"The Heavenly Path is far weaker in this area…" Yan Zaizen deduced. The masked man had a heavenly cultivation base, but he hadn't tapped into it once. Only after a while did Yan Zaizen realize that heavenly laws couldn't be used here effectively. The inability to connect to the heavenly laws meant its strength was quickly reduced to the Force level.
The manifestation level was to be able to draw power from the true law within the heavens. The domain level wasn't much different nor was the sovereign level.
Even with his heavenly might, it was only a minuscule amount of strength he could evoke. Attributed heavenly might wasn't the same as the energy drawn from the heavens, being far weaker in comparison.
"What do you want?!" Yan Zaizen sent a soul transmission. This battle was only displaying one fact: they were mostly equal. If they continued, who truly lives and dies was as predictable as the date the heavens will fall.
Boom!
The masked man replied with his sword. He pierced forward, his blade point aiming at Yan Zaizen's glabella.
"Fine!" Yan Zaizen hefted Sky Shatter and pressed forward. Their figures' immediately intersected, the crushing sounds of a hammer and slicing whistle of a sword resounded.
Rumbling sounds boomed constantly. In a second's worth of time, thousands of blows were exchanged at lightning-like speeds. Between which there was frequent roars of a bestial nature or a collision of two metallic weapons.
This continued for hours.
Boom!
Yan Zaizen retreated, his eyes were filled with a somber calmness. The Sirius Slaughter Robe was unharmed, but his arm inside it wasn't; his left arm had vanished from his shoulder entirely. Within his right hand was Sky Shatter with its shaft leaned against his right shoulder.
The masked man wasn't much better, retreating as well. His left leg had vanished, it even faintly extended to his lower torso.
Despite this, they were both calm. A second later, their missing limbs were restored. Both in shocking ways. Yan Zaizen's body suffused intense lifeforce, reconstructing his arm naturally as if it was just a tiny cut, the cells regrowing entirely from the stump. There was no difference in its strength or meridians.
The masked man's leg didn't heal. It would be better to say it was created. As if his body had taken a print of his leg and pasted it on his body. An exact replica recreated from nothing but self-created cells.
"...A Herculean…" This was not the first time they exchanged limbs or even a portion of their bodies. This masked man had the same method as him - Immortal Herculean Method, but it was refined with a different regalia.
It was the Regalia of Creation, a top-tier World Law on the same level as Life and Death.
"Who are you?" At this point, he was seriously questioning what this was. There was even thoughts of retreating. The sword in this masked man's hands equaled the Sirius Slaughter Robe in quality, might even exceed it slightly, while their daos and physiques were a complete match.
It was like fighting himself.
Even the act of disregarding his own injuries offered no advantage, his enemy taking the same route.
There were even faint signs of him losing. In terms of physical speed, he dominated thanks to the robe, but this masked man's strength was mind-boggling! If it wasn't for the defensive quality of the robe, his loss was already set in stone.
The true issue was the energy consumption for Sky Shatter and the Sirius Slaughter Robe. They can be used by any energy source, but it still needed an energy source. His reserves were disastrously low. If this continued…
The masked man didn't seem to care, he stepped forward and once more engaged Yan Zaizen in a brutal melee. "You want to whittle me down...without an energy source, I can't heal or use my Origin Armaments. Then I'll be easy to kill." Yan Zaizen's brows lifted, but he still advanced with a dauntless stride.
Boom!
Another collision ended and more limbs were lost in that exchanged. As they parted to heal, Yan Zaizen looked around for an opportunity to escape. It wouldn't take much to enter the 7th Heaven. The only issue was where he may end up if he does, his previous location lost in the melee and lack of distinction.
Wait!
His False Grand Dao avatar housed within his soul trembled ever-so-slightly but this tremor was far more powerful than any before. His thoughts imbued uncertainty and weakness, characteristics unbecoming of a sovereign.
If he were to retreat here, wouldn't he always retreat in the fact of near equals? Was that who he was? His dao may as well not exist in that case.
"I won't lose here." His eyes blazed with a tenacious and unyieling fire, and his back stood straighter and aura more stable. He kept Sky Shatter in the Meteor Ring.
The masked man saw Yan Zaizen shift in stance and aura, his eyes narrowing. He planned to whittle Yan Zaizen down till he was sucked dry pf any energy. After all, killing an Immortal Herculean, even if hasn't reached the 5th Level, was as difficult as ascending the heavens!
At their current level, their ability to heal extended to their entire body, including their hearts and brains. This meant the only way to truly kill them was to continuously waste away their energy, destroy their physical existence in one go or dissipate their souls.
Boom!
With his limbs healed, he advanced once more with a startling momentum. However, Yan Zaizen didn't move nor withdraw his Sky Shatter. Instead, he flipped his palms and turned them towards the masked man.
"What?" The masked man became rapidly vigilant, his speed slowing down and his strike wasn't fully launched, his actions dominated by caution. This would afford him time to act in case of a drastic change to the situation.
Yan Zaizen's palms rotated.
No.
The center of his palms rotated.
No.
The world of nothingness rotated around the center of his palms. It was an odd feeling, watching nothing so vividly be drawn into a spiral. It was like a mortal watching air move in a normal environment. You can't visibly see it, but you know its happening. Sometimes, you feel it too.
The masked man's heart thumped so loudly that Yan Zaizen heard it. Those two palms manifested a black hole at its center. This black holes started to spiral. It seemed slow, but it was in actuality remarkably fast! Before the sword could arrive, it had already rotated over a million times.
Yan Zaizen's eyes were like two suns, emitting dense excitement.
His soul bloodline!
If the black hole at his glabella referenced the heavens or essence, then his eyes represented the sky or spiritual and his palms represented the earth or physical! To devour, consume, and exceed!
Witnessing this, the masked man retreated with a booming kick off. His eyes contained a deep fear that originated from his soul, maybe even down to his core existence. However, despite his quick retreat, his face felt lighter.
Touching his face with his hands, his eyes widened.
"...You...You're…" Yan Zaizen saw this face and felt startled. The mask this man wore was in his palms. He tried to devour it, but it seemed he couldn't. It's possible this mask had traces of physicality within, but most of it was like spiritual or essence related. Thus,it was attracted but not devoured. As he held the mask, it was like holding an illusion. It flickered like a fading ghost.
However, what truly concerned him was the man before him, or should he say youth? This person was remarkably young, his face slender and elegant with handsomeness that rivaled or even exceeded Yan Zaizen by a tad bit. His eyes were brilliantly silver with waist length black hair.
His physique held similarities to his face, slim and elegant, yet oddly explosive.
Woosh!
Behind the youth's back, a pair of silver wings unfurled as if they were no longer hidden from the world. It was angelic yet tyrannical and imposing. It almost seem as if it was refined by his Dao, gaining the traits of a sovereign's dominance. If a weaker individual gazed at these wings, they would feel as if their lives were no longer their own.
"Who...are you?" Yan Zaizen was startled. He had no idea who this face belonged to. He had no idea what race he even belonged to! If so, why did he follow him all the way here to fight?
The youth eyes slowly regained their normal calm, no longer displaying a hint of fear. Yet, he didn't dare to approach Yan Zaizen again. For the first time since he arrived, he soul transmitted words, "Give me the compass."
"..."