1138 Realization
Ryu punched out again and was almost lifted up and off his feet this time.
He rolled his shoulder, exhaling a breath before a surge of dark gold and golden energies surged around him in a nebulae-like fog. He felt that he understood this body of his quite well now, well enough to truly fight.
Ryu's hair fluttered. There was only one way to climb to the greatest peak.
Go all out.
Ryu's hands opened up and his great swordstaffs snapped into his palm. Suddenly, he shifted forward like a shadow, his body vanishing as several Small Realms enveloped the surroundings. When he appeared again, his great swordstaffs were swinging down with the force of a torrential storm. Arcs of blue lightning and sharp dark green winds enveloped everything there was.
Starlight's gaze narrowed but he still struck out with the same palm.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The two exchanged a flurry of exchanges, but the calmness of Starlight was in clear contrast to Ryu's absolute frenzy, the coldness in the latter's eyes being contrasted by the stillness of the former. The gap seemed to be all too obvious even as the lightning and wind Small Realms enveloped one another.
Ryu unleashed a roar and his skin erupted with a torrent of sapphire light, shrouded him in an instant. His radiant blue scale manifested, and a pair of horns grew from his head once again. His speed and power exploded forth, his lightning turning to Tribulation Lightning and his wind gaining the support of his Northern Heavenly Wind.
At that moment, his blades, snaking with blue lightning and dark winds shifted. The blue lightning became more radiant, and a hidden rune began to dance within them. At the same time, the dark wings gained a tinge of a gold color.
Ryu's speed caught Starlight off guard. Even though he raised his palms, Starlight found a blade appearing right at his neck, prepared to shred him to pieces.
Starlight's pupils constricted. At that instant, Ryu's overall combat prowess had increased by at least a hundred-fold. Was that true Tribulation Lightning? How was that possible? And what was that wind? A Northern Heavenly Wind? An immature one?
Starlight's bright irises flickered with a peculiar light before his body shifted. Ryu's blade seemed to pass right through him.
Almost instantly, Ryu was certain that this was a Spirit Body of sorts, but it was even more enigmatic than his own. It looked as though it was simply designed for movement and evasion in a way his own were not.
A Dark Spirit Body.
BANG!
A sudden overwhelming pressure crashed into Ryu's chest and his scales shattered, his ribs nearly following suit as a projectile of blood left his lips. He shot back like a ball out of a canon, the shockwave-like pressure still following up again, and then again, for a second and third palm strike. Although he had only faced one attack, it felt no different than having faced three.
Ryu landed heavily on his feet and nearly fell to his knees.
Starlight walked forward, a hint of curiosity and confusion in his eyes. Ryu could exude the aura of a Fist God, and sometimes when he swung those enormous blades of his, he exuded the aura of various weapon Gods. It was enough to shock most, even him, quite frankly. How could one person be a God of so many disciplines.
However, for some reason, when he was actually fighting Ryu, he felt that the latter's actual combat sense was far weaker than a God of a weapon or martial art form should have. It made little Sense.
Logically, a Fist God should be a God of Combat, likewise for a Sword God or any other form. Against them, that casual palm of his shouldn't have had any chance of landing.
Then again, when Ryu was in his Fist God form, Starlight had been forced to simply counter him directly and couldn't find any holes like he had just now. Could it just be that using the aura of a Sword God with something that was clearly not a sword just left such flaws?
That should probably be it.
Having had his curiosity somewhat satiated, Starlight walked forward a hint faster, half his body still in a shadowy wisp of smoke as though he could vanish at any time.
And then he did.
Just when Starlight appeared, he found a fist before his chest.
He hurriedly blocked but was still forced to take a single step back.
Ryu coughed as he rose to his full height. The wound to his chest was healing at a visible speed. He seemed to have completely abandoned his great swordstaffs, having seen through the same problem that Starlight had.
He simply didn't have the time to fix it, but what he did have were his fists and legs.
Ryu's arms spread out and the lightning and wind that had been coating his great swordstaffs shot towards his palms, instantly coating his hands in a blue steel gauntlet.
Starlight's gaze narrowed as stronger and stronger arcs of lightning began to come off Ryu in strong pulses. Then, as though a bolt of lightning had just struck where Ryu had been standing, he vanished and appeared before Starlight.
Starlight dodged, vanishing in the shadows, but Ryu flickered in a trail of lightning once again.
Arcs of lightning and wisps of darkness chased and intertwined against one another. It felt as though the elements themselves were battling it out rather than two young men.
Whether it was the ground, the air or even high in the skies, their speed brought them everywhere.
Sometimes, flashes of their true forms would appear. Fists would collide, shins would rebound off of one another, and elbows would send booming sound waves in all directions.
Even so, after every exchange, Ryu would feel his body shake and rattle, his inner organs threatening to collapse. If not for the danger his tribulation lightning gauntlets displayed, his situation might have been a lot worse. Starlight didn't seem to be in a rush toward a hurried conclusion, seemingly still probing to satisfy his own curiosity.
Suddenly, Starlight's palm become a finger and he pointed forward just as Ryu's lightning body became corporeal.
A burning hole tore through Ryu's collarbone with such force that it nearly ripped his right arm from his shoulder.
A sudden realization overcame Ryu as the burning pain shot through him.
Starlight had only just started using qi.
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