Boom!

The entire marsh was engulfed in a mix of crimson flames and azure blasts, billowing outward in a white colossal conflagration as the destructive energies mixed and struggled to nullify each other . The landscape was altered in that single instant .

Far away, Tong Xue paused for a moment – just a very slight second – and turned around . His eyes widened when he saw the enormous explosion burst out of the swamp that he had left behind . By now, there was considerable distance between him and the wasteland where I was dueling the Heavenly Venom King .

"?!"

For some reason, the explosion had halted in its tracks .

Tong Xue breathed a sigh of relief and turned to resume his run, slightly more relaxed than before . However, his brow creased in worry when he recalled that I had remained behind to stall for as much time as possible .

"Stay safe and survive, Fei Wu," Tong Xue muttered, making the sign of the Aquila . "The Emperor Protects . "

Meanwhile, back in the devastated wasteland, my consciousness returned and I found myself somehow still standing amidst the ruins .

"…I withstood the Fire Breaker?" I murmured in disbelief . That had been a last-ditch effort on my part, but I never thought I would have succeeded .

Woo…

The winds continued to howl eerily, sinking into the crater where Sha Chen calmly stood .

It wasn"t just one crater . Now there were two colossal craters, one that was centered on Sha Chen, and another with me in the middle . Funnily enough, I realized that the crater I was in was deeper than the scorched but otherwise mild depression where Sha Chen currently resided on . Smoke continued to billow from the scorched earth, what little remained of mud drifting into the air as steam .

Taking a deep breath, I dashed across the earth, s.n.a.t.c.hing up my Shadow Fox from the edge of the crater . Despite the tremendous clash of devastating qi, the black spirit sword remained intact and unscratched, a testament to Tang Qi Hong"s skill as a blacksmith .

After seizing my Shadow Fox, I practically bounced off the ground and flung myself in Sha Chen"s direction .

"Hmph!"

Sha Chen snorted as he rose to his full height, readying to meet my blow .

The both of us met in the edge of the crater he was in, me swinging both of my swords down with all my strength while Sha Chen evenly met my blows with his qi-clad palms . The moment we collided, the surroundings erupted in white flames of qi . The ground shrieked from the devastating impact that tore mercilessly into its already crumbling structure and more rocks and soil were being upended and scattered into the air .

I slashed at Sha Chen again, my blades slamming into his arms . The Heavenly Venom King had crossed his arms to block the lethal strike, and the dense amount of protective qi that wreathed his body flared brightly . The ground shattered under our feet, unable to withstand our devastating clash that shook heaven and earth .

Vroom!

White qi swirled into a whirlwind-like maelstrom that rampaged between us . Despite my youthful vigor, I was unable to force Sha Chen back even a step . The old monster calmly held his ground, effortlessly blocking my attack .

Then he suddenly slashed at me with his venomous claws, forcing me to retreat . As I stepped back to avoid getting cut by the ominously glowing fingers, I countered swiftly with a double swing of my swords . Sha Chen staggered back, escaping the lethal blades by a hair"s breadth . He then reached out to slash my head, and despite me pulling it back, I could see his claws cut several strands of hair loose .

Ducking under his attack, I thrust my sword upward and toward his neck in an effort to decapitate him, but he easily dodged my Azure Lotus Sword . I then followed up with a swing from my Shadow Fox from what I hoped to be the opposite direction and therefore his blind spot, but the ancient martial artist had an immense wealth of experience to draw upon . Already antic.i.p.ating my move, he ducked under my swords, and then gently deflected my Shadow Fox aside before I could eviscerate him .

He then swung his arm down in retaliation, almost catching me by surprise . Withdrawing Shadow Fox, I parried his attack, and the ground exploded underneath my feet as it groaned in protest against the tremendous weight Sha Chen just placed upon it .

However, I was far from done . While firmly standing my ground, I infused my Shadow Fox with qi and unleashed a Shadow Dragon Meteor Strike at pointblank range .

Boom!

The earth trembled yet again from another forceful fissure, its soft features torn apart for the umpteenth time .

Kaboom!

"Kuh!"

Despite being armed with two of the best weapons I ever had the honor of possessing, I was scarcely able to defend myself against Sha Chen"s ruthless barrage of strikes . Slowly, I was being forced back, retreating shamefully as I struggled to hold out against Sha Chen"s bombardment . Each of his strikes felt like a meteoric blow, unleashing apocalyptic damage that razed our surrondings and erased my footing .

Advertis.e.m.e.ntBam! Wham! Slam!

"!"

An unusually powerful strike smashed my swords aside and sent me hurtling backward . Despite digging my feet into the soft earth, I was unable to arrest my momentum . Reversing the grip of both my swords, I stabbed them into the damp dirt and forcibly brought myself to a halt . Even as I crouched, explosive qi continued to ring and rampage about me .

"Argh!"

I brought both swords up to defend myself, to no avail . Gritting my teeth, I unleashed a second Shadow Dragon Meteor Strike just as Sha Chen landed to deliver what he thought was the finishing blow . My black qi collided with his white qi, and the entire area vanished in yet another blinding conflagration .

"…ugh!"

Buffeted by the violent shockwaves, I swayed unsteadily on my feet, but gritted my teeth and steeled myself for the next wave . Even though I was nearing my limit, Sha Chen didn"t seem to have broken a single sweat .

"Huff…"

This time, I found myself in a smoldering crater that were several dozen meters across, and almost shaped like a leaf . Or a kaiju"s footprint . The earth had blackened from the incendiary effects of our volatile qi, resembling almost a crater from a recent volcanic eruption .

"!"

Sha Chen was streaking toward me like a bullet . Not confident that I could take another of his blows head-on, I used a footwork technique to escape . Kicking the ground, I bounded upward and simply disappeared from sight .

Unfortunately, Sha Chen was far too seasoned a veteran to fall for that .

He immediately changed trajectory, adjusting his speed and movements to shift toward my direction . Before I could land with Tui, he was already crashing in my direction . He lashed out before my feet hit the ground, and the ground exploded once again as it crumbled underneath my feet . I jumped away desperately before I could be swallowed by a sinkhole .

d.a.m.n it…

I wished I could use Heaven and Earth Strike freely . I had been trying the whole time to recapture the feeling, the moment where I saw two clouds of qi colliding with each other and creating that spark for me to slash at, but up till now…nothing .

Without Heaven and Earth Strike, I stood absolutely no chance of surviving against an extremely powerful Sha Chen .

The Dark Sage was pursuing me relentlessly, smashing craters into the ground with each strike . I was barely able to dodge each one, pushing my footwork to the limits and desperately hopping from point to point with my opponent hot on my heels .

Bam! Wham!

What was left of the Toxic Marshes couldn"t be called a swamp . The trees had been decimated, the muddy waters had been vaporized, and all that was left was a wet but barren wasteland . Even so, Sha Chen"s thirst for destruction remained far from satiated .

Boom!

b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l…in under the last minute, Sha Chen"s clash with me had left at least six distinct craters in the once vast Toxic Marshes . On the bright side, right in the open, I saw no sign of Tong Xue . I prayed that he had succeeded in getting away .

Given Sha Chen"s speed, however, I wasn"t taking anything for granted . I was determined to survive as long as possible, to delay him as much as possible, until Tong Xue reached Duchun Town . Once Tong Xue reached the relative safety of Duchun Town, even the Dark Sage would not carelessly a.s.sault the town, for there was an entire battalion of Imperial Guardsmen garrisoned there . Even the Heavenly Venom King could not prevail against such large numbers of professional soldiers . That was the sole reason why he didn"t finish off Song Ting Yu .

I was betting everything on that .

Wham!

Blocking another strike from Sha Chen with my dual swords, I staggered back, and retaliated with a riposte that almost cut his cheek . The Dark Sage merely c.o.c.ked his head to the side and slammed his elbow into my wrist . I recoiled from the pain, but was thankful that Sha Chen"s blow did not break the bone in my hand .

It would be disastrious otherwise .

Sha Chen then swooped underneath me to deliver a double palm strike, but I parried that with the hilts of both my swords, smacking his fingers away . Even so, Sha Chen was able to push me back with a kick that sent me skidding backward, out of breath .

"Gah…!"

Breathing heavily, I unleashed another Shadow Dragon Meteor Strike at pointblank range, but Sha Chen casually slapped it away, his hands dispersing the destructive black qi . He then c.o.c.ked his arm back, clenched his fingers into a fist and sent a devastating punch in my direction .

I blocked his fist with Shadow Fox"s blade, and almost had my Spirit Sword torn out of my grasp . Again, the blow was causing my arms to go numb, shuddering from the violent impacts . Sha Chen then spun around and struck me with a Venom Claw, and even though I parried this deadly strike with Azure Lotus Sword, the strength behind the blow lifted me from the ground and sent me hurtling through the air .

Despite being helplessly blown back, I was able to correct my posture and kicked off from a clod of dirt suspended in midair and executed a footwork technique . My figure blurred and disappeared just as Sha Chen"s claws tore through it, and I reappeared several meters behind him .

Landing unsteadily on the ground, I immediately followed up with a Heavenly Draconic Meteor Strike that washed over the still-turning Sha Chen, but he batted the tidal wave of azure qi aside, as if it was no more than an irritance .

f.u.c.k! If I was able to use Heaven and Earth Strike freely, I would have ended the match there and then! Wasted opportunity .

"…"

Similarly frustrated, Sha Chen glowered at me, puzzlement etched onto his aged, lined face .

"How is this greenhorn brat putting a fight against me?" he murmured, puzzled and impressed . "Even with my strength and vast experience, he"s nearly going toe-to-toe with me . How has he survived every one of my attacks thus far?"

Shaking his head, he dove at me once again, both his hands curling into lethal Venom Claws . Instinctively understanding that I would be unable to dodge, I stood my ground and squarely met him head-on, swinging both my swords . My glowing blades collided with his deadly Venom Claws before exploding forcefully .

BOOM!

The both of us sprang apart in a shower of sparks and a colossal explosion of qi that swirled around violently like a hurricane, razing more of the battered landscape .

Skidding to a stop, Sha Chen grounded his feet into the ground . He dispersed the poisonous qi that saturated his fingers, and instead replaced them with a more powerful crimson qi . Swinging them down, he dropped into an intimidating stance .

"Ma.s.s Incendiary Blast!" he growled .

Crimson qi blasted around him before transforming into a gargantuan powerful fireball that resembled the sun .

In response to that, I held my ground and faced him squarely . Dropping Shadow Fox, I gripped my Azure Lotus Sword with both hands and infused with as much qi as possible before unleashing a Heaven and Earth Yuan Yin Frost Strike .

Fire against ice .

The ma.s.sive fireball collided against the azure, frozen wave of frost .

Wham!

Fire vaporized frost into steam, and ice froze flames into crystals . The resulting explosion turned into something similar to a thermonuclear explosion, billowing upward in a terrifying mushroom-shaped conflagration that razed yet another crater into the ground .

"Ugh!"

I shielded myself with my swords, almost unable to remain standing from such a powerful surge of energy .

Woo…swoosh…

As the hurricane of conflicting qi and sparks continued to howl their dismay and rage in the devastated wasteland, a single, solitary figure stood amidst the violent maelstrom, unperturbed and almost unaffected .

Qi continued to crackle and spark around the ruined and scorched ground, a mixture of ash and frost settling on the soft, reshaped earth .

Sha Chen stood firm, relaxing his stance a little as he observed his surroundings . He then noticed something peculiar .

He had been pushed back .

His feet had left twin trails in the dirt, indicating the distance that he had been sent skidding backward from the earlier colossal exchange .

"!"

It had only been a meter or thereabouts, but even so Sha Chen was amazed that I had actually succeeded in pushing him back .

"Argh…"

I coughed out another splurt of blood . Unlike Sha Chen, I had skidded back several meters, and was unable to straighten myself . I was still heaving from the blow, wheezing and heaving, struggling to catch my breath .

Raising my violently trembling arms, I reached up with my shuddering left hand that was still clutching Shadow Fox and wiped the blood from my mouth .

"Satisfied yet?" I asked .

"Hmph . " Sha Chen snorted . "Satisfied? About what?"

"Isn"t it enough? If your goal is to avenge your subordinates, you"ve beaten me up for it . And I"ve survived whatever attacks you threw at me . Am I still not worthy?"

Sha Chen burst out laughing .

"Did you ever think this was about me testing whether you were worthy enough to be my ally? Don"t get too full of yourself, you snot-nosed brat . You"re a hundred years too early to ever entertain such an idea . "

"…"

I shook my head, but I couldn"t say I was disappointed . I already expected an outcome like this . Sha Chen never intended to let me live, no matter how impressed he was by my performance .

"And if I want to destroy the Martial Arts Alliance, I can do it myself! I don"t need help from the likes of a brat like you!"

"…!"

I narrowed my eyes, detecting a trace of falsehood in that declaration . A smile slowly crept across my face .
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"Quit your lying, old dude . If that"s true, then you would never have bothered to establish the Black Venom Cult . You would have attacked the Martial Arts Alliance by now . But no, you stayed hidden and tried to avoid their extermination squads . Why?"

Shen Cha scowled, and then he forced his expression into a smirk .

"I don"t need to explain myself to you, brat . "

"Hmph . " I shrugged casually . "You certainly don"t . I guess I"ll destroy the Martial Arts Alliance on my own then . "

"Hm…"

Shen Cha studied me for a moment, his expression turning curious . He lifted his hand and flexed his fingers a few times, as if trying to test for something . Then he grinned, as if he had realized something very amusing .

"I see . So that"s what it is . That"s what this is about . "

"What are you talking about?" I asked, bewildered by his sudden inaction and abrupt talkativeness . What was with antagonists and their desires to stop fighting and spout into a bunch of dialogue all of a sudden?

"You…you"ve been using Heaven and Earth techniques all this time, aren"t you?" Sha Chen grinned evily . "It"s a little different from the Heaven and Earth techniques I"ve encountered before, but they"re undoubtedly from the same origin . "

I raised an eyebrow . "You"ve fought against Heaven and Earth techniques before?"

"That"s right . " Sha Chen regarded me, amused, an ugly smile spreading across his wrinkled face . "And if I"m not mistaken, your master must be Tian Mo . "

"…"

I didn"t answer . Sha Chen"s grin widened .

"I"m right, am I not?"

I shrugged . "I"ve no obligation to answer you . "

"Oh, come on . Don"t be like that . " Sha Chen chuckled . "There"s a connection between us . You could say I"m your master"s worst enemy . "

I burst out laughing at that . "My master"s worst enemy? You? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

The Dark Sage"s expression darkened . "What"s so funny?"

"You are," I replied with a snicker . "You think you"re my master"s worst enemy? Don"t flatter yourself . "

"You!" Sha Chen flared up . "Disrespecting your elders…your master really didn"t teach you properly, did he?"

"Oh, I respect your strength, but I don"t respect your attempts to lie . Either that or you"re truly delusional . " I shook my head in mock sadness . "My master"s worst enemies have always been the Martial Arts Alliance . When they finally destroyed the Heaven and Earth Sect and cornered Master about four or five years ago, you were completely absent . You took no part in the action to destroy the Heaven and Earth Sect and their allies . "

I had read my history and was familiar with what had happened and who were involved . And while the Dark Sage Sha Chen might have been a famous legend during the old Martial Arts Alliance era, he was nowhere to be seen in the present era, often thought of as having died or disappeared from the Jiang Hu for good .

"Fool," Sha Chen sneered . "Of course I"m not talking about the present era or the destruction of your Heaven and Earth Sect . I"m talking about the old times . Decades ago, during the time of the old Martial Arts Alliance, I was your master"s greatest rival, and his strongest foe . We clashed often during that time, and I was the one person your master was never truly able to defeat . " His grin spread across his face, mocking and derisive . "Your techniques might differ, but their core essence is similar to the techniques he used…"

He began laughing .

"And if your master wasn"t able to defeat me, what hopes do you have of defeating me?"

I c.o.c.ked my head to the side, staring at him blankly . Then I shrugged .

"Nope…I"m sorry, but your name doesn"t ring a bell . Master never mentioned anything about you at all . The only people he talked about was the Martial Arts Alliance, and he actually warned me against taking revenge . He told me to avoid fighting the Martial Arts Alliance at all costs . " I was going to disobey him, unfortunately . But it was the Martial Arts Alliance who forced my hand by invading my sect even when I left them alone . "He made no mention about you at all . "

"…"

There was a long pause as Sha Chen glowered at me, his hands balled tightly into fists . His expression was so dark I almost couldn"t see it .

"I guess he was too humiliated to tell you about me . "

…huh? What? Where did that come from?

"So that"s the kind of person he was . " Sha Chen chuckled as he snorted in disdain, a scornful smile curling his face .

"He was a good teacher," I countered coldly .

"Well…" Sha Chen said dismissively . "Whatever happened in the past will remain in the past . No point dwelling on it . "

I tensed when I saw sharp, barbed leather whips snaking out of his torn sleeves and coiling themselves around his forearms . In addition, his qi intensified again, and my breathing stalled . It felt as if the gravity had magnified tenfold .

"So…let"s start this all over again," Sha Chen smirked .

And then he swung his left arm .

"!!!"

I instinctively dove to the side, using my footwork to evade the fast, screaming attack that almost caught me by surprise with its speed and ferocity .

"…eh?"

Suddenly, I felt a jerk, something tugging my right arm . My Azure Lotus Sword was almost yanked out of my hand despite my best attempts to maintain a firm grip on its hilt . Glancing at it, I saw a barbed leather whip wrapped around the blade and tightly clamping onto it .

"Ugh!"

Refusing to relinquish my sword, I was forced to a halt, struggling to pull my sword free from the coiled whip . However, no matter how much strength I used, I was unable to dislodge the whip, which seemed to have hooked itself stubbornly into the blade of my weapon .

"But…because of your master"s foolishness and arrogance, which caused him to dismiss my existence entirely…"

Sha Chen"s voice had an ominous tone to it, which sent chills down my spine . The f.u.c.ker was furious .

Cackling madly, Sha Chen roared out in malicious delight as he yanked on his poisoned whip .

"You will die today!"

He then swung his right arm and sent a second whip snaking wickedly toward me . My eyes widened and I wasn"t able to let go of my Azure Lotus Sword in time before the flexible weapon struck me with full force .

Boom!

Excruciating agony exploded across my vision and I was sent hurtling backward .