676 Who’s Afraid of Who?

By the time the referee finished his sentence, Lou Cheng had already gathered and readied his purple fireball, which rotated around him like a defensive satellite capable of launching its own attack.

Within that short second, Lou Cheng couldn't complete the Five Flames and would have to choose just one.

It was only made possible by the high-temperatures that hadn't yet diminished.

Qian Donglou looked from afar and maintained his smile. Lifting his left palm, he swung it like a sword towards Lou Cheng.

Pah!

As he slashed down, his entire body moved. Silver electricity leapt from his body, each strand flickering like a beast swinging its claws.

From Cheng's perspective, there seemed to be only the blade of lightning remaining in his world. It moved unpredictably like a fish swimming in the river, or the reflection of a full moon on the river's surface. It wa sorganic and fleeting, making it difficult to determine where it would strike.

Lou Cheng's thoughts flashed quickly, but he didn't react. He wasn't confident. Looking into his own soul and reflecting with his Ice Heart, he calmly chose to avoid.

Bam! He kicked off from the floor, twisted his waist, and leapt out horizontally. He tried to confirm a landing point that avoided the high voltage cables.

Just as he began to move, the lightning blade glowed brighter and stopped flickering. Reacting to his movement, it locked down on Lou Cheng and left a trail of light as it slashed towards where he was about to land.

Seeing that he was going to be hit, Lou Cheng ignited the hidden Emperor Yan force within his body.

Bam! Carrying the faint purple fireball, it was as if someone pushed him mid-air, and he changed from moving horizontally to moving backwards.

Pah! Lou Cheng vaguely felt his hair stand up. The lightning bolt grazed his body and landed on the floor nearby, leaving behind deep crack, dark and flickering with electric snakes.

Qian Donglou's figure appeared again. Without stirring any dust, he turned his body and locked his eyes on Lou Cheng, who had just landed on his feet.

Thud thud thud!

He dragged his powerless right arm behind him as he walked forward. With each step he grew larger and larger, just like what was described in the ancient text.

In just three steps, the Warrior Sage had become a terrifying giant of over two meters with thunder engravings on his skin over his expanded muscles.

Zzzt zzzt zzzt! Purple and green lightning appeared around him. Towering, he slashed his left palm down.

At this moment, Peng Leyun, Guo Jie, and the others at the edge of the battlefield felt as if they were subjected to a Divine Wrath as they faced the majestic, violent lightning master. They couldn't help but feel anxious, as though they had been struck by lightning just as the tree demons in Chinese folklore.

Pah! Qian Donglou seemed to have become the Heavenly Lord that ruled the Thunder Sect. His palm struck down and the buzzing electricity flickered as if preparing for a major change. It was illusory yet real.

This blade originated from the sixth move of the Thunder Sect, Purple Stamp of the Heavenly Lord. Coupled with the power of the mind, it would be extremely violent and radiant. The thunder calamity was fearsome and its strength was terrifying. Upon contact, all nine calamities would occur at the same time.

When Qian Donglou approached, Lou Cheng had been observing but was still unable to identify the which one that the other party had hidden, and therefore couldn't determine what the final change would be. Even as his Ice Heart reflected everything clearly, it told him only about the current situation, not the impending one. This couldn't help him make an accurate judgement instantaneously.

When the Warrior Sage turned into the Heavenly Lord of the Thunder Sect and imposed his aura, intended to disrupt one's mind, Lou Cheng finally made a decision. He wasn't timely, but he wasn't too late either.

The Enemy Heart Freezing move was crystal clear and solid. Under the might of the thunder calamity, only a few cracks appeared. This allowed Lou Cheng to push aside his fear, even though he hadn't used the Confrontation or Forwarding formula. He moved his shoulders calmly, straightened his knees and dodged to the side, simultaneously generating an intense wind that slapped violently towards Qian Donglou.

However, at this moment a cable seemed to form between him and Qian Donglou. As he changed direction, the tension was pulled tight, causing the Warrior Sage to make the same turn. The distance between them was shortened.

Pa!

Qian Donglou's heavy hand suddenly accelerated its descent. Strands of purple electricity began gathering to illuminate the area.

Between the heavens and the earth, there was suddenly a thick bolt of lightning.

Lou Cheng had no choice but to ignite the small amount of remaining Emperor Yang force in his body to change his direction, and he flew sideways.

Bam! The purple electricity swept across, sending dust into the air and leaving its mark.

Qian Donglou no longer raised his arm. Swinging his center of gravity, he pounced quickly towards Lou Cheng, who had not yet landed. His placed his left palm behind his body as though he was dragging a longsword whose tip was rubbing against the floor at high-speed, triggering sparks and screeching.

When these sparks appeared, they immediately caught fire due to the high temperatures and oxygen flow.

Whoosh!

A sea of red fire formed within a radius of twenty or thirty meters and followed the momentum of Qian Donglou's sword towards Lou Cheng, who was still in mid-air.

Since ancient times, electric strikes had often caused flames, and fhe Shangqing Sect had successfully taken advantage of this. The third move of the Thunder Sect was known as Golden Blaze. Other than squeezing out one's potential, it also burnt with electricity.

Qian Donglou made apt use of the Fire Sect environment that the Dragon King had created, which turned into a convenient advantage for him.

Whoosh! The mid-air flames burnt through two high-voltage cables. They swung down in bright electric arcs towards Lou Cheng from the left and right.

Lou Cheng took a deep breath and ignited for the second time.

Boom!

With just a little Emperor Yan force ignited, he was able to stop his original momentum and retreat rapidly to avoid the whip of the thunder calamity and most of the flames. Those he couldn't avoid moved along his head, skin, and clothing, but their violence and heat substantially diminished.

Qian Donglou suddenly stopped. He gathered all of his aura below his waist and sank into the ground.

A loud explosion sounded. He swung his body up and appeared beside Lou Cheng at lightning speed. He was taking advantage of Lou Cheng being depleted of other moves in the weakness of mid-air.

Coupled with the gust of wind caused by the explosion, Qian Donglou straightened his left palm and slashed ahead. The white rays filled the eyes of Lou Cheng.

Lou Cheng could think of nothing else as he tilted his body, moved his arms, clenched his fist, and hammered down as the faint purple fireball around him roared over.

Zzzt!

Qian Donglou wiggled his palm and cut the faint purple fireball into two as though he was cutting butter with a hot knife.

After this slash, the momentum of his blade was lost. Using the recoil, he retracted his hand and caused Lou Cheng's attack to miss.

Bam! As he retracted his hand, he kicked his right leg towards the floor and crashed towards Lou Cheng violently.

This was the secondary change. His palm was the blade and so was his body. The small blade was for splitting the defense, while the longsword was for taking one's life.

From the look of these strikes, Qian Donglou was probably at grandmaster level in swordsmanship. He wasn't too far off from the level of God Slaying Knife, Lu Yongyuan!

For Qian Donglou, the path of martial arts was intertwined with the sword.

One who uses a knife is a Knife Sage, one who uses a sword is a Sword Sage, and one who uses his fists is a Boxing Sage. Above them all, he was the Warrior Sage of the era.

The figure in Lou Cheng's eyes grew larger. He didn't have time to react and could only raise his arm to form a dedensive ice layer.

Bam!

The sounds of ice breaking were mixed with the sounds of collision. Lou Cheng, still in mid-air, flew back and smashed into a high-voltage electric post.

The electric post snapped. Lou Cheng expanded his back muscles and used the recoil force from the impact.

In a split second, he changed his direction agilely and landed elsewhere. He kept his legs together to prevent himself from getting an electric strike. All he could feel was that his arms and the side of his body were extremely sore. If he hadn't formed the Eternal Ice Wall to resist in time, he would have probably suffered fractured bones.

Qian Donglou did not pursue him as he had expected. Instead, he paused for a minute to breathe.

Lou Cheng was suddenly struck with a realization that illuminated his blurry path.

He understood that he had committed a grave error.

Facing a one in a thousand years talent, the Warrior Sage of the era, and an extreme expert for the past ten years, he had subconsciously chosen a conservative approach that reduced error and avoided risk.

This had nothing to do with emotions or cowardice, so it didn't fall within the capabilities of the Enemy Heart Freezing move. As a result, he had contributed to Qian Donglou's momentum, allowing him to effortlessly execute his martial arts while completely avoiding aggravating the injuries he suffered.

I can't let this go on. I have to apply pressure on him. I have to force him to show that he's not in his best shape.

Constant avoidance would be equivalent to giving up voluntarily!

Considering his grave injuries, the fact that he couldn't use his right arm, and him losing the advantage of home ground, why can't I face off against him directly and go for his life while he's weak!

He is also human and has lost before, especially after having had intense matches. Why am I so worried?

As these thoughts popped into his head, Lou Cheng shook his arm, clenched his fist, and threw it rapidly forward.

All the pores on his back were spewing tiny purple flames. They penetrated his body and propelled him forward by several tens of meters in a split second, like a rocket towards the unsuspecting face of the Warrior Sage, Qian Donglou!

Come on, who's afraid of who!