GOR
After saying that, Duwei reached out with his hand and performed a grabbing motion.
An armour fragment and half a longbow appeared simultaneously in his palm.
Light flowed and the armour and longbow were quickly restored to their original state.
“I am very sorry. It seems I had utterly destroyed the Tearlight Crystal.” Shen smiled, watching as Duwei restored the two equipment. He made no move to attack. “However, given your present level of power, do you still need them?”
“Of course not.” Duwei shrugged. Next, with a flick of his finger, both bow and armour flew towards Chen Xiaolian. “Take them.”
Chen Xiaolian instinctively stretched out his hand. The moment he made contact with the armour, it seemingly came to life as it slid itself across Chen Xiaolian’s arm before enveloping his whole body.
The longbow too, slid into his left hand.
A prompt appeared in his system.
[Flash Bow of Ketu-Rahu. Long-ranged [???] class equipment.
[Moonless Fivefold Light Armour. Defensive [???] class equipment.]
Those two were the only prompts to appear.
To Chen Xiaolian’s surprise, the longbow in his hand was very similar to the one he saw back in World’s End.
Back then, the longbowman he encountered was not too strong in terms of personal strength. However, the power of the silver longbow in his hand was simply unbelievable. Additionally, even though the Sword in the Stone had struck it many times, its Killing Blow ability, which could break enemy weapons, did not trigger.
The longbow must at least be at a similar level, [A+] class. It might even be at [S] class.
At present, however, the system had not given any other prompts for the longbow in his hand. Even its level was [???].
In other words, the fellow’s silver longbow… … was just a replica?
If so, this longbow in his hand…
Seeing Chen Xiaolian wearing the Moonless Fivefold Light Armour while holding the Flash Bow of Ketu-Rahu, Duwei said coolly, “Keep that Sword in the Stone. That is, if you want to be of any use here.”
“I disagree.” Smiling, Shen gently shook his head. “If there are no more words to say, let’s begin!”
His body suddenly disappeared only to reappear instantly before Chen Xiaolian. His palm was already pressing upon Chen Xiaolian’s chest.
Having to face six of his former companions at the same time, Shen dared not let his guard down.
Originally, he had only viewed Chen Xiaolian as an ant. However, with the two sacred artefacts from Duwei, he was now capable of slightly threatening him.
If so… … he would just have to kill Chen Xiaolian first.
Bang!
The hilt of a spear struck Chen Xiaolian’s abdomen to send him flying far away.
It was Zhao Yun.
“Get far away! Do you think that set of armour is tough enough against him?” Zhao Yun shouted with a strict tone. Then, borrowing the recoil from striking Chen Xiaolian’s body, she sent the tip of her spear towards Shen’s throat.
Chen Xiaolian, after getting struck by Zhao Yun’s spear, tumbled a few times across the ground. However, he felt no pain from that. Zhao Yun’s attack was performed to merely push him away and had not broken the armour on his person.
That was not all. When he landed, he did not feel any impact from the fall.
The armour he was wearing, the Moonless Fivefold Light Armour, was truly a… … sacred artefact.
That thought had only just emerged when a sharp sensation of pain spread out from his chest.
It was the spot where Shen’s palm was pressing down on. A big concave had appeared on the armour.
Chen Xiaolian’s vision turned dark as he spat a mouthful of blood onto the grassy ground.
Even though it had to first pass through the Moonless Fivefold Light Armour, Shen’s power was still powerful enough that one blow could critically wound Chen Xiaolian.
Too… strong!
Gritting his teeth, Chen Xiaolian struggled to get up. Then, he watched as six figures began fighting.
Zhao Yun had already condensed out the silver armour over her whole body. She stabbed Shen non-stop with the silver spear in her hand.
Cheng Cheng held onto a strand of her red hair in each hand, which transformed into Dimensional Rip Blades. Every slash she executed would rip space apart.
Gabriel was continuously summoning balls of light from his hand, all of which he hurled towards Shen.
Mr San brandished his umbrella. The umbrella would occasionally close up and he would either hack down or stab forward with it. Occasionally though, it would open up to sweep everything.
Bai Qi no longer swung his sword at empty air. This time, every one of his attacks was performed from the most cunning of angles as he stabbed at Shen.
Duwei was the only exception. He kept his hands behind his back with his eyes closed, choosing to not attack.
Yet, despite coming under siege from the five of them, Shen did not end up in an unfavourable position.
He simply dodged all their attacks, his eyes darting around non-stop as he kept a constant eye on the unmoving Duwei. He dared not let Duwei out of his sight.
Zhao Yun’s spear, Bai Qi’s sword, Mr San’s umbrella, Cheng Cheng’s Dimensional Rip Blade and Gabriel’s balls of light. Their trail covered the space around Shen’s figure. And yet, none of their attacks could even make contact with the corners of Shen’s body.
It was not that their attacks could not make contact with Shen. However, even though their attacks did make contact, it was as though they had simply made contact with a shadow, not producing any effect at all.
“Sorry, against this level of attacks, I can no longer hold back.”
Despite facing the tempest-like attacks, Shen could still find the time to speak.
Then, Shen, who was seemingly in the midst of dancing, suddenly stopped moving.
The attacks from all five struck Shen at the same time.
However, Shen continued standing there, seemingly unscathed by the attacks.
The faces of all five simultaneously sank.
There were clear sensations of contact from their attacks, but Shen… … could he already be strong enough that he could disregard the attacks?
Suddenly, Shen attacked.
The instant he made his move, a powerful and dazzling light suddenly burst out from his body, rendering the others into a seemingly immobile state.
Shen’s palm then pressed down on Gabriel’s chest.
Boom!
The powerful light then became like fireworks as it abruptly exploded. Gabriel gave a muffled cry as his figure flew backwards.
The grassy ground they were on was not too large in size. It was only as big as half a football field while surrounded by the endless void. Gabriel became like an artillery blast as he shot into the endless void.
After the attack successful made contact, Shen quickly retreated. Instantly, his face turned pale, then bright red, then pale again. It repeated a few times.
Only then did the other four began moving again.
“Time… lock?”
Zhao Yun’s face was as cold as frost as she hissed out those words.
“It’s Spatial Lock.” Shen forced out a smile.
Zhao Yun gripped her silver spear with both hands and the silvery luminescence emanating from her body gradually grew brighter. It seemed as though she was a pile of raging fire.
“If that is the case, allow me to break your lock!”
The spear swung out from her waist before stabbing towards Shen.
Her movements appeared slow, so much so that it almost seemed as though she was immobile. However, for every inch traversed by the tip of her spear, ripples would form in the air.
Silvery luminescence shone from the ripples before changing to black. Finally, the colour of the luminescence transformed again into an assortment of colours.
Her face was as icy as a mountain of ice.
Seeing the attack launched by Zhao Yun, Shen’s face grew grim.
Instead of taking it on with his bare hands, he waved his hand and a translucent wall suddenly appeared before him.
The tip of the spear moved at a speed that gave off the impression of both fast and slow. The moment the wall appeared, the tip of the spear had already stabbed into the wall.
When the tip of the spear stabbed into the translucent wall, the wall instantly shattered like broken glass. At the same time, though, it caused the movement of the spear to falter slightly.
During that time, Shen clenched his right fist and punched towards the tip of the spear.
Ripples spread out through the surrounding space as fist and spear tip met.
Both fist and spear tip were knocked aside from the impact. However, Shen’s other fist shot out to heavily punch down upon the spear handle.
Following a ringing sound, the spear broke into two.
Shen’s hand turned over to grab the spear tip portion of the spear before rapidly hurling it towards Zhao Yun.
As the spear shot through the air towards Zhao Yun’s chest, the number of ripples formed exceeded the ones from Zhao Yun’s earlier attack.
At the same time, however, Mr San’s umbrella swung forward and popped open.
The tip of the spear stabbed into the surface of the umbrella and sent it flying. However, the trajectory of the spear was changed as a result. It spun through the air before grazing Zhao Yun’s shoulder, creating a long cut there as a result before flying far away.
At the same time, Cheng Cheng’s two Dimensional Rip Blades and Bai Qi’s sword descended upon Shen’s back.
Retracting his right arm, Shen placed it before the incoming sword. The sword struck, but failed to cut into his flesh. Even so, Shen ended up staggering once from the impact.
As for the two Dimensional Rip Blades, Shen dared not use his hands to face them. Instead, he waved his left hand to create a small clump of blurry space before the incoming Dimensional Rip Blades.
When the Dimensional Rip Blades struck the blurry space, Cheng Cheng felt as though she had just slashed thin air. The thing before her felt weak and incapable of enduring any strikes at all. Inspecting the space, she saw that her Dimensional Rip Blades were stuck within the blurry space. And yet, Cheng Cheng’s hands felt as though they were still swinging down.
It was as though that clump of space was endless. No matter how hard she tried, she could not reach the end.
Two palms were imprinted upon Cheng Cheng and Bai Qi’s chests. The attack forced the two of them to take a few steps back. Then, their bodies went limp and they nearly fell to their knees.
Both of Shen’s palms spread open before closing up again and again in quick succession. Then, he drew out several lines, which encompassed both Cheng Cheng and Bai Qi. After that, a strange light flashed out from his eyes and the lines suddenly formed a cube.
“Disappear!”
With a flash of light, both Cheng Cheng and Bai Qi disappeared.
The whole battle lasted for just an instant. During that time, Chen Xiaolian gritted his teeth as he laboured to get up. In his left hand was the longbow. His right hand reached out to pull the bowstring until the whole bow became like a full moon.
There was no arrow on the bowstring.
Even so, when Chen Xiaolian began pulling the bowstring, countless air currents gathered together to form an arrow.
Release!
The arrow flew.
The arrow condensed from the air currents shot towards Shen at a near imperceptible speed.
The moment the arrow flew out, Chen Xiaolian felt his throat tighten. It felt as though a sledgehammer had suddenly struck him. Next, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Even though this sacred artefact was exceptionally powerful, it was not something that an ordinary person could hope to use.
The simple act of shooting an arrow had exhausted him. Rather, it had over exhausted him.
Still, the power fluctuation emanating from the arrow was terrifying.
By Chen Xiaolian’s estimate, if he had been able to unleash this arrow against Wu Ya, the [S] class expert he encountered in World’s End, Wu Ya would have died on the spot. There would be no need for him to fire a second arrow. The same held true for Sebast.
Against the incoming arrow, however, Shen did not even look at it. He simply sent his left hand out to take on the incoming arrow.
In a seemingly effortless move, his two fingers caught the arrow and tossed it right back at Chen Xiaolian.
The speed at which the arrow was shooting towards Chen Xiaolian was faster than before.
“Bow Moon Dance!”
All this time, Duwei had both his eyes closed and both his hands behind his back, not moving at all. And yet, despite not having opened his mouth at all, Chen Xiaolian could suddenly hear Duwei’s voice in his mind.
The instant those three words rang within his mind, something else emerged. A Martial Skill that perfectly complemented the longbow in his hand suddenly appeared within his mind.
When learning the three axes skill, which was purchased from the system, it felt as though the skill was forcibly pushed into his mind. This skill, on the other hand, felt as though it had been imprinted deep within his mind since the beginning. It felt as though he had been practicing this skill since his childhood days.
The Flash Bow of Ketu-Rahu seemed to move on its own as it swerved upwards through a peculiar angle.
The sharp edge of the longbow’s corner struck the incoming arrow.
However, when the two struck each other, the arrow was not sent flying. Instead, it was seemingly absorbed. It transformed into light, which flowed through the edge of the longbow into the longbow itself before flowing into Chen Xiaolian’s body.
The power that had been consumed to unleash the arrow earlier now returned into Chen Xiaolian’s body.
Like a thirsty man stuck in a desert for a long time taking his first gulp of sweet spring water, Chen Xiaolian felt his whole body becoming energized once more, filled with power.
This bow… … is capable of absorbing power!
“Condense the power! The more condensed the power, the more lethal it becomes. That way, it cannot be countered.”
Duwei’s eyes were still closed and his hands were still behind his back. Once again, however, his voice reached Chen Xiaolian’s ear.
Chen Xiaolian pulled the bowstring once more.
This time, he did not immediately fire the arrow after it formed. The arrow then quickly shrank.
Finally, the entire arrow seemingly disappeared, leaving only a small speck, which rested upon the bowstring.
Fire!
Chen Xiaolian exhausted every drop of strength within his body to fire this arrow. Immediately, he gasped for breath while staring ahead, incapable of moving anymore.
After flying out, the near invisible speck released zero power fluctuations at all. And yet, in face of this attack, Shen had turned to face it.
Shen did not dodge away. Instead, he raised his left hand to block the incoming speck.
The instant his left hand was raised, the speck arrived before the left hand and stopped.
Shen’s left hand made a gentle flick and the speck disappeared into thin air.
It’s… … gone?
Firing the arrow had left Chen Xiaolian in an utterly exhausted state. When he saw Shen take on the arrow in such a casual manner, his mind roiled.
This Shen… … just how powerful is he?
In the refreshed timeline, Bai Qi had easily killed off four of the leading figures of Zero City.
However, when Shen had faced three of Zero City’s leading figures in the past, he had only killed Ronan. Aderick and Angel Wu had managed to escape.
After having regained his memories of the refreshed timeline, Chen Xiaolian had secretly compared the memories and thought to himself that Shen was slightly weaker than Bai Qi.
At present, however, despite being besieged by those five figures, Shen was still able to hold his ground. In fact, he could even counter attack.
Chen Xiaolian was certain now. Back then, Shen had simply not gone all out. If he had really wanted to, he could easily kill off everyone from Zero City on his own.
Zhao Yun and Mr San were standing still. A new silver spear appeared within Zhao Yun’s grasp while Mr San’s umbrella flew back into his hand.
A big ball of light flashed out and Gabriel, who had been sent flying into the void, reappeared within the grassy land.
Thankfully, it would appear that the grassy land was very durable. Despite their battle, the resulting shockwaves had not caused any damage to the ground.
“Where is Cheng Cheng… … and Bai Qi?” Gabriel knitted his brows, his face livid.
A cracking sound rang out as a huge crack appeared within a nearby space. A Dimensional Rip Blade stabbed out from within the crack.
Next, both Cheng Cheng and Bai Qi stepped out from the crack.
The five of them exchanged glances. Then, they turned to face Shen again with grim looks on their faces.
Despite knowing that the current Shen was different from the past, the five of them had never expected to end up getting suppressed and beaten back while joining hands against Shen.
“Duwei! Are you not going to fight?” Cheng Cheng shouted.
“Even if you want to watch the show, you should at least open your eyes!” The moment Gabriel forced a smile out on his face, blood trickled out from his mouth.
“I’ve calculated it. You all cannot defeat him.” Duwei gently shook his head.
“That is why we want you to help us!” Gabriel glared at him.
“Even with my help, we won’t be able to win,” said Duwei with a sigh. “He obtained too much from the wings, far more than I had imagined.”
“What should we do then? Just surrender and watch as he takes the Oddity? Let him patch up the world’s inceptive template and let ourselves be exterminated?” Cheng Cheng snorted.
Duwei snapped open his eyes.
There were neither pupils nor sclera within his eyes. The only thing within them were two spinning nebulae.
Stepping forward, he moved towards Shen.
There was a leisurely quality in Duwei’s movements. However, every step he took seemed to be following a specific rhythm.
Seeing Duwei step towards him, Shen, for the first time ever, revealed an expression of true seriousness.
Every step Duwei took would create spatial ripples on the ground.
He was using his forward motion to adjust his rhythm.
Throughout the whole process, Duwei’s power did not change at all. However, the killing intent coming off him gradually grew thicker.
The green grasses on the ground beneath him rapidly withered due to the ripples. A yellow line of grass was left in Duwei’s wake.
The further forward he went, however, the wider the radius of the yellowed grasses.
Chen Xiaolian felt as though sharp blades were cutting into his face as wave after wave of intense pain bombarded him.
The Moonless Fivefold Light Armour he wore quickly sensed the killing intent. Fragments of the armour spread out to automatically form a protective layer over Chen Xiaolian’s face.
Shen took a deep breath. Suddenly, he attacked.
However, his target was not Duwei. It was not Zhao Yun, Mr San or any of those besieging him.
Rather… … it was Chen Xiaolian!
