Chapter 502: The Troublesome Xu Yingshen |
Same name?
Unlikely, the only one with the strength to reach the top ten is probably that Xu Yingshen.
Su Chen was quite astonished: "I didn't run into him in the first round, and he came in during the second round, coming directly to intercept me?"
This kind of challenge also wouldn't give him a chance to refuse. The message just revealed the general information so he knew who the opponent was.
If he wanted to refuse, he could only completely withdraw from the leaderboard update. Once he withdrew, he would be removed from the final Initial Ranking.
The mist in front of him swirled, having already transformed into the Martial Proof Arena. Mountains stretched out under their feet, and the two stood on the highest peaks respectively.
"You didn't withdraw. It seems your goal is truly to occupy a top spot on the leaderboard. It seems the rewards given by High Heaven for a top rank are not small." Xu Yingshen looked at Su Chen from afar, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
He had originally feared that when Su Chen saw his challenge, he would simply withdraw from this leaderboard update. Although he wouldn't be able to occupy a top rank on the leaderboard, he could preserve his status of having the Recognition of the Three Dragons.
But now, even if he surrendered, he would lose the recognition.
Xu Yingshen's voice drifted over from afar, seemingly holding the winning ticket: "It's quite a pity that I didn't see you display your skills in front of Taixuan Hong last time."
"High Heaven has a large family and a big business; how can they cover everything perfectly?" Su Chen chuckled lightly and said loudly: "It was also quite a pity for me that I didn't see Senior Brother Xu's methods last time."
Xu Yingshen coldly snorted inwardly. Last time he was injured by a portion of the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith's aura and lost a lot of face. This person certainly didn't want to fall behind in a war of words.
The countdown was nearing its end. Xu Yingshen said faintly: "If you won't surrender, then let's save wasting both your time and mine."
"Senior Brother Xu wants to surrender?" Su Chen was astonished.
Xu Yingshen stared at him and sneered. The very instant the countdown ended...
"Boom!"
A booming sound echoed from where Xu Yingshen stood, the mountain peak shattering. A ferocious black dragon nearly ten thousand meters long charged out, dancing wildly in the air, its dragon roar violent.
It was impressively a 9th-tier Nether Realm Creature!
Great Heaven's professions mostly involved utilizing Nether Realm Creatures, and this Xu Yingshen was a top-notch figure among them.
According to Su Chen's understanding, this person's Ascension Refining was called 'Nether Hell Engendering Gods'. It was the most top-tier Ascension Refining in Great Heaven and could evolve.
Because he had participated in this leaderboard update multiple times, although no recordings would be kept due to too many factions being involved, many people had fought him, so there was quite a bit of information available about his abilities.
Strictly speaking, this person was considered a spiritual-type professional, but by utilizing different Nether Realm Creatures, he could achieve abilities comparable to top-tier physical-path professionals.
The black dragon was ferocious, soaring into the sky. The surrounding black lightning glow surged, and the firmament gradually turned black.
Rumble!
A black lightning glow over ten meters thick shot out, while Xu Yingshen's figure gradually disappeared.
Su Chen's eyes flickered, his body turning into a golden light, suddenly disappearing from his original spot.
Previously, when Taixuan Hong issued a Grand Challenge to the Five Pillars, he had used the Flash-Shadow Body multiple times. But at that time, he used a Nether Realm Creature transformation as a cover. Now he was using a shadow of the Metal Element. Judging solely by characteristics, there were no relevant connections at all.
"Rumble!"
The next instant, rolling thunder could be heard from his original spot, and a massive mushroom cloud exploded upwards. Rolling waves of air, carrying countless clods of dirt, sand, and stone, shot into the sky.
The mountains all shattered. Visible to the naked eye, a terrifying, bottomless ravine split open on the ground.
"Roar~"
As the smoke and dust rolled and spread, an extremely fierce roar resounded through the clouds. It sounded like the black dragon, yet somewhat different.
Su Chen, who appeared in another location, immediately felt a chill in his heart. He felt a massive crisis, and a killing intent ignored the void, descending directly upon his body.
Sizzle!
The next instant, a pitch-black liquid flow appeared out of thin air on Su Chen's body. The clothes he wore turned to flying ash and dissipated upon mere contact.
His clothes weren't specifically for defense, but they were still made of high-tier materials, yet at this moment, not even dregs were left.
"Since when?"
Su Chen's eyes were full of astonishment. The stench of rot rushed into his nose and throat. He had already activated five Sky-Scars—this was usually his standard buff when he couldn't grasp the opponent's situation—and that liquid still couldn't break his defense.
His body trembled slightly, and the black liquid on the surface was shaken into powder. His Vitality converged, faintly forming a robe to cover his body.
"What a tyrannical body..." A sinister voice came from an unknown location.
Su Chen looked up and saw that beside the black dragon, an additional three-headed crow had appeared at some point. Its bird eyes were incredibly crimson, its feathers sparse; just looking at it made one shudder.
"Is this... the Three-Headed Withered Crow?" Su Chen had previously crammed quite a bit of relevant knowledge about the Nether Realm, and he recognized this top-tier Nether Realm Creature at a glance.
This thing already possessed certain characteristics of an Evil God. If one's mental will was weak, they might occasionally catch a glimpse of it in the Reality World. Once glimpsed, a mild case would involve being plagued by serious illness, while a severe case would mean dying on the spot.
"No wonder he could defeat Tong Zhuo..." Xu Yingshen was also quite surprised at this moment. Although he had heard that this person excelled in physical classes, he had only seen two Combat Recordings and found it hard to feel it concretely.
"But so what? Isn't Xuan Kai's body also a hunk of iron? Still had to lose to me." Xu Yingshen still didn't care at this moment; physical combat wasn't what he excelled at.
"Roar!"
The next moment, the earth shook and the mountains swayed. The ground split open, and another Nether Realm Creature emerged. A Black Giant Ape as large as a mountain roared towards the sky.
In an instant, howling gales swept through, and black snow filled the sky. A terrifying cold current descended from the sky, instantly sweeping across ten thousand miles of land, freezing everything in its path.
Clang!
A seemingly lightly falling snowflake, pitch-black all over with fine star-like light points flashing on its edges, erupted with piercing silver light the instant it touched his skin.
Su Chen only felt a cold and violent energy explode on the surface of his skin.
"Wide-area attack, this is to check my Flash-Shadow Body..."
Su Chen narrowed his eyes, only seeing that black dragon roaring over. Countless streams of lightning glow crisscrossed, each one tens of meters thick, spanning across the firmament.
The Three-Headed Withered Crow wailed incessantly, and the power of curses in the dark fell upon him. Blood-colored flames and green misty light continuously appeared, eroding his body.
Su Chen frowned slightly, his figure disappearing before a falling lightning bolt. As soon as his earthy-yellow shadow appeared, it was pierced by the black snow filling the sky, making it hard to unleash even a single strike's power.
"This guy... seems arrogant, but in reality, he's very methodical. He's also similar to Tong Zhuo, starting off with this kind of extremely high-intensity battle, intending to force me to use what they think is my trump card."
Clanging and rhythmic sounds continuously rang out where Su Chen appeared. The Black Giant Ape continuously catalyzed the black snow, filling the entire space in a moment.
This place wasn't small, but it wasn't considered big either. No matter where he appeared, he would immediately collide with that black snow.
"Then I'll take a step further and see." With a thought, Su Chen had already appeared in front of the Black Giant Ape. Muffled thuds rang out ceaselessly. The collisions between the black snow and his body were almost continuous, like crackling explosive thunder.
Boom!
Su Chen clenched his fists tight. The fist wind carried streams of blood-gold air waves visible to the naked eye, stirring up ripples in the air as if they were tangible. In an instant, who knew how many punches were thrown, all smashing onto this Giant Ape's body.
The pitch-black Giant Ape before him had its hair standing on end. It looked muscular, but in reality, it didn't excel at physical combat.
Its massive body stiffened, swelling up like magma, and the next moment, its body actually disintegrated in a silent explosion!
There was no blood and flesh flying about, only a mass of impossibly dense ink-colored mist abruptly rising.
"No..." Su Chen's face didn't show the slightest fluctuation as he watched this Black Ape re-condense its physical body not far away.
"Haha... If all professions enhance the physical body, it will indeed make the physical body extremely terrifying. But everyone knows this method, so why don't that many people walk this path?"
Xu Yingshen's voice came from the body of that black dragon; it seemed he could switch his consciousness carrier at will.
"Because the drawbacks are too obvious. Nether Realm Creatures are formless and shadowless to begin with; how could Physical Strength beat them to death?"
Su Chen was expressionless. How could Nether Realm Creatures not be beaten to death by Physical Strength? It was just that the creatures Xu Yingshen operated were different.
His Azure God Talent was called Return to Void—the 'Void' as in 'virtualization'—which could allow Nether Realm Creatures to enter a state of suspended animation and be reborn within a certain range.
"If it wasn't for this guy rushing into my body right from the start last time, he would probably have been quite troublesome."
Su Chen pondered inwardly, but his figure flashed non-stop. Crackling explosive sounds rang out one after another. The Three-Headed Withered Crow, the black dragon, and the violent ape continuously exploded and re-condensed.
He didn't believe this kind of ability had no consumption at all.
"This guy is clearly so young..." Xu Yingshen's heart also skipped a beat.
According to the information he possessed, this wasn't Su Chen's limit burst state. If he entered the limit burst, his might would truly be able to contend with Chang Geming.
Of course, he had never experienced it personally, it was just information passed out after someone in High Heaven experienced it, and he had been somewhat skeptical before.
Now it seemed it truly wasn't smoke without fire.
"But Chang Geming has the Longevity Root, his Physical Stamina is almost inexhaustible. What will you use to outlast me..." Xu Yingshen, whose location was unknown, had cold eyes.
Suddenly, Su Chen's movements stopped.
He saw that in a certain spot, an incredibly dense black mist was spreading.
"Sizzle!"
Rolling black smoke shot into the sky, and from within it, thousands of Nether Realm Creatures suddenly scattered, their forms all different, ferocious and bizarre.
Not only that, the ground also turned grayish-white, like the land of the Nether Realm, and rapidly spread in all directions.
"Just how many Nether Realm Creatures are there? No wonder this guy looks insane all day." Su Chen was quite shocked. These Nether Realm Creatures were almost all 8th-tier, truly perverted.
Not only that, within the area covered by the grayish-white land beneath their feet, all the Nether Realm Creatures underwent a massive change.
Their physiques became robust and burly. Even the details on their bodies, such as hair and heads, appeared distinct, and their auras grew increasingly tyrannical.
"This is his 'Nether Hell', it can drastically enhance the strength of Nether Realm Creatures..."
Su Chen wasn't surprised. This guy was, after all, second on the Abyssal Hidden Star Ranking, one of the strongest 8th-tiers in the Abyssal Domain below the Morning Star and 9th-Tier.
"Then I'll kill them slowly..." Su Chen murmured in a low voice. Like a mountain moving horizontally, erupting like thunder, his entire person crashed straight into that group of Nether Realm Creatures.
The nearby Nether Realm Creatures were instantly blasted away by the air waves. Some had their bodies torn to pieces by the formless shockwaves, while others were pierced by his Vitality, turning into wisps of black smoke, only to reassemble again.
With the Inexhaustible Titan on his body, if he only activated five Sky-Scars, coupled with this high intensity of battle, he could fight until the end of time.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Nether Realm Creatures each had what they excelled at. Various elemental powers rose and fell like tides, but Su Chen was extremely unadorned, either punching or kicking, only attacking and never defending.
Those Nether Realm Creatures collapsed upon contact, scattered upon touch, and then came rolling back again.
"Just what is with this kid..." Xu Yingshen continuously switched between various Nether Realm Creatures, becoming increasingly shocked.
This was the special nature of his Ascension Refining. Like a domain, coupled with the ability of his Azure God Talent, the consumption of reviving a Nether Realm Creature could be reduced to extremely low levels.
But no matter how low it was reduced, it hadn't reached the point of zero consumption.
Yet Su Chen was still doing it with ease.
"This person has already achieved Spirit-Flesh Unity, massively reducing the Lethality of the Grand Celestial Nether Shadow. With his physical body strength, if I don't force him into a weakened state, it's probably hard to shake his Psionic Power..."
Xu Yingshen admitted that Su Chen's level of difficulty exceeded his expectations, but he still had methods.
Boom!
A loud noise was heard. Su Chen's expression moved slightly. The Nether Realm Creatures that were continuously surging towards him like a tide suddenly stopped one by one, all gathering towards the rear.
Like ten thousand birds returning to their nest, thousands of black shadows crisscrossed like a torrent, converging together and transforming into a burly figure, hazy and illusion-like, over ten thousand meters tall, emitting a gloomy, bizarre aura.
"Nether Hell Engendering Gods... Is he trying to go all out against me?"
Su Chen's eyes flickered. This Xu Yingshen was also quite troublesome; he didn't even have his own physical body when fighting. If he took the initiative to clash head-on, that was also good news.
It's just... As he pondered inwardly, he saw this figure already raise its hand, its five fingers spreading out like jagged mountains, condensing a profound void at the fingertips.
In an instant, the entire heaven and earth solidified. A gloomy and bizarre aura attacked from all directions, drilling towards Su Chen's body.
"Not inferior to an ordinary Morning Star..." Su Chen narrowed his eyes. Then... Sky-Scars fully opened!
In an instant, his Vitality boiled like a wolf smoke. His Vitality transformed into a crimson torrent rolling out, so dense it was almost impossible to disperse.
Bang!
A muffled sound came from the void. Su Chen forcefully smashed the confinement to pieces, and like a blood-colored meteor, headed straight for that massive black shadow.
Boom!
Blood light and black mist erupted simultaneously, submerging this place. Streams of black mist steamed up. That massive figure shattered with a boom, turning into countless scattered black lights, collapsing and fleeing in all directions.
"This is his limit burst?" Xu Yingshen's heart trembled in fear, finding it unimaginable. What level of power was this? This guy was so young, just how did he do it?
"Previously, when news spread in High Heaven that you could contend with Taixuan Hong, I even sneered at it, thinking those guys were spreading falsehoods. Now it seems it truly wasn't nonsense."
Xu Yingshen's voice drifted over from afar. He felt somewhat terrified in his heart, yet also excited, because he had already forced out Su Chen's limit burst.
The more powerful the might of this kind of limit burst, the more terrifying the consequences. He only needed to wait, and he would naturally be able to reap the fruits of victory.
"As long as the Nether Shadow doesn't die, I don't die. You have already lost."
Those collapsed Nether Realm Creatures were scattered all over the entire heaven and earth.
I have already lost?
Su Chen landed, still somewhat puzzled, not knowing exactly how this guy came to this conclusion.
But upon second thought, he somewhat understood. "He thinks I can't close the Sky-Scars once I open them, so as long as he waits for the time to end, I will inevitably lose."
The more powerful the ability, the higher the cost of use; this was the consensus of everyone. Things like abilities that squeeze bodily potential, because the damage to the body is temporarily irreversible, they couldn't be used and stopped at will.
But what he used were Sky-Scars, which essentially wasn't squeezing the body, so naturally they could be opened and closed at will.
Although Xu Yingshen didn't know this point, Su Chen didn't refute it and was also in deep thought.
There were too many of these Nether Realm Creatures. He estimated that as long as he kept killing, theoretically there should be a moment when he killed Xu Yingshen until his oil was exhausted and his lamp dried up.
But exactly how long this time would last was still unknown.
"I can only try and see..." With a thought, the blood energy that had almost condensed into substance around Su Chen's body rapidly leaked out like a balloon bursting.
On the Seven-Branch Wondrous Tree, the profession connections and buffs re-linked. Apart from keeping the World-Slaying Manifestation and Eternal Physique separated, all the remaining professions were linked to the Cinderless Flame.
[Flame Tempering Heaven-Burning: The amplification the Cinderless Flame obtains from the host's body will increase by five times.]
The Cinderless Flame could Drain nutrients from his body. The stronger his body strength, the stronger the might of the Cinderless Flame. But previously, Su Chen had mostly used it in coordination with the Verdant Wood Guest.
Right now, it was the first time he was strengthening the Cinderless Flame alone.
"Leaked out so quickly?" Xu Yingshen's will shuttled among the various Nether Realm Creatures. He wouldn't die without killing all the Nether Realm Creatures; this sentence was not nonsense.
Exactly because of this, he was the most troublesome for meat targets like Xuan Kai and Su Chen.
If Chang Geming didn't have the Longevity Root, he absolutely wouldn't be able to outlast him, otherwise he wouldn't be his match either.
"This is..." Xu Yingshen abruptly saw a large swath of differently colored flames suddenly leak out from Su Chen's body. They were mainly black, mixed with cyan-yellow, and had wisps of lightning glow flashing, rapidly spreading in all directions.
"Flames? He also has this kind of ability?" Xu Yingshen was slightly taken aback, unable to figure out the situation.
For a moment, he didn't act rashly. After some Nether Realm Creatures slightly touched them, he relaxed, because the Lethality of these flames wasn't considered strong, and the Nether Realm Creatures could completely withstand them.
"At a dead end, so you even brought out this kind of immature method?" Xu Yingshen's voice carried mockery. "For the sake of us both being from the Five Pillars, I'll teach you a lesson. On the path of professions, there is no such thing as wanting both."
"Only by giving up something can you gain something! You must lose something to get something!"