Chapter 835: An Egg Against a Stone
Inside the restrictive barrier, Yang Haoran saw that he couldn't persuade the Male Hunter at all; the man was dead set on killing him. Moreover, he had already stalled for some time, so he no longer pretended to string the other party along. Instead, he directly opened his Heaven Soul.
Since he had opened his Heaven Soul, his intention was naturally clear: he was making it obvious he intended to go head-to-head with this Three-Star Demon Hunter!
After Yang Haoran opened his Heaven Soul, the Three-Star Demon Hunter was greatly astonished by his strength. He had never imagined that Yang Haoran's power had already grown so formidable, reaching the precipice of opening his Earth Soul!
Logically, such a situation shouldn't have occurred. After all, Yang Haoran had only been with the Underworld Office for a few years, and from what he understood, this person came from humble origins and should have no powerful backing. If that were the case, where did the massive amount of Pure Yin Qi needed for his rapid cultivation come from?
Though shocked, the Demon Hunter felt no fear. Forget about Yang Haoran not having opened his Earth Soul yet; even if he truly had, an Underworld agent who had just opened their Earth Soul held no dread for him.
However, he did suspect that Yang Haoran, this Underworld agent, might be hiding some secret, otherwise, it was difficult to explain the rapid increase in his strength.
To say he wasn't curious about this secret at all would be impossible. So, he decided that after killing Yang Haoran, he would preserve Yang Haoran's soul and then try his best to squeeze out every last one of Yang Haoran's secrets.
The battle between the two began, with Yang Haoran unleashing his full power from the start. While manipulating his Soul Armament, Remnant Moon, to attack the Demon Hunter, he simultaneously sought opportunities to employ his Ghost Arts.
Even with his full power unleashed, he was absolutely no match for a Three-Star Demon Hunter, and killing the opponent was impossible. All he could hope to achieve was to last a few more rounds against the opponent's attacks, and nothing more.
However, it was fortunate that the Demon Hunter didn't immediately intend to kill him. This was because the Demon Hunter wanted to wait for his wife to return and settle her scores with Yang Haoran, to vent the anger in her heart. Therefore, he wasn't using his full strength in his attacks on Yang Haoran.
Under Yang Haoran's control, the Soul Armament, Remnant Moon, transformed into a black streak of light, shooting towards the Demon Hunter with lightning speed, aiming to cut the Demon Hunter's body in half at the waist.
Remnant Moon was incredibly fast, but in the eyes of this Three-Star Demon Hunter, its speed was, though perhaps an exaggeration to call it turtle-like, certainly not fast at all.
Before Remnant Moon could even get close to the Demon Hunter, it was struck by a green Star Spirit Power. The black and green energies collided, erupting in a loud boom. Remnant Moon, unable to withstand such immense power, shattered with a crash, dissolving into wisps of Yin Qi.
As for the Demon Hunter's Star Spirit Power, after obliterating Yang Haoran's Soul Armament, Remnant Moon, its power hadn't completely dissipated. The residual energy shot straight towards Yang Haoran, who was behind it.
Yang Haoran's hands, forming seals, suddenly paused, and he let out a deep, low roar!
"Ghost Art! Yin Qi Shield!"
The Yin Qi Shield had just condensed when the residual Star Spirit Power, carrying a formidable aura and power fluctuation, directly engulfed him.
Boom! ! !
With an explosive sound, the highly defensive Yin Qi Shield shattered with a crash, following in the footsteps of the Soul Armament, Remnant Moon. Although this Star Spirit Power was only residual, even so, it was not something Yang Haoran's Yin Qi Shield could withstand.
The Yin Qi Shield shattered, and the shockwave from the explosion naturally injured Yang Haoran. His body was sent flying tens of meters backward before he forcibly stabilized himself in mid-air.
His internal qi and blood surged violently, and an urge to vomit blood rose in his chest, but Yang Haoran did not spit out this mouthful of fresh blood; he forcibly swallowed it back down.
"Very good. I wonder how many more hits you can block."
The Demon Hunter sneered, and as his voice faded, he waved his hand through the air at Yang Haoran.
A streak of Star Spirit Power howled forth. This streak was considerably more powerful than the previous one.
The reason he increased the intensity was that the previous attack hadn't achieved his desired effect, so with this current strike, he had to change that!
Facing the incoming Star Spirit Power, Yang Haoran endured the surging qi and blood within him, rapidly forming hand seals. His rapidly shifting fingers even left streaks of afterimages.
"Ghost Art! Nether Ice Mirror!"
A colossal, hideous ghost head instantly materialized, gripping an ice mirror in its mouth. The Demon Hunter's incoming Star Spirit Power was directly received by the ice mirror held within its maw.
In the blink of an eye, the Star Spirit Power completely merged into the ice mirror. However, the ice mirror did not reflect the swallowed attack as it usually would; instead, it trembled violently before exploding with a crash.
While the Nether Ice Mirror could reflect an opponent's attack, it depended on the situation. If the attack exceeded the Nether Ice Mirror's maximum capacity, the mirror would not only fail to reflect the opponent's attack but would also explode directly.
It was much like a balloon: as long as it didn't exceed its maximum capacity, it could expel the air pumped into it, but once it exceeded that limit, the balloon would naturally burst.
By the same logic, the Demon Hunter's strike was too strong; the Nether Ice Mirror simply couldn't withstand such a powerful blow, and thus it ruptured.
Yang Haoran knew the Nether Ice Mirror couldn't block the Demon Hunter's attack, so after successfully deploying the Nether Ice Mirror, he immediately retreated to avoid being hit by the shockwave from the explosion.
Although he successfully evaded the shockwave generated by the Nether Ice Mirror's explosion, the mirror's rupture still caused him some backlash.
The qi and blood that had been surging within him could no longer be suppressed, and a mouthful of fresh blood spurted from his mouth.
Yang Haoran did indeed vomit blood, but the Demon Hunter was still unsatisfied. His brows furrowed slightly, and his expression turned somewhat displeased.
Two consecutive attacks, both had him in absolute advantage and had inflicted some degree of damage on Yang Haoran, but the damage was not to his satisfaction.
A cold harrumph escaped his lips, clearly revealing a hint of annoyance. Immediately after, he extended his arm and swung a punch towards Yang Haoran's location!
Yang Haoran had just managed to steady himself, not even having had time to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, when he saw the Demon Hunter throw a punch and hurriedly tried to dodge.
But precisely at that moment, a surge of Star Spirit Power suddenly appeared, like an invisible giant hand, gripping his body tightly. No matter how he struggled, he couldn't break free from this unseen grasp.
Yang Haoran knew that this time, the opponent was dead set on crippling him and wouldn't give him another chance to struggle. Although he understood this, he certainly wouldn't surrender. He still had to resist with all his might.
In this situation, with his body restrained and unable to move, he naturally couldn't form hand seals to cast Ghost Arts.
Furthermore, even if he could form seals, there wasn't enough time, because a massive green fist-shadow was already hurtling towards him. At this speed, his Ghost Art would surely fail to materialize before he was struck.
In a moment of desperation, he could only use his will to re-condense the Soul Armament, Remnant Moon!
Yin Qi churned before him, and Remnant Moon instantly reformed. A buzzing sound rang out, and Remnant Moon's size increased, shielding Yang Haoran, its master, in front.
Boom! ! !
The fist-shadow struck Remnant Moon. Just like before, Remnant Moon couldn't withstand the Demon Hunter's attack. It only held out for a mere instant before being shattered by the fist-shadow. Only a small portion of the fist-shadow's power was consumed; the remaining bulk of its force landed squarely on Yang Haoran's body.
Boom! ! !
Another explosive sound. Yang Haoran was sent flying, large mouthfuls of blood spewing from his mouth, his face instantly turning pale.
The Demon Hunter's punch directly inflicted severe injuries on Yang Haoran. Had this punch been just one notch stronger, even with Remnant Moon absorbing some of the force, he would have surely died.
In just a few brief exchanges, Yang Haoran was forcefully beaten from his peak condition into a severely injured state, and the opponent hadn't even used his full strength, nor had he even employed his Demon Weapon. The disparity in their power was simply too vast. Although he was only one realm weaker, that single realm was like an uncrossable ocean.
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