Chapter 231 - Hei vs. Long Tian - 2

As Hei placed his spear over his shoulder, he dashed towards Long Tian. Then, he turned 90 degrees so that the tip of the spear was aimed at Long Tian.

"Intent of the Spear, Spider Thrust."

"Intent of the Double Swords, Imperial Slash."

PENG!

Spear and hooked swords collided violently without yielding an inch. The two remained like this for a few seconds before Hei lightly pulled his spear backward. Then, he brought the spear forward again, giving the weapon more momentum.

Stab!

Long Tian decided not to parry the blow as he had no way to infuse his hooked swords with momentum at the moment. Instead, he decided to dodge by moving his body slightly out of the spear's trajectory.

"Intent of the Spear, Snake Sting."

Hei's right hand at the flat end of the spear pulled the weapon back and then brought it back forward. Whenever Long Tian dodged or blocked, Hei would immediately pull the weapon back so he could attack the next instant. In doing so, he was preventing Long Tian from setting his pace and being able to counterattack.

'I understand. The position he has assumed allows him to maneuver the spear as his hair would. But, even so, it doesn't change the fact that his arms are useless as long as he's holding his spear. Which actually lessens his danger in close combat,' thought Long Tian.

Soon after, as Hei pulled back his spear to attack again, Long Tian decided to dash forward to catch his opponent off guard and attempted to hit Hei from behind.

Slash!

When Long Tian sprinted forward, Hei wasn't caught off guard. Quickly, he kicked his left leg in the direction of Long Tian's head. The Imperial Prince was also prepared as he knew Hei wouldn't be exposing himself in that way. Therefore, he quickly dodged the kick, leaning slightly downward, and continued with his attack. However, Hei's actions weren't as simple as they appeared.

When his kick was dodged, Hei stayed in place. Instead of moving away or lowering his leg to the ground, he rotated his upper body thanks to his extreme flexibility. At the same time, he pushed the shaft of his spear with both hands so that the weapon gained even more strength from that twisting motion.

PENG!

Long Tian raised his swords just in time, but the power infused by Hei's spinning motion and physical strength in the blow was beyond what he could bear. Thus, Long Tian backed away for a couple of meters before stabilizing and resumed his battle position.

Whoosh!

Hei quickly sprinted forward to attack Long Tian. He intended to attack relentlessly so as not to leave any space for his opponent. After all, offense was the best defense in certain situations.

"Repel!"

Long Tian pointed one of his swords forward. Then, a heavy force pushed Hei away from him at his command, thus canceling the incoming attack.

'As I thought. The speed and flexibility of his movements are too insidious to be dodged normally. But Repel and Attract can counter them with no problem.'

'His Repel and Attract abilities are no doubt annoying. But I already knew this. However, they aren't foolproof. They all depend on Long Tian's reaction speed. As long as my attacks outweigh his reflexes, I can land a hit.'

Hei and Long Tian looked at each other for a few moments. Then they both ran towards each other to resume the fight.

Hei resumed the position he had assumed earlier to strike in quick succession with his spear. At the same time, he began kicking whenever Long Tian tried to dodge his spear attacks. The claws of his feet were like sharp blades that could even collide with Long Tian's swords thanks to the protection of spirit power. Also, because he possessed a monstrous sense of balance, Hei had no problem moving and attacking while standing on one foot.

"Repel!"

When Hei attempted the spinning attack with his spear again, Long Tian repelled him as easily as he had done before. However, unlike before, he didn't just defend himself.

"Attract!"

Long Tian's left sword pointed forward, and Hei was pushed in that direction as if something invisible had pushed him.

'Now!' Hei exclaimed in his mind when he was within range of Long Tian's sword.

Hei's spear, which was above his shoulder earlier, had moved into his left hand when he was thrown backward. As soon as Long Tian stopped his attracting technique to attack, Hei took advantage of that fraction of time to counterattack.

"Repel!"

Screech!

The tip of the spear stopped at the last moment. An inch more, and it would touch Long Tian's defensive layer of spirit power. The latter had used his right sword to restrain Hei's stab.

"You aimed at the fraction where I stop my technique before attacking. Not bad, but I knew you were going to aim for it. Also," Long Tian said before sending his left sword forward, "I can still attack while keeping my technique active."

Stab!

The sword was thrust forward violently. Unexpectedly, however, the sword didn't meet its target. Hei had bent sideways so that his stomach would bend to the other side and dodge the sword.

Slash!

At the same time, Hei's leg moved amazingly, bending and even stretching beyond its usual length. His target was the eyes of Long Tian.

Screech!

The Imperial Prince reacted without losing a second. He changed the target of his right sword and switched from Repel to Attract. In doing so, Hei's sharp foot was abruptly forced to change direction and miss the target. At the same time, Long Tian twisted his wrist and thrust the sword back to strike Hei in the back.

Peng!

No longer having his left arm locked, Hei twisted his wrist so that the spear overlapped between Long Tian's sword and his back. In this way, he avoided a direct hit. However, instead of putting his feet on the ground and resisting Long Tian's attack, Hei used the force of that blow to lunge forward.

"Spider Bite + Snake Fang, Fang Bite!"

Hei opened his mouth, revealing his sharp teeth. At the same time, a pair of crescent blades made of spirit power formed at the height of his neck. The teeth and crescent blades then sank into Long Tian's neck.

"Fuck!" Long Tian swore, realizing the mistake he had made.

"Repulsive Barrier!"

A repulsive force spread from Long Tian, which sent Hei flying several meters away. The young man fell violently to the ground but got up shortly after as if nothing had happened.

'His technique, Repulsive Barrier, although it is a defensive move, also deals damage. The closer you are to the moment of activation, the greater the damage. My defensive layer is still intact, but it has taken damage all over. So I must pay attention.'

Meanwhile, the Imperial Prince was also standing, but his hand was touching the place where Hei's teeth and crescent blades had sunk.

'Damn. He tricked me. I was able to use Repulsive Barrier just in time. However, the damage of that move… it managed to break through some of my defensive layer of spirit power in such a short time. If he had had more time, would he have penetrated my flesh?'

At that thought, Long Tian shivered slightly. If this had been a battle of life and death and he hadn't been able to free himself from that grip, he would have died without a doubt.

'I underestimated it. Since his attacks, including the lethal ones, are mostly done with his arms, and to a lesser extent, with his legs, I haven't paid enough attention to his other body parts instead, especially with his hair out of order.

With the danger of such a counterattack, Attract becomes a double-edged sword. But if I only use Repel, my offensive ability will drop. In that case, I have to use another approach. Something that allows me to use Attract even at the risk of a counterattack.'

After some thought, Long Tian activated his bloodline and the technique he had in mind.

"Yellow Dragon Bloodline, activate! Earth Law, Personal Gravity: Speed."

When Long Tian activated his technique, his body suddenly became much lighter. When he began to run, his every step was as if he were sliding on the ground. In a few moments, he arrived in front of Hei with his swords.

Peng! Peng!

He executed two quick hits in succession that Hei could only block thanks to his sharp reflexes. However, Long Tian's speed of movement and execution left Hei amazed.

'It's not just its speed. Flexibility in his movements also increased dramatically. If this continues, I don't know how long I will be able to keep parrying and dodging his attacks.'

Now the situation was reversed. Earlier, Hei had relentlessly attacked Long Tian, ​​imposing his pace and preventing any possible counterattack as much as possible. Now, however, it was Long Tian who was putting Hei in a position where even parrying was difficult.

"Snake Coiling + Snake Run, Snake Dodge."

Hei's body began to bend at impossible angles, dodging every blow from his opponent's sword. It was like a fish swimming in the water, or rather a snake crawling on the ground.

"Snake Fist."

Slash!

Hei had managed to match Long Tian's pace enough to start overtaking him again. So, he began to send his punches when he had the chance. By doing so, he could both attack and reduce Long Tian's offensive.

"Earth Law, Personal Gravity: Strength! Hybrid Combat Mode! "

PENG!

Suddenly, the force behind Long Tian's blows increased dramatically, so much that when one of his swords landed on Hei's spear shaft, Hei was backed several paces.

'His damage is increased… It's the move he used against Lian. However, it isn't only that. Its speed remained unchanged. If so, I can no longer block his attacks, or I'll be overwhelmed in a head-to-head fight.'

Hei, therefore, aimed to dodge the attacks that were coming towards him. Snake Dodge allowed him to have an advantage in the flexibility of his movements. Even so, it was difficult to dodge every attack when their speeds were similar.

"Repel!"

Long Tian smiled and then pointed his sword to push Hei back. Then he sprinted forward to chase his opponent.

"Shit," Hei swore as he had lost his balance and was being pushed backward.

"Spider Run, Two-Legged Mode, Aerial Mode."

Hei kicked the air with his right foot. Immediately afterward, his body leaped sideways just in time to dodge the swords of Long Tian that were descending upon him.

At that point, Hei kicked the air in succession and circled around his opponent. After that, he took his spear in both hands and waved it.

"Intent of the Spear, Poison Law, Poison Crescent Blade."

A purple blade of spirit power broke free from the spear's tip and headed for Long Tian. The Imperial Prince responded by also sending a pair of yellow-gold blades made of spirit power.

Boom!

The purple crescent blade and the pair of yellow-gold blades exploded in a myriad of light particles that were blown away by the burst of another exchange of blades.

'Even if it's not my forte, for now, I can only aim for ranged attacks. I have to find the right moment to get close and strike.'

'Is he buying time with ranged attacks? Does he want to aim for a moment of distraction from me to surprise me? Well, then go ahead.'

Boom!

After several exchanges between blades of spirit power, Long Tian made a mistake and reacted too slowly to Hei's rapid movement. Or at least that was what the audience outside perceived as they watched the fight.

'Now!' they both thought as they prepared to launch their attack.

Hei used Spider Run Aerial Mode and kicked the air hard to position himself in front of Long Tian.

"Smart. So far, he has limited himself to attack from behind, giving the impression that he was aiming for a surprise attack. After all, defending yourself from an attack from behind is more difficult than defending yourself from a frontal attack. But by attacking from the front, he can take Long Tian by surprise." commented Hu Jie, who was enthusiastically watching every single moment of this fight.

"But Long Tian remains Long Tian. So while Hei's tactic might confuse most people, I doubt Long Tian will let himself be fooled." Feng Chen answered. He, too, was watching the battle with extreme attention.

And just as Feng Chen said, Long Tian was too careful to be fooled by such tricks, however elaborate they were.

"Concept of Authority, activate! Earth Law, Embrace of Mother Earth. "

Without thinking twice, Long Tian pushed both swords downward, driving them into the ground. Immediately afterward, an enormous pressure squeezed down the stage spot where Hei and Long Tian were standing.

Boom!

Hei felt his body sinking and getting heavy. His run was slowed down, and he had to bend his back and kneel to have any chance of resisting that pressure from above. He even had to let go of his spear, which had become unbearable to hold in his hands.

'It's as if the air itself had turned to rock and is crushing me. I knew it was powerful, but experiencing it for yourself is another matter entirely. Fortunately, I have prepared this card for that eventuality. But once played, the countdown will begin. If I don't finish the fight by the end of my technique, I won't be able to beat Long Tian, and defeat will be the only result.'

"Poison Law, Poison Sublimation."

When Hei activated his technique, purple smoke began to emit from his skin as the smell of burnt flesh and acid wafted through the air. However, this wasn't the most amazing thing.

No, what surprised the audience most was that Hei had started to get up. First, he lifted his head, then straightened his back, and finally stood up. Meanwhile, the purple smoke was becoming more and more intense, and at the same time, Hei's movements were regaining their normalcy.

As Hei got to his feet, to the amazement of the audience, he charged forward and punched Long Tian in the face. The Imperial Prince was still maintaining his technique and was immobile. Therefore the only thing he could do was receive Hei's fist in full.

Bam!

Long Tian was forced to retreat and also had to cancel his technique. Then, suddenly, the tremendous pressure that was crushing Hei dissolved into thin air, returning the situation to normal.