There was a giant explosion, everyone was stunned to see a massive shockwave rocking the entire outer city of demonic cultivators. Luckily everyone had already been evacuating since the first nascent soul master was spotted. Some ran for the outskirts where the poison mists didn’t reach while others went underground where there was a vast array of tunnels that could take them to a separate location.

Zhang Dong was the closest to this phenomenon. He wanted to do nothing else but to charge forward but the spike in energy was even too high for him. One of his strongest sword attacks was unable to cause much damage and Wang Long was continuously growing in power while surrounded by a twister of dark energy.

‘Did he copy my design or is this just something from the system store that he got…’

Before the dark mist cleared up he could tell what was waiting inside for him. It was something that looked familiar and could be seen on some superhero shows that he saw back in his old world. Without waiting he decided to activate his own version of this treasure before he got overwhelmed by Wang Long.

He didn’t have any music to accompany the transformation but quickly his body began to shine white. Soon after a suit of futuristic-looking armor appeared on his body, an improved version of the booster suits that he created for a few of his trusted retainers. His wife in particular had already adorned her own green suit that was further boosting her capabilities.

‘Still feels a bit uncomfortable…’

The suit was made from silvery-white metal. His whole body shivered as a prickly feeling took over. This suit to bring out more potential was somewhat infused into his flesh. Thanks to this it would feel like he was only wearing something like a layer of skin. The white overcoat started turning golden after his Qi started radiating everywhere.

This suit of armor was quite sleek and it hugged his body tightly. There weren’t really any parts that were sticking out and even the shoulder pauldrons were quite minimalistic. It was just there to boost his energies and to provide more defense than even his body refining technique could.

On the other hand, his opponent’s armor was a lot more intricate. As expected for someone that was going for a demon lord, the main color was black with a few crimson-red undertones. It looked similar to some fantasy full-body armors with spikes coming out from the back and pauldrons. The gauntlets had red fingertips that looked more like monster claws with the same pattern on his feet.

‘Did he go for the most edgy-looking one there was? It even has a cape…’

The cape had the image of a dragon on the back that looked similar to the zombie soul beast. Wang Long’s transformation was finished and now besides the bulky-looking armor, he was also holding a giant two-handed sword in one of his hands. The whole sword was longer than its user and would somewhat give him the reach advantage.

‘Hm… I’m not really sure if he knows what he is doing…’

While from the outside the gear that Wang Long looked cool and fashionable, it wasn’t that suited for the fight that they were having. Zhang Dong could already see the glaring weak points that this combo would bring. Yet even with those weak points the power radiating from his opponent was truly immense. The sword he was holding would probably be enough to cleave his body in half.

‘That is if he can get me…’

“Do you think you are the only one with cool toys? Did you really…”

Wang Long pointed towards Zhang Dong with the huge longsword that looked like it was made from a steel beam and then sharpened down. Before he could finish his villain monologue he needed to defend himself. His opponent was here to win, it was not a time for discussion anymore the person that struck first would be victorious.

With Zhang Dong on the offensive, the self-proclaimed demon king was pushed back towards the active volcano in the background. Finally, the battle was able to move to a safer location that wouldn’t endanger any of the two armies fighting.

Both of them created separate impact zones after they forcefully parted from each other. Small knicks and scratches were visible on Wang Long’s black armor and even some of the spikes were slightly bent. Zhang Dong on the other hand remained mostly untouched after they went through the scuffle.

‘If he wasn’t wearing that thing…’

He didn’t want to admit it but this wouldn’t be easy. His opponent received a lot more hits but it didn’t change the fact that the armor wasn’t coming off. Through the continuous exchange of blows he noticed Wang Long slowly improving. While he was lazy now, his background still contained training and improvement.

At least at the beginning of his story here there had to be a time that he diligently trained to get stronger. Gaining power rapidly was quite intoxicating so it wouldn’t be strange if at first, he gave it his all. Only after he beat everyone with the help of his skills and the system did he become the weak-minded man.

‘I have to take in his rate of improvement and finish this fast…’

It was true that with the help of the full system, Wang Long’s power level was above even his. The only reason he was able to produce better results was that he prepared and had more experience. But one wrong move and this whole thing could turn sour rather quickly.

“Fucking bastard!”

Luckily his opponent still had one glaring character flaw, his temper. After receiving so many nicks and scratches to his armor he was pissed. The large sword that he was holding started glowing in a shade-like hue. In a blink of an eye, all color faded from the world and Zhang Dong found himself surrounded by darkness.

It was as if all the light from the area along with sound was removed. He couldn’t even see his own limbs or detect his enemy that was standing there a second ago. This wasn’t good, this was clearly an attack meant to delude his senses. Wang Long was probably already coming toward him for a quick kill.

“This might have worked on others but it won’t work on me.”

Zhang Dong shouted while his whole body shone like a radiant star. Both of them had to clash Dao’s that they had mastered, he had the Dao of the Holy Element while Wang Long had switched over to the Dao of Unholy Darkness.

The flash of light was able to dispel the small area of effect technique that revealed a man clad in dark armor. The huge blade was in both of his hands and he was about to swing it down to cleave Zhang Dong in two. Before this could happen the blinding light was successful in slowing down his movements. The swing collided with the ground and produced another huge explosion.

Earth shattered before the mighty sword struck and produced a shockwave that traveled kilometers in one direction. Soon after lava burst out from this gash that appeared as if the ground had started to bleed. The man who was supposed to die from this strike was not there; instead, he dodged to the right side.

His right fist was clenched and radiating with golden lightning bolts. Right at the moment when the sword collided with the ground he a punch shot out. It collided with Wang Long’s face and also a small invisible barrier made by his Qi. The sound of glass shattering and metal bending followed suit as the strike connected.

Wang Long flew to the side after the clean hit to his face. The punch was strong enough to bend the rare dark metal that the demonic armor was made from. Yet even though the man was flying through the air, Zhang Dong didn’t give chase. He did not manage to fully evade the strike as his left limb which had been covered by the white armor had become exposed.

The pain was tremendous and some of his bones had actually been broken but it was the same for Wang Long. The helmet that was covering his head shot off into the distance. His exposed face showed a broken nose along with a missing tooth.

Yet this was not the time to rest, Zhang Dong gritted his teeth and soon after bolted towards where Wang Long flew. On the other hand, the demon king was quite shocked at what had happened to his face. It was clear that he was inexperienced, his lack of awareness would be his downfall.

Instead of keeping track of his enemy, he was more concerned about the pain around his face. This was only the second time he could remember this sort of pain. The last time was also through a punch to the face by the same opponent yet this time around it hurt a lot more.

His whole face was on fire as the infused holy energy was reacting with the unholy one that was ingrained into his body. Luckily dispersing it wasn’t that hard as he had a lot more energy than the amount that was infused. Even then the pain wasn’t going away, his body was rapidly mending itself but the shock didn’t go away.

While Wang Long didn’t really take a critical hit he was not used to being punched in the face. All of his previous wins seemed to have been gained through the help of his system without many setbacks happening. This reaction was clearly not something a master of this level should be showing. No nascent soul monster was able to go through life without properly being able to take a hit and continue fighting.

Zhang Dong, on the other hand, had gone through many setbacks. Even now while his left hand was healing itself he continued to push. If he couldn’t use this hand then he could punch with the other. If that one became unusable then two of his limbs remained and even without them, there was a myriad of ranged techniques that he could deploy.

Yet even when his hits landed he didn’t seem to be going that far. The unholy energy that was inside this armor and also inside Wang Long’s body was making it difficult to produce long-lasting damage. Masters like them could survive even with the bottom half of their body being destroyed, with time there was always a possibility of it regrowing. The only way to win would be by overpowering the opponent with Qi which damaged the body and nascent soul from the inside.

There was a strange phenomenon though, with each hit that connected his seed that was inside of him continued to react. It was as if the darkness that was inside of Wang Long was being slowly siphoned away and giving him a tiny boost of energy that caused his strange seed to evolve further…