Shin Xuanji frowned. This was the first truly expressive emotion on his face since this fight had begun. In truth, he was in his strongest state, with an upper-level Dao empowering his dual cultivation base, yet Yan Zaizen had matched him in terms of aura and combat prowess. In their brief exchange earlier, he had lost.
Yan Zaizen's swift and decisive strike completely toppled his own solid and forceful style. Each of his actions carried an inherent dominance. Therefore, it felt as if every strike would take a life. It was a harrowing experience to be at the receiving end.
However, with his Dao, he remained fierce and fearsome, unaffected by Yan Zaizen's daunting aura and actions.
A slight grin tugged at his lips.
Yan Zaizen had accumulated his powers. He had discovered that his Herculean Physique lacked form, but it could take any form. This was a miraculous discovery that enabled endless possibilities. Before, he had only faintly grasped the Samsara Power of his Herculean Physique that resulted from the combination of Life, Death, and Soul. It was tiny and hadn't fully developed with his original body.
However, this inkling of power that hadn't developed to the current him was the perfect sample to mimic.
"Your Dao, your dual Fourth Floor Heavenly Shrines, Rank Five Fiendgod Body, and Sovereign-level concepts are quite impressive." Yan Zaizen softly spoke in praise. This was the first words they've exchanged since their initial words.
Shin Xuanji's eyes brightened as his heart shook. Yan Zaizen had accurately determined his cultivation base off a small exchange. This type of perception was fearsome. However, from Yan Zaizen, he expected nothing less.
The only issue was that he had no idea how Yan Zaizen was drawing upon such godly strength. His vital energies lacked an attribute, while the intensity of his energies was far lesser than his own. Even Yan Zaizen's Dao Light wasn't as powerful as his own.
This was a truth that even Yan Zaizen wouldn't deny. He only possessed a Heavenly Dao Seed, a fragment of his Dao of Sovereign Ascension. However, it was a Dao Heart and infused with Heavenly Will. Not only did it have room for growth, but its current powers were only a little lacking in comparison to Shin Xuanji's full-fledged Dao.
Shin Xuanji didn't respond, only calmly regarded Yan Zaizen while his aura seemed to stem from the physical manifestation of a grand, blood-filled, death-drenched battlefield.
The Heavenly Fiendgod Art: Bloody Slaughter of the End was truly his strongest state. His sanguine and bone-white robes coupled with his handsome looks and ferocious Dao of Sovereign Slaughter made him seem like the legitimate God of War.
"Mm," Yan Zaizen had prepared enough. He fully delved into his mimicry powers and tapped into its most profound ability. He had spoken only to get a brief moment of respite as he regulated his comprehension and memory of the Samsara Power from before. Now, he felt its power transform within his heart.
Herculean Avatar Art: Endless Samsara Form!
His eyes became a swirling mass of lights, cyan, white, black, and they intermixed until it became an indistinguishable color that was all of them yet none of them. It brought logical comprehension and mortals could no longer grasp its profound existence. This was the power that was derived from the Imperial Law of Samsara!
Yan Zaizen felt his lifeforce, deathly aura, and soulforce reach an unfathomable degree. He removed his limiter and brought his aura to the absolute natural maximum without mimicry powers disguising it.
Boom!
Shin Xuanji's eyes constricted. A surging wave of life, death, soul, and a concept that seemed to resemble reincarnation, transmigration, rebirth, and faintly eternity of the soul battered his mind. He felt overwhelmed.
What is this?! He wanted to explain these three words but found himself unable to.
"Ahhh!" He shouted, his blood, bone, heavenly, and vital energies erupted from the truest depths of his cultivation base. In moments, he regained himself. He looked at Yan Zaizen in shock, only to witness his eyes containing the endless cycle of a soul.
He saw his soul's life in those eyes. He saw his soul's inevitable demise in those eyes. He saw his journey in those eyes!!
Shin Xuanji felt as if he would lose his mind. He hastily brought forth his Dao Energy to reinforce his mind and soul, shut his eyes, and only then did he alleviate the effects of that gaze.
Yan Zaizen's eyes were effusing boundless Samsara Power as various esoteric markings etched themselves on his skin. His body had taken on the physical form of what Samsara would be. He was life, death, soul, journey, end, and beginning. It was incredible.
His gaze lifted and he felt it. His entire being felt it. Samsara Power felt similar to Herculean Power. It drew its entire strength from a True Origin. As his gaze peered out into the endless dark void, he felt as if he penetrated it all and found an image.
It felt as if his gaze zoomed through all barriers and entered an unfathomable chasm buried beneath the folds of the Thirty-Three Heavens.
"Hell?" He frowned. Only now did he remember that when he grasped an understanding of the Law of Samsara, he was met with an image of a man. This image was of a robed figure that seemed to be at the center of a universe.
Was this universe hell?
Did the Imperial Law of Samsara originate from hell?! These thoughts brought him to the figure that nearly took his life, nearly took Ezekiel's life, and brought Pinaka away. In the Heavenly Origin Grounds, he met three gigantic humanoid figures that seemed to embody the three Imperial Laws he comprehended.
The one that matched with the Law of Samsara had the same appearance as that man.
Bark! Bark! Bark!!
Abruptly, he felt a twitch of his ears as he was about to peer deeper into hell. He heard the barking of a dog. His left drew away, looking down at the tumultuous auras of his and Shin Xuanji that continuously clashed, crushing and bending space.
On the Xiantu Continent, a snow-white puppy was barking towards the sky, its pure black eyes were no longer black, but felt as if it was nothing but purity. His heart quaked.
Before he could think further, a whooshing sound shattered his Herculean eardrums. Shin Xuanji had taken action. His fist wreathed in power, he smashed it forth with vicious momentum.
Yan Zaizen had entered his Endless Samsara Form, so he didn't block this fist. It enlarged until it smashed into his fist. His head exploded like a watermelon hit with a grenade launcher. A vast amount of rippling blood and heavenly might crushed his flesh, bone, and blood.
In moments, his entire body was smashed into bits.
Shin Xuanji paused. His eyes flashed an unnatural light as uncertainty and a hint of fear entered his gaze. He didn't believe that that strike of his would kill Yan Zaizen so easily! His heart was in chaos. He felt even Yan Zaizen's soul disperse.
However, Yan Zaizen had already drawn upon the unnatural recovery prowess of his new form. In a literal blink of an eye, he flashed into existence to Shin Xuanji's right. With a tightly clenched fist, he similarly smashed his fist forward.
Shin Xuanji couldn't even register events as a vast, imperious force touched his right cheek, his jaw, blood, and skin rupturing into boundless rivers of blood and bone dust.
His body flew ten thousand meters into the Border Expanse. The momentum was impossible to halt as a majority of his face and head had been demolished. However, his recovery ability wasn't anything to laugh at.
His blood reformed, his bones regrew, and his flesh was replaced thanks to his vital energies. By the time he stopped, his head had repaired, including his hair, and his handsome appearance was restored.
However, Yan Zaizen didn't allow him time to breathe. He pressed the assault. With a step, he arrived like a flash of light above Shin Xuanji. With a sharp, direct stomp, he aimed for Shin Xuanji's head.
A sense of deathly crisis emerged in Shin Xuanji's heart. His eyes constricted, and he erupted with boundless waves of power, defensively creating a ward of bone and blood.
Yan Zaizen found his stomp smashing into a hundred thousand feet of river and blood, constantly splitting, but it took merely a moment before he broke through this and met Shin Xuanji's head. Luckily for him, the force behind this stomp was reduced.
Boom!
His head sunk into his torso, cracks at the top of his skull, and blood spewing endlessly creating more and more rivers while pieces of his skull transformed into sharp spears piercing toward Yan Zaizen.
Yan Zaizen found himself wading through the rivers of blood with continuous swipes of his palms, while his legs stomped to turn the bone spears into dust.
Shin Xuanji retreated, using his injury to supplement his defensive efforts.
Yan Zaizen clicked his tongue as his assault was impeded. Those who comprehended the laws of bone and blood were insidiously difficult to deal with. Unless one can instantly obliterate their souls, they can use every injury for offense and defense. Furthermore…
The crushed bones and split rivers regathered, regained their forms, and redoubled their efforts to attack Yan Zaizen.
Quite tedious. Yan Zaizen couldn't help but think as he withdrew his defense and allowed the rivers of blood and spears of bones to bombard his body until he was completely engulfed. His skin instantly degraded into nothing, his blood absorbed, and his bone crushed into power. His physical body vanished.
Shin Xuanji felt his attack end Yan Zaizen's body and soul. This feeling was as clear as day. However, before he could gather his perception to inspect, his eyes constricted. Yan Zaizen had instantly appeared on his left like a ghost with a vicious round kick aiming to shatter his skull in one go.
He instinctively used his arms to block, but in a matter of a single blink of an eye, his arms were rendered useless and directly bypassed to smash into his face. It was as if his arms were rubber, unable to block the immense strength Yan Zaizen possessed.
Shin Xuanji was appalled. He was sent flying tens of thousands of feet away with his skull even more damaged than before. However, this time, a faint trace of power seemed to have infiltrated his bone, blood, vital energies, and heavenly might!
It...it was...consuming his strength!
Before he could conceive anything, Yan Zaizen had arrived, once more having been destroyed by his defensive attacks, and smashed his fist straight through his torso. It crushed his ribs and shattered his spine as his bottom half was rendered useless.
"Ahhh!" His mind screamed in immense pain as the power in his body was consumed continuously. It didn't simply stop at his cultivation base, but was affecting his soul as well!
Before he could try to assess the situation and this mysterious power, Yan Zaizen was once more killed. However, this time it wasn't due to his defensive means. He had learned and withdrawn those to give himself some time to think, but it was useless. Yan Zaizen was obliterated by his aura!
Woosh!
Yan Zaizen flashed into existence right behind him. He felt his aura and presence the moment he did. His scalp went numb and his heart was actually shaking with shock.
"You win, Junior Brother Zai!" Shin Xuanji shouted with all his might.