1116 Lightning and Nothingness
The fading sword-light evaporated into nothingness as an enormous beam of lightning burst from within the mist, its power pushing aside Ji'Han's remnant power like it was dust. The arena flashed a brilliant blue, its brightness causing many to raise their hands to shield their eyes.
His instincts flaring with grave warning for the first time in years, Ji'Han's confident expression vanished, replaced by a grim yet firm expression.
"Tch," he clicked his tongue, silently chastising himself for allowing John to unleash his Kirin-God Extinction. He had made the bold claim to Lilian just days ago that he would never allow John to unleash this long-channeled attack, but that boast had been shattered just minutes into their battle. That failure alone caused Ji'Han to feel a slight anger he rarely felt, the anger of failure.
His hubris had been his undoing in this matter, as he not only believed John to be defeated after taking a barrage of his Sword Domain head on, but also because he was acting as if he were battling another genius of the Three Dao Sects.
While the geniuses of the Three Dao Sects, such as Jaxus, Araxus, and Ishnae were no doubt powerful, they were far too inexperienced with real life and death battles. Most of their battles had been done in a controlled environment against other geniuses, and so their combat instincts were not nearly as refined as John's.
Had they survived Ji'Han's attack, they would have retreated to recover, or used the moment to make boastful claims. John did neither of those, instead opting to use the cover of Ji'Han's chaotic sword energy to quickly channel his Kirin-God Extinction.
While it was not a fully powered Kirin-God Extinction, it was good enough.
Boom!
Space rippled wherever the beam traveled, sending visible shockwaves throughout the arena. The deafening thunderclap of the blast slammed against the defensive formation like an invisible tsunami, causing it to light up to defend against the power of the soundwave.
Below, the makeshift mountains and valleys nearby shattered into pieces, unable to withstand the deafening thunderclap. Despite being caught off guard, Ji'Han, being the pinnacle genius of the Nine-Dao World, instantly reacted. He sped backwards at his fastest speed all while pointing his true sword directly towards the lightning beam.
"Whiteflame True Sword!" Ji'Han mumbled softly as his sword began to glow a brilliant white hue. The shining rapidly intensified, his sword quickly glowing like a white, blinding sun.
Then the glow began to fade at a rapid pace, while Ji'Han's tme sword began to grow larger and larger, growing to the size of his hundred-yard sword-image he had unleashed earlier. However, unlike that attack, this large sword was his true-sword, making its power and sharpness much greater.
While the blade of the sword grew and grew, the handle remained the same size, allowing Ji'Han to wield it with ease as he thrust it forward.
Che!
The massive true-sword shot forward as it grew larger, piercing directly towards the beam of ruinous lightning. In the blink of an eye the two attacks met as the massive sword cleaved directly into the middle of the lightning beam. The sword plunged directly into the heard of the lightning beam, like a rock parting a stream of water.
Boom!
Another thunderclap blasted outwards as the lightning beam was carved into two halves, both sides parting to the side of the massive sword. Ji'Han's face tensed, his teeth gritting tightly as the massive sword trembled in his grip, threatening to break free from the monstrous energy coursing through his sword and into his body.
Ji'Han roared as the two halves of the lightning beam blasted by him, both sides missing him by mere inches. He strained as the beam continued to blast onto him, ceaselessly unleashed by the Kirin avatar, still visible at its original location. The lightning Kirin's figure rapidly faded away as it converted its power into the monstrous attack, finally fading away into nothingness only a few seconds later.
Bang!
The two lightning halves blasted against the defensive formation dozens of miles away, slamming into it with apocalyptic purpose. The world turned to white and blue as the power of the blasts exploded in all directions, redirected by the formation screen. The explosion blasted directly towards Ji'Han, threatening to drown him within its remnant power, which while not strong enough to defeat him, was definitely strong enough to injure him.
Che! Che! Che!
Thousands of domain swords soared through the sky gracefully towards Ji'Han, falling into place a short distance behind him. The wall of pure white sword-images quickly grew to be hundreds of yards wide and across, forming just in time to brace against the approaching explosion.
Boom!
The blast shattered into the sword-wall like a stampeding beast tide, shattering some of the swords into pieces, which then faded to dust. New swords quickly formed and reinforced the wall, keeping it firm against the explosion. The lightning blast continued past the sword-wall in all directions, forming a cage of ruinous power on all sides of him.
Ji'Han's gaze snapped around in all directions as he desperately searched for John, who had seemingly vanished into thin air after unleashing his Kirin-God Extinction. He had initially thought John would use the lightning blast as a screen to attack him immediately, but he had felt no such threat approaching.
Neither did Ji'Han feel John surging through the spatial void towards him, as his high command of the spatial Dao allowed him to feel into that realm without actually being there physically.
"Where?" Ji'Han muttered under his breath, his face truly grim, as for the first time in a decade, he felt he was in a battle no longer fully under his control. His divine sense continued to search the arena, covering every mountain, valley, cave, and lake, searching for his opponent. However, the search was fruitless, frustrating him further.
"Hiding now? How pathetic!" Ji'Han roared as the lightning blast started to fade. He waved his hand to the side, sending thousands of sword-images throughout the arena, slicing into mountains and valleys, destroying every possible hiding place John could be in.
Several miles away, standing out in the open on the ruins of what was a moment ago a tall mountain, John looked up at Ji'Han, who frantically searched for him.
"Hahhhhhhhhh," he breathed out slowly, a stream of hot air leaving his mouth as his mind become more and more blank, his thoughts vanishing from himself and the world. The ground nearby shattered and trembled from Jill-Ian's sword attacks, but even those quickly became a distant memory.
The thoughts of Ji'Han, of Lilian, of the Nine-Dao World, of the Sword-Saint, of the Asura, of everything. Every thought scattered into the wind as his mind and soul became an empty beacon of nothingness. That nothingness radiated outwards from him like an invisible energy, slowly enveloping the area around him in its power, erasing its presence and memory from the world.
After what felt like an eternity to his formless mind, John breathed in slowly, his consciousness, his thoughts, his existence returning to the world. The thoughts of the battle crashed back into his mind, reminding him of his current purpose. His eyes snapped back into focus as he locked onto Ji'Han hovering in the air a mile away, still frantically searching for his opponent.
With the Dao of Nothingness still thick in the area around John, his figure was still shrouded from Ji'Han's sight and divine sense, although only for a short moment. That short moment was all the time John needed, as his dantian surged to life once more, sending monstrous amounts of Qi surging through his meridians.
The powerful Qi tried to pierce through his acupoints and flare into the air around him, only to slam into his flesh and skin, his acupoints forcefully sealed. John felt his body tremble and groan from the strain of the internal Qi, but he ignored the growing pressure and pain, instead focusing his all on his attack.
Circulate. Recirculate. Recirculate. Increase power. Increase explosiveness. Cycle after cycle of Qi churned through his body, rapidly intensifying the power growing within him.
Then, following the practiced principles of his recently learned assassination art, John exploded to life with a bang as all the Qi in his body converged, slamming forward within him in one direction, his target still hovering in the sky.
Shadow of Death: Form Two!
BOOM!
