419 Design 2

The brown-gray rock wall quickly turned into lava, and flowed down. Blood streamed out of Jing Hong's mouth, while his arms had been completely shattered along with his Black Membrane. His face was covered in blood, and his legs had been broken in two. Despite all that, he still refused to give up, and was still trying his hardest to stand up against the rocks. 

Lu Sheng slowly walked in front of him.

"This is what you fight for? These are your morals?"

Jing Hong coughed, spewing out another mouthful of blood, but then suddenly started to laugh softly. 

"Cough, cough… Ahahahaha..."

He had used everything he knew, but even with all his power, he was not able to beat this man in front of him. He must have wanted something from him. Why else would he keep him alive?

"In this dark world, someone… must…" Jing Hong said in a low voice. Even though his voice was weak and he stuttered because of his wounds, there was an obvious determination in his words. 

"Everyone has their own justice and hope…" he said with difficulty. 

Lu Sheng stared at this almost crippled Weapon Master in front of him. A prodigal Weapon Master that infinitely approached the Divine Lord level had as much power as a baby in front of him. But despite all his wounds, he showed no intent of giving up. 

"Justice? Hope? That's the last thing the people of this world have the right to expect," Lu Sheng said flatly. "How do you fight for justice when you have to fight to simply survive?" 

"You don't understand… it's different… If this world wasn't like this, maybe all these tragedies wouldn't have happened… Cough, cough…" Jing Hong muttered. 

"Alright, seems like you have given up." Lu Sheng raised his hand, and a brilliant golden light started to shine in his palm, which soon formed a one meter long knife. 

"Any last words?" he asked casually. 

Jing Hong smiled, and shook his head. 

"Then… Goodbye." Lu Sheng raised his knife, which released a brilliant glow, then struck down violently. 

"Hisss!!"

"Clang!!"

Almost at the same time, a crisp sound exploded steadily in front of the knife. A light blue spear with a deep blue triangular symbol that surrounded a spinning pegasus on its shaft tightly blocked the knife.

The spearman had somehow stood beside Lu Sheng already.

He was a tall, muscular, and handsome man with a balanced physique. He had elegant, short blue hair, while his eyes flashed with coldness and pride as well as the same determination as Jing Hong's. He wore something similar to a tight leather armor with a bright silver plate in the center. 

"Brother… You came, after all…" Jing Hong coughed wearily. 

"Xu Qi?" Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes as he called out this name that seemed to be an alias. The star of the show was finally here… Well, now the main act should begin. The 'Evil' symbol on his palm moved slightly and started to emit a signal for the two Evil Art Masters nearby. 

It signified that the plan was a go. 

"Thousand Sun Sect Prefectural Sect Master, Lu Sheng? How do you wish to die?" Xu Qi's voice was icy, while his gaze was sharp and cold. Even though he had just arrived, he already knew what Lu Sheng wanted. 

Of course, part of the reason was because Lu Sheng didn't try to cover anything, but it also showed how accurate this man's deduction was. 

"I don't know how I would want to die." Lu Sheng smiled. "But I know that you… will die soon!"

He abruptly moved forward, his leg quickly expanding as his body turned into its original form. He punched forward with his drastically increased speed, strength, and explosiveness.

"Spirit Slaughter!"

As his legs returned to their original form, Lu Sheng's speed, strength, and all related physical attributes were improved. Even though each level of the Divine Lord stage could not be measured using physical strength alone, a strong enough body was enough to pose a substantial threat to a Divine Lord. 

The pure speed and strength with a horrifying explosive force slammed into Xu Qi's body with a boom. 

"Boom!"

A faint layer of blue light exploded between the two as the spear in Xu Qi's hand basically jumped in front of him at an unimaginable speed. Its tip connected with Lu Sheng's fist. With an explosion of blue light, Lu Sheng retreated. 

"Reflect!" Xu Qi's spear shook his spear. Instantly, an immense wild force flowed into Lu Sheng's arms through his hand. 

It was his own power, the horrifying power he'd produced by simply releasing his original form. 

"Bam! Bam! Bam!"

After consecutively retreating three steps, Lu Sheng's right arm was releasing white smoke. It was the price of bearing the full brunt of the counter. 

"Is this the power of the Tian'er Blade?" He had a surprised expression on his face. It was rare for him to find someone who could force him back. After all, even Divine Lords could rarely compete with him in terms of physical strength. 

But this Xu Qi somehow fought him with raw strength. Truly unbelievable. 

"What Tian'er Blade… Where did you hear that from? This is the bloodline power of my birth Divine Weapon." Xu Qi's face was cold. He guessed Lu Sheng's intention. 

"You don't use the Tian'er Blade as your primary Divine Weapon?" Lu Sheng moved his fist. "Interesting." Even though his fist was still smoking and his forearms were still a little numb, it was negligible for his powerful body.

"You are from the Jing Family too? Jing Hong's birth brother?" Lu Sheng asked casually. "That power of yours, it is very similar to his…" 

"Heaven-splitting Divine Spear!!"

Xu Qi abruptly dove forward with his whole body as the spear in his hand swung in a half circle, its tip whipping down onto Lu Sheng's head. 

"Crack!"

The spear turned into a bolt of deep blue lightning amid a sea of brilliant silver-blue light, while the blue lightning formed the shape of a pegasus, which stomped at Lu Sheng. 

"Neigh!"

The pegasus flapped its wings, raised its hooves high, and stomped down. 

"Boom!!"

With a giant boom, blue lightning exploded. Lu Sheng raised his arms, no longer in his human form. He was replaced by a monster with four horns, a tail dangling behind him covered in pitch-black scales, and three dense rows of sharp teeth. 

The pegasus made of lightning landed, but its wing was grabbed by Lu Sheng, and he held it steadily in midair. 

"Impressive strength… Unfortunately, this is it. Divine Might!"

"Boom!!!"

Lu Sheng spun the pegasus around, and threw it ruthlessly into the rock wall. 

The pegasus exploded, and Xu Qi flew out amid the explosion of lightning. His spear stabbed at Lu Sheng's eyes, ears, and other weak points like drops of rain during a hurricane. 

Lu Sheng's arms, on the other hand, rapidly and accurately blocked every strike. 

"Is that all you have?" He cracked his mouth, and laughed with scorn. 

That last spear strike was impressive, and was at least at the peak of Golden Leaf level. But that wasn't Lu Sheng's limit. For him, anything less than the pinnacle of Jade Star would not affect his scales or Yang Essence at all. 

At least, before he expended all his Yang Essence, it didn't really matter whether someone below Jade Star hit or missed. 

In reality, if it weren't for his spirit holding him back, he would have achieved a power stronger than Jade Star already. But, his spirit hadn't fought with a Divine Intellect Divine Lord before, so he didn't know which level it was at yet. 

Xu Qi was a standard peak Jade Star Divine Lord—that much was obvious from the intel. Lu Sheng planned to use that fact as a benchmark for this fight. He had long since left the traditional track of a Divine Lord, so the only option left for him to learn his own power was through comparison. 

"Earth Splitting Primal Spike!" After a few rounds of exchanges, Xu Qi made no progress. He immediately retreated slightly, and slammed his spear into the ground. 

Lu Sheng thought for a bit, and likewise stomped his right foot into the ground. 

The golden Yang Essence flowed into the ground, and clashed with the spear made of blue lightning underground. 

"Puff, puff, puff!!"

After several consecutive explosions, the ground shook. 

The nearby Jing Hong was affected as well, and grunted in pain. Xu Qi's face slightly changed; he knew that this fight couldn't last long. Neither he nor Lu Sheng held back, and both had used their full power, but still couldn't find a clear winner. If it was a different place at a different time, maybe he could have fought more freely. 

But not now. Jing Hong wouldn't last. 

Thinking of Lu Sheng, who'd hurt his brother so much, brought great hatred to his heart, but he couldn't do anything. 

He flew up and picked up his brother while the blue spear beside him exploded into a swirl of immense lightning. 

The lightning soon formed a ball, growing bigger and bigger, brighter and brighter. The faint neighing of a pegasus could be heard from within. 

"Great Fission Divine Spear!" he roared in anger, raised his spear high with one hand, and fiercely swung it toward the ground. 

The huge ball of lightning abruptly slammed into the ground. 

"Boom!!!"

As the lightning ball landed, countless bolts of blue lightning turned into snakes, and exploded everywhere. In a several-hundred-meter-radius around the two, the trees and herbs dipped violently, then turned into scorched earth. 

Amid the blinding lightning, a blue pegasus roared as it flew into the sky. Dark thunderclouds quickly gathered, while a bolt of lightning as thick as a barrel struck the ground with a boom, frying everything in a several hundred meter radius. 

Inside of the lightning, a shape was trying to stand up as electricity sparked all over him. 

Staring at Xu Qi in the distance, Lu Sheng laughed hideously. His right arm quickly expanded, and became three meters thick in the blink of an eye. A ball of golden light lit up and spun in his palm, and he aimed it at the fleeing Xu Qi and his brother. 

"Infinite… Divine Might!!!"

"Hisss!!"

A golden wire shot out of Lu Sheng's hand, and covered several hundred meters of distance in an instant, spinning toward Xu Qi's back. 

"Four-sided Soaring Spirits." Xu Qi kept calm despite sensing the horrifying power of peak Jade Star level. A crisp green saber rose behind him, and released a green glow as it spun. 

The green glow soon formed the shape of an ear and surrounded the two, shooting into the distance at an unfathomable speed. 

Lu Sheng wasn't surprised, but was instead ecstatic as he immediately shouted, "Now!" 

"Puff!"

A gray chain penetrated space, and appeared behind Xu Qi, firmly binding the green saber. 

Xu Qi's expression turned livid as he had no idea where this gray chain had come from. 

"Die!" Lu Sheng dove forward while his right palm released a brilliant glow like the sun. Divine Might was unleashed at its maximum power. Every ounce of Yang Essence flowed into his palm like a flood. 

But Xu Qi's face changed slightly. Lightning exploded out of him, and surrounded him and his brother along with the gray chain. They were completely covered a second before Lu Sheng reached them, but soon the lightning exploded, exposing their shapes. 

"Boom!!!"

Lu Sheng's glowing golden hand went through both of their bodies, but he felt no resistance. 

Xu Qi and Jing Hong's shape finally disappeared. It was only an illusion. 

Lu Sheng landed with a bam on one knee. Everything within a ten or so meters' radius sunk and cracked. 

"Aghhhh!!!"

He suddenly stood up and slammed his fist into a giant tree to the side. 

"Boom!!"

Golden light exploded, and everything within a hundred meters' radius was swept by the immense golden pillar of light and exploded. 

A wildfire instantly broke out. Smoke rose up, while leaves and branches exploded everywhere, then fell down like rain.