Chapter 282 - 273: Do You Know How to Use a Blade?

Chapter 282: Chapter 273: Do You Know How to Use a Blade?

Luo Zhengxiong slowly rose from the black Throne, two points of dark red light flaring in his eyes.

Compared to the last time Fu Juemin had seen him, his form had grown even more immense. After rising from the chair, his head nearly touched the ceiling, and his body obscured most of the embossed wall behind him.

The man himself seemed to have become more... "perfect"?!

Many of the mechanical and metallic elements on his body were gone, replaced by dark green scales that covered him entirely. Two black bulges protruded slightly from his back, making him look like a combination of beasts such as a crocodile, an elephant, and a lizard.

A normal-sized Fu Juemin stood before Luo Zhengxiong like an infant before a hulking adult, their appearances and builds a stark, dramatic contrast.

"I’ve been waiting for you. I was about to fall asleep..."

Luo Zhengxiong spoke as he watched Fu Juemin, each word expelling a roiling wave of hot, foul-smelling air.

From the moment he opened his eyes, the temperature in the entire hall had been steadily rising, threatening to turn the room into a steamer.

"Don’t worry."

Fu Juemin smiled and began to take off his suit jacket. "Soon enough, you’ll have all the time in the world to sleep."

"You know, it didn’t have to come to this..."

Luo Zhengxiong watched him casually toss the jacket to the floor. His voice was deep and hoarse, but both his eyes and his tone were unnervingly calm.

"In a way, you and I are the only true kindred spirits here, far above ordinary people."

Luo Zhengxiong began to slowly descend the steps, each footfall a dull, heavy thud that echoed through the hall.

"I’ve been extending an olive branch to you this whole time. Haven’t you sensed it?"

Luo Zhengxiong stopped less than ten meters from Fu Juemin, a distance from which he could almost grab him with a single reach.

His massive body blocked the light from above, casting a thick shadow over Fu Juemin’s face.

"Last time, you injured me, yet I never came looking for trouble."

Luo Zhengxiong seemed to be trying to make his voice as gentle as possible. "This time, it was Chengying who acted on his own. He didn’t listen to me and provoked you first."

"But he’s paid the price for it, hasn’t he?"

"I’ve always... wanted to have a proper talk with you..."

"Talk about what?"

Fu Juemin looked up at him, a smile on his face.

"About how we can cooperate."

Luo Zhengxiong’s charcoal-like eyes flickered. "The two of us could join forces. Once we’ve dealt with the internal strife and gotten rid of the Westerners, then... the whole world will be ours!"

"That’s certainly a tempting offer."

Fu Juemin seemed somewhat swayed. He tilted his head, considered for a moment, and said, "But you’ll have to agree to a few conditions first."

"Name them."

Luo Zhengxiong replied without hesitation.

Fu Juemin’s gaze began to roam up and down Luo Zhengxiong’s body, his eyes appraising him like a piece of art.

"The original Demon Fiends, the ones whose organs you’ve had grafted onto yourself... I want..."

Fu Juemin held up one finger, smiling. "One hundred of them. Alive."

Hearing this, Luo Zhengxiong’s expression froze. After a moment of silence, he slowly shook his head. "That’s too many. It’s impossible."

"So you see..."

Fu Juemin spread his hands with a helpless expression.

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK...

His body began to grow, inch by inch, his frame expanding rapidly. The seams of his shirt split, and buttons popped off one after another, sent flying.

As Fu Juemin grew to two meters, then nearly three meters tall, the shadows falling on his body and at his feet began to scurry into his flesh like living things...

A terrifying, dark, and esoteric aura began to emanate from him, slowly but surely pushing back the oppressive presence that had belonged to Luo Zhengxiong.

In his "Four Souls in One Body" state, Fu Juemin revealed his Demon Body completely in the light for the first time.

He now stood over three meters tall. Amidst the light patterns of the Copper Hide covering his body, prismatic plates like ink jade had sprouted.

These plates extended up to the sides of his cheeks, emitting wisps of inky black smoke. They formed what looked like a suit of ancient, magnificent, and sinister full-body armor.

He still retained his handsome face, but his eyes had become black, vertical slits, giving his entire countenance an indescribable, bizarre, and demonic charm.

Fu Juemin cracked his neck as if to familiarize himself with the strength of this new body.

The remaining shadows still swirled around him, flowing and lingering like a billowing cloak.

"I really did want to sit down and talk with you..."

His transformation complete, Fu Juemin’s gaze returned to Luo Zhengxiong, the smile on his face slowly twisting into a savage grin.

"But you are so... utterly insincere!"

Before his voice had even faded, Fu Juemin struck!

His speed was inconceivable, leaving not even an afterimage in the air.

Yet, all the light and shadow in the hall seemed to be pried loose, silently converging in a single direction!

"ROAR—!"

At the exact moment Fu Juemin attacked, Luo Zhengxiong opened his great maw without any warning and let out a terrifying roar!

The dreadful sound waves solidified into tangible, layered ripples in the air, which actually forced Fu Juemin’s punching arm, hidden within the light and shadow, to slowly become visible!

The sleek, fluid, ink-black arm was stopped dead less than half a meter from Luo Zhengxiong’s face, held back by ripples so dense they blurred the air.

The walls on all four sides of the hall, as well as the ceiling above, exploded in a rapid, continuous succession.

Fu Juemin looked at Luo Zhengxiong, whose breath seemed endless. His eyes turned savage, and his entire demeanor suddenly became violent.

"So noisy!!"

Fu Juemin immediately retracted his fist and spun into a roundhouse side kick.

A massive, long, sickle-shaped Black Moon flashed through the air.

Countless sonic ripples were sliced cleanly apart in an instant as a terrifying power erupted—

"BOOM!—"

Luo Zhengxiong’s roar was cut short. His massive, five-meter-tall body was sent flying sideways like a Meat Mountain, crashing into the side wall of the hall with a loud BANG and leaving a huge crater!

Having interrupted Luo Zhengxiong’s "Dharma" with a single kick, Fu Juemin calmly walked toward the crater in the wall.

He moved through the shifting patterns of light and shadow, his form seeming to exist somewhere between illusion and reality. As he walked, he casually brushed his hand past his ear, noticing a few ink-like stains of blood on his fingertips.

He paid it no mind, his calm gaze remaining locked on the spot where Luo Zhengxiong had fallen.

In the distance, the collapsed section of the wall exploded outward. Luo Zhengxiong staggered out of the crater, shook his head, and spoke in a booming, muffled voice.

"Actually, I hate negotiations too."

"Perfect. Today, I’ll let you have a good look..."

"at my perfect True Dragon Body, which has reached Great Success!!!"

"ROAR—!"

Luo Zhengxiong’s voice went from a low rumble to a violent roar, until only endless cruelty remained. His crocodile-like mouth gaped open, but just as he began to bellow, in the very next second—

a fist interwoven with orange-red light patterns, seemingly carved from ink jade, had already smashed viciously into his face!

"BOOM!!"

A terrifying force was unleashed, and the fist nearly sank completely into Luo Zhengxiong’s face.

Luo Zhengxiong’s massive body snapped backward, his eyeballs nearly bulging out of their sockets!

"When you fight, stop making so much meaningless noise!"

Fu Juemin retracted his fist, his face filled with savagery. He drew back his right hand, preparing to strike again. The surrounding shadows and even the air itself converged on his knuckles, layer by layer like waves.

When the terrifying aura built up to a certain limit...

"VMMMM—"

For a brief moment, all sound in the hall vanished, and a large swath of light and shadow seemed to be forcibly sucked away!

"BOOM!!!"

This was followed by an unprecedentedly terrifying explosion. The section of the hall wall that Luo Zhengxiong had just crashed through was completely blown out!

Countless fragments of stone exploded outward...

Fu Juemin slowly lowered his fist.

"CRACKLE!"

A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating his slender, demonic figure.

A torrential downpour began to fall with a roar, and the rain, blown in by the wind, fell on Fu Juemin and soaked the ground...

With that single punch, Fu Juemin had blown clean through the side of the hall and the exterior wall beyond!

Fu Juemin turned around, his expression blank, and locked his gaze on Luo Zhengxiong, who had somehow made his way to the center of the hall.

"My bad. I got a little carried away and forgot that punch takes a while to charge..."

Fu Juemin looked at Luo Zhengxiong, licked his lips lightly, and slowly walked toward him.

At this moment, however, Luo Zhengxiong seemed to have snapped out of his previous state. All his arrogance, dominance, and aggression had vanished.

His eyes were fixed on Fu Juemin, occasionally glancing at the massive, gaping hole in the wall behind him where the heavy rain was falling. A look of shock, horror, and disbelief began to flash across his face.

"BANG!"

Suddenly, Luo Zhengxiong lifted his foot and kicked the black marble Throne beside him, shattering it.

Beneath the shattered seat, a thick metal hilt was revealed.

Luo Zhengxiong grabbed the hilt and pulled with a savage expression. With a deafening screech of scraping metal, he drew out an enormous butcher’s blade from underneath!

The body of the blade was as wide and thick as a door panel, but its tip was remarkably sharp. It looked like an oversized pig-slaughtering knife.

Luo Zhengxiong gripped the massive blade and let out a low growl.

Immediately after, the scales and muscles all over his body began to writhe, and he shot up in height again, his head now pressing firmly against the ceiling.

His arms grew longer, his torso became deeper and much more solid, and even the two bulges on his back grew larger.

His Momentum surged in response!

"True Dragon Treasure Saber!!"

Luo Zhengxiong gasped for breath a few times, his courage seemingly bolstered by his rising Momentum and the acquisition of his weapon.

His eyes were crimson as he stared at Fu Juemin, a cruel, wicked smile spreading across his face.

"That was just my normal state. Now... the real game begins."

Fu Juemin tilted his head, his gaze slowly scanning Luo Zhengxiong’s current body from top to bottom. He let out a simple, "Oh."

From start to finish, there wasn’t the slightest flicker in his eyes. His indifference was galling to Luo Zhengxiong.

"If you were to suddenly turn into a dog right now..."

Fu Juemin continued walking toward Luo Zhengxiong, his tone flat. "Now *that* might surprise me a little."

"Erk..."

Luo Zhengxiong choked, frozen in place for half a second before his face flushed with shame and rage.

"True Dragon Slash!!"

He swung the massive blade, unleashing a vicious slash at Fu Juemin.

A terrifying force, wrapped in a roiling heatwave, formed a massive, fearsome arc of light in the dim hall!

As the arc of light shot forward, the entire hall began to shake and tremble. The marble floor was torn up and sent flying in large sheets, as if it were nothing but scrap paper...

Yet, in the face of Luo Zhengxiong’s terrifying slash, Fu Juemin’s expression remained calm.

So calm it was as if he couldn’t see it at all.

A massive, bewitching Black Flower bloomed upon Fu Juemin’s Demon Body.

The "Demon Qi" emanating from Fu Juemin’s entire body instantly intensified several times over.

All the shadows around him and at his feet came alive, merging with the wisps of black gas seeping from his Ink Jade Light Pattern Armor...

Like smoke, like miasma, like a Nightmare!

Enveloped in an obscure, hazy shroud, Fu Juemin continued to walk forward, raising his right hand toward the incoming slash.

He held his right hand up, palm straightened like a blade. All the smoke, miasma, and shadow rushed toward it like a dark tide... finally coalescing in his palm into a murky vortex that twisted the air and devoured light and shadow.

An indescribably terrifying aura quietly began to spread...

"Commander Luo..."

Facing the "True Dragon" arc of light, now just inches away, Fu Juemin chopped down gently with his hand and spoke in a calm tone, "Do you... even know how to use a blade?"