"Come at me!" Evan Lin shouted, unable to contain his excitement. To battle a mid-stage God-Venerable was a challenge he'd dreamed of—now that it was finally happening, his blood was boiling.
He swung the Snowbound Divine Sword, unleashing a slash powered by ninety percent of his strength—the fifth form of the Wind-God Sword Art. Against a God-Venerable, he had to go all out, but he was sure the opponent hadn't used his full power either. With his current attack, even if he lost, he wouldn't lose by much.
A massive wind blade of sword energy shot toward the middle-aged man. Instantly, the whole space shook violently, energy storms spreading in every direction as their two powerful attacks collided with a deafening boom.
The middle-aged man never expected a mid-stage God-Emperor ant to wield such terrifying attack power. This sword strike was actually on par with his own—even though he'd used eighty percent of his strength! Evan Lin, just a mid-stage God-Emperor, already had the combat strength of an early-stage God-Venerable. What a slap in the face!
Realizing this, he didn't dare be careless anymore. Both were blasted dozens of meters back by the violent recoil of sword energy before they managed to steady themselves. Their clothes were torn in several places, but neither had suffered even a scratch—true experts could clash with earth-shattering force and still walk away unscathed.
"Kid, didn't expect you to play the pig to eat the tiger, huh? I really underestimated you," the middle-aged man couldn't help saying.
"You think you're a tiger? Please. You don't even qualify as a sick cat. Why don't you show your real strength already? I don't have the patience to waste time with you—I still need to get that meteorite." Evan Lin put on an arrogant, superior act as he spoke.
"How dare you look down on me! Today I'll show you what real power is!" The middle-aged man seemed completely enraged by Evan Lin's words. His sword dipped slightly, and the blade suddenly emitted a dazzling light along with a humming sound, as if the sword itself was alive—truly extraordinary.
Seeing this, Evan Lin immediately understood—there was a sword spirit inside the man's longsword. That meant the weapon was extremely rare and of exceptionally high quality. This next attack would be anything but ordinary; he couldn't afford to be careless.
With that realization, Evan Lin prepared to use his left hand to unleash Absolute Cleave—the final slash of Sevenfold Absolute Cleave—to counter him. With the left hand's boost to attack power, he was confident he could take this hit. And he still had trump cards he hadn't used yet, like Ninefold Divine-Dragon Metamorphosis.
Before the middle-aged man even unleashed his strike, the space around them began to tremble. He shouted, "Heaven-Phantom Thunder Cleave!"
A surge of devastating sword-qi erupted from his blade, and the sky itself seemed to change color. Streaks of powerful lightning fused with the sword energy, scattering in all directions and instantly engulfing the space where Evan Lin stood.
This was a large-area attack martial art—Evan Lin had never witnessed anything like it. Its destructive force was almost equal to his own Sevenfold Absolute Cleave. If all those thunderbolts landed on a single point, he was certain it would be even deadlier than Sevenfold Absolute Cleave.
Evan Lin didn't dare hold back. He unleashed Absolute Cleave with full force—ten-tenths of his power. Facing a mid-stage God-Venerable, there was no room for the slightest carelessness.
The destructive power of Absolute Cleave was terrifying. Space shook violently, and massive fissures split the ground, spreading outward at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This was the strongest attack Evan Lin could muster. He was confident it would block the middle-aged man's strike, and maybe even inflict a crippling wound.
Boom! The collision echoed through the sky, energy storms whirling into tornadoes that tore up the earth in a terrifying frenzy. It was like the end of the world.
Although Heaven-Phantom Thunder Cleave's power was dispersed, it was still monstrous. Evan Lin was caught off guard as a bolt of lightning struck him, blasting him hundreds of meters away. He couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of golden blood.
It had been ages since Evan Lin was last injured. He never expected the middle-aged man's attack to be so fierce, or his technique so bizarre. He crashed to the ground, pain exploding through him as stars danced before his eyes.
Heaven-Phantom Thunder Cleave was laced with terrifying lightning. Even with his Thunder Spirit Body and Thundershift at the second layer, Evan Lin could barely endure it—his whole body felt like it was coming apart, agony twisting his face into a grimace.
"Damn it! How can he wield such terrifying lightning? I really underestimated him this time. If I can't win, I'll have to run for it," Evan Lin muttered to himself, regret and tension swirling in his heart.
At that moment, the lightning raging through his meridians started being slowly absorbed by his Element Core Pearl. The thunder-element light inside flashed ever brighter—this discovery filled him with wild joy.
Maybe, just maybe, absorbing this man's lightning could let his Thundershift break through to a new level. The idea was insane, but not impossible—he'd done the same to advance his gold element before, though that opponent was nowhere near as strong.
The thought flashed through Evan's mind—could he use the middle-aged man's thunder to temper himself? Anyone else would call him a lunatic, a reckless fool gambling with his own life.
But Evan Lin wasn't like them. If there was any chance to get stronger, he'd never let it slip by—unless he truly couldn't endure anymore, he wouldn't give up.
His wood element worked furiously to heal his body, and the sword-qi wounds began knitting together at a speed that seemed miraculous.
The middle-aged man was in no better shape. He'd been blasted away by Evan Lin's sword-qi, and because his attack was dispersed, he'd actually taken even more damage than Evan.
Evan Lin's cultivation realm was much weaker, but with the Chaos Arm's boost, his strike was as strong as a full-force blow from an early-stage God-Venerable. Only Absolute Cleave's sheer power let him inflict such a serious wound.
The middle-aged man's body was torn open by bone-deep wounds—one so severe that shattered organs spilled out, blood gushing as his face turned ghostly pale.
He couldn't understand how this youth possessed such a devastating martial art. Wasn't this the same technique Lord Frostbane used back then? But only the Frostbane Palace Master should be able to learn it—how could this be?
To be seriously wounded by a mere ant several realms beneath him—this was a slap to the face like no other. If word got out, he'd be disgraced in the God Realm. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he struggled to his feet...