Chapter 835: Chapter 835

Chapter 835: The Shift

Watching Li Pin retreating rapidly, You Xu twirled his blade into a flower, his expression indifferent. "That's it?"

While repairing his divine body, Li Pin gave a sincere compliment, "Impressive."

He continued, "A brilliant and beautiful strike! I originally thought the transformation in your blade centered around spatial traction, but to think, beyond manipulating space, the moment it hit its target, it transformed from reverse to chaos. This blade truly lives up to its name, Reversal."

You Xu's expression didn't change in the slightest at Li Pin's praise. "If this is your limit... then after ten strikes, I will kill you."

"Come." Li Pin raised his sword horizontally. "Let me see how you'll kill me."

"I admire your courage, but..."

You Xu stepped forward. Like a silent interdimensional traveler, he silently crossed the spatial gap between himself and Li Pin, appearing before him as if teleporting.

The world before Li Pin's eyes seemed to condense again. He quietly watched the blade light You Xu struck forth, as if admiring a kind of spatial truth.

Though calling it truth might be exaggerated, the Sky Clan... was truly the darlings of space, especially Sacred Monarch-level Sky Clan members, who had clearly brought this cosmic gift to its peak.

Li Pin watched the blade light that You Xu had struck. The spatial insights he had studied recently, along with the comprehension deepened by the use of a Heart of Space, surged through his heart. It flowed like a tide, on the verge of blossoming into a true understanding of space.

However, it was still lacking.

The tilted space was shaken and torn apart as Eternal Swordlight, infused with the inner spirit secret art Galaxy Starburst, erupted on both material and inner spirit levels.

But the result remained unchanged. As Eternal Swordlight collided and vanished with the Reversal blade light, the shattered space fragments slashed wildly in all directions like blades, with over a dozen cutting directly into Li Pin.

However, this time, the Infinite Star Abyss Body's brilliance flowed around him. Though these were merely remnant spatial blades from the sword light, and they shook the technique that forged a highlord's divine body, they still couldn't break through the starlight surrounding Li Pin.

As their figures separated from the clash once more, but this time, the result wasn't the same.

"To think that it's a draw?"

Heavenly Emperor Guang Wei of the intelligent lifeforms, who had been watching this battlefield closely, showed a trace of surprise in his eyes.

In this round of combat between the two, Li Pin hadn't managed to injure You Xu at all. Likewise, You Xu hadn't broken through the Infinite Star Abyss Body to harm Li Pin.

Not just him, the Human Race, Sky Clan, and Divine Race's Heavenly Emperors also immediately realized this.

With this strike, neither could overpower the other.

No, strictly speaking, You Xu still held a slight advantage. After all, with a single Reversal strike, You Xu had forced Li Pin to use Heavenly Fate Art, Eternal Swordlight, Galaxy Starburst, and Infinite Star Abyss Body. It was two secret arts and two combat techniques.

In terms of energy spent, Li Pin had used more than You Xu. But for the two to fight to a standstill, it clearly proved that Li Pin's strength was already infinitely close to You Xu's.

Given that the preliminary round would end within just over an hour, Li Pin could already be considered safe.

This scene made the Sky Clan and Divine Race's Heavenly Emperors frown. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel~fire~net

The Divine Race's Heavenly Emperor Ashura even turned his gaze directly to the Bloodslaughter Divine Lord, urging him on with his eyes.

The profundities of the spatial path continued to swirl in Li Pin's mind, but something was still lacking. He focused his gaze back on You Xu. "Continue."

You Xu's expression turned cold, and he was just about to speak when the pressured Bloodslaughter Divine Lord came up again. "You Xu, end this quickly. We don't need to talk about honor when dealing with this human. Let's join forces and finish him at once..."

"Get lost!" You Xu barked again with a fierce shout, a trace of killing intent flashing in his gaze at the Bloodslaughter Divine Lord.

This ruthless reprimand and the intimidation of killing intent made the Bloodslaughter Divine Lord's anger rise to the extreme, yet reason kept him from showing it. He simply maintained a blank expression and stepped back in compliance.

You Xu turned his gaze back to Li Pin. "You think you're the only one who knows inner spirit secret arts?"

In the next moment, this Sky Clan's Sacred Monarch flickered again, teleporting before Li Pin. He silently struck down with a blade imbued with the reversal of space and time.

Within that blade was a soul-devouring force, as if the slash turned into a black hole. Not only did it twist space, but it also drew in consciousness, seemingly pulling one's entire essence into it.

This was a Supreme-level inner spirit secret art, Darklight.

However, as the power of the Primordial Abyss True Demon Form circulated through Li Pin's inner spirit, his entire presence contracted to the extreme. Even if the slash formed a black hole, or rather, even if the Darklight technique embedded in this strike could capture one's entire essence, when his presence had already vanished without a trace, what meaning could that power still hold?

"Such exquisite use of space. Every strike teaches me something. Especially since I used a Heart of Space just yesterday, I'm at my most sensitive to spatial insights. This blade technique is like directly opening the door to the mysteries of space for me," Li Pin praised sincerely.

With the Primordial Abyss True Demon Form, he ignored the inner spirit secret arts within You Xu's blade, bathed in the Heavenly Light, and once more studied the profundities within the slash. Only when he had mostly comprehended the spatial principles did he emerge from the Heavenly Light, wielding Eternal Swordlight to strike at the weakness of You Xu's Reversal.

The next attacks appeared unchanged. Or rather, there were actually changes. Due to the activation of the Primordial Abyss True Demon Form, this time, Li Pin's Eternal Swordlight no longer carried the power of the Galactic Starburst.

Yet because of the elusive and illusory nature of the Primordial Abyss True Demon Form, the Reversal technique failed to precisely lock onto Li Pin's figure and unleash its full might.

In the end, as blade and sword clashed, both figures were once more forced apart amidst the rippling shocks of space.

This strike ended in yet another stalemate.

"Again," Li Pin said.

You Xu, whose expression had already turned slightly serious, finally revealed a slight shift in his countenance. However, he still radiated absolute confidence. "I did underestimate you a bit. But if you think this qualifies you to challenge me, then you're sorely mistaken."

As inner spirit ripples scattered, You Xu once again closed in on Li Pin using the Phantom Strider movement technique.

The Sovereign Divine Weapon that bound the void like a spiderweb, that warped spacetime, the perfected Reversal swordplay, combined with the inner spirit secret art Darklight that synergized flawlessly with the blade technique... came down.

You Xu was unleashing his assault to its fullest, holding nothing back.

A clash like the tolling of great bells erupted once more between them. Waves of shattered space burst out endlessly from the collision of Eternal Swordlight and the Reversal.

Yet even though You Xu had gone all out, the result still hadn't changed. Their clash remained at a deadlock.

Perhaps Li Pin's energy expenditure was slightly greater than You Xu's, but not by much. At the very least, if it came down to endurance, the outcome in life or death would never be decided within just a few hours.

"Continue," Li Pin pressed. "Your blade, it can be faster."

Those nearly parroted words instantly made You Xu feel insulted, and the killing intent in his eyes surged to the peak.

"Li Pin... you're truly... seeking your own death," You Xu growled lowly as his figure flashed forward again.

But no matter how fast he moved, he could not surpass time itself. Under the illumination of the Heavenly Fate Light, his movement and attacks were laid bare before Li Pin, like a lesson in motion, displaying the mysteries of space.

The energy surges from the clashing blades rippled out like tsunamis in all directions.

In mere moments, they had exchanged over a dozen blows, with each bout ending in a near stalemate.

It was no longer a simple draw. With each clash, Li Pin's swordsmanship grew more profound, the breakthrough power of his sword light intensified, making it harder for You Xu's circlet-like Sovereign Divine Weapon to contain it.

By the final few strikes, his sword light was nearly piercing through the spatial blades formed by the Reversal technique, directly targeting You Xu himself. The offense and defense roles began to shift.

"Faster. Even faster."

As he continued to swing his sword, Li Pin's inner spirit ripples began to echo.

Stimulated by these inner spirit waves, You Xu's expression remained unchanged, but the killing intent in his eyes and the ferocity of his strikes grew ever stronger.

Finally, in a slash even he deemed beyond his usual level, You Xu let out an uncontrollable howl, his essence erupting to the limit. "Die!"

Space shattered like broken glass.

Amidst countless shattered-glass-like fragments of space, Li Pin, who should've been repelled or even injured, pressed forward instead. Surrounded by an arcane force of space, his Eternal Swordlight tore through the domain formed by You Xu's Sovereign Divine Weapon.

Ripples of time and space transcended reality, instantly striking before You Xu.

The sudden upheaval sent a jolt through You Xu's heart. However, just as the sword light reached him, a mirror-like Sovereign Divine Weapon flared from his body and blocked the Eternal Swordlight.

As the Divine Weapon trembled, the Eternal Swordlight, having exhausted its power after piercing the Reversal technique, was dispersed.

But this strike undoubtedly proclaimed that the roles of offense and defense had reversed.

Li Pin waved his Ruoxi Sword, a faint ripple of space undulating from its tip. "Impressive blade technique."

But this time, the one evoking spatial power was not the Ruoxi Sword, but... Li Pin!

You Xu's pupils dilated sharply. "What...?"

Li Pin's voice resounded with words all too familiar to You Xu's ears.

"But if this is your limit, then this will end soon."