Third Elder was terribly aggrieved, and the excruciating pain overwhelmed him like a flood, surging all over him from his bottom in waves after waves. Yet, he had to endure it.
There were still two more moves. As long as he could withstand two more moves, everything would end.
Fang Zhengzhi naturally knew what Third Elder was thinking. Of course, he also knew that he wouldn’t have an easy time if he allowed Third Elder to tide through his two subsequent blows.
Even though Third Elder seemed to be at a considerable disadvantage after being dealt with his two sneak attacks, Fang Zhengzhi knew that Third Elder’s true strength wouldn’t pale in comparison to Cang Yue of Ling Yun Tower as an elder of the Heaven Dao Pavilion.
Fang Zhengzhi clearly remembered the simple exchange between Yan Qianli, Yan Xiu’s grandfather, and Cang Yue back at the Flame City Capital after the battle against King Xieluo. Their conversation allowed him to gauge the strength of those in the Sagely State.
For instance, Yan Qianli would be considered to have just entered the Sagely State not long ago, and have not truly attained the full strength of the State – supposedly a novice in the beginning stage.
By that logic … conservatively, Third Elder would be in the middle stage, or even the advanced stage of the Sagely State.
“No, I must wound him severely with my remaining two free moves!” Fang Zhengzhi quickly affirmed his objective, but how he would achieve that was another problem altogether. After all, Third Elder was not dimwitted, and was definitely a sly old fox.
How could Third Elder not anticipate the tricks that Fang Zhengzhi planned? For his remaining two moves, Fang Zhengzhi already foresaw the limited possibility of closing in on his opponent.
What could he do if he couldn’t get close to Third Elder? Should he continue using the Heavenly Descent?
Fang Zhengzhi quickly dismissed that idea. As great as the Heavenly Descent was, he couldn’t bite off more than he could chew. Most importantly, the Heavenly Descent was not the move with the greatest offensive potential.
In fact, its greatest strength was … the safety it granted the user.
To be blunt, the user could retreat after launching the attack.
“Shoom!” With Third Elder’s arduous effort, Fang Zhengzhi’s entire body finally entered the radiance of the azure light. In the next moment, he bizarrely reappeared at his previous location, his shadow conjuring under the sun’s rays.
Third Elder then heaved a sigh of relief. He was half-kneeling on the ground, clasping his bottom as tightly as possible. He supported himself off the ground gruellingly with both his palms, his forehead dripping with sweat.
Painful, really painful!
“You brat, come at me with whatever shameless underhand strategies you have left!” Third Elder finally managed to stand up after several effortful breaths, but his legs still wobbled unwillingly.
The Thousand Years of Pain of the Rebirth State was no joke.
Fang Zhengzhi knew that he couldn’t drag this on any longer. The longer he waited, the more Third Elder would recover. Someone in the Supernatural State could recover his own injuries, so someone in the Sagely State would definitely be able to do so.
Even though his strike has completely split Third Elder’s anus apart, his opponent would recover completely in no time. What should he do?
At such a considerable distance, the Heavenly Descent he used previously would be the quickest attack for him, but it was already blocked by Third Elder. What other ideas does he still have now?
Countless long-range attacks flashed through Fang Zhengzhi’s mind … but he quickly dismissed them one after another. This way, his two moves would be useless.
If he attacked from afar, the impact would definitely be weaker that of a close-range distance. Even if Third Elder has raised his guard, Fang Zhengzhi would still have to create opportunities to close in on his opponent.
No chances? Then create them!
With his mind set, Fang Zhengzhi couldn’t wait any longer. He skidded towards Third Elder, as though meeting an old friend in a long time.
“Third Elder, we actually don’t bear any personal grudges against each other. Can we shake hands? After that, I’ll forsake my two moves and you’ll let me enter the third round of the selection test, how about it?” Fang Zhengzhi proposed as he walked towards Third Elder.
“You disgusting brat, do you think you still have a chance now?” Third Elder’s face looked extremely ghastly. Upon noticing Fang Zhengzhi closing in quickly, he instinctively shifted his hand down to guard his rear.
How could he possibly not read Fang Zhengzhi’s mind?
Fang Zhengzhi was obviously using some casual banter to provoke him or catch him off guard, exploiting the chance to close in and create the opportunity for another sneak attack. How naive!
Third Elder didn’t retreat immediately. After all, his pride as an elder of the Heaven Dao Pavilion prevented him from backing down from opposing pressure, but he had no intentions of allowing Fang Zhengzhi to approach him so easily like this.
A resplendent white light lit up on Third Elder’s forehead. The complicated white character on his forehead slowly morphed, as though gaining a life of its own. In the blink of an eye … it evolved into another character.
Furthermore, not only did the character experience changes, even its color and the surrounding glow changed into a uniform earthy yellow.
“I … F*ck?!” Fang Zhengzhi’s eyes were wide open. He stared at the evolving character on Third Elder’s forehead and the surrounding yellow radiance, and suddenly stopped in his tracks.
That thing can change?
Fang Zhengzhi has met Sages before, and not just one Sage. He met the Heavenly Oasis Saint, Yan Qianli and Cang Yue before, but all three of them have never demonstrated this move. What’s more, Fang Zhengzhi and the Heavenly Oasis Saint spent a full year and more together, but that old duff has never even mentioned this technique to him before.
What the heck?
Just as Fang Zhengzhi appeared slightly dazed, a wave-like yellow radiance dispersed from Third Elder’s forehead. At the same time, the entire space began shuddering, as though something was about to charge out.
Following that … something really charged out.
Rays of black cracks danced across the sky, with each fissure surging with overflowing yellow light. They were specks of faint yellow sand.
“Yellow sand? Yellow sand just appeared out of thin air?” Fang Zhengzhi’s comprehension of the Dao of All Creation was far deeper than before, and he was very familiar with the Dao’s characteristics.
Changes. Fundamental changes, or in other words, manipulation.
If you’re capable of altering a physical entity, you could effectively control all bodies with the same material, and allow this entity to become a weapon in your arsenal.
Take the simplest Water Dao for instance. In the beginning, one could manipulate water for both offensive and defensive techniques, and afterwards, one could then alter its state and turn it into either mist or ice. Ice could be used as a sword, while mist could be used to confuse opponents.
Everything was rooted to a single word – existence.
Nothing in this world can change completely from a state of non-existence to a state of existence. No one can conjure gems and treasures from thin air.
Furthermore, existence came in different forms. For example, existence in the Small Dimension was considered as such. Projecting the water from the Small Dimension into the real world and channeling the Origin Energy could allow the water to have a temporary existence in the real world.
This was an offensive technique of the Dao of All Creation.
For every entity that is projected from the Small Dimension into the real world after both realms become connected, the Origin Energy is used as a pillar to support their ephemeral existence outside and balance out their strengths and weaknesses.
But right before his eyes … Third Elder was about to dispel Fang Zhengzhi’s previous conceptions.
“Creating yellow sand from the cracks? Where did all this yellow sand come from? Did Third Elder prepare them beforehand, or did he shift it from somewhere else?” These questions ran through Fang Zhengzhi’s mind.
Fang Zhengzhi recalled Prince Li of the First Rank using the clouds of the natural world to strengthen his attacks during the battle of the Flame Capital City. Third Elder’s move seemed to stem from the same principles, but they differed from Prince Li’s attack in terms of technique and skill.
The world is truly a fascinating place!
Fang Zhengzhi sighed in awe. Shortly after, he prepared to strike as well. After all, no matter what Third Elder’s technique was, he wasn’t bothered too much since Third Elder could not retaliate for the next two moves.
He sprinted forward. However … just as Fang Zhengzhi took a single step into the falling yellow sand, his body sank. He seemed to be stepping on air.
“The Qian Kun Eight Wastelands!” Third Elder’s voice boomed.
Following that, a massive suction force generated beneath Fang Zhengzhi’s feet. The falling yellow sand swirled incessantly, creating a vortex almost akin to quicksand.
And that was not all.
Just as the vortex formed, mountains of sand dunes piled up, along with cracked sand walls weathered and battered with the merciless winds.
A wasteland. An area void of life. No man’s land.
Yet, a forbidden area such as this has appeared around Third Elder, within the Heaven Academic Altar constructed from white jade.
A drop of cold sweat trickled down Fang Zhengzhi’s forehead. He looked down at the swirling vortex of yellow sand, hesitating to spew out “Your mom’s a bitch!”.
Did he push it too far?
How could he close in like this?!
“Old man, aren’t you flouting the rules?! Didn’t you promise not to retaliate for the first five moves?” Fang Zhengzhi couldn’t care less about showing due respect to his elders.
He had to let Third Elder know that going against his word was not an option!
One can be shameless, but not to this extent, Furthermore, there were the emperors of the four empires and all the Heaven Dao disciples watching him.
This was his speciality after all.
“Cut the crap. I did not break the rules!” Third Elder looked at the immobilized Fang Zhengzhi, cracking a sly smile on his face drenched with sweat. But very quickly, his expression was overwritten by one of excruciating pain, causing his face to distort frighteningly.