Dong Chifan didn’t immediately charge at Tianyi as he had done with his previous opponents. For one, his opponent wasn’t someone in the same realm as him, and he couldn’t shake off the feeling of fear within himself.
The fear wasn’t some obtuse sensation of imminent death from a stronger foe but rather a fear of the unknown.
Even as Tianyi stood in front of him with a slight smile and his hands behind his back without doing anything, Dong Chifan felt his heartbeats quicken. At the same time, Dong Chifan felt as if Tianyi wasn’t human but a giant mass of ever moving shapes. The feeling didn’t originate from his soul but his martial body.
Dong Chifan decided to attack. He wasn’t one to let the initiative go, and Tianyi was obviously waiting for him to open with the first move. But he didn’t immediately attack as he moved into a horse stance and the air around him vibrated from the true qi he was emitting.
Behind Dong Chifan, an illusionary figure began to appear. It was only a head, but the appearance caused a slight wariness to form in Tianyi’s heart even though he didn’t know why.
The head was that of a black boar with two white shining tusks with the same sigils as that of Dong Chifan’s arms. Its beady red eyes revealed the beast’s desire to trample everything in front of itself.
What kind of beast is that? Is that a Divine Beast? Tianyi wondered as the wariness increased. It wasn’t that he felt a life-threatening danger, but a sensation of meeting his natural nemesis had appeared, like a frog seeing a snake.
Dong Chifan charged forward with his right hand formed into a drill shape, piercing towards Tianyi. The space leading from Dong Chifan to Tianyi seemed to warp as if twisting.
Although Tianyi felt some wariness, he still held his ground moved his hand forward to block the attack coming towards him.
The distance between the two drastically shortened in less than a second. Tianyi moved his hand to grab Dong Chifan’s hand, but the pain from his hand after grabbing Dong Chifan made him frown.
Dong Chifan felt his mind shake as Tianyi easily caught his moves without even being forced to take a step back. Only the fluttering of Tianyi’s robes proved the existence of Dong Chifan’s charge. However, the next moment he felt an indescribable sense of danger, and pain erupted from his hand as if thousands of tiny saws were slicing his hand’s flesh away.
Without much resistance, Dong Chifan broke free of Tianyi’s hold and retreated. He inwardly frowned when he saw that his hand looked as if something had eroded it away before turning his attention back to Tianyi with increased wariness.
His martial body, especially his hands, was akin to peak Core Formation Artifacts, yet a single touch from Tianyi damaged them. Even though Nascent Soul Grandmasters could destroy Core Formation Artifacts, it wasn’t to the point that a single attack should be able to destroy them, otherwise. Why would cultivators go through so much hardship to create artifacts?
But Dong Chifan was even more surprised by Tianyi’s open frown.
Tianyi was observing his hand, which had come into contact with Dong Chifan’s attack. The skin appeared to have been ripped open, but there was no flesh and blood beneath the skin. Instead, there was a black void with countless shimmering lights, and black gas with innumerable motes of light was being released from the gash.
At a pace visible to the naked eye, skin began to grow over Tianyi’s injured hand, hiding the black void and absorbing the black gas once more. Looking up from his hand, Tianyi smiled at Dong Chifan.
“You’ve really opened my eyes. Even against peak Nascent Soul Grandmasters, unless they have the ability to compete against Unity Venerables, my martial body shouldn’t take a single injury. Amongst Core Formation Masters, you are probably the only one who can injure me. It seems like I underestimated you. I won’t let you touch me again.”
Seeing Tianyi raising his guard, Dong Chifan gave a bitter smile. While Tianyi’s hand had healed, his hand hadn’t. Even now, it was throbbing in pain. And he could still feel even more of his flesh being corroded with no signs of healing. He had a feeling that the injury wouldn’t be easily healed.
Dong Chifan inhaled deeply and clenched his injured hand, and forcibly ignored the pain. He wouldn’t give up just because of a single setback.
Under his deliberate control, armor composed of fur and leather covered his whole body, giving him a savage, almost barbarian-like appearance. The boar head behind him had dissolved and was absorbed by his newly materialized armor. Although the armor sealed his greatest attack, the defense and strength increased were more than enough as a tradeoff.
Once more, Dong Chifan leaped towards Tianyi. But this time, he didn’t lower his defense even a tiny bit. But Tianyi wasn’t like the first time where he caught Dong Chifan’s fist and, instead, began to weave through Dong Chifan’s attack by the slimmest margins.
Every move from Dong Chifan seemed to contain some mysterious force that caused the air to vibrate as if space was tearing. But against Tianyi, the mysterious force seemed to disappeared once it neared him. And just like Tianyi said, Dong Chifan never came into contact with Tianyi again.
Dong Chifan felt his true qi reserve dwindle at an incredibly fast rate. Every punch, every kick of his contained slight principles of space. Dong Chifan didn’t know the workings behind it, but the sigils on his body replicated the effect of spatial techniques. For a Core Formation Master, spatial techniques were indeed powerful, but against Tianyi, it was just wasting true qi.
His eyes met Tianyi’s calm sight, and Dong Chifan felt something prick the back of his mind. Without any hesitation, Dong Chifan left backward. And just as he did, lightning exploded from Tianyi’s body.
“Daoist Dong, it’s impressive that you know spatial techniques at your realm. No wonder why you were able to break through my skin, but this level of spatial technique won’t be enough to defeat me. I suggest you bring out a stronger technique or changing your tactic.”
The spectators who felt that Dong Chifan was stupid for continuously attacking Tianyi gasped in surprise. From their point of view, Dong Chifan did have great strength, but compared to exquisite techniques, Dong Chifan would eventually fall behind if he only relied on brute force.
They couldn’t perceive the spatial techniques that covered Dong Chifan’s body and only saw him wasting his strength trying to land an attack on Tianyi. But once Tianyi’s words were heard, they found themselves shock.
Spatial techniques.
They required a rudimentary knowledge of the Dao of Space and often required a long time to use, especially for the Core Formation Realm. Not even a Nascent Soul Grandmaster would be able to use a spatial technique, yet Dong Chifan did.
Dong Chifan felt himself frown as he heard Tianyi’s clear words. He had always felt proud of his spatial technique that his physique allowed him to use. He didn’t have many techniques, but this near innate ability of his was more than enough to make up for any shortcomings.
Again, Dong Chifan attacked once more with even more complex martial techniques, but Tianyi seamlessly dodged them all once more. Even though the ripples from his techniques became more evident and turbulent, he still didn’t manage to land a single hit against Tianyi. Tianyi sighed as Dong Chifan backed away once he unleashed his lightning.
“It seems that you don’t believe me. Did you realized that I’ve never stepped away from this spot since the beginning of the match?”
Dong Chifan and the spectator only now realized that since the beginning of the match, Tianyi never moved from his spot, not even while dodging Dong Chifan’s attacks. Sweat coated Dong Chifan’s back as he realized this fact.
“Besides,” Tianyi spoked as he walked forward, and lightning covered his hand like a glove. Under Dong Chifan’s and the spectators’ disbelieving eyes, Tianyi disappeared as if he walked through an invisible gate. The only evidence of this was the ripples in the air.
Dong Chifan immediately jumped away as he heard the crackling of lightning behind. Once he spun around, he saw Tianyi standing behind his previous spot.
“I also know some spatial techniques,” Tianyi said with a slight smile.
Dong Chifan felt as if his mind had taken a hit. How could he not know what happened?
There was a technique described in his inheritance that allowed the user to warp through space. It was a technique that only True Immortals could use, but thanks to his martial body, Dong Chifan would be able to use it at the Unity Realm.
If Dong Chifan was surprised, everyone else was even more shocked than him. Warping through space was a legendary feat that only some Immortals were capable of. As descendants of Elders, they had an even greater understanding of how special Tianyi’s actions were.
Tianyi’s smile widened at Dong Chifan’s shocked face. Inwardly, he was preening at the admiration and shock directed towards him. This feeling was indeed very awesome!
“Senior Xi, you…” Dong Chifan’s words word caught in his throat. He only now realized that he had developed an unknown arrogance within him that even he didn’t know about. He had thought himself special, knowing spatial techniques, and thinking that he was unique in the world.
“…Senior Xi, my next move will be my strongest. If I cannot even force you to take a step back, it is my loss.” Dong Chifan placed down his pride before Tianyi and honestly said.
Tianyi, who felt the change in Dong Chifan’s attitude, raised an eyebrow in surprise. With how rampant Dong Chifan was, Tianyi thought he’d have to literally throw Dong Chifan out of the arena before he admitted his loss. “Alright.”
Dong Chifan held out his uninjured fist in front of him and placed his other hand near his waist. Closing his eyes, Dong Chifan began to release his ultimate move. It required a hefty amount of time to unleash at his current level, so he rarely used it in the heat of the battle. Sigils began to appear around him and formed a circular cone.
Not just Tianyi, but everyone present also felt the pressure from the white cone. Just looking at the cone caused space around it to distort.
When Dong Chifan opened his eyes, he released an earth-shaking cry and charged towards Tianyi. The white cone was a manifestation of the World Piercing Mammoth Boar’s tusk. Although it was only a shadow of its true power, it still represented a Divine Beast’s innate ability.
Tianyi, who had the white tusk piercing towards him, had a strange sensation. The cone shape was really reminiscent of a missile. Tianyi felt as if Dong Chifan had launched a missile directly at him!
At the same time, Tianyi made a conjecture that Dong Chifan’s spatial technique was related to the destruction of space, or to be even more precise, the destruction of spatial boundaries.
The best way to counteract against this was to stabilize space and prevent the disruptive power from destabilizing the area.
A heavy pressure began to be emitted from Tianyi’s body that seemed to cover the whole arena. The spectators couldn’t tell, but they could feel the lessening danger of Dong Chifan’s attack.
Even queerer, the World Piercing Mammoth Boar Tusk slowed to a crawl before it completely stopped in front of Tianyi.
Crack…crack…crackcrackcrackcrackcrackcrack
Under the heavy suppression of space, the tusk’s outer shell began to shatter and reveal the sweat-drenched Core Formation Master inside.
“I’ve lost.” That was all Dong Chifan said.
Tianyi smiled and walked towards Dong Chifan. “You really surprised me. If you were in the Nascent Soul Realm, I wouldn’t have been able to easily break this technique of yours.”
“But you would still be able to break it.” Dong Chifan refuted, utterly sure of his words.
“Hahaha,” Tianyi just laughed, not denying Dong Chifan’s words. “Give me your hand. Most things aren’t able to withstand my true qi…”
Tianyi took Dong Chifan’s hand and removed the true qi of chaos that was still corroding it. After it was taken away, Dong Chifan’s hand began to recover.
“Thank you,” Dong Chifan said.
“No need. It’s just a spar. Leaving you with an injury that could easily be solved would be against the spirit of sparring.” Tianyi waved away Dong Chifan’s thanks. “Actually, against anyone other than me, your techniques would have been much more effective. You should also increase the variety of your moves. Being strong in close quarters is a good thing, but you shouldn’t neglect long-distance attacks.”
“I’m a loose cultivator. All my resources are used for my martial body. I don’t have any long-range techniques or the resources to train in them.” Dong Chifan said.
Tianyi looked at him before smiling. “Actually, I know of a way.”
Dong Chifan looked at Tianyi in surprise. He felt expectations rise up within him but also afraid of being tricked by Tianyi. The world of cultivators was cruel. There was no free lunch in the world.
“There’s actually an inheritance site created by a True Immortal near here. If you manage to pass the trials, you can get techniques, resources, and even Artifacts. After this gathering, want to go?” Tianyi lightly asked.
“Why? Why are you being so good to me?” Dong Chifan asked, his mouth dry. “I don’t have any I can give you. I made a vow not to share my inheritance with anyone without my late master’s consent.”
“Why? I’m interested in you. Your martial body is unique. It seems really interesting, so I wanted to how far you will go.” Tianyi said. Naturally, this was only a partial reason. He wanted to discover more about the circumstances behind the reincarnators, and Dong Chifan was currently his biggest clue.
Dong Chifan gave a self-deprecating laugh and felt a sense of loss as he stared at Tianyi. He used his whole strength in an attempt to defeat Tianyi, but his opponent just treated it as a light spar and even wanted to help him.
Dong Chifan felt that if a Foundation Establishment Disciple attempted to challenge the current him, he would have severely taught him a lesson and letting him know that there are heavens beyond heavens, much less help him by directing him towards a True Immortal’s inheritance site. Was this the difference between a loose cultivator and the son of a true powerhouse?
Why was there such a disparity in attitude and strength?
“Is there something on my face?” Tianyi asked. He felt goosebumps after being stared at so intently by Dong Chifan.
“You really are great.” Dong Chifan sighed as he said those words.
“Hah?” Tianyi said, unsure of Dong Chifan’s meaning.
Dong Chifan watched as Tianyi walked away after compliment his strength. When he walked down the arena, he saw Jian Wuyan giving him a smug look.
“Know the difference between you and Prince Xi now? Know how big heaven and earth is now?” Jian Wuyan said.
Dong Chifan didn’t get angry. He even nodded. “Indeed. Senior Xi is really incredible.”
Jian Wuyan felt as if she launched a full power punch and hit cotton, really unsatisfying. But Dong Chifan’s next words caused her to be even more speechless.
“Senior Xi really is incredible. Not just in strength, but in character as well. If everyone were like him, the world would be a much better place.” Dong Chifan said wholeheartedly.
“…It’s good that you know.” Jian Wuyan said, unsure of how to feel.
“How good would it be if I can become his junior brother?” Dong Chifan said.
“Haah?” Jian Wuyan exploded after hearing those words. “Ingrate! Think of what you did before! Daring to challenge Prince Xi without knowing your place, and now you want the honor of being his junior brother!? You should repent first!!!”
“I’ll definitely repay Senior Xi one day.” Dong Chifan said. Of course, he still had some misgivings, but it disappeared after he walked back to his seat.
Su Wanyu had announced that Tianyi knew about a True Immortal’s inheritance site and that after the Heavenly Connection Gathering was over, he would take everyone there. All the disciples felt their eyes light up, especially the loose cultivators.
Even the descendants of Elders had high expectations. Even they had to pay the price or accomplish a feat to be allowed to receive a True Immortals technique from their sect.
The loose cultivators and Vassal Sect felt immensely grateful towards Tianyi, while the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples felt that Tianyi was befitting of being the famed Sword Empress’s son.