Book 4: Near Blood – Chapter 43: Fighting Against Light Shaking 1
Whoosh!
The streak of blade light surged forward, carrying with it a faint carmine glow.
Even though this glow wasn’t particularly flashy, its surface carried with it a deathly aura.
When Sark saw this blade strike approaching, his gaze grew focused.
How powerful!
How fierce!
How devastating!
Who was this guy? How could he unleash such a forceful blade strike?
Sark didn’t have any time to ponder over these questions, however, and instinctively raised a wall of sand in front of himself.
The Sand Race were inherently proficient in using earth-type Origin Energy and controlling sand through their Origin Skills, so naturally many of their techniques involved the use of sand. Sark was no exception — the first move he used was the Yellow Sand Shield.
This wall of sand appeared unassuming but it immediately expanded, carrying with it an immense stopping power.
The wall of sand wasn’t intended to stop attacks entirely but rather to weaken them. Any attacks that collided with the wall would slow down as if they were being dragged through a muddy swamp, as the sand slowly dissipated the strength of the attacks.
Su Chen, however, completely ignored it. His entire body began to crack loudly as he unleashed his physical strength to the fullest extent.
The power flowed out from his body and surged through the air, whipping up a violent storm.
The flames blazed and consumed the wall of sand, causing its effectiveness to be reduced by more than half. Meanwhile, the Primordial Blood Incarnation’s blade strike continued to slash through the air, totally unhindered.
Thankfully for Sark, he wasn’t completely dependent on the wall of sand.
At the same time as the wall of sand was erected, the muscles on Sark’s body suddenly bulged as rock scales began to cover his entire body. It was as if a man carved out of stone had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, producing an effect similar to Su Chen’s Primordial Blood Incarnation but with a different method.
“You’re just an insect!” Sark howled angrily as he unleashed a punch with his massive stony arm.
Boom!
The Mountain-Beheading Blade and the stone fist collided violently, causing powerful energy fluctuations to radiate outwards from the point of impact.
“ARGHH!” Sark tilted his head back and howled with rage.
His arm had been completely severed by Su Chen’s Mountain-Beheading Blade.
During this exchange of blows, the Light Shaking Realm cultivator had ended up losing.
Was that strange?
Not at all!
Su Chen was much stronger than when he had battled Shen Yuanhong and Wei Pei, and his battle experience against Light Shaking Realm cultivators was also greater now.
He was very clear about the massive gap between a Light Shaking Realm and a Yang Opening Realm cultivator and that it couldn’t be bridged simply through strength. After all, reaching the Light Shaking Realm resulted in a comprehensive increase of strength. They would grow more powerful, but besides that their will, consciousnesses, and control over Origin Energy all far surpassed that of a Yang Opening Realm cultivator’s. They really were on an entirely different level.
But on the other hand, it was possible to get close to a Light Shaking Realm cultivator or even surpass them in terms of just pure strength.
The space in the room was quite limited, and there wasn’t too much free space available for Sark to maneuver.
This gave Su Chen an opportunity.
Su Chen’s Primordial Blood Incarnation was already a completely strength-focused skill; if the power of the Mountain-Beheading Blade were factored in, then he wasn’t inferior in terms of brute strength in the slightest. In addition, before the battle, Su Chen had sneakily ingested an entire set of medicine, causing his strength to be even further bolstered. His preparations for battle were completely shameless.
Sark, however, was under the influence of Zhu Xianyao’s spell, which was weakening his attacks by around 20%.
He was fighting from an extremely disadvantageous position.
It would’ve been illogical for Sark to not have been driven back.
Sark howled in pain as his arm was severed.
As he howled, yellow sand swarmed forwards, enveloping Sark’s destroyed arm.
Once a person reached the Light Shaking Realm, their lifeforce would become much more vigorous, and trying to deal permanent damage with average techniques was extremely difficult. Not only could they fly without any Origin Skills, but they could also regenerate back most injuries. Those little grains of sand seemed like just that, but they were actually pure earth-type Origin Energy that were constantly rebuilding Sark’s body. Under normal circumstances, Sark’s arm would very quickly reappear.
Unfortunately, these weren’t normal circumstances.
Su Chen naturally wouldn’t allow Sark to recover so easily.
Having seized the advantage with that blade strike, Su Chen attacked again. The shadowy flames surged forward again.
Because Zhu Xianyao had seen Su Chen’s Erupting Firehawk, Snaking Mist Steps, Thunder Blade, etc., Su Chen didn’t have the boldness to use those techniques. Instead, he relied on the most direct and brute-force attacks in his arsenal to deal damage.
The flames ebbed and flowed in tandem with the falling and rising of his blade.
Even though these attacks were quite simple, they were all vicious, overbearing, and dominant.
When faced with this second blade strike, Sark didn’t dare face it head on. He retreated as drops of rain began to fall from the sky — the sand had liquidized, which then congealed into sludge that made it hard for Su Chen to keep pressing at him.
If Su Chen hadn’t gotten to know Shi Mingfeng, he might have been mired in the mud for some time.
However, Shi Mingfeng was also someone who was proficient both in earth-type and water-type techniques. In addition, the reason he was proficient in earth arts was because he specialized in long-distance attacks that lacked explosiveness. Supplementing these attacks with earth-type Origin Skills could increase his defensive power and allow him to more fully display his advantage. Combining earth and water to make mud was something he was extremely skilled at.
Su Chen had seen this kind of move a long time ago, and he knew exactly how to deal with it.
“HAA!” Su Chen yelled. A frosty wind began to whip up around him, forming a revolving vortex around him that caused ice crystals to condense everywhere. This was the skill that Su Chen had designed for Ji Hanyan: Frosted Fragrant Blossom!
In terms of control over water-type Origin Energy, Su Chen was far inferior to Ji Hanyan. The might of the frost and its ability to do damage were both limited. However, Su Chen wasn’t trying to use the skill for its power but rather for the vortex that it created.
The vortex of wind churned, sweeping up the sand into a tornado that charged forward.
At the same time, Su Chen swung his blade through the air again.
This blade strike was incredibly powerful!
Even though Sark’s massive stone giant was powerful, it could only retreat when faced with such an intense barrage.
As he retreated, Su Chen advanced.
He kept the pressure up every step of the way!
Even though the earth-type Origin Energy could help Sark recover from his wounds, that also weakened his combat ability. Su Chen wanted to seize this opportunity and achieve a great success.
As such, he continued to unleash blade strike after blade strike ruthlessly.
Sark, a Light Shaking Realm cultivator, was being forced to retreat again and again by a Yang Opening Realm cultivator. Anger overflowed from his body in the form of a thick killing intent.
“You’re courting death!”
As he spoke, he pulled out a blackish-yellow pearl and shook it at the tornado. Sand began to billow out from his hand, morphing into a blade of sand that slashed through the air.
That blade seemed like one formed from an Origin Skill, but it was actually an Origin Tool. It was an Origin Tool made from that Fifth Earth Pearl. As such, its power was not to be underestimated.
Sark originally thought that he could beat Su Chen empty-handed, but he didn’t expect for Su Chen’s attacks to be that powerful to the point that he would be forced to use the Fifth Earth Pearl. When he attacked again, it was with his favorite move: Wild Beheading Sand.
Clang!
A dense shockwave of energy exploded forth. Su Chen couldn’t inflict any significant harm onto Sark, but his stalwart energy and his refusal to budge even an inch gave Zhu Xianyao and Sark quite the shock.
A Yang Opening Realm cultivator was evenly matched with a Light Shaking Realm cultivator in terms of strength?
Even with Zhu Xianyao’s support and the medicines that Su Chen drank, anyone who heard this would be seriously shocked.
Even so, this wasn’t Su Chen’s limit.
“Light Shaking Realm……” Su Chen chuckled. “I’ve killed them before!”
Then, his eyes began to glow faintly.
Fata Morgana!
Fata Morgana ignored cultivation tiers, not to mention that Sark was still being affected by Zhu Xianyao’s Heavenly Fox Dance and Jade Immortal Ballad. Fata Morgana immediately took ahold of Sark, forcing him to a standstill.
At that moment, Su Chen’s Mountain-Beheading Blade whistled through the air, aimed right at Sark’s neck.
Even if you were a Light Shaking Realm with an extremely powerful physical body and life force, you’d still die if your head gets cut off!