Chapter 236: Final Judgement

Chapter 235

Lazy Rayden looked at the tide of destruction rushing toward him, a small frown appearing on his face. Without any doubt, surviving that attack would be hard to achieve. Even with his skills and mastery over Qi utilization, this might be above his pay grade.

That said… It wasn’t as though he was completely powerless and helpless. Instead, he simply needed to get more serious. And then get even more serious.

That sucked. But if he didn’t get serious, he would become dead meat. And so… He did.

His half-lidded eyes suddenly focused fully. At the same time, his second pair of eyes snapped open. The moment that happened, the system sent a notification to Liyu.

But Liyu was still trying to recuperate his mental energy, so he missed it. If he had been awake enough to read the system message, he would have been shocked by what was written. [Ding! Your Reflection Status has changed.]

[Slightly Lazy → Serious Mode.] [Various S-Rank Buffs will now be applied.] [Overwhelming Force: S-Rank.]

[Unbreakable Body: S-Rank.] [Perfect Instinct: S-Rank.] [Death Denial: S-Rank.] [Ding! Clone Rank has been increased from Peak to Absolute.]

Lazy Rayden’s gaze sharpened. And his power seemed to multiply drastically as he stopped holding anything back. With his sharpened instincts and overwhelming control and force, he created several arrays and formations, powering them with the World Qi.

Then… The tide arrived. And it consumed him whole. A small, happy smile appeared on Shi Tian’s face when he saw that Liyu had been completely consumed by the force.

He was so happy that he didn’t even pay any attention to the hand holding his broken sword. He knew what was at risk when he performed that attack. And due to the overwhelming force released by the attack, his hand had been utterly ruined.

His right hand was oozing with dark blood, the eruption of Qi having even destroyed the blood vessels within it. Pain oozed from it. But Shi Tian paid it no attention.

His entire focus was on seeing Liyu’s corpse. Surely, with that attack… There was no way he would survive. There was no way.

He waited. The dust slowly began to clear. And then… It cleared completely.

The moment it did, Shi Tian’s heart dropped. He was spooked. “What the hell…?”

Liyu stood amidst a glowing barrier that had already shattered halfway. He was gasping for breath.

Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, a testament to just how far he had gone to make sure he wasn’t eradicated.

But the very fact that he had survived after all that made Shi Tian feel completely lost. And totally annoyed. What the hell?

After he had sacrificed his left hand for that attack… This was all it managed to get him? Liyu was still alive.

Still standing. Still kicking. Why?

Shi Tian’s mind screamed as he felt betrayed by the world itself. Liyu was totally not supposed to survive that. There was no doubt about it.

And yet… He had survived. What the hell was going on? How did he survive?

Meanwhile, Liyu heaved a sigh of relief. He had almost been decimated and eradicated by that last attack. “Good thing I still remember some arrays and defensive formations,” Liyu grumbled.

He had used most of his energy doing that. His survival from that attack had been entirely due to his defensive arrays and formation. Now, though…

Although he could still try to fight, there was a problem. Liyu’s main body was reaching its limit. No…

It was already at its absolute limit. If Lazy Rayden tried to push this body any further to create more arrays and formations, then it might truly crumble. Feeling the ache and pain shooting through Liyu’s body, Lazy Rayden sighed.

“I need to end things quickly, or else this wouldn’t be good.” He turned to look at Shi Tian, who was staring at him as if he were some kind of monster. “How can you survive that without a scratch?!”

“You are not human!” “You are a monster!” Shi Tian shouted.

His demeanor had completely broken. This Liyu was not human. He had to be a monster. A devil, perhaps.

How could he take the eight forms of the Wind Sovereign Art and survive them as well? And with no damage… Only slightly out of breath?

“You are a devil, aren’t you?!” “Well, it doesn’t matter anyway!” “Whether you are a devil or not…”

“I will kill you!” “I will make sure I kill you even if it brings about the end of me!” A manic, broken chuckle escaped Shi Tian’s mouth.

He took the broken sword from his damaged right hand and passed it into his left hand. “I might not be able to win this…” “You might think you devil can’t be beaten.”

“But I will prove you wrong!” “I will beat you!” “I will kill you!”

Shi Tian was shouting like a lunatic at this point. It was a clear contrast to how he had been before facing Liyu. It seemed as though Liyu had driven him completely mad.

Liyu looked at the man with a lazy gaze. Then he yawned slightly. It was time to bring the match to a close.

He dashed forward. Appearing right before Shi Tian, he was about to attack when a sudden sense of danger overwhelmed him. “Seventh Form…”

“Nine-Fold Gale Barrier!” “Advance!” The effect was immediate.

The nine raging torrents of destruction rushed forward, and Lazy Rayden was caught up in trying to survive against the terrifying assault. Shi Tian knew that this wouldn’t be enough to kill that devil called Liyu. So he took to the sky.

Since everything else had failed… He had to use his final form. The most powerful and destructive form of the Wind Sovereign Art.

He raised the hand holding the sword into the air. Immediately, his Qi surged forward. Massive currents of wind began to gather.

Over and over again, they gathered as Shi Tian poured every remaining bit of Qi inside him into the attack. This final attack might very well be his last. After all, when he was in perfect health, Final Judgment consumed a tremendous amount of his energy and caused him harm.

It was simply too destructive. He was usually wounded after using it even when he was in perfect condition. Now that he was already extremely wounded…

One could only guess what his fate would be. Wind Qi gathered. And gathered.

Until it formed into a massive ball of swirling, raging Qi that completely blocked out the moon. Every gaze was drawn toward it. And an overwhelming sense of danger descended upon everyone looking at it.

It was like Shi Tian’s killing move from earlier… The one he had used to completely decimate the battle space. It was similar. But also different.

If the previous attack gave people a feeling of deep terror… This one went several stages beyond that. “What the hell is that?”

Someone from the crowd asked in a low voice, his body shaking from the pressure leaking out from the attack Shi Tian was preparing. “I have no idea. Why are you asking me?” Another trembling audience member muttered in terror.

If not for the fact that they knew powerful experts were protecting them, they would have already turned tail and fled. That was how much terror they felt simply from looking at the enormous ball of Wind Qi. At the leaders’ seats, the faces of all the leaders became grave.

They realized that Shi Tian intended to unleash another massive attack like the last one. It was just that this one would be even more destructive than the previous one. Meaning…

Liyu was in deadly danger once more. Liyu, who had finally managed to get rid of the Nine-Fold Gale Barrier, looked toward the sky with twitching eyes. The terror he could feel from that thing was not something that could be put into words.

If that thing descended upon him… He was dead.

There was no doubt about it. The only way he would be able to survive was by creating an even stronger defensive formation and arrays.

But his body was already at its limit. He couldn’t do this without Liyu. Just then, in the dark space, Liyu’s eyes snapped open.

His mental energy had recovered. And the moment he saw what was happening, his face fell. “What the hell is happening?”

Due to the fact that their minds were connected in the fusion state, everything that had happened was immediately known by Liyu. He was genuinely surprised. Lazy Rayden was far, far more powerful than he had ever expected.

And when he became serious, his rank had changed to Absolute and several S-Rank abilities had appeared. No wonder he was so powerful. But even then…

They were still in danger. And since his body was the one being merged with, it was the one bearing the burden. It was already reaching its limit.

There was no way it could bear the burden that creating another array formation would place on it. There was no escaping this. “Let’s accept our fate.”

“We are dead either way.” Lazy Rayden shrugged as he lay his head back on his seat. He wanted to have a peaceful sleep before his death came.

Seeing the way the lazy guy was acting, Liyu’s eyes twitched. He shook his head. “No.”

“We are not dying.” “There is no way I would allow that to happen.” Lazy Rayden flashed him a side glance as if saying… Are you joking? We are dead.

Liyu shook his head. “There should be something we can do.” “You can create an array that can withstand that attack, right?” “How long would it take?”

Lazy Rayden flashed him another side glance before shaking his head. “Your body can’t support it.” “It would collapse.” Liyu grinned.

Then he shook his head. “Let me take over and you create that array.” “Trust me.” “I can take it.”

Lazy Rayden blinked. He didn’t understand what Liyu was trying to do. His body was only one push away from being shredded apart.

How did he intend to push it further and make it bear the burden of commencing and drawing array symbols and characters? Lazy Rayden sighed. And decided to trust Liyu’s words.

Well… He would do it for now. After all, they had no other choice. Liyu took control of his body.

And the horrible aching that immediately spread through every muscle confirmed that Lazy Rayden had not been lying. Well, of course Liyu knew he wasn’t lying. Before he had cut the fusion with Dead Eye Rayden and King Rayden, his body had already been at its limit.

If not for Liyu’s extraordinary physique, his body might have burst or shattered when Lazy Rayden merged with it and continued fighting for several more long minutes. So yes… He was at his absolute limit. But he wouldn’t give up.

And with that thought, he shifted into his hybrid form. His gaze changed into yellow slits as his body surged with pain from the fact that their limits were being stretched out once more. His body groaned in terrible agony.

Liyu almost cried out in deep pain. But he held it in. This would be Shi Tian’s final move. And if he survived this… Then he would win.

If he didn’t… Nah. He wouldn’t lose. He would win.

Liyu turned to look at Shi Tian, who held his sword high above his head. Above him, suspended in midair, was a massive ball formed from an enormous surge of Wind Qi. Just like when Shi Tian had used Thousand Wind Execution last time, it was oppressive and radiated doom.

And yet… This one was even worse than before. No. Not just worse. It was ten times worse.

All of Liyu’s hair stood on end as he looked at the massive ball in the air. “Hey, dude…” “Hope the array is close to being finished.” Liyu spoke in an urgent voice.

The threat he could feel from Shi Tian was increasing by the second. And the worst part was that he could feel that whatever that attack was, Shi Tian was about to complete it and unleash it upon him at any moment. If Lazy Rayden’s array that could end all of this wasn’t ready yet… Then they were doomed.

They would be destroyed with none of their traces left behind. “It would be ready in a while.” “What I’m worried about is you not being able to use it,” Lazy Rayden said.

He really doubted that this plan would work. But whatever. He would go along with it. It wasn’t as if they had another plan that could save them with such little time anyway.

He would put his trust in Liyu being able to hold out. And so he focused on creating the array. The wind ball above Shi Tian’s head began to twist and turn.

It continued rotating until it transformed into the shape of a gigantic wind blade radiating doom. It was as if anyone struck by such an attack would have no hope left. As if… It was the end.

Shi Gubing smiled. “So he decided to use his surest guaranteed killing move…” “The Final Judgment.” At the Shi camp, the Shi candidates… Shi Meng, Shi Lan, and Shi Yuan…

All looked at the massive wind blade and shook their heads in despair. It was over. Their hope had been extinguished once more. There was no way Liyu was surviving the Final Judgment.

“After all that, he still has the stamina and Qi to cast the Final Judgment…” “He is a monster,” Shi Yuan said with shaking eyes. The other two didn’t say a word. They were all thinking the same thing.

They were dead. Liyu would die first. Then they would be next. At the Li camp, Li Yuexin struck hard against the barrier.

She wanted to go and get Liyu out of there. There was no way he would be able to survive that thing. Just looking at it was enough to give her a feeling of certain death.

Then what would happen to Liyu, who was about to face such an attack head-on? Would he survive? No. He couldn’t.

He had already survived the impossible so many times in one day. But this… This might be something even he could not survive. She needed to go and get him out of there.

She struck the barrier again and again. Harder. And harder. But it didn’t budge.

She knew then that there was nothing she could do. Looking at Liyu’s tall back, she couldn’t stop the tear that slid down from her eyes. Then another. And another.

It was as if this were the last time she would ever see him. Just like her, Li San wanted to rush in and get Liyu out of there. But he was blocked by Elder Ting.

“If Liyu wanted to be safe, he would give up.” “The fact that he still remains standing means he doesn’t want to quit.” “Not yet.” “And his decision…” Elder Ting paused.

“I will choose to respect it.” Although, sincerely speaking, Elder Ting had a hard time believing that Liyu would be able to survive this final attack from Shi Tian… Then again… He might be able to pull it off.

They could only watch and see. Shi Tian’s gaze locked onto Liyu. His hair stood on end. “Hey, dude…” “Is it ready yet?” “A little longer.” “I… I don’t think we have a second longer.”

As Liyu said that, Shi Tian’s mouth opened. “Wind Sovereign Art…” “Tenth Form…” “Killing Move…” “Final Judgment!” After saying that, he brought his hand down.

And the enormous sword radiating immense power slammed downward. Its target… Liyu. Its purpose… To totally erase Liyu from the surface of the earth.

The referee increased the barrier around the camps. Elder Ting also upgraded the barrier around the stage to make sure the audience remained safe.

And then… Liyu was faced with immense pressure as the sword came down.

Before it even reached him, overwhelming pressure slammed into his body. His life flashed right before his eyes. Death is here. The thought flashed through his mind. And then…

“Ready.” Lazy Rayden spoke. The power was passed to Liyu. An array formation formed in Liyu’s right hand.

He raised it above his head with all his might. “Convergence!” A dark, circular array spread outward. With Liyu at its center, it expanded like a gigantic circular shield.

A second later… The wind sword slammed hard into the array. Liyu’s body, which had already been aching before, was immediately overwhelmed by pain and agony unlike anything he had ever experienced. Blood oozed from his pores.

His entire body trembled violently. And a terrifying, violent shriek escaped Liyu’s mouth. “AHHHHHHHHHHH!”