Ao Shen watched as an illusory figure of a phoenix manifested above Envy's head before disappearing. He did not hesitate to rush toward her, leaving shadows in his traveling path.
A beautiful and potent flame shield emanated from the spot he attacked her, trying to burn his hand into smithereens. Unfortunately, he had a naturally powerful body as a dragon.
Ao Shen tried to break the shield with pure physical force, but Envy infinitely increased the temperature, countering his power. Then, a black energy cloud came from the dragon's body and instantly corroded the flame, turning them black.
Ao Shen gained control of this intense flame and turned them into its owner, forcing Envy on the defensive. She knew she would be injured by such flame even with the power of the immortal Phoenix, so she decided against direct confrontation.
The phantom of a unique demon race called Tortoise Beetle manifested above her, and she condensed this beautiful golden shield to protect her. Regrettably, beauty does not equate to strength.
The shield only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough time for her to distance herself from the aggressive dragon. At least, that was the plan.
Ao Shen suddenly appeared above her, opened his mouth to become larger than humanely possible, and spewed a devastating breath of darkness.
Envy acted swiftly as she mirrored the ability of the Kunpeng, the creature often recognized as the fastest between Heaven and Earth. She ran in a circular pattern to avoid the breath, ensuring not to come close in contact with it as she saw the devastation it left behind wherever it touched.
'Dao of Darkness with a focus on corrosion and decay,' analyzed Envy since this was part of the reasons she came here. If the alliance did not work out, she needed to gather as much information as possible.
Meanwhile, Ao Shen cared little for analysis, which can be seen as a flaw. His time in the Martial Hegemony World taught him not to give his opponent the time to breathe and to kill them as quickly and efficiently as possible since anything could happen in battle.
And that is what he's doing.
[Rain of Corrosion]
The bright sky in the surrounding suddenly turned dark as the clouds became the embodiment of darkness. Then, rains dropped from the sky, but they were not normal ones: they were black and traveled countless times faster than light.
'He's an Innate Lifeform, as expected,' thought Envy as she sensed his Innate law. However, her ugly facial expression indicated it was not the time to think about these things.
Her mind worked rapidly to think of a solution, and she chose the Black Tortoise as her next mirror. A black and white shield manifested above her head. At first, the drop of black rain would corrode the barrier, but Envy reversed Yang and Yin, making the black rain turn into their opposite: light.
Regrettably, her advantage did not last long. Ao Shen opened his mouth a second time to fire a breath of darkness, forcing Envy to defend herself against his two-front attack.
Phew!
Envy's eyes grew with surprise. She looked down at her stomach to see a black spear piercing her stomach. If her body did not instinctively move, it would have been her heart.
She moved her head behind to see its origin, "S-Shadow?"
"Why are you surprised? Shadows are one of the many ways darkness is manifested," replied Ao Shen with a sneer before rushing toward her. Envy had a very limited to come up with countermeasures. Luckily, she survived the trial and had a plethora of battle experiences.
Boom!
Envy exploded herself, generating a flame bomb that sent Ao Shen back and even charred the skin on his arm. Then, from the center of the explosion, a new Envy rose from the ashes like a phoenix. Sadly, she was not perfectly intact, as her complexion was pale.
'Danm Duyi Realm,' she complained as she gazed at him, her eyes flashing with a cold light. As Ao Shen spread his cultivation to the demon race, the stages of his Duyi Realm drastically increased. Now, he is only waiting to reach the Quasi Emperor Realm to fuse with his clones that received the benefit of the orthodox Duyi Realm with his main body, which has the unorthodox Duyi Realm.
"Let's see how you enjoy having your power used against you."
A new phantom appeared behind Envy, and it was the spitting image of Ao Shen. Then, the power of Darkness flashed around her.
"A Mirror Devil Subspecies who can reflect or mirror things and the Dao of Envy, which involves self-loathing and being jealous to the point of wanting to become others," commented Ao Shen. "It's the perfect combination to copy other people's powers. But can you really copy everybody?"
"No, but the only thing special about you is your Innate Law and the privileges Heavenly Dao granted them, and I don't need to copy those."
Ao Shen squinted his eyes, 'I need to be more careful.' He realized the opponent's strength was relative to him, so he could not eliminate her as swiftly as he wished. So, his cautious nature has awakened.
Ao Shen's arm turned into a black shadow as he punched forward.
[Corrosion Punch]
Envy followed him and used the same technique, canceling out his attack. Ao Shen went for a fist-to-fist battle since he is more comfortable with this fighting mode as a martial artist.
Bang!
Their fists clashed, generating enormous shockwaves that destroyed the surrounding grounds and dispersed the clouds. If not for the limits of the game, the space would not remain intact, and the devastation of these attacks would have been farther and wider.
'She's inherited my physical strength?' Ao Shen became frustrated for a moment before quickly reigning himself and analyzing the situation.
'She should not have inherited by experience.'
Ao Shen rushed and clashed with her, but this time, things were different. After their first touch, a fog of darkness suddenly came from Envy's hand and enveloped her right hand before she could even understand what had happened. Luckily, she reacted quickly and cut off the corroded arm in time.
[Eroding Barrier]
Envy surrounded herself with a bronze-colored barrier with the power of decay; anything or anyone touching it would suffer from its power. She took this moment of stability to analyze what occurred, ignoring Ao Shen, who was bashing the barrier.
'He can control darkness that exists in any place. In that last attack, he controlled the darkness created by my clenched fist. Truly ingenious,' she thought with gritted teeth. With the Duyi Realm, it will take much effort to regrow that arm.
'My mission is finished, but I'm not satisfied. I will not leave until I make him suffer.'
Envy did not hesitate as she mirrored someone else: Wrath. As the phantom manifested, her face became paler, and blood trickled down from her eyes, nose, and ears. She gritted her teeth to bear the pain but did not make a sound.
She held a summoned sword with her left hand, taking a striking motion. Immediately, death alerts flashed in Ao Shen's mind as his skin tingled.
Swish!
He was horrified as he watched that slash with the power to eradicate Heaven; he knew he would not survive this attack if he did not do something. So, scales covered his entire body like armor, providing them with defensive capabilities, unlike anything he previously displayed.
Boom!
The slash pushed Ao Shen hundreds of meters away before he crashed to the ground. He coughed a big mouthful of blood as he looked at his terrible state; he was almost cleaved into two. The dragon quickly raised his head to check on his opponent, but there was no one.
Envy's base:
She appeared in the castle and did not hesitate to rush to a room with a green pool. As Envy lay inside, a powerful vitality entered her body to heal all her injuries. After taking a moment to stabilize herself, she contacted Wrath through the mirror.
"How did it go?"
"Not well. The demon race refused to ally with us."
"Although I expected this outcome, I'm still disappointed,' replied Wrath with a sigh.
"Should we try to convince the other demon race?"
"Demon Tribe is very united under his banner. I doubt they would go against him–especially to ally with the devil race."
"Yes, with their alliance with the Dao Opening Sect, their lived have improved tremendously; they don't actually need us," agreed Envy.
"Did you get information about him?"
"Innate Lifeform, as we theorized, Dao of Darkness, 3-Leaf strength, very aggressive fighting style, also cautious when needed. However, he was not using all his strength." During the entire battle, Ao Shen never used his full transformation, and Envy noticed.
"3-leaf? The Myriad Emperor World is truly a cesspool of talented individuals. Do you know what species he is?"
"Either a serpent or dragon." Envy saw the scale during the last attack, but she did not know for sure if they were from an Innate Dragon or some Innate Snake Species.
"Snake or Dragon, both powerful," muttered Wrath. Although snakes are often considered the degraded bloodline of dragons, this was not absolute. There are some Innate Snake Lifeforms as scary–if not more–as dragons.
"I sensed you used my power. What was the result?"
"He survived with heavy injuries."
"He survived a 4-Leaf attack? He might be hiding a lot of strength."
"Probably."
"Alright, I'll notify the others. Be on standby to execute the plan at a moment's notice."
