Chapter 692: Shen's Power

Chapter 692 Shen’s Power 

Both Tian Lie and Nicole watched as the arrow of light moved forward slowly. Shen, too, was slowly backing away. The two of them could sense that time in their surroundings was clearly still moving at a normal rate.

Everything else in the world was normal except for Shen and the arrow of light. It was as though the passing of time for them had been slowed down by an uncountable factor.

And yet, both of them knew that the rate at which Shen and the arrow of light was moving at was undoubtedly the epitome of speed.

Tian Lie’s heart pounded loudly and cold sweat oozed out from his back.

With the exception of the circular ripple of space, the arrow of light had not brought about any other change to its surroundings, not even toward the nearby guard rails, which remained still in its wake. And yet, the instincts he gained through his many near-death experiences allowed Tian Lie to gauge just how powerful the attack was.

Even though he was not the one facing the arrow of light, his instincts told him…

If that is me, I would have died long ago!

The arrow of light’s forward velocity surpassed that of Shen’s backward velocity. In but a moment’s time, it had arrived before Shen’s chest.

Meanwhile, there was an unprecedented expression of solemnity on Shen’s face. The usual unconcerned and carefree expression on his face had disappeared.

For the first time ever, he brought both his hands up.

His left hand moved forward to draw an arc in the air, causing a faint golden-coloured luminescence to radiate out from his palm.

After making contact with the golden-coloured luminescence, the velocity of the arrow of light faltered slightly. It seemed as though it had shot into a clump of mud.

Shen then balled up his right hand to form a fist before furiously throwing a punch toward the side part of the arrow of light.

The forceful punch deflected the arrow of light’s trajectory and it curved off, shooting into the void.

A large piece of the palace fragment that had been floating in the void happened to be blocking the trajectory of the arrow of light. Next, a dull sound rang out and the entirety of the space around the Longevity Palace lost its colour, leaving only the colours black and white.

As for the remnant piece of the palace, it had utterly disappeared.

It had not been shattered, nor had it collapsed. Instead, it was utterly obliterated, leaving nothing behind, not even ashes. Traces of its former existence had disappeared.

“As expected, he left a final card… … however, given your level of strength, how many times can you pull that bow?” After punching the arrow of light away, Shen’s face was slightly ugly to behold. However, he was still able to talk with his normal tone.

“You are free to test it out.”

Chris’ voice continued to reverberate around Shen. However, his tone felt somewhat weaker.

“Why did you stop, then?” Shen took in a breath of cold air. There was a ridiculing expression on his face. “If you could fire those arrows in succession and sent another one of the arrows at me… well, you definitely cannot kill me with that, but at least, you might actually be able to hurt me. After all, that thing in your hand is…

“The Flash Bow of Ketu-Rahu! [1] ”

…

Chris was standing atop a mountain, gasping for breath.

He wore a set of armour over his body, an armour that radiated a variety of colourful lights. It seemed as though every piece of the armour set was radiating its own type of colour. 

The back of the armour sported a pair of pure silver wings.

The armour set had a sleek shape and it covered Chris from head to toe. Only his face could be seen. At present, his face appeared even paler compared to before.

On his left hand was a bow, a beautifully crafted bow. On either end of the bow was a curved blade.

If Chen Xiaolian were there beside Chris, he would certainly exclaim out in shock.

The bow looked practically the same as the one he saw back in World’s End.

However, there was no need to touch the bow in Chris’ hand to feel the terrifying power resting within it. Emanations of power diffused out like the vapor spreading out from a piece of ice in the hot summer. 

The silver bow Chen Xiaolian saw was most likely an [S] class equipment. And yet, compared to this one, the former was clearly just a replica.

Chris used the longbow to support himself. After gasping for breath a few more times, he slowly straightened himself. His right hand moved to once again pull the bowstring.

His right eye was the same, but his left eye had disappeared. In its place was a gem, which glittered with light. The gem had the shape of a teardrop. 

The instant he pulled the longbow, the teardrop gem on his left eye shone and the silhouette of Shen’s body was projected before him.

…

Back in the Longevity Palace, Shen was once again stepping toward the centre of the hall as he headed toward the chaotic maelstrom once more.

“Are you not going to attack anymore? If you aren’t going to attack, I will be reclaiming what is mine.”

Shen revealed a faint smile. Once again, he stretched his foot out to step into the chaotic maelstrom.

The spatial ripple reappeared. However, as the second arrow was about to pierce out from the ripple, the edges of Shen’s mouth suddenly curled to reveal a ridiculing smile.

“I… found you!”

This time, Shen’s reaction appeared more relaxed compared to when he was facing the first arrow. Even before the arrow of light pierced its way out of the spatial ripple, Shen’s figure had disappeared. He then reappeared tens of metres away from the spot.

At the same time, Shen’s right hand shot upward before hacking down.

The space before him tore as a result of his actions and an expanse of white snow could be seen through the resulting spatial rift.

Shen’s gaze fell upon Chris’ pale face.

Next, he gave a tug with his hand.

Even though Shen had not touched his body at all, Chris’s figure was abruptly sucked out through the spatial rift and he tumbled across the floor.

Chris quickly got to his feet. He turned, wanting to jump back into the spatial rift. However, in that short span of time, the rift had healed up.

“That fellow… … he is being too wasteful.” There was an amused look on Shen’s face as he shook his head. Then, he turned his gaze back toward Chris. Clicking his tongue, he said, “He actually gave you such good items? Let me have a look… in addition to the Flash Bow of Ketu-Rahu, he actually gave you the Moonless Fivefold Light Armour and the Tearlight Crystal as well. He sure is willing to give his subordinates the good stuff.”

Chris’ sombre eyes stared at Shen and he said nothing. He did not try to pull the bowstring again. Instead, he used both hands to grip the bow as he focused his all at Shen.

“However, I do not understand. What is he trying to accomplish?” Shen regarded Chris’ gaze. It felt as though the strongest lion within a prairie was looking at a hyena attempting to provoke it. “Surely, he is not stupid enough to think that… … by giving you these items, you could stop me. If the one to fire the arrow earlier was him, without any warning beforehand, I might actually be incapable of stopping it. You, on the other hand…”

Shen slowly stepped forward, a smile on his face. His voice, however, was grave. “Chris, you don’t want to die, do you? Be obedient and hand over the things on your person. After that, just watch as I obtain the authority. I promise, I will not attack you.”

Suddenly, Chris curled his lips and grinned. He gave a light shook of his head, never taking his eyes off Shen. “Sir Shen, do you simply not understand me? Or do you not understand my master?”

“Fine… … I just wanted to put one last effort. After all…” Shen gave a helpless-sounding sigh before revealing a smile.

In the next second, his fist appeared before Chris.

“I am afraid that I might accidentally damage those items!”

A ripple suddenly appeared in the space between Chris’ face and Shen’s fist. However, it only managed to slow down the incoming fist slightly. In but the blink of an eye, the fist broke through the ripple-shaped barrier.

And yet, that slight obstruction had given Chris the moment he needed to react. He raised both his hands to defend himself by a hair’s breadth. 

An explosive sound rang out as Shen’s fist smashed upon Chris’ gauntlets. Chris felt intense pain erupting out from his arms as his figure was sent flying due to the impact of the punch.

Even then, he maintained his grip on the Flash Bow of Ketu-Rahu.

The tip of the bow moved at a peculiar angle to shoot toward Shen’s throat.

It was the tip of the bow. It emitted a faint golden-coloured light, slashing through the air and instantly drawing an arc in the air.

Despite his level of strength, Shen appeared somewhat wary of the bow. Although Chris had been sent flying far away and had lost his balance, Shen chose not to press the attack and instead moved to dodge the arc of light from the tip of the bow.

Chris furiously rolled across the floor to create a distance between them. Then, forcing down the sensation of pain in his hands, Chris’ right hand moved to grip the bowstring once more.

Shen’s face instantly turned tense and his left hand flew out to grab thin air. As Chris was still pulling the bowstring, Shen flashed forward, appearing before Chris, his right hand punching forward forcefully.

This time, Chris chose to neither parry nor dodge. Instead, he continued to pull the bowstring.

Shen’s fist punched through his chest.

The moment his fist made its way through Chris’ chest, Shen had sensed something amiss.

The Chris before Shen transformed into an ethereal image, flickering a few times before disappearing.

“A doppelganger formed using the Tearlight Crystal!”

Shen growled out softly before turning around. Light radiated out from before his eyes. 

The third arrow.

This time, Shen did not have the time to dodge. He could only resort to using his left hand to emit the golden-coloured luminescence again. However, he did not have time to pull his right hand back to form a punch. Thus, he simply did his best to jerk his body away from the incoming arrow of light.

The arrow of light grazed Shen’s chest slightly. However, that minor contact made Shen feel as though he had been struck by lightning. His figure was sent flying as a result.

However, his flying figure only flew through the air for a second before in a peculiar manner. It was as though an invisible giant hand was holding his body in place. Next, his figure swirled partially and he regained his balance. After that, his right hand cleaved out horizontally and golden-coloured luminescence emerged to form a crescent moon, which shot out to sweep everything in a 180-degree arc across the area before him.

After firing the arrow, Chris did not simply stand there. Instead, he had jumped toward the jade white passageway outside the Longevity Palace, creating a distance between him and Shen. The golden-coloured crescent attack swept through the void, but failed to even make contact with him.

The two of them had only clashed for practically one second. And yet, Tian Lie, who had been observing the fight, was left gaping.

The moves appeared casual in execution. In fact, they were far inferior compared to the many battles he had seen before in instance dungeons. And yet, Tian Lie knew for certain that every exchange between Shen and Chris contained terrifying levels of power.

As Thorned Flower Guild’s Inspector, part of the higher ups of the guild, Tian Lie had witnessed Shen make his move a number of times before. However, not once had he unleashed such a level of power.

Naturally, Tian Lie knew that Shen had not displayed his true strength in those fights. Even so, the power that Shen was currently displaying far surpassed anything Tian Lie could have imagined. The scope of his power far exceeded Tian Lie’s understanding. In fact, it had transcended that which both Players and Awakened ones acknowledge as the apex of power – the [S] class.

There was no doubt in Tian Lie’s mind. Given the current display of strength from Shen, all the instance dungeons that he and Shen had cleared before, all of them could be cleared by Shen alone, easily and without any help whatsoever. So much so that he need not even break a sweat!

At that moment, a big question began to emerge from Tian Lie’s heart.

If he possessed such a terrifying level of power, why would Shen need to establish Thorned Flower Guild?

…

1 (计都罗喉瞬狱箭) Also known as Bow of Gaido’s Transient Law in Law of the Devil. It is the long-ranged weapon used by the protagonist of the novel, Duwei.↩