945 The Battle Reaches Its Pinnacle
He Shiyi's fierce eyes glanced at Xu Shi while observing his surroundings. The world was in utter darkness without a sun.
The Yang and Yin were out of balance, with Yin Energy overabundant. So many people died, and with the overwhelming amount of Yin Energy, countless ghosts or evil spirits were being born with each passing second.
He Shiyi's mind flashed to how peaceful and beautiful the world used to be and compared it to now, and his anger maxed out.
[Fighting Heaven and Earth]
A terrifying fighting intent manifested around He Shiyi drastically increased his aura.
'A Source Technique?' thought Xu Shi with a serious gaze, analyzing the situation. She saw the latter condensed an immense amount of [Fighting Intent] that exists between Heaven and Earth to boost his strength.
He Shiyi waved his halberd like it was a toy with no weight. Then, he disappeared and reappeared before Xu Shi and smashed down. The space around her compressed, not giving her an opportunity to react or escape; with that swing of the halberd, it was like the entire world was against her, Boom!
Xu Shi's body could not withstand the power behind that attack, so she exploded into a brilliant mist of light. He Shiyi frowned as he knew things were not so simple.
As expected, less than a second afterward, her body recondensed on its own.
'Life and Death Dao?' It was already difficult to kill Eternal Emperors, but now he was facing someone who controlled these two Daos that were excelling at healing or overcoming death.
'His strength increased only by 1% Grand Dao Source, yet I find it difficult to keep up,' thought Xu Shi with a sigh.
"Since one attack cannot kill you, I will use a thousand more," said He Shiyi with a sneer.
[Dividing Heaven and Earth]
He Shiyi proved the Dao using battle and martial art, so his arsenal of techniques are diverse. One of his signature techniques used Dividing Dao, allowing him to separate things into two or multiple parts.
So, with this one slash, he had the power to divide the entire world into two. He focused all the strength of this technique on the attack, targeting only Xu Shi and minimizing the damage to the Battle Spirit World.
[Chaos Armor]
Xu Shi's [Myriad Dao Pot] released a great amount of gray clouds, condensing them into a shield around her.
Crack!
Her defense almost crumbled as cracks materialized all over the cloud. Her face became pale as blood trickled down the corner of her mouth. One drop of blood fell on the ground and, before hitting the earth, turned into a vast ocean that flooded countless dynasties–both mortal and spiritual.
[Dividing Primordial Chaos]
He Shiyi attacked a second time, targeting his opponent's unique power. As his halberd fell down, it now contained the power to divide Primordial Chaos–the fundamental force that exists at the beginning of the Chaos Universe.
Xu Shi knew the power of this attack and the fact she could not block it. So, she abandoned most of her defense and focused on the opponent's Dao Will. All she needed to do was to prevent He Shiyi's Dao Will from entering her body and soul, then, she could revive herself.
Boom!
The fog was useless before the halberd.
The [Myriad Dao Pot] flew into the distance with some scratches on its body. As for Xu Shi's beautiful body, it exploded into a trillion scattered particles.
'Damn it,' thought He Shiyi, who knew he failed to kill his opponent. He secretly exhaled to calm down. 'Why haven't these guys opened the Void Battlefield yet?'
He took a brief moment to check the situation and noticed four potent aura in each of the other regions.
"Are they also attacked?" A part of him felt relieved after knowing he was not the only one suffering. However, he also understood this was a targeted attack, and his enemy did not want other people to come to his aid.
Xu Shi reappeared from the drop of blood that fell on the ground. She looked at her opponent with great concentration.
"You should understand you are not my opponent. Why don't you save us both the effort and stop this pointless battle," said He Shiyi calmly. Despite his overwhelming anger, he knew this was the best choice for the current situation. Killing a foreign Eternal Emperor was extremely difficult since he would need to erase her history, but that involved finding her identity first.
"Tell me who you are and who sent you, then our grudge will end."
"Do you think you're the only one with a Source Technique?" asked Xu Shi with a sneer, making He Shiyi frown. His first thought was that his opponent was bluffing. Source Techniques are rare, but not the point he believed only he would have them.
According to his analysis, his attacker is a young Eternal, proving the Dao in this generation, meaning she should not have much time to create her own Source Technique.
As for an existing technique from whatever factions she originated from? Well, He Shiyi believed that if she had such techniques, she would have used them as a Primary Grand Dao Boost at the beginning of the battle–unless her Source Technique was one of her trump cards.
'No, my assumptions are wrong. She cultivates Time Dao, so she should have plenty of time to create a Source Technique.'
He immediately wanted to stop her, but it was too late. A mysterious aura emanated from Xu Shi's body. Her closed eyes and facial expression displayed intense sadness and longing.
"What is this? Emotions? No, it should be an obsession."
During their Dao Discussion, the Heavenly Emperor said something that greatly resonated with Xu Shi. According to him, there are a few things that can allow any individual to rebel against their fate and create miracles.
The first one is unparalleled intelligence and wisdom, the second is unmatched Willpower, the third is an unwavering Dao Heart, and lastly, unrelenting obsessions.
After hearing these words, Xu Shi felt inspired, so she created a unique Source Technique called [Seed of Obsession]. She used her desire and obsession to revive her husband into a seed before nourishing it with the power of time.
With the power of time, she can experience countless alternative timelines where she does everything possible to revive her husband but ultimately fails. However, no matter the trial and tribulation, she never stopped trying, thus nourishing her obsession.
Cultivating this technique is extremely difficult and requires people who have deep desire or obsession. Furthermore, there is a flaw in this technique in which it's easy for people to be 'devilized' as the obsession takes over their soul and spirit, turning them into mindless puppets only dedicated to completing their obsession.
As the creator of this technique, even she is not immune to this possible side-effect.
As of now, this Source Technique only grants her an increase of 1.5% Grand Dao Source, but there is still room for improvement. As long as she continues nourishing her obsession, the boost can reach a minimum of 5% and even reach a higher level.
Additionally, this technique is also a great way to temper the state of mind and Dao Heart.
Xu Shi opened her eyes, and they had turned completely pink. Her pot spewed more gray fog, which then condensed into a beautiful white sword. She instantly materialized before He Shiyi, slashing down her weapon.
[True Death Sword]
Xu Shi's sword contained the power of [True Death], meaning she would kill her opponent's Dao Body, soul, and even Dao. If she kills He Shiyi with this sword, reviving himself–even as an Eternal Emperor–will become a hundred times more difficult and require as many resources.
The Battle God Emperor knew the consequences of not blocking that sword.
So, he reacted faster than he ever had in his entire life. Unfortunately, a river had manifested above him, freezing time for the entire world.
So, He Shiyi watched his death rapidly approaching. As a Great Emperor, he is semi-detached from space-time itself, hence his immortality or infinite lifespan, so his mind could still barely operate.
'I have no choice now,' he thought as he used one of his trump cards. Five spots of light appeared on his body, focusing on the upper and lower torso area.
A terrifying aura emanated from He Shiyi as his fleshly body suddenly increased drastically, breaking into the Infant Fiendgod Realm.
Bang!
He flew away, crashing into the earth, generating a terrifying force that could annihilate the entire central region. Luckily, He Shiyi reacted swiftly and used his soul to quell the destructive force his landing created.
He coughed a mouthful of blood, but He Shiyi did not care about that. His armor was broken, leaving a deep wound on his chest that was pulsating with black energy.
'Her Dao Will,' thought He Shiyi with an ugly expression. His opponent successfully planted their Dao Will inside his body, and it was a strange one, too. He could feel the Will was constantly exuding waves or fluctuations, making it difficult for others to remove or influence it.
In other words, He Shiyi's current injury is considered a Dao Injury, and it's not something he can easily deal with.
'What were these five lights?' thought Xu Shi, analyzing the situation. 'Did he refine his five internal organs with five Spirits of the Five Elements Attributes?'
That's the only explanation she could come up with, but she did not understand why He Shiyi's body was so weak with such a technique.
'Unless whatever technique he is using is not finished yet, or it can only temporarily boost his fleshly body.'
She glanced at him, analyzing every detail.
'His aura is weird. His strength did not seem to increase, but his overall defense seemed to be boosted by a few percent.'
The situation immediately changed the battle. Xu Shi's current strength should be above He Shiyi by 0.5% Grand Dao Source.
However, with the anomaly of his new technique, his defense increased by another 2% Grand Dao Source.
'Since only his defense increased, I only need to do one thing–try to aggravate my Dao Will inside his body and weaken him.'
Xu Shi watched the battle between the Heavenly Emperor and Di Tian, learning from it–especially Wang Wei's application of his Dao Will and Will Manifestation.
Then, she created her own application called [Fluctuation] using her knowledge and understanding of music as a base.
