Chapter 434: Fierce Battle! (Two-in-One)

Feeling the wetness, Quan Dazhong was completely enraged.

The fear in his heart transformed into a fury that masked his trembling body, and he poured it all out at his opponent: "Damn it! Do you want to die?! Huh?!"

He glared across at Yan Jing, who was holding Papa Rat and emitting a billowing thick fog. His face twisted with rage, his eyes widening to the point of splitting. "You motherless bastard! Huh?! Didn't this rat tell you who I am?!"

"Damn it! You dare provoke me?! Provoke me, will you?! Fuck, I was just worrying about not being able to find you!"

"Elder He! Get him! Destroy this damn kid for me!"

The old man heard Quan Dazhong's words, but he did not move.

He sensed an unusual aura from the person across from them.

The proof of this intuition was that the other party could evade his Anomalous Energy Detection.

So he merely held Quan Dazhong with one arm, letting him hurl curses at their opponent while silently waiting for the right moment to strike.

Yan Jing's expression was calm.

He looked at Quan Dazhong across from him, his gaze as tranquil as a pool of jade-green water.

Even though Quan Dazhong was using the foulest words in the world right now, his expression didn't change at all.

No sorrow, no anger.

His emotions at this moment were perfectly tranquil.

Just like before in Old Sin City and Minhu, he once again felt that his appearance here was the right thing.

This was a scene devastating enough to break one's heart—so devastating that the person standing here couldn't even be the original Mao Si.

The one who met Mantou again, the one who faced Li Qinghe with Fei Yu and the Old Man, the one standing opposite Quan Dazhong listening to his insults—it couldn't be those who had already passed away. It could only be him.

The endings of these stories originally belonged to him, Yan Jing.

That little cat who willingly walked into the fire so his foster father wouldn't be saddened by the sight of his corpse probably couldn't handle all this.

So in the end, having figured it out, Yan Jing suddenly smiled.

He looked down at Papa Rat, who was gripping his collar with his claws.

"Go, go, Si'er, go find Mr. Luo—"

Papa Rat's eyes were gushing blood. He couldn't see Yan Jing's face, merely pushing at him continuously with his claws.

"I want to kill him, Pops."

Yan Jing spoke in a low voice.

"No!" Papa Rat gripped Yan Jing's collar. "Heavenly Kingdom Weapons will purge you, and you'll be sent to the Great Prison. You can't be the one to do it, Si'er..." Even at this moment, he still spoke like that unfazed villain in a suit and leather shoes, weighing the pros and cons of everything.

But Yan Jing knew that he actually wasn't anymore.

Because a clear-headed Papa Rat wouldn't think that Mao Si could kill the person across from them.

"If you were the one to make a move just now, Pops, you would be the one going in there."

Yan Jing spoke softly. "Kill the current president, then let Uncle Crocodile arrest you to win the election."

"Pops, they wouldn't believe you. Anyone who looks into it will know about your relationship with Uncle Crocodile."

"But—"

His tone suddenly shifted. "Everyone will hate that human."

"And me, for associating with a human."

"When the fire hasn't burned them, even if a savior appears, no one will be grateful."

"This is the Heavenly Kingdom, Pops."

"And I am the biggest bastard here."

Saying that, Yan Jing smiled and raised his head to look at the old man across from him. "So the plan is only missing the final step—"

"And that is to defeat you."

His fingertips swiped, tearing open a rift in the air, and then he sent Papa Rat inside.

Seeing this, the old man's eyes narrowed again.

This was definitely not a simple destruction of space.

Daring to send a living body into space definitely meant he had an extremely high mastery over it.

But he still didn't think the Yan Jing across from him could defeat him, because he was at the Eighth Tier.

Even though his condition was terrible right now, he was—

Still at the Eighth Tier.

He moved his hands, and streams of swirling air rippled out around him. The entire night sky seemed to be stirred at this moment, the clusters of stars rippling within it like flowing water, starlight clustering together.

Beside his ear, Quan Dazhong's angry curses gradually faded away. At this moment, he was fully concentrated, focusing his gaze entirely on the opponent.

Right at the instant Yan Jing's weird energy surged, the old man moved.

The weird energy beside Yan Jing, which had just been like stormy waves, was suddenly cut off, its presence vanishing. Although it was only for a brief fraction of a second before Yan Jing made the weird energy rise again, that instant was enough for the old man to close in on Yan Jing's body.

A seemingly gentle palm thrust struck Yan Jing directly, sending him flying backward, once again interrupting the weird energy he had accumulated around him.

In an instant, a massive mist of blood burst from his entire body.

Fortunately, he spread his Wings of Chongming while in mid-air, allowing him to stabilize his figure.

Yan Jing looked at the old man gathering his power again across from him, calmly wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

There was a gap in their strength, and a certain gap in their speed as well.

But it wasn't so large that it couldn't be resisted.

At the very least, he could clearly see the opponent's movements, and he hadn't suffered a fatal injury from that palm strike. Only a few bones were broken, and they were currently being slowly repaired by the threads inside his body.

What truly concerned him was the opponent's ability to interrupt his weird energy just now.

At that moment, he truly felt the connection between himself and his weird energy severed, as if a normal person had suddenly lost control of their limbs. Even if it was just for a split second, that split second was enough to change the tide of battle.

Whether it was the second or third layer of the Fear Stance, both required the accumulation of weird energy. The ability the opponent used naturally countered these kinds of skills.

Was this the natural advantage of those at the Summit, or a characteristic of the opponent's own ability? Yan Jing remembered that he hadn't seen this happen during the old man's fight with the werewolf just now.

With no time to think further, the opponent moved again.

Yan Jing still chose to activate the second layer of his Fear Stance.

Just as he expected, the weird energy that had just surged skyward was interrupted once more. This time, the old man did not stop after a single strike like before; instead, he unleashed a flurry of blows.

It looked as though he wasn't striking with much force, but upon closer inspection, the surrounding night sky surged with his every move. The attacks battered Yan Jing, forcing him back continuously as mists of blood kept bursting from his body.

The threads inside Yan Jing's body were operating frantically now, constantly repairing his flesh. The tentacles of the Fear Bird had also long since emerged, weaving and winding around him to form a layer of "flesh membrane."

This continued for a full half-minute.

Only then did the old man step back. Yan Jing's body slammed heavily into a thick tree and fell to the ground. The massive trunk, which would take more than a dozen people to wrap their arms around, came crashing down.

Watching Yan Jing stand back up from the ground, a hint of solemnity flashed through the old man's eyes.

He hadn't expected his opponent to be so durable.

The first strike had only been a probe to gauge the opponent's level.

As for the second flurry, he had originally intended to end the opponent directly.

But to his surprise, he had failed.

In fact, the heavily wounded Yan Jing actually started laughing.

"You're exhausted."

Yan Jing smiled. "It seems the earlier war of attrition was effective."

The old man's face darkened.

Yan Jing had hit the nail on the head.

If he hadn't fought the werewolf, he wouldn't have exhausted his strength so quickly just now.

The output of weird energy was like a river connected to a lake. If the river's flow wasn't fast, it could provide a continuous, unending supply. But if the river flowed too rapidly—even faster than the water flowing into the lake from upstream—the lake would eventually dry up, and one would have to wait for it to replenish.

"What about that ability of yours? Does it need to recharge too?"

Yan Jing tried to activate the second layer of his Fear Stance again, but it was still interrupted.

He laughed. "Got it. It seems to be because of the Eighth Tier; otherwise, you wouldn't be able to do it without even using weird energy."

"Heh—" The old man's eyes flickered. "You're pretty good, little cat, but it's not enough."

"The gap between the Eighth Tier and the Seventh Rank is larger than you imagine."

He was employing a tactic, hoping to stall for time through conversation with Yan Jing in order to recover some weird energy and stamina. Although he held the upper hand at the moment, he still felt very uneasy.

At the very least, that guy named Luo Sheng still hadn't shown up.

Actually, his original intention was to retreat, worried that this Luo Sheng guy would pop out of nowhere and stab them in the back, just like Mao Si had.

But Quan Dazhong seemed completely blinded by rage at the moment, constantly demanding that he kill the opponent.

He sighed inwardly. He also knew it wasn't that Quan Dazhong had lost his reason, but rather that there was absolutely no way out for the two of them right now.

From the moment Mao Si bypassed his Anomalous Energy Detection to arrive here without being instantly killed by him, this situation was left with only two possible outcomes.

Either Mao Si and Luo Sheng both died.

Or he and Quan Dazhong died.

Retreat was completely out of the question.

If Luo Sheng fought his way out, he would come to kill them.

If Luo Sheng couldn't kill them, then they would win.

It was simple logic.

Therefore, he had no choice but to use some petty tricks he usually disdained, all to secure victory.

But Yan Jing also started laughing. "That ability looks pretty good, but I have a very good ability, too."

He blinked.

The old man's expression changed in an instant. Sensing something, he immediately retreated a hundred meters away from his spot.

Unfortunately, he was still within Yan Jing's line of sight.

Instantly, a wave of dizziness hit him. The old man could only rely on muscle memory to continually step back, avoiding any attack from Yan Jing.

What he didn't know, however, was that Yan Jing had no intention of attacking.

The moment the old man recovered, Yan Jing had already risen into mid-air, sitting upon that throne of his.

"Congratulations, you get to see the second layer of my stance."

Yan Jing smiled.

Feeling the aura around Yan Jing, which was now several times stronger than before, the old man took a deep breath, and then moved once again.

The two clashed once more.

This time, the one retreating step by step was still Yan Jing.

Those regenerating threads and Fear Tree branches were continuously bombarded backward by the night sky the old man mobilized. The unimaginably massive Fear Tree, which looked like a divine tree reaching the heavens, trembled ceaselessly at this moment.

But compared to just now, things were already much better.

Peerless's second-layer stance wasn't enough.

This was also within Yan Jing's predictions.

At the very least, he could fight back this time.

"Come!"

The weird energy inside Yan Jing's body split into countless branches, which in an instant transformed into countless pitch-black spears, raining down toward the old man like thunderbolts.

Beads of sweat were now continuously forming on the old man's forehead.

This battle was far, far more difficult than he had imagined.

First were those spikes that appeared from nowhere. At first, he chose to face them head-on, but there were simply too many. After accidentally getting hit by one, the heart-wrenching pain it caused made him never dare to be careless again, forcing him to dodge as much as possible.

Yet, to make matters worse, scattered petals drifted in the sky. If he touched one, it would evoke his deepest fears at that very moment.

Several times, he saw a dark silhouette emerge from the corner and charge at him.

That was the Luo Sheng of his imagination.

Even if he dodged the spikes and petals, it still wasn't time to relax.

All around him, there was also a massive pair of scissors emitting a shocking killing intent and aura of blood. Every snip rang out sharply, its coldness making the old man's body chill.

Not to mention the camera shutter sound that would ring out from time to time.

Under such a siege, numerous wounds accumulated on his body. He could only rely on continuously interrupting the flow of Yan Jing's weird energy to gain an advantage.

But Yan Jing had already figured out his patterns. He no longer used skills that required a massive mobilization of weird energy; instead, he merely used "basic" abilities to fight a war of attrition against his opponent.

During this process, he had gradually come to understand the opponent's ability to interrupt weird energy.

First of all, it couldn't be used frequently. Each time required a "cooldown" period. Furthermore, there was actually a way to evade that ability, which was to activate skills in advance.

As long as the skill was activated fast enough before that interrupting ability took effect, it could be dodged.

However, for abilities that required time to cast—like activating the Fear Stance—it still wouldn't work.

Minute by minute went by. As the weird energy inside him dwindled bit by bit, the alarmed old man gradually felt the urge to retreat. He looked down at the Quan Dazhong he was holding.

With just one glance, Quan Dazhong understood the old man's intention, but he immediately roared, "We can't retreat! Elder He! We have no way out!"

"As long as we win, we'll be the ultimate victors!"

"Go! Elder He! You are at the Eighth Tier! Kill him!"

"I know you still have a move! Use that!"

The old man felt helpless. After pondering for a few seconds, he sighed, looked at Yan Jing across from him, and said softly, "It's the only way..."

In the next instant, countless veins sprouted from his chest, gradually enveloping him.

The surrounding spikes of fear immediately pierced into those veins, but unexpectedly, the old man didn't seem to be affected at all this time.

Even when the Lord of Execution's Shears fell, they were blocked by those bloody veins, unable to advance an inch further.

The old man chuckled. "If I hadn't fought that stinking dog, did you really think you could beat me?"

"Let me show you a true Eighth Tier."

As his voice fell, those veins instantly danced wildly, extending in all directions. The distorted, flowing stars seemed to be connected by those veins in this moment, acting like nodes. Finally, the veins and nodes intertwined together, forming a face.

A giant face, twisted beyond description.

If one looked from up close, they might not even be able to tell it was a face, yet paradoxically, it gave off the distinct feeling of a human face.

That face connected to the stars, the stars connected to the night, and the night connected to Heaven. Just looking at it was enough to make one tremble in fear.

"Near-Divine Power."

The old man spoke softly, then suddenly spat out a large mouthful of black blood, his face turning deathly pale.

Immediately afterward, the giant face suddenly plunged downward, as if the entire night sky were crashing down in that instant, opening its maw to snap at Yan Jing!

"Bang!"

Yan Jing was instantly swallowed by that giant starry face.

In the old man's arms, Quan Dazhong watched this scene with extreme ecstasy. "We won! Elder He! I knew you could do it! We are the winners!"

"Don't worry, once we get back, I'll definitely compensate—"

He only got halfway through his sentence because he saw that the old man's expression was not good.

In the next instant, right before his eyes, that giant face unexpectedly disintegrated.

"Thank you for cutting yourself down again."

Yan Jing, slowly walking out of the night sky, smiled. "Otherwise, it really would've been a bit hard to win."

Peerless: Death Prayer—Ability Nullification.