24 Chapter Twenty-Four: Dragon?
Yanqing's cultivation was nearing the peak of late Foundational Establishment while Xin Che's was still that of a middle Core Formation Cultivator. But now, Xin Che had visible muscles across his body.
An annoyed Yanqing and Xin Che stood against one another. A mocking smile visible on Che's face. Seeing this, several blades of ice hung in the air, with each one beginning to change endlessly before it settled into a shape.
Yanqing's ice blades combusted into petals in the air, but the moment each one of those petal's made contact with the ground or any other object a magnificent lotus would bloom in that area.
[Frozen Lotus]
One could visibly see just how cold each petal was as it functioned to funnel the energies of water and wood into oneself as it forced the fire energies to change into different elements. What was left of it was near impossible to utilize.
The air instantly turned cold due to the sheer number of lotuses in the area, but his opponent had already seen that move once before.
Seeing that the temperature was rapidly dropping, he took a step backwards and focused before condensing his spiritual energy.
Unlike Yanqing, Xin Che did not have access to genuine sword energy which forced him to instead use his own spiritual energy to shoot outwards. It was incredibly inefficient as spiritual energy held no form by itself, and concentrating it into a form was extremely time consuming.
Yet, he had already discovered a way to circumvent his own issue as he mounted the stored energy within [Wentian], using the spiritual energy from his own body, he erupted the ground itself forcibly creating earth fire.
Note: Earth Fire and Lava are intertwined. It would not be wrong to call lava Earth Fire, but lava is not earth fire. It requires a specific concentration and density.
Sensing the upcoming attack, Yanqing manipulated the [Frozen Lotus] onto his side of the field because it would easily be destroyed otherwise. Due to Xin Che's massive energy supply, he would not be able to compete.
But there was still some left over, which Yanqing used to shatter into much smaller pieces before redirecting them into the air once more.
Seeing an opportunity, Yanqing shot these petals towards the clothing of Xin Che in an effort to interfere with his channeling. Going forward and slashing him was not a possible action as Xin Che had the elemental advantage.
However, the elemental force of Fire had already been shielding Xin Che. He expected this move as Yanqing had already used this move to pierce his back before slamming him in the kidney once before. He kept targeting the kidney for some reason as well.
"I won't fall for that one again" Che spoke with an angered look as he remembered that battle a few weeks ago.
"..Tch"
Yanqing's brain sped to incredible speeds as he attempted to deduce the best possible move. Attempting to meet Xin Che's attack would be impossible as it was just too powerful, but there was something he could do.
As Xin Che gathered the momentum and flames he generated from below his feet he began to charge up his attack. Flames and Earth Fire gathered around his blade, creating pseudo-sword energy, he angled his body backwards as he spun through the air.
[Enveloping Heavens]
A massive hurricane made of dust, flames, and Earth flames began to accelerate in the direction of Yanqing.
As Xin Che spun through the air using his own position as the eye of the storm, he used his spiritual energy to create several pseudo swords with Earth flame before they too began to spin in a circular motion.
Sensing the incoming attack, Yanqing braced himself as he was about to do something incredibly reckless. This was a battle in which they could not directly clash due to the fragile blades they had. Meaning he had to do something new, one Xin Che could not copy.
He used his remaining [Frozen Lotus] to create massive structures of crystal like substances made of ice before forcibly changing this incredible mass into a sphere. He soon separated it into a core, inner, and outer layer as he tried out the results of his research.
The was made with Earth as crystal-like substances made up the center sphere. The outermost layer would be the same in order to guarantee the integrity of the structure. The inner layer would be funneled with energy and glacial constructs before they were changed into a separate element.
With Earth as its foundation, the construct's energy level spiked as earth energy dominated all other energies. An attracting and repelling force would result from the massive movement caused by Xin Che earlier.
Fire was also prevalent, but due to the restrictive nature Earth had it was soon lowered. Countless other elements appeared as formless ice flowed, countless petals and roots, sharp blades of ice, and many other constructs.
As Xin Che approached, these elements dispersed its form and returned to what it was originally. The Five elements, with no form binding it.
The energy created a massive attractive force as it sucked energy into itself in order to prevent the elements from consuming one another. Flames from Xin Che's technique were soon forcibly taken away.
"What–!" Xin Che spoke in a baffled manner as his new technique was deconstructed in front of his own eyes.
Seeing this reaction, both Xin Che and Yanqing hopped onto their respective swords before running away from the scene as the spherical ball of energy expanded in size endlessly.
Before leaving, the two shot a glare at one another, "You piece of…" Xin Che's disgruntled face turned ugly as he continued to speak, "that was my garden! Do you know how long it took to find such a great battleground?"
"It was your fault to begin with, using a final move like that, you were the one who started that!" Yanqing responded in kind, although he knew that he was also at fault.
The two promptly argued once more as the insults became more personal, "You twat, do you even know what currency is? Did your mother not teach you scarcity, you spoiled brat!" Xin Che shook his hands angrily.
"Are you really one to say that? You threw a move equivalent to a Late Core Formation Cultivator at that place! We can already blow up mountains and you think that move isn't going to damage it?" Yanqing retorted.
"You really are talented in defying the heavens, defying what little brain power your mind has left." Yanqing quickly followed up as Xin Che was not as proficient in Formations as him, allowing him to attack this weak spot verbally.
Seeing that the conversation was moving in a direction unfavorable to himself, he soon redirected it. "Though there is something weird with a ball of energy over there. Shouldn't it have already exploded?"
Both of them twisted their heads at breakneck speeds as they shifted into their Formation Master gear.
Previously, Yanqing had condensed and made it so that the core was less than a meter in diameter, but now… it was visible from hundreds of meters in the sky.
"How is it different from your initial fusion of the Five Elements? I remember a few years ago it self imploded from the fact that it could not support itself." Xin Che quickly recalled.
"During our battle I decided that a game changer was needed so I used the Five Elements as a base for a new move. It was the closest solution I had to recreating a "repulsion" force in order to stop your move." Yanqing continued, "I used the Earth element as a base to counter your attack while circulating the other energies."
"It was a move specifically targeted towards any move you could make now or in the future…" Thinking about this, Yanqing's face brightened up as now he could develop in this direction… the amount of pranks he could now do were uncountable.
"That's not the point right now. We need to stop it before it expands too big." Xin Che spoke with a tone of regret. 'I honestly want to see how big it can get.'
"That is true, but how should we stop it? If it does follow the principle of the Five Elements and it is infinitely supplementing itself… is it going to devour the world?"
"...We should probably run then. At least then we will not take the blame. Although I would like to get a few samples afterwards, if there's anything left of it at least."
"Wait. Are the mountains still here?" Yanqing continued, "with the geographical location you have chosen, don't you remember a certain fact?"
"...You are a madman. I like how you think."
"Then let's get started."
The two promptly flew off on their respective flying swords before sending out the swords they had made prior, swords they had to duel over because they both wanted it for their collection.
A total of 108 swords flew across the sky before landing in their respective positions surrounding the four mountains in this area.
The four mountains were changed by Yanqing and Xin Che during their battles, turning them into a volcano, a forest with plants and trees so massive that it could tower over the skies, a land of molten metal after a failed experiment, and a swamp land.
These were caused by the reactions of fusing the elements, with two at a time. Fire and Earth, Wood and Earth, Metal and Earth, and Water and Earth.
Earth was the most stabilized element of them all, meaning it was the only element that would not cause a gigantic explosion or a complete cancellation of elements.
By sending 27 flags to each mountain, they began channeling the elements by using the swords as formation flags. Each of the swords were symbolic towards one of the four elements, except for Earth as it would be too dull for a sword.
With [Wentian] and [Aurora] opposite of one another, a giant image began to appear on the land as spiritual energy from all corners rioted.
By emulating Yanqing's original attempt, they were attempting to fuse the five elements on a massive scale with the growing black hole made of earth energy as a core. If this succeeded then their futures would be endlessly filled with research.
They would be incredibly rich if it produced any item that was able to conduct all five elements without trouble, which was one of the main goals the two were after.
Creating a perfect sword entailed the fact that it was able to infinitely change and adapt. It meant that there were no weaknesses, and there was nothing that could shatter it.
Previously, the two were unwilling to truly clash swords as they were unsure of whether or not their swords could handle the power, even [Aurora] was unable to handle the changes of the Five elements as it showed signs of breaking down.
If this succeeded… they would be able to clash for years on end, honing their skill infinitely… Thinking of this, both of them drooled before promptly being smacked by their respective swords.
Feeling the pain on their heads, the two worked together as the lines soon connected with one another. It formed a polygon with 108 sides, resembling a circle from the outside view.
The lines further connected and separated from one another as some of the swords had different elevations. This was one of the more advanced techniques the two had found as formations were usually two dimensional in shape.
So what if they added another dimension to it? Even if it was as artificial as this it would still increase the power dramatically.
The massive formation in the air slowly began to rotate before it accelerated. Blue, Yellow, White, Red, and Green began to permeate the air as they had taken on physical forms.
Yellow was at the epicenter of all of this, while the blue color had slowly taken on a shape similar to a tortoise with a snake as its tail, red had changed into a bird on fire, white soon turned into a white tiger, and green turned into a dragon.
The four simultaneously roared at the same time, with an intelligent look in their eyes as they focused in on their target. Their forms were dispersing and flowing into the yellow mass at the center.
As time went on, energy itself was removed from the air. Spiritual energy was not existent except for the two crazed cultivators and the massive concentration of energy.
The energy soon started to morph its shape as it took on a life like the image of a dragon once more, but now it was in black and white… which confused the two of them.
Then, the dragon stared into their eyes.
Space and distance were irrelevant to it.
Then… it exploded.
