Chapter 166: CH. 166 | Battle of Light and Dark
"You’ve been ripping out their souls and purifying them into demonic qi energy. Did it ever cross your mind to show them mercy?" Lin Tian asked.
Lin Tian raised his hand, forming a golden qi orb at his fingertip, condensed from the natural qi he’d drawn in from the surrounding area.
The momentum radiating off that orb shook the trees and sent a powerful wave of qi rippling across the entire island.
To an ordinary cultivator, that pulse would have felt like nothing more than a cool breeze brushing past.
But to a demonic cultivator like him, a single pulse of that qi hit like a hammer strike straight to the core of his soul, agonizing and impossible to bear.
And that was just from the pulse alone. What would happen if that golden qi orb was actually launched straight at him?
"STOP IT!" he screamed.
"AAAAKKKKKHHHH!"
The black armored man let out a piercing scream, one loud enough to startle both Lin Tian and Li Qingxue, shaking the sky and sending birds scattering far away from the area.
"I... will not lose to you!" the man shouted, glaring at Lin Tian with sharp eyes.
His attention shifted forward, toward the outer edge of the island. Li Qingxue was still there, slashing and stabbing at every corpse puppet that still carried a crimson rune.
Each time her sword struck home, the puppet shattered and crumbled into ash.
She paused for a moment when she heard that piercing scream of agony coming from the center of the island. Her focus locked in, her heart racing unevenly, cold sweat beading on her temples.
I need to move fast.
Li Qingxue pushed her strength to its limit, flying in to strike down the corpse puppets scattered along the southern edge of the island one by one.
Back where Lin Tian stood, he extended his hand, channeling golden spiritual qi from his transformation into the five swords.
But strangely, the black armored man’s power kept climbing at an alarming rate.
Blood streamed from his glowing red eyes, fangs pushed through his teeth, and his body became covered in thick, unnatural scales.
Something wasn’t right, Lin Tian realized.
His hand managed to break free from one of the golden swords, catching Lin Tian off guard.
He moved to pull out another sword from the man’s other hand, only to watch it scorch the man’s palm the moment he made direct contact with it.
In the end, every one of Lin Tian’s golden swords was torn loose from the man’s body.
Freed at last, the man rose into the air and drew in a long breath.
"The Primordial Grand Heaven Transformation Technique."
"I never expected... to witness the strongest ability from the Imperial Golden Age ever again."
"And now, that technique is going to be mine!" the black armored man declared firmly.
Li Qingxue was startled when, just as she moved to drive Lin Tian’s array sword into it, the corpse puppet in front of her simply crumbled into ash on its own.
Her eyes went wide. Had the crimson rune inside it already vanished?
If it really had disappeared, there was only one place all that energy could have gone. She turned and looked toward the black armored man.
"All the corpse puppets are being destroyed. He’s absorbing every crimson rune," Li Qingxue said firmly.
Lin Tian went quiet, his focus locked ahead of him. He could clearly see spiritual qi flowing straight into the monster’s body.
Since his array needle was still lodged there, he could make out a core crimson rune inside the man’s body.
The man was gathering every crimson rune and fitting them together like puzzle pieces around that core crimson rune of his.
It turned out his Core Crimson Rune wasn’t just a power source, it was the very core binding every other rune together into one unified whole.
A powerful burst of qi rang out, shaking the surrounding area. When the man opened his eyes, his body shot forward instantly, fist already raised.
His fist drove straight at Lin Tian. Lin Tian braced himself, trying to hold the strike back with everything he had.
The man’s strikes and speed had jumped drastically.
Now Lin Tian found himself overwhelmed, struggling to keep up with the man’s relentless assault.
The man threw a punch, Lin Tian managed to block it. When the man tried a kick, Lin Tian leapt back to dodge.
But the longer the fight dragged on between them, the faster and stronger the black armored man became.
Lin Tian was pushed further and further onto the back foot, unable to do much beyond defend himself and search desperately for an opening.
Li Qingxue could only stand there, unable to do anything. Her attention stayed locked on the fight between Lin Tian and the black armored man.
Every time they clashed, rings of golden and black qi waves rippled out across the whole area.
Watching the sheer intensity of their fight, Li Qingxue realized just how far below their level her own strength truly was. Trying to help would only get in Lin Tian’s way.
The physical clash between them raged on, the surrounding qi turbulence growing more dominant by the second.
The longer they fought, the more their strength wore down under the weight of time and exhaustion.
They leapt back, putting distance between each other. Lin Tian raised his hand and saw a faint trace of demonic black aura clinging to both of his palms, a lingering mark from the fight.
"Truly unexpected. You’ve got some real strength behind you!" the man said, sounding almost impressed.
"But unfortunately for you, that transformation of yours is only at its first stage!"
"You never stood a chance of beating me!" he barked again.
Lin Tian chose to stay silent, his eyes locked ahead, watching the core crimson rune inside the man’s body start to flicker and fade, its qi essence draining away.
The simple result of that was exhaustion and a loss of strength. Lin Tian could see it plainly now, the man’s breathing had grown ragged, one of his hands trembling.
"Time to end this fight!" Lin Tian said firmly.
He raised his hand to chest height, then released the golden orb into the sky, triggering a massive rumble of thunder that shook the whole island.
Li Qingxue looked up, her eyes fixed on that thunder. She hadn’t expected Lin Tian’s technique to grow this powerful once he activated that transformation mode.
"You want to end this?! Fine!" the man challenged.
"Let’s see just how strong you really are!"
The black armored man rose to his feet, forming a hand seal that summoned a massive demonic projection with five red eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth, its entire body covered in thick black fur.
Lin Tian soared up into the high sky. The thundering clouds split apart, a blinding golden light shining through, the golden qi from his body forming into the projection of an armored guardian knight, gripping a gleaming golden sword whose sheer power shook both heaven and earth.
The sword materialized fully in Lin Tian’s grip. He held it tight, then swung it diagonally downward.
That swing sent a slashing wave of golden light tearing forward, aimed straight at the black armored man.
Refusing to lose, the man raised his hand toward the sky, unleashing the black demon behind him to attack Lin Tian.
Standing at the edge of the island, Li Qingxue watched the clash between the two of them with wide eyes.
Her heart pounded uncontrollably, her hands trembling hard, sweat soaking her face and body.
Is this... what it really looks like when cultivators strong enough to touch the realm of the Immortals fight?