The surrounding onlookers only pulled further away as Yumao expanded his size somewhat, none of them were too willing to get involved in a battle between a recognized Lord and King. Liang Chen's foot slid forward, his heel rising as he took the initiative, every second he wasted here was one that would increase the danger.
His figure blurred as he shot forward, but he vanished after only two steps. Kuan Niu's eyebrows furrowed slightly at the scene, one of his fingers twitching and causing the air in front of the crack to stiffen. A small piece of his own shadow moved just as the air stiffened, crashing against the hardened air and bouncing back.
Kuan Niu raised his leg and stomped down on that particular part of his shadow, which didn't move despite him changing his position. But Yumao had already pulled Liang Chen out of the shadow by the time Kuan Niu stomped on it, launching him out of the shadow cast by Yumao's wings. The shadow that Kuan Niu stepped on also reacted violently as the foot hit it, rising up into flexible tendrils that slithered around Kuan Niu's leg and stabbed at his body.
The rest of his shadow also rose up in revolt at the same time, engulfing his body in black tendrils that aimed to skewer him from all sides. But how could it possibly be that easy to dispatch of a recognized King? A cracking sound quickly came from the myriad of tendrils, all of them stiffening and collapsing to reveal an unharmed Kuan Niu.
A thin layer of Qi covered his robes, so the tendrils hadn't even been capable of piercing through his clothing. After all, if he allowed his robes to be torn so thoroughly then he would end up in a rather sorry-looking state. Liang Chen looked at the unharmed opponent, his eyes narrowing slightly as he inspected the thin layer of Qi.
He couldn't immediately discern what laws Kuan Niu cultivated, it was definitely a fused law since it was practically a prerequisite at their level. But looking at how he had managed to not only block the hidden shadow that Yumao had tried to sneak past him but also protect himself with such a thin layer of Qi, he was definitely cultivating at least one law that was heavily geared towards defence. Kuan Niu dusted off his sleeves after blocking the attack, quickly understanding what Liang Chen was thinking after observing his eyes.
"Do you know why I chose the title of Heaven Embracing? It's not only because I have chosen to embrace the justice that heaven has chosen as the guideline for life, but it's also because I'm the only one who can truly embrace the heavens and resist their transcendent power. My defences stand at the very peak, even many early-stage Transcended Immortals can't breach my fused law. Come, Scourge Lord, let me show you my Law of the Unbreakable."
Kuan Niu was someone recognized by the Bloodwind Code to be a King, there was no way he wouldn't have his own pride and ambition. And he wasn't shy when it came to speaking about either, it wouldn't be his pride if he didn't even dare to speak of it after all. But Liang Chen quickly poured cold water on his mood, not showing even the slightest reaction to his grand ambitions.
Liang Chen spat out another long breath, the light of the morning sun vanishing as dark clouds gathered above the area. The wind picked up speed and rain started to fall from the sky, glimmering arcs of lightning splitting the sky as thunder roared. But the sudden storm only lasted for a short second before it turned into a large tornado that sucked up even the clouds, the endpoint of the tornado being Liang Chen's body.
The entire storm was sucked directly into his body like when he fought the Stone-Soul King, the abundance of energy flowing through his body at a speed that was nearly instantaneous thanks to his altered meridians. Ha cast a quick glance behind him and saw that some of the people that had sent out messages were already starting to spread out, taking up positions at even intervals to block off any escape paths. Liang Chen knew that time was of the essence so he unleashed his Void Storm domain, minus the void part, while also addressing Yumao.
"Yumao, six seconds."
None of the onlookers understood the meaning of his words, but Yumao most certainly could. And his wings shook slightly, his eyes gleaming with a brilliant light when he understood what his father wanted. He wanted to pierce through this recognized king and create a path within six seconds, a notion that most would consider the embodiment of insanity. But he gave the order, and Yumao obliged.
Yumao expanded to his full size of nearly 100 metres, unfurling both his wings as intense darkness poured out from his entire body. The darkness washed over Liang Chen and everyone else in the area, forming a dome that covered all of them. And everyone trapped in the dome immediately noticed the same thing, a strand of black light that connected their body with Liang Chen, siphoning a bit of their energy every second.
Liang Chen had his domain, and Yumao had his own. And this was exactly his domain, the Nether God's Grasp that he had already utilized a few times in the past. The first time he had only been able to use it for half a second, when they first reached this universe he had been able to use it for an entire second, and after his most recent evolution, keeping it active for about six seconds should be pushing his limits a little.
But the effects were certainly worth pushing the limits a little, small bits of energy from several hundred people surging into Liang Chen's body. Coupled with the storm he had just swallowed, his state was only a little bit below what it had been when he fought against the Stone-Soul King and got to gorge himself on not just a storm but copious amounts of death and poison energy as well.
Kuan Niu frowned darkly at the scene that unfolded in front of him, clenching both his fists and actually causing the ray of black light connecting him and Liang Chen to stiffen and shatter. The darkness around him also started to fluctuate and crack, but there was no way that Liang Chen would give him the chance to fully break Yumao's domain.
He tensed his muscles, a cloud of poisonous green gas erupting from his body and spreading the dust-like particles throughout the entire area. He kicked off the ground and shot forward at the same time, spreading his poison all around him as he instantly reached Kuan Niu's side. He smashed his spear sideways into Kuan Niu's waist, his law of time affecting the area around Kuan Niu's head to slow his reaction speed.
The side of his spear collided with Kuan Niu's waist, the rebound force so strong that Liang Chen felt his hand go numb. Kuan Niu didn't disgrace his fused law by calling it the law of the Unbreakable, Liang Chen felt as if had smashed his spear into the side of a metal mountain. Kuan Niu's waist only sank in a small bit before Liang Chen became able to push it further, Kuan Niu only taking a single step to the side.
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But that single step alone was enough to make Kuan Niu's eyes bulge in shock. He could just stand still and let even newly ascended Transcended Immortals attack him as they pleased, none of them would be able to move his body in the slightest. Yet Liang Chen had done just that, causing a sliver of unease to appear in his mind.
Liang Chen didn't relent, fully intent on ending this as quickly as possible. He stomped the ground, shattering the thick layer of hardened mold and causing even more small particles to shoot into the air, mixing with his dust-like poison. The wind around him started to howl as it picked up speed, gathering around his spear like a miniature tornado.
And with the spear still pressed against his waist, Kuan Niu got to have first-hand experience with the rotational force of the tornado. The wind tugged at his body like countless hands, his feet losing contact with the ground as he was actually spun around Liang Chen's spear, suddenly ending up on a collision course with the ground, his head set to suffer the impact.
But Liang Chen raised his foot before Kuan Niu's head could smash into the ground, a seemingly never-ending stream of poisonous gas still flooding out from even his feet. But even with the law of time affecting his head, Kuan Niu was no slouch. He managed to stretch out both his arms and cross them in front of his head, blocking the kick with his forearms rather than his skull.
But he was once again shocked by the force contained within Liang Chen's attacks, this time he was even unable to block it fully. His defensive Qi was broken through, Liang Chen's foot making proper contact with his forearms. But so much force had been expended breaking through the defensive layer of Qi that the kick only retained enough power to tear up Kuan Niu's robe.
He tore Kuan Niu's robe, but Liang Chen himself suffered a broken foot and two broken toes. He cultivated his body, but it seemed like Kuan Niu did the same, producing an even greater effect with his defensive law. A strange energy also entered Liang Chen's veins after the quick contact, his veins starting to clog up one by one as the blood in them hardened.
The energy luckily wasn't too hard to get rid of, he just had to eradicate it with his law of the void, unclogging his veins. But in the second he took to eradicate the energy, Kuan Niu took advantage of the remaining force in Liang Chen's kick to launch himself away. He spun through the air twice before he landed, staggering back a few steps before he glanced at his forearms.
"Amazing, truly amazing. You broke through my defences and even tore my robes. Had that been your spear, or if you had used one of your laws there, I imagine that it wouldn't have ended at just my robe tearing, you would definitely have wounded me moderately. I thought it would be fine for Junior Sister Qisui to duel with you to see if she could get her title back, but there's no way she'd be able to last more than five or so exchanges. Why are you still just a Lord, you should have long since been crowned a King? Did you perhaps anger one of the Bloodwind Emperor's pe...gh?!"
Kuan Niu didn't get to finish his sentence, a gust of wind sweeping over his head and taking advantage of his open mouth and nostrils to pull all the air out of his lungs. Kuan Niu instinctively drew in a deep breath to replace the lost air, sucking in more than just a lungful of the poisonous gas around him. But he wasn't too worried about breathing in the poison, he wouldn't give his law a name as grand as Unbreakable if a bit of poison could bring him down.
And he quickly proved his pride well-founded, the poison wasn't even able to enter the rest of his body after he breathed it in, it couldn't penetrate through his throat to reach his blood. It simply gathered in his lungs and throat, meandering around aimlessly without being able to harm him.
And as he breathed in the poison, the dark domain covering them started to falter and fade, six seconds had passed while he was talking. The light of the sun reached the area once more, the onlookers observing the fight in shocked silence. The reputation of Kuan Niu preceded him, it was just that Liang Chen had never really bothered to gather such information so he never heard it. But even with his grand reputation, Liang Chen had been able to pierce his defences, it was a feat worthy of admiration.
But little did they know that Liang Chen was far from done with just this. Kuan Niu opened his mouth to explain his resistance to airborne poisons like this gas, but a tiny arc of lightning flashed through the air and entered his throat just as he parted his lips. And as that lightning reached his throat, everyone got to learn exactly what Liang Chen had been planning all along.
A muffled rumble came from Kuan Niu's chest, his face turning ashen as blood spurted from his mouth and nose. Smoke erupted from his mouth and ears, a few tongues of fire escaping from his mouth as he knelt down to spew out more blood.
Liang Chen's poison was indeed geared more towards the immaterial, but that didn't mean that he had to use his poison like that. He was still perfectly capable of manifesting his poison in a perfectly corporeal state. And if you stuck a bunch of dust-like poison into an enclosed area like a person's throat and lungs and then introduced a small spark, like say a bit of lightning, then a dust explosion would certainly occur.
Kuan Niu had indeed trained his body and used a defensive law, but the insides would always be a person's weak point, especially when they didn't focus too much on guarding them. Just the fact that Kuan Niu was able to remain alive and conscious after such an explosion occurred inside his throat and lungs showed how tough his body and law were.
But while he didn't die, it was more than enough to send his mind into high-gear to focus on survival, meaning that he couldn't really focus on maintaining the hardened air that blocked off the entrance to Purgatory's Cradle. Liang Chen glanced behind him and saw that the people that had spread out seemed to have formed a small array with their own bodies, space above the area distorting slightly as a small spatial tunnel formed.
Liang Chen ignored them, but the onlookers were shocked beyond belief. Just him breaking through Kuan Niu's defences was a shocking matter, but actually wounding him like that? That was beyond shocking and approached terrifying. Even worse was the fact that he hadn't been crowned a King yet, he was still just a Lord.
Of course, they also quickly realized that there was definitely some deeper meaning behind him still being a lord, there might be a problem with his Bloodwind Code for instance. After all, if that was no more than a Lord, then there would never be Princes or Kings, or even those of higher status.
Liang Chen ignored the onlookers and stretched out his hand, allowing a weary Yumao to shrink down and slither along his arm until he reached his usual spot on top of Liang Chen's head. Liang Chen himself headed for the black crack, his gaze remaining on the forming spatial tunnel as he uttered a few words.
"You came much much faster than I expected. But you're still too slow. Don't you worry, I intend to keep my promise. I'll put your perfect safety to the test, just you wait for me."
Only the one travelling through the forming spatial tunnel was able to understand the meaning of those words, but Liang Chen stepped through the crack before the tunnel could fully form so there was no one that could respond to him. As for the onlookers, the path was open, but none of them dared to enter Purgatory's Cradle straight away.
A truly vicious poisonous insect had just been tossed into the jar with the rest, things in there would certainly be far more chaotic than they were normally. No one was foolish enough to throw themselves into that guaranteed bloodbath. Normally? Definitely. Now? No way.
At the same time, people couldn't help but wonder curiously. A freakish monster had just jumped into a place where monsters were rewarded for their deeds, what sort of existence would he be once he left the jar of poisonous insects?