Chapter 1143: A Battle of Wits and Courage
The significant increase in the power and defensive capabilities of Yang Haoran's two Soul Armaments made it difficult for the Crippled Elder to disperse them. In addition, his body sustained several ghastly wounds. He, who had previously held a complete advantage, now found himself once again at a disadvantage.
The Crippled Elder knew that if this continued, he would most likely be the one defeated. He had initially felt anxious about this, as he certainly didn't want to be defeated, slain by Yang Haoran, and have his soul extracted.
However, after a brief moment of thought, his anxiety faded. He didn't believe Yang Haoran could maintain such immense power indefinitely.
Yang Haoran's surge in strength was far too abnormal. He suspected that the dānyào Yang Haoran had consumed must be a temporary power-boosting dānyào. Although this dānyào had allowed the peak late-stage Earth Soul realm Yang Haoran to enter the Life Soul realm, it wasn't a true Life Soul realm breakthrough. Otherwise, Yang Haoran's third Soul Armament should have manifested.
Furthermore, Yang Haoran's eagerness to attack him, without even taking time to adapt to the explosive power within his body, indicated to the Crippled Elder that the duration of Yang Haoran's power was limited, which was why Yang Haoran didn't want to waste a single moment.
Yang Haoran's subtle reactions, combined with his own analysis and conjecture, convinced him that the power Yang Haoran currently possessed was definitely temporary, gained through dānyào, and not Yang Haoran's true strength. This meant he only needed to stall until the dānyào's effects wore off, and then Yang Haoran's death knell would arrive.
It was precisely because he had figured this out that he no longer felt much worry, even when at a disadvantage. He formulated a plan based on his judgment: do not clash head-on with Yang Haoran. After all, given the current situation, a direct confrontation might lead to his tragic death at Yang Haoran's hands before the dānyào's effects in Yang Haoran's body had even worn off. What he needed to do now was to stall for as much time as possible, until the dānyào's effects passed. Only then would it be an opportune time to deal with Yang Haoran.
With a plan in mind, the Crippled Elder immediately put it into action. Facing Yang Haoran's fierce assault, he chose to evade whenever possible, only resisting when absolutely necessary. This allowed him to minimize damage to his physical body while also conserving more Communication Power.
"Hahahaha, Yang Haoran, it seems my guess was correct! The power you possess right now is merely a temporary boost from dānyào. You haven't truly stepped into the Life Soul realm. Once the dānyào's effects wear off, heh heh. . ."
The Crippled Elder spoke as he dodged Yang Haoran's attacks, his voice ethereal and echoing into Yang Haoran's ears from all directions.
The Crippled Elder didn't finish his sentence, but Yang Haoran understood what he meant to convey. He could fill in the unspoken words himself.
"Heh, you guessed correctly. My current state indeed doesn't count as truly entering the Life Soul realm, and I truly can't maintain it for too long. However, I do believe that before the power I now possess vanishes, I'll be able to take you down."
Yang Haoran said with a faint smile to the Crippled Elder, simultaneously controlling his two Soul Armaments to launch a fierce assault.
The Crippled Elder, meanwhile, dodged, defended, and laughed heartily, a disdainful expression on his face.
"Hahahaha, Yang Haoran, I admit that your current strength is indeed slightly superior to mine, but that's because I lost my Guardian Spirit and my injuries are heavier than yours. If this battle drags on for too long, it's certainly possible I might fall to you. But if you think you can slay me in a short amount of time, then I can only say you're deluding yourself."
Although the Crippled Elder at this moment still felt some worry about the current situation, unlike the fearlessness he displayed on the surface, there was one thing he genuinely didn't believe: that Yang Haoran truly had the ability to take him down quickly.
His worry was about sustaining heavier injuries at Yang Haoran's hands before the dānyào's effects wore off, not about truly dying. When Yang Haoran had first gained such immense power, he had indeed felt a hint of such worry. However, once he confirmed that Yang Haoran's current power was merely temporary and not permanent, that particular worry genuinely vanished from his mind.
"Heh, you're not worried now, but soon you won't even have time for regret."
Yang Haoran responded with a faint smile, his words full of confidence. Seeing Yang Haoran so confident, the Crippled Elder's face involuntarily darkened, and his brow furrowed slightly. The worry that had completely disappeared from his mind now couldn't help but bubble up again.
However, the moment he was distracted by this, a rumbling sound erupted. Several streaks of Black Lightning descended from the sky. In his haste, he frantically dodged, and although he narrowly evaded three consecutive bolts, he ultimately couldn't escape the fourth.
Boom! ! !
The Crippled Elder's protective Yin Qi was scattered by the Black Lightning, and his entire body was instantly gripped by a sensation of numbness. His body froze in mid-air for a moment.
The Crippled Elder knew things were bad, because Yang Haoran still possessed an offensive Soul Armament. According to his guess, Yang Haoran would certainly use this opportunity to control his other Soul Armament and deliver a fatal blow!
Thinking of this, the Crippled Elder didn't forcefully move his paralyzed body. He knew that under these circumstances, forcefully moving his body would make it impossible to dodge Yang Haoran's attack. After all, Yang Haoran's attack methods were very fast; even before his body was paralyzed, dodging them was difficult. Now that his body was paralyzed, dodging Yang Haoran's attacks was even more impossible.
Therefore, in his opinion, forcefully dodging would be completely ineffective and couldn't change the final outcome. Based on his combat experience, he felt that the best course of action in this situation was to set up an Absolute Defense and endure Yang Haoran's upcoming assault head-on.
He thought so, and he acted accordingly. Terrifying Communication Power surged frantically from his body in that instant, rapidly forming an extremely strong black shield on the surface of his body!
The Crippled Elder's judgment was correct. The very moment he released a large amount of Communication Power to form the shield on his body, a black ray suddenly shot forth. Its target was his neck, seemingly intending to decapitate him.
This rapidly approaching black ray was precisely Yang Haoran's Soul Armament, Remnant Moon. However, the shield the Crippled Elder had erected was incredibly timely; it had just managed to block the incoming Remnant Moon outside its barrier. If he had been even a split second slower, he would undoubtedly be headless by now.
Boom! ! !
Remnant Moon collided with the shield, which trembled violently but successfully blocked the incoming attack.
"Pfft! ! !"
Inside the black shield, the still shaken Crippled Elder spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his face pale and contorted in pain. Having been struck by the Black Lightning, his physical body had already suffered considerable damage. Then, Remnant Moon struck the shield he had erected, and the powerful impact force similarly caused some damage to his physical body. Consecutive significant damage to his physical body led him to involuntarily spit out a mouthful of blood at that moment.
As the Crippled Elder spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, the sensation of numbness on his body immediately began to slowly fade. Although it didn't completely vanish in an instant, his body at least regained its ability to move, though not as naturally or agilely as usual.
Feeling the numbness gradually disappear, the Crippled Elder felt both relief and lingering fear. But then, his negative emotions were replaced by the smugness of having made the correct judgment. Watching his shield about to shatter, he frantically injected Communication Power into its interior to reinforce its strength, all while sneering at Yang Haoran.
"Heh, Yang Haoran, I now understand your methods very well. So I advise you to give up any thoughts of sneak attacking me, because it's completely useless. However, you could try summoning your Underworld Office's Death God's Law Aspect; perhaps that would pose some threat to me."
As the Crippled Elder spoke, a large amount of Communication Power was also injected into the black shield. With the enhancement of this abundant Communication Power, the shield's trembling subsided slightly.
Yang Haoran had some idea of what the Crippled Elder meant by these words. He didn't believe the Crippled Elder was being kind by telling him to form hand seals and summon the Death God's Law Aspect. If he chose to do so, his assault on the Crippled Elder would inevitably weaken. The Crippled Elder could then use this opportunity to temporarily escape his suppression and launch a fierce counterattack. At that point, the Death God's Law Aspect might not even be successfully summoned, and he might instead fall into a passive position.
Moreover, the Crippled Elder proactively asking him to summon the Death God's Law Aspect might have other reasons, but no matter what they were, they certainly weren't to help him; they were to target him.
However, what the Crippled Elder didn't know was that Yang Haoran had never even considered summoning the Death God's Law Aspect. If he truly had such a thought, he would certainly try every means to summon it. The absence of such a thought meant he had other plans.
"Heh, dealing with you doesn't necessarily require summoning the Death God's Law Aspect. Even without summoning it, I will definitely finish you today."
Yang Haoran chuckled faintly. His words didn't cause worry or anger to appear on the Crippled Elder's face. Instead, the sneer on the Crippled Elder's face intensified by a few shades.
"Hmph, still trying to repeat old tricks? Want me to get distracted by your big words so you can launch another sneak attack, is that it? I won't fall for the same trick twice, especially not in such a short amount of time!"
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