Chapter 511 - 221: Shock
Chen Qing stepped onto the stairs of the Celestial Treasure Tower’s twenty-ninth floor, his senses on high alert.
In the center of the stone chamber, two puppets stood silently.
They were slightly larger than the puppets on the previous floor, their bodies completely covered in armor of an archaic design. From beneath their face armor, two points of scarlet light locked onto Chen Qing.
’Late-stage Astral Force! And two of them!’
Chen Qing could clearly sense it. The auras emanating from these two puppets had both reached the level of Late-stage Astral Force. The faint golden Qi Gang radiating from their bodies was incredibly dense, making them seem like two volcanoes on the verge of eruption.
What was even more startling was that one of these puppets held a Profound Iron Shield the size of a door, while the other gripped a savage greatblade almost as tall as a man. One for defense and one for offense, their formation was flawless.
’The higher I go, the smaller the gap in power becomes. But two Late-stage Astral Force experts with flawless coordination...’
Chen Qing’s expression turned grim as he tightened his grip on the Diancang Spear.
Without another sound, the battle erupted in an instant!
The Shield-Holding Puppet stomped forward, its heavy footfalls shaking the entire stone chamber. Instead of using the shield for defense, it slammed the Giant Shield forward like a battering ram!
RUMBLE!
The air was violently compressed until it burst, creating a deafening sonic boom!
A shockwave, formed from pure, immense force and condensed True Astral, bore down on Chen Qing like an invisible wall.
At almost the exact same moment, the Blade Puppet moved!
It moved silently in the wake of the shockwave created by the Shield-Holding Puppet. A vicious arc of light slashed upward from its savage greatblade at an incredibly difficult angle!
Flawless teamwork! Frigid killing intent!
Chen Qing didn’t dodge backward. Instead of retreating, he advanced!
The ground beneath his feet boomed and cracked. The True Astral within him surged at an unprecedented speed, erupting from his Dantian and instantly flooding his meridians and the Diancang Spear!
With a low cry, Chen Qing plunged his Diancang Spear into the ground before him!
VMMMM—!
As he unleashed the Mountain Prison-Suppression Spear, the spectral image of an ancient mountain suddenly materialized before him.
BOOM!!!
The invisible tidal wave of force slammed brutally against the spectral mountain, producing a deep, muffled boom!
The spectral mountain trembled violently, light flickering erratically across its surface. The pure, immense force actually dented it backward, and countless fine cracks instantly spiderwebbed across its form!
Chen Qing let out a muffled grunt. The sleeves on the arms holding his spear instantly burst into shreds, revealing corded, bulging muscles. Veins writhed on his arms like serpents on the ground!
He sank half a foot deeper into the stone floor!
Yet, in the instant before the spectral mountain shattered, a fierce light flashed in Chen Qing’s eyes!
He forcibly suppressed his roiling blood and, harnessing the force of the impact, violently wrenched his spear free and spun his body!
The Diancang Spear, like an enraged dragon breaking its bonds, went from absolute stillness to explosive motion!
True Astral condensed at the spear’s tip, finally coalescing into a single, blindingly brilliant point of lightning.
It held both the swift crackle of thunder and the profound weight of a mountain!
Mountain and thunder converged! A dragon-like spear strike!
SHREEE—!
The spear strike landed with perfect precision on a weak point in the closely following arc of blade light!
The ear-piercing shriek of metal scraping metal tore through the air!
The lightning and the Saber Astral furiously ground against each other, wearing each other down!
The Blade Puppet froze for an instant, its Saber Momentum forcibly halted by the spear strike!
But on the other side, the Shield-Holding Puppet had already regained its footing. Its Giant Shield, carrying the Power of Ten Thousand Jins, swept horizontally, howling through the air as if to smash Chen Qing in two at the waist.
With his spear still extended from the thrust, Chen Qing was about to be struck by the Giant Shield!
At this critical juncture, the blood within his body roared to life as he pushed his Eight Extremes Vajra Body to an unprecedented peak!
VMMMM!
His skin instantly took on a deep, dark gold luster, and his muscles and bones hummed in unison, emitting a low sound like a tiger’s roar and an elephant’s trumpet.
A ferocious aura, like that of a primordial beast, erupted from his body!
He neither dodged nor evaded. Instead, he bent his left arm and met the sweeping Profound Iron Shield head-on with his elbow!
DONG!!!!!!!
A muffled boom exploded outward, like a giant log striking a bronze bell in an ancient temple.
Chen Qing felt a boundless, immense force travel up his left arm, mixed with a strange, concussive Power that violently surged through his body.
Fortunately, he had already cultivated his Eight Extremes Vajra Body to the Mixed Element Realm. The Dark Gold Luster on his skin flashed wildly, neutralizing most of the terrifying impact, but the concussive Power that still penetrated his body sent his blood into turmoil.
As he used the momentum to drift backward, Chen Qing’s Diancang Spear shot out like a venomous dragon from its lair. He used ’Thunder Shock’ to stab directly at the Shield-Holding Puppet’s exposed armpit joint.
The Blade Puppet attacked again.
Its Battle Blade once again became a sky full of phantom blades, raining down like a furious storm and completely enveloping Chen Qing.
Chen Qing was locked in a bitter struggle.
He hastily executed the Startled Swan Escape Shadow Technique. This top-tier Superior Body Technique was pushed to its absolute limit, his figure blurring into a series of afterimages within the confined space as his Diancang Spear channeled the Mountain Thunder Momentum with perfect ease.
At times, he stood firm as a mountain, weathering the impact of the heavy shield; at others, he was like a sudden thunderclap, stabbing at openings in the Battle Blade’s defense.
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!
BOOM! BOOM!
The sounds of collisions and concussive blasts were as dense and rapid as a million firecrackers exploding at once.
Throughout the entire stone chamber, strands of True Astral intertwined, clashed, and annihilated one another.
Stray Qi Force scarred the floor and walls—surfaces harder than Fine Steel—leaving them riddled with holes and filling the air with dust and stone powder.
Chen Qing pushed his skills to their absolute limit. His True Astral flowed unceasingly, his Eight Extremes Vajra Body withstood heavy blows, and his dual Spear Momentum shifted with unpredictable variations.
But the two puppets were simply too coordinated. Their offense and defense were a single, flawless unit. Moreover, they were utterly fearless, and their True Astral seemed inexhaustible.
Chen Qing could feel his own stamina draining at an alarming rate. He couldn’t sustain this level of expenditure unless he resorted to using his Five Elements True Astral.
His Eight Extremes Vajra Body could withstand the impacts, but the repeated shockwaves that got through still made his internal organs feel like they were being repeatedly struck by a heavy hammer.