The Law of Matter Substitution referred to the power to swap a body with any matter, and it was considered a minor law that was a derivative of the Law of Matter. It would often achieve surprising effects when used during offense or defense.
The very second when Xia Fei stabbed his Blood Crystal into the chest of that Shepherdian, the latter’s body had already been transferred into the soil, so Xia Fei’s dagger merely struck rocks!
Rapidly moving back several steps, Xia Fei straightened his form, while Peacock Blue vigilantly guarded his surroundings. Since his one attack failed to connect, what was to follow would be a grueling battle!
Silently, a humanoid form emerged from a rock wall some hundred meters away from Xia Fei. The body of that Shepherdian had become one with the environment!
Without leaving the wall, the Shepherdian merely poked his head out from the rocks.
“Dual ability of speed and psychokinesis. Law of Space Adept, at Law Sovereign cultivation. Able to attack me unexpectedly. Too bad you won’t have this opportunity again,” the Shepherdian said with a sinister tone.
“Are you a Shepherdian?” Xia Fei asked in his deep voice.
“Oh? You know quite a bit. Smart sheeple are the tastiest; I really wish to have a taste of you immediately.” The Shepherdian licked his lips greedily, his eyes glimmering with glee.
“You may trick the others, but you can’t trick me. Tell me: What law were you using earlier?”
“Do you really want to know?” Xia Fei taunted.
That Shepherdian slightly nodded.
“Then I shall tell you,” Xia Fei said with a smirk. “It’s the Law of Murder!”
*Whoosh*
His figure blurred as he planted a steel fist directly into the canyon wall!
“Wildstorm!”
*Kaboom*
In the blink of an eye, over a hundred punches were made! The entire canyon rocked with intensity! A large chunk of the rocks was forcibly removed by Xia Fei’s hands!
Xia Fei spat saliva as he breathed in the sedimentary dust cloud, which entered his lungs, making him feel very suffocated.
“Preposterous. Young people nowadays have such irascible tempers. People with your personality can’t be a Shepherdian, since you lack the patience of a Shepherdian.” The Shepherdian mused as he revealed his head out from another face of the rock wall.
The Law of Matter Substitution was truly abstruse, able to fuse his life with the huge canyon as one, impossible to determine where the canyon was and where the enemy was.
…
“Bold of them to intrude upon my Dragon Ascension Martial Hall testing ground, these Shepherdians must be tired of living!” Quite a distance away from the canyon, Busey tossed the corpse of a Shepherdian as he viciously growled. His face was blackened with rage.
Beside him stood Zanian Feng with labored breathing. He was slightly lower in cultivation, and killing four Shepherdians in succession was already his limit.
*Whoosh*
A single spatial door opened and three figures came walking out to meet Busey and Zanian, standing tall and straight.
“Sister Buma, Brother Bufeng, Brother Budo, you’re all here, too!” Zanian cried warmly.
“Father called us; why would we dare say no?” Buma said with a smile.
The three of them were none other than Busey’s offspring. The Hallmaster of Dragon Ascension had once said that the Busey household had four brave generals! Each of them was the pillar of the martial hall.
“What are you still standing around for! These Shepherdians are trying to ruin your father’s testing ground! Go off and locate them all; don’t leave a single one alive!” Busey was at the limits of his rage. For these detestable Shepherdians to have infiltrated the assessment ground, which one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Dragon Ascension was in charge of, this was nothing less than a huge insult!
“Understood!” Busey’s three children and Zanian all disappeared instantly, on the hunt for the Shepherdians, while he bowed behind him in a grave voice. “Hallmaster!”
“Mmm.” It was not too loud of an affirmation, but it was sonorous and powerful. A middle-aged man stepped out from within the forest.
It was very difficult to determine what someone’s age was in the Law Realm, and Kuzan Feng looked far younger than what people imagined, but those familiar with him knew that it had been eighty years since this great hallmaster inherited the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall from his father, and his true age was most likely nearing two hundred!
“How did the Shepherdian’s sneak in?” Kuzan asked somberly.
“Three impersonated candidates and got in, while the others came in after they opened a spatial gate and were allowed into the assessment ground. There are at least a hundred of them,” Busey said. It was as if his heart was being cut with knives as he admitted this truth. He was a distinguished Heavenly King of Dragon Ascension, yet he failed to uncover this scheme earlier. He was so guilty that he wanted to find himself a fissure to bury himself into.
“No need for remorse. You’re not at fault here; even I would’ve done the same,” Kuzan said.
“Why would you say that?” Busey was stunned as he asked.
“Humans are hardly in harmony with the other sapient lifeforms in the Law Realm. The fact that the Shepherdians managed to mix their way into this assessment is hardly as simple as it looks.”
“You’re saying we have a mole?”
Kuzan nodded his head slightly. “I refuse to believe that there are families among the humans who would have dealings with the Exiles, allowing enemies to massacre their own ranks. It’s very possible that this is a ploy done by the other species.
“The Dragon Ascension Martial Hall was appointed by the God Race, yet the position of hallmaster has always been occupied by humans. Naturally, there would be plenty of dissatisfied factions. This situation looks like a blow to you and humans at first glance when, in fact, it’s a blow to me,” Kuzan said.
“Hmph! Those not of our kind will of course have different sentiments! Those g*dd*mn extraterrestrials don’t dare challenge us outright and, instead, rely on parlor tricks and petty ploys to hit our backs! Don’t they know that, even though humans have been in charge of Dragon Ascension, the past hallmasters from the Feng family have all been very strict, never once showing favoritism? Everything has been assessed with great fairness!
“You don’t, your father didn’t, your grandfather didn’t. Never has any of you done anything untoward to the other species; is that not good?!”
Busey vented. This was also in front of Kuzan, a man he respected deeply. In front of others, Busey would forever be seen as a stone buddha, unmoving and unsmiling.
“It’s pointless. As you said, those of not our kind will of course not share in our sentiments. Others are still waiting for you and me to make a fool of ourselves, so let’s just settle this matter as soon as possible. Come find me at the headquarters later.”
Busey nodded. “Your subordinate understands. There are only forty-seven Sherpherdians left. I’ll get it done in another hour!”
Kuzan nodded, disappearing almost instantly into the forest. An expert came and went without leaving any tracks; Kuzan essentially disappeared into thin air.
…
“Crafty Approach!”
Against the sudden spurts of spikes from the ground, Xia Fei’s figure quickly pivoted at an incredulous angle and he evaded this wave of attacks coming for him.
Sweat accumulated in copious amounts on his forehead. This fight between him and the Shepherdian was not in the least bit easy. His opponent was very crafty, hiding on both sides of the canyon wall, utilizing the Law of Matter to snipe him repeatedly with attacks. Xia Fei needed to put forth 200% of his concentration in order to deal with the Shepherdian!
“What great physical agility!” the Shepherdian poked his head out from the wall and shouted eagerly.
With the Law of Matter Substitution, the entire canyon became this Shepherdian’s hiding place. He had not been at disadvantage right from the very start!
“Too bad we, Shepherdians, have no lack of patience. I’m still digesting the humans I’ve eaten before, so I’ll spend this time first playing with you a little!”
Xia Fei knitted his brows. This was the first time he had encountered such a difficult Law of Matter Adept.
“Better think of ways to escape… This entire canyon now serves as the Shepherdian’s body. You couldn’t possibly destroy the entire canyon, could you?” Phantom advised, somewhat worried.
“Who says I can’t? Just watch me!” Xia Fei was obstinate.
*Whoosh*
Xia Fei no longer dallied, breaking into a run, looking like he was thinking of fleeing.
The Shepherdian hiding amid the mountain could see everything clearly. He smiled as he rapidly moved his body through the canyon walls, chasing closely after Xia Fei.
This Shepherdian did not have the speed ability, but he was able to shift himself in accordance with the Law of Matter. As such, it was no more than him using law. No matter where Xia Fei ran, he could follow—an existence even more relentless than a haunting specter.
*Kaboom*
Rocks and boulders rained and rolled from the canyon. The Shepherdian controlled the environment around Xia Fei. He was able to manipulate it however he liked and whenever he wanted!
*Whoosh*
Xia Fei tried to evade everything once more with his Crafty Approach. He was not retaliating and was merely focusing on running!
Soon, the two sides of the canyon opened up, and the width was more than a dozen kilometers apart!
The thick fog was also thinning out, revealing the view of the bottom of the canyon, uninhibited.
There was a massive rock standing right in the middle of this canyon, looking like a small mound. Xia Fei steadied himself, observing all around vigilantly.
‘This is the place!’ Xia Fei cried in his heart.
Phantom did not know what sort of tactic Xia Fei was planning to employ, but he knew from the fierce expression on his face that it should be time for his counterattack.
*Rumble*
Without any warning, the soil from beneath Xia Fei’s feet sprouted countless spikes, which stood ten over meters tall. Xia Fei leaped up high into the sky, dodging them once again. Just as it looked like the tip of his feet would make contact with the ground, the fragmented rocks around him turned into soft sand, making it so Xia Fei’s feet would definitely sink the moment he landed.
“Change!”
Dragonscale Hectoslasher transformed into flying daggers and formed a platform so that Xia Fei could stabilize himself in mid-air!
*Kaboom*
A huge arm shot out from the sand and made a grab for Xia Fei!
“Careful! He’s able to turn all matter into his body! His Law of Matter has already transcended the limitations of flesh!” Lionheart Oro said.
Xia Fei turned his body and with lithe steps, threading his way through the gaps by force!
*Bang*
That huge palm caught nothing but air, and it scattered into a torrent of sand and soil after failing to connect, slowly settling as it floated down.
Half a body poked out from that little mound. The Shepherdian looked into the distance, his expression looking somewhat unnatural.
“Now? This old man hasn’t had enough fun yet,” the Shepherdian muttered to himself.
As if he had heard a call, the Shepherdian changed from its previous state of carefree joy to that of severity.
Xia Fei had no idea that the great hunt from Dragon Ascension Martial Hall had already begun—that every minute had Shepherdians dying. Actually, he should have considered himself lucky not to have run back in search of Busey because he would not have bumped into just the one Shepherdian on his way there. Facing off against this one was enough of a headache as it was, so what more if he was against a hundred of them? Just the thought alone could make one’s scalp tingle.
“You haven’t had your fun yet, but yours truly has had enough!” Xia Fei bellowed as he applied his oblique acceleration. Counterattack!
The Shepherdian shook his head. He had admired Xia Fei’s resilience, but he did not enjoy such confrontational clashes. His Law of Matter Substitution already had him swapping his body and his surroundings, and no matter how powerful Xia Fei’s attacks were, he could not be harmed by him; this was something he was very certain of.
“Falling Leaf of Autumn’s Demise!”
Xia Fei’s self-created palm technique, which was imbued with the disruptive force of the Law of Primal Chaos, thrust out!
“What?” the Shepherdian exclaimed. He realized that Xia Fei was not attacking him but that mound he was currently in!
The Shepherdian had half his body poking out from the mound, yet Xia Fei had not targeted him. He was, instead, striking the foot of the mound. ‘Has the young man gone insane?’
“Aren’t you capable of fusing your body with the environment? Then I’ll destroy the very surroundings you’re in! Let’s see where else you can assimilate into!” Xia Fei dementedly remarked to himself.
*Bang bang bang*
He did exactly just that!
Hundreds of Falling Leaf of Autumn’s Demise palms were promptly dished out at that instant!
Xia Fei was not attacking the Shepherdian but the entire mound that the latter was in, instead!
He planned to obliterate the hill mound!
“Let’s see where you can m*th*rf*ck*ng swap to!” Xia Fei spat.
