Author's Note:Today help promote my new novel "The Devouring Menace" by putting all powerstones possible there. STONE ME till I can't get stoned anymore.
My new novel has less exposure, so fellow Daoists, excuse me for my shamelessness.
***
In battle, a worthy opponent should never be underestimated or overestimated. Evaluate your opponent as you would evaluate yourself.
Zhao Wei knew Old Man Chu was a formidable warrior and individuals like him couldn't be taken down easily. Though he didn't fear the gaze of death, that didn't mean that he could easily forsake his life when he hadn't squeezed out every last bit of battle potential.
Zhao Wei slightly curled his fingers and a 2-meter-long icy spear, of near absolute zero temperatures, formed on his hand.
Zhao Wei then did a back step with the ice spear's tail almost touching the ground. Zhao Wei was gathering all of his physical strength into the ice spear.
His back muscles and shoulder muscles tensed and flexed incessantly, stretching his shirt to the limits.
And when his biceps relaxed, Zhao Wei finally catapulted the ice spear forward with terrifying might.
Meanwhile, Old Man Chu was finally forced to utilize the Inverted Spear as he casually twirled it at very high speeds to destroy the barrage of icy spears.
His face, which was usually calm and relaxed, finally turned serious after he sensed the momentous approach of something devastating, piercing the wind and threatening to split the earth asunder.
A smile of appreciation formed on his old rugged face as he looked at the icy spear that was heading towards him soundlessly.
'What good control over one's body and technique even though it's brutish.' Old Man Chu thought as he swung his spear forward and performed a thrust. It was simple but held the intent to destroy mountains and divide the sea.
[First Form: Heaven's Retribution]
BANG!
CRACK!
The Inverted Spear tip perfectly met the ice spear's tip, resulting in a thunderous, ear-splitting blast that rang in the air.
"What power!' Old Man Chu winced as he felt the pure physical strength of Zhao Wei in the spear. It pushed him 30 meters away from Zhao Wei, his feet digging into the ground like a hoe.
His old bones could be heard cracking ever so slightly as he transferred some of the attack into the earth which then sank, breaking into cube-like and prism rubbles.
The force of Old Man Chu's thrust also proved to be powerful as it pulverized the ice spear into innumerable tiny crystals that randomly flew everywhere.
All of a sudden, before he could even take a breather, Zhao Wei was already onto him as he instantly launched himself into the air over the few distances between them.
Two short swords sculpted out of ice were being tightly held in his hands as he struck a downward sword attack.
When an opponent is in the air, they tend to leave many openings and make them vulnerable which can easily be capitalized on. Old Man Chu understood this fact very well.
But surprisingly and shockingly, with his insightful eyes he could very well see those openings but within them were also possible counterattacks.
As if seeing the future, Old Man Chu could already visualize Zhao Wei switching his form from one angle to another, transitioning smoothly between actions and retaliating with lightning-fast strikes.
Many possibilities were being calculated by his superb mental processing capabilities.
'He is formless. Formless like water, he takes on any shape he wishes and deems perfect for the situation. A genius, no, he's simply demonic.'
'Within formlessness lies versatility…'
Meanwhile, Zhao Wei's eyes shone with the embers of battle intent. The feeling was even bigger and more intense than when he had fought with Xin Wuheng.
It was beyond that. In this battle, he didn't have to hold back. His life was on the line so he had to be unburdened about the survivability of his opponent. Old Man Chu was an opponent that could make his blood boil in genuine excitement like when he received his first Bakugan toy in his early childhood days.
Zhao Wei murmured in his heart the simple, self-created sword technique brought into fruition by the ongoing battle.
[Twin Dragons Descent]
The two downward sword strikes felt like two divine dragons furiously descending from the nine heavens, threatening to bring chaos to the world.
CLANG!
Old Man Chu valiantly met Zhao Wei's simultaneous attacks as he used the spear body to defend against the two ice swords.
His arm muscles trembled due to the impact but Old Man Chu didn't show any signs of discomfort or feeling pain. His frail figure cushioned the impacts with unusual ease.
'Never judge a body by its state.' Zhao Wei chuckled internally as he propelled himself backwards and landed a meter away from Old Man.
The old vs the young. Fiery golden eyes met silver eyes and then each one of them took a step forward and… disappeared!!
When both of them met once again, it was in the centre and they began exchanging one attack after the other.
Parrying, thrusting, diagonal slashes, vertical slashes… Zhao Wei's sword attacks pursued simplicity and could be anything he wanted. He didn't have a personal inclination toward the way of the sword. Formlessness meant not being fixed on one form but being one with many yet having none.
Old Man Chu's spearmanship was nearly perfect, his attacks precise and like a storm, sweeping away everything in its path.
Zhao Wei's torn clothes and several lacerations all over his skin bore witness to his opponent's fast and ruthless spear.
Due to his excellent defence, Zhao Wei didn't suffer major physical injuries.
But something has been bothering him since he began exchanging moves with Old Man Chu.
He could anticipate his opponent's next moves by analyzing their muscles, heartbeat, shift in posture, and breath courtesy of his supercomputing capabilities. It was limited in actuality due to the emergence of variables and a very experienced opponent can easily trick one's senses.
Old Man Chu could do just that. It was very difficult to land a perfect hit on him. It was as if he could see the future and that enabled him to come up with a precise counterattack.
'Does he also have some sort of eye bloodline or does he have a bloodline oriented toward martial arts? This old timer can do what I normally do and multiply it further. It's… exhilarating! How can I win against him?' Zhao Wei contemplated.
"You are getting sloppy, youngling!" Old Man Chu's voice sounded as he thrust his spear forward, ultimately catching Zhao Wei off guard.
SHAA!
Zhao Wei shifted his body to the side and evaded the lethal thrust at the last millisecond but a significant portion of flesh from his shoulder was curved out.
Zhao Wei didn't even look at the fleshy injury as an icy spear formed on his hand before he retaliated in kind.
That deadly forward thrust had left Old Man Chu open and wide, so Zhao Wei took advantage of that moment to execute his counterattack.
WHOOSH!
CLANG!
Old Man Chu, at a very unnatural angle, shifted the position of the flexible spear body, and in one fluid attempt, parried Zhao Wei's piercing move.
"How?" Zhao Wei smiled at his opponent's peculiarity.
"Can you see the future, old timer?" Zhao Wei casually asked, his right cheek had several scars that were visibly closing on their own while his severe shoulder injury was slowly healing.
"I can see gauge probability to a limited degree. Seeing the future, huh? I think that also fits the bill. It's just a matter of perspective." Old Man Chu had a bloody grin on his face and his robes were also in shambles and tattered.
'Probability? Future? In the original storyline, there weren't ancient bloodlines or eye powers with such an ability! Within the ten thousand ancient races, there were quite a lot of races that were not included or further explained. I can group this old man in such a category or I can treat him as an anomaly. I never expected the kaleidoscopic butterfly to flap her wings so hard.' Zhao Wei thought within a nanosecond.
'He can't be a destiny eye holder, right? No, he can't be. The eye of destiny is characterized by completely pale white eyes from what I remember which makes those with it extremely rare.'
"You have entertained me enough, my boy!" Old Man Chu boisterously laughed.
"But I have played enough with you. The move I am about to perform next has made me invincible in the Consolidated Realm and even those at the peak of First Sky Ascended Realm have despaired."
From his forehead, his skin began to wriggle and twist as if little worms were underneath it before it totally ripped apart to reveal a closed THIRD EYE!
"[DIVINE INSIGHT]"
"Today you shall bore witness to how those of the Karmic Asura Lineage fight."
Old Man Chu's two eyes closed and the THIRD EYE opened abruptly in a horrific fashion.
"To see the unseen, gaze into the immaterial!"
Old Man Chu then smiled at Zhao Wei whose expression only showed confusion and…
"Young man, have you ever seen a god amongst men when it comes to martial arts?" Old Man Chu put his hands behind his back.
Zhao Wei lightly held his chin as if contemplating the answer before grinning back at him. There was no need to despair. No need to be afraid.
"No, but… I don't think it would be bad to kill a god, right?"
WHOOSH!
The next moment, Zhao Wei found himself seeing the azure sky as if it were right in front of his face.
He was flying while blood flew out of his open mouth!
BLEURGH!
W-What just happened?!
***
Enjoy!
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