Chapter 119: Rematch – Mo Fan vs Lu Shen (Part 1)

"MO!! FAAN!!!" Standing on a rise, Lu Shen rested one foot on a headless body. His hands were completely soaked in blood, one of them gripping a severed head.

"Th-that's Mighty... Mighty Horn, Core disciple of the Heavenly Soul Sect!"

"But h-how?!"

"Fall back! Everyone, back, now!!"

The raging battle, over a hundred strong, suddenly ground to a halt, everyone scattering apart. Demonic disciples and righteous ones alike stood frozen, staring at the blood-soaked Lu Shen.

A little apart from the crowd, among the fresh bodies, Mo Fan wiped his sword's blade clean on the body of a demonic follower he'd just struck down with a direct thrust to the heart.

Understanding what was happening, and where things were heading, he frowned.

"Brother Mo, don't! Don't take the bait! Lu Shen's famous for his solo duels!" Standing nearby, Hill Shtern, core disciple of the same sect, known by the title Great Moon Swordsman, tried to talk him out of accepting this blatant challenge.

Beside them, Eleo May, leaning against a tree, clutched a massive gash across his chest that refused to close. His golden hair had soaked up so much blood it had turned a deep maroon. Some strange energy wrapped around the whole wound, keeping it from healing. Hearing Lu Shen issue his challenge, Young Master Eleo's eyes lit up. 'This is our chance! While their fight drags on, it'll buy us time to regroup! But if I can't close this wound fast enough, this'll only be a chance to retreat.'

Realizing an opportunity like this wouldn't come twice, Eleo May turned to Mo Fan. "Our forces are stretched thinner and thinner... Mo Fan! This is a perfect chance to regroup, prepare for the fight ahead! You have to buy us that time! You have to accept his challenge!"

"Shameless, Eleo May! How dare you!" A girl in a skin-tight leather outfit, gripping a massive axe in one hand, shot back immediately. Her burning red eyes, full of hatred, bored into the wounded, exhausted Eleo May.

Brushing back her white, wavy hair with one hand, she turned her gaze to Mo Fan. "You understand this is a trap, right? We shouldn't let him lead us around by the nose like dogs on a leash!"

"Nea Emmia, I actually agree with Eleo May... at this rate, we're going to get swept away and wiped out. But if Mo Fan accepts the challenge, it'll buy us enough time to at least catch our breath and recover some energy... Don't forget, they can recover without needing any pills at all, unlike us." Supporting a wounded disciple on her shoulder, Lou Emilia, Core disciple of the Heavenly Soul Sect, kept trying to tuck her blood-stained golden hair behind her ear, only for a few strands to keep falling right back across her face. At her feet, a small kitten circled restlessly, her spirit beast, several deep wounds visible on its paws.

Beside her, a few members of her own support group, still helping bandage the wounded lying on the ground, voiced their agreement with her out loud.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Mi Mili and Lin Xue stepped up in front of Mo Fan, standing shoulder to shoulder, shielding him. "How dare you both?! Have you no shame, saying something like that?! The moment danger shows up, you grab at the false hope some demonic bastard dangles in front of you?! Don't forget who we are! We're righteous cultivators!" Mi Mili couldn't hold back any longer and started shouting, looking around at everyone, though she knew her words weren't really helping.

Beside her, Lin Xue turned her head, caught the look on Mo Fan's face, and turned back to look over the crowd. "We can't just tell Mo Fan to sacrifice himself for us. We need to think of something else, while we still have a chance!"

The disciples around them started glancing at their companions: some wounded, some already lying on the ground, the light gone from their eyes. Nearly every one of them carried the same hope in their eyes, that this Mo Fan would accept the challenge and give them a chance, but no one wanted to be the first to say it out loud.

"Hahaha! Mo Fan! Never thought a disciple of the great righteous sect would turn out this much of a coward! Your brothers and sisters are dropping under swords, fangs, claws! And here I am, a merciful leader, offering you a chance to save your so-called brothers and sisters! But what do I see... Silence? Hesitation? Or maybe fear? Hahaha!" Tossing Mighty Horn's head to the side, Lu Shen hopped down off the rock and started walking slowly toward Mo Fan.

"Wahaha!"

"And these are the so-called righteous cultivators? Nothing but cowardly hypocrites! Ha!"

"Let them be scared! Their meat tastes better when they're shaking!"

The demonic disciples all started mocking not just Mo Fan, but everyone else too.

….

All this time, Mo Fan had stood silently, watching every face around him, both demonic and righteous. 'I've already fought him before. This'll be a piece of cake... But where's he getting this much nerve, challenging me so openly? Who does he think he is? He knows the inheritance is mine! Or does he think he can take it for himself? Or what?'

Looking over the disciples around him, especially the ones openly pushing for him to accept the challenge, Mo Fan's eyes suddenly turned cold. 'Who gave any of you the right to tell me what to do? You're all nothing but side characters! Know your place! I'll show you all, I'll make every one of you shut up and bow your heads to me in respect and awe!'

Taking a confident step forward, he walked right past Mi Mili and Lin Xue.

"Mo Fan-!" Mili suddenly shouted his name and tried to grab his arm.

But he dodged, slipping past her, turned to face her, and shook his head firmly.

Lin Xue looked over at Mili, watching her press both hands to her chest, clenching them so hard her knuckles went white. Seeing this, she just sighed.

….

"Lu Shen, seems you've found some nerve since our last fight... but where from, exactly? Wasn't it you who ran off with your tail between your legs last time, shaking with fear, even abandoning your own companion... Hm, or am I missing something?" Walking slowly straight toward Lu Shen, he smirked and spoke loudly and clearly, making sure everyone around could hear.

Several of the demonic cultivators glanced over at Lu Shen. Some just spat on the ground and made faces, dismissing Mo Fan's words as pure fabrication. But a few, who'd actually been present at that fight and seen what really happened, just lowered their heads.

"How dare you-..." Lu Shen's eyes suddenly flooded red with fury, with the humiliation stirred up by those words, by the memory of their last encounter. He started shaking slightly, fighting to hold himself together, to keep from charging at Mo Fan on pure emotion alone.

'You think I'll let my feelings take over and rush straight to my own death? Oh, no! This whole time, I've been thinking of how to actually beat you. All I needed was that final push, to understand my own weaknesses. And meeting that cultivator, his words… I've finally worked through them, and accepted them...' Lu Shen suddenly calmed, thinking of An.

'That strange fear, rising from the depths of my own soul! I understood what I was missing! I understood exactly where my weaknesses were hiding! I understood his words, and I accepted them! And today, you're going to witness my new strength!!'

"What? Cat got your tongue? Ha!" Mo Fan adjusted his grip on his sword, readying himself for the attack. "You demonic followers are all the same... brave in numbers, weak on your own! Today, I'll show you what it means to be a cultivator! What it means to be a righteous cultivator-!"

"Arroyo's Flame!" Completely ignoring his arrogant speech, Lu Shen activated his immortal flame.

Instantly, a dense membrane of white flame wrapped around his entire body. The ground within several meters withered and turned black.

Whoosh!

Giving Mo Fan not even a moment to process what was happening, Lu Shen charged straight at him, trying to close the distance as fast as possible.

Even on guard, Mo Fan was caught slightly off balance the instant his opponent attacked, not expecting a move like this from him. "H-ha! Vertical Silence!"

Pouring every bit of his strength into the hilt, he swung, unleashing a massive wave of energy that immediately began devouring the surrounding Qi, feeding itself and growing stronger.

"Hundred and Eight Nodes of Wrath! Arroyo's Flame Enrichment!" Not even considering stopping, Lu Shen struck again, thrusting one palm forward, launching a projection of his own palm, except several times larger, wrapped in white flame.

Colliding, Mo Fan's wave of energy greedily devoured the palm's energy, but only for an instant. It overflowed, and unable to maintain its own form and structure any longer, detonated, taking Lu Shen's attack down with it.

"Eternal-!" Just as Mo Fan was about to continue his attack, his opponent shot straight out of the epicenter, completely ignoring the shockwave from the last attack still gnawing at his flame membrane.

"Eye of Osor!" Lu Shen shouted at once, activating his next attack.

"Ah!" Mo Fan threw a hand up to shield his eyes from the white light that blinded him completely.

"Black Dragon Step!" Using his movement technique, Mo Fan shifted to the side, but instantly felt something closing in straight on his exposed back, which he'd been forced to turn toward Lu Shen after using the technique.

"Shield of Life-!" He'd barely managed to form a shield across his back.

"Ghk-AH!" A massive fist, wrapped in white flame, slammed right beside his spine.

From the sheer physical force behind the blow, Mo Fan was hurled several dozen meters, his body smashing through bushes and other plant life.

"Agh!" Springing back to his feet at once, Mo Fan spun sharply to face Lu Shen, who stood in place, slowly straightening out of his attacking stance. 'If that fist had landed just a little more to the left... my spine wouldn't have held, and I'd be finished!! I need to figure something out. He's clearly gotten much stronger compared to our last fight!'

"Ptooh!" Spitting out a mouthful of accumulated blood, Mo Fan braced for the next round. 'I won't lose! Not to some third-rate villain... The key is staying calm! Either way, I'll come out on top! Get it together, Mo Fan!'

"Fifty-Two Imprints! Arroyo's Flame Enrichment!"

"Eternal Darkness! Third Form!"

Activating their techniques at the same instant, they charged straight at each other.

Aiming his sword at Lu Shen, the world around them suddenly began to darken, every trace of light fading, black particles gathering around them, clumping together, forming two massive waves of dark energy. And once fully formed, they shot toward each other at tremendous speed, trying to crush both Mo Fan and Lu Shen between them.

At the same time, Lu Shen's hands had darkened slightly, visible even beneath the dense membrane of white flame. Clumps of energy, shaped like spears, began forming around him. From dozens of these spears, all wrapped in immortal flame, the surrounding temperature kept climbing higher and higher.

Closing the distance between them, Mo Fan raised his sword and, in one sharp strike, brought both waves crashing down on himself and his opponent at once.

At that same moment, within arm's reach, Lu Shen drew both hands back and, channeling every bit of physical strength he could muster, launched both fists forward like cannonballs, straight at Mo Fan's body. At the same instant, as if given a signal, most of the spears scattered outward, flying to meet the dark waves head-on.

"GhAAAAA!" Struck by the sword, Lu Shen felt the blade slice along his body, tearing open a massive gash running from his arm down to his stomach. Even his immortal flame couldn't save him from the force behind that sword.

'Come on! N-no! NO!!' Feeling the sword cut through his opponent’s flesh, Mo Fan suddenly panicked, watching his Shield of Life shatter like glass as two massive fists slammed into his chest.

"AH!" "GHAA!"

Like two cannonballs, they flew off in opposite directions, tearing through everything in their path.

While they were still airborne, their two techniques, or rather, the energies inside them, unable to withstand the resistance from the other, began tearing themselves apart, each one trying to destroy the other's structure.

Reaching their limit, they collapsed inward, every particle of Qi detonating at once, and like a chain reaction, a single spark turned into a massive explosion in an instant.

Everything around them was swallowed in darkness, from the dust thrown up, dust that had once been grass, earth, and bushes, everything nearby reduced to fine powder by the sheer release of energy.

….

Lying on the ground, Mo Fan understood his ribs were broken, his lungs punctured.

Eyes wide, he tried to draw a breath and couldn't manage it, panic clawing its way through him, clouding his mind. 'B-breathe! A-air! I-I don't want to die! I can't d-die! Br-breathe! Th-think of something!'

….

On the opposite side, Lu Shen, on his knees, breathing hard, poured a third vial of liquid onto his wound, watching it slowly seal shut.

Even with this third vial, the wound had only closed partway, blood still gushing out. 'Calm down! Stay calm! Close this cut as fast as possible!'

Emptying the last vial, he quickly pulled out a spare set of clothes and started tearing it apart. First, he wrapped his hand, specifically the base of his palm, now missing his pinky finger and part of the palm itself. 'Ugh! I never thought it would hurt this much! Huh! Stay focused! He could attack any moment! I need to hurry!'

….

Outside, on both sides, demonic and righteous alike, no one could see anything happening at the center, hidden behind the thick cloud of dust. It stood like a wall, completely shielding whatever was happening inside from curious eyes.

"B-brother Mo Fan!" Mi Mili suddenly lunged forward, but someone grabbed her arm.

"Lin Xue, let go! I have to help him!" Trying to break free of her grip, Mili's face was consumed entirely by panic.

"Don't worry about him. This is Mo Fan... have you forgotten? He always comes out on top, no matter the situation! All you need to do is believe in him." Lin Xue smiled faintly, looking into Mili's eyes, trying to calm her down at least a little.

'Besides, there's no telling whether we'd actually help, or just create new problems…' She glanced over at the disciples from the demonic sects, all of them just as ready to break loose and resume the fight at any moment, regardless of the still-ongiong duel.