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Chapter 120

The memory of dying, which had been engraved in his subconscious, had come back to him.

The Asura statue in front of him seemed to swing its six arms slowly, taking an almost evasive stance. It didn’t look as if it could hurt a fly, but Leonard couldn’t find an opening.

No, it wasn’t slow at all.

What? It can keep up with me even though I’ve accelerated this much! Was it always this fast?!

When Leonard sensed that Heaven’s Annihilation was about to come down upon him, he had already sped up past his limits. He was going as fast as a lightning bolt, but the Asura statue was in the stance for Heaven’s Annihilation, so it was quicker.

To put it in terms of fist arts, it was as if the statue was bracing its upper body to position its fists before striking. Even its preparation was faster than Leonard’s highest speed.

He just barely managed to keep up with it by using Cloud Dragon Momentum Shift. Leonard’s five swords began to spin in the same direction, creating the ultimate shield around him while being both offensive and defensive.

If he was just a moment late and got hit by the attack, it would be over.

One Origin Five Elements Sword Art

Five Elements Style

Ultimate Secret Technique

Black Tortoise’s Wall

He imbued the wall of energy with Five Elements Augmented Qi at the same time the Asura statue made its move.

———Boom.

By the time Leonard realized what happened, his heart had already been ripped out just as it had been in his past life. There was a hole torn through the Black Tortoise’s Wall, and his swords had shattered as proof of his defeat.

“Cough!” As his processing speed returned to normal, blood spurted from his mouth and from the gaping wound in his chest. But the pain and bleeding weren’t his biggest concern.

He couldn’t believe what just happened.

He could accept that the heart devil was strong enough to break through the Black Tortoise’s Wall, but it was so fast that he hadn’t even sensed it coming. It was as if the statue didn’t even need to prepare its attacks.

“You didn’t die instantly after being hit by Heaven’s Annihilation? This’ll be annoying,” the heart devil said as the Asura statue swung another punch as if answering Leonard’s thoughts.

He was already in a critical state, so he was crushed on the spot.

“This was the ninetieth attempt. You have eighteen remaining.”

If Leonard died in his Mindscape, his mind would be consumed. Inversely, that meant that he would return to his original state after being slashed and stabbed multiple times as long as his mind was still intact.

The blood and pieces of flesh scattered around him disappeared, and Leonard reappeared with his whole body intact. He formed his swords.

There was an unspoken rule that stated that the heart devil wouldn’t attack him as he was preparing for battle. If there wasn’t, it could have used Heaven’s Annihilation as soon as Leonard revived and ended it there. After all, no one would be able to survive such a deadly attack if they didn’t even have time to brace themselves.

He was only given a few seconds to recover, but it was enough time for him to review what had just occurred.

The heart devil can move at such incredible speeds that I can’t even sense its movements. It also has immensely destructive power.

He couldn’t block. He couldn’t dodge.

It was as if the heart devil had taken the strongest parts of the Six-Direction Total Rampage and the Emperor Destroyer Immortal Killer and combined them to create this technique. They were based on the same principles of course, and Heaven’s Annihilation became several—no, tens of times more powerful than either of them.

The Asura statue surpassed Leonard’s highest speeds even during the preparation stage, so trying to interrupt the attack before it landed was no longer an option.

Should I aim for a draw?

Other than blocking or dodging, his only other options were to deflect the attack or to face it head-on with a counterattack.

Heaven’s Annihilation couldn’t hit a large target. Based on the size of the holes in the Black Tortoise’s Wall and in his chest, he estimated that the attack itself was about the size of an adult’s head. Leonard’s life force was unfathomably greater than Yeon Mu-Hyuk’s. Even if all his organs were destroyed, it would be possible to make an attack of his own as long as his head remained intact.

“It’s so obvious what you’re planning. You’re a lunatic,” the heart devil said from within the statue, looking down at him. “I should start aiming for your head from now on.”

With that declaration, the statue made its move, and Leonard reacted a moment too late, just as he had before.

He assumed the Taiji Five Elements Sword Formation. Heaven’s Annihilation was a technique that focused on a single target, so rather than a large shield like the Black Tortoise’s Wall, it would be more effective to use a strategy based on neutralizing the attack or reflecting it back.

———Boom.

But alas, the yin-yang shape was destroyed, and Leonard’s head exploded behind it. No longer under control, the swords clattered all across the ground.

He never even had a chance to return or block the attack.

Leonard was killed in one hit.

The headless corpse rippled and disappeared like a mirage, leaving a revived Leonard in its place. He clicked his tongue.

“They say you can defeat brute strength with finesse in the same way brute strength can defeat finesse... but this is a little too much.”

Though Leonard wasn’t skilled enough to use the original Wudang Sect’s Taiji Sage Sword Art, the Taiji Five Elements Sword Formation was a prolific application of the same principles.

Even he would have trouble breaking through a properly executed Taiji Sword Art using the Azure Dragon Form, which was based on speed and precision. If someone like him or the Taiji Sword Immortal used such a shield, they would be able to deflect an entire lightning bolt once or twice.

And Heaven’s Annihilation had ripped through it in an instant.

“Do you give up?” the heart devil asked as if directly responding to Leonard’s frustration.

“Of course not.” He wasn’t so weak that he would give it up after failing twice.

Seventeen tries. A single loss in a battle where his life was on the line should mean death, but he had a whole seventeen tries left. There was no bigger blessing for a martial artist.

Leonard still had plenty of tricks up his sleeve. If the Yellow Dragon Form or the Black Tortoise Form didn’t work, he would simply test out the rest.

One Origin Five Elements Art

Five Elements Style

Ultimate Secret Technique: Azure Dragon’s Flash

His swords blazed with five-colored augmented energy as they began to overlap each other to combine their power, as if trying to become a single blade.

It became a flash of lightning made out of the power of the Five Elements. This technique was a step above the one Leonard had used to break through Emperor Destroyer Immortal Killer.

But the heart devil only scoffed at his attempt, and the Asura statue made its move. “Ha. You dare think you can overpower Heaven’s Annihilation with a swift sword art?”

———Boom.

The statue hit Leonard too fast for him to sense it, and the blade was instantly cut in half. The sword’s cerulean light flickered out.

He used the rest of his energy to cover himself with an augmented energy shield, but the attack broke through its defenses and made its defenses crumple like a piece of paper. With only one arm and leg remaining, Leonard thrashed and fell face-first into the ground. The Asura statue raised its fist to finish him off.

“That’s ninety-two.” The heart devil reminded him of his number of defeats as it watched Leonard’s tattered body restore itself to its original state.

Now he had sixteen tries left.

While the battle seemed easy for the heart devil because it could kill Leonard with one hit, by no means did it underestimate him. That was also why it attacked him as soon as the unspoken grace period was over.

He is no doubt getting closer, though only the slightest bit at a time.

While Leonard couldn’t grasp the principles behind Heaven’s Annihilation, he was constantly improving.

He had split his essence, energy, and spirit between reality and his Mindscape, and he was fighting intense battles that were pushing him to his limits. A single misstep would lead to qi deviation, but his progress was proof that this training method was succeeding.

Using the Five Elements True Dragon Ring, which had been awakened due to his unique bloodline, was also starting to become as natural as using his hands and feet.

In fact, the heart devil’s victory was very close.

“You have sixteen attempts left.”

If Leonard were far off from reaching the Profound Realm, he could fight a hundred battles and it still wouldn’t be enough for him to win, but he was an exceptional master martial artist who already had one foot in the door.

He could break through the threshold at any moment.

The heart devil used Heaven’s Annihilation again as if to say that it wouldn’t allow Leonard the leeway to even come up with such a thought.

———Boom.

Just as Leonard’s Ultimate Secret Techniques, Vermillion Bird’s Assault exploded, scraps of flesh flew out alongside its sparks.

But the heart devil could feel it.

A very small black spot had been burnt into the face of the Asura statue.

It tried its best to conceal what had happened as it prepared for the next battle. Unlike its opponent, the heart devil didn’t improve every time they fought. After all, it was essentially a scar carved by Heavenly Demon Dan Mok-Jin in Leonard’s past life. While it could widen the wound to prevent it from closing, it wasn’t possible for it to keep up with Leonard’s growth.

“Now...”

“I have fifteen tries left.”

They spoke at the same time.

On one side, a swordsman summoned and took command over a divine beast made out of Five Elements Augmented Qi. On the other side, a devil sat inside an Asura statue. They clashed once more.

* * *

While Leonard was fighting an upward battle against Heaven’s Annihilation inside his Mindscape, in the physical realm, he continued to fight based on pure instinct.

Boom—!

Every time there was a flash of vivid green light, the ground shook and the waves rolling toward the beach receded back into the ocean.

The aftershocks were far too powerful when one considered the fact that they were caused by a single person’s punches.

Pablo El Orlando Patterson.

There was barely anyone in the Atlantis Maritime Alliance who didn’t know his name. He was not only a powerful Transcendence Tier fighter but also the captain of a Rank A expedition team. On top of that, he was a member of the Council. A big shot like him couldn’t not be famous.

But as Moby Dick’s activities began to lull, the number of people who remembered his fighting power was decreasing.

“...I thought he’d become rusty after he started playing politics, but he’s still a freaking monster.”

“Well, you know, even during Moby Dick’s prime, Pablo basically did everything all by himself.”

Veteran explorers shuddered at the sight of his fighting prowess as it brought back old memories as clear as day, while civilians who’d only ever seen run-of-the-mill explorers wondered if they were dreaming.

Now, Leonard and Pablo’s fight accelerated to the point that not even those in the Ninth and Tenth Degree External Force Tier could fully keep up. As five swords and two fists flew at each other, they left vivid afterimages in the air. And before the afterimages even disappeared, they landed a few more strikes, creating an invisible aftershock.

Booooom——!

When Pablo broke through the Soul Deflecting Shell Mirror, it let out a sound that resembled thunder, and Leonard couldn’t handle the impact and went flying a few meters back. If he were still in the body of Yeon Mu-Hyuk, the force of the attack would have broken both arms and ruptured three of his eight extraordinary meridians.

Pablo was impossibly strong.

With his unbelievable regenerative abilities as the foundation of his self-destructive attacks, every one of his strikes was potentially lethal. He also seemed to be consistently using mana to temporarily enhance his physical abilities by several times. He seemed ridiculously powerful to Leonard.

■■■ Fist

■■ Tattering ■■

Pablo was in the lead. He curved his ten fingers like hooks and swung in two different directions. The augmented energy seemed to seep into his fingers from his fists, making them like claws. They shred through everything they touched.

And in front of him was a shield as black as ink, blocking his way.

Five Elements Style

Black Tortoise Seventh Form: Ice Shell Barrier

Of course, the shield didn’t last long before it was ripped into pieces. Not only had its face been hit with a straight, pointed attack, but Pablo was more powerful, so it never stood a chance.

Still, the brief moment it bought Leonard allowed him to narrowly fall out of striking distance.

Pablo gritted his teeth. He couldn’t count just how many times this had happened. “Tch. You sure are good at hiding like a little rat. You’re going to die anyway, so what is the point of delaying it by a few minutes?”

The difference in their power was clear based on their physical appearance. All his clothing and the entirety of his body had been reduced to bloody tatters. Unlike him, though, Pablo’s appearance had barely changed after tossing off his coat.

In reality, he had sustained damage that could have killed him a hundred times over if he hadn’t been healing over and over, but the onlookers couldn’t pick up on it. Even Leonard, whose mind was moving hundreds of times faster than normal, just barely managed to notice.

Because the boy’s consciousness was in his Mindscape, he did not react to Pablo’s words or actions.

In some ways, his current state almost embodied the pure essence of martial arts.

He ascended beyond his highly refined mind, and as his body reached its limits, the latent power in his blood awakened—the power his outstanding martial arts skills had been suppressing.

The Cardenas gift of swordsmanship, revived in the form of the dragon heart within him, responded, bringing him to the next level.

Thump.

After being out of sync this whole time, his body, energy, and soul aligned. It should have taken him years to reach the Transcendence Tier, but he attained it in a matter of minutes—no, seconds.

In the Central Plains, they divided the path to the Creation Realm into five stages.

Concentrating the body and mind.

Dissolving the barrier between them.

Calling forth worldly energy.

Harmonizing the body and spirit.

And fully achieving unity.

Before his fight with Pablo, Leonard hadn’t even begun to concentrate his body and mind, but now he’d reached the stage of calling forth energy.

After being battered with tens of attacks, his body greedily thirsted for the energy his consciousness possessed, which had also been killed multiple times within his Mindscape. Even the Five Elements True Dragon Ring, which had been supporting him as much as it could, was starting to reach its limit for the first time.

The Three Treasures aligned perfectly.

“What...?” Pablo looked down at his feet, confused. He’d unconsciously taken a step back.

After being endowed with the power of the Outer God, he had become stronger than someone in the Transcendence Tier. There was no way he would feel threatened by that boy. Leonard would be crushed if Pablo properly landed just one attack. On the other hand, Pablo wouldn’t be damaged even if he let his opponent hit him a few times. The feeling of crisis came from something even deeper than his instinct, so he didn’t heed the warning.

■■■ Fist

But he didn’t ignore all the experience he’d accumulated as an explorer, so he mustered as much power as he could use without outpacing his regenerative abilities.

His subconscious told him that he couldn’t let the fight drag out any longer and showed him what would happen if he did.

An ominous-looking projection of a monster appeared behind him. As he raised his fists, the viridian augmented energy deepened to a dark green.

Six ■■

■■ Ripping ■■■

Each fist let out three rays of light, and each individual beam had more destructive power than a Class 7 Archmage. Speaking in murim terms, each strike carried at least three gapja’s worth of cultivation.

It was a consecutive attack with six hits in total, so Leonard was basically hit with twelve gapja’s worth of cultivation at once. In martial arts, the amount of internal energy one held wasn’t everything, but there was so much power that not even the 108 Arhat Formation would have been able to handle it.

“Die.”

Twelve rays of augmented energy shot out in straight and curved trajectories. They tore through the air, moving several times faster than the speed of sound.