Book 4, Chapter 98: A Killing Blow

The flowers around Ling Jianxing started hissing, and their stems started slithering along the branch like snakes toward Chen Chuan.

They were Flowers of Confusion that grew in the merged space. The name implied that they weren’t all that aggressive, but this was a violent plant that preyed on medium- and small-sized creatures. Their spores could also affect senses and minds.

The flowers around them weren’t real. However, in the illusory world created by Hongfu, they had the real thing’s effects.

Chen Chuan immediately sensed his second self fading even more, and it wasn’t from him enduring Hongfu’s refined force.

If Ling Jianxing could create these flowers, then he could absolutely create other things too. As long as he had domain resources, he could keep going, and he was the vice chancellor’s vice assistant with the highest authority. It was likely that he could use most of the university’s domain resources.

Hence, Chen Chuan couldn’t drag this fight out. He had to finish it soon.

After blocking another attack from Hongfu, he noticed that her strength and speed had increased by a little bit, even though it had only been a short while since their fight started.

As he stared into Hongfu’s cold eyes, he realized that if Hongfu attacked without holding back, he wouldn’t be able to win. Her true strength should be above the Third Limit.

Besides, even if he killed this version of Hongfu, as long as her true body was around and her mind wasn’t destroyed, she could form another image.

In other words, Chen Chuan wouldn’t be able to win like this. It was no wonder why Ling Jianxing had chosen to fight him here. It seemed like he was really intent on killing him.

But since Chen Chuan had dared to step foot here, he had made some preparations himself. Besides, he had often run through simulations in his head on what he should do if he ever had to fight against Hongfu for real.

He had his second self withstand all the unseen damage from the domain, thus removing himself from resonating with it.

It felt like he had stepped out of the fight.

In Ling Jianxing’s eyes, Hongfu’s saber came at Chen Chuan, but when it touched him, the blade went straight through him, as if his body had turned into an illusion. She cut into nothing.

Chen Chuan looked around. He was still standing in the hanging garden, but all the sights from before, including the Tree of True Forms, the exotic flowers, and even Hongfu, had vanished.

Even Ling Jianxing was gone from where he originally stood.

At that moment, it was as if Chen Chuan was the only person in the hanging garden.

This was the first time he observed a domain and the people in it from the outside, and he came to a quick understanding. Once a person entered a domain created by an active biosentient entity, it was like going to another dimension. That was why the simulated things felt and looked so real.

Right now, the only active biosentient entities he knew who could do this were the Fu-Mu Entity and Hongfu.

Between the two, Hongfu was better at fighting.

If Chen Chuan stayed like this, it would be the same as him stepping out of the domain. Hongfu and Ling Jianxing wouldn’t be able to defeat him, but he would also be unable to take Ling Jianxing down.

He could probably leave if he wanted. Even if Hongfu got out of the domain she created to continue fighting him, as long as she didn’t start fighting with her true strength, Chen Chuan could escape.

But Ling Jianxing had opened a tunnel to the merged space, which meant that he was prepared to retreat regardless of whether he succeeded in killing Chen Chuan or not. This meant that if he didn’t kill Ling Jianxing today, the man was going to disappear.

Since Ling Jianxing had already shown that he was an enemy, Chen Chuan wasn’t about to let him go, so Chen Chuan resonated with the domain again and stepped inside once more. He returned to his original position and saw the huge Tree of True Forms once more, along with Ling Jianxing and the saber that just passed through his body.

He didn’t even look at Hongfu as she passed by him. Chen Chuan ducked a little, grabbed the Frost King Saber’s hilt, and fixed his eyes on Ling Jianxing. The sturdy branch underneath him shattered when he stomped on it.

The entire world slowed down.

The shattered tree bark and splinters flew out, while Chen Chuan leaned forward and dashed toward Ling Jianxing.

Hongfu landed behind him. With a spin, the red tassel on her saber fluttered as the blade went for the back of Chen Chuan’s neck. There was no pause in her attack, and her movements were beautiful.

Even so, Chen Chuan’s eyes remained fixed on Ling Jianxing, and he did not bother to turn around to block the attack. He stepped out of resonation with the domain, so when the saber passed through his body, it only cut into thin air. After avoiding the slash, he resonated with the domain once more and stepped inside. To the others, it was as if his body had flickered.

As he rushed forward, his sheath remained suspended in the air as the Frost King Saber was drawn out inch by inch. Wisps of flowing light spilled out of the blade.

Several steps later, a loud bang rose, and a shockwave rang out around him.

Hongfu caught up again, but every time she swung her saber, she only cut through the air. While Chen Chuan dashed forward at full speed, the red light resembling Hongfu kept flashing around him like a red ribbon.

Chen Chuan kept seeing two different worlds switching before his eyes. Sometimes, he was in a deserted hanging garden, and at other times, he was in a world filled with exotic creatures and plants.

But he kept his eyes glued to the same spot. Once the Frost King Saber had been drawn fully, its sharp tip went swinging forward.

Ling Jianxing noticed Chen Chuan charging over completely unaffected by Hongfu, and his eyes widened. Even though he could change the terrain and environment around him at will, Chen Chuan was too fast. He didn’t even have the time to send a message outside.

He twisted his waist, and a mace attached to a chain appeared in his hand. With the momentum generated from the twist, he flung his arm forward, and the mace tore through the air with a loud bang toward the center of Chen Chuan’s brow.

Chen Chuan didn’t dodge it. He brought the Frost King Saber and hit the mace to send it flying. Despite this hiccup, his speed didn’t decrease, and his arm never wavered.

At that moment, he narrowed his eyes and released all the restraints over his mutated tissue so that he became even faster, so much so that he even outsped Hongfu chasing after him, which caused her to miss her strike. He left behind an afterimage and instantly arrived in front of his target.

Ling Jianxing had wanted to hold Chen Chuan back for a bit, but he couldn’t do it. He no longer even had time to think.

He brought up the short sword attached to the end of the chain and parried the Frost King Saber. Clearly, it was also a mutated weapon. When they clashed, the refined forces within entered both of their bodies.

The thick branch under Ling Jianxing shattered, and tree bark flew everywhere. The refined force he used was known as the Illusion Piercing Void and had both offensive and defensive capabilities. When hostile refined force entered his body, as long as his body was in contact with another object or his feet were rooted, he could send most of the hostile refined force out so that he remained unhurt.

When he exchanged blows with an enemy, he could also focus all of his refined force in one area and send out several times its original power, which was extremely suited to maces. The short sword and mace were a set, and he could use them with familiar ease, which allowed him to display his strength fully.

As for Chen Chuan, since he had his second self endure Ling Jianxing’s refined force, he wasn’t affected in the slightest and didn’t even bother to neutralize it. Instead, he focused all of his energy onto attacking. This wasn’t a normal fight, so he didn’t have to think about anything else. All he had to do was to deliver another attack immediately after the first.

Even though Ling Jianxing only had to endure a tiny bit of refined force during the first exchange, Chen Chuan could tell that he was lacking in strength. Even so, he was able to catch up to Chen Chuan’s speed and managed to block another attack.

When he moved, Chen Chuan could see bursts of tiny red droplets come out of his skin, which meant that Ling Jianxing was most likely using some kind of secret technique or had taken some kind of drug to stimulate his potential.

Chen Chuan wasn’t going to give him the time to get stronger. After the second attack, his breathing turned hot as he activated the Furnace Breathing Technique. White smoke rose from him, and in an instant, he became stronger.

Being faster by just a tiny degree in fights at their level was enough to determine the winner. Technique, skill, and refined forces became secondary. Pure strength and speed was used to determine who was stronger.

The thick branch under Ling Jianxing’s feet was unable to bear their fighting any longer and snapped with a loud crack.

Ling Jianxing remained calm, because he wanted this to happen. After the first exchange of attacks, he could tell that he wasn’t going to be able to endure Chen Chuan’s strikes for much longer, so he transferred all the refined force to the same spot under his feet. Once the branch shattered, he would get an opportunity to retreat.

As he fell, he twisted his waist and yanked at the chain attached to the mace and short sword.

The mace tore through the air and went straight for the back of Chen Chuan’s head. At the same time, Hongfu caught up. Her goose-quill saber went for Chen Chuan’s neck. If he didn’t pull back, he was going to get hit.

But at that moment, Chen Chuan’s eyes shone, and his saber glowed. With a twist of his waist, he swung his saber at lightning speed past Ling Jianxing’s body, and a head flew off.

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