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The external light shield around Zhou Qingzhe had already begun to crack. He was in a dire situation, and Zhang Rongying was not faring much better. Arlen Xuding Si had yet to make a move, but he had clearly gained the upper hand.
To Zhou Qingzhe and Zhang Rongying, Arlen Xuding Si did not seem particularly formidable; at least, the power he had displayed was still beneath theirs. However, the strength emanating from Arlen Xuding Si was akin to the ancient and constant Underflow—though it had melted countless glaciers, it showed no signs of diminishing in temperature. Since the battle began, the power surrounding Arlen Xuding Si remained unchanged, without any fluctuations or signs of exhaustion or enhancement. It was as if the laws of the universe were eternally balanced, evoking an unbreakable sense of awe.
"Old Zhang! It seems we might have to use that move!"
Zhang Rongying shook his head at Zhou Qingzhe's suggestion. "Let's hold on a little longer; Liexiezi should be joining the fight soon. I don't want to reveal our trump card too early!"
Zhou Qingzhe struggled to fend off another wave of attacks from Arlen Xuding Si and replied with a wry smile, "If we place all our hopes on someone else, we might as well go home and get some rest! By the time Liexiezi makes a move, I fear it will be too late!"
Just as Zhou Qingzhe finished speaking, a cold voice came from behind them: "That's not very difficult! However, I am quite interested in your last resort; I hope to witness it firsthand! Now, let me take over!"
A dazzling array of colors sliced through Arlen Xuding Si's spiritual energy field, forcing Zhou Qingzhe and Zhang Rongying to retreat.
Liexiezi had finally appeared.
Seeing this mysterious Eastern practitioner, Arlen Xuding Si smiled slightly and said, "I initially thought I could challenge Mr. Liexiezi sooner to see if this world has produced a ninth Divine Extremity. Unfortunately, it seems Mr. Liexiezi has chosen not to show up!"
Liexiezi replied in a calm tone, "I have no expectations for our battle. There are far too many things I need to attend to in this world. Fighting against a young man who only sees what is before him would only embarrass me by making me as foolish as you."
Arlen Xuding Si chuckled softly at Liexiezi's sharp words without taking offense. He simply said, "Our battle is now inevitable. I wonder if Mr. Liexiezi feels that perhaps it would be wise to temporarily set aside your current tasks and resolve this troublesome matter with me first?"
Liexiezi replied expressionlessly, "To me, you are hardly a trouble at all! However, this battle is indeed unavoidable; I shall ensure that this world has one less Divine Extremity."
Arlen Xuding Si smiled slightly and gracefully bowed in an ancient European noble gesture, saying leisurely, "In that case, do as you wish! However, do not forget that the victor of this battle may not necessarily be you! Remember, I am also someone who understands the mysteries of the source of power in this world."
"Hmph! Then let me see how much you truly understand about the source of this world's power!"
The ten-colored rainbow surrounding Liexiezi instantly split apart. The Golden Light Phosphor Demon Sword Formation had lain dormant for five hundred years and was finally facing a formidable enemy once more!
Fang Lin Kong felt extremely frustrated. He didn't know which side he should support.
As Arlen Xuding Si battled Liexiezi, the Demon Hunting Team's forces were attacking anything they could see on the surface of the sea with reckless abandon. Fang Lin Kong did not want to kill anyone; however, he had no reason to slay demons either. After all, he was still disguised as a demon named Huan Huo!
White Whale Born had given up on entangling with Fang Lin Kong and turned to assist his subordinates. Fang Lin Kong desperately wanted to stay out of it, but the warriors of the Demon Hunting Team were not keen on letting the monsters in their sights escape.
"Hey! I'm innocent! Did you hear me talking? Damn it! Disconnected again! Why is there no way to communicate? Am I not speaking the language of this world? These damn Martian visitors! At least learn Earth’s language before coming to fight!"
Fang Lin Kong accidentally killed several warriors from the Demon Hunting Team who were attacking him recklessly. Although the ocean was vast, under the advanced instruments deployed by the Demon Hunting Team, Fang Lin Kong was nowhere to hide. Even when he disguised himself as a ghost on another Ghost Ship, he was soon discovered and pursued after they sank his ship.
This time, the Demon Hunting Team had mobilized over thirty thousand warriors. In terms of numbers, they far outnumbered Zhou Qingzhe's subordinates. While the individual combat strength of the Demon Hunting Team might be slightly inferior, their coordination was far superior to that of the International Demon Alliance. Their weaponry was also more advanced than that of the International Demon Alliance. However, in this unprecedented war, all military knowledge seemed useless. Formation, line tactics, and military strategies were overshadowed by individual combat power, which had a more direct impact on localized victories. The battlefield quickly expanded to thousands of cubic miles.
Small-scale battles erupted in the sky, on the sea surface, and in the deep sea, with skirmishes spreading further and further away.
Stimulated by the bloodshed, marine life began to stir restlessly. Yet these creatures that ruled the ocean became mere cannon fodder. Countless giant deep-sea fish and whale sharks fell victim to some fierce clashes.
Fang Lin Kong had never killed so many people before! He found himself at the center of the battle closest to the Ancient Star Shuttle. Although he had tried hard to fight his way out, the warriors of the Demon Hunting Team, furious over their fallen comrades, pursued him relentlessly like flies drawn to rotten tofu. The more people surrounded Fang Lin Kong, the more he killed, and consequently, the more enemies he made...
The enemies Fang Lin Kong faced were now ten times stronger than before. His demonic power was slowly increasing. At this moment, trying to achieve maximum destruction with minimal effort had become a ridiculous notion. To ensure his safety and guarantee that one unit of effort could yield destruction, he often had to exert one and a half units of power to account for any potential explosive force from his enemies.
The senior officials of the Demon Hunting Team had long been assigned combat missions. Typically, dealing with someone like Fang Lin Kong, who appeared weak and insignificant, would involve only a few scattered soldiers. However, as numerous monsters were slain, senior officials from the Demon Hunting Team began seeking every possible target for elimination, making Fang Lin Kong’s situation even more dire.
Confronted by Liexiezi, the Golden Light Phosphor Demon Sword Formation, and with Arlen Xuding Si’s Destruction Cannon finally in his hands.
Initially, Arlen Xuding Si had studied how to counteract the distinctly Eastern Daoist technique of Flying Sword while participating in the siege against Zhuang Lou. He concluded that while Flying Sword was nearly perfect as a long-range attack technique, its main flaw was that most practitioners wielded only one sword.
However, neither Zhuang Lou, who could split an infinite number of Innate Sword Artifacts, nor Liexiezi’s Golden Light Phosphor Demon Sword Formation, suffered from this limitation.
"This world may have once known flawless beauties, but it certainly has no combat style without flaws. I believe that the Destruction Cannon can break through his defensive sword net!"
Arlen Xuding Si reassured himself.
So far, their battle had yet to truly commence. Both Liexiezi and Arlen Xuding Si held considerable confidence but were not foolishly arrogant. The principle behind the Golden Light Phosphor Demon Sword Formation was essentially an imitation of an Innate Sword Artifact. Multiple Flying Swords, cultivated into a complete whole, possessed the ability to split sword energy. The operation of this formation followed extremely complex and intricate rules dictated by incantations.
However, refining an Innate Sword Artifact required thousands of years of hard work, and its success rate was no better than winning a lottery. A completed Innate Sword Artifact was closely tied to one’s soul; if it sustained damage, so too would its wielder's spirit weaken. Therefore, despite its immense power, few would resort to such means unless absolutely necessary.
The Golden Light Phosphor Demon Sword Formation, on the other hand, faced none of these issues; multiple Flying Swords relied on formation dynamics for control. Even if one sword sustained damage, it would not affect the overall operation of the formation.
Arlen Xuding Si unleashed a barrage of Destruction Cannon, with countless blazing white lights tracking Liexiezi's form. However, each time the firepower of Destruction Cannon touched the Sword Formation set up by Liexiezi, it was transformed into countless multicolored sword rainbows, intercepting and shattering the attacks into nothingness.
Whenever the vitality of Arlen Xuding Si's Destruction Cannon waned slightly, hundreds of multicolored sword rainbows would counterattack.
Both combatants continuously shifted positions, pushing their agility to the limit. Each time they exchanged blows, they drained considerable energy. Against Zhou Qingzhe, Arlen Xuding Si could maintain a perfect balance of energy, never exhausting himself. But against Liexiezi, who possessed the same power of Divine Extremity, Arlen Xuding Si dared not be careless. If Liexiezi caught even a slight flaw in his internal energy flow, an overwhelming barrage of attacks would ensue, leaving him unable to regain the upper hand.
Similarly, Liexiezi could not allow Arlen Xuding Si to unleash the full power of the Destruction Cannon. The Golden Light Phosphor Demon Sword Formation was balanced in both offense and defense, while the Destruction Cannon was purely an offensive weapon with astonishing destructive power. Throughout his life, Liexiezi had encountered countless magical artifacts, but none could match the destructive capability of the Destruction Cannon.
"What if I let my Second Soul attack with Azure Fire Divine Flame while I control the Golden Light Phosphor Demon Sword Formation? I wonder if that could break through this alien cultivator's defense."
As Liexiezi contemplated his strategy, he lacked complete confidence that it would succeed. The true extent of Arlen Xuding Si's power remained unknown to him, and he did not wish to reveal his trump card too early.
The continuous strikes from Arlen Xuding Si’s Destruction Cannon shattered the multicolored sword rainbows sent by Liexiezi, but the seemingly endless supply of sword rainbows appeared as if generated from infinite resources, multiplying at an astonishing rate. Arlen Xuding Si dared not approach too closely to Liexiezi, fearing he might become trapped within the Sword Formation, leading to a passive situation where he would be on the receiving end of attacks.
However, there must be a limit to how many sword rainbows Liexiezi could conjure. With each shot fired by Arlen Xuding Si, the shattered sword rainbows weakened Liexiezi's true energy.
"Why do we fight? Why do we live? What do we seek as we wander through this world... In this long journey of life, what can we truly grasp firmly in our hands?"
In the midst of intense battle, wearing his flowing white priest robe, a strange state began to envelop Arlen Xuding Si. He found himself reflecting on questions he had long ignored.
As a child, he spent each day in solitude. Whenever he saw his mother's lonely and desolate gaze, an indescribable feeling of disgust would arise within him. Growing up, he began to savor loneliness alone. Throughout his life’s journey, he had never walked alongside anyone.
"Loneliness is me; solitude is me! Time flows by; all things fade away!"
When he first met Yuan Qian Kun, an inexplicable joy surged within him. Finally, he had found another being who could understand him. Thus, after being defeated by Yuan Qian Kun, he embarked on the path of Divine Extremity. To him, there were only seven beings like himself in this world; everyone else—humans or monsters—were like ants, irrelevant to his thoughts.
With the Destruction Cannon steadily aimed at the distant figure of Liexiezi, for the first time, Arlen Xuding Si felt lost. After entering the realm of Divine Extremity, human emotions had long since drifted away from him. All greed, desire, regret, joy, worry, elation, love and hate... could no longer shake his rock-solid rationality. Viewing all living beings from an absolute calm and inhuman perspective, he had never anticipated that someone like Liexiezi existed in this world.
He had only fought against Liexiezi once but had analyzed his life in detail from surviving records. From what little information remained, it was clear that Liexiezi was a deeply contradictory person. He entered the realm of Kunlun, where with diligent cultivation he could surely become an immortal. Yet he was unwilling to settle for that; not only did he seize treasures through ruthless means and annihilate families for artifacts that were not rightfully his, but he also joined an evil sect and strayed from the righteous path. However, in every aspect, Liexiezi was also a devout ascetic—he had no worldly desires and showed no attachment to power or wealth; he never wavered even when faced with humanity's most tempting emotions...
In Eastern philosophy, Liexiezi was a very typical example; yet in the eyes of Arlen Xuding Si, he remained an enigma.
"This man who shares my genius title—what could possibly drive him to commit such heinous acts that even led him to forsake his identity as a human?"
Arlen Xuding Si began to feel lost. He had promised the Elder Council to join the battle, not for the position of Demon Hunter Leader, nor out of a love for conflict, and certainly not to seek justice for humanity. Arlen was merely searching for an answer. An answer he desperately needed...
"So lonely, so desolate, devoid of any material desires, a world colder than my youth—could this truly be what attracts Eastern cultivators?"
"Liexiezi! Can you answer the confusion in my heart?"
The battle between Divine Extremities was fierce. Liexiezi's consciousness was constantly scanning everything around him—the flow of energy, the direction of the atmosphere, the slightest changes in space—to predict how Arlen Xuding Si would manifest his next attack.
As Arlen continuously transmitted complex emotions, Liexiezi turned his mind cold and detached, perceiving these emotions as clearly as flowing water.
"Achieving Divine Extremity in one fell swoop may grant this Western Kid unparalleled power, but without years of solitary meditation and constant reflection on every action, the mind can become maddeningly bored and lonely. Such thoughts are a precursor to madness!"
Liexiezi had experienced this himself. No one could answer him about the meaning of life or the purpose of cultivation. What truly defined joy and sorrow? What was worth grasping? Alone against the vast earth and towering mountains, one could feel the indifference of heaven and earth, treating all beings as mere fodder! Our cultivation is but a desperate struggle for survival in a vast sea; even helpless anger had once led Liexiezi astray into bloodlust and brutality.
A single misstep can lead to eternal regret; looking back after a hundred years feels like a lifetime!
Liexiezi withdrew his Ten-Color Sword Rainbow, leaving only a single beam of dazzling sword light piercing toward the heavens, reflecting his calm demeanor...
The two supreme masters had moved from probing to confrontation. The clash of their consciousness was ten times more perilous than actual combat. If Liexiezi's mind were to be engulfed by Arlen Xuding Si's confusion, then the subsequent strike from the Destruction Cannon could send Liexiezi straight to primordial paradise.
(To be continued)
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