Chapter 344: Battle of Stone Technique
The Sage King was taken by surprise. He didn’t expect Xuanyuan to set him up that way. The ferocious stone that he was going to pick out contained a heterogeneous energy source which weighed 500-600 pounds. The power from the explosion could not be underestimated.
Xuanyuan had used the Attunement technique in order to make the heterogeneous source return to its original form. This resulted in the energy source attacking the Sage King. The power of the explosion was easily enough to kill an expert in the first circle of the xian realm.
The Sage King couldn’t dodge the explosion, but fortunately his garments were enchanted with a defensive disposition, which shielded the Sage King.
The golden dragon which had weaved itself into a net kept assailing the disposition. The protective disposition could only support itself for three breaths, before it finally began to split apart. The sleeves of the Sage King were blown apart, and his appearance was disheveled.
“That’s terrifying. Xuanyuan managed to set someone as experienced as the Sage King. Even the semi-xian class garment that he wore was damaged.”
“That’s right. The Sage King didn’t even have the chance to fight back in that last encounter. This goes to show that Xuanyuan’s skill at stone refinement far surpasses the Sage King.”
“That was the Sword Stone, worth 80 billion king coins.” Yuechang smiled faintly. Now that she knew that she would be compensated even if the stones were broken, she wasn’t bothered.
“Haha. Add it to the Sage King’s account. After all, he comes from a wealthy family. I’m sure it’s no issue.”
The Sage King’s eyes gleamed with a dangerous light. He thought to himself, “I never expected his skill to be such a transcendental treasure. It’s the kind of skill people seek their entire lives. I’ll definitely kill him and make the skill my own.”
The golden dragon hadn’t ceased it’s attack even now, and it continued to clash against the Sage King’s protective garment. The Sage King gathered all his strength and dispersed the net. The golden net shattered and condensed into a small star. The residual essence msyteriosuly disappeared, as if it were consumed by something.
Xuanyuan sensed that something in the darkness had absorbed the diffused essence. He was finally convinced that his guess was right.
“There must be a King source stone here.” Xuanyuan’s eyes were gleaming with a heavenly light as he laid his eyes on another source stone. It was a dense stone, and it contained a strong light. Xuanyuan simply looked away. He was solely looking for the king source stone which had hidden itself once again.
Even the Sage King had sensed this. As a veteran, he had also sensed that the essence had been swallowed by a mysterious force in the darkness. The only explanation was that it was an energy source that could consume the essence of other energy sources. He was curious to see what kind of energy source had such power.
The Sage King saw that Xuanyuan was inspecting another stone. “Hmph!” With a bright red explosion, the source stone exploded, releasing a red light that condensed itself into a pillar of fire that rushed Xuanyuan.
Xuanyuan quickly retreated, and channeled the power of the Water of Heaven, which turned into a green light and shrouded his body.
The Water of Heaven was extremely strong in such situations, especially since Xuanyuan ahd broken through to the emperor realm. He was able to use the Water of Heaven more effectively.
As the pillar of fire hit Xuanyuan’s body, the water protected him, turning the fire into steam. However, the momentum was still carried forward, pushing Xuanyuan back. In order to protect himself, Xuanyuan also had to consume a large amount of Qi.
“Instant kill.”
Xuanyuan immediately understood how the Sage King had detonated the stone. As long as one had enough strength and could communicate with the spirit contained within the source stone, they could develop the energy into a powerful killing move. If the opponent was caught by surprise, it was almost impossible to defend against. However, the skill took a massive toll on the user.
The Sage King had used this skill just once, but he was already breathing heavily. Continued usage of this skill was impossible.
Raising his eyebrows, Xuanyuan’s lips curled into a sneer as he induced changes in several stones.
The Sage King did not dare to make a move carelessly. He had activated the Five-Wheels Golden Pupil and tried to see through the source stones to figure out what stones had Xuanyuan affected. However, Xuanyuan’s modifications were deeply hidden. This put a lot of pressure on the Sage King, since he had to assume that every stone was a trap.
Xuanyuan activated his Heavenly Eyes of Acquisition and did the same. He saw that the Sage King had set up 18 source stones to explode at any time. However, he knew that he wasn’t in any immediate danger. The Sage King was no fool. The two of them were close to each other. If the Sage King detonated any stone, he could also die.
The Sage King resolved himself and confidently walked towards a source stone filled with holes. It appeared to be at the brink of collapse, and there were signs of the countless years of erosion on the source stone.
As he approached the stone, Xuanyuan stamped his foot on the ground, causing the stone to explode. Several silver awns flew out of the stone, forming a large silver insect. It had two large tusks, each sharp as a dagger. The insect rushed to tear the Sage King apart.
The Sage King immediately took out his stone cutting dagger. It flashed with a brilliant light, and the lines on the sword gleamed. It appeared that this dagger was naturally suited to restrain the power of the energy sources. The Sage King cut the silver insect into two in an instant.
Xuanyuan moved his lips slightly,a s he murmured under his breath.
“Explode.”
With a massive bang, the silver insect blew apart, and the energy of the energy source condensed into a silver lion that sought to tear everything apart.
The Sage King’s expression changed dramatically. He was shocked that Xuanyuan had such a devastating technique.
“Fragmentation by Attunement!”
Using his blood as a medium, the Sage King made 18 hand seals in succession. A blood-red pattern covered his body, and with him at the center, a protective disposition was established. A bloody general was summoned, his armour drenched with the blood of his enemies.
Xuanyuan was shocked. It seemed that he couldn’t underestimate the Sage King.
“When will the fight end? They’ve already destroyed several tens of billions worth of source stones.”
“This is the true form of a stone duel. This is the last round. If they can kill the other, they can win without even picking a source stone. Either that, or they can force the other to pick a suboptimal stone. Either way, the stronger one will win.”
“That’s right. It looks like both of them don’t want to choose a stone, rather they prefer to try and kill the other. The Sage King is usually very gentle. But he’s got a cruel character. I guess some things reveal the true nature of people.”
“A real stone duel has a high chance of death. It’s impossible for the Sage King to show mercy to Xuanyuan. Showing mercy to the enemy is a deadly mistake.”
“Ordinary people can’t even dream of gambling…”
The continuous explosions of the source stones kept releasing the essence into the air, which was immediately devoured by the mysterious force. Both Xuanyuan and the Sage king could sense the force greedily devouring the energy.”
“It’s definitely a rare and valuable energy source. It’s powerful enough to mess with the judgement of people.”
“It seems that he has been seeking this rare energy source for a long time. He’s been continuously cutting stones one after the other in order to draw out the mysterious energy. Unfortunately for him, the energy source was smart, and wasn’t tempted by him. However, in the face of all this essence, it can’t restrain itself, and it has finally appeared.”
The Sage King looked at Xuanyuan, safely protected by his bloody general.
Xuanyuan used his Heavenly Eyes of Acquisition to analyse what the Sage King had just done. It appeared that the Sage King had used his own blood to set up the disposition, integrating himself into the disposition. Presumably, the energy consumption of such a disposition was no small amount.
“Now that there are very few source stones left, the best way to win would be to figure out where the king source stone is located. As long as one can cut it open, they can win.” Xuanyuan’s eyes flashed with a sharp light. He stepped out, and casually set up a disposition to guard himself.
The Sage King was also cautious. He couldn’t carelessly approach any of the source stones anymore, since he couldn’t figure out what Xuanyuan had done to them. But even Xuanyuan couldn’t approach the stoness. Each time he tried to, the stone would explode. Luckily, the Sage King wasn’t affected by his own attacks thanks to the protective disposition he had set up.
However, the Sage King already owed over a trillion king coins. Both of them stood suspended in the air above the pool, carefully planning their next move.