AZI Volume 2 Chapter 52

"51-"

Appearing a meter above Dao He Tian Xue's head, Long Hua clenches his right hand—while rotating the Immortal Suppression Palm.

"50-"

*Boom! Kakaka!* receiving Long Hua's strike with his opened hand, the ground beneath Dao He Tian Xue shatters.

"49-"

Rotating his body while in the air, Long Hua drops his foot down on Dao He Tian Xue—who receives the attack in the same manner as before.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!* without dropping his momentum, Long Hua continues to launch a series of attacks—that can easily injure a Foundation Establishment realm practitioner.

"46-"

*Boom! Boom! Boom!* and with every hit received by Dao He Tian Xue, the shattered ground's depth increases, as it gradually begins to resemble a miniature crater.

"…"

"45-"

At the wave of his left arm, Dao He Tian Xue throws Long Hua back—while his right hand assumes the posture of grasping an object. Immediately, the same wooden sword as before reappears in his grip.

"44-"

"The sword sings, yet who lives to listen?"

As soon as Dao He Tian Xue mutters this, the wooden sword's blade turns into metal, whereas its handle is transformed into jade.

Swinging the unsealed sword once, Dao He Tian Xue sends a wave of sword Qi towards Long Hua—who is still in the air.

"43-"

"Heart Sword."

As Long Hua presses his right hand forward, tendrils of sword Qi gather—to take on the form of a plain sword.

"42-"

*Chiiii!* receiving the wave of sword Qi with the Heart Sword, Long Hua deflects the attack—sending it to his right.

Without looking at the scar that was created by the deflected sword Qi, Long Hua closes the distance, and begins to exchange hits with Dao He Tian Xue.

"41, 40, 39, 38, 37-"

*Chi! Chi! Chi!* compared to their previous exchange, this time—it seems like the two are evenly matched.

...…

"…"

"…"

Despite the two's current appearance being nothing more than two bodies of white fog, both Nian Yao Yao and Nian Tao Tao are able to tell how intense the fight between them is, as the grounds beneath their feet are littered with blade scars and cracks.

(…It really was him at the time.)

Seeing Long Hua's shadow—that is currently hidden away in the fog shroud, Zhui Yun's forgotten memories gradually turn clearer.

(So, this is an Immortal…?)

Watching the exchange, Qing Yue swallows her own spit.

...…

"…"

Glancing down at the Formation Eye—that can seemingly break at the soft press of a finger, Bai Wen frowns.

If possible, he wished to have this Formation Eye last for just another minute longer.

...…

*Chiiii!!!* sparks fly, and the air around the two is split, as their swords brush by the other.

"33-"

(He hasn't used any of his large-scaled divine arts since I activated this state. Either it's unable to, or he's waiting for a perfect opening to appear.)

As his eyes give off a ghostly glow, Long Hua takes hold of the Heart Sword with both hands, and lunges it forward.

*Boom!* at the straightening of Long Hua's arms, a beam of sword Qi blasts forth, and Dao He Tian Xue just barely manages to evade it.

"32-"

Exploiting this opening, Dao He Tian Xue swings his sword towards Long Hua's neck.

Almost as soon as Dao He Tian Xue's sword is swung, Long Hua raises his left foot off the ground by an inch, and—

"Emperor, mortal realm's greatest authority."

Lowers it in the next instance.

"31-"

Immediately, two cracks—one of black and one of white radiance, spread from Long Hua's left foot, and with it, a Yin and Yang symbol that is much smaller in scale manifests.

"30-"

*Boom!!!* although the explosion that comes as a result of this Yin and Yang symbol's detonation is much smaller—when compared to the one created by Dao He Tian Xue, it's more than capable of throwing Dao He Tian Xue off balance, causing him to miss his swing.

"29-"

Retracting the Heart Sword, Long Hua slashes it towards the Dao He Tian Xue's chest.

As the Heart Sword approaches, Dao He Tian Xue recovers his balance, and—

"With only this much strength, you're unworthy of standing in front of him."

"…!"

"28-"

In an effortless manner, Dao He Tian Xue catches the Heart Sword between his index finger and thumb.

"27-"

"…"

*Kakaka!* as Dao He Tian Xue presses his index finger down, the Heart Sword snaps in half.

"26-"

"…"

Peering through the shroud of white fog, Dao He Tian Xue directs a glare at one of the twin serpents to the side of Long Hua's head.

"25-"

"Hahaha."

In that instance, laughter of a playful tone—comes from an unknown direction.

"24-"

"…?"

Detecting this laughter as well, Long Hua frowns, but before he could think deeply about where the laughter had come from—

"23-"

"**-"

As soon as two words of an unknown tongue are muttered by Dao He Tian Xue, the world—in the next instance, loses all its colors and sounds.

"22-"

"**-"

As if responding to Dao He Tian Xue, the voice that laughed playful—repeats the same words as the former, causing the previous phenomenon to occur once more.

Except this time, the phenomenon itself is forcefully prolonged.

*…! …! …! …! …!* in a way that cannot be seen, or detected by the ears, two forces—that are completely beyond the scope of a mortal's reach, clash with one another.

(…)

"…"

Under these circumstances, both Long Hua and Tian Cheng find themselves incapable of movement, almost as if there is a heavy mountain placed over their bodies and souls.

*…! …! …! …! …!* amidst the two forces' clash, the entirety of the world has been frozen, making them the sole spectators—who know for a fact that this exchange had indeed occurred.

(It's over. The moment those two are done, this magic array should collapse.)

Compared to Long Hua, Tian Cheng is far more accustomed to the power that these two forces are currently utilizing to make their exchange.

*…! ...! ...…!* as the two continue to clash, Long Hua feels an odd sense of lightness around his shoulders, as if a heavy burden—different from the mountainous weight that is currently keeping him in place, had been severed.

...…

...…

...…

For an unknown amount of time that could have been a second, or a full month, silence reigns over the frozen world.

Eventually—

*Kakaka! Pah!* a sound similar to a piece of glassware being shattered goes off, and with it—

"22-"

The flow of time resumes, along with the restoration of color and sound into the world.

...…

In the same instance—

*Pah!* the Formation Eye—that is located in the black-roofed pavilion, shatters into pieces.

(Just now…)

Narrowing his eye Bai Wen frowns.

He instinctively senses something to be out of place, almost as if someone, or something had managed to steal a full month's worth of time away from the world itself.

...…

"21-"

"…Enough."

Retracting his Relic, the fog around Long Hua dissipates—revealing his form, which is covered in lacerations and blood.

Taking five steps back—

"Disciple, greets shizun."

Long Hua clasps his hands together, and performs a 90-degree bow to Dao He Tian Xue.

"…"

Smiling beneath the fog shroud, Dao He Tian Xue raises his left hand, and presses his index finger onto Long Hua's forehead.

In that instance, a cultivation method—different from the one that he is currently using, appears in Long Hua's mind.

"The next time we meet, we may just be strangers."

Having said this, Dao He Tian Xue begins to fade.