Chapter 428 426: Fierce Battle
"Junior Shen! Be careful! Your life is the top priority!"
Seeing Shen Changchuan fly toward Qiu Kunsheng, who was trapped inside the Array, Wei Yuting knew she couldn't talk him out of it. She couldn't help but voice her concern.
For someone at the Soul Emergence Sixth Layer Peak to take on an opponent at the Soul Emergence Eighth Layer Late Stage...
...the gap between them was simply too vast.
True, he had used some unknown technique to temporarily boost his power to the Eighth Layer.
But Wei Yuting didn't believe that was enough to defeat a veteran Demon Cultivator.
'I'll just have to see how things go.'
'Junior Shen is the disciple Master values most, and he saved my life. If anything happens, I'll risk everything to make sure he gets away!'
Wei Yuting steeled her resolve.
Her worry didn't lessen in the slightest.
Especially when Shen Changchuan had declared he was guaranteed to win.
For some reason, an image of Shen Changchuan being sliced in two at the waist flashed through her mind...
'I hope nothing goes wrong.'
Wei Yuting prayed silently.
"Haha! You little brat, you're courting death!"
In stark contrast to Wei Yuting's worry,
the once-anxious Qiu Kunsheng was overjoyed to see Shen Changchuan land inside the Array!
He had been agonizing over falling into a trap,
and letting the little brat who held the key to his future escape, filling him with endless regret.
But as it turned out, the brat hadn't fled for some reason.
Instead, he had leaped right into the Array.
How could he not be ecstatic?!
'The heavens are truly smiling upon me!'
Qiu Kunsheng's Heart Spirit surged.
He had thought he'd missed his chance to change his destiny, only for fortune to suddenly turn in his favor?!
This series of drastic ups and downs
gave Qiu Kunsheng a profound sense of life's unpredictability!
He didn't know why Shen Changchuan had suddenly turned back, much less stepped into the Array, apparently wanting a fight.
But Qiu Kunsheng knew one thing:
he had to seize this opportunity and capture the brat!
He couldn't let such a golden opportunity slip through his fingers again!
However,
their prior encounter had taught him a lesson,
and he was now far more vigilant.
'Geniuses might be arrogant, but they are never idiots!'
'If he dares to come down here for a life-or-death battle, he must have a trump card he's relying on!'
'In our last two clashes, I sent that brat flying. He should be well aware of my strength, yet he still came. This proves that his ace in the hole isn't just the technique that temporarily boosted his Cultivation Realm to the Eighth Layer Early Stage!'
In the space of a single breath,
countless thoughts flashed through Qiu Kunsheng's mind.
His face was filled with confidence,
as if he had seen through everything!
However,
even though Qiu Kunsheng believed his vast life and combat experience let him see right through Shen Changchuan, he knew the battle ahead would be anything but easy.
An unknown trump card,
is the most terrifying thing of all!
With a myriad of thoughts in his mind,
Qiu Kunsheng's figure shot upward, unleashing a torrential flood of Magical Power that crashed toward Shen Changchuan like a tsunami!
Faced with Qiu Kunsheng's attack,
Shen Changchuan had no intention of wasting words.
The Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu in his spine flared to life, resonating with the heavens and the earth and causing Shen Changchuan's entire body to radiate a dazzling golden light.
He threw a punch across the distance—
a vast, mighty blow that shook space itself, hurtling toward Qiu Kunsheng with incomparable power!
BOOM!
A terrifying collision erupted.
The air instantly shattered, and an area dozens of zhang wide was blasted into a vacuum!
The two separated the instant they clashed.
Qiu Kunsheng's figure was knocked back eight steps,
while Shen Changchuan was sent flying back several zhang!
The difference in their strength was clear in an instant!
But Shen Changchuan wasn't the least bit discouraged.
He took a single step, his figure flashing like lightning as he charged forward once more!
Qiu Kunsheng showed no weakness either,
transforming into a series of black afterimages as he rushed forward to meet him in battle.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
The two afterimages crisscrossed through the sky,
clashing hundreds, even thousands of times
in a single instant!
From outside the Array, where she was simultaneously controlling its operation and observing the battle, Wei Yuting
felt that her eyes could barely keep up with their speed!
'He's so strong!'
'Junior Shen... he seems to be getting stronger!'
Wei Yuting was shaken to the core.
She had witnessed his two previous clashes with Qiu Kunsheng firsthand!
Those two attacks
had been direct and straightforward.
He had employed the Soul Emergence Eighth Layer Level power gained from his unknown Secret Technique,
but without any real Magic or control over his Magical Power. He had simply gathered a force comparable to the Soul Emergence Eighth Layer and crudely unleashed it all in an instant!
But now,
Wei Yuting could clearly see
that Shen Changchuan was beginning to control his powerful, berserk Magical Power, even managing to incorporate some techniques into his attacks!
'As expected of the genius even Master praises so highly!'
'To be able to do this... no wonder he said Qiu Kunsheng was the catalyst for his breakthrough!'
Wei Yuting's Heart Spirit was thoroughly shaken.
As a result,
her confidence in Shen Changchuan's ability to defeat Qiu Kunsheng
grew a little.
Of course,
it was only a little.
Because,
she had also noticed something strange about Qiu Kunsheng.
It seemed...
that old fiend's power was a notch weaker than before?
'Could it be the backlash from his Lifebound Silver Armored Corpse being destroyed?'
But,
an old fiend from the Corpse Refining Sect, one who had run rampant in the Nanyue Kingdom for nearly two hundred years... how could he be so easy to deal with?!
Wei Yuting could faintly sense
that in this,
there was a conspiracy afoot!
At that moment, Wei Yuting's heart couldn't help but leap into her throat.
'That brat has an unknown ace up his sleeve. He's a huge threat!'
'I need to lower my power. I'll control the intensity of our exchange to a level where I'm suppressing him, but not so much that I crush him instantly.'
'That way, I can drag this out and probe his techniques.'
'Once I've figured out his combat patterns, even if I can't smoke out his ace in the hole, I'll wait for him to get used to my rhythm. Then, I'll unleash my full power and kill him before he even has a chance to use it!'
A pale, weak look appeared on Qiu Kunsheng's face, and the power of his attacks diminished, now only able to suppress Shen Changchuan by a slight margin.
It seemed as if he had fallen into a weakened state,
but,
one could faintly see,
deep in his eyes, a sinister glint flashed and vanished.
And all the while,
he was gradually familiarizing himself with Shen Changchuan's attack patterns, rhythm, and techniques...
Shen Changchuan, of course,
sensed the change in Qiu Kunsheng.
Whereas before, a single clash of blows had been enough to send him flying,
now,
he could barely hold his own against his opponent!
With every collision and every impact,
although Shen Changchuan was still at a disadvantage, he was now barely able to withstand the blows!
Qiu Kunsheng's feigned weakness
was definitely suspicious,
but at that moment, Shen Changchuan had no mind to dwell on it.