Chapter 1157: Catching Up to Master

Countless dark red snowflakes danced around the Patient One, each whittled into a sharp blade. They glinted with frosty light under the illumination of the hall. As The Patient One swung his arms downward, the shards fell like raindrops in a storm.

The longsword in Hong Xi's right hand gleamed with a red edge, imbued with concentrated scarlet light.

Bloody moonlight illuminated the void. The counterpoint between the black sun and bloody moon was striking. Behind her, multicolored light flared. She looked like a goddess descending from the heavens. No one dared look straight at her.

A sea of bloody flames manifested around Hong Xi, melting away the frosted blades and burning The Patient One himself.

A field of darkness appeared around Hong Xi. She activated [The Elusive Moon], then activated her superior-grade illusory leopard soulshard to rush forward. Blood-red flames flared up in her wake and swept across the hall.

She struck simultaneously with the fan in her left hand and the sword in her right. The blood sun's flames sprayed out and turned into a hurricane, evaporating the blood-red river water.

The rest of the ice crystals reformed into The Patient One. He raised his hands high into the air, condensing the crystals into a pillar of ice.

Hong Xi slashed forward, and the blood sun's flames consumed the pillar in its entirety.

The pillar of ice suddenly exploded. The resulting storm extinguished the blood sun's flames and struck the hall as a flurry of dark red icicles.

Hong Xi unfolded her peacock fan and sent the icicles flying with a gust.

As she did so, The Patient One himself flew over bearing a huge scythe in his hands.

Hong Xi struck with her sword and met the scythe in a clash, sending a spray of ice all over. Hong Xi's eyes narrowed and sent the ice flying away with a gust of wind from her fan.

She had felt a particularly threatening sensation from those flecks of ice.

The Patient One's scythe suddenly burst apart. Hong Xi wasn't prepared; as her blood sun's sword pierced through The Patient One's chest, the shards of ice that had constituted his scythe penetrated her snowy-white skin and entered her body.

As her soul was devoured, Hong Xi choked on air. Within the blood sun's flames, The Patient One roared in victory, as though the match had been decided.

The witch of dreams murmured, "The match is over."

Everyone turned to her quizzically.

The witch of dreams explained, "The Patient One's blood is a potent poison. It can corrupt the very soul and cause those inflicted with it to asphyxiate." As the blood enters your companion's bloodstream, it'll slowly devour her soul. She'll only have a chance of survival if she heads into water—but of course there's no way The Patient One would allow her to do so."

Regardless, Zhang Lie held to his beliefs. "Hong Xi wouldn't lose to a small quantity of blood."

The witch of dreams blinked in surprise. "You really do trust your companions, don't you?"

Zhang Lie retorted, "This isn't trust, but rather the truth."

The witch of dreams shook her head. "Even so, I recommend that you admit defeat. Your trust will kill your companion."

At that moment, Hong Xi was gasping for breath in the arena, her face pale and contorted with pain. Even the weapons in her hands had fallen to the ground.

With the last remaining specks of ice, The Patient One remade his body and pounced toward Hong Xi.

Just then, blood-red light rose into the air all around Hong Xi, illuminating the hall. Blood-red moonlight swamped The Patient One.

Every guest present was surprised by the sudden reversal of fortunes, and even the witch of dreams was shocked stiff.

Meanwhile, Zhang Lie let out a triumphant smile.

The witch of dreams turned toward him. "What? How could this be?"

Zhang Lie replied, "Having a bit of our souls sucked away wouldn't cause us to lose our combat strength. The Patient One was too impatient, I believe."

The witch of dreams comprehended Zhang Lie's meaning quickly. "You mean that your companion was feigning her pain?"

Yang Ze couldn't help but laugh. "Not completely .She was simply magnifying her original pain and exaggerating her expressions. Unexpectedly, The Patient One was tricked by this ridiculous ploy..."

The witch of dreams sighed. "It's likely been too long since he last fought, especially against an enemy who was weaker. It was simply a moment of carelessness—but this won't happen again."

Sun Mengmeng commented, "Rather than discuss how Hong Xi won, I think we had better save her. Otherwise, she really might die."

The Patient One's poison didn't vanish with his death. Hong Xi crawled toward the edge of the arena in pain.

"That won't be necessary." The king of chaos made his move, rewinding time in the arena. The poison in Hong Xi's body was forced out, and The Patient One, who had perished, was revived.

Zhang Lie praised, "The king of chaos is truly a master of his craft."

Zhang Lie and Fang Yi, who had gained some understanding over time and naturally had intuition over its domain, were the only ones who could truly understand just how remarkable what the king of chaos was doing now was. Even if a human hunter were to devote his entire life to studying time, he might not reach such a height.

Meanwhile, a portion of the king of chaos alone was able to reverse time and revive the dead. Perhaps it wouldn't even be impossible for the king of chaos' main body to reverse the fate of the three thousand worlds.

It was little wonder that he could promise to grant any wish within the three thousand worlds. With this ability, there was nothing he couldn't accomplish.

The Patient One, who had just been revived and didn't have an understanding of the situation, immediately tried to strike upon seeing Hong Xi, but the king of chaos held a hand out and separated the two parties.

"Victory has been decided."

The Patient One immediately understood that the king of chaos had rewound time to save him. "I apologize, Leader, for having been unable to secure a victory for you."

The king of chaos sent out another garbled transmission, but the excitement and happiness in it were evident. "Your fight was exciting, and I'm very pleased with your performance."

"Thank you for your grade, your mercy. May your will penetrate the three thousand worlds."

The Patient One retreated off the arena as the king of chaos turned to Hong Xi. "The victor may reveal her wish."

Hong Xi was startled. "Did I really win?"

She could hardly believe it; after all, the battle had almost grown too arduous even for her.

The king of chaos acknowledged her victory. "Yes. State your wish."

Hong Xi turned to Zhang Lie, a questioning look in her gaze. What should I wish for?

Zhang Lie answered the unspoken question. "This is your victory. You should decide for yourself."

Hong Xi thought for a moment, then turned to the king of chaos. "I'd like to gain the strength to quickly catch up to my master, to become as strong as he is, to be able to fight by his side."

Zhang Lie was very surprised that Hong Xi made such a wish.

The king of chaos was silent for a moment. "I have two different strategies I might employ."

The members of Team Zenith were all very shocked.