Chapter 203: Shining Form

Edward glared at Yu Xian with hatred. "Brat!"

He threw punch after punch in a frenzy. But Yu Xian blocked every single one head-on. Their fists collided repeatedly, accompanied by the sound of bones cracking.

Be it in strength or in defense, Edward was completely outmatched. Both of his fists throbbed with pain. His face twisted as he roared and attacked even more wildly. AAAAAAAHHH!

Yu Xian showed him no mercy. During the exchange, he seized an opening and drove a close-range elbow strike into Edward's chest. Edward's eyes widened as he coughed up blood. The strike sent him flying and slamming into a distant mountain. The peak collapsed, and clouds of dust billowed into the air.

Yu Xian raised a hand toward the crumbling mountain and formed three True Crimson Spears. He hurled them forward, and three enormous crimson mushroom clouds erupted at once.

A cross-shaped flash streaked between the mushroom clouds as Edward charged out with an enraged roar. Just as he was about to reach Yu Xian, however, he swapped places with his longsword, sending the longsword thrusting straight ahead instead.

Yu Xian had not expected Edward to have another trick like this, but he reacted quickly. Bringing his palms together, he caught the longsword between them. The sword carried considerable force, writhing and drilling forward like a slippery eel. Yu Xian glanced behind, tilted his head aside, and released the longsword. In the blink of an eye, it shot past him.

At some point, Edward had slipped behind him. Grabbing the longsword's hilt, he viciously drove the blade into Yu Xian's back. "Die, brat!"

The sword pierced Yu Xian. Edward froze for a moment, then his expression lit up with delight. But before a smile could fully form on his face, Yu Xian burst like a bubble. A heavy fist slammed into Edward's face.

Even with the armor protecting him, the terrifying blow left him dazed. His face was badly distorted, and many of his teeth broke loose, forcing him to swallow them. But those were only minor problems. The real problem was that Yu Xian's assault was not over.

Yu Xian closed the distance and unleashed a relentless barrage of punches, sending violent tremors through Edward as the two of them plummeted all the way to the ground. The catch, of course, was that Yu Xian was doing the beating, and Edward was doing the receiving.

When Yu Xian drove Edward into the ground, another massive crater formed instantly. This time, Yu Xian did not stop. The crater sank deeper layer by layer as he continued hammering Edward downward, all the way to the magma layer.

Only then did Yu Xian leap back into the air. Raising his right arm and aiming downward, he rapidly condensed an enormous mass of True Crimson Energy in his hand. True Crimson Energy possessed many different properties, and Yu Xian could choose which one to activate.

The mass of True Crimson Energy in his hand right now contained a tremendous amount of spatial energy. Once it erupted, it would distort space itself. The Star Divine Artifact probably could withstand the attack, but Edward inside it probably could not.

Yu Xian swept his hand downward, and the enormous crimson sphere shot toward the ground. Space along its path warped and took quite some time to return to normal.

Deep within the magma, Edward was in too much pain to move, but an intense sense of danger forced him into action. Driven by his fear of death and his refusal to lose to Yu Xian, he gritted his teeth and controlled the Devil Blood Armor, rapidly sinking into a deeper layer of magma.

He watched as a vast area of magma warped and collapsed before erupting. Amid the rain of molten rock, his gaze met Yu Xian's. Inside the armor, Edward expanded himself into his true vampire form, and the armor grew along with him.

Edward roared and burst from the magma, driving an upward punch toward Yu Xian. "Brat, this isn't over yet!"

Beneath the orange-red sky, the two figures exchanged punches in a frenzy. They fought from the sky down to the ground, then from the ground back into the sky.

The energy spilling from their attacks swept away the Red Planet's thick cloud cover. A dust storm formed in its place, but the force of their clashes dispersed it. Every time they struck the ground, the planet's surface suffered enormous damage, as though hit by a massive meteorite, with enormous craters forming one after another.

Had the battlefield been the Blue Planet instead, most living creatures on the planet would likely have been caught in the devastation. The shock waves from their attacks alone would have been enough to wipe out life across the world.

The two continued fighting furiously as time slowly passed. Again and again, Yu Xian hammered Edward into the ground, but Edward had an unbelievably tenacious vitality. As long as he still had energy remaining and the Devil Blood Armor remained intact, he could rise again and again to continue fighting Yu Xian.

Edward possessed a means of observing both his own energy level and his opponent's. His energy reserves far exceeded Yu Xian's. Although Yu Xian recovered energy faster than he did, as long as Edward forced him to fight at full strength and made his consumption exceed his recovery, Yu Xian would finally run out of energy. Edward would then have his chance to turn the battle around.

Despite his overwhelming fury, Edward had never lost his reason from beginning to end. Half of that anger was an act to fool Yu Xian, intended to provoke him into fighting without pause and deny him any opportunity to rest.

Three days and three nights passed in the blink of an eye. The Red Planet was devastated by their battle. Even Olympus Mons had been battered into a vast depression, forming a seemingly bottomless lake of magma.

Edward, however, only grew more excited. During their battle, he noticed that Yu Xian recovered energy faster under sunlight, so he had guided the fight toward the side of the Red Planet beyond the sun's reach.

Now, the moment had finally come for him to reap the fruits of his plan. Yu Xian's energy was nearly exhausted.

Edward threw a punch at Yu Xian, shouting excitedly, "Brat, let me teach you something. Age and experience always win!"

However, a brilliant smile appeared on Yu Xian's face. The crimson energy protecting him suddenly turned blazing, dazzling white. It burned like flames and enveloped him.

Yu Xian smiled warmly at Edward. There was no hatred in his eyes, nor any anger, only starlight. "Ah, you're right. But let me teach you something too. A just cause enjoys abundant support, while an unjust cause finds little."

This was his new form, Shining Form, forged with the Six Dings' Divine Fire as the furnace and fueled by the trust and devotion of his countless supporters.

Yu Xian had deployed a large number of eyeball bubbles as soon as the battle began, recording his fight with Edward from different angles. Using Electronic Device Manipulation, he broadcast the battle live to the entire world.

From the moment his battle with Edward began, prayers from survivors across the world had poured into him without end. In Huaxia especially, countless people supported him.

With a sharp smack, he effortlessly caught Edward's fist. Under Edward's disbelieving gaze, he smiled. "You shouldn't have much energy left, should you? So... go to hell!"

In Shining Form, Yu Xian's strength and speed increased countless times over. With the additional enhancement of True Will, the speed of his punches approached the speed of light.

In just one second, countless more punches struck Edward. Every time a fist landed, he seemed to see countless people shouting, not in support of him, but of Yu Xian.

—Keep going, young man!

—Kill that devil! Kill him! Please, send him to hell!

—Go, Fish God! Fish God is invincible!

—I'd gladly stay single for a hundred years if it means this young man will win!

—Damn you, Edward! Go to hell!

—Kill Edward, and you will be my god! I will pray to you day and night!

—O Supreme Deity above, please protect this young man. Please let him defeat the devil who has brought calamity upon the world.

—Hero, you must win!

—Deliver an iron fist of vengeance for every victim and every fallen soul, young hero!

As more and more voices joined the cries of support, Edward finally felt afraid. He realized that he was going to die.

"No!" Edward screamed in fear and desperation as a crack appeared in his helmet. The next instant, flames blazing with white light surged through the opening and flooded the armor.

Yu Xian unleashed a relentless barrage of blows. "Take this! And this! And this! And this! And this! And this! And this! And this!"

By the time Yu Xian stopped, Edward had been reduced to ash and smoke, leaving behind only the empty shell of his armor. The Red Planet had also suffered collateral damage from Edward's ordeal. It had been reduced to little more than half its original size, with a crater spanning nearly one-third of its surface carved into one side.

The moment Edward's helmet shattered, Yu Xian closed his eyes. The white flames surrounding him shimmered with countless multicolored points of starlight and surged even more fiercely.

Yu Xian seemed to hear countless people cheering beside him. Everyone was celebrating Edward's defeat. The corners of his mouth lifted before he burst into joyful laughter, his voice blending into the endless cheers.