Chen Tian and Shang Ling Xie Jiang looked at each other. Shang Ling Xie Jiang and Chen Tian attacked simultaneously. Instantly, two beams of light collided, and with a rumble, the shockwave spread, impacting the surrounding space and causing faint cracks to appear.
At the collision point between Chen Tian and Shang Ling Xie Jiang, their palms met. It was a pure test of physical strength with their bare hands. Chen Tian unleashed a barrage of palm strikes, creating countless phantom images. Shang Ling Xie Jiang, not to be outdone, followed suit. With a series of percussive sounds, their palms clashed repeatedly. With a thunderous boom, the shockwave dissipated, and both Chen Tian and Shang Ling Xie Jiang stepped back. Both were brimming with fighting spirit. A silver-white aura flowed from Chen Tian's body into his palms, while black evil spirit energy entered Shang Ling Xie Jiang's. Then, they both stepped forward, their figures dissolving into streaks of light.
The lights collided. Chen Tian's palms and Shang Ling Xie Jiang's palms were now imbued with different energies. Chen Tian retracted his palm and swung out, transforming his strike into a fist. With one punch, the world trembled.
Seeing Chen Tian change his attack, Shang Ling Xie Jiang promptly reacted, forming his hands into claws and swiping. Fist met claw, scraping against each other's skin. Sparks flew from their fists and claws. Believe it or not, Chen Tian and Shang Ling Xie Jiang's hands were as hard as metal.
Otherwise, how could they have sparked? Their physical toughness was incredible. The claws lunged towards Chen Tian's face. Chen Tian opened his other hand, caught the claw, and flung it away. Chen Tian said calmly, "Is that all?"
Chen Tian's fist stealthily approached Shang Ling Xie Jiang. Shang Ling Xie Jiang's eyes widened, and a hand made of black mist shot out from before him. Chen Tian's fist collided with the mist hand, unable to advance even an inch.
This was a move where Shang Ling Xie Jiang had compressed his evil spirit energy into mist. As long as Shang Ling Xie Jiang's evil spirit energy wasn't depleted, this move wouldn't dissipate. Chen Tian naturally recognized the peculiar nature of this technique.
However, for an evil spirit, it was incredibly difficult to wear down the evil spirit energy within their bodies. The evil spirit energy of the evil spirits was inexhaustible; only by shattering their origin could the production of evil spirit energy be stopped.
"Divine Lord, it seems you're out of options!"
Shang Ling Xie Jiang watched Chen Tian's fist. Chen Tian shook his head, his fist instantly opening, and a beam of light pierced through the giant mist palm. With a swoosh, the energy wave shot towards Shang Ling Xie Jiang.
By the time Shang Ling Xie Jiang reacted, the energy wave was upon him. He raised his left hand to block it. The energy wave surged forward, and Shang Ling Xie Jiang was forced to retreat. Possibly due to Shang Ling Xie Jiang being attacked, the giant palm formed from evil spirit energy before Chen Tian gradually disintegrated.
"You think I don't know the use of your evil spirit energy?"
"To control evil spirit energy, you need absolute mental focus. As long as your mind is affected, this move of yours is useless against me."
Chen Tian spoke with an air of arrogance. No one understood evil spirits better than he did. In his previous life, he had spent a considerable amount of time battling them, and he was well aware of their combat methods. Shang Ling Xie Jiang's current move was merely a probe.
This was Chen Tian and Shang Ling Xie Jiang's initial plan. To engage in a full-power assault without understanding the opponent's capabilities was foolish. When strengths were evenly matched, one had to probe the opponent's strengths and weaknesses, find vulnerabilities, and then seize an opportunity for a fatal blow.
It could be said that combat was not just mindless fighting; fighting without thinking was simply foolish!
Chen Tian and Shang Ling Xie Jiang were not such fools. However, from their initial probes, neither had discerned much. The probing had to continue. Chen Tian hadn't fully understood Shang Ling Xie Jiang's hidden strengths, and he dared not proceed without careful calculation. There was always the risk of the unforeseen.
Who knew if Shang Ling Xie Jiang had any trump cards? Chen Tian was cautious, and Shang Ling Xie Jiang felt the same. After all, Chen Tian's strength had reached his level. Shang Ling Xie Jiang did not dare to go all out without fully understanding Chen Tian's true strength.
Chen Tian stepped forward and threw a punch. The punch blurred and instantly appeared before Shang Ling Xie Jiang. Shang Ling Xie Jiang clenched his fists and threw them out in succession, leading to a series of collisions.
Chen Tian's fist met Shang Ling Xie Jiang's. Chen Tian pulled back his arms and threw a left hook. Shang Ling Xie Jiang ducked down, evading it. Shang Ling Xie Jiang struck out with his palm, aiming for Chen Tian's abdomen. Chen Tian brought his right arm forward, his palm clenched into a fist, while his left hand extended two fingers, piercing forward.
Shang Ling Xie Jiang dodged to the left, evading the finger attack. His figure flickered, and he appeared behind Chen Tian, striking out with both palms, which were entwined with black energy, frightening and sinister.
Chen Tian spread his wings behind him, and powerful gusts of wind flowed backward. The wind roared, impeding Shang Ling Xie Jiang's punch. The rushing air currents disrupted Shang Ling Xie Jiang's movement. His figure suddenly appeared and then vanished from behind Chen Tian.
Chen Tian sensed a radiant light resonating within his mind, a perception of the world. Even at extreme speeds and with concealed auras, his perception of the world was unhindered.
Chen Tian somersaulted five times, the space shattering repeatedly. Chen Tian struck out with his palms. There was nothing in front of him, but the moment his palms struck, two black fists emerged, sending waves of air surging and spreading. Shang Ling Xie Jiang's figure appeared amidst the impact of the airwaves.
"You have some skill. Even my stealth technique was ineffective."
"You're still too green. If it were an Evil Spirit Emperor using this move, I might not have found them. But you..."
"Boasting. Our Emperor is not someone you can look down upon."
"Oh really? But you are merely a defeated foe!"
Chen Tian and Shang Ling Xie Jiang retreated together. Chen Tian retracted his wings. Shang Ling Xie Jiang and Chen Tian clashed again. The battle raged on, both engaging in pure hand-to-hand combat, locked in an intense struggle.
Both Chen Tian and Shang Ling Xie Jiang were shocked by their opponent. After this much probing, fighting with bare hands, they couldn't find any weaknesses. Shang Ling Xie Jiang, as a high-ranking evil general who had fought for eons, had his combat experience compensate for his shortcomings.
Chen Tian, relying on his powerful mental calculation abilities, was incredibly precise in assessing the battle situation, leaving no detail overlooked. What would the opponent's next move be, where would they attack from, what actions would they take, how would they defend – countless scenarios formed in his mind. These visions allowed Chen Tian to face Shang Ling Xie Jiang without any exploitable flaws.
Chen Tian did have a weakness: his combat experience was far inferior to Shang Ling Xie Jiang's. However, his powerful calculation ability compensated for this shortcoming. The scenarios he calculated in his mind extended hundreds of moves ahead, showing the clashes of their hands and feet.
From the earlier collisions to the present ones, everything was unfolding according to his calculations.
Chen Tian parried Shang Ling Xie Jiang's arms and swung his clenched fists, striking directly at Shang Ling Xie Jiang's chest. Shang Ling Xie Jiang reacted swiftly, crossing his palms to block his chest. Fist met palm, and Shang Ling Xie Jiang was sent flying back several dozen meters.
Chen Tian remained in place, then flickered forward, appearing above Shang Ling Xie Jiang. His hand chopped down from above, covered in airflow that formed silver sword tips, piercing towards Shang Ling Xie Jiang's head.
As Shang Ling Xie Jiang steadied himself, he knew Chen Tian wouldn't miss this opportunity. He condensed all his evil spirit energy into his left fist and unleashed a punch, radiating light—silver airflow against black smoke.
Chen Tian moved to the side of the explosion zone and said, "Such terrifying evil spirit energy. Is this the aura of an ancient evil general?"
Chen Tian had calculated this move for a considerable time. Shang Ling Xie Jiang was unharmed. It seemed he needed to incorporate the ancient evil general's evil spirit energy into his calculations. Chen Tian had initially believed this move would injure Shang Ling Xie Jiang, but unexpectedly, the ancient evil general's bloodline had amplified Shang Ling Xie Jiang's evil spirit aura, increasing its power.
Chen Tian was confident that if Shang Ling Xie Jiang's aura hadn't been amplified, he wouldn't have withstood that attack and would have suffered a minor injury.
"Kid, I admit I underestimated you. If not for the ancient evil general's aura, you would have been at a disadvantage. But thankfully..."
Shang Ling Xie Jiang appeared unharmed. Chen Tian's previous attack was not fatal to Shang Ling Xie Jiang, but even a minor injury could affect the course of the battle. Shang Ling Xie Jiang felt a sense of crisis from Chen Tian's hand blade and sword tip, compelling him to activate the ancient evil general's aura within him, slightly increasing the power of his evil spirit energy.
Once this aura was used, Shang Ling Xie Jiang's bloodline would gradually diminish. The more he used it, the greater the depletion of his bloodline, potentially leading to the loss of this bloodline.
High-ranking evil generals were called "high-ranking" because ancient evil generals' blood flowed within them.
In essence, the bloodline of ancient evil generals was their identity. If their bloodline disappeared, they would be expelled from the ranks of high-ranking evil generals.
High-ranking evil generals were few. Shang Ling Xie Jiang would not use it unless facing a critical moment.
"Enough. Do you still want to probe? Our probing has been ineffective. Let's get serious!"
Chen Tian said dismissively. In Chen Tian's eyes, Shang Ling Xie Jiang was destined to lose, no matter how he fought. Chen Tian believed he would win and was already calculating the next round in his mind.
"Fine, there's indeed no need. I admit I'm slightly inferior to you in unarmed combat, but your luck won't hold out much longer."
Shang Ling Xie Jiang's eyes seemed to transform, and he clenched his left hand, producing a black staff.
Chen Tian conjured the red and blue Qiankun Saber, gripping it with both hands. This time, they would fight seriously—a battle of weapons.
Fighting unarmed, they couldn't find each other's flaws or weaknesses. Thus, it was a weapon fight. In weapon combat, even a slight misstep could put one at a disadvantage. Weapon combat emphasized experience and understanding of the weapon.
Shang Ling Xie Jiang smirked. He intended to slay Chen Tian with his weapon. He had wielded his staff, his weapon, for several eons and had long since mastered it. He had no doubt that Chen Tian would be no match for him.
Shang Ling Xie Jiang was confident. Chen Tian wielded the Qiankun Saber. If Chen Tian had used a long sword, Shang Ling Xie Jiang would have been slightly wary, as the Divine Lord had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship in his previous life. He had never encountered the Qiankun Saber before and certainly couldn't be his opponent.
"Divine Lord, have you given up? Where is your life-bound long sword?"
Shang Ling Xie Jiang taunted. Chen Tian pouted, "I don't need a long sword to deal with you!"
"Arrogant! Then prepare to die by my staff!"