Chapter 218: One Or Three

Chapter 217

"Now I am ready," Liyu said it with a small grin on his face. It wasn’t a normal grin, of course; it was his signature mad grin, the kind of grin that appeared whenever he was about to do something completely unreasonable and made it difficult to tell whether he was fearless, insane, or perhaps a little bit of both.

Inside the black space, a third seat had appeared, and sitting there now was none other than Dead Eye Rayden. Dead Eye Rayden sat on Liyu’s left, King Rayden sat on his right, and Liyu, the original, sat between them... three figures, three minds, one body, one objective.

Liyu’s gaze remained calm and composed as he looked toward his two reflections. "Alright," he took a slow breath, "Let the transfer begin." Both reflections gave a firm nod and immediately focused on the task Liyu had assigned to them.

King Rayden’s consciousness transferred into the control of the green lightning, covering every blade forged from the Heavenly Verdant Lightning, every weapon floating through the air, and even the Void Piercer that Liyu had entrusted to his care. All of them fell under King Rayden’s control.

With his supreme affinity and control over lightning, manipulating such a vast number of weapons simultaneously wasn’t an impossible task, and it was precisely why Liyu had assigned him this position.

Meanwhile, Dead Eye Rayden’s focus was unsurprisingly placed on the rifles, guns, pistols, snipers, and all the other firearms hovering throughout the air. With his affinity keeping them afloat while simultaneously maintaining a connection between himself and every single weapon, controlling them wasn’t a major problem either.

The two reflections had now been assigned their respective tasks, and with that... it was Liyu’s turn to take his assigned position. He would control the main body, and he had his own weapon: the Infernal Gauntlet.

It was a basic-tier item purchased from the System Shop. Compared to the Celestial Battle Skin or the Void Piercer, it wasn’t nearly as special, lacking the same overwhelming defensive capabilities as the former and the terrifying sharpness and spatial properties of the latter.

But that didn’t mean the Infernal Gauntlet was useless; far from it, it had its own purpose. For one, it allowed Liyu to unleash attacks with his fists without having to worry about his hands breaking apart from the sheer force behind his attacks.

That alone was already a major advantage, because Liyu’s physical strength had reached an absurd level where, without proper protection, even a body powerful enough to throw out terrifying attacks could see its hands suffer the consequences of repeatedly releasing that kind of destructive force. The Infernal Gauntlet solved that problem.

But that wasn’t all the gauntlet could do, for it possessed its own special active skill... or rather, an active skill that was definitely nothing to scoff at. Liyu’s eyes narrowed slightly. Everything was ready.

All three had taken their respective positions, and as their consciousness fully settled into their assigned roles, the aura surrounding Liyu’s body thickened even further. The pressure became heavier, more oppressive, and more dangerous, while the weapons floating throughout the air seemed to respond to the changes in Liyu’s aura, their presence becoming even more terrifying.

Yet despite all of that... Shi Tian’s gaze still hadn’t changed. He continued staring at Liyu with that same calm, emotionless expression, even though Liyu had grown tremendously stronger, even though the aura he was currently releasing was far greater than what he had displayed before, and even though his entire fighting style had changed from merely surviving to preparing an all-out assault... Shi Tian remained completely unmoved.

If anything... that bastard still believed he had everything under control.

Liyu’s grin widened slightly. Let’s see how long you can keep that blank face. He looked toward his two reflections. "You two, listen up." His voice became serious. "Do anything and everything within your ability to end him."

His eyes narrowed. "No matter what it takes... We are killing this guy."

Dead Eye Rayden nodded, ready, while King Rayden shrugged casually. "Let’s get to it, then."

The atmosphere inside the battlefield changed, but the reaction of the crowd was nothing like Shi Tian’s indifference. They were shocked, stunned, and astonished, with gasps spreading throughout the arena as countless people stared at Liyu with widened eyes, unable to comprehend the sheer number of weapons and artifacts now under his control.

But that wasn’t even what had them gasping in pure shock, for there was another reason... one that was enough to make some of them feel as though they were standing on the edge of losing their minds.

Liyu had just crossed another cultivation stage. Again. Barely an hour or so ago, they had watched him jump from the First Stage of Qi Gathering to the Second Stage, and now... he had done it again, reaching the Third Stage of Qi Gathering. The crowd was practically holding its collective breath.

Any artifact or special art capable of allowing someone to temporarily cross cultivation stages in order to further boost their strength was extraordinarily rare, scarce, and extremely valuable, not something ordinary cultivators could casually obtain.

Even the majority of those rare treasures and techniques came with terrifying side effects. Some had minor consequences, such as temporary loss of consciousness or severe exhaustion, while others had more serious consequences, the most common middle-grade side effect being cultivation regression after the forced boost ended, where the cultivator would forcibly cross a stage or even more, only to pay the price afterward by having their cultivation fall back.

And then... there were the major side effects, the truly terrifying ones, where in some cases... especially when the cultivator had terrible luck or used an artifact that was simply too dangerous... the price could be their very life, meaning death.

The moment the temporary boost ended, there was an extremely high chance that the cultivator would lose their life in exchange, making it practically a devil’s bargain: power in exchange for one’s future, strength in exchange for one’s life.

Yet despite how dangerous they were, such abilities remained incredibly rare and widely useful, because being able to forcibly cross one or more stages during a desperate battle could give someone a second chance at life as long as the side effect wasn’t death.

But regardless of the risks... seeing someone jump through cultivation stages the way Liyu had done was something that very few people ever witnessed, as it was simply too unusual and too shocking.

The entire arena was captivated, stunned, and completely unable to look away, many still trying to understand what they were seeing and make sense of the terrifying transformation that had just occurred.

But before they could even fully process it... they saw it. The lightning-formed blades once again began to blanket the air, one after another... swords, daggers, axes, scythes, spears, and countless other weapons forged from terrifying green lightning that filled the sky once more, covering the battlefield like an endless sea of blades.

They had already come to terms with the lightning-formed weapons after seeing Liyu use them several times, but this new set of weapons... that was something else entirely.

The strange weapons had appeared in the air, floating silently while humming with barely restrained power, their cold metallic surfaces reflecting the surrounding light while the occasional flicker of energy made it obvious that they weren’t ordinary artifacts.

Most warriors searched through their memories, desperately trying to figure out what exactly they were looking at, but no matter how hard they tried... they had no idea. Guns. Firearms. Those were concepts completely foreign to them.

"What in the world are those things?" Questions like that quietly spread through the crowd.

At the leaders’ seats, Shi Gubing’s expression had turned dark. He stared at Liyu, whose aura seemed to have broken through yet another threshold, his teeth gritted slightly. Just how many hidden cards does that kid have?

The question echoed repeatedly through his mind. Every time he thought Liyu had reached his limit, the young man revealed something else... another ability, another treasure, another hidden trump card... making it increasingly difficult for Shi Gubing to determine just where Liyu’s true limits actually were.

Beside him, Li San was thinking along a similar line, his understanding of Liyu’s mysterious master having once again been updated. That person must be far more powerful than I initially thought.

Whoever Liyu’s master was... that person had to be incredibly powerful, and at the very least, Li San believed that such a person must be at the Soul Stage, because there was simply no other reasonable explanation.

No wonder Liyu had been able to accomplish so many things that made even Li San’s heart race, and every time he thought he understood the young man, Liyu would reveal something even more outrageous.

Li San shook his head, deciding he shouldn’t think too much about it; after everything was over, he would question the kid one-on-one. For now... he was simply happy that Liyu was still alive, and more importantly, that Liyu was far from powerless against the Shi Devil.

Everything was looking good, and because of that... Li San was glad.

Guan Ju, meanwhile, sat with a dark expression. He wasn’t thinking much, nor was he cheering for either side, the reason being simple: he didn’t care who won, and whatever happened, it didn’t matter to him.

He hated Liyu, of course, and he still intended to have him assassinated sooner or later, but that didn’t mean he wanted Shi Tian to win either.

Either way, Guan Ju couldn’t really be bothered to care about just how freakish these two young men were; he simply watched.

Elder Ting’s expression remained calm and composed, though the countless emotions flashing through his eyes were enough to reveal the storm of thoughts churning within his mind... shock, curiosity, excitement, anticipation.

He didn’t say anything, though, wanting only to watch and to enjoy the match. "These two kids are more than interesting," Elder Ting muttered under his breath.

Back on the stage... Shi Tian looked at the weapons filling the sky, some forged from metal and others formed entirely from lightning, together blanketing the sky above him with each weapon oozing with barely restrained power. Yet Shi Tian’s expression didn’t change, not even slightly.

He moved. Drifting Gale! His figure blurred as he launched forward once more, intending to close the distance between himself and Liyu. But something had changed.

Liyu’s body suddenly exploded forward, the boost he had received from his transformation pushing his speed to an even more ridiculous level until his figure became a streak of lightning... fast, far too fast.

Before Shi Tian could complete his approach, Liyu had already intercepted him, his red gauntlet-clad fist coming crashing down. BOOM!

Shi Tian raised his sword, the fist colliding with the blade coated in his powerful Wind Qi. CLANG! Another punch. CLANG! Another. CLANG!

The metallic sounds rang through the battlefield. The two figures clashed at close range, their movements becoming increasingly violent as Liyu’s fists came one after another and Shi Tian’s sword answered each attack, neither giving the other room to breathe.

Their figures blurred across the stage as they exchanged blow after blow, creating a terrifyingly intense battle that seemed to settle into a stalemate... at least... for a few minutes.

Then... the stalemate broke. The Void Piercer suddenly shot forward, and at the same time, countless lightning weapons rushed toward Shi Tian from every direction... swords, daggers, spears, axes, scythes, and countless other weapons descending upon him like a storm of death.

Shi Tian was suddenly forced to deal with all of them while simultaneously facing Liyu’s endless barrage of punches. He was fighting Liyu directly, but he was also fighting the countless weapons controlled by King Rayden, and the other weapons controlled by Dead Eye Rayden were still floating throughout the battlefield.

The pressure increased dramatically.

At the heart of the battle... BANG! BANG! BANG! Several loud explosions suddenly echoed outward, and Shi Tian’s senses immediately tingled. Danger.

Something was approaching, and it was approaching fast. His eyes sharpened. The incoming attack slammed violently into the Wind Veil surrounding his body. BOOM!

The barrier shattered. Shi Tian immediately evaded the incoming swing of the Void Piercer, his body twisting sideways and narrowly avoiding the spatially destructive blade.

At the same time, he raised another Wind Veil around himself. But this time, he had barely formed the defensive barrier before Liyu’s fist came crashing down. BOOM!

Shi Tian blocked. Then another punch. And another. And another. Liyu’s endless barrage of punches was beginning to make pain ring through Shi Tian’s hands, his fingers tightening around his sword and his palms trembling faintly from the force.

But that wasn’t all. The loud BANG! BANG! from earlier suddenly slammed into him once more. BOOM! The Wind Veil shattered again, and Shi Tian’s eyes narrowed.

At the same moment... Spatial Severance! Space itself split apart, and a terrifying spatial tear appeared directly beside him. Shi Tian’s figure instantly vanished, barely escaping. Barely.

His heart beat faster... once, twice. His gaze shook slightly. For the second time in the entire tournament... Shi Tian felt his heart race.

Not because he was afraid. No. But because something had finally become clear... something he hadn’t fully noticed before.

His eyes slowly narrowed as he looked at Liyu: the countless weapons, the lightning, the guns, the Void Piercer, the endless fists, the attacks coming from different directions, different timings, different angles, different patterns.

Shi Tian’s mind rapidly connected everything. Then a thought surfaced... a thought so strange that even he found himself momentarily surprised by it.

Wait... His gaze became slightly sharper. Why do I feel as if I’m not facing one person ...But three?