AZI Volume 2 Chapter 50

"…"

As two waves of sword Qi approach him, the fog-shrouded figure raises his right foot off the ground by an inch.

"…!"

Widening his eyes, Long Hua feels a bad premonition welling up from the corner of his mind.

Gathered towards the fog-shrouded figure's raised right foot is an archaic air of power—that won't lose to the Immortal Suppression Palm.

This stance to those unfamiliar with the fog-shrouded figure wouldn't mean anything, but to Long Hua—it immediately causes him to recall the name of another divine art.

In the brief instance that is left prior to the sword Qi waves hitting him, the flow speed of time has seemingly been cut in half for the fog-shrouded figure; and under this effect, he abruptly presses his foot down on the ground.

(Martial Emperor's Step…!)

*Kakaka!* immediately, cracks brimming with black and white radiance spread from the fog-shrouded figure's foot!

With the rapid expansion of these cracks, the sword array is quickly broken down.

"Kuh!"

*Boom! Boom! Boom!* as a powerful force of energy attempts to push his hand away from the handle of the wooden sword, Long Hua grits his teeth.

But regardless of how much strength he exerts into holding onto the weapon's handle—

*Kakaka!* it is all but meaningless, as both the wooden sword and Kun's blade snap under the overbearing pressure; and with it, both Long Hua and Tian Cheng's arm are thrown back!

In the same instance, the cracks brimming with black and white radiance cease to grow.

Following the cracks' abrupt halt in expansion—

*…!* a Yin and Yang symbol manifests to cover the damaged areas centered around the fog-shrouded figure.

With this symbol's manifestation—

*Boom!!!!!* a deadly blast of black and white energy erupts—to throw both Long Hua and Tian Cheng backwards!

"…!"

Recovering his balance while in the air, Long Hua lands onto his feet.

As soon as Long Hua had landed, the fog-shrouded figure emerges from within the setting dust clouds—held in the latter's hand is a wooden staff.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!* without a moment to spare, the two immediately begin to exchange hits with one another.

The missing portion of the wooden sword held in Long Hua's hand is made up for—with his sword Qi, to create a sharp current of energy.

However, even with this, Long Hua is forced to take on a more defensive approach—due to his opponent's barrage of attacks.

"…"

Evading a thrust by the smallest possible margin, Long Hua swings the wooden sword towards the opponent's wrist—in an attempt to knock their weapon out of their grip.

However—

"Naïve."

"…!"

At the fog-shrouded figure's mutter, the staff in their hands is dropped voluntarily, and—

*Peng!* following a sound that is akin to a door being pounded on, the staff is thrown into the air at the moment of its contact with Long Hua's blade.

Simultaneously, the fog-shrouded figure also vanishes from Long Hua's field of vision.

For a brief instance, Long Hua is caught off guard by the abruptness of the situation, but rather quickly, he senses the presence of someone behind his back.

"…"

"…!"

Faster than Long Hua can hope to react to the escalating situation, a sharp sense of pain comes from the back of his head!

"…!"

Before the sharp pain could cause him to faint, Long Hua bit down on his lips—to recover his consciousness.

"…"

Seeing Long Hua continuing to stand, the fog-shrouded figure readies a second strike, but before he could hope to execute his attack—a knife attached to a thread, flies over, and wraps itself around Long Hua's waist.

Prior to the fog-shrouded figure's strike connecting, Tian Cheng—who is on the other side of the thread, pulls Long Hua forward, allowing him to evade the attack.

"…"

Despite having missed his strike, the fog-shrouded figure maintains his outstretched fist, and at the opening of his hand, a powerful force of suction emanates from his palm—dragging both Long Hua and Tian Cheng towards himself.

"…"

As the pain emanating from the back of his head subsides, Long Hua turns his attention towards his opponent, and presses his darkened left hand towards them.

*Boom…!!!* in the next instance, the hand of the two collides—causing a violent blast of energy to burst outwards!

"…"

"…!"

Naively thinking that this stalemate might last for a few moments longer, Long Hua is immediately caught off guard, as the fog-shrouded figure shifts their palm to the side, and grabs him by his wrist.

As the fog-shrouded figure rotates their body, Long Hua feels the organs within his body leaning towards one side—prior to a heavy force of impact being pressed onto him from the front, as a result of him being tossed onto the ground by his opponent.

"…"

Looking down on Long Hua, who is struggling to peel himself off the ground, the fog-shrouded figure catches the wooden staff—that falls from the air, prior to stabbing the weapon towards the former's head.

...…

"Dammit, is this thing really just a replica?"

With her vessel tossed onto the ground as well, the Tian Cheng inside of the dreamscape—can only look on in despair.

"It is only a replica, but I've taken the liberty to modify it a bit."

"Modified? I see. How…- Wait…-?"

Turning her body around like a rusted machine, Tian Cheng's face is immediately drained of all colors—upon seeing a fog-shrouded figure standing a few meters behind her.

"…Dào Hé Tiān Xuě...…"