Chapter 211: Thousand Winds Transverse

Chapter 210

Liyu could be said to be trapped amidst the endless assault that continued striking him from all sides. There was simply no end to it. Shi Tian was far too fast. And the worst part was that every single one of his attacks seemed to be getting more and more powerful as the battle continued.

It was already difficult enough to defend against the sheer speed of the attacks, but their increasing power made everything even worse. Every strike carried enough force to threaten his defenses, and the interval between each attack was practically nonexistent.

The attacks seemed to have, at most, a microscopic fraction of a second between them... an interval so short that the attacks almost appeared to be occurring simultaneously. One would arrive... then another would already be there. Before Liyu could completely deal with that one, another would appear. Then another. And another. The endless barrage gave him almost no room to breathe, no room to think, and no room to properly counterattack. At this point, one could say that Liyu was genuinely getting spooked by the attack. He had fought Haoran, he had faced countless dangerous situations, and he had survived battles that should have been impossible. But this... this was different. Shi Tian’s speed was simply ridiculous, and his Combat Art was even more ridiculous.

Several minutes passed. Finally... the endless assault stopped. Shi Tian appeared opposite Liyu once more. His life force was still stable, his breathing remained calm, and his gaze was as composed and emotionless as ever. There wasn’t even the slightest indication that he was angry that Liyu was still managing to hold on after being hit by all those attacks. Instead, he simply looked at Liyu with mild interest.

Liyu’s condition was terrible. The injuries covering his body had become extremely serious after those three consecutive uses of Thousand Winds Transverse, his combat suit was heavily damaged, blood covered several parts of his body, and there were wounds everywhere.

His previously imposing figure now looked battered and exhausted. His situation was exactly what one would expect after taking three consecutive assaults from such a terrifying Combat Art. Yet... he was still standing. And that alone was enough for Shi Tian to acknowledge him.

The fact that Liyu had taken three of those attacks head-on and was still standing was enough for him to earn Shi Tian’s respect. It was not something ordinary. It was not something just anyone could accomplish. Even Shi Tian had to admit that Liyu’s endurance was astonishing.

But... it didn’t matter whether Liyu had earned his respect or not. Respect would not save him. Admiration would not save him. No matter how impressive Liyu had proven himself to be... Shi Tian was still going to kill him. Whether he earned his respect or not made absolutely no difference.

"Let me try something else." Shi Tian’s voice was low. He calmly adjusted the handle of his sword. There was a subtle change in his posture.

It was clear that the seriousness he had been displaying earlier had already vanished the moment he decided to start using his Wind Sovereign Art. And there was a reason for that. His Combat Art... the Wind Sovereign Art... had ten forms. Ten completely mastered forms.

And Thousand Winds Transverse... was only the third form. The third. In simple terms, it was one of the weaker forms of the Wind Sovereign Art. Yet this so-called weaker form had already been enough to reduce Liyu, who had seemed almost almighty before the battle, to such a miserable state.

Liyu had used almost everything at his disposal. He had relied on the Celestial Battle Skin, he had relied on his Origin Eyes, he had merged with King Rayden, he had used his green lightning, he had utilized the Void Piercer, and even after all of that... he was still being brutally suppressed.

If the third form alone could do this... then what would happen when Shi Tian started using the next set of forms? The answer was obvious. Liyu would be dead.

If Shi Tian truly began using the higher forms of the Wind Sovereign Art against him, then there was a very high chance that Liyu wouldn’t even be able to survive long enough to resist.

Liyu felt both relieved and uneasy at the same time when he heard Shi Tian say that he was going to switch things up. The Thousand Winds Transverse was simply far too powerful.

So if Shi Tian was going to stop using it... that should be a good thing for Liyu. Right? Or maybe not. He simply couldn’t tell. For all he knew, Shi Tian might use another form that was even more deadly.

Liyu’s eyes twitched. What the hell am I thinking? Am I trying to jinx myself or something? He immediately tried to calm himself down. There is no way he has a skill that is far more troublesome than that one.

There is no way. Liyu repeated those words to himself as though saying them enough times would somehow make them true. But then... he heard Shi Tian speak. And the moment he heard those words... Liyu genuinely paused.

"Wind Sovereign Art..." Shi Tian’s voice was calm. His sword remained loosely held in his hand. "Fifth Form..." Liyu’s expression changed. Something about the words made an inexplicable sense of danger rise within him. Then Shi Tian spoke the final words. "Vacant Wind."

Tap. The sword in Shi Tian’s hand lightly tapped against the ground once. That was all. One simple tap. But what followed... was anything but simple.

WHOOSH! A violent wind suddenly erupted. It rushed outward with terrifying speed. The wind swallowed everything... the stage, the air, the surrounding atmosphere. Everything seemed to disappear beneath the rushing wind. Liyu’s eyes widened. He felt the powerful wind slam hard into his body. BOOM! His body was pushed back by the sudden force.

For a moment, his senses became completely overwhelmed. The world seemed to spin, his perception became distorted, and his body felt strangely weightless. And then... everything became quiet.

Liyu blinked. Once. Twice. He slowly regained his bearing. And the moment he did... his gaze began twitching uncontrollably. What... was this? Liyu looked around. He was standing on what seemed like an endless white marble stage. The floor stretched as far as his eyes could see... pure white, smooth, immaculate. There seemed to be no end to it.

But that wasn’t the strangest part. Liyu couldn’t sense anything. Nothing. He couldn’t feel the marble beneath his feet. He was clearly standing on the flooring, he could see it, and he could see his feet touching it. Yet... he couldn’t feel it. Not the texture, not the hardness, not the slightest sensation. It was as though his feet weren’t actually touching anything at all. Liyu’s expression became increasingly strange. What the hell is this...?

He immediately looked around again. His Origin Eyes remained active, and he carefully examined everything around him. The arena was still there, the people were all still there, the spectators were still sitting in their respective places, and everything looked almost exactly the same. And yet... something was terribly wrong. Liyu’s gaze suddenly snapped toward the place where Shi Tian had been standing before.

His pupils contracted. There was nothing there. Nothing. No Shi Tian. No figure. No trace of his aura. No visible movement. It was as though Shi Tian had simply ceased to exist.

Liyu’s brows furrowed deeply as he tried to sense something. Anything. He spread his perception as far as he could, searching for even the slightest fluctuation in the surrounding space. But his senses were unable to pick up anything. Nothing. Not a trace. Not a sound. Not even the slightest indication of where Shi Tian was. If anything, Liyu felt as though he had been trapped inside an illusion. Wait... is this an illusion? Liyu immediately turned toward King Rayden in the dark space and asked.

King Rayden’s gaze remained calm as he carefully analyzed the situation. He didn’t answer immediately. His eyes swept across the strange white world, observing every detail while trying to understand exactly what Shi Tian had done. After a while... he slowly shook his head.

"No." King Rayden’s expression became solemn. "This is not an illusion." He paused. "At least, not in the truest sense." His eyes narrowed slightly. "But what I’m certain about is the fact that he is influencing our senses. Something is affecting our perception without altering our actual perspective."

King Rayden’s eyes suddenly shone with light. "This young man is surely talented." His voice carried a rare trace of admiration. "Maybe the most talented youth I have ever come across..." He paused, then gave Liyu a sideways glance. "...Well, I would say the second most talented." Liyu’s expression twitched. Even now, King Rayden still had to correct himself.

But there was no time to dwell on it. King Rayden’s expression suddenly became serious. "To be able to do this..." He paused, then his tone became urgent. "To have done this means that we are in deep danger right now."

Liyu reacted instantly. His hand immediately became filled to the brim with Primal Qi. Green lightning layered itself over it, wrapping tightly around his hand. Then... he brought that hand toward his neck. It looked as though he wanted to squeeze his own throat to death. But that didn’t happen. Instead... the moment later... SHIIING! A sharp, painful sound rang through the place.

Liyu’s eyes widened. Several red lines suddenly appeared all over his body. Then... PUCHI! PUCHI! PUCHI! Blood gushed out. His body suddenly felt incredibly weak as countless wounds appeared across him. His knees buckled. THUD! He collapsed onto the ground. Blood continued pouring from the numerous wounds covering his body.

The green lightning that had coated his hand had been completely shredded apart, and the same thing had happened to his hand... it had been sliced right through. His throat had also been cut. But fortunately... Liyu had coated his neck with lightning while simultaneously hardening it with Primal Qi. Those two layers of protection had managed to prevent the attack from immediately taking his life. Yet even with all of that... it had barely been enough to help him survive the fatal attack.

Liyu knelt on the ground, blood covering him from head to toe. Across from him... Shi Tian stood once more. His gaze was unchanged... cold, calm, emotionless... as though what had just happened had been nothing more than an ordinary occurrence.

Liyu slowly raised his head. His gaze met those emotionless eyes. And then... fear began to bubble from the very depths of his stomach. A cold sensation crawled through his body. For an instant, his instincts screamed at him to run, to get away, and to avoid this monster standing before him.

But before that fear could reach the surface... Liyu forcefully destroyed it. No. He wouldn’t allow himself to feel dread. He wouldn’t be the one trembling before this bastard. No. He would be the one who made this bastard who called himself the Devil feel dread.

With that thought, Liyu immediately focused on healing. His mind moved quickly. With more than two thousand Qi Beads available to him, drawing Primal Qi from them was more than enough. The moment the energy surged through his body, his wounds began healing at an astonishing speed.

Flesh regenerated, blood stopped flowing, the damaged parts of his body recovered, and the wounds closed one after another. The injuries that would have left an ordinary cultivator crippled... or dead... were rapidly repaired. The aching remained, but that was nothing more than phantom pain. The physical damage itself was quickly disappearing. In no time at all... Liyu had returned to good condition. He stood once more.

Shi Tian didn’t reveal any expression that signified shock or confusion at Liyu’s healing speed. If anything... he looked as though he had expected it. Liyu narrowed his eyes. And was he only imagining things? Or... did this bastard Shi Tian look like he was just having fun by slicing him apart?

He could have sworn... just a few moments ago, Shi Tian had worn a small smile on his face. But then it had vanished, just as quickly as it had appeared.

Liyu’s expression became solemn. Shi Tian finally spoke. "I have to admit..." His tone remained emotionless. "Your healing capabilities are truly something else." He looked at Liyu. "To heal from something like that at such speed..." He paused. "It is unreal."

His voice remained completely flat, and his expression remained completely indifferent. Listening to him, one couldn’t even tell whether he was genuinely complimenting Liyu or simply reading an uninteresting article. There was no emotion in his words. No excitement. No admiration. Just a statement.

After saying that, Shi Tian’s voice continued in his usual emotionless tone. "I wonder..." He slowly raised his sword. "How much you can heal?" Liyu’s heart nearly jumped into his throat. His eyes widened. Shi Tian was holding his sword in the exact same way he had held it a few minutes ago.

The same posture, the same calmness, the same terrifying sword. Liyu’s face twitched. No. No, no, no, no, no, no. There is no way. There is no way he can be capable of spamming an attack like that over and over again. It is impossible. He must be trying to play a prank.

Liyu desperately tried to console himself. He tried to reason things out. There had to be a limit. There had to be some restriction. There was no way someone could repeatedly use such a terrifying Combat Art without consequences. But... as always... Shi Tian destroyed that thought before it could even settle.

"Fifth Form..." His voice remained calm. "Vacant Wind." WHOOSH! A rushing wind passed right through Liyu once more. The instant it swept across his body... everything changed.

And after that came a scene that was becoming far too familiar. Liyu found himself standing on the stage once more. Or at least... he thought he was standing on the stage. His senses were distorted again... his hearing, his feeling, his perception. Everything was being affected.

But this time... something was even worse. His sight. Liyu looked around. There was no marble stage, no arena, no crowd, no surrounding environment. Nothing. He could see only white. Endless white. It stretched in every direction... above, below, ahead, behind, everywhere.

White. It was as though his sense of sight had been cut off as well. Except instead of seeing nothing... all he could see was an endless, blinding white. There was no shape, no object, no horizon, and no distinction between the ground and the sky. Nothing that could give him a point of reference. Just... white. Endless white.

"Damnation..." Liyu gritted his teeth so hard that they nearly cracked. His fists tightened. He was trapped once more. Again. Inside that strange world where his senses could no longer be trusted. And this time, even his sight had been taken away from him.

He couldn’t see Shi Tian, he couldn’t feel Shi Tian, he couldn’t hear Shi Tian, and he couldn’t even determine where he was standing. The realization sent a chill through him.

At the leader’s seat... Shi Gubing was forcing himself not to burst into laughter at Liyu’s misery. The sight was almost too entertaining. Liyu had shocked him greatly. So greatly, in fact, that Shi Gubing had briefly forgotten something important.

His son... was far from normal as well. In fact... that freak was even more of a freak than anyone Shi Gubing had ever met before. After all... he was an Architect. An Architect who had managed to create a Sky Grade Technique while still a child. That alone was enough to make him an absolute monster among his peers.

And now... Shi Gubing was beginning to wonder just how far his son’s talent truly extended. Completely gone. And for some reason... the fact that he could no longer see or sense his enemy made Liyu feel a chill run through his body. What exactly is this Fifth Form...?