Chapter 65 - 57: I Predicted Your Prediction

Chapter 65: Chapter 57: I Predicted Your Prediction

Hearing Lu Chen insult him for following crooked and heretical paths, Outer Path Fang Heng’s expression instantly twisted into a hideous scowl.

Where exactly did a measly Qi Refining cultivator get the audacity to spout such nonsense here? What was wrong with the Evil Demon and Heretic Dao? Only by surviving could one have a future; death meant the end of everything! Lu Chen might represent the Orthodox Dao, but what meaning would that hold if he were dead?

Driven by this thought, Outer Path Fang Heng thrust the Blood Sword in his hand at Lu Chen’s face with the speed of lightning. However, almost a split second before he even struck, Lu Chen had already predicted the move.

Lu Chen leaned slightly to the side, simultaneously sweeping his Ink Flood Dragon Sword upward in a lethal strike aimed straight at Outer Path Fang Heng’s vitals—a desperate move to trade life for life.

In that heart-stopping moment, valuing his own life, Outer Path Fang Heng was forced to abandon his initial attack. He immediately leaped backward, dodging Lu Chen’s blade. But this was merely a stalling tactic. After creating some distance, Outer Path Fang Heng launched another explosive assault.

His snake-like Outer Demon Body didn’t slow him down in the slightest. On the contrary, it made him far more agile and unpredictable than the original Fang Heng, allowing him to contort into positions that completely defied human anatomy. Faced with such bizarre and unnatural attack patterns, an ordinary person would find it nearly impossible to evade.

But was Lu Chen an ordinary person? Naturally, he was not.

Within the spacious second floor of the Sword Pavilion, the silhouettes of Lu Chen and Outer Path Fang Heng constantly clashed and crisscrossed.

CLANG CLANG CLANG...

Every time their weapons collided, blinding sparks and the crisp sound of metal echoed through the air.

Despite facing Outer Path Fang Heng’s torrential barrage of attacks, and even though he was more than a notch weaker in both Cultivation and speed, Lu Chen strangely managed to predict his opponent’s every intent. He always reacted a step ahead. Thus, even though Outer Path Fang Heng held the overwhelming advantage on paper, he was shockingly fought to a standstill in the short term.

Something was wrong—terribly wrong!

Seeing that he couldn’t take Lu Chen down, Outer Path Fang Heng’s initially disdainful gaze gradually turned solemn. He couldn’t understand what was happening. This was their first time meeting, yet Lu Chen seemed to know him inside and out, predicting his every move before he even made it.

There were only two possibilities. Either Lu Chen was intimately familiar with him—having fought him thousands of times and knowing all his techniques, trump cards, and subconscious habits—or this guy possessed a Talent Divine Technique akin to foresight, allowing him to see future actions before they happened.

Outer Path Fang Heng leaned toward the latter. After all, how could anyone know a complete stranger inside and out? Even among the Outer Demons, such an illogical phenomenon didn’t exist!

Concluding that Lu Chen possessed a foresight-like Talent Divine Technique, Outer Path Fang Heng subconsciously began to look for the trigger of this ability. Before long, he noticed Lu Chen’s continuously rotating Lotus Pupils.

He thought, "Is this kid using these eyes to predict my movements? Yes, it must be these eyes."

Believing he had found Lu Chen’s weakness, Outer Path Fang Heng began to intentionally and unintentionally aim his attacks at Lu Chen’s eyes, attempting to suppress the power of the Lotus Pupils. However, this only made his attacks even more predictable.

Even so, Lu Chen still found it difficult to counterattack and could only focus on defending and dodging. The sheer gap in their Cultivation was an undeniable reality. Even though Lu Chen’s Traceless Sword Technique had reached the Breaking Realm, it didn’t mean his attack speed surpassed that of Outer Path Fang Heng. He had merely narrowed the gap between them. After all, at the very beginning, he had barely been able to dodge the attacks at all.

But as the saying goes, a prolonged defense will eventually fall. Under the continuous strain of passive defense, Lu Chen finally exposed a flaw, and Outer Path Fang Heng seized it.

Suddenly, Outer Path Fang Heng’s left hand morphed into a long sword of flesh and blood. Before Lu Chen could react, the blade pierced straight through his right chest.

SQUELCH!

Dripping blood flowed from Lu Chen’s chest, staining his cyan robes.

"Finally caught you.

"Kid, even if you can predict my movements, the Cultivation gap between us remains. Even if you saw through this combination of feints and strikes, so what? Could you dodge it?

"I deliberately attacked your eyes just for this moment! Hahaha!"

Looking at the heavily injured Lu Chen, an excited expression appeared on Outer Path Fang Heng’s face. Having been tied down by a mere Qi Refining cultivator for so long had been a humiliating blow to his pride. Fortunately, they were the only two here; no one would ever know of his pathetic struggle.

But soon, the smile on Outer Path Fang Heng’s face froze. He realized that the heavily injured Lu Chen showed no signs of despair. Instead, his eyes shone with even greater vigor.

Something was wrong—it was a trap!

Seeing Outer Path Fang Heng’s ugly expression, Lu Chen’s left hand suddenly clamped down on the Blood Sword piercing his body. He chuckled softly, "...But I’ve also caught you, haven’t I?"

As soon as those words left his mouth, an intense sense of crisis exploded in Outer Path Fang Heng’s heart. But it was already too late to dodge.

Divine Technique... Purple Mist Divine Fire!

Under Outer Path Fang Heng’s terrified gaze, a massive amount of purple flames instantly erupted from Lu Chen’s body. These flames were of ultimate yang and righteousness, innately suppressing heretics like him. What terrified Outer Path Fang Heng even more was that these flames didn’t just damage his physical body; they also actively suppressed the Power of Outer Path within him. And the Power of Outer Path was the very foundation of existence for Outer Demons like them.

"AAAAHHH!"

Overwhelmed by intense agony, Outer Path Fang Heng let out a blood-curdling scream. His body began to thrash wildly as the Blood Sword in his right hand struck out repeatedly in a desperate attempt to break free from the terrifying flames emanating from Lu Chen. But at this juncture, such chaotic and disorganized attacks posed no real threat. Lu Chen calmly deflected every single strike with his sword.

Staring at Lu Chen, who was trading injury for injury and fighting with his life on the line, Outer Path Fang Heng admitted to himself that he was panicking. No one was indifferent to their own life, and Outer Demons were no exception. If the stalemate dragged on, the most likely outcome would be mutual destruction. Having finally managed to steal Fang Heng’s body, he absolutely refused to die here in the Sword Pavilion!

Thus, in the midst of this crisis, Outer Path Fang Heng decisively chose to sever his own limb to survive. With a single slash, he cut off his own left arm and immediately pulled away from Lu Chen.

Seeing this, Lu Chen did not pursue him. Instead, he seized the brief reprieve to stabilize his internal injuries. Everything that had happened so far was entirely within his calculations. From the very beginning, Lu Chen knew that defeating Outer Path Fang Heng unscathed was practically impossible.

Having reestablished his distance, Outer Path Fang Heng extinguished the remaining Divine Fire on his body and said coldly, "Good, very good. I admit I underestimated you, kid.

"But from this moment on, you will absolutely not have such good luck."

BOOM!

As Outer Path Fang Heng unleashed the full extent of the Power of Outer Path within him, the Outer Demon Body below his waist began to rapidly expand. In an instant, a ten-meter-long giant snake with half a human figure growing from its tongue appeared before Lu Chen. Upon closer inspection, one would discover that the head of this giant fleshy snake bore a striking resemblance to a Spirit Sword.

This was Outer Path Fang Heng’s true form—or rather, the true body of the Outer Evil Sword, Evil Sword: Chiwei. However, because he had severed his own arm, the massive sword-snake was now missing one of its fangs, making it look somewhat comical.

Evil Sword: Chiwei—this was Outer Path Fang Heng’s true identity. It had originally been an Innate Spirit Sword that Fang Heng brought out from the Sword Pavilion. But due to some special circumstances, the Spirit Sword ultimately chose to devour half of Fang Heng’s body, utilizing a parasitic method to bring both itself and Fang Heng back from the dead.

In its current state, Chiwei no longer possessed the astonishing speed of its humanoid form, but its strength and defense had received massive boosts. Yet, upon closer examination, one could see scorch marks littering Chiwei’s massive body. Although its aura felt overbearing and ferocious, there was an underlying sense of frailty, as if it were merely strong on the outside but hollow on the inside. It had clearly been severely burned by Lu Chen’s Purple Mist Divine Fire.

And all of this was exactly as Lu Chen had anticipated. After all, he had experienced this exact same scenario hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

Gazing at the gigantic Chiwei, Lu Chen forcefully yanked the Blood Sword out of his chest. He then drew a Hemostatic Talisman in mid-air to temporarily stabilize his wound.

His plan was now half complete. Whether he could execute the rest of it... remained to be seen.