Chapter 1007: I’ve Been Waiting For You!
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Yang Zhao unleashed the Supreme Drifting Song Spell, The Elite Vanishing Heaven-Ascending Spell and the Dimensionless Transformation at the same time and obscured himself between the clouds with unpredictable positioning.
Liu Xiafeng continued to channel the Grand Sun Primordial Fire against the thick layers of white clouds, and Yang Zhao seemed like he had no choice but to repeatedly replenish the volume of clouds around him. It appeared as if he only had the energy to defend himself and couldn’t return fire at all.
Every detonation of the glowing flames of the Grand Sun Primordial Fire blew open a vast patch of cloud energies, and it seemed like it didn’t take much more to completely break open Yang Zhao’s spell. Perhaps, if he put in a little more effort, he would be able to annihilate the entire patch of clouds.
Yang Zhao, on the other hand, was barely holding on and his life could be endangered at any moment, as if his protective layer could be torn apart by Liu Xiafeng at any moment.
The process of the battle suggested that Yang Zhao was expending more energy replenishing the thick white clouds after each attack.
Even though he was in the aurous core advanced stage, his mana pool was not that much greater than Liu Xiafeng, who was only in the aurous core intermediate stage.
Furthermore, continuous defense was bound to have a loophole in most scenarios as defensive spells were ultimately passive. A single lapse in concentration could lead to irrevocable defeat, and all the hard work would have been wasted.
But was everything the truth?
At least, Yang Zhao was extremely satisfied with the current situation as he hovered between the clouds and continued to obscure his position.
His Supreme Drifting Song Spell did not take much out of his mana, and this was one of the spell’s strengths as well.
On the contrary, if Liu Xiafeng continued his aggressive onslaught, he would burn through his mana much quicker than Yang Zhao would, and it wouldn’t take long before he ran himself dry.
Yang Zhao was not too concerned about the possibility that Liu Xiafeng could break through his defenses before his force of attack started to weaken and before he exhausted his mana.
If it was Tang Jun, who was also in the aurous core intermediate stage, Yang Zhao wouldn’t have been so confident. Judging from the course of their current battle, he was confident that Liu Xiafeng was unable to break through his defenses forcefully even if he unleashed the last form of the Eight Spells of Heaven and Earth, Absolute Destruction.
Since that was the case, then the situation was completely within his control.
The only thing was that onlookers perceived Yang Zhao to be the one who was stuck in a dire situation, and Yang Zhao was the one that was at a disadvantage. An aurous core advanced stage cultivator was being bullied by an aurous core intermediate stage cultivator, which was extremely humiliating for the former.
However, final victory was the most important thing for Yang Zhao. Whether he came back to win or he won the battle outright was not so different for him as long as the result was the same.
It was also possible that Liu Xiafeng would realize the problem with his approach and jump out of the circle, and make use of the superficial advantage that he seemed to possess – but Yang Zhao had already considered that outcome.
Firstly, based on Wan Zhenglun’s description of Liu Xiafeng and his own observations, Liu Xiafeng seemed like a casual person but was actually quite a tough nut and would probably not resort to such measures.
Secondly, if Liu Xiafeng ended up doing it anyway, Yang Zhao knew how to play against him.
During his next forceful assault, his mana would be depleted and if he developed ideas to retreat, he would be making himself vulnerable and gave Yang Zhao a chance to retaliate.
However, even though Liu Xiafeng was still as calm as ever, his eyes started to betray tinges of exasperation and frustration. Yang Zhao grinned as the entire situation was progressing towards the best-case scenario in his calculations.
The longer Liu Xiafeng spent with his aggression and the longer he took to realize the problem, the greater his consumption of mana, and when he finally decided to withdraw it would be too late.
This was especially so when his next offensive strike was clear suboptimal in strength and a flash of pity and regret came across Li Xingfei’s face.
Everything fell into Yang Zhao’s eyes, and the corner of his mouth curved into a nearly invisible smile. This was a battle that was clearer to the participants than to the onlookers.
Even though Li Xingfei kept quiet, the ripples of her mana and consciousness would more or less affect Liu Xiafeng, who came from the same vein as she did.
This effect was miniscule, and was comparable to a single gust of wind across the surroundings or a slight increase in the humidity of the air – it was nearly undetectable.
However, the more unassuming the change, the more likely it could create a subtle but acute effect. Even though it was discreet, soundless and formless, it could take root in Liu Xiafeng’s emotions and cause him to grow even more frustrated.
The epic battle rolled on, and Liu Xiafeng channeled another ball of his Grand Sun Primordial Fire and dissipated another patch of white clouds. Finally, he frowned as he watched the incredulous layers of white clouds before him and a look of hesitation came across his face.
After a few more rounds of assault, his movements became a lot slower and he started to feel and understand the layers of white clouds between the sparkles in his eyes.
In the next moment, his brows locked together and even though his expression was still one of composure, his eyes betrayed a look of hopeless struggle as if he had no choice but to give up.
In the end, after yet another round of assault, Liu Xiafeng’s figure flashed once and attempted to fly out of the encircling white clouds.
"Your reaction is fast, but it’s too late," Yang Zhao chuckled coldly, "You cultivators from the Celestial Sect of Wonders are not all that arrogant after all and know when you’re beaten."
He felt a tinge of regret at the chance that Liu Xiafeng chose to withdraw from the situation and make use of his superficial advantage to give up his fruitless attempts. In this case, he still had some energy left and it still wouldn’t be for Yang Zhao to win the battle.
After all, even though Yang Zhao still had cards to play, his offensive powers were not that strong.
Yang Zhao did not dare to dally as he watched Liu Xiafeng retreat. If he let Liu Xiafeng jump out of the circle, then his careful planning would have gone to waste and all the time and effort he had put in would be worth nothing. He would probably turn from predator to prey as well.
He began to cast a spell with his fingers and the flowing white clouds surrounding the two of them abruptly solidified.
The sprawling balls of clouds appeared to materialize into solid form in the blink of an eye and seemed to possess incredible toughness as they sealed off the entire area.
Both him and Liu Xiafeng became like the little insects in amber as they became immobilized with no hope of escape.
Mu Xuan, Chen Xingyu and Guo Chaoyang raised their eyebrows as they exclaimed, "The Heavenly Cloud-Shattering Technique?"
The cultivators from the Great Void Sect were acutely aware of the special characteristic of the Supreme Drifting Song Spell of helping the practitioner save mana. Even disciples who did not cultivate the Mantra of the Supreme Oblivion were aware of these foundational knowledge, and they naturally knew that there was another spell in the Mantra of the Supreme Oblivion called the Heavenly Cloud-Shattering Technique.
The Mantra of the Great Oblivion integrated many principles of Heaven and Earth, and they were mostly profound and extremely sophisticated; one of these principles was the Supreme Principle of Destruction.
Outside the Crucible of the Divine Lands, the Xuan Lin Holy Man was still in a standoff against Wang Lin and Lin Feng – his Virtual Entity originated from the power of the Supreme Principle of Destruction.
There were other branches under the Supreme Principle of Destruction. One of them was called the Supreme Principle of Detonation, and the Heavenly Cloud-Shattering Technique was a spell derived from this particular principle.
When the power of this spell was released, the sprawling white clouds would directly shatter the void and cause the area all around to shatter as well.
Offence was not Yang Zhao’s strong suit. However, he had Liu Xiafeng encircled within his layers of white clouds, and using the Heavenly Cloud-Shattering Technique and causing the detonation from both inside and outside would greatly increase its power.
At this moment, when Liu Xiafeng was still attempting to retreat out of the circle of battle, he would have to face a pincer-like assault from the Heavenly Cloud-Shattering Technique. Even if he still had some energy remaining, he would still have a hard time.
Yang Zhao himself was enveloped in the inner regions of the white clouds and would suffer the effects of the Heavenly Cloud-Shattering Technique himself. However, he was the one casting the spell and he was also prepared for this eventuality and it was only natural that he would have an easier time than Liu Xiafeng. When Liu Xiafeng was still exhausted from handling the effects of the Heavenly Cloud-Shattering Technique, Yang Zhao would unleash his follow-up move and build upon his advantage.
"Go!" Yang Zhao growled as the clouds enveloping the two of them started to explode.
However, at this very moment, Yang Zhao suddenly saw Liu Xiafeng turn back with a faint smile on his face. "I’ve been waiting for you."
An ominous feeling surfaced in Yang Zhao’s heart, and what distressed him even more was the fact that Li Xingfei started to laugh as well.
A casual look came across Liu Xiafeng’s face as he watched Yang Zhao. "Now I believe that the words you said before were not intended to sow discord."
"From the very beginning, you’ve been trying to infuriate me and make me lose my cool. The instigating words that came after was also meant to disrupt my thoughts so that I would continue to descend into frustration and fury, so that I would continue to attempt to prove myself and react to your taunts."
The sounds of the Supreme Drifting Song Spell had completely stopped, and Yang Zhao’s face glimmered in the sky with an inscrutable expression.
Liu Xiafeng slapped his hands together abruptly, and radiant golden light surged forth from his left wrist and extended up and down to become something like a long bow.
"When I insisted on this forceful assault, I was giving up more and more of my advantage in Vanishing Spells, and I was using my weakness to fight against your strengths."
Liu Xiafeng placed his right hand on the longbow conjured by his left, and made the gesture of nocking an invisible arrow. "I have battle Wan Zhenglun before, and it was only natural that you’d obtain information from him that I was pretty good with Vanishing Spells and was better with guerilla fighting rather than forceful attack."
A blindingly bright golden arrow appeared on the bow, and the tip of the arrow was equally dazzling as the Grand Sun Primordial Fire condensed with unprecedented volume. It was like a single Sun, and the terrifying aura sent Yang Zhao’s heart into the abyss.
It was a spell from the lineage of the Celestial Sect of Wonder’s Inferno Precipice, and part of the Burning Heavens Mantra – the Burning Heavens Divine Radiance!
This spell was compatible with any type of Primordial Fire, and its salient feature was that it had a single point of incredibly explosive and destructive power.
"However, the question is that how could you have known whether I gave my all when I battled Wan Zhenglun?" Liu Xiafang looked at Yang Zhao and chuckled. "If you continued to hide, my spell could possibly have broken open your previous mantra but I wasn’t entirely confident of eliminating you once and for all."
"I can’t ask for more now that you’ve stopped. Your new spell, I can tell, is relatively more powerful but it has a weakness – it’s far too slow and incomparable to mine."
Before he finished his sentence, the single nocked golden arrow was released from the longbow. It left a blazing trail of fire in the sky behind it, and resembled a golden shooting star as it pierced through the solidified layers of clouds.
The clouds separated to reveal the Sun as the radiant golden light permeated the sky and became like a real scorching Sun at midday.
Yang Zhao could no longer be bothered with the Heavenly Cloud-Shattering Technique and hurriedly channeled the Dimensionless Transformation in an attempt to dodge Liu Xiafeng’s Burning Heavens Divine Radiance.
However, the flames crackled as they exploded and transformed into a miniature Sun that burned endlessly in the sky.
Yang Zhao could only watch as his position gradually returned from the illusory world into the real one. He could only watch as his body was gradually consumed by the searing golden Sun.