Chapter 603 - 603: Late Stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering Realm
Alone on a deserted island, Huang Yuheng sat cross-legged on the ground, the fluctuations of elemental energy undulating around his body incessantly. However, no matter how Huang Yuheng manipulated his techniques, the depletion of his source couldn’t be restored.
Not only his source but even the injuries in his body at this moment were somewhat difficult for Huang Yuheng to repair.
Forcibly extracting the exchanged abilities had inflicted severe injuries upon Huang Yuheng. Nevertheless, without such decisiveness, he probably couldn’t have escaped the black mist at this moment, remaining perpetually sealed within the Black Divine Domain.
Huang Yuheng opened his eyes, gazing at the items inside the Qjankun Bag, his brow furrowed slightly.
In order to exchange for contribution points within the Black Divine Domain, Huang Yuheng had almost sold all the valuable treasures within the Qjankun Bag, leaving him without even the possibility of consuming some healing holy medicine at this moment.
Huang Yuheng took out some ordinary elixirs from the Qjankun Bag and swallowed them, continuing to manipulate his techniques to repair the injuries in his body.
It was unlikely to restore his original strength in a short time; he could only recuperate slowly later within the Sea Dominion City. With the status of the Fallen Heaven Pavilion in the city, there would be no one questioning Huang Yuheng if he didn’t take on missions for a short period.
As time passed bit by bit, a peculiar sensation arose in Huang Yuheng’s heart. He opened his eyes, looking around with some confusion.
Chen Daoheng had been gone for quite some time now. With Chen Daoheng’s strength, not to mention slaying someone in the initial Combined Aperture Tempering realm, even if it were a mid-level Combined Aperture Tempering realm expert of the same level, Chen Daoheng could forcibly subdue them. Therefore, the time he had been away at this moment seemed a bit too long. However, what made Huang Yuheng feel strange at this moment wasn’t because Chen Daoheng hadn’t returned yet; rather, Huang Yuheng had a lingering feeling that something was about to happen to him.
The cicadas sense the coming of the autumn wind.”
Martial artists cultivate their mental power, not only to control their own strength but also to have a premonition of things related to themselves in the depths of their hearts.
Especially in this state of quiet meditation, this feeling becomes even stronger. Huang Yuheng stood up, his gaze sweeping around. The sea breeze howled, fish swam beneath the surface, everything seemed normal, without anything strange.
Huang Yuheng furrowed his brows tightly. The calmer the situation, the more uncomfortable Huang Yuheng felt.
And as time passed, this discomfort became increasingly intense.
“Hum!”
A barely perceptible ripple suddenly came from behind. Huang Yuheng was startled. This ripple was too close to him, yet despite being so close, Huang Yuheng had previously been completely unaware.
Even under his current severe injuries, it shouldn’t have been like this, unless the concealment technique of the intruder was far more advanced than his Fallen Heaven Technique.
Huang Yuheng didn’t have time to turn around. He took a step forward, simultaneously flipping the blade in his hand to block behind him.
”Boom!”
The entire deserted island shook violently. Countless massive cracks spread out in all directions from where Huang Yuheng stood, and the outer edges of the deserted island began to sink.
Huang Yuheng felt a tightness in his chest, and a mouthful of blood sprayed out.
The attack came too suddenly, and Huang Yuheng didn’t even have time to fully mobilize his elemental power. Moreover, the force behind this attack was excessively strong, and Huang Yuheng himself was heavily injured.
The combination of these two factors meant that with just one move, Huang Yuheng was directly injured.
However, using the force of this attack, Huang Yuheng swiftly moved forward and took the opportunity to turn around, finally seeing the intruder.
But as soon as he saw the intruder’s appearance, an incredulous look appeared in Huang Yuheng’s eyes. It was Chen Daoheng’s pursuer from earlier. How had he returned here?
Thinking of the power contained in Chen Fei’s attack just now, Huang Yuheng feared that Chen Daoheng was already in grave danger.
Seeing Chen Fei’s mid-level Combined Aperture Tempering realm aura, Huang Yuheng’s heightened guard from the surprise attack just now slightly relaxed. No matter how strong he was, he was only at the mid-level Combined Aperture Tempering realm. While he could potentially kill Chen Daoheng, it would be impossible for him to kill Huang Yuheng.
Although Huang Yuheng knew he was in a bad state at the moment, he had managed to fend off the sneak attack just now. It was unlikely that anything worse would happen next.
Huang Yuheng looked at Chen Fei, understanding why he had returned to attack. If Chen Daoheng were dead, the first suspect would undoubtedly be Chen Fei.
With the power of the Fallen Heaven Pavilion, Chen Fei’s hidden mid-level Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivation would be useless before the pavilion.
So, wanting to take advantage of his injury to kill him and erase all the clues made sense to Huang Yuheng.
Looking at Chen Fei, a mocking expression appeared in Huang Yuheng’s eyes. The idea was good, and the power was impressive, but unfortunately, it was still not enough to kill him, even though he was injured at the moment!
But even if he was injured again, he was still at the late Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage, and he was not to the point where he couldn’t fight back!
Seeing that his sword strike only slightly aggravated Huang Yuheng’s injuries, Chen Fei couldn’t help but shake his head slightly.
The Spatial Void Shifting was fine; after all, it had allowed him to sneak so close to Huang Yuheng, and Huang Yuheng had responded hastily to the attack. This indicated that the secret technique within the Profound Heavenly Sword was indeed powerful; the only lacking aspect was Chen Fei’s current strength. If Chen Fei had the power of the late Combined Aperture Tempering realm, the sword strike just now, even if Huang Yuheng managed to block it, would have significantly worsened his injuries.
But if Chen Fei truly had the power of the late Combined Aperture Tempering realm, why would he need to resort to such sneak attacks?
“Hum!”
Aperture-Cracking Technique! Blood Ignition Technique! Heart-Breaking Technique! Transmutation Art!
The four forbidden techniques surged within Chen Fei’s body in an instant and Chen Fei’s aura was like a blazing flame, engulfing everything around him.’ After two months of continuous cultivation with spiritual treasures to refine the Suppressing Dragon Elephant, Chen Fei’s physique was close to the peak of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm. In this situation, Chen Fei could already unleash the four forbidden techniques in regular combat.
Of course, compared to the state with only three forbidden techniques, the state with four for Chen Fei was still somewhat strained.
Upon witnessing Chen Fei unleashing the four forbidden techniques, Huang Yuheng’s expression changed drastically. The mocking expression vanished completely, replaced by a look that only someone like Huang Yuheng would have upon seeing someone simultaneously employing four forbidden techniques.
Even employing one forbidden technique made it extremely difficult to control elemental power, and it was quite common to require months, or even years, of recuperation afterward.
As for using four forbidden techniques, it was tantamount to inviting death, and perhaps even before death, one’s body would explode.
This was no longer a matter of whether elemental power could be controlled but rather that the body simply couldn’t withstand such immense power.
A sword intent flashed in Huang Yuheng’s brow, directly piercing towards Chen Fei’s sea of consciousness. However, as soon as it entered, it was shattered by Chen Fei’s raging consciousness at that moment.
Huang Yuheng grunted. He had intended to disrupt Chen Fei’s bodily equilibrium with a mental technique, but under the influence of the four forbidden techniques, Chen Fei’s consciousness had already become a forbidden zone, impenetrable to mental techniques.
Unless Huang Yuheng recklessly smashed his mental technique, there was a possibility that his own consciousness would shatter first.
Gripping the long sword in his hand, a wave of fluctuations flashed, and one forbidden technique began to operate within his body, causing his already heavily injured body to deteriorate further.
But if Huang Yuheng didn’t employ the forbidden technique, he feared that with his current condition, he wouldn’t be able to withstand Chen Fei’s attacks. At this point, it was too late to flee. Chen Fei’s consciousness had completely locked onto him, and any slight movement would result in a thunderous strike the next moment.
Cracks began to appear on Chen Fei’s skin, but his expression remained unchanged. The Qianyuan Sword vanished, replaced by a broken ruler in Chen Fei’s hand.
As the broken ruler appeared, the surrounding spiritual energy began to tremble slightly, interacting with the ruler in a continuous display of radiant light swirling around it.
Huang Yuheng stared at the broken ruler in Chen Fei’s hand, his eyes involuntarily widening. Looking back at Chen Fei, he felt as if he were seeing a ghost.
That shattered spiritual treasure… it was actually in this person’s possession! Although Huang Yuheng hadn’t qualified to compete for the spiritual treasure back then, he had observed it closely from a short distance, so the appearance of the spiritual treasure was still fresh in his memory.
Moreover, even if he hadn’t seen the spiritual treasure, the tremors of the surrounding spiritual energy at this moment clearly indicated the extraordinary nature of the broken ruler.
Spiritual treasures naturally connected with the spiritual energy of the world, even if they were placed inside a Qjankun Bag. But just now, Huang Yuheng ’ clearly hadn’t sensed any fluctuations from the spiritual treasure. How did the other party manage to do that?
Or rather, how did the other party manage to openly carry the spiritual treasure with them from among so many peak Combined Aperture Tempering realm experts without being noticed by others?
“You…”
Huang Yuheng was about to speak, but he saw Chen Fei take a step forward, then suddenly appear in front of him, the broken ruler in his hand piercing like a sword.
With the Great Completion of the Profound Heavenly Sword, a physique close to the peak of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, four forbidden techniques, and a broken spiritual treasure, this strike unleashed an overwhelming force that completely suppressed Huang Yuheng.
If Huang Yuheng were in his prime, uninjured, he could still withstand such an attack.
But unfortunately, in the Black Divine Domain, Huang Yuheng was heavily injured, and he had just been sneak attacked by Chen Fei, aggravating his injuries. Now facing such an attack from Chen Fei, a sense of powerlessness surged in Huang Yuheng’s heart.
“Boom!”
A massive wave swept across the surroundings. The deserted island below was already cracked open, and now it shattered instantly.
Huang Yuheng involuntarily took a step back, blood surging up in his throat. Despite forcibly suppressing it, the injuries within his body continued to worsen uncontrollably.
And because he was still using forbidden techniques, his injuries were worsening at an accelerated rate.
Before Huang Yuheng could expel the immense force within his body, Chen Fei struck again with the broken ruler.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
With three consecutive strikes, Chen Fei barely paused as he unleashed attacks relentlessly. From stepping back once to continuously retreating, Huang Yuheng’s strength accumulated to its limit. Unable to suppress it any longer, he sprayed out a mist of blood.
His internal organs were completely displaced, and cracks appeared.
The power of the broken ruler had diminished greatly, roughly between the level of a high-grade spiritual treasure and a top-grade spiritual treasure. However, the inherent power of the spiritual treasure could suppress the opponent’s manipulation of elemental power.
In battles between experts, sometimes victory could hinge on just a hair’s breadth.
With each blow Huang Yuheng received, his injuries continued to worsen. By this moment, they had reached an irreparable extent.
“Ah!”
Huang Yuheng roared loudly, staring at Chen Fei. At this rate, in no more than three strikes, he would undoubtedly die.
“Hum!”
Another layer of fluctuations bloomed within Huang Yuheng’s body. With no way out and nowhere to turn, he once again stacked another forbidden technique. However, immediately after, he spat out an even larger cloud of blood.
If Chen Fei survived this strike, then Huang Yuheng would undoubtedly die.
Mirror Image Profound Slaying Sword!
Chen Fei seemed to be waiting for Huang Yuheng to stack another forbidden technique. Dozens of sword intents pierced directly towards Huang Yuheng’s sea of consciousness. Chen Fei’s consciousness had long reached the late Combined Aperture Tempering realm stage, making him on par with Huang Yuheng.
As the sword intents entered Huang Yuheng’s sea of consciousness, they were immediately twisted and burned, but dozens more sword intents flew out immediately after.
In the blink of an eye, over a hundred sword intents struck, breaking through Huang Yuheng’s frenzied mental defenses. Elemental power within Huang Yuheng’s body instantly went into chaos.
Huang Yuheng’s body suddenly stiffened, his eyes widening as he stared at Chen Fei.
There were too many things he couldn’t understand about Chen Fei’s behavior. The four forbidden techniques, the spiritual treasure, and the mental techniques Chen Fei displayed all surpassed his comprehension.
“Chi!”
Chen Fei swept the broken ruler in his hand, slicing across Huang Yuheng’s neck. Amidst the mist of blood, Huang Yuheng fell backwards with a strong sense of resentment and confusion in his heart..