The length of his knife was greater than the opponent’s, and the downward slash bore a more domineering and fierce strength, yet it didn’t yield any advantage.
He stared intently at Shen Wang.
Nine streams of purple dragon-shaped currents spiraled like serpents, causing Shen Wang’s muscles to expand, making his body grow taller by a circle, enveloped by airtight blue-black spiritual essence, emitting the sound of tidal waves.
"Dragon-Suppressing Force! You have also cultivated the Body Refining Technique!"
Xie Xianlong spoke in a deep voice, "I truly did not expect anyone could cultivate such a difficult body refining technique to this level."
He adjusted his breathing, the heated air igniting the nearby debris, gripping his Yanyue Blade with both hands: "Unfortunately, in front of my Hundred Tempered Battle Armor, it’s still not enough."
In the next moment, the patterns on his armor fully lit up, his body shuddered, his eyes blazing with fire, an even more powerful force erupted.
"This armor can even augment battle strength!"
Shen Wang was astonished; the more functions it had, the more precious it appeared.
It was over; though his strength was not inferior to the opponent’s, with this, he was suppressed in terms of equipment.
Shen Wang’s gaze shifted, adjusting his battle strategy, he actively charged forward.
At the next knife collision, Shen Wang clearly sensed the opponent’s strength had significantly increased, about thirty percent more.
His spiritual essence fluctuated, the knife became slippery, using the attributes of water to absorb and transfer the opponent’s fierce explosion of strength, then closely contested knife to knife.
In the blink of an eye, they exchanged over a dozen moves, sword qi left deep marks nearby, the scene was exceptionally chaotic.
Shen Wang slightly fell into a disadvantage, using flying swords and Talismans mid-fight, all blocked by the Hundred Tempered Battle Armor.
This suit of magical armor was indeed powerful; even flying swords and ordinary Talismans couldn’t damage it, Xie Xianlong entirely disregarded these, attacking Shen Wang with full force.
Each of his strikes carried immense force, explosive power truly terrifying, if it landed on Shen Wang, it would directly cleave him in two.
If not for the mysterious power of the Black Emperor Scripture Shen Wang cultivated, especially using water attribute spiritual essence to overcome strength with softness, to counter fire with water, and having Dragon-Suppressing Force augment his strength, he wouldn’t manage to withstand many direct clashes.
At this moment, the advantage of having multi-attribute spiritual essence became apparent; Shen Wang used water attribute primordial power to restrain Xie Xianlong’s explosive force as if from purgatory, and used gold attribute power to enhance the Black Death Blade.
Meanwhile, earth attribute spiritual essence grounded him to the earth, stabilizing his footing, preventing himself from being cleaved airborne by Xie Xianlong with Hundred Tempered Battle Armor, losing his balance.
Wood attribute spiritual essence flowed through his meridians, endless and unchecked, keeping Shen Wang sufficiently resilient for prolonged combat.
The Black Death Saber Technique was fully utilized in Shen Wang’s hands, ferocious and domineering, leaning towards a sinister style.
Meanwhile, Xie Xianlong’s Dragon-slaying Blade was utterly straightforward, eager to cleave mountains, pierce heavens.
Though the styles of saber techniques were vastly different, their levels didn’t differ much, neither side could immediately take down the other; however, the nearby grass and trees and the terrain suffered, nothing remained intact where the two passed.
The more they exchanged blows, the more anxious Xie Xianlong became.
He had already struck with full force, yet still didn’t claim an absolute advantage; if he couldn’t take down Shen Wang quickly, other variables might arise.
"No need to hold back!"
After over a dozen moves, his Yanyue Blade’s dragon pattern brightened, suddenly erupting, melding with the armor on his body, transforming into a crimson fire dragon.
Possessing earth-shattering power momentarily, the area for a hundred zhang turned crimson, Xie Xianlong rose up, leaping into the air.
The nearby Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi boiled, crazily gathering towards him, the dragon body grew rapidly, swiftly surpassing ten zhang in length.
"This strike can slay a flood dragon!"
Xie Xianlong murmured, grasped the crimson dragon with both hands, locked onto Shen Wang, face contorted with rage, letting out a roar, slashing down with all his might.
Instantly, heaven and earth seemed to turn into purgatory, the earth-shattering strike made breathing difficult for him.
Shen Wang wanted to dodge, discovering this strike had completely locked onto him; even if he dodged, it would pursue, losing the chance to counterattack after gathering strength.
Taking a deep breath, he used the final technique of the Black Death Blade, eyes turning icy, transforming himself into an evil star, channeling all his power into the Black Death Blade.
Unlike Xie Xianlong’s overwhelming momentum, Shen Wang’s power was restrained, continuously condensed into a point, the Black Death Blade trembling, appearing even more profound and chilling.
It was clear that the creator of this saber technique did not focus on grandeur but was extremely economical with power, compressing and condensing all power, unwilling to waste any bit.
His essence, qi, and spirit fully merged into the Black Death Blade, leaping to slash back.
Compared to the overwhelming crimson fire dragon, Shen Wang looked tiny, yet like an unerasable star, cutting through the oppressive aura, breaking through the crimson flame, slashing at the dragon’s head.
Water and fire collided, for their powers were so strong they couldn’t quench each other, resulting in a direct explosion.
In the deafening sound, the ground cracked with fissures, flames like meteor stars fell, blasting out large pits.
The scattered sword qi crisscrossed in all directions, carving out countless cracks on the earth.
In the sky, the crimson and blue-black forces collided momentarily, Shen Wang’s body trembled, and he flew backward.
The crimson fire dragon’s head was cut off, fire shattered, Xie Xianlong took a step back.
In the final grand attack exchange, both withdrew, but it was evident that Shen Wang had suffered.
Shen Wang landed on the ground, stepping out a few sizeable pits, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
His shirt shattered; if not for the exceedingly pure spiritual essence that autonomously protected his body, he would have incurred more injuries just now.
Opposite, the nearby ground split, not a blade of grass in sight, yet thanks to the advantage of magical artifacts, Xie Xianlong wasn’t injured, letting out a triumphant grizzly laugh: "You pauper, your weapon doesn’t match mine, without protective armor, on what grounds do you contend with me?"
"It’s merely relying on external objects; without the armor, do you think yourself very strong?"
Shen Wang expressionless, spat out a word: "Explode!"
Xie Xianlong’s triumphant expression stiffened, sensing something amiss, a sweep of his spiritual sense revealed two Talismans adhered to his body.
Elsewhere, what adhered was a flying sword, now igniting in flame.
He couldn’t help but shiver, instinctively trying to evade, but the flying sword tightly clung to his back; the next moment, flames engulfed him.
A fireball over ten zhang in size rose in place, the violent explosion peeled off a layer of soil.
In the explosion’s center, Xie Xianlong screamed miserably, protective armor shattered, scorching destructive force seeped through the cracks onto his body, making him unbearably painful.
Three zhang away, Shen Wang crouched low to avoid the direct shockwave, sensing the flying sword lost its connection, feeling a bit helpless.
This fellow was hardest to deal with because of that turtle shell of armor; if it wasn’t broken, he stood invincible.
He contemplated various methods during battle, unable to capture by forceful assault; he had to resort to Talismans.
Initially, he considered using the Fire Python Talisman, but given how it could be evaded, he opted for the most violent, yet simplest, Detonator Talisman.
Detonator Talismans had to be used on a fixed spot, he sacrificed a flying sword, during the opponent’s post-grand-move respite, for a stealth attack to adhere the Detonator Talisman with it.
Looking now, the price of a flying sword seemed sufficient; even if it couldn’t kill, blowing the armor open and injuring the opponent was no problem.
Shielding his eyes with spiritual essence, he saw a figure blasted away; as the first wave of aftershocks passed, when the opponent was still in mid-air, he tore open a Fire Python Talisman.
In a roar, a fire python surged forth, directly biting Xie Xianlong still airborne.
At this moment, Xie Xianlong’s weapon had just been blasted flying, the armor particularly at the back was completely torn, the explosive power made him spit blood profusely, his back charred, an arm limp and powerless.
Yet before he could catch a breath, the fire python slammed into him, sending him flying again.
Xie Xianlong wounded further, shouted in fury, desperately trying to stabilize himself.
A thin sharp edge pierced into his body through the cracks, drilling madly inside; his muscles tightened to resist, an eerie blade tip arrived, slid through the cracks, stabbed into his back, piercing his heart.
"You dare kill me, my father will avenge me!"
The chill coursing through his heart frightened Xie Xianlong, frantically threatening.
Shen Wang only snorted, kicking him hard down to the ground.
Thud, a dull thud, the ground sank, armor further broke, his body continuously spewed blood outward.
Shen Wang bent down, extending his hand.
He forcibly snapped Xie Xianlong’s neck, immediately falling silent.
"Having already chosen to kill you, would I fear your father’s revenge?"
ps: Thanks to couvil for the reward!