บท 351: A Straight Forwards Battle?
The world fell silent as the chaotic destruction of the karmic river and the Spirit Plane spread further and further away from Planet Yushu. It was unknown just how far this wave of destruction would spread, and just how much damage it would inflict upon the Qi Plane. Many strange things were already happening, such as ruins from the Spirit Plane settling down on the Qi Plane. In particular, it seemed that the Primordial Treasures – those natural treasures which had existed since the beginning of the 2nd Origin Era – remained intact.
Many eyes landed on Yaan and the Primordial Devil. There was too much going on, too many powerful beings surrounding him, and with the Primordial Devil right before him, Yaan needed to remain on guard. He took note of some of the more prominent figures of course, such as Defiance Sovereign, the Spirit Plane Lord, the Primordial Asura, the Primordial Sage, Law Empyrean, Old Thief, and…
Yaan's gaze lingered on Old Thief for a while, who seemed to be paying him even more attention than the rest, before his eyes landed on a woman beside the Primordial Sage.
The Primordial Sage was actually present with at least a dozen bodies, some alone, others accompanying certain people and groups. However, aside from Sage which accompanied Law Empyrean and Old Thief, there was one other person who caught Yaan's notice.
At first, he didn't recognise the woman. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face enveloped by sheer madness, and despite clearly being at the Dao Immortal Realm, she showed no fear towards the many divinities around her. No rather, than fearless, she simply looked insane going so far as to crazily release her aura, not even caring when certain divinities frowned at her from afar.
This woman was like the physical manifestation of madness itself. Her black hair was a mess, her aura reeked of blood and destruction, and when she looked at Yaan, her gaze was filled with so much killing intent that even Yaan was briefly surprised.
When he finally recognised her, his eyes widened and he couldn't help but feel startled.
'Shi? What is she doing here? How did Shi, that little girl from a secluded mortal village, become an immortal…? And why…is she directing so much killing intent towards me?'
It didn't take long for Yaan to understand. His expression remained unchanged, but he glanced briefly at the Sage by Shi's side, who was clearly restraining her right now, otherwise it looked like Shi really would charge at him without a care for anything else.
'Sage, why would you raise her like this? Is this a weapon that you prepared to use against me, or did you see something else in this girl…?'
Eventually, Yaan looked away from Shi, once again glancing at Old Thief.
He wasn't the only one to notice that Old Thief seemed to be in a strange state right now. However, only Law Empyrean and the Primordial Sage knew that Old Thief had been like this for a long time, as if this battle between Yaan and the Primordial Devil was important to him on a personal level. They both had their own ideas and conjectures on this, but they couldn't say anything for certain.
"You deplorable bastard of the dao, you actually dare to look away from this devil during our fight?!"
Yaan was brought back to reality as a second raging killing intent pierced into him, along with those hateful words. He finally turned his full attention to the Primordial Devil and spoke.
"You're not the type to use a sneak attack against me. Unlike myself, you actually care about winning this fight in a straightforward manner…or rather, you need to defeat me completely and utterly. Isn't that right, my predecessor?"
"Tch." The Primordial Devil narrowed his eyes and stared at Yaan with palpable bloodlust and hatred. This killing intent had existed within his heart ever since his heart demon had first appeared, and it only grew stronger over time. He was unable to hide the overwhelming killing intent from the world, and really, he didn't want to hide it.
On the contrary, Yaan's aura was strangely calm…
"Still using those petty illusions I see. As expected from a vile creature like you." The Primordial Devil snorted, but Yaan still showed no response. Seeing this, the Primordial Devil's glare deepened, then suddenly, he took a step forwards.
"You have grown conceited, heart demon. Perhaps you do not understand the difference between myself and others at the Immortal Step!"
Bang!
The Primordial Devil's fist slammed down into Yaan's body. Yaan raised his arms and formed an illusory sword to quickly block the strike, but the power within this punch was nothing ordinary - it was filled with the Primordial Devil's will.
Yaan, with his current illusory body, could not be killed by ordinary attacks…but any attack that came from the Primordial Devil was unordinary. Not to mention his will, amplified by his dao heart and making up for his total lack of dao comprehension, but just the fact that the Primordial Devil and Yaan were inherent enemies due to their connection, was already enough for the Primordial Devil's every attack to land on him.
Yaan knew that whilst he had destroyed the 'karmic chains' between them, that was only the Heavenly Dao's manifestation of the dao of karma. Dao itself went far beyond the Heavenly Dao's limitations, so naturally, there still existed a form of karma between them, one that could not be perceived by the five senses, nor destroyed by the Karmic Annihilation Formation.
Other normal physical attacks were unable to affect him, but with the Primordial Devil, this logic clearly didn't apply…
The ground below Yaan's feet instantly shattered, forming a giant crater many miles wide. Planet Yushu was already a barren wasteland, but as soon as the Primordial Devil struck, this wasteland became engulfed in shockwaves and flames caused by the heat of the impact.
Several small black cracks appeared all over Yaan's illusory body. When the Primordial Devil saw this, he roared with laughter. With a crazed glint in his eyes, he took another step forwards, chasing after Yaan as he retreated.
Bang bang bang!
Time and time again, the Primordial Devil assaulted Yaan with devastating strikes.
"Heart demon, is this really all you amount to?! Do you not even care about fighting back, has your will truly grown so weak?!"
Yaan, although he was being constantly pushed back, still had no real change in his expression. Because of this, the Primordial Devil knew that he must still have something that he could fight back with.
'He's right, I can't keep getting pushed back like this…I need to make this fight more convincing, so that he doesn't have any suspicions…when I lose.'
Yaan had already determined how to 'defeat' the Primordial Devil…
He had realised long ago, that in reality, he could not kill the Primordial Devil directly and survive.
If he wanted to overcome this hurdle, then he needed the Primordial Devil to defeat himself.
Right now, in the midst of this battle which the Primordial Devil had been anticipating for so many years, Yaan simply had no intention of winning – in fact, he was all too aware that with his current strength, winning in a straight forwards fight was impossible for him. It was like the Primordial Devil said…he was not the same as other Immortal Step beings.
But if Yaan had ever intended to defeat the Primordial Devil in a straight forwards fight, why would he show up to this battle before he had attained the needed strength to win? The prideful Primordial Devil assumed it was because Yaan had underestimated him, but this was not the case.
"Even after reincarnating and becoming a cultivator, it seems that this little devil has retained the strength that he possessed in the past. Indeed, for this kid to defeat him in a 'fair fight' is simply not possible. However…if he thinks that he can overcome his heart demon in hand to hand combat, then he is a fool." Defiance Sovereign spoke with an amused smile as he watched the goings on below. His voice echoed out across the region, entering the ears of every spectator. However, Yaan and the Primordial Devil could not hear him.
"You-!" The Spirit Plane Lord turned towards Defiance Sovereign sharply, but the Primordial Asura stretched out one arm, preventing her from doing anything hasty.
"Sister, I understand how you must feel right now, but we have enough problems to deal with without adding Defiance to the mix."
The Spirit Plane Lord shut her eyes, then exhaled deeply after calming herself down.
She really couldn't be blamed for feeling so on edge right now, after all…
She had just discovered that the person whom she had believed to be her brother, was actually her brother's heart demon, and all this time, she had been assisting that demon's growth. Not only that, but her mind was a mess due to the Primordial Sage's betrayal, which she still couldn't wrap her head around. And of course, the Spirit Plane had been destroyed…
What Spirit Plane Lord? How could she still be called the Spirit Plane Lord when the Spirit Plane had been destroyed?!
She was now just the Primordial Spirit. She had been terribly injured by the destruction of the Spirit Plane, and she was forced to agonisingly devour the fragments of her own World Plane in order to cling to survival. She had witnessed the entire breakdown of the Spirit Plane, down the last shattered fragment, and every single death of the countless living beings…
Even for a divinity, dealing with all of this at the same time was simply too much. She had lost far, far too much…
Actually, the Primordial Spirit wasn't the only divinity present suffering from injury; far from it in fact. With the destruction of the dao of karma, every living being that had comprehended this dao experienced a severe backlash, and those with greater comprehension suffered even more.
For divinities, practically all of them placed focus on comprehending the principle earthly daos, such as the dao of karma. The only divinity across the four planes who managed to escape unscathed was Defiance Sovereign, who had never once comprehended even a trace of the Heavenly Dao throughout his life. That said, he was clearly injured during his fight against Yaan's Heavenly Retribution, but in all honesty, an injured Defiance Sovereign was even more terrifying due to his increased irritability…
All of the divinities present had their own thoughts on the current situation, and by now, everyone present understood what was going on between Yaan and the Primordial Devil. They were all watching this battle closely, knowing that the outcome would definitely lead to many changes in the world.
However, nobody was focussing so single-mindedly on this battle like Old Thief.
Despite how he often acted, Old Thief was one of the true elites amongst the divinities. He had a reputation for being whimsical and often engaging in degenerate behaviours, but nobody doubted his power. Amongst the many divinities, Transcendents and immortals present, Old Thief was one of the few individuals that people were keeping a close eye on, and his strange mood which was clear for all to see, along with his apparent complete lack of focus on anything besides the battle on the planet down below, certainly drew much intrigue.
"I wonder…can his pride overcome this hurdle, or will his pride lead to his downfall…" Old Thief muttered, seemingly oblivious to the many stares. Even when the Primordial Sage and Law Empyrean turned towards him when he spoke, he didn't so much as react.
This was definitely strange, but nobody was going to confront him over it, not right now at least.
The fight on Planet Yushu continued to escalate in intensity.
After the Primordial Devil pointed out that he was clearly holding back, Yaan knew that he needed to put in some effort to keep up appearances. He needed to lose this fight, but he needed to lose convincingly…
Bang!
Explosive shockwaves rippled out in all directions across the planet as the Primordial Devil's fist glowed with a blood-red aura of power. As for Yaan, he continued to fight using an illusory sword, since his Dao Treasure had fallen into a dormant state due to the strain that it endured after losing its treasure spirit, then being used as the core in the Karmic Annihilation Formation.
It was damaged, but not destroyed. Yaan had given up on the treasure spirit, but that wouldn't be enough to destroy his Dao Treasure. He had long since come to understand that the wooden sword was linked to his very dao, meaning that the only way to truly destroy it, was by destroying his dao entirely.
Essentially, so long as he continued to live, or even just exist in some sort of way, then his Dao Treasure would also remain in this world.
For now, he wielded an illusory replication of the wooden sword. He was so familiar with his Dao Treasure by now, and his illusion dao had risen to such an extreme, that this replication was convincing enough to completely fool the Primordial Devil.
As the pair were blasted back, Yaan narrowed his eyes. Countless black cracks emerged across his body, each resulting in his aura becoming saturated with an extreme desolate emotion. Everyone who saw these cracks, aside from those who already understood Yaan's condition, felt shocked by the sheer extent of agony that leaked out into his aura.
Yaan ignored the stares and chatter of the crowd. With Defiance Sovereign stating that nobody was to interfere, there was little chance that others would get involved. They could think what they wanted, because at this point, it no longer mattered.
Regardless, the more power that Yaan displayed, the more the Primordial Devil also revealed. It became obvious that Yaan wasn't the only one holding back, this devil had also been doing so.
'I see…' Yaan thought to himself. 'He is deliberately trying to inflict the utmost despair upon me by raising to my level every time I reveal another one of my trump cards. Indeed, this would be a very desperate situation if I actually intended to win. But even then, despair is something that I have long since grown numb to…'
Yaan had already used the 1st and 2nd steps of the Agile Illusion Art, and he was gradually showing more and more prowess using his Sword Heart Art. However, as his general movements became faster, his strikes stronger, and his overall sword play more profound, the Primordial Devil matched him with the perfect counters.
As Yaan's sword play started to approach the level of a grandmaster, the Primordial Devil revealed that his own martial prowess was not the least bit inferior, only, he continued to use his body alone to battle, as if telling Yaan that he did not need a weapon to attain victory.
When Yaan used the 1st step of the Agile Illusion Art, traversing thousands of miles in an instant with a piercing stab of his illusory wooden sword, the Primordial Devil met the attack by taking a single step of his own, but he crossed twice the distance in half the time, his attack was twice as powerful, and he was only pushed back half as far by the collision.
In their most recent clash just now, Yaan attempted to counter the Primordial Devil's punch, which was imbued with an absurd quantity of what he assumed to be some sort of variation of Vital Energy. However, even with the 2nd step of the Agile Illusion Art which specialised in countering these sorts of attacks, he barely managed to reflect any of the power. Meanwhile, the Primordial Devil was barely affected by what he did manage to reflect.
Yaan was covered in so many abyssal black cracks, and whilst they did mysteriously heal over, leaving only the several major black cracks that still plagued him relentlessly anyway, the Primordial Devil only shed blood from his hand, and those cuts healed over instantly.
It was clear to everyone now that Yaan was strong…but his opponent was simply a monster of unparalleled magnitudes.
As Yaan's injuries finally subsided, the Primordial Devil stood opposite from him. In the midst of the flames and ash that had enveloped Planet Yushu's entire surface and atmosphere, the giant devil smirked, waiting for Yaan to make his next move.
Nobody found it strange that the Primordial Devil was being so 'generous' to Yaan in this fight, even giving him time to recover. Everyone now understood that this was no ordinary fight. Whilst on the surface, it looked like a battle between the two strongest Immortal Step beings in the current world, it should be remembered that this was a battle between the Primordial Devil and his heart demon.
Simply killing Yaan was not enough; it had never been enough. If the Primordial Devil could overcome his heart demon just by killing Yaan, then the Primordial Sage's original plan would have been completely unnecessary, as she could have simply kidnapped Yaan and presented him to the Primordial Devil to kill.
The Primordial Devil's heart demon originally arose because his pride took a sharp blow. If he resorted to scheming tactics, then even if he killed Yaan, his heart would never overcome that blow, and it would be impossible for him to return to the Divine Step.
What the Primordial Devil needed to do, was to defeat his heart demon at each and every single step, and to send this vile creature into the pits of despair.
The fact that Yaan's expression remained unfazed was irritating, but really, it was more or less what he had been expecting. He knew that at this point, Yaan was too much of a monster to let his feelings show on his face, it would actually be far more strange if he suddenly became easy to read.
Finally, after recovering his full strength, Yaan took a deep breath and focussed. This wasn't faked, he really was focussing and preparing to go all out. If he held anything back, it was possible that the Primordial Devil would see through his farce, and he would be hesitant to deal the 'finishing blow'.
Yaan had gained every power from his three Dao Clones, combined with all of his own abilities. Right now however, these abilities were a bit of a mess and had not been properly combined together, but for his current needs, this was fine.
An eruption of crimson spread out from Yaan's body rapidly, as if intending to swallow up the entire planet.
At almost the same instant, an even more immense crimson light erupted from the Primordial Devil.
Both of them had released 'domains', but there were clearly differences.
For one, Yaan's 'domain' was actually the Dao Clone of Soul's domain. Many people found it very strange that he could even use this, since domains were born from a being's dao heart, and Yaan certainly didn't possess a dao heart of slaughter. Actually, nobody present, not even the most intelligent of divinities, could see through Yaan's dao heart at all…
The Primordial Devil's domain, although also crimson and containing just as much killing intent as Yaan's, was not even based on a heart of killing or slaughter, but from his heart of pride. His pride forced all beings in this world to bow down before him, even giving up their lives if he so demanded it.
Yaan's domain was immediately pushed back, and Yaan himself was forced to take a step back.
BANG!
The instant Yaan felt himself being pushed back, he took a step forwards, forcefully pushing himself further into the Primordial Devil's domain. He raised his illusory wooden sword above his head at a speed far in excess of anything that he had shown so far.
As he lifted up the sword, he arrived just several hundred feet before the Primordial Devil. Since the Primordial Devil was 10,000 feet tall, Yaan was standing in his shadow.
The moment his sword was pointed directly at the ash-filled sky, it was as if the entire world froze over. Even the Primordial Devil's domain seemed to freeze in this moment, as the crimson world turned grey…
From the grey mist that enveloped the world, an illusion appeared in the sky. In this illusion, Yaan's wooden sword pierced through the Primordial Devil's heart, and an immense eruption of will stormed out from the sword and into his body, causing him to be ripped apart.
This illusion was the strongest that Yaan had ever created with a single move in battle, it was the apex of power that he could achieve using the 3rd step of the Agile Illusion Art - the step of death.
With this step of his sword art, he used his sword to paint the illusion of his enemy's death onto the world, and this illusion would then be reflected in reality.
Illusion and reality became distorted, fusing into one. Before anyone could properly analyse this bizarre sword art, the illusion had already become real, and Yaan was stood in the air…with his illusory wooden sword stabbed into the Primordial Devil's chest!
The illusory sword had grown to be just as large as his opponent, 10,000 feet long and stabbed through his body. Just like in the illusion that he had painted, a terrifying will swept out from Yaan's body and into the Primordial Devil, causing the aura of death to shroud him! At this rate, he might actually-
"So this is the limit of your power? Pathetic. It seems that I overestimated you."
BANG!
The Primordial Devil's words caused ripples to explode through the world. The scene across Planet Yushu became a blur for a moment, as if the entire planet had distorted as reality unwound…
When everything became clear again, Yaan was laying down on the ground, covered in a mixture of blood, black miasma, and abyssal cracks. His illusory body looked like it might break down at any moment, showing that his Dao Soul was currently in genuine danger. This was no facade, he really was hanging on by a thin thread…
Yaan's expression was ferocious as he coughed up lungful after lungful of blood and miasma. He kept his gaze trained on the Primordial Devil, but it was taking everything in him just to suppress the grievous injuries in order to stay alive.
He couldn't even move as the Primordial Devil loomed above him, staring down at him with that mocking, disdainful gaze. After the Primordial Devil broke through the 3rd step of the Agile Illusion Art, the injuries that Yaan had seemingly inflicted upon him were reversed, and instead inflicted upon himself. Now, he could only lay down on the blazing ground, with his own illusory sword pierced through his chest.
His sword art was too strange, the backlash was too unpredictable. He had already experienced this with the Dao Clone of Qi, so he had expected it to be difficult to deal with this time. It was rough, but still within his expectations.
"Since this move didn't work when used by that useless clone of yours, what made you think it would work this time?" The Primordial Devil laughed darkly. "Well, I suppose that it is somewhat impressive; any other Immortal Step being would certainly die under that strange illusion. It is unfortunate that you met me…haha, but then again, I suppose that this is just your fate, isn't it?"
As Yaan narrowed his eyes further and glared daggers into the Primordial Devil, the giant roared with laughter, finally feeling satisfied that he had gotten a rise out of him.
'Good…he bought it.' Yaan thought to himself.
The Primordial Devil's laughter stopped abruptly. He understood that his current situation, being watched so closely by all of these divinities, was extremely tentative. Even though he had been waiting for this moment for so long and wanted nothing more than to torment Yaan further and to savour his pain, he knew that he needed to finish this.
A smile slowly spread across the Primordial Devil's face as he reached out towards Yaan, pointing out his palm. Gradually, a red vortex formed on the palm, causing Yaan to feel like he was being sucked in.
"This is the end, you abomination of the dao. I'm sure you understand the power that I am using on you right now…after all, it's a power that you yourself have always favoured throughout your path of cultivation. That's right heart demon - I won't just kill you, oh no, that wouldn't be nearly enough…"
The Primordial Devil's smile widened as the vortex exploded out with monstrous power, completely enveloping Yaan and sucking him in. He then spoke a single word…
"Devour."
As Yaan felt every aspect of himself being torn apart as he was dragged into the bloody vortex, and his Dao Soul became plagued by more cracks than ever before, causing him to descend into a depth of agony like no other…
Yaan couldn't help but smile.
"Primordial Devil…you are truly a fool."
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