Chapter 79: Defeating You Shi
The empress looked gratefully at the two cultivators.
She chose the Lady Arclight as her champion. With a wave of her hand, a wave of blue energy shot straight into the Lady Arclight's body, while the empress paled as power left her.
A vast spiritual power instantly suffused the Lady Arclight's body. A great gust of energy billowed out from her, causing the halls nearby to quake and tremble.
"Damn brat! You're going to go against me?!" You Shi thundered in rage. He struck down the flashes of blue lightning that shot toward him as he approached, while the empress, realizing that the lightning was doing nothing against him, halted her attack.
"Nanfeng, protect the empress. I'll take care of this quickly!" The Lady Arclight's fighting spirit flared. She stepped forward and threw out a punch, one crackling with wind and storm. Like a long blue river, it shot toward You Shi, as if intending on drowning him whole.
You Shi snorted, responding to the attack without any fear. Black aura ballooned around him as he met the Lady Arclight fist for fist. The waves of energy from the resulting explosion sent the courtly officials flying, and countless halls collapsed from the impact. The entire plaza quaked.
You Shi and the Lady Arclight each retreated a hundred paces. Neither had come out superior in that confrontation.
"Lass, you think you can compete against me just because you received the empress' spiritual power? You're hardly skilled enough!" You Shi cried out, then made to strike at the Lady Arclight once more.
With his right fist, he blocked the Lady Arclight's punch, then rotated and swung his left fist toward her body. Simultaneously, the Lady Arclight struck his body with a palm. Both cultivators staggered back.
"Again!" The Lady Arclight struck once more.
Both cultivators slammed into each other in another wave of energy that caused plumes of dust to erupt from the ground. Rubble was sent flying as they battled all the way from the top of the mountain to its foot.
The fight raged on, a trail of destruction cataloging it as they fought at the foot of the mountain. The whole capital of Great Wei became their battlefield.
"You Shi's fighting on par with the Lady Arclight... this isn't good!" Xiao Nanfeng frowned.
"On par? No, she's done for," Blue Lantern commented, shaking his head.
"Would you share your thoughts, Elder?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
"Ultimately, all this spiritual power was loaned to that lass by the empress, and she won't be able to draw out its full strength. Furthermore, You Shi is using a secret technique to collect the spiritual power that the two combatants have dispersed during the fight, so in a drawn-out confrontation, he will be the ultimate victor. The lass grows weaker over time; You Shi grows stronger over time," Blue Lantern continued placidly.
Indeed, now that it had been pointed out to him, Xiao Nanfeng quickly noticed that the black aura around You Shi was gathering the spiritual power that was being dispersed from the two combatants. The Lady Arclight had been fighting on equal terms with You Shi just moments ago, but she was already starting to flag.
She grew weaker and weaker, and was even sent flying from one confrontation. Blue spiritual power burst out of her and was sucked away by You Shi's black aura.
"So what if you have the empress' spiritual power? In the end, it'll all belong to me. Now, take this!" You Shi punched forward.
The Lady Arclight was slammed down into the plaza with a huge boom. The ground cracked as she fell to the empress' feet. She spat out a mouthful of blood. Her injuries were severe, and she was bleeding all over.
"I apologize for disappointing you, Empress of Great Wei," the Lady Arclight choked out weakly.
The empress didn't blame the Lady Arclight for her failure. Rather, stark sadness appeared on her face. "Forget it! So what if I can't rid the empire of a traitor on my consort's behalf? We are but spirits condemned to death. Little have we to fight over..."
The empress grew disconsolate; her failure left her without desire to push matters any further.
"How are you, Elder?" Xiao Nanfeng hurriedly walked up to her.
Killing intent billowed from him in waves. He subconsciously wiped at blood trailing from the Lady Arclight's lip with his hand, causing her eyes to widen.
"Well? Empress, you can't stop me at all. Now, I'll return you to your truesoul state—and you two cultivators, don't dream of running away!" You Shi cackled in the air.
The empress caressed 'Emperor Wei' beside her, then slowly closed her eyes. She was in no mind to continue fighting, and she did not fear death. Full of regrets, she prepared to explore the afterlife with Emperor Wei.
From afar, You Shi launched a palm strike toward them, one which expanded as it traveled. It overshadowed the entire realm, as though intending to crush the empress, Xiao Nanfeng, and the Lady Arclight simultaneously.
"You Shi's current spiritual power must be at the peak of Lunar Deluge by now. He's coming—Nanfeng, seek assistance from Blue Lantern, quickly! Make a wish with your dragon-quelling spike!" the Lady Arclight called out, weakly tugging on Xiao Nanfeng's sleeve.
Not far away, Blue Lantern eyed the two cultivators, waiting for them to make a wish so that he might reclaim the spikes.
However, Xiao Nanfeng didn't look toward Blue Lantern. Rather, he helped the Lady Arclight to a sitting position, then gently told her, "I'll take revenge for you, don't you worry!"
Xiao Nanfeng inclined his head at the approaching attack. He activated the superior yin pearl and began furiously absorbing the frost from the ice mountain in his head. It began to melt with a torrent of spiritual power.
Within moments, spiritual power like a raging ocean flowed out from Xiao Nanfeng's body. The frightening burst of spiritual power caused rubble to rise into the air, and the entire dragon's head mountain began to shake. When he formed a fist, it eclipsed You Shi's punch by half again its size, and a torrent of spiritual power accompanied the attack.
A howling storm billowed from him as the attacks collided, filling the air with rubble. The aftershock caused countless floating islands to shake, then to fall.
Behind him, the Lady Arclight gaped in astonishment.
You Shi's palm technique burst apart. The backlash from the attack caused both his hands and arms to bleed, and he himself was sent flying at great force. As he fell to the ground, he caused a small rockslide by the side of the dragon's head mountain.
"Impossible! Within my array, I could sense that your spiritual cultivation was at most midway through Stellar Lake. How could you have grown so strong so quickly?" You Shi clutched his bleeding palms and looked toward Xiao Nanfeng in astonishment, then Blue Lantern. "Blue Lantern, didn't you say you wouldn't interfere? Why did you grant him so much energy?!"
Blue Lantern ignored You Shi. He stared at Xiao Nanfeng silently. Had he interfered needlessly back then? This was the first time his judgment had been off.
Xiao Nanfeng himself was staring at You Shi balefully. "You don't have the qualifications to beat up my elder."
He stepped forward and launched another punch, which You Shi met with one of his own. Another tempest of energy formed, and You Shi was sent flying down the mountain.
Xiao Nanfeng quickly gave chase, killing intent flaring from him, in boundless anger and rage.
The pale empress glanced at Xiao Nanfeng's back as she turned to the Lady Arclight. "My dear, my consort defended me in precisely this manner in our youth. You've chosen the right man—he's worth your support and trust."
The Lady Arclight blushed. "You misunderstand, Your Majesty! We're not related in that fashion."
The empress, weary of life, chose not to continue arguing with the Lady Arclight. She sighed and cautioned, "Don't miss this opportunity, then."
The Lady Arclight: ...
Afar, the fight raged on. Both combatants took to the skies and punched at each other.
Supported by tremendous spiritual power, they fought over land and sky, causing countless floating islands above the capital of Great Wei to burst apart. The frightening shockwaves formed hurricanes all around the capital.
The illusory realm was far weaker than reality, and it took little to break and shatter all manner of objects within. The grand and majestic capital was reduced to rubble and ruin within moments.
You Shi grabbed Xiao Nanfeng's right fist with his right palm, then countered Xiao Nanfeng's left fist with his left palm. Black aura surged from him, as though intending to drain Xiao Nanfeng of his spiritual power.
"So what if you have this much spiritual power? Hand it all over to me!" You Shi cried out.
"Can you handle it all?" Xiao Nanfeng retorted.
Just then, two more fists appeared before You Shi.
"Four fists?" he cried out. "Hegemon's Fist?"
Suddenly, Xiao Nanfeng's two fists vanished from You Shi's grip, and the two extra fists that Xiao Nanfeng had manifested merged together and struck him squarely in the face.
You Shi was sent flying into the distance, crashing through the city wall in a plume of dust. The black aura around him failed to devour Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual power in time.
You Shi emerged from the ruins. "I don't believe it! Hegemon's Fist is the signature technique of Emperor Wei. How could you know it?!"
The two cultivators again began to grapple with one another. Xiao Nanfeng no longer had two fists before him, but rather eight arms. All eight looked real, as though any that managed to strike his opponent would manifest into reality, while those that were struck by his opponent would dematerialize into figments. Xiao Nanfeng's mastery of this technique seemed to have grown even further. Under a fierce assault, You Shi was forced to retreat time and again as he was struck.
Not only could You Shi not absorb Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual power, his own spiritual power was dissipating under Xiao Nanfeng's powerful blows. He was shocked beyond measure; as they continued to fight, Xiao Nanfeng's skill seemed to grow by leaps and bounds. Soon enough, fists appeared all around him, as though he were a god of heaven, summoned to take down a devil incarnate.
"Nanfeng's Hegemon's Fist, turning the illusory into the real and back again, transforming endlessly and countlessly—he's already reached mastery?!" The Lady Arclight gaped.
"Hegemon's Fist? How could it be? That's my consort's unique signature technique! He combined the most superior of the fist techniques under heaven into Hegemon's Fist, so how could this cultivator..."
"Don't you know, Empress? Emperor Wei's Hegemon's Fist has spread throughout the world. The Taiqing Immortal Sect, to which I belong, boasts a complete manual of his technique, but it's far too difficult for most cultivators. Only Nanfeng has reached such incredible success in recent history," the Lady Arclight explained.
"Spread throughout the world...? Had my consort been planning this all along, prepared for a failed revival?" The empress' eyes flashed with grief once again.
A rumble could be heard from the skies in the distance. Xiao Nanfeng had punched You Shi into the ground with a massive shockwave that caused it to crack and form a deep, bottomless gully. The black aura around You Shi dispersed, his spiritual power all consumed.
You Shi spat out blood as he lay in the gully, no longer wielding any combat power. As he watched Xiao Nanfeng walk toward him, still brimming with killing intent, he howled, "No, no! If this were reality, I would be able to crush you instantly!"
"Unfortunately for you, we're in an illusory realm." Xiao Nanfeng's eyes turned cold as he slammed a foot into You Shi's prone body, causing it to explode into a cloud of black mist. The mist seemed to cry out in injustice before fading away for good.
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