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"Have you woken up yet? Come fight me!!"
Responding to Kuiyuan's shout, Victor Wang pressed his cloak and stored it into the Inner Space. An Electro-infused Erosion Blast began forming in his left hand, while his right hand gathered power.
He looked at Kuiyuan with the gaze of someone truly intent on eliminating his opponent, then shifted his eyes toward Kuiyuan's feet.
Kuiyuan was still grinning with unearned anticipation—until he suddenly felt the ground beneath him shifting. By the time he realized what was happening, the distance between him and Victor Wang was already less than two meters. A perfectly layered, inverted violet jade sphere was flying toward him, and at the edge of his vision, a fiery red sword was also thrusting in.
"Heh…"
He lifted his feet just in time, halting his forward movement. The massive bone bow spun downward—its string slicing smoothly through the Electro-infused Erosion Blast on the front-right side, then colliding with the Wentian Sword on the left. The bow itself then swung horizontally in an attempt to clash at close range.
Erosion Blast was about to detonate; knowing things were bad, Victor Wang had no intention of staying put to trade blows. He slipped away instantly, and with a flick, used chains to bind Kuiyuan to the ground.
Seeing the two hemispheres swelling in an instant, Kuiyuan also realized what was coming. His fingers slid into the gap between the bowstring and bow body near the tip, and with a fierce twist, he spun the flung bow back around, slicing the not-yet-fully-exploded Erosion Blast into four pieces.
Then came a thunderous boom, leaving a massive crater.
As dust and fire-mist scattered, Kuiyuan spun his bow like an electric fan. Though covered in superficial scratches, he appeared largely unharmed.
Victor Wang furrowed his brows.
"Boss said that aura is the fluctuation of elemental power. Used well, it can rival actual elemental energy. I don't get it—but he didn't lie. That move of yours looks flashy, but that's all."
After two seconds of stillness, the two clashed again.
Anemo pushed from behind, Geo lifted beneath his feet, Electro's rapid-movement technique stimulated his legs—at extreme speed, Victor Wang surged forward.
In response, Kuiyuan plucked his bowstring, firing invisible arrows while rapidly retreating.
A Geo wall rose before Victor Wang. After neutralizing the bow-energy arrows, it shattered; he burst through the fragments, speed unchanged.
Kuiyuan slapped his quiver—several arrows flew upward: one real arrow, one empty shot. The bow flipped—another real arrow, another empty. After that sequence, he caught the last arrow and sprinted.
Victor Wang treated the real arrows with caution. While sprinting, he adjusted his movement to dodge the first. The Jade Shield absorbed the second. With a step, the Geo construct extended forward; the third arrow pierced several Geo walls before losing power and being cleaved in half. The fourth vanished into rubble entirely.
Still, he closed the distance. Kuiyuan hadn't run at all—he was right ahead, bow drawn into a full moon.
"This arrow never misses."
He closed his eyes and released. It was as though a streak of light shot from the bow.
Victor Wang felt an immense killing intent lock onto him, coldness climbing his spine. Kuiyuan, a ranged fighter, had pretended to pull back only to actually close the distance—unexpected. But Victor Wang had plenty of mobility options; even at such close range, at such incredible speeds, he could evade!
The ground suddenly lifted him, and wind launched him skyward—but the arrow curved, bending mid-flight to follow him?
Closer and closer… even flying further only made the sensation of danger worse. Hard turns couldn't shake it.
Victor Wang made a decision. He cut off the Anemo propulsion, letting his body fall—falling head-on toward the arrow.
Jade Shield. Jade Shield. Jade Shield. What was originally a thin layer stacked until it formed half a wall. Man and arrow were separated by that half-wall as the arrow's force pinned him midair.
Behind the translucent, ochre shield, Victor Wang examined the arrow—the way it drilled through layer after layer. Confusion welled in him. He was confident: even his own sword couldn't break his Jade Shield.
But the arrow finally stopped. Without such a powerful defensive technique, it truly might not have been blocked. With no time to ponder, Victor Wang descended, thrusting directly toward Kuiyuan.
Kuiyuan looked exhausted, yet still agile enough to dodge. Victor Wang used the Fourfold Dust Dragon Lock—but the golden chains were brutally severed by Kuiyuan's bowstring, already prepared for such a move.
The flaw of Erosion Blast was its poor long-range reliability—its hit rate was miserable unless the target had no escape.
With a sigh, this time Victor Wang widened the distance himself. Seven hundred sixty-six strands of wind swept over grass, trees, stones, and streams, rising from earth and sky, gathering in subtle currents into a massive vortex—an almost complete Wind's Grand Ode. Its range vast, its pull immense—even though Kuiyuan sensed it, escape was nearly impossible.
When the colossal wind mass fully formed, every strand became a wind blade. Kuiyuan's spinning bow protected only one direction; wounds quickly multiplied on his body.
Victor Wang added a touch of Electro, giving the Wind's Grand Ode a paralyzing effect. He hesitated—should he add Pyro next—
At the critical instant, Kuiyuan gasped heavily within the storm. From his coat, he produced a mirror—its surface strangely bright, clear, yet reflecting nothing… because something already existed inside it.
Kuiyuan clenched his palm and crushed it. The dark-robed figure within shattered—yet as though breaking through a shackle, stepped out of the tiny mirror.
Once free, the dark-robed man expanded to human size. A low, slightly hoarse male voice sounded: "I told you not to act on your own. The divination showed you would be grievously wounded."
"You were right. And you should know I'd never listen… I lost. Hurry, get me out of here."
"Only now you're panicking?"
Seeing a stranger appear, Victor Wang's hand trembled in fright—Pyro motes entered the Wind's Grand Ode.
A violent Overloaded reaction ignited. At the center of the blast, a flash appeared: numerous Cryo mirrors formed a sphere, shielding Kuiyuan and the robed man completely.
When the explosion ended, the stranger didn't immediately take Kuiyuan away. Instead, he examined Victor Wang, then murmured, "How curious. I cannot see your fate. Are you blessed by the heavens… or…? Join us. I can let you hear the voice of the skies. Whatever you desire, cooperating with me is your best path."
"Are you the South Wing's leader?" Victor Wang asked.
"There is no leader. We follow only the will of the Heavenly Principles. They are supreme. All others are equal."
"Do you know Night Owl's plan?"
"Whether I know or not doesn't matter. None of that matters."
"And the lives of mortals?"
"Not important. We follow only the will of the Heavenly Principles. They are supreme. Everything else is unimportant."
"I have nothing more to say to you." Victor Wang shook his head helplessly.
"The divination showed I would leave disappointed. As expected, you refused. Then we'll leave it here for now. We will meet again. Fate never stops."
"You're just going to leave?" Victor Wang's condition was far from good—he had already cleared multiple Withering Zones, used the [Two Ends of Beginning and End] early, and consumed plenty of energy just now. But he couldn't show weakness.
"You cannot stop me."
The robed man—who had stepped out of a mirror—drew a wide arc with both hands, creating another Cryo mirror. This one reflected everything before it truthfully. And the reflected Victor Wang… shattered the mirror and stepped out—
The mirrored clone was weaker than the original, but troublesome nonetheless. Victor Wang could only watch as the dark-robed man sealed Kuiyuan into another mirror and drifted away like a ghost.
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