In the universe, Chen Tian and Zhou Tian were desperately fighting. Their battle had reached an intense state, with constant clashes as they gradually familiarized themselves with the power within them, having mastered about thirty percent. Zhou Tian also noticed Chen Tian slowly gaining control of his strength. Although this was somewhat within Zhou Tian's expectations, Chen Tian's speed in mastering the power was astonishing. They had only been fighting for a few minutes, and Chen Tian had already grasped a portion of his strength. As Chen Tian became more accustomed to the power within him, dealing with Zhou Tian became much easier, no longer as strenuous as before.
Chen Tian was certain that once he fully mastered his power, he would be no match for Zhou Tian. Although they were at the same level, Chen Tian could sense that Zhou Tian's internal energy was significantly lower than his own. If he hadn't been unable to fully control his strength yet, losing a part of his power with every move, Chen Tian wouldn't have been at a disadvantage. In their continuous exchanges, Zhou Tian's fists, imbued with immense power, struck with extreme speed. Chen Tian crossed his arms, energy covering them, forming an energy gauntlet that protected his arms. Upon receiving Zhou Tian's punch, Chen Tian was pushed back a few steps.
If it were before, Chen Tian would not have chosen to defend in this manner. With improved control over his strength, Chen Tian could now achieve a complete defensive state. Previously, lacking control over his strength, his defense was unpredictable, fluctuating, and he dared not take the risk. Now, he could. With thirty percent of his strength mastered, even with some power loss during defense, that thirty percent was enough to fully contend with Zhou Tian's attacks. At most, Chen Tian would only be pushed back a few steps.
Seeing Chen Tian effortlessly withstand his attack, Zhou Tian's expression turned serious. He knew he couldn't delay. Chen Tian's threat was greater than he had anticipated. Zhou Tian's body trembled, and a set of armor materialized on him. The black armor, adorned with spiked pauldrons and black patterns, had unique rhomboid crystals on the back of the leg guards. In front of the chest plate was an emblem of a black flower.
Chen Tian observed Zhou Tian, recognizing that the armor did not originate from this universe. The aura emanating from it was entirely different from the cosmic energy. The universe seemed to be repelling it, but as Zhou Tian's aura intensified, this repulsion vanished. Standing before Chen Tian, Zhou Tian made Chen Tian instantly understand why he could exist in this universe despite not belonging to it – it was all due to his aura.
His aura created an illusion for the universe. Chen Tian couldn't describe what kind of aura it was. What Chen Tian didn't know was that beings at the transcended level could exist in any universe without being repelled. Chen Tian was unaware of these matters. With the armor, Zhou Tian's strength and aura surged by seventy percent. Zhou Tian took a step forward and, with a swoosh, appeared before Chen Tian. Chen Tian was compelled to throw a punch. He had already calculated this scenario. His fist collided with Zhou Tian's palm with a bang, and Chen Tian was once again forced back. Chen Tian hadn't expected that an armor could increase Zhou Tian's strength so drastically.
Fortunately, Chen Tian could still cope. He forcefully stabilized the chaotic energy within his body. The previous collision had caused some internal injuries, but Chen Tian managed to contain them without them erupting. His powerful regenerative abilities allowed his wounds to heal.
Seeing Chen Tian at a disadvantage, Zhou Tian decisively attacked, unleashing hundreds of illusory palm strikes that enveloped Chen Tian's vision. Chen Tian, facing this onslaught, had no retreat. All other escape routes were blocked, leaving him with no choice but to confront it head-on. Chen Tian threw punch after punch, a hundred fists against a hundred palms. The exchange was incredibly fierce, ending with an explosion. As the blast dissipated, Chen Tian's clothes were tattered, and he had sustained some injuries, with a few palm illusions still hitting him.
Chen Tian's strength still fell far short of his opponent's. Zhou Tian, seeing that he hadn't defeated Chen Tian, grew increasingly anxious. This was his only opportunity. If he failed to eliminate Chen Tian this time, he didn't know when he would get another chance to strike. A spear appeared in Zhou Tian's hand. It was a silver spear, its tip needle-sharp, round and slender. The silver spear was about eight feet long. He swung it, carving a beautiful arc through the air.
Chen Tian saw Zhou Tian using a weapon and panicked. Zhou Tian was also anxious, or he wouldn't have resorted to a weapon so quickly, especially since their battle had just begun. Chen Tian couldn't understand why Zhou Tian was in such a hurry. He was going all out from the first strike, not even bothering to test Chen Tian's capabilities. It seemed he was desperate to finish Chen Tian off as quickly as possible. Chen Tian didn't quite grasp it. Despite enduring this long, Chen Tian hadn't noticed anything unusual about Zhou Tian.
Energy converged in Chen Tian's hands, forming twin blades. With the blades in hand, Chen Tian adopted a stance and unleashed four or five consecutive slashes. Light flashed, and Zhou Tian swung his spear, deflecting the incoming blade energy with a few spear shadows, causing both to shatter. Zhou Tian showed surprise and then spoke, "This life, do you favor dual blades? Does your true form still prefer the longsword as before?"
"In this life, I am me. What does it matter if I like dual blades or longswords?"
Chen Tian replied coldly. Zhou Tian and Chen Tian clashed. With dual blades, Chen Tian's strength increased significantly, which somewhat shocked Zhou Tian. After all, he had been able to suppress Chen Tian before. Now, with weapons, they were evenly matched. Was it possible that Chen Tian was strongest when wielding weapons?
It was important to remember that in his first life, Chen Tian had only used the longsword as a weapon and had no prior experience with swordsmanship. In this life, he was so difficult to deal with. And this was not even with a longsword. It seemed Chen Tian's dual-blade skills had been honed through countless battles.
Chen Tian's dual blades struck repeatedly, unleashing cross-shaped blade energy. Zhou Tian swept his spear one hundred eighty degrees, projecting a crescent-shaped blade. An explosion erupted, and from within the blast, Chen Tian charged directly at Zhou Tian. Extending his arms, he crossed his dual blades and spun, transforming into a drill that surged towards Zhou Tian. Seeing this move, Zhou Tian spun his spear at high speed, extending his arm and thrusting it forward. The spear shot out, heading straight for Chen Tian.
They collided, and Chen Tian was forced back several steps, his spear sent flying. Zhou Tian stepped forward and ascended into the sky, catching his spear. The power accumulated in his arm flowed into the spear, which was infused with energy. He hurled the spear, and a beam of heavenly light descended, like a judgment.
It struck directly towards Chen Tian. This spear was infused with most of Zhou Tian's power, making it his most potent attack. Chen Tian had just stabilized himself when this spear was already upon him. It had to be said that Zhou Tian's grasp of timing was quite accurate. At least, Chen Tian could only meet this attack head-on, as evasion was impossible. Just as he regained his balance, Chen Tian joined his dual blades together, forming a longbow in his hands. Energy became the bowstring, and Chen Tian drew it back. As the string was pulled, all the energy in Chen Tian's body converged into the arrow. The arrow gradually took shape. When the spear was only a few centimeters away, Chen Tian released the bowstring, and the arrow shot forth.
Dragons and phoenixes cried out, and energy fluctuations wildly radiated outwards. Chen Tian had not yet fully mastered his own power; this arrow was his all-out effort. However, the actual unleashed power was only seventy percent, with thirty percent of the energy dissipating due to instability. Fortunately, seventy percent was enough to contend with Zhou Tian's attack. The energy arrow, entwined with phantom dragon and phoenix imagery, collided with the spear, resulting in a stalemate. As their attacks dissipated, Zhou Tian retrieved his spear.
"You are truly tenacious, even more so than in your first life."
Zhou Tian said through gritted teeth. Chen Tian replied, "You have become stronger than before. Or was your strength always like this, and you lost power for some reason earlier?"
"You don't need to know that."
Zhou Tian did not answer Chen Tian's question. His spear moved again, manifesting a hundred spear shadows, which then converged into one, concentrating on the spear. Chen Tian dared not underestimate him. Every move Zhou Tian made was formidable. He truly couldn't fathom what Zhou Tian was so anxious about, always going all out. Wasn't he afraid of Chen Tian being pushed to reveal his trump card and engage in a mutual destruction?
Chen Tian did have a trump card, one he was hesitant to use. He believed Zhou Tian was the same. If they continued fighting like this, Zhou Tian would be the first to reveal his trump card. Zhou Tian's spear, empowered by the force of a hundred spear shadows, struck out as one, carrying the might of a hundred spears. Chen Tian's dual blades joined to form a long saber, spinning to create a circular shield to resist. The spear charged directly at the circular shield, forcing Chen Tian to retreat repeatedly.
The weapons in his hands made cracking sounds, and cracks appeared. The next second, Chen Tian's weapon shattered, and the spear plunged towards Chen Tian's heart. Chen Tian reacted swiftly and decisively chose to dodge, evading with all his might. The spear was only a few centimeters from Chen Tian's heart. A deep wound appeared next to Chen Tian's heart.
Blood oozed from Chen Tian's wound. Seeing this, Zhou Tian sneered. "Damn it, this move didn't hit Chen Tian's heart. If it had, Chen Tian's heart would have been instantly crushed, marking his demise. Who would have thought Chen Tian's evasion would be so fast? This spear ultimately missed, causing a bit of damage to Chen Tian, which is acceptable. At least Chen Tian would have to fight with an injury, giving me an advantage."
Chen Tian glanced at the wound. His regenerative ability was slowly working, but this particular wound was healing very slowly. Chen Tian needed time to recover. This was not good for Chen Tian. Zhou Tian was fighting with full force. If Chen Tian were not in his prime, he wouldn't dare to fight Zhou Tian, let alone fight while injured. Chen Tian also had to be careful to prevent the wound from worsening.
"I'd like to see how you'll take my next move!"
Zhou Tian spat out fierce words, seemingly filled with anger. He was slightly enraged that he couldn't defeat Chen Tian so quickly. Chen Tian was simply too tenacious. Why couldn't he have been dealt with earlier? He insisted on holding on until now, enduring torment before dying.
Fortunately, Chen Tian's death was imminent. He threw his spear into the sky, and all his energy converged on it. The spear seemed to have a will of its own, flying above Chen Tian's head. Zhou Tian formed peculiar hand seals, and a series of strange imprints appeared. The spear began to spin above Chen Tian's head, and a silver-white cloud enveloped the area above Chen Tian's head. Chen Tian sensed a crisis, even a sense of impending death, from within the cloud. This move would put him in mortal danger. Chen Tian dared not be negligent; it was a matter of life and death, so Chen Tian went all out.
Chen Tian's dual blades split into numerous smaller blades, which then combined to form seven or eight shields in front of him. Chen Tian then formed a crossbow with his dual blades. Yes, a crossbow. He then fitted the crossbow and began to charge it, with arrows of energy gradually forming. Based on the charging state, Zhou Tian should have been faster. Chen Tian needed to defend and buy some time. The reason for using a crossbow instead of a longbow was the wound on his right arm; drawing the bowstring and channeling energy would likely aggravate it.
With the crossbow in hand, energy would flow directly from his arm into the crossbow, which was the best strategy. Zhou Tian saw Chen Tian still resisting, and the hand seals in his fingers were completed. Numerous spearheads appeared on the cloud, slowly descending like a torrential downpour. Chen Tian's dual-bladed shields shattered one after another. The first, the second, a total of seven dual-bladed shields were quickly destroyed, and spearheads continued to fall from the cloud.
Zhou Tian's move was an area-of-effect attack. It would not stop as long as Zhou Tian had energy. Chen Tian's strategy materialized in his mind. As the dual-bladed shields shattered, Chen Tian finally completed his charge at the last second. Because he changed his strategy, the charging time was significantly reduced.
Chen Tian's crossbow shot its arrow. The light arrow split into hundreds. Chen Tian retreated and aimed his crossbow at the cloud. Energy converged, and he fired an arrow. Since it was an area-of-effect attack, he could only target the cloud. If the cloud disappeared, the spearheads would disappear.
Otherwise, it would be endless. Chen Tian dared not engage Zhou Tian in a prolonged battle. The cloud suddenly became erratic, and the spearheads gradually weakened. Chen Tian observed this, finding it very unusual.
Chen Tian's arrow pierced the cloud. Zhou Tian sighed, "Damn it, I'm finally out of energy."
"Remember, I will be waiting for you there. If you dislike the Evil Spirit race and wish to disappear, you don't have to come."
"Hahaha! My true form will personally kill you."
Zhou Tian said, and his figure vanished. A clone was still a clone; once its energy was depleted, it would completely disappear.
So, it was a clone whose energy had been depleted. Thinking about it, he understood why Zhou Tian had been so anxious. If he couldn't defeat Chen Tian before his energy ran out, it would undoubtedly be difficult for him to strike at Chen Tian again.
Zhou Tian could not continuously create clones. The higher the cultivation level of a practitioner, the more difficult it was to create clones, especially powerful ones.
Chen Tian understood this well. Clones were indeed useful, but they had many limitations.
However, if a single clone possessed such strength, Chen Tian couldn't even imagine how powerful Zhou Tian's true form must be!