Yan Ling tightly grasped her broken sword with her left hand, doing her best to move her right arm and repair her vision. But just as Qian Liao had said, it felt like her right arm had completely died, it almost felt like it had been severed from her body. Her eyes also weren't getting better, she could slow how quickly her vision turned blurry by channeling some Qi into her eyes, but she was unable to stop her vision from growing blurrier and blurrier. But even so, she remained steadfast and resolute. Defeat was not an option, surrender was not an option, death was not an option.
Qian Liao took a step forward and became a blur that merged with Yan Ling's already distorted vision, vanishing from her sight. But sight was not Yan Ling's only sense, she was connected to the elements around her and could use them to somewhat track Qian Liao's movements. She swiftly took a step back and slashed downward with her sword, the broken weapon colliding with the top of Qian Liao's halberd just as he was swinging it in an attempt to decapitate Yan Ling using the axe-part.
She was unable to properly utilize all her strength with her left arm so she was unable to push the weapon as far down as she wished, but she made up for this fact by having taken a step back the moment Qian Liao moved. The halberd was pushed down, the spear tip at the front cutting through Yan Ling's robe and flesh, leaving a two-centimeter deep cut across her entire chest.
Yan Ling counter-attacked immediately, shifting her body to the side the moment the halberd moved past her. She stepped forward with such force that she created a small blast of wind that pushed away all the surrounding rain, pushing out her left shoulder and slamming it into Qian Liao's chest. But just as her shoulder made contact with his body and pushed him back, tiny barbs of metal grew out of the tattoos on his chest, stabbing into her shoulder and upper arm. The barbs had hook-like heads, so the moment he was thrown back due to the force of her attack, the barbs tore out chunks of her flesh.
Even worse, he seemed to have used more of his law of death on her in those two attacks of his, the speed at which her eyesight deteriorated becoming even faster. She grit her teeth to resist yelping from the pain, doing her best to track Qian Liao as he flew backward. But just as he stopped himself by digging his feet into the ground, her vision finally failed her, the entire world becoming dark to her.
It was a strange sensation, becoming blind like this. The sound of rumbling thunder, the howling wind, the hailing rain, the dripping of her own blood, the pounding of her heart, all the sounds became so much stronger, so vibrant and distracting. She quickly bit her tongue to retain her focus, directing it all towards the movement of the elements around her, the rain hitting Qian Liao's body, the wind brushing past him, the electricity in his body, his contact with the earth, all of them entering her mind.
She had gained the ability to use and sense the laws of lightning, earth, and metal ever since she merged her bloodline with the White Tiger and Azure Dragon bloodline, but since she had so little of those bloodlines, and was focusing on so many other laws at once, her control over them could only be called sub-par at best and abysmal at worst. Just using them to aid her in sensing Qian Liao right now was a challenge to her.
Qian Liao suddenly moved while she was working on sensing him, tearing through the wind and rain as he rushed towards her at such a speed that she couldn't help but wonder just how she had been able to follow him with her eyes earlier. A soft snapping sound suddenly entered her ear, Qian Liao vanishing from her senses, causing the hairs on her neck to stand up slightly. She couldn't see it, but he had just erected a barrier of metal in the surrounding area and used a thick layer of his Qi, as well as his law of death, to block off the wind and rain, preventing Yan Ling from sensing the electricity in his body as a side-effect. He even hardened a vast amount of Qi beneath his feet so that he could temporarily run in the air, reducing the amount of sound he made.
Yan Ling opened her eyes wide as a habit, her pupils perfectly white, and did her best to extend her senses, to get even the slightest bit of information about her surroundings. No wind, no rain, no lightning, no footsteps, the only sound she heard was her own drumming heart and dripping of blood. Her Qi seeped out of her body and into the surrounding area, diluting and thinning as it spread out for a bit before it was crushed by Qian Liao's own heavy Qi.
But just as he reached her back and took another step to continue running towards Liang Chen, Yan Ling caught the faintest trace of his outline. It was just a tiny sliver of his leg, and it only lasted for a fraction of a second, but she could clearly sense his leg as it moved, the movement of it reflected inside her head.
She didn't know why she had been able to sense him for that split second, but she would not allow him to do what he was planning. She spun around as fast as she could and lashed out with her left arm, throwing her broken sword so fast it tore through the sound barrier, the thundering shockwave drowning out all other sounds for Yan Ling.
Her sword flew through the air faster than the eye could see, reaching Qian Liao's back in less than a split second, the broken blade digging into his spine thanks to the law of piercing it was flooded with. And once the blade pierced his body, the weapon collapsed under the law of crushing and pressure, as well as the wind, that Yan Ling had charged it with, half of Qian Liao's back shattering as a result.
His spine was crushed and he collapsed to the ground, blood pouring out from his ruined back. Yan Ling could sense him again now that he fell to the earth, his metal barrier and Qi barrier becoming undone because of his wounds. She quickly dashed towards him, not seeing a black mist rising up from the ground and seeping into Qian Liao's body, his wounds healing almost immediately as he rose up and complained.
"That's twice you killed me now, you really are scary, aren't you?"
As he complained and stood up, he once again hid himself using his dual barriers, swinging out with both his left arms and aiming a backhanded punch at the incoming Yan Ling. Yan Ling didn't stop her charge when Qian Liao vanished from her senses, she couldn't let him get any closer to Liang Chen, she could only focus her senses as much as she could and aim for the spot where she remembered him laying.
And as she focused her senses once more, spreading them into her surroundings as if she was trying to merge with them, she once again caught a trace of his outline, slightly larger this time. She saw both his arms as they came for her, even the veins bulging on them reflecting in her mind this time. She grit her teeth and made her choice, ignoring the attack and allowing his fists to crash into her abdomen, resulting in her body curling up, her forehead crashing into his elbow.
But at the same time as his punch landed on her, she reached out with her left arm, her palm touching his chest. She focused on her Qi and her laws, doing her best to utilize as much of her law of space as she could, praying that it would be enough. And as she used her law of space, the outline of Qian Liao that she saw grew slightly, now also showing his shoulders and the part of his chest that she was touching. Qian Liao might have hidden himself from the elements, but there were some things he could never hide from, and space was just one such thing.
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Yan Ling's Qi and law of space merged into her hand, resulting in it sinking into Qian Liao's chest without leaving a wound, as if it had turned ethereal. She couldn't see anything inside of him, but she could feel it, the beating of his heart as it pushed blood through his body. She grasped onto his heart and pulled her arm back, doing her best to surround the heart with her law of space.
And when her hand left his chest, once again without leaving a wound, it brought with it Qian Liao's still beating heart. Her body was thrown backward at this point due to the force of Qian Liao's punch, his heart following along with Yan Ling as she flew back and crashed into a metallic tree, shattering several of the branches and resulting in two of them piercing into her right shoulder.
Qian Liao wore a dumbfounded expression as he looked at the heart that Yan Ling was holding, his expression freezing as he collapsed to the ground. Yan Ling let out several heavy breaths, tracking Qian Liao using the other elements now that he had collapsed once again. She quickly channeled a large amount of Qi into her eyes to combat the law of death that was causing them to remain useless, managing to dispel a sliver of it before she noticed Qian Liao moving again.
She couldn't see it, but black mist once again rose from the ground and surrounding trees, entering his chest and flooding into the now empty space where his heart used to be. His body twitched as he rose from the ground, looking at Yan Ling with a shocked gaze.
"Space, you...you can use the law of space? Really, the more I see of you, the more shocked and fearful I get. It truly makes me wonder just what the Scourge King is hiding, for you to be willing to go this far for him. It might sound strange coming from me, but I pray that the two of you are reborn and find each other again, on a different more forgiving planet this time. For the two of you to find happiness together, that would be justice for you."
Qian Liao picked up his halberd again, which he had just dropped when he died for the third time. He gave up on heading for Liang Chen, he realized that Yan Ling would never let him approach Liang Chen while she was alive, he could only kill her first. But just as he was about to take a step, he saw Yan Ling's mouth curl into a sneer as she almost spat out her words.
"Shut the fuck up, you whiny bastard. Justice this, justice that! Fuck off with it! As he would say, there is no such thing as justice, only what you believe to be justice. And even then, that justice is nothing but selfish, that's just how all justice is. You say it is justice that you kill us for killing your friend? Fuck that! Your friend challenged us, he called us to a battle of life and death, both parties were aware of the risks when we entered that stage. He lost, we won, that's how simple it is. It isn't justice for you to kill us for it, it's just you being selfish and wanting revenge. And there's nothing wrong with that, just be fucking honest about it, stop spouting these whiny excuses so that you can feel better about yourself! We killed your friend, and we killed plenty of others as well, we'll kill you too for that matter! But it won't be for justice or any other shitty excuse, it'll simply be because you attacked us, nothing more, nothing less!"
Yan Ling had gotten enough of hearing Qian Liao drone on and on, it was simply grating to her ears. Qian Liao's expression twitched slightly but he didn't bother forming a counter-argument, he could tell that Yan Ling would just curse at him the moment he tried to do so, not giving him the chance to convince her. With that being the case, there was no point in trying to say anything, he simply grasped his halberd and put strength into his legs.
Qian Liao shot forward as fast as he could, Yan Ling staggering to her legs so that she could face him. Qian Liao put everything into his attack, not even bothering to hide himself again. The head of his halberd started to vibrate slightly, a crimson light floating around inside it and settling around the spear tip and the axe blade.
Yan Ling barely had the time to come up with a plan by the time he reached her front, stabbing out with his halberd with all his might. Yan Ling raised her bloody and practically ruined left arm, smashing it down on the head of Qian Liao's halberd, the bones in her hand shattering the moment it came in contact with the weapon. A booming sound resounded when her hand clashed with his halberd, the weight of her attack forcing the halberd down so fast that the spear tip was a mere centimeter away from slicing open her abdomen.
But just as the halberd was about to touch the ground, Qian Liao raised his right foot and kicked up, three of his toes breaking as he kicked the head of the halberd and forced it up. The halberd was too close to Yan Ling, there was no way for her to dodge as it pierced directly through her stomach, tearing a large hole in it and resulting in her throwing up a large amount of blood.
But just as Qian Liao was about to finish the job and flood Yan Ling's heart with his law of death, a furious hiss that was on the verge of a roar rocked the sky. The ground and sky grew dark as even the lightning and rain were blocked out by the darkness that started to extend from every single item in a two-kilometer area, forming a pitch black domain with Qian Liao and Yan Ling, as well as Yumao and Zizi as the center.
As the domain rose, Yan Ling felt a strange energy enter her body, the energy felt cold and vile, it was like dead maggots crawling around inside her flesh. But the energy was so potent that it started to push back the law of death inside her body, allowing her to move her right arm again, as well as restoring her vision. Now that she could see again, she saw that there were several black tendrils of energy extending out from Qian Liao's body and entering her own, the source of the potent energy.
Qian Liao's own gaze was locked on Yumao, who was hovering in the pitch black sky with his wings extended. The black domain vanished after a mere half second, Yumao looking much weaker and frailer as it vanished. But it had served its purpose, he had prevented Qian Liao from killing Yan Ling. Qian Liao's gaze remained locked on Yumao, his voice involuntarily leaking out.
"Impossible, the Nether God's Grasp?"
Qian Liao quickly shook his head to refocus, pulling his halberd out of Yan Ling's stomach without even turning to look at her. He took his eyes off of Yumao and focused on the distant tree where he could sense Liang Chen, stepping forward to head towards it. Neither Yan Ling nor Yumao was in any state to fight, he just had to deal with Liang Chen and everything would be over.
But just as he took a step forward, he felt something grab onto his legs and hold him back. He turned his head and saw that Yan Ling had grabbed onto his legs after she collapsed to the ground, her eyes remaining unyielding as she looked at Qian Liao. Qian Liao tilted his head slightly, casting a sideways glance at Yumao and then at the distant tree.
"Please, just lie down and die. Can one person really be worth that much?"
He cared deeply about his friend that had been killed, but he couldn't even imagine going through all that these two had gone through, especially not if it was for a pointless attempt at staying alive. Yan Ling simply smiled at him, her voice somewhat mocking as she spoke, blood pouring out from her mouth and staining the ground.
"The fact that you have to ask that means that you are worthy of pity."
Qian Liao tilted his head and wanted to say something, but he noticed something just as he opened his mouth, it was too quiet. There was no rumbling of thunder, no howling of wind, and no rain hailing down. He felt a slight sense of foreboding assault him, the light laughter of Yan Ling alerting him that his feeling was correct.
"Nihihi, you lose... Wrath incarnate is coming for you now."
He quickly followed Yan Ling's gaze, raising his head to the sky. The black clouds in the area were swirling, a ferocious wind forcing them to move along with it as they formed a pitch black tornado. Gathered within this tornado was all the rain that would hit the area, as well as countless bolts of azure lightning that were all quickly changing, some turning emerald, some crimson, and others a gleaming brown. Yan Ling looked at the glowing tornado, which was gathering above the tree where Liang Chen was cultivating, a soft breath escaping her lips.
"How beautiful... Look out, Qian Liao, the storm has already arrived."