Chapter 932: Battle With the Scarlet Shadow (III)

“That’s just the body of a faux Empyrean King. Do you really think of yourself as one?” sneered the young man who was the Black Armor. The book of great dao appeared in his hand once more and a person manifested in the void.

“The Exalted Blood Emperor...” gasped the crowd.

BOOM!

The figure hovered into view as a bow twanged, sending an arrow forward with a twang and shattering heaven and earth. The arrow traveled straight though the physical body, creating a bloody hole.

The scarlet shadow grunted and darted into the golden body. An extremely domineering presence instantly emanated from the body while the blood hole immediately closed.

“Trying to kill me with these puny tricks?” It taunted with chilly harshness. “You think too little of this seat!”

The young man frowned and opened the book of great dao again. Another figure broke out of the void with a long spear in hand. As the spear ripped through the air, the scarlet shadow met it with an ax.

The ax shattered in the fearsome collision and the golden body retreated once more. The pages of the book continued to flip rapidly, producing figure after figure. Wang Ye and the others didn’t know what to do with themselves—these were shadows of exalted emperors!

It wasn’t actual imitations of the exalted emperors. These were just exalted emperor techniques that the young man had learned and manifested as shadows of their respective owners. They erupted with tremendous power through the book of great dao.

Yuan Shuo felt his present circumstances absolutely surreal! He could sense unbounded presences flurrying around him and the magnificence of a newly established world. Finally, he could absolutely feel the possibility of being blown to death by one exhale.

Damn it! Were all these people still so strong in this new age? That was both horrifying and exhilarating!

Yuan Shuo watched with wide eyes, even forgetting about Li Hao. Hot excitement gripped him; the young man form of the Black Armor knew so many tricks. This was quite up Yuan Shuo’s alley!

His own knowledge was a motley assortment—there would be no Five Styles otherwise. The same went for the young man.

The book of great dao was as if a projector, bringing forth countless figures of exalted emperors. Someone wielded a giant mallet that fissured the earth when they brought it down, beating the scarlet shadow’s golden body like they were forging a weapon.

One of them was unquestionably domineering, rocking chaos with explosions when they delivered a punch. Someone rushed out with a sword and cut off the golden body’s arms.

Yuan Shuo watched with utter delight, but the young man sighed internally. His opponent was covered in blood and riddled with injuries, but the golden body possessed ample energy to stay in the fight. The amount he’d received from Li Hao was far from enough.

Without a physical body and just a bit of energy to maintain himself, he’d been pulled into a mental domain of chaos as soon as they arrived. This was to prevent the young man from absorbing energy and recovering from injuries suffered during the fight.

It was plain to see that the enemy had identified his weakness. That gave the scarlet shadow an unassailable upper hand. If it wasn’t for that, the Black Armor would be able to cut down a true empyrean king in his prime!

For now, that was impossible.

He wasn’t hurt and hadn’t even let his opponent come close. To outsiders, the fight seemed all too easy. And yet, he knew that this outcome was predicated on sufficient energy in his body. Otherwise, his doom would be nigh once energy was exhausted and he was left with pure mental strength.

The Black Armor cast a look at Yuan Shuo out of the corner of his eye and then looked at Wang Ye. Both men were utterly enthralled by the fight.

Have you guys forgotten that I’m just a broken body? Haven’t you watched enough already?

Wang Ye, you idiot, recall that you’re an Immortal. You will still be of some help if you lend a hand! Or do you think I’m having such an easy time that I don’t need help?

A soft sigh echoed in his heart. What a pity that the times were different.

As many methods that I have to call upon, as much as I can fight against ten people at once, the opponent has a body that he has nurtured for countless eons. He is also formidable and has extracted a large amount of the mine’s essence. He isn’t someone that a cripple like me who’s slept for thousands of years can measure up to.

But the Black Armor quickly marshaled himself once more. There was hope! Their opponent had not fully melded with the physical body; the two weren't a perfect match. If they delivered a blow strong enough to force out the mental strength and weaken him further, Li Hao would still have a chance to eliminate the enemy!

Having Li Hao hide himself had just been to create another ace to pull out of their sleeves. The Black Armor had been quite confident that when it came to purely mental conflicts, he would fear no one in this world. But now... Li Hao might actually be of some use.

The book of great dao flipped through endless summons while the Black Armor’s thoughts rambled. All of the methods he brought to bear were the culmination of a lifetime of knowledge. Techniques as major as the Human King’s blade and minor as an Apex method were brought to bear.

All of the shadows abruptly combined as one in a stream of light that resembled a dragon. It transformed into a long blade that the young man brandished!

Boom!

The opponent responded with an ax blow. The ax promptly crumbled and more cracks appeared on the golden body.

“Impressive!” commented the merry scarlet shadow. There was no sarcasm in its tones. It could also feel that the Black Armor’s presence was weakening. If it’d encountered this person in his peak, death would be forthcoming even if it was an Empyrean King. As expected of a direct descendant of a premier powerhouse!

But now... how much longer can you hold out?

One hundred thousand years of decline, one hundred thousand years of slumber. Energy had completely disappeared from the world and its supply was cut off to Evenround Martial long ago.

Where did you get this little bit of energy from, and how much longer will it last?

The young man raised his blade without a word—stroke after stroke!

Wang Ye also sensed something amiss by now. The blade intent was growing stronger, but he could feel that his martial uncle’s energy being exhausted at a rapid rate!

A most undesirable result would occur if this continued. Growing panic stirred in Wang Ye’s heart. His battle strength was formidable, but now that the opponent was in the body of a faux Empyrean King, he might not have an effect even if he made a move now!

And yet, he had to do something!

The city lord seal blazed in his hand and the shadow of the turtle shield draped around him. The seal transformed into boxing gloves. When Director General Wang punched forward, the force that erupted from the gloves shook the world!

“Go!” The little tree and other plant spirits jerked with surprise at the order. The projection of the imperial palace appeared in the next second to suppress the world!

However, the projection that’d reigned supreme in other fights shattered when the golden body roared with blood qi!

“The imperial palace? How laughable. That’s just a temporary palace without much presence of the great emperor. It can be used against ordinary people, but me? You’re but an Apex plant spirit that reaches beyond your abilities!” sneered the scarlet shadow.

This truly was an overreach. There was an enormous gap when it came to faux Empyrean Kings and Apexes. It was true that core origin dao had fallen silent, but the inherent differences of cultivation level remained.

This is what you want to harm me with? Hah!

The redwood and jujube tree also made their moves. Branches shot through the world, but were completely hacked to pieces with a singular ax swing. The two plant spirits trembled with fear. This person... was too strong!

Yuan Shuo had long taken shelter far, far away. Just one shockwave from battle was sufficient to kill him, given his level of strength. His only mission was to stay safe and pull out Li Hao at a critical moment. However, he felt that there was no point in having his disciple join the fight.

Even if Li Hao was stronger than him, he rivaled the little tree at most. But the little tree’s imperial projection had been outright ripped to pieces. What use did Li Hao provide in joining the fight?

It wasn’t that Yuan Shuo thought lightly of his student, but that this level of encounter was far above them! This might be the end of the road for them. That wasn’t a problem either—the only problem lay in the outside world if they all died here.

“It looks like today is my doomsday,” the young man said slowly after a soft sight. “I don’t have any regrets, I just want to know who it is that you’ve colluded with in the outside world. Was it New Martial powerhouses or heavyweights from other words? If there are no co-conspirators, how were you able to isolate Silver Moon...”

“Didn’t the Human King say to let the dead go without peace?” laughed the scarlet shadow. “The dead can talk, so it’s better for you not to know!”

“How are you fit to mention the Human King?” glared the young man. It looked like their opponent wasn’t going to say a word. He snorted and raised the book of great dao high. A figure appeared over it, one different from before. Curvaceous and elegant, it plainly belonged to a woman.

The book abruptly went up in flames!

The young man looked sadly at the figure sharpening into focus. He smiled and shifted to glance at the scarlet shadow’s golden body. “Principal, he says that this world no longer belongs to the Fangs!”

The shadow’s strength exploded!

The young man retired to the form of a Black Armor and became one with the shadow. The long blade swung down!

“To sever life!” The roar reverberated throughout the void!

The enormous body was hacked into two, but it started healing at a speed far beyond one’s imagination. A scarlet shadow floated out of it, weakened by the blow. “You showed some bite in your final strike, but what a pity...”

“Now!” The Black Armor’s voice rang in Yuan Shuo’s ear.

Yuan Shuo didn’t dare drag his heels; he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood that he’d kept at the ready in his body. Five kinds of auras manifested!

They came into existence near the scarlet shadow—the combined auras held a stone blade in its mouth. A bloody-red path floated in the world!

Unease pricked at the scarlet shadow, but there was no time to consider that. It sent the desperate Director General Wang reeling with a punch, then punched the redwood tree so hard that the plant spirit threatened to disintegrate.

Its next punch was aimed at the extremely fragile Black Armor. This was such a rare opportunity, it was going to kill this man!

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The scarlet shadow was rather excited because this kind of existence was hard to kill even in New Martial. This person’s status was exceedingly high; killing him might fully smash the lingering fear of New Martial that was imprinted in the shadow’s heart!

Indeed, all powerhouses from that age revered New Martial.

It was at this moment that nine celestial bodies appeared in the void! Li Hao’s body appeared, the nine stars revolving around him. He gripped Stellaris and looked around with a lost expression. It wasn’t until he saw the scarlet shadow about to deliver a final blow to the Black Armor that he snapped back to his senses.