Chapter 780: Ten Thousand Lotus Flowers

The king of the bearmen didn't ask how Yang Ze had found him. He simply swiped at Yang Ze, intending to cull the threat before it was too late.

However, Yang Ze was prepared. His body dissipated into mist as the king of the bearmen, realizing his attack had failed, swiftly retreated.

"I won't let you go! [The Boundless Blade: Yawning Wave]!" Yang Ze struck again, his sword flashing toward the king like the current along a river.

The king of the bearmen swiped again with his claws, but Yang Ze evaded by darting through the trees.

Waves lapped at his feet. In the blink of an eye, he closed in on the king of the bearmen and sliced downward with his blade.

The king defended with his claws, causing an explosion as their attacks met. The wind from the attack ruffled Yang Ze's hair. As Yang Ze clenched his fists, water-attuned genetic energy rippled around him.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea]!" Yang Ze invoked his authority over space, which combined with his water-attuned genetic energy and formed circlets around his arms.

The space around him compressed and shook.

A sudden wind blew through the forest, sending the leaves rustling and falling off their branches. The wind gathered by the king of the bearmen's claw, which he shot out as daggers.

A fist and a claw struck simultaneously.

Neither man nor bear had any intention of retreating, because they both understood that doing so would be akin to relinquishing control over the tempo of the battle. Who would ultimately win out depended on who could withstand the storm of blows from the other party longer.

Yang Ze's [Fists of the Silent Sea] clashed against the bearman's claws. Those claws pierced Yang Ze's chest as Yang Ze's fists smashed against the bearman's face. The force of the impact burst one of the chieftain's eyeballs, but he smiled grimly.

It was evident that Yang Ze had received a more serious injury. However, the bearman didn't expect that Yang Ze would reveal a similar smile, the smile of victory.

He suddenly noticed that his attack on Yang Ze didn't feel as though he had struck flesh, and there was no trace of blood on his claws.

Yang Ze slashed forward with his blade, causing the chieftain to jump back in shock. However, he was a moment too late, and a thin line scored his chest.

The king of the bearmen couldn't help but ask, "Just what did you do?"

Yang Ze touched his chest. "It's a unique technique I developed that combines authority over space and water-attuned genetic energy to shroud me in an isolated space. All attacks toward me will be repelled and refracted.

The bearman seemed to have struck Yang Ze, but his attack had actually missed. Under the effects of [Reflected Sight, Refracted Vision], Yang Ze could attack his enemies, but they would have a far harder time attacking him.

It was as though he were a flower reflected in a mirror, or the moon on the surface of a lake—visible, but untouchable.

Of course, all this was predicated on the fact that Yang Ze's opponent didn't have his own authority over space.

"Is that so?"

Although the king of the bearmen didn't possess any such authority, he was able to command space because of his authority as king of the realm. Imbuing his claws with that command easily allowed him to rip Yang Ze's defense apart, but that was within Yang Ze's expectation.

After all, he was in the third realm. All hunters and existences who had made it this far had a unique skill or quality of their own, and they wouldn't be so easily defeated. Unlike in the second realm, where just possessing authority over space was a remarkable, all-encompassing talent, such talent was rare but hardly unheard of within the third realm.

"If you're able to command such authority, you must be one of the humans' so-called warlords," the king of the bearmen called out. Wind howled as it gathered around him.

Yang Ze replied, "No, I'm just a nameless fighter!"

The bearman scoffed, refusing to believe Yamg Ze. "No nameless fighter could wound me. Do you truly think I believe the human race is that strong?"

"It's not that we're strong, but rather that you're weak!" Yang Ze called back.

The bearman bared his incisors in rage. "Insolence! Nameless fighter or warlord, the only fate awaiting you today is death!"

Yang Ze continued taunting, "What, you're already angry? Surely I couldn't have gotten a rise out of you so easily!"

The bearman swiped with his claws, morphing into a cyclone. His attacks, imbued with the power of space, tore apart Yang Ze and the nearby trees.

Yang Ze burst into fog as the king of the bearmen frowned. Yang Ze's voice came from all around the forest, its source unable to be traced. Light from [Mirrored Refraction] shot through the air.

"Don't get so upset, king of the bearmen. Don't you want to know what I'm doing here, and how I made it here in the first place? Aren't you curious how the bearmen who are invading human and draconian lands are doing?"

The king of the bearmen sniffed, and his eyes brightened. His claws shot toward Yang Ze's precise location, leaving Yang Ze with no choice but to block the attacks with his blade. "To think the bearmen had such an acute sense of smell..."

The king of the bearmen, shrouded in wind, rushed forward again.

Yang Ze grinned. "Aren't you curious about the fate of your kin, sent to die?"

The king of the bearmen replied, "Naturally, but you're simply trying to divert my attention!"

"[The Boundless Blade: Shark Horde]!" Over a hundred translucent blue sharks shot toward the king of the bearmen as a horde.

Meanwhile, the king swiped forward in a flurry, disintegrating the sharks in an instant.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

At the same time, Yang Ze activated [Mirrored Refraction] to hide himself. He appeared far in the distance.

"King of the bearmen, do you know why I wasted so much time talking nonsense to you?"

The king frowned.

"Look around you," Yang Ze advised.

The king did so, and he instantly grew alarmed.

Somehow, all around the forest were crystalline lotus flowers, hovering in mid-air, so numerous that he could see patches of blue dotting his vision no matter where he looked.

However, he knew how dangerous these flowers could be. A hundred flowers exploding had caused him no small amount of damage, and there were thousands in his vicinity...

Yang Ze laughed. "Don't bother counting. There are 9,900 in all, and I snuck in an extra 100 while we were talking to have a nice, even number."

Yang Ze's smile was the most frightening expression the king felt he had ever witnessed. Yang Ze had carried on a conversation in order to focus the king's attention on him, as well as to taunt the king so that he wouldn't escape.

All his planning was for this finale...