What do you do when your attacks never reach ?
Do you perhaps chose to neutralise the advantage the other side possesses ? i.e by choosing to be near when he wishes you to be far or be far when he wishes you to be near .
Or perhaps do you chose to decisively shift the battleground into one that favours you allowing the other side to be trapped before he can realise ?
A suitable change of tactics might perhaps do the trick such as switching over to a battle of attrition where you might have the advantage .
A final means could be to pit the enemy against himself ; lure him into the labyrinthine mazes present deep within and trap him there so that he may never come out.
But what do you do when your attacks still do not reach ?
Would you perhaps chose to voluntarily submerge yourself in the depths from which there is no escape or in your naive foolishness wait for the inexorable fulmination that will follow ripping your existence apart ?
It is for you to decide .
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Ling Yun was frantically jumping among the treetops doing the best he could to stay out of range of his opponent's attack.
In close range he was no match for the other's sword ; his mastery of the sword and his nimble movements were enough to give him a headache add to that the superior cultivation base the other possessed , as things stood he was no match if he was within the other's reach.
Therefore his only hope was to play from a level that was advantageous to him ; not that the other wasn't capable of long distance strikes being a scion of a reputed clan how could his inventory be deficient ?
The rapid stream of talismans exploding near him were enough proof.
Even so , the fact that he hadn't used his sword yet was a clear sign that he wasn't taking things seriously.
Earlier the severed head that he had shown him had been cut cleanly , so clean that no doubt it could still be attached to the torso after which the man would appear to be intact and just asleep rather than the corpse that he now was.
The message was obvious.
It was a demonstration .
As long as he did not take up the sword he wasn't being truly serious.
Even then his reactions were impeccable not giving Ling Yun a spare second to get an attack through.
The situation was indeed quite poor as it was now.
Lucky for him , Ling Yun's mobility was unmatched ; swinging as he was with abandon among the trees thanks to the Skewers that he had brought along with him considering the possibility of such a situation occurring .
His skewers rapidly anchored on a tree for a moment and then took off into the air the very next moment as the bark of the tree exploded.
"Come on down ! Won't you? You should be aware by now that in a battle of attrition there's no way you can win !" Fang Xingchen said calmly .
He wasn't bothered the least that his prey had been avoiding him for so long.
He wouldn't have it any other way , like a solitary moth his prey flew up among the trees uncaring of the rampaging flames below.
But for how long could the moth escape ?
When the fire burned and the air churned could the moth survive the deluge that came its way ?
Especially when the Burning Flames reached the Heavens themselves.
He unsheathed his sword and leapt into the ether .
His arm extended in a single fluid moment and the blade found its mark .
A shower of blood rained down from the sky .
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For the first time in a long while Jin Wangsun's face lost its calm.
He had forgotten how many moves he and his partner had crossed with that foul abomination since he had successfully lured it inside the [Battle Space] .
Once more they were at an impasse or to be more accurate the monster hadn't managed to sink its claws within his flesh.
Yet.
Neither however did his sword reach the other's long tassels.
Always falling short by an inch .
He was.
The other smiled sarcastically as yet another strike smited the hollow plains instead of reaching his body .
The next instant his form flickered and vanished.
The hair on his arms stood on its end.
His partner relayed vital information.
They acted.
Not a moment too soon.
Like a speeding missile the Snake who was in a streamline position broke through his barriers like they were naught but thin paper and in the process nearly shattered his body to pieces as well.
As it was his partner stood up bravely.
His sword managed to parry the other's outstretched claw but not without cost.
Jin Wangsun was sent flying halfway across the plain and was lying on the ground.
Before his mind could process anything , a reptilian silhouette was already above him and had launched into a furious pace of attacks enriched by the powerful aura of a [Clasping Core] expert.
He was no body refiner .
There was no way he would survive if the salvo landed on his body .
In that case..
Although his hands were tied up he was still a [Clasping Core] expert and a [Sword Cultivator] to boot.
His feet suddenly began vibrating furiously .
"BOOM !"
A streak of golden lightning emerged from the soles of his feet and roared towards the monstrosity battling him head-on , so swift was it that the beast had no time to react before a wide hole appeared through its chest spewing its entrails out in a shower of filthy blood and meat.
In the short interval that he had made for himself Jin Wangsun broke himself out of his bonds and was already soaring in the sky.
He paid no attention to his handiwork for with his prior experience , he was well aware that it could hardly be called a surface wound for that creature.
Even so it horrified him when he saw the flesh near the gaping hole of the beast wriggling and squirming as it raced to patch the hole that he had opened so painstakingly.
Now and then sparks emitted as the beast's vitality collided violently with the [Sword Qi] he had left behind in the aftermath of his attack.
With an almighty crunch the last resistance of the [Sword Qi] ceased and the beast's flash was whole once more !
What in the Heavens above was this monstrous capacity of regeneration !
It made one despair by just observing .
The scaly beast gave him a mocking smile as best as it could which it could do very well with its tremendous fangs dripping with venom and all.
"Your strikes shall never reach my body ! For how long are you going to play ? Why not just give up and allow me to devour you ? This way everyone gets to go home sooner !"
Jin Wangsun raised his brow .
What in the world was he going to do next ?
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Revering the Heavens Above and the Earth Below.
Venerating the Crimson Moon of the Night and the Argentine Sun of the Dawn.
Praying for those who have left and those who are yet to arrive .
Within the strange world where minds and hearts are unified there is no obscurity ; the truth is revealed and understanding is reached.
When Gazes Meet and Wills Collide the Soul is stripped bare to be feasted upon by the naked eye !
At that instant when all is deciphered like a flash of lightning revelation descends ensuring that the two parties know far more of the other than they have ever known about their own selves .
Or so it is said in the ancient texts or to be more specific in a scripture known as the [Golden Sand Scripture ].
Ling Yun never was scholar material.
He did thoroughly study the mandatory course required for literacy and the specialised reading necessary to be proficient in the Art of Warfare but that was all. He was never one to gush over poems that depicted a world so abstract and fantastical that it could have no basis in ground reality.
Even so , for having reasonable conversations he did ensure that his background was rock solid and that [Golden Scripture] with its moribund intonations was certainly a breath of fresh air during strategic meetings !
Still for some strange reason his mind was struck with that passage as the sword that determined his fate neared his parson ever so rapidly.
In this strange world where the pace of time had ceased to have meaning and their souls were laid bare to each other it would be interesting to see who has the luxury of freedom left to attempt deception.
Can any schemes be hidden in front of the orbs that seem omniscient ?
His breath quickened and his Qi sluggishly moved forward.
The sword in a single movement slashed diagonally from his neck all the way towards his waist.
A fountain of blood spurted out .
His face paled rapidly ostensibly due to the lack of blood .
But the smile blooming on his face suggested otherwise.
The other's eyes finally dawned in the brilliance of realisation.
Truly , the teachings of the Scripture were correct.
Deception is futile.
Unfortunately when time stops the sense of urgency disappears as well .
When your body is frozen in sloth can you respond even when you have seen all?
When your body can't keep with your eye , being omniscient is just a burden.
The drops of blood landed on the other's body.
They sizzled when they contacted with his parson.
Even as the world inexorably lost its colour turning a blinding white the skewer leaving his hands was raging as well inevitably finding its target rending flesh from bone.
Even as the first ripples reached him he had already leapt far , far enough that the waves would never reach him ; after all they were separated by a gulf too wide .
All they can do is to die on the other side.
He knew he didn't have much time left , when the brief moment of invincibility would forsake him he would be left again , morose and pitiful.
Therefore all he could do now was to run .
Far away in the direction of the setting sun.
For try as the moth might to fly far above in the skies the flames shall pursue it relentlessly .
Even as Ling Yun's form vanished Fang Xingchen looked on emotionally at his mangled body nailed to a tree by the skewer which even now glimmered with light.
His eyes seared through the haze and the vestigial smoke as it pursued a form scurrying high above in the treetops.
"Really to think , he anticipated my movement and prepared accordingly ! It was certainly an innovative idea to carry [Liquid explosive] camouflaged as blood and to use it as a diversion additionally the last skewer was a nice touch ."
"How interesting"
A rare smile graced his now ruined face.
He gently eased into his robes and pulled out a pink pill which he promptly shoved into his mouth.
His form rippled and squirmed as muscles bound together and bones joined .
Even as the skewer fell way from the now closed hole in his body , Fang Xingchen landed elegantly on the ground on all fours .
His face now , every inch as beautiful as it was before stared into the disappearing mist.
"What a pity to use my spare life so early ! "
"Now then I wonder how long you can keep flying before the inferno catches up to you ."
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Jin Wangsun didn't contemplate too much.
He was never one for thinking that task was entirely handed over to his sword.
He preferred to be the raft drifting along at its pace according to the will of whichever current happened to be dominant at that period .
Therefore he choose not to worry .
All of his faith lay in his sword to the point that it had gone far past blindness.
So how do you kill a cockroach that refuses to die ?
His sword answered that you keep on slashing till it eventually stops coming back .
So that's what he did.
His presence vanished in the world only to be replaced by Million Swords that teared through the enemy in an instant.
It wasn't easy at all.
The enemy's torn scales joined together , his disintegrated tongue reassembled once more and his reptilian slits which were destroyed time and time again were back together at an instant.
All he could do then was to push forward again and again , and again !
If not a hundred times then a thousand , if not a thousand then a million !
Soaring [Sword Intent] pierced through the skies as his torrential [Sword Qi] manifested into a Vortex that devoured all !
From a blade of grass to the empty sky devoid of clouds none were spared from the onslaught unleashed by the two of them who had been bound together by fate.
The very air reverberated as if it had been shattered into millions of pieces after being ran over by a sword ; torn grass and ripped rock soared into the skies only to be pulverised instantly.
A gigantic whirlpool materialised right in the middle of the [Battle Space] with the massive Qi vortex at its core and dust billowing at its sides ; it was as if a black hole had appeared at that instant with the intensive [Sword Qi] at its centre and waves of Qi rippling over to the event horizon composed of miniscule particles which had since lost their individuality , now they were just arms of a massive spiral that radiated absolute destruction in its wake.
Beyond the Event Horizon there is no escape.
Even for the caster of the massive attack .
Jin Wangsun stifled a soundless howl as his limbs screamed in pain . The last time he had felt such an excruciating torment was centuries ago ! Truth , be told he was unwilling as well to unleash this move but he had no choice had he ?
When all else fails only an overwhelming momentum can come to the rescue.
His veins throbbed and poked out into the terrifying outside world .His face turned red with effort as all of his accumulated power was suctioned away.
Finally when he felt a huge amount of his Qi had been drained away the vortex stopped rotating and the world came to a still however he felt no joy.
Through the clouds of dust that were ascending to the firmament the solitary silhouette writhing and twisting as it slowly coalesced into a whole was unmistakable .
"Impossible , " he murmured incoherently.
Was it truly impossible for a moth to escape from the flame ?