"I've combed through every corner of this battlefield, but this world's Heavenly Dao still eludes me. Is his Deception Dao that pervasive?" Death Reverence thought. Everything can end as long as he cuts off Wang Wei's connection to Heavenly Dao, returning him to his [Immortal] strength. As someone with an intimate understanding of the rules, Death Reverence thought the process would be simple, but Wang Wei went above and beyond to protect the source of his power.
"Unfortunately, I have to do this the hard way, but ultimately, it doesn't matter: victory will be mine — no, my lord will finally accomplish his desire." Without wasting a second, Death Reverence rushed toward his opponent with his trusty broadsword, ready to cleave whatever obstacle stood in the way of his victory.
Meanwhile, Wang Wei was frowning. He barely recognized the runes on Death Reverence's armor, since they were a new creation drawn from knowledge of another Chaos Universe. And since his other avatars had prevented him from directly accessing the memory of their encounter with the Beyonder, he was clueless about their purpose. However, he couldn't remove the feeling that Death Reverence's state was somewhat familiar.
[Chaotic Destruction]
Wang Wei released a palm strike imbued with the Laws of Destruction, combined with countless other attributes, many of which were not only opposites but also clashed nonstop. However, to his surprise, Death Reverence ignored the attack and continued his offensive maneuver. And when the palm reached the armor, it dissipated as if it were nothing but a breeze.
Wang Wei condensed a defensive aura around his fist and clashed with the sword. The attack cut through his aura like a hot knife passing through butter. Wang Wei yanked his hand at the last minute, but a sword wound still appeared on his fist. He ignored it before going on the offensive. With a sudden burst of power, he kicked Death Reverence in the stomach.
The strength difference between those two was marginal. Death Reverence had reached the limit of the Primordial Chaos Saint Realm, but Wang Wei wasn't too far off. And with his [Force Control Skill], which he had now realized was an incomplete Saint Art, and a unique one at that, he made up the gap in strength. It also helped that the more time he spent in his current Saint State, the more data Ai has to update and perfect the [Force Control Skill].
Death Reverence took two steps back from the kick, but that did not stop him from swinging his sword, forcing Wang Wei to evade. By now, he had figured out what was happening: Death Reverence's armor, or its current state, could be described as Anti-Wang Wei. The bastard designed it to counter all his Dao and techniques, which is why only pure physical force — pure fleshly body strength — works, but that's barely.
"Do you think this is the first time I've encountered someone who has countered all my abilities?" Wang Wei thought with a sneer. One of the greatest foes he had encountered was Zhen Chao, and Wang Wei had learned from his mistake.
Two phantoms materialized behind him: one of his father, Wang Tian, and the other of his ancestor, Yan Hai. With one thought, Wang Wei modified his destiny after these two, acquiring their abilities. His Proving Dao Artifact molded itself into a black and white sword, and Wang Wei slashed, releasing a power that embodied his father's ability to cut through everything between Heaven and Earth, as well as the Sword Empress' ultimate sword-attack potency.
Bang!
Death Reverence casually swung his blade, deflecting the attack. His armor showed no sign of damage, and his aura remained as steady as a towering mountain. The man probably didn't sweat if he was capable of such a thing.
"There is no way he countered everybody close to me, right?" Wang Wei thought. The phantom behind him changed to Maitreya. He raised his hand to release a colossal golden palm; this time around, he used the most concentrated essence of Buddhism to try to influence Death Reverence. And the result? Well, they were slightly better than before since Wang Wei finally sensed a slight fluctuation from the Death Knight, but this level of injury was minor even by a Saint's standard.
"Good, good, you really did create a counter for all the people close to me. Unfortunately, this is not my limit," Wang Wei sneered. His Karma Chessboard flew out of his Sea of Consciousness, floating in front of him. His eyes shifted to a few of the undesignated pieces, and he selected one. Wang Wei's eyes changed, and he sensed a few karmic threads still connecting to him.
There were not many of them left, but enough to provide choices — including Wang Guo, whom Wang Wei thought had died in the Longevity Realm. Of course, he would not choose Wang Guo. By mimicking the latter's destiny, all Wang Wei would acquire is the Power Dao, which he can use on his own, meaning Death Reverence should have a counter. Although Wang Wei only recently acquired it during his fight with Lin Fan, he believed Death Reverence should be up to date. Meanwhile, his chessboard is a trump card he has never revealed to anyone else.
"Should I use Commander Dan? No, his Dao is based on strategy and war, which is too close to Li Jin's. Plus, it seems he's dead," Wang Wei thought. The karmic thread connecting to the commander was gone, meaning the latter was dead, as he had predicted.
"Kong is still alive, but who knows how far Death Reverence was willing to go?"Wang Wei could not take the risk that this bastard hadn't prepared counters for his acquaintances, such as Kong, Xu Shi, and others. "Hmm? Is Saint Ink Flame still alive?" Saint Ink was a future investment Wang Wei had made, and after barely surviving the Nine King & Three Sovereign World and the Twelve Firmament Heavenly Emperor's trial, Wang Wei allowed him to leave with Commander Dan. But honestly, he did it on a whim and did not expect the latter to survive.
"His Ancestral Flame Dao was unique and might be the thing I need in this situation." Without wasting a second, he established the link and copied Saint Ink's destiny. Wang Wei immediately condensed a black flame that he molded into a bow and arrow.
Swish!
Death Reverence moved his head to evade — an act that elicited a small smile on the corner of Wang Wei's mouth. More arrows flew out, forcing the Death Knight to either evade or block with his trusted sword. Another arrow flew out, turning into millions of smaller arrows that surrounded Death Reverence on all sides. The Death Knight remained calm. With one swing, he unleashed a black flying slash that opened a path directly toward Wang Wei, turning the battle into close combat.
Wang Wei transformed the Ancestral Flame into a halberd, then clashed directly with the death sword. His eyes darted to the runes on the armor, which he had long figured were the source of Death Reverence; it counted all his moves. However, given their current state, it was obvious the armor didn't have an answer to this unique flame. It may have resistance to many flames — including Wang Wei's Chaos Flames — but not the Ink Flame.
"But, it's still trying to create a counter," Wang Wei thought. His intuition told him this was the case. Since the seal Death Reverence placed on this timeline had self-improvement capabilities, something told him this armor was the same. The good news is that this flame was not easy to analyze, since it was the origin of all flames, but it appeared to be just a Chaos Flame.
"It's almost done, but do I have enough time?" Wang Wei thought as he checked his lifespan. In this short confrontation, his lifespan had been reduced to only 15 years. "Let's accelerate things." Time was running out for him, and the damn armor was also rapidly counteracting his strategy.
[Flame of Liberation]
A pillar of pure white flame manifested behind Wang Wei. Then, it rapidly condensed into millions of white spears. With one command, they flew toward the Death Knight, with the sole purpose of liberating him from his current transformation. However, Death Reverence was not the spear's only target; they also flew toward the hidden rules, trying to relieve them of the burden that is Death Reverence's [Orde-Disorder].
At first, Wang Wei's attack was ineffective, but the Ancestral Flame's uniqueness was activated. Since the user wanted a flame of liberation that could defy the hidden rules, it granted him one. Two separate explosions spread throughout Heaven and Earth: one in the source of the rules and the other in the material plane, directly where Death Reverence stood.
Wang Wei's eyes penetrated all the smoke to observe the result; the Death Knight was in a terrible state. Most of his armor was destroyed, and black blood oozed out of his body. Without the boost from the [Order-Disorder], he indeed received some serious damage, but for some reason, Wang Wei couldn't be happy. A sense of foreboding suddenly overwhelmed his senses.
"Time is up," Death Reverence muttered.
Wang Wei immediately groaned. With his pain threshold, this should never have happened, but an intense pain suddenly appeared on his right arm that he couldn't even control his reaction.
