Netherworld Gate.

Yin Long and Tao Enlai stared each other down for a short moment, both looking for even the smallest crack within their opponent's defense. And the one who ended up making the first move was Yin Long, who felt that he couldn't afford to let Tao Enlai freely absorb the ominous energy gushing forth from the black hole. Tao Enlai's veins were bulging and writhing as if they were about to explode so it was clear that absorbing the sinister energy was far from easy or painless, but if there was one thing that was capable of worrying Yin Long then it would be unknown elements and circumstances.

He stepped forward and crossed the short distance between him and Tao Enlai, his simple metal sword slicing down in a diagonal manner at Tao Enlai's left shoulder. Tao Enlai swiftly responded and slashed upward with his jagged greatsword, his sword moving quite a bit faster than Yin Long had expected.

But Yin Long was used to sparring with the terrifyingly talented Lang Huo, who had at the tender age of 19 already entered the 5th Immortal Door, so the speed of Tao Enlai was not something that Yin Long was unable to contend with. He tilted his sword slightly so that it collided directly with the edge of the greatsword and pushed it down somewhat, his left hand stabbed out at the same time, the surrounding space gathering together to form a transparent sword in his grasp.

Tao Enlai's gaze was focused on the collision between the two blades, but his pupils shrank slightly as a sense of danger enveloped his mind. His gaze flickered downward and spotted the transparent sword, his upper body immediately bending slightly to push his waist to the side. But Yin Long seemed to have prepared for him to dodge, his stab smoothly shifting into a sideways slice that cut into the right side of Tao Enlai's waist.

But Tao Enlai had seen plenty of battles in his life so the moment he started evading he also retaliated to both of Yin Long's moves. The first attack was a straight kick from his left foot, an attack that Yin Long dodged by leaning his torso forward while making a short hop back. The other attack was launched the moment Yin Long's sword cut into his waist, which was also when Yin Long was leaning forward.

His left hand let go of the hilt of his weapon, resulting in his strength reducing to a level where Yin Long pushing down on it with his own sword caused it to slip out of his grasp and crash into the floor. But in return, he could put all his strength into his arm and punch out, his fist connecting with Yin Long's face and sending him staggering back with a shattered nose that was hidden by his mask.

But as Yin Long was forced to stagger back, he flourished the sword in his right hand, which was freed up now that Tao Enlai's own weapon had crashed into the ground. He swept the sword through the air and sent out three slashes that cut diagonally into Tao Enlai's chest, leaving three more wounds.

The two ended up with a bit of distance between them again, Yin Long now standing there with a bloody face beneath his mask while Tao Enlai had a small gash in his waist and three cuts on his chest. But as Yin Long was looking at them, the cadaveric energy that Tao Enlai was constantly absorbing caused the flesh around his wounds to wriggle and heal, the wounds vanishing after a short moment. The skin where the wounds had previously been was almost as pale as snow, but there was no more blood leaking forth.

Tao Enlai traced the freshly healed skin on his chest, his gaze roaming Yin Long up and down for a bit. He stretched out his arm towards his weapon, a burst of fire erupting beneath it and launching it into his grasp. He grasped the weapon tightly with both hands and pointed the tip at Yin Long, a flame sparking into existence at the tip of the weapon and quickly engulfing it. The sinister energy from the black hole seeped into his body and then out of his hands and into the flames, turning them a murky brown while increasing their heat by quite a bit. Tao Enlai let out a deep breath as the murky brown flames covered his entire sword, looking at Yin Long what could only be called admiration.

"From the Lang clan, sword skills that verge on terrifying, and constantly walking around barefoot. Lang Yin, you have hidden deeply, you are worthy of being the Lang clan's shadow, it is their fortune that you were born to their clan. But here and now, I will bring that fortune to an end!"

Tao Enlai raised the sword high and charged forward the moment he finished his words, Yin Long frowning slightly. He hadn't expected his identity to be discovered just because he forgot to put on shoes before they started the attack. That was a blunder on his part, one that could have cost him heavily depending on the circumstances.

Yin Long didn't raise his sword to parry Tao Enlai's attack as he would usually do with Lang Huo, Tao Enlai wouldn't hold back like Lang Huo unfortunately always did. Yin Long instead slashed out with both his swords, sending silver slashes through the air and directly at Tao Enlai's legs while he himself dodged to the side.

Tao Enlai kicked off from the ground, an explosion beneath his feet propelling him above Yin Long's attacks and sending him through the air until he was practically directly above Yin Long and came crashing down like a fiery meteor. Yin Long raised his head slightly, his black eyes sending the descending Tao Enlai a chilly look.

The sword in his left hand dissipated and he swept out with his left hand, the corpses closest to him suddenly flying over while getting liquefied, forming a murky crimson sword that had small bits of white bones floating around in it. Seeing the strange scene, Tao Enlai couldn't help but feel a sliver of shock that caused him to falter for a split second, Yin Long slashing upward with all his might at this exact moment.

The murky crimson sword collided with the sword covered in murky brown flames, an intense fluctuation of energy rampaging through the room and crushing any corpse that got close to it. The two figures of Yin Long and Tao Enlai shot in separate directions, their blood spraying through the air.

Yin Long's murky crimson sword had shattered under the force of the collision and three of the fingers on his left hand had bent into unnatural positions. His chest was torn up rather badly, scorched gashes and shrapnel marks covering a large portion of it. The murky brown flames had spread to his chest and were burning on the wounds, preventing even a single drop of blood from pouring forth as the flames slowly spread. His mask had also shattered after the attack, revealing his face and confirming Tao Enlai's earlier assumption.

Tao Enlai was also in a rather sorry state, his right wrist had completely shattered under the impact, it had reached a state where his hand was practically torn off. A deep gash also ran from his left shoulder all the way down to his right thigh, the wound was so large that Yin Long could actually see Tao Enlai's organs pulsate with the ominous energy from the black hole.

Tao Enlai grit his teeth, a hoarse and bestial growl rumbling out from his throat as he ignored his wounds and charged forward, dragging his sword along the ground before slashing upward at Yin Long, who had just barely managed to stabilize his body. The wound on Tao Enlai's chest was already wriggling and starting to heal, his flesh turning worm-like as it connected together again.

Yin Long looked at the incoming fiery sword, his expression solemn as some blood leaked out from the corner of his mouth. He dropped the metal sword he was holding in his right hand, his palm facing the stone floor beneath him as the veins on the back of his hand started to bulge slightly. And then, in front of Tao Enlai's once again shocked eyes, water rose up through the floor as if the stone wasn't even there.

The water gathered together into a crystalline sapphire sword that Yin Long slashed sideways at the incoming sword, pushing it just enough to the side that it didn't reach his body. Yin Long then immediately flicked his wrist and sliced upward with the sword, tearing open the gash on Tao Enlai's chest once more. His sword stabbed a bit deeper this time, leaving a cut in Tao Enlai's left lung and flooding it with water.

Tao Enlai coughed up a mouthful of water and slime, Yin Long's eyes solemn and grim as he elected to not back up and tend to his wounds, instead focusing on keeping up a relentless assault. He slashed out with the crystalline sword again and again, tearing at Tao Enlai's gash and at his left arm to prevent him from properly holding his sword.

As the slashes rained down upon him like an unending waterfall, Tao Enlai let out a hoarse roar and swung out with his right arm, his wrist only halfway healed as he placed his hand on Yin Long's shoulder to hold him in place. His grip was far stronger than Yin Long had expected, the bones in his shoulder creaking just from the touch. Tao Enlai used this chance that he bought himself to smash his knee into Yin Long's already wounded chest and sending him flying backward for a bit before he crashed into the stone wall of the room and fell to the ground while spurting blood from his mouth.

He vomited forth a large amount of blood and quickly forced himself up, standing on bent and unsteady legs as he gazed at Tao Enlai with an unyielding stare. Tao Enlai was incredibly pale as he held his sword, sweat and blood staining his entire body, which was once again already healing in front of Yin Long's eyes. Tao Enlai breathed heavily while looking at Yin Long, his voice so hoarse that one would think his vocal cords had been cut apart.

"Marvelous, you are truly marvelous Lang Yin! Respect, you have my greatest respect and appreciation! Were it not for this energy that I was siphoning from the Netherworld then I would have already fallen to you and your strange parasite-like sword. What a shame, what a damn shame that you were born in the Lang clan, they are too small to hold you, they have stunted your growth! Allow me, Tao Enlai, to send you on your way to the Celestial World, I pray that you reunite with your parents in the afterlife!"

Tao Enlai started to slowly walk forward after he finished his declaration, heading directly for Yin Long. He didn't walk slowly to drag things out, but he found himself so exhausted that each step felt like he was walking on a mountain of burning coal. But faced with the incoming Tao Enlai, Yin Long retained his unyielding stare, spurting a bit more blood as he stretched out his right arm.

"This battle... Isn't over yet."

The sinister energy gushing forth from the black hole suddenly twisted slightly when Yin Long made his declaration, it soared over to him and gathered into a sword that was a murky mixture of silver and black. And the moment the sword landed in his grasp, all the veins in Yin Long's right arm started to bulge and writhe, twisting beneath his skin like rebellious maggots.

His parasitic sword was his greatest strength, he would continuously siphon away at the strength used to create the weapon, drawing the energy into himself and his soul. This could help heal him or strengthen him, but there were also situations like this, where it was a double-edged sword. The energy from the black hole, which he now knew came from the Netherworld itself, was now seeping into his body and his soul. The evilest and vilest energy in the universe was now invading his body, charging through the wide-open door he left for it. But following the ominous energy was a tremendous amount of strength, Yin Long's entire body practically bursting with power.

The murky energy quickly seeped into his soulsea, arriving above the silver ocean and diving into it like a gleeful devil. The energy also headed for the five silver orbs floating around the rainbow-hued sword, small tendrils of it starting to seep into them and tainting their pure silver color, part of the energy was even trying to corrode his soul. Yin Long's expression sank drastically when he saw the scene, a guttural and dark growl resounding forth from his bloody throat.

"I don't care if you're from the Netherworld or whatever, but when you're in my body, you will fucking behave!"

A silver light flashed through Yin Long's pupils, the rainbow-hued sword that was his soul releasing a sharp keening sound and trembling slightly. The sword unleashed a resplendent rainbow-hued light that covered the entire soulsea and started to eat away at the ominous energy, corroding it just as it had tried to corrode the sword. Yin Long's soul was a parasite, and right now this parasite had set its eyes on the energy of the Netherworld.

More and more of the sinister energy started to flow into Yin Long's body and soulsea through the sword he had created, the radiant light unleashed by his soul growing stronger and stronger as more and more Netherworld energy invaded his soulsea. And as this strange equilibrium was met, the wounds on Yin Long's body started to heal at a visible speed, his flesh reconnecting in a manner that resembled worms coiling around each other.

The more of the Netherworld energy that his parasitic soul ate the more accustomed it got to it, the evil energy becoming more and more compatible with him. But this was still energy from the Netherworld, it was not something a living human should have, resulting in his entire body being wracked in pain. But he could bear it, he could stand and he could fight.

And as he focused his gaze on Tao Enlai, who was completely shocked due to the sudden surge of energy coming from Yin Long's body, a strange mark started to appear on Yin Long's body. The mark looked the same as the one that always appeared on Yin Long's sword, small oval leaves covered in tiny scales. The black mark first appeared on the back of his right hand, the one that was holding the sword made from Netherworld Energy, it then spread up his entire right arm and neck, only stopping when it covered half of his face, even appearing within his right eye like a sinister tattoo.

Yin Long spat out another mouthful of blood, the crimson blood now tinged with a slightly murky black. Tao Enlai felt his breathing stagnating slightly as he looked at Yin Long's current appearance. He was stained in blood and barely able to stand, but holding that murky black sword he radiated a sharp and heroic aura that sent shivers down Tao Enlai's spine, it was like standing in front of a regal demon or a majestic tyrant. But he knew that now wasn't the time to immerse himself in that feeling, Yin Long's guttural voice signifying the continuation of the bloody battle.

"I said... the battle isn't over."