Chapter 381: Last stand
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Fang Zhengzhi had felt this way before. That was in the battle with Lu Yusheng at the Divine Constabulary.
At that time, Lu Yusheng had strangely broken through into the Heavenly Reflection State. He proceeded to 'hunt down' Yan Xiu and Fang Zhengzhi in the Heavenly Treasure Hall.
After, Fang Zhengzhi managed to breakthrough to the Heavenly Reflection State, the two had one last battle inside the Heavenly Treasure Hall.
Even though Fang Zhengzhi looked like he had the element of surprise, the fact was that he had a much better control over the Dao of all Creation. As such, he was able to control Lu Yusheng's Ice Territory.
The roles were now reversed, but the concept was similar.
Of course, in order to do such a thing, two conditions must be met. First, one's pocket dimension must have the same Dao. Two, one must have better control than the opponent.
Nangong Hao was in the pinnacle Supernatural State. As such, his control over the Dao of All Creation was better than Fang Zhengzhi's. Furthermore, the Dragon Combat Plan's unique accommodating nature meant that his sword technique could combine with any Dao.
As such, it was not difficult for Nangong Hao to do this.
Nangong Hao may have an easy time, but that meant that Fang Zhengzhi was going to struggle.
To Fang Zhengzhi, it felt like he had thrust his sword only to find out that it wasn't him. Instead, his opponent had stolen his sword and thrust it back at him. What's mine is his, what's his is still his. How was he going to fight?
Fang Zhengzhi knew that Nangong Hao was powerful, but he never expected Nangong Hao to be this ridiculously powerful.
Stealing the Dao of others?
The thought flashed through Fang Zhengzhi's mind. He kept trying to think of a weakness in the Dragon Combat Plan. However, his most pressing issue was not to find a weakness...
It was to dodge Nangong Hao's attack.
No fancy show of force, no fanfare. However, it was as quick as a bolt of lightning.
Nangong Hao thrusted straight at him. When his blade contacted the waterfall from heaven, it went straight through and flew towards Fang Zhengzhi's throat.
This strike left Fang Zhengzhi with no choice but to give up his menacing technique and retreat.
"Clang!" A crisp sound rang out.
There wasn't much reverberation as the blades clashed and parted. Yet, the crisp sound was clear for all to hear.
Nangong Hao's blade returned to its original position, the tip still pointed at Fang Zhengzhi. It glowed golden in the light.
"Congratulations, you managed to block my strike!" Nangong Hao's tone was calm, just like how he was when he exited the Icy Monkey Settlement.
Nangong Hao's shock upon hearing that Fang Zhengzhi had 388 Daos in his pocket dimension had disappeared.
This strike had restored his composure.
This was the beauty of his technique.
"Fang Zhengzhi blocked Nangong Hao's strike?!"
"This battle is even more interesting than I expected."
"I wonder how many rounds Fang Zhengzhi can last considering that he's being outclassed in cultivation state. If Nangong Hao really suppressed his own cultivation state, Fang Zhengzhi really had a good chance of winning!"
"Mm, for a pinnacle Heavenly Reflection State cultivator to block the attack of a pinnacle Supernatural State cultivator is impressive!"
All of the candidates looked at Fang Zhengzhi with conflicted expressions. They had once disregarded him as a despicable villager. But now, he was a shining star.
That being said...
Nangong Hao was much too powerful.
Nangong Hao was a full cultivation state above Fang Zhengzhi. No matter how hard Fang Zhengzhi tried, he could not possibly defeat Nangong Hao.
The fact that he could block one attack...
Could be considered a victory.
All of the candidates thought the same way. However, Chen Feiyu was extremely depressed when he saw this. Despite being in the Supernatural State, he was unable to block Nangong Hao's strike...
Yan Xiu was not too surprised. He had expected that Fang Zhengzhi would be able to block Nangong Hao's strike. However, he didn't expect that it would be this difficult.
Yan Xiu noticed something that the others didn't. Yan Xiu looked at Fang Zhengzhi's sword wielding hand.
And right now...
That hand was trembling slightly.
...
Fang Zhengzhi had thought of many ways to block Nangong Hao's strike. He wanted to use more Daos to increase the difficulty for Nangong Hao to accommodate them all.
He also wanted to try using each Dao one by one.
He did not believe that the Dragon Combat Plan would be able to accommodate everything.
But did Fang Zhengzhi have the chance to try it?
Nope.
As such, he was forced to use the most basic of techniques. He did not use Dao, choosing instead to use his own energy.
That was what he used to block Nangong Hao's strike.
However, just as what Yan Xiu guessed, without any Dao in the blade, how could Fang Zhengzhi go up against Nangong Hao's Dragon Combat Plan buffed strike.
In the moment the blades clashed, a powerful wave of force crashed towards Fang Zhengzhi.
If not for the fact that Fang Zhengzhi's blade was the Traceless Sword...
He would not have been able to match that attack.
"The Sagely Battle God Meng Tian is a hero of the Great Xia Dynasty. His blade had slashed through the demon's Blood Shadow City. That mark is still there to this day. His blade is stained with the blood of the demon lord Si Kong. The blade in your hand is truly a good sword." Nangong Hao's eyes glowed even brighter as he looked at Fang Zhengzhi's sword. His white robe flapped in the wind.
Fang Zhengzhi knew exactly what Nangong Hao was saying.
He knew that Nangong Hao had already seen through the fact that he only managed to block the strike because of the quality of his blade. He also knew that Nangong Hao's next strike would not be easy to block.
Was the difference between cultivation states really that great?
Dragon Combat Plan!
How was he going to find a weakness in the Dragon Combat Plan?!
A technique that could steal the Dao of others is impossible to break! He could steal everything you had. How would someone like that lose?
But, Nangong Hao had lost before...
He had lost to one person. That person was Chi Guyan.
Fang Zhengzhi knew this. However, what he didn't know was how Chi Guyan managed to defeat Nangong Hao's sword technique!
Did she use the Million Sword Illustration?
The only technique he had seen Chi Guyan use was the Divine Constabulary's Million Sword Illustration. Right now, that seemed like his only hope.
However, could it really defeat the Dragon Combat Plan?
Fang Zhengzhi did not think that it was very likely.
If it couldn't, then how did Chi Guyan manage to defeat Nangong Hao?
Fang Zhengzhi tried to recall what was discussed during his time with Chi Guyan in the Northern Mountain Village. Back then, Chi Guyan enlightened him about his weaknesses and made the deal with him.
Chi Guyan wanted him to participate in the court examinations.
That meant that Chi Guyan knew that this battle would take place.
If so, why didn't Chi Guyan mention anything about the Dragon Combat Plan? Did she think that he had no chance of defeating Nangong Hao? Or was it that she had said it but he didn't take notice?
Fang Zhengzhi kept trying to recall the minute details from his last meeting with Chi Guyan. However, he could not remember Chi Guyan dropping any hints.
Okay then...
Chi Guyan must have thought that he couldn't defeat Nangong Hao.
Fang Zhengzhi was furious when he thought about this. His initially trembling hand became firm as he gripped the hilt of his sword.
What he didn't realize was that in the moment he gripped the hilt, the purple mark on the tip of the blade changed.
It began to flow.
Fang Zhengzhi did not think anymore. Based on his knowledge of Dao and cultivation, he could not think of any way to defeat the nature of the Dragon Combat Plan.
If that was the case...
His only option was simple.
Just do it!
Go at it mindlessly!
Fang Zhengzhi moved. He did not wait for Nangong Hao to strike again, deciding to take the initiative this time. He couldn't let Nangong Hao have the first-move advantage all the time.
It didn't matter if he couldn't win, he wasn't going to give up!
Fang Zhengzhi went straight for Nangong Hao.
All of the candidates were shocked to see Fang Zhengzhi take the initiative. Why wouldn't he take this time to set up his defence?
Was he giving up?
Nangong Hao's eyes moved. He knew that Fang Zhengzhi had struggled to block his previous attack. But yet, Fang Zhengzhi's reaction was to attack?
"Not bad!" Nangong Hao swung his blade.
He knew that Fang Zhengzhi was willing to lose but he was going to keep trying. In other words, this was Fang Zhengzhi's last stand. He had effectively given up.
Nangong Hao knew that his battle with Fang Zhengzhi would be short.
Three rounds!
That was the limit that he had set for himself.
Initially, when he heard that Fang Zhengzhi had 388 Daos in his pocket dimension, he wanted to raise the limit. He wanted to suppress his abilities and see for himself how powerful Fang Zhengzhi was.
However, Fang Zhengzhi had rejected his offer.
As such, he would respect Fang Zhengzhi's decision.
He decided to finish this battle off quickly. As for his question about if the number of Daos was what made someone powerful, or if the heart was the determining factor...
Nangong Hao never doubted his own choices.
The competition did not matter much to him.
Nangong Hao knew that another opportunity would come. When Fang Zhengzhi was fortunate enough to breakthrough to the Supernatural State, he would be able to try it out for himself.
Of course, the prerequisite was that Fang Zhengzhi must be able to breakthrough. The second condition was that he himself had not broken through to the Rebirth State.
388 Daos!
This was a double edged sword!
Fang Zhengzhi would be the best in his current state. However, it would be many times more difficult for Fang Zhengzhi to breakthrough.
The logic was simple. The more Daos one had, the less one could master each Dao. In the same time, someone who focused on one Dao would be able to advance much further.
Nangong Hao did not want this battle to drag on any longer. He still had his own unique mission in the war between the Great Xia Dynasty and the Southern Mountain Range.
He struck in the same silent way.
This time however, Nangong Hao's blade multiplied into four.
Four blades, four people.
When the blade in his hand split into four, so did Nangong Hao. Each of their white robes flapped in the wind.
The four blades came straight at Fang Zhengzhi from four different directions.
...
Fang Zhengzhi was not shocked that Nangong Hao managed to split into four. He knew many techniques which could do such a thing.
They could be holograms or reflections.
Some techniques reflected light to project three similar images. Of course, Fang Zhengzhi was not powerful enough to do it himself.
Okay then...
Fang Zhengzhi never expected that the difference between the two strikes would be this great.
Nangong Hao's first attack was ordinary and silent. It was just quick. However, his second attack came from all four directions.
How was Fang Zhengzhi going to block this?
There was no way!
Fang Zhengzhi wanted to breakout of this. However, what he was afraid of was that he would be defeated even before he could breakout. If he defeated one of the Nangong Haos...
It could just be a reflection.
Then, he would be dead...
But Nangong Hao would still be alive.
He could not use the Dao of All Creation to block Nangong Hao's attack. Not only did Nangong Hao stop him from using any Daos, Nangong Hao was attacking from all directions.
How would he defend against four opponents?
Fang Zhengzhi felt like he was at the end of his road. Without being able to use the Dao of All Creation, he felt like an unarmed villager going up against a ferocious beast.
He was helpless.
But was he going to lose just like that?
Fang Zhengzhi did entertain the possibility that he would be defeated. However, in all his battles, he had never fell in the second round.
Just one round?
That was utterly embarrassing!
Fang Zhengzhi would never accept that! After all, if news of this spread to Ping Yang or Chi Guyan, how would he ever bring himself to face them in the future?
No way!
Even if he was going to lose, he was going to last a few more rounds. Or perhaps, he was going to force Nangong Hao to be on the defensive.
Fang Zhengzhi was desperate. However, it was this desperation that caused his mind to open up almost instantly.
In that moment, he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. The angelic light shone radiantly in front of him, so much so that he struggled to open his eyes.