Tuo Bihan observed the faint spatial fluctuations behind Long Chen. They were extremely brief, but they were mere meters away from Long Chen. When he tried to trace its origins, he felt as if he was sent into a swirl of sensory dissonance of time. Unable to figure out why, he was disturbed by Long Chen's growl.
The two, Wei Wuyin and Long Chen, stood roughly a few dozen meters away from each other. For elite experts of their levels, this was less than a single blink of a mortal eye. The former emitted no aura, and the latter was like a raging tempest of power.
Tuo Bihan reacted at this moment: "I will officiate the Imperial Combat between these two!" He recalled that Long Chen had challenged Wei Wuyin to Imperial Combat shortly before the All-Alchemic Clash with Qingye Ying. The rules of Imperial Combat were absolute, so regardless who won, the victor would suffer no blowback.
With a wave of his hand, Qing Qiumu and Wu Baozhai were pulled back and brought in for his protection.
Qing Qiumu no longer felt a desire to speak. Their last conversation allowed her to fully understand that the Long Chen she knew wasn't here. This brought her endless sorrow. She felt a hand on her shoulder, shaking her. Qu Baozhai was looking at her with a faint, comforting smile. There were no words said, but it caused Qing Qiumu to feel an outrage of emotions. Tears welled within her eyes as she turned to the two male figures that shaped her life.
In her heart, she didn't want a draw.
In her heart, she wanted one of them to end this—forever.
Wu Baozhai saw the light of acceptance in her eyes. With her heart settled, Wu Baozhai turned towards the Long Chen that was currently in the 1st Grand Transformation. She sought Wu Yu's opinion, "Who do you think will win?"
She couldn't see through Wei Wuyin's cultivation and Long Chen was even more unfathomable. After dispersing the attack of a Realmlord with a swing of his blade, it showed his extraordinary powers.
"…Wei Wuyin will win." Wu Yu said, a tinge of sadness alongside relief in his tone.
His quick answer shook Wu Baozhai's heart. "How can you tell?" Her words were laced with endless curiosity. At this point, she had severed all her emotional ties to Long Chen. This was especially so after she learned that she was tricked into giving up her body for Long Chen to cultivate the Imperial Heaven Qi Method.
Her life had been derailed selfishly by Long Chen. Furthermore, there was no way that he, the one who knew of the Imperial Heaven Qi Method, wasn't aware of this disgusting trick. If it wasn't for her resources and cunning, losing her purity prior to marriage was sufficient to warrant her death in the Imperial Wu Clan.
In truth, she wanted him dead.
Wu Yu only said three words: "Because it's him."
And Wu Baozhai understood. She remained silent as she observed the two.
Long Chen smirked. After reaching the 1st Grand Transformation, his Imperial Heaven Aura can exert a unique World Pressure referred to as Imperial Pressure. With it released, he could suppress the world and destabilize energies. While the range only reached ten meters, it was enough to form an impregnable defense. It was how he escaped the clutches of He Yanglei!
Furthermore, his astral force was elevated by the Imperial Heaven Aura, raising its quality. The best expression and example of this was reflected in Astral Core size. Without the 1st Grand Transformation, his Astral Core size would be 5.5 centimeters, but with it activated, it had effectively doubled!
In this state, he felt unbeatable to anyone within his generation! While the stress it imposed on his physical body and Astral Soul was terrifying, his Seed of Law that remained in his body seemed to overcome a large portion of it, allowing him to mediate its effects.
"Die!" Long Chen violently roared as he grasped his sword and flickered towards Wei Wuyin with a ferocious glint to its edge. His sword force was abundant and fiercely sharp, as if it could split the entire planet in two!
Wei Wuyin responded by holding out his hand and calling out a single word in his mind: "Element!" In an instant, his saber formed and he clasped it with a single hand. There was a calm, focused, and incomparably sharp light effusing from his eyes at that moment.
Long Chen arrived before Wei Wuyin fearlessly, unleashing his Imperial Pressure. It had the unique power of destabilizing energies and suppressing an opponent's entirety in much the same way as World Pressure, so while in close combat, most opponents would be unable to exert any power!
Wei Wuyin remained unfazed. He glanced at the slow-moving Long Chen that was roaring with his mouth open, a faint smirk on his expression, and a bloody light within his gaze.
Wei Wuyin moved his body into a stable and balanced stance, and then lash out with a well-timed vertical slash that met Long Chen's strike!
The two, sword and saber, sought to clash while releasing keening sounds! But no sound of metal clashing with metal resounded! There was a deflated sword keen that erupted, dying off soon after with only the saber howl remaining. It overtook the world in its dominance!
"…Wah?!" Long Chen's heart sank as his sword met Wei Wuyin's saber in a direct clash. The supposed explosion of power and ferocious clash that was expected didn't happen. He saw the two edges meet! Then, as if butter meeting a hot knife, Wei Wuyin's saber sliced his sword cleanly in half!
The two passed each other off their moving momentum. In the blink of an eye, the two had seemingly swapped places. Wei Wuyin held his saber out as it howled to the world! While Long Chen's sword was trembling ceaselessly.
Wei Wuyin turned around. No words were spoken as he slowly moved towards Long Chen with light and even steps.
Long Chen's expression became incredibly rosy as he felt blood rise from his stomach, lungs, and heart and threaten to spew out into the world from his orifices. As he fiercely held this in, his sword's upper body slipped off and fell to the ground. A soft thud resounded!
The hearts of everyone tugged in their chest.
Long Chen's body quivered chaotically for several moments as steps echoed from behind him. He urged his astral force and swept his spiritual sense throughout his body. When he did, the rosy complexion of his paled as his eyelids grew slack.
With a strong lift of his upper body, he stood upright. With a few forceful nasal breaths, he pivoted on his heel and faced Wei Wuyin who stood no more than three feet from him. Those resplendent silver eyes meeting his own darkly-colored eyes. There was a strange peace within that overtook his mind at this moment.
For an entire minute, they stood there just a few feet from each other, no saying or doing anything. The situation to observers was incredibly tense. Unfortunately for them, the fight had already been decided.
'Was I wrong?' Long Chen's thoughts were soon met with a terrifying realization that encapsulated the truth. Wei Wuyin was outstandingly strong, frighteningly so. It was only at this moment that he realized that Wei Wuyin could've killed him before, perhaps he wasn't his match since they first met. A faint bitter smile formed on his face.
1st Grand Transformation? Imperial Pressure? Before absolute strength, what was all this?
Wei Wuyin ended his silence, "I don't usually swing my saber twice for those unworthy of the first swing. However, I think you deserve the honor of dying by my saber, and to die knowing how."
"…" Long Chen's eyes glanced at the saber that emitted faint howls that resonated with the world. When he turned his gaze back to Wei Wuyin, his heart was filled with endless questions, but he couldn't speak any of them out. He could only look at Wei Wuyin's silver eyes, using every ounce of his strength to remain upright and standing.
'I never realized how gorgeous his eyes were. Or how handsome he is. Is that how everyone sees him? It's outrageous…' Long Chen's thoughts spiraled into nonsense. The final thoughts of a Blessed genius.
Wei Wuyin lifted his saber, causing everyone's heart to squeeze with fear. If this saber's edge fell, would Long Chen die? A Grand Prince? An extraordinary genius of this era?! Is today really the day of his death?
SWISH!!
The saber swiped vertically, its edge meeting Long Chen's neck as he tried to voice out the last traces of his final thoughts. When his lips moved, no sound emitted, only Wei Wuyin who stood before him could understand what he wanted to say.
The saber's edge sliced into Long Chen's neck and exited from the other side!
THUD!
Long Chen's knee slammed the ground as he kneeled, the lively light in his eyes slowly vanishing until nothing remained.
