Chapter Sixty-Eight: Too Late

Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!

At this moment, everything born of nature was no stronger than a sheet of paper in the hands of Bai Cinan and Liu Tian. Lightning and the great roc roared in unison; mountains and magma melded into one. In the blink of an eye, the two battled from the ground to the treetops, from the plain to the volcano itself. Even the boiling, searing magma became a weapon in their duel.

Though Liu Tian was outmatched in strength and speed, he relied on a higher mastery of martial arts to anticipate Bai Cinan’s moves. Coupled with the relentless spiritual suppression of the great roc and the subtle restoration of his state through sheer "effort", he was never at a disadvantage.

In just a dozen minutes, they had exchanged a thousand blows.

But—

“With just this level of strength, you’ll never fulfill your boast, junior brother!” Bai Cinan called out amid the ferocious clash. He seemed to possess reserves of energy yet untapped. The advantage of wielding lightning was simply too great; a single misstep and Liu Tian would suffer not only severe injury, but paralysis and worse.

Yet when it came to stamina, Liu Tian, with his ample reserves of origin energy, feared no one. Moreover, he had now truly pushed his body to the absolute human limit—adding martial arts skills now cost him almost nothing.

A single point would grant him a sliver of martial knowledge while fully refreshing his condition.

Only a fool would not use such an advantage! In preparation, he had studied nearly a thousand different martial arts; though only a vague impression remained of each, it was enough to provide incremental improvement.

Whenever he noticed his body growing numb, Liu Tian would immediately select and apply another martial art.

Bai Cinan might appear unscathed, brimming with energy and emboldened by thunder, but unless he seized the chance to kill Liu Tian in one blow, the shameless blood exchange would eventually wear him down.

Furthermore—

“Senior brother, enough talk. I’m getting the hang of it now.”

With every refresh of his state, every purge of electricity from his system, and every moment of combat experience gained against Bai Cinan, Liu Tian’s sense of possibility grew ever stronger.

“I’m about to break through!”

To upgrade in the midst of battle, without relying on the power of “effort”—this was the first time Liu Tian truly felt like a peerless genius.

“Quack! You’re about to break through too? Then let’s see who does it first!” With the escalating fight, Bai Cinan’s aura also began to harmonize. Under Liu Tian’s relentless pressure, this unrivaled genius, too, was pressing toward the next stage.

In truth, had it not been for the chaos of too many merged genes and the hard-won clarity of self forged through countless ordeals, Bai Cinan should have been the first to break through and become the King of the Century.

Battle! Battle! Battle! Battle! Battle!

Unwittingly, the duel grew ever more intense, their forms flashing across every corner of Black Smoke Island. Smoke and dust filled the sky, mingling with seawater poured into the volcanic crater. White steam and earth together blotted out the sun, until only two shadowy figures could be seen weaving and colliding through thickening clouds.

……

“To think the second disciple of the Heavenly Way, Liu Tian, could match our leader Bai Cinan blow for blow in such a short time,” a patrol plane swept overhead as Firebird looked down at Black Smoke Island, visibly surprised.

As a veteran fighter, though he’d long since been surpassed by the times, he could still tell, roughly, who held the upper hand.

From what he saw, Liu Tian had taken several hits, his body wracked by surges of electricity more than once, yet every time he emerged unscathed, fighting with renewed vigor.

This could only be explained by Liu Tian’s physical constitution, endurance, and fighting spirit being far beyond the ordinary—surely he couldn’t just refresh his state like a video game character at will?

“Firebird, you still call Bai Cinan ‘leader’? Hmph! Is that some kind of twisted joke? Don’t think nobody remembers what you did,” came the voice from another jet. Unlike Firebird, who was engrossed in the duel, Electric Eel kept his eyes wide, patrolling the skies. He hadn’t forgotten their true mission. “Speaking of which, where are Heavenly Way and Mingyue? Where did those two go?”

“Mingyue still has that prismatic crystal that’s turned completely rainbow. If we get it, our Dream Blue’s collection will be over two-thirds complete. According to prophecy, when two-thirds are gathered, their true purpose will be revealed.”

“Who knows where that old man took Mingyue?” Firebird shrugged at the voice on the radio. “He’s clearly made a breakthrough too. Originally, Mingyue would have lost to him for sure; now, there’s no contest. I bet Heavenly Way is taming Mingyue’s lion and tiger right about now.”

“Is that so? Something feels off,” Electric Eel frowned. A vague sense of unease crept in. He made a snap decision. “What did our leader say before we came? If Heavenly Way arrives, and both Mingyue and he disappear while Bai Cinan vanishes as well, drop it. Let’s drop it now.”

“But Bai Cinan is right in front of us, isn’t he?” Firebird hesitated.

“Can you be certain those two figures in the smoke are Bai Cinan?” Electric Eel retorted, flying his jet. “When did we last have a clear visual of the duel?”

“Ten minutes ago—wait, the sounds of the fight have just kept repeating, haven’t they?” Firebird realized, sharply turning the plane, preparing to hit the button at the designated spot.

But—too late!

Though they were a thousand meters high—far out of harm’s reach—suddenly the wings dipped, the windows shattered, and before they could press the button, both Firebird and Electric Eel were yanked out of their planes.

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Electric Eel,” Liu Tian cocked his head, completely unconcerned about the plummeting jets. Facing the hurricane winds, he smiled, “You’re certainly cautious. Care to tell me what that button you were about to press does?”

“Firebird—tell me, was what happened back then arranged by Dream Blue?” On the other jet, despite two gaping wounds in his body, Bai Cinan, through sheer will and control, forced himself onto the craft and seized Firebird by the throat, demanding answers to his long-held suspicions.

“Heh, that’s right.” Knowing death was imminent, Firebird showed no fear. “All the humiliation you suffered, the arm you lost—it was all our doing. Not only that, we recorded everything, and soon the whole world will be watching!”

“You bastard. Prepare to taste hell along with Dream Blue. I won’t let you die so easily!” Confirming his suspicions, Bai Cinan smashed all of Firebird’s teeth with a single blow, snarling fiercely.

“The ones who should… die are…” Though his teeth were shattered and the ground rushed ever closer, Firebird pressed on, refusing to stop speaking.

“No! Get away!” Unlike Bai Cinan, Heavenly Way, and Mingyue, whose thinking was constrained, Liu Tian instantly realized what was happening as Firebird stalled for time. Bellowing with all his might, he shouted, “Get away from those planes—now!”

As he spoke, Liu Tian tore off Electric Eel’s head with one hand and flung it aside. He then stamped on the fighter jet, leapt off Electric Eel’s head midair, and in an instant, dashed nearly a kilometer away.

At that moment, the Saint King Mingyue, serving as a mount, finally reacted and tried to fly away with all his might. But before he could take off, Bai Cinan, having just killed Firebird, grabbed him and took off at an unprecedented speed.

On the ground, Heavenly Way, who had been watching the sky intently, acted the moment Liu Tian fled at unmatched speed. Before Liu Tian’s voice even reached him, he was already racing for the distant shore, away from the two planes.

Boom!

The instant the two jets crashed into the sea, two miniature suns erupted from the surface. Infinite light and heat exploded forth, gouging a massive crater into the ocean. The shockwave swept in all directions at thirty-two kilometers per second, smashing into the four who had not yet reached the safety zone…