Chapter 285: Loneliness
Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon
"Yes, Brother. Quickly hide," urged Meng Yuxiang as well. "It's beneath Fiendlord Xiahou Zhen to kill trivial characters like us. He doesn't even know we exist. But Brother, you are ranked on the Heaven roll. If he were to kill the God of War, you might be next on his list."
Dong Wan and Liu Qingsha agreed too.
"Don't panic." Qin Yun immediately pointed up to the sky. "Look. Li Ruji and Xiahou Zhen have already begun their battle."
"Battle?"
Gong Yan'er, Meng Yuxiang, Dong Wan, and Liu Qingsha immediately looked up.
They could not see the two figures that were about fifteen kilometers away, but they could see the shockwaves from the battle.
Boom! Boom!
The clash between the two caused the surrounding clouds to blast apart as the shock waves spread through a radius of over a kilometer.
On one side of the sky was a dark-red surge and on the other, a bluish-gray surge. It was evident that the tidal wave-like bluish-gray surge had the advantage as it completely suppressed the dark-red surge.
Despite being in this world for so many years, I have never been able to find a powerful opponent." Qin Yun's eyes lit up. "From the looks of it, Xiahou Zhen is worthy of being my opponent. I can put all my newly created sword techniques to the test."
Invincibility was indeed lonely.
It was even difficult just to find opponents to test the effectiveness and flaws of the many sword techniques he developed in this world.
Now, Qin Yun was a little excited! He had many sword techniques he wanted to put to the test.
…
Above the imperial palace.
After Li Ruji charged into the sky, he stood across from Xiahou Zhen.
"Xiahou Zhen, you have feared entering a life-and-death struggle with me for years. You have really become gutsy now." Although Li Ruji was swarthy and small in build, his fighting spirit surged as he brandished his black spear.
"Li Ruji, you killed Taichen Shu, didn't you?" Xiahou Zhen remained composed as he quipped.
"Taichen Shu?"
Li Ruji hesitated for a moment and said with a nod, "Your Wei Kingdom sent an expert to infiltrate my Chu Kingdom under a different name. Did you think I wouldn't discover his true identity? Hmph. That Taichen Shu was certainly speedy but he was unable to escape from me."
It was still a secret that Meng Yiqiu killed Taichen Shu.
Li Ruji wished for it to stay that way to prevent implicating Meng Yiqiu. After all, Meng Yiqiu supported his Chu Kingdom.
"For you to so easily kill Taichen Shu, it appears your strength has improved quite tremendously." Xiahou Zhen smiled. "In this world, you are barely the only match I have! I hope you will not disappoint me today."
"Improved quite tremendously?" Li Ruji grumbled inwardly.
Improve?
At this stage, any improvement was just too difficult.
"Be on your guard." Xiahou Zhen instantly drew the saber from his waist.
The saber was unsheathed.
A bluish-gray saber flash flooded the sky like a hawk soaring through the air breezily before swooping down at Li Ruji.
"Nice one!" Li Ruji shouted as his swarthy and tiny figure suddenly enlarged. He turned a lot bigger in build as his skin suffused a red glow. The spear he held spun and thrust forward, instantly creating a gigantic vortex that attempted to cull the bluish-gray saber flashes completely.
"Kill!"
Xiahou Zhen naturally did not hold back as his speed increased. He unleashed a barrage of attacks at Li Ruji.
Momentarily, a gigantic bluish-gray hawk manifested in midair. It did things like flapping its wings, swooping downwards, or striking with its talons… All these phenomena were a result of Xiahou Zhen's unfathomable saber techniques! They were all close-combat attacks, with unpredictable and ever-changing strikes. Furthermore, they were extremely brutal and ruthless.
Li Ruji's spear manifested itself into a dark-red flood dragon that thrashed freely in a peerless and oppressive manner, blocking every conceivable direction.
The impact from their exchange of blows produced terrifying aftershocks that reached a kilometer out! The clouds dissipated as the air itself was distorted.
A series of loud explosions left the spectators below reeling in fear.
"As expected of a battle between the first and second on the God roll."
"Being able to see a battle of this level makes it all worth it."
A few spectating cultivators were rather excited.
After all, the victor, no matter who it was, would not attack ordinary cultivators like them.
…
Ninety percent of Li Ruji's techniques were offensive! He constantly attacked! Occasionally, he would produce a few defensive moves. This stemmed from his absolute confidence in his strong body.
However, the overwhelming saber flashes continued to rain down on him. Xiahou Zhen's saber flashes seemed to have a magical charm to them as they constantly changed in unfathomable ways. After exchanging about ten blows, a saber flash sliced through Li Ruji's chest.
Rip!
His clothes were ripped apart, revealing a ghastly wound. However, the wound started healing at a discernible pace.
"Come on!" Li Ruji turned more frenetic.
His body was constantly receiving injuries but Li Ruji showed no concern.
"You are doomed the moment I injure you once." Li Ruji looked forward to that moment.
"Whoosh."
As the dark-red flood dragon twirled in the sky, Li Ruji, who was once again hit by the bloody saber, managed to thrust his shimmering speartip into Xiahou Zhen's abdomen.
This stab changed Li Ruji's expression. He felt that the flesh he stabbed into was producing an infinite resistance as he tried to plunge his spear deeper.
"What?" Li Ruji was sent retreating as he stared at Xiahou Zhen.
The clothes at Xiahou Zhen's abdomen had been stabbed through, revealing a small wound. But it was very shallow.
"You have mastered a physical formulation?" Li Ruji stared intently at the distant Xiahou Zhen.
"I'm no longer inferior to you when it comes to physical resistance. But when it comes to the strength of our moves, you are much weaker than me. Because of this, all you can do is inflict minor injuries on me," Xiahou Zhen scoffed. "Even if I were to stand here and let you attack me, you will not be able to kill me. As for my saber techniques… all of them are capable of robbing you of your life. Every injury inflicted by my blade will drain a large amount of the Connate Quintessential Essence in you. How many more moves can you last?"
Li Ruji also understood what that meant.
"Li Ruji! You are doomed today!" Xiahou Zhen sneered. "Unfortunately, your improvement is just too little. It is unable to pose sufficient threat to me."
"Is that so?" Li Ruji knew his speed was slower. There was no way to escape.
"It's still unknown who will live or die!" Li Ruji bellowed.
If he could not escape, then he had to attack!
"Boom!" What seemed like dark-red flood dragons flailed in the sky as they unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks. It was Li Ruji's craziest counterattack.
As for the bluish-gray hawk, it attacked from every angle to hold it back. Xiahou Zhen's eyes lit up. "Interesting. Now this makes me feel threatened. Your spear is more than thirty percent faster!"
…
"Yiqiu, stop watching. Quickly leave. Hide far away," exhorted Gong Yan'er immediately.
"Brother." Meng Yuxiang was very worried as well.
"Alright, fine. I'll go. By the way, Dong Wan, help me take care of Huan'er." With a smile, Qin Yun tapped his feet and left the manor.
Sou!
A stream of light flew above Sovereign Capital at an extreme speed. He was much faster than even Xiahou Zhen.
"Li Ruji won't last much longer. I can't just watch him die while standing on the sidelines." Qin Yun quickly rushed towards the Chu Kingdom's imperial palace, approaching the battleground.
…
High in the air.
Li Ruji and Xiahou Zhen were fighting with all they had. They could not divert their attention to anyone else.
Perhaps, to them, the other party was the only true opponent in the world for them.
"I never expected that I, Li Ruji, would die at this Xiahou Zhen's hands." Li Ruji felt enervated. His body was covered in wounds that were healing but it drained his Quintessential Essence rapidly. His desperate usage of the attack Jade Shattering from the Crimson Jade Formulation severely damaged his body and accelerated the expenditure of his Quintessential Essence.
Now, he was no longer able to power another desperate attack like Jade Shattering.
"Whatever."
"Every dynasty will eventually fall. I, Li Ruji, have been invincible all my life. But there was always going to be a day when I finally die." Li Ruji felt that death was approaching him. All he could do was take his spear in hand and fight with all he had left.
He had to fight even in death.
Li Ruji refused to bow even in death.
"The tiny bit of threat you gave me a while ago delighted me slightly but it was so evanescent." Xiahou Zhen felt lonely. With Li Ruji dead, he would only become lonelier.
Li Ruji at least posed some threat.
Not a single person in the rest of the world posed any threat.
The feeling of invincibility was one of solitude and loneliness.
"Invincibility…" Xiahou Zhen sighed inwardly.
So what if he was invincible?
He was unable to shatter the void. Once his five hundred years were up, he would eventually return to dust.
…
"Your Majesty. Master's injuries look terrible. It doesn't seem like he can last any longer." Standing beside Li Cheng, Old General Xue Chong had an ugly expression. "We have to leave now."
"My Li family is finished. Is the Chu Kingdom finished too?" Li Cheng looked up in a daze.
As the battle was happening above the imperial palace, Xue Chong and company could see it clearly. Now, Li Ruji's body was covered in blood and his combat stance appeared much weaker. He looked like he would be finished almost any second now.
"It's over." Xue Chong nodded as his heart winced in pain.
"Your Majesty, leave quickly," Xue Chong urged and immediately transformed into a beam of light to escape.
But at that moment, another stream of light soared into the sky from another direction. It headed straight for the battling Li Ruji and Xiahou Zhen.
"That is?"
Xue Chong could not help but stop and land on the roof of a building in the imperial palace complex. He looked up and with his strength, he could tell clearly that a young man dressed in simple robes was within the stream of light. There was a sword hanging by his waist and he looked relaxed.
"Meng Yiqiu?" Xue Chong found it unbelievable.
Meng Yiqiu was joining the battle between the first and second on the God roll?
"Hua!"
Following that, a blinding sword flash lit up. It formed an illuminated arc that enveloped Xiahou Zhen directly.
"What overconfidence!" Xiahou Zhen sneered and immediately let loose some saber flashes to deal with the incoming attacks.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The raging sword and saber flashes clashed. Despite more than ten collisions, the sword flashes were not destroyed.
As for Li Ruji, he took this opportunity to make a full retreat and get to safety.
"Young Master Meng?" When Li Ruji escaped from the flurry of attacks, he looked at Qin Yun in surprise.
"I've read through your Chu Kingdom's arsenal. In exchange, I promised that I would protect your Chu Kingdom," said Qin Yun with a smile. "Mr Li, just have a rest. Leave Xiahou Zhen to me."
As for Xiahou Zhen, he was in utter disbelief. During the instant the sword and saber flashes clashed, Xiahou Zhen felt for the first time that there was an enemy that was in no way inferior to him when it came to his realm! His saber techniques did not hold any advantage over this opponent.