"So you are Luo Sheng?" Damien commented as he flew up into the sky to meet his opponent.
The question was rhetorical, of course. Ever since the list of purge targets was compiled, Damien had done a fair amount of research on the Eclipsing Shadow Sect. Whether it be their strength, numbers, or even secrets known to none but themselves, Damien knew it all.
It couldn't be helped. He had a genuine World Core providing him information, so in what world would he be uneducated?
Luo Sheng and Luo Tian. Damien had long been aware of this duo, but seeing Luo Sheng in person, he was once again forced to realize that the 4th class barrier wasn't something to laugh at.
Even if he could compete with Luo Sheng, it wouldn't be an easy battle.
"And you are?" Luo Sheng questioned in response to Damien's rhetoric.
"What, you don't remember me?" Damien quipped back.
Luo Sheng furrowed his brows. In the first place, entertaining a small 3rd class boy who dared to face him was a joke, but Luo Sheng couldn't stop himself from subconsciously taking Damien seriously.
After all, the latter was easily withstanding his aura suppression. Not to mention, he'd clearly seen how Damien entrapped the remaining early 4th class existences without giving them a chance to escape.
But Luo Sheng truly didn't know who Damien was. In the time when the Death Seed struggle took place, he remained at the Main Sect to take care of matters while Luo Tian was gone.
As such, he could only shake his head in response. "I do not know you, nor do I care what your story is. If you have come to eliminate us, the only option left for us is to fight!"
Luo Sheng moved without waiting for Damien's answer. Arriving in front of his opponent, he charged mana into his twin daggers and sprung forth with two diagonal slashes that crossed into an "X" shape.
Damien ducked down to avoid the strike. Although Luo Sheng was moving at incredible speeds, it was still a level Damien could keep up with.
Whoosh!
The twin daggers crossed above his head, letting out a dagger light that sliced apart the air. At the same time that this impact occurred, Damien sprung up, his fist flying perpendicular to the ground as he sent a fierce uppercut into Luo Sheng's jaw.
Bang!
The fist rang true. Luo Sheng's body was flung back. Seeing an opportunity arise so early in the game, Damien naturally didn't wish to waste it. His body flashed, appearing next to Luo Sheng. His hand chopped down at his opponent's neck, aiming to fell him in a single blow.
Boom!
But the results weren't as expected. When Damien's hand hit Luo Sheng's skin, it felt like he hit a block of iron. A dull throb appeared in his hand at the impact point while Luo Sheng was able to use Damien's momentum as a counterbalance to steady himself.
The two separated rapidly and stared at each other from afar. The previous exchange didn't utilize a great deal of mana, but they were able to realize that they were up against formidable opponents.
A layman who couldn't read their auras would assume they were at the same level.
Damien had no plans to miss the initiative again. Since Luo Sheng was able to take the first hit, he'd make sure he took first blood. His arm moved through the air as if he was a conductor, space itself acting as his orchestra.
His body flew through the air following the guidance of the wind, always remaining somewhat incorporeal and elusive. At the same time, space twisted and bent according to his movements, encroaching upon Luo Sheng.
Luo Sheng's face turned serious for the first time. He knew his opponent had spatial powers from the beginning, but facing them head-on was different from simply witnessing them.
Space around him twisted strangely, the concept of distance losing meaning. These distortions attempted to twist both his perception and physical body into oblivion.
But Luo Sheng was an exalted 4th class existence. How could he let himself be beaten so easily?
Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!
Tens of space blades appeared from thin air and rapidly shot at Luo Sheng. These crescent-shaped spatial tears held the ability to tear the world itself asunder.
Luo Sheng realized the danger these space blades possessed, but he also saw his chance. When the tens of blades converged on his location, his body turned into a shadow and slipped away.
Damien's eyes narrowed. Although his vision was blocked by the large amount of mana and spatial distortions around Luo Sheng, his perception was just fine. Losing track of Luo Sheng meant the latter either escaped or died.
And Damien wasn't stupid enough to believe the first option.
Whoosh!
He teleported away rapidly, appearing 10 meters away. Behind where he once stood, Luo Sheng's figure emerged from the void, his twin daggers mid-swing.
Luo Sheng already knew he'd miss when he started the attack, so he wasn't put off by Damien's teleportation. In fact, this was exactly what he wanted.
"Eclipsing Shadow Domain!"
One of the main inheritances of the Eclipsing Shadow Sect, the Eclipsing Shadow Domain was a truly terrifying entity. When Luo Sheng summoned it, tens of kilometers of space were immediately colored in blackness.
As Damien moved through this space, he realized that heavy restrictions were being cast onto his body. His movements were sluggish, his perception range was restrained, and there was even a spatial lock somewhat hindering his elemental ability.
'This fellow was quite prepared.' Damien commented inwardly as he felt his way through the domain.
Bang!
All of a sudden, a dagger appeared at Damien's side and pierced him through! Blood spurted from the gash that opened, but before this blood could even permeate, Damien was stabbed again, this time in his chest area!
The shadow daggers quite literally appeared out of nowhere. Damien wasn't able to sense or perceive them at all. And they didn't stop after a mere two. The daggers stabbing into his body grew in number with time.
The worst part was that the strikes were always random without pattern. Damien had no way of discovering where the next attack would be. Therefore, he was forced to endure the pain and wait for Transcendent Regeneration to get him out of his predicament.
In the meantime, he spread his awareness to its restricted limits so that at least he wouldn't get attacked by Luo Sheng's main body.
Even if these daggers popped out consistently, they couldn't do real damage to Damien. Luo Sheng, however, was a different story altogether.
Damien's eyes hardened. Mirage appeared in his hand. If it wasn't for the sheen the blade gave off after coming in contact with mana, it would've been completely invisible in the darkness.
'Void Sword Art 4th Form: Spatial Collapse'
His blade swung down with an unholy amount of gravity and momentum pulling it towards the earth. The second Spatial Collapse was enacted, Damien was sure this domain would shatter.
And if Damien was aware of it, Luo Sheng was aware as well. Knowing that he was facing his last opportunity to hold an absolute advantage over Damien and deal some damage, Luo Sheng moved with untold precision.
His body melded into the blackness. His twin daggers were covered in an inky light that seemed to corrupt everything around them. Once he got within 10 meters of Damien, the mana concentration around him jumped exponentially.
'Eclipsing Shadow Art: Twilight Moon!'
His right hand moved down in a vertical slash while his left hand snaked and moved in a more unpredictable pattern. The inky coating on the blades intermingled and reacted to his mana, becoming large projections that shot out at Damien, who was currently mid-swing.
The Eclipsing Shadow Sect wasn't named as such just for the sake of being domineering. Their sect was built on an ancient inheritance that the Luo brothers stumbled upon when they were still in their first 100 years of life.
And this inheritance wasn't a joke.
It was an inheritance to a darkness that encapsulated everything. Even light wasn't safe from this darkness.
And Twilight Moon…was a technique that mirrored this desire for darkness to encompass the heavens.
