Chapter 231
After surviving… or, more correctly, after barely surviving against the endless attacks that Shi Tian had thrown his way, Liyu was able to endure it all.
But he was not unscathed.
No…
Far from that, actually.
There was a massive injury across his body. His flesh had been shredded and slashed in so many places that there were simply too many wounds to count.
The fact that he was still standing was due to nothing but his great mental fortitude and terrifying pain tolerance.
Many in his shoes would have already fainted.
Or even worse, they would have given up, cried their lungs out in deep pain and despair, and lost consciousness while teetering on the edge of death.
But Liyu was not like that.
That much was evident from the fact that he was still standing on his two feet after everything he had endured.
He wasn’t feeling good, though.
Not good at all.
As he tried to walk forward, the pain radiating throughout his body was something that went far beyond the norm.
Liyu gritted his teeth.
With how he was right now, he wouldn’t be able to fight for much longer.
Who was he kidding?
He could barely move.
It was at this moment that the system provided him with another option.
He could decide to place all the injuries ravaging his body onto one of the clones currently with him.
After all, he was in his fusion state.
The clone that shouldered all the pain and injuries would then be removed from the fusion state and placed into the system.
Based on the system’s words, the clone wouldn’t die, and Liyu’s condition would improve, but it would take time and resources.
In simple terms…
Liyu needed to make one of his two clones the sacrifice, allowing that clone to bear the burden of his pain and injuries so that he could continue fighting.
After all, they would lose if they remained in such a state.
He told Dead Eye Rayden about it, and the latter agreed readily.
He would be the sacrifice.
He would bear all the agony and pain.
Liyu nodded and selected him.
With that, Dead Eye Rayden was removed from the fusion state.
And all the pain and wounds on Liyu’s body vanished, being carried away with him.
That was another massive advantage the fusion state granted Liyu.
But it also provided a rather massive disadvantage…
One that slammed heavily into Liyu the moment Dead Eye Rayden vanished.
His firearms vanished.
Meaning there was a massive drop in how much power Liyu possessed.
Not only that…
His long, dark overcoat, which had been acting as his first layer of defense, also vanished.
But the most significant decrease Liyu felt was none other than the sharp drop in his Qi reserves.
And his boosted cultivation level dropped from the third stage to the second stage of Qi Gathering.
The drop was massive.
A sudden surge of weakness swept through Liyu, making him suddenly feel so weak and powerless.
Liyu gritted his teeth and bit down on his lips, feeling the weight of becoming far, far weaker than before while his opponent remained just as deadly and powerful as ever.
Once more…
The situation wasn’t looking good.
Not good at all.
Liyu took in a deep breath and looked up.
There, he saw Shi Tian staring at him with that cold, resentment-filled gaze.
Liyu, more than anyone else, knew his current condition.
If Shi Tian decided to attack once more, just as he had done before…
He would be cooked.
Far more so than before.
Hopefully, he doesn’t opt for that.
That was all Liyu could pray for.
“Are you ready?”
Liyu turned to face King Rayden.
The latter gave a firm nod.
They had to give it everything they had in this next round.
After all, now that their overall combat capacity had dropped massively due to Dead Eye Rayden being out of the equation, they had to face everything alone.
Just the two of them.
“Alright, then…”
Liyu tightened his grip.
“Let’s fight till the end.”
The two, both the clone and the original, came to a firm determination not to give up.
And once more…
They charged.
They were not going to allow Shi Tian to attack like before once more.
After all, if he managed to do that…
It would be over.
Shi Tian, though, wasn’t planning on unleashing a move like the last one.
After all, his heart was still injured, and he was only keeping it together because of his control over his mutated Qi. But after attacking with so many forms of his combat arts, the strain had ravaged his body, and the effect of that was his heart suffering even more damage.
He wouldn’t be using the previous attack anymore against Liyu.
But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t kill him quickly.
He could feel just how much power Liyu had left, and the little danger he could sense from him had vanished as well.
This will be a quick one.
With that thought, he charged forward.
And the two clashed once more.
The two fought vigorously.
Or rather…
Liyu fought with everything he had.
He unleashed Behemoth Punch over and over again, while Void Piercer and his other two skills were also being utilized. With all his skills at the forefront, his Salvage and refined battle style supporting them from behind, and everything else working in conjunction with them, Liyu managed to last for a few minutes.
But eventually…
He started getting overwhelmed and injured once more.
It couldn’t be helped.
The gap in their power now that Dead Eye Rayden was gone was massive.
And Liyu was feeling every bit of it.
Several minutes later, Liyu, who had been utterly decimated and wounded once more, collapsed onto his feet with a loud bang, forming a massive crater right beneath him.
He remained standing for a second.
Then…
He collapsed to his knees, heaving a deep, tired, and exhausted breath.
The lightning around him crackled weakly as his gauntlet developed cracks running across its entire surface.
He was at his absolute limit.
With every tired breath he took, he coughed out mouthfuls of blood.
It was horrifying, to say the least.
But that wasn’t the end of it all.
Ding! Momentum has been deactivated due to reaching its time limit.
Ding! Perfect Efficiency has been deactivated due to reaching its time limit.
Ding! Host, your condition is deteriorating rapidly. Medical attention is needed.
Liyu took in a deep breath…
And exhaled.
Another deep breath…
And another exhale.
Pain shot through his nerves in waves, and he almost wanted to keel over and cry in pain.
He didn’t do that, though.
Instead, his gaze remained focused forward, locked onto the direction where Shi Tian stood.
Shi Tian remained mostly the same, suffering very little damage from their clash… to the extent that the damage wasn’t even worth mentioning.
But that aside…
His long sword had broken into two.
Most of it was due to the fact that the force of the attacks unleashed by it at such a high frequency had been too much for the sword to handle.
Another major reason was the fact that Liyu had deliberately made sure to damage it through the repeated use of Behemoth Punch.
It had been able to damage the sword, and with the other factor combined…
It finally cracked and broke into two.
It could barely even be called a sword anymore.
Shi Tian looked at the broken weapon and threw it to the side.
His gaze was still filled with resentment as he started walking closer and closer to Liyu.
Liyu knew his time was running out.
There was no time to dawdle.
Ding! Sacrifice accepted.
Fusion State has been canceled due to King Rayden.
Liyu had decided to make another sacrifice.
And when it was all done, he was back to full health.
But his power plummeted once more…
All the way down to the first stage of Qi Gathering.
The drop in power was massive, making Liyu feel somehow strange.
The weird, alien feeling didn’t last long, though.
He had already decided to try something else.
There was only one last card he could play now.
Hopefully, things work out.
Ding! Skill Call has been used.
Calling…
Call rejected.
Liyu’s eyes twitched.
He tried again.
Then again.
And again.
Call rejected.
Call rejected.
Call rejected.
Shi Tian reached Liyu’s front.
His gaze was scary enough to make a ghost run straight back to the grave as he reached out and lifted Liyu by the neck.
With the difference in their strength, there was nothing much Liyu could do.
He could only keep trying to reach his last clone.
Ding! Skill Call has been used.
Call rejected.
Liyu was getting anxious.
Especially when he saw Shi Tian striking toward his heart.
He immediately used most of his remaining Qi to harden the skin on his chest while simultaneously creating a Qi barrier right before the attack landed.
The attack slammed into the Qi barrier.
CRACK!
It shattered upon contact.
The attack continued forward and slammed into Liyu’s chest, piercing straight through it.
Poof!
Liyu vanished.
He reappeared some distance away, blood oozing from his chest as he held the wound with a deep frown.
He decided to try one last time.
Ding! Skill Call has been used.
Calling…
There was a brief silence.
Then…
Ding! Call accepted.