Chapter 1405 Black Spiritual Qi

Ryu opened up a large range between them with quite some speed, his steps were light and his Soul Nature moved with even more fluidity than even his feet. He didn't seem panicked and he even somewhat wanted to see how much strength Pierthorn really had.

The truth of it was that Ryu had caught Pierthorn off guard and then pressed his advantage without giving the latter room to breathe. This was what his Spacetime Soul Nature was best at, though shockingly enough, in terms of pure offensive power, it was likewise shockingly powerful.

Pierthorn, for obvious reasons, had never fought someone that could out-maneuver him in such a way, and that was especially so when it was from a distance. A Mental Realm Master's greatest strength was in long ranged combat, but he had been completely outplayed.

But now... he was absolutely furious.

His Spiritual Qi lurched and then solidified. Like dominoes being stacked up in quick succession, countless barriers formed around him. Even after dozens had been formed, he didn't seem to have any intention of stopping, and to make matters worse, each barrier felt like a moat of thousands of kilometers. Even with his Spacetime Soul Nature, Ryu didn't feel as though he could cross even one of them, let alone so many.

'Fascinating..' That was the first word that came to Ryu's mind, before he suddenly realized that the barriers weren't what he should be focused on at all.

Those illusory swords formed in the air once more, but they were even more solid than they had been in the past. At the same time, he sensed the faint hint of something different, something quite subtle, and yet powerful. It was akin to a pinch of baking powder that would make pancakes rise, small and insignificant, and yet its lack of presence wouldn't be missed all the same.

'Dao.'

Ryu was certain, and once he was, he latched onto it. His eyes reflected a sharp light as the illusory swords descended. Something told him that he needed to understand Pierthorn's Dao before they reached his range, or else dodging just might become impossible.

Then it clicked.

Ryu shifted and vanished, dodging out of the way of the sword he hadn't seen until just moments ago. His Sword God Aura flared and the swords faltered further, dimming once more to become nothing more than keen beads of light in his eyes. Nothing of them was real but a small, centimeter wide sharp hue of light. 99% of the swords were fake, but that only made it more devastating.

The true blade could be hidden anywhere within the swords and even his Spiritual Sense couldn't see through them. He might step past a blade that he thought he had already dodged, only to find his throat slit.

But that was only the first layer of the illusion. The second layer was the movement of the illusory swords themselves, and then the third was their solidification.

More important than all of that, though, was just how subtly Pierthorn used his Dao. If not for Ryu's hyper sensitivity, he wouldn't have known he was using it at all. It was hard to imagine just how many had died to Pierthorn without even knowing how it happened.

'Is this how Sky Gods battle? How boring.'

Ryu raised a palm and his Great Swordstaff slapped into his hand with a satisfying pop.

He raised it, leisurely, blade tip pointed toward exactly where the roaring Pierthorn was. Having lost his body, Pierthorn was absolutely furious, he didn't even seem to realize why it was that Ryu had managed to dodge his attack at all. But by the time this transient thought passed through his mind and he tried to remind himself to calm down, it was too late.

A blade suddenly appeared before his somewhat weak soul form, but what was scary wasn't the blade itself, but rather what coated it... a dancing blade energy of concentrated Spiritual Qi.

Black Spiritual Qi? He had never...

His body was cut apart, shredded to pieces, and then consumed whole.