level of technique is what he would expect from a Transcendent Faction, and of course, Wang Wei will steal all of them and put his own twist on them.
"Nice try," Ji Chengming sneered. "But your nightmare has just started." The destroyed creatures suddenly appeared once again, staring coldly at Tian Xuan.
[Fear Soul]
Ji Chengming summoned a third creature, which was another humanoid creature, except it had thousands of eyes all over its body.