"Monkey," Si Yao's cold voice rang out, with a hint of surprise in his scrutiny. "Your abilities are rather unexpected."
Before Sun Wukong could recover from his shock, Si Yao's arm, still gripping the Golden Cudgel, suddenly flexed!
The terrifying strength granted by Jingang Realm Divine Power erupted completely. Twisting his body, he actually swung the Golden Cudgel—and Sun Wukong, still holding the other end—around, then slammed them into the ground like a spinning hammer throw!
Boom!
Sun Wukong was smashed into the ground by the sudden burst of force, sending dust billowing into the sky.
But he was the Fighting Buddha, after all. He sprang back up almost the instant he landed, battle flames burning in his eyes. With a furious roar, he charged at Si Yao again!
The two instantly clashed!
Si Yao fought barehanded, but with Jingang Realm Divine Power bolstering him, his fists and feet were hard as steel. They met the Golden Cudgel head-on, ringing out with deafening metallic clangs! At times, he formed a Colorless Wall to block and deflect the force; at others, he summoned the lightning of Yongzhen Realm Divine Power with a wave of his hand to blast Sun Wukong. Though he couldn't truly penetrate Sun Wukong's defenses, he still left him covered in dust and looking thoroughly battered.
Facing an opponent with such strange abilities, one who could both attack and defend and refused to fight by the rules—and who wasn't even a confirmed enemy—Sun Wukong found himself unusually constrained. He was actually on the back foot, as if Si Yao were playing with him.
"Hey, kid!" Sun Wukong shouted in irritation, driving Si Yao back with a swing of his cudgel. "Bring out your weapon! There's no fun in fighting barehanded! Old Sun's about to get serious!"
Si Yao hovered in midair, silver hair fluttering. "If you're worthy of it, I'll bring it out."
Those words only roused Sun Wukong's pride and curiosity further.
"Good, good, good! You've got nerve! Then let Old Sun see if you've got the strength to back it up!"
He held nothing back. The vast Dark Energy within him surged like an erupting volcano, and the God-Slaying Algorithm on the Golden Cudgel reached its absolute limit!
With a roar, he charged once more!
Their clash instantly escalated!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Every collision of fist and cudgel unleashed terrifying shockwaves, like falling stars crashing into each other! Ring-shaped waves of air spread outward, visible to the naked eye. Ancient trees were ripped from the ground, rocks shattered, and the entire forest was flattened at an astonishing speed. It was like the end of the world!
Si Yao felt the pressure mount sharply. With Sun Wukong unleashing the full power of the God-Slaying Algorithm, his Jingang Realm Divine Power and Colorless Realm Divine Power were both under enormous strain. If they kept fighting head-on, he might actually get hurt.
As his thoughts raced, Si Yao stopped hesitating and summoned the full power of Yongzhen Realm Divine Power!
In an instant, the sky changed! Dark clouds gathered from every direction, churning and surging, while thick silver bolts of lightning slithered through them! The terrifying might of heaven and earth enveloped the entire battlefield!
"Heavenly Punishment!"
Si Yao raised a hand and pointed at the sky, calling down Myriad Thunder!
Crack—!!!
A massive lightning bolt, several meters in diameter and infused with the God-Slaying Algorithm, tore through the heavens like the Spear of the Heavenly God. With an aura of destruction that could purify everything, it crashed down on Sun Wukong!
Rumble—!!!
Lightning flashed, and the dazzling light temporarily blinded the Xiong Bing Lian members watching from afar! The tremendous explosion left their eardrums aching.
When the lightning faded, a huge, charred crater had been blasted into the spot where Sun Wukong stood. He was still on his feet, but his Golden Chain Mail was scorched in several places, and his golden fur was singed and standing on end. He looked thoroughly battered.
The strike had fully unleashed Sun Wukong's ferocity!
"Good!" The last trace of hesitation vanished from Sun Wukong's eyes, leaving only surging battle intent!
"Excellent! Eat My Old Sun's Cudgel! Dinghai Throw!"
He gripped the Golden Cudgel with both hands, driving his strength and the God-Slaying Algorithm to their peak. Then he leaped up like a meteor falling from the sky and brought it down on Si Yao with all his might!
Si Yao's expression turned grave as layers of Colorless Walls instantly formed in front of him!
But under Sun Wukong's furious strike, the once-indestructible Colorless Walls shattered one after another like glass! At last, the remaining force of the Golden Cudgel slammed into Si Yao's crossed arms!
"Bang!"
Si Yao was sent flying like a cannonball. He crashed through several small hills before finally embedding himself deep in a massive cleft in the mountainside, where falling rubble half-buried him.
"Monkey, you really are full of surprises..."
"But that's as far as it goes."
[ Ding! 500,000 True Points consumed! Beginning manifestation of "God-Slaying Weapon · Blood Spear" (初级形态)!] [Manifestation complete!] [ Ding! All remaining True Points consumed! Beginning manifestation of "Yuanshi Realm Divine Power · Black Dragon" form!] [Manifestation complete!] [Current True Points: 0]
At the cold prompt, a terrifying Energy Fluctuation burst from the cleft in the mountainside!
In a blaze of light, an ancient-looking yet fearsome spear took shape in his hand!
The shaft was dark silver, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen, while the spearhead was a burning blood red. It radiated a chilling God-Slaying Aura and waves of destruction!
It was none other than the Blood Spear (initial form), manifested at the cost of a huge number of True Points, using the Silver Blade Flying Dagger as its core and incorporating all of Si Yao's current God-Slaying Weapon Technology!
Even more astonishing was his Form Change!
Two enormous, menacing Black Dragons, made entirely of energy and Black Scale Armor, roared out from behind his shoulder blades. Their heads curled over his shoulders, their eyes burning with dark golden flames!
Black scales covered both his arms, his fingers sharpened, and his nails turned into claws! The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, revealing two sharp fangs! Faint scale patterns appeared across his body, and a terrifying aura—primeval, savage, and regal—emanated from him!
Yuanshi Realm Divine Power · Black Dragon Form!
Boom—!!!
Si Yao's aura instantly surged several times over! He burst out of the cleft in the mountainside and hovered in midair, the Blood Spear angled toward the ground, Twin Dragons circling behind him as their cold eyes looked down at Sun Wukong.
Without a word, Si Yao flashed forward, appearing before Sun Wukong as if by teleportation. The Blood Spear thrust straight at him, trailing a streak of blood-red light that seemed capable of tearing through anything!
His speed had reached its absolute limit!
Sun Wukong barely had time to raise the Golden Cudgel in front of him!
Clang—!!!!!!!
The metallic clash rang out, sharper and more grating than any of their previous collisions!
Sun Wukong felt an indescribable force and a strange energy that seemed capable of Disintegrating All Defenses surge through the Golden Cudgel. For the first time, he was struck head-on without any tricks, sent flying and crashing hard into the ground. He plowed a trench hundreds of meters long!
Before Sun Wukong could leap out of the crater, Si Yao's attacks descended like a violent storm!
The Blood Spear and the Golden Cudgel clashed wildly at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow! Each collision erupted in blinding light and shock waves! The surrounding terrain was transformed completely, the mountains collapsing and the earth splitting apart!
The longer they fought, the more alarmed Sun Wukong became. The Golden Cudgel in his hands was letting out a strained, pained whine! The blood-red spearhead contained a destructive force he couldn't understand, one that was steadily eroding and dismantling the structure of the Golden Cudgel!
Crack—!
A faint but unmistakable snapping sound rang out!
Sun Wukong's heart sank!
This is bad!
A cold glint flashed in Si Yao's eyes as dazzling lightning suddenly burst from the tip of the Blood Spear—the lightning of Yongzhen Realm Divine Power!
"Break!"
He uttered a low cry, and the Blood Spear came down with all its force, transformed into a streak of blood-red lightning!
Clang—BOOM!!!!
The Golden Cudgel snapped in two!
The blood-red spearhead kept going, tearing through Sun Wukong's Golden Chain Mail and carving a deep wound across his chest.
Sun Wukong grunted and was sent flying. He crashed heavily to the ground, and the half of the Golden Cudgel in his hand flew away.
He struggled to stand, but the movement pulled at his wound, and he spat out another mouthful of blood.
Si Yao slowly descended from the sky and stood before Sun Wukong, the tip of his Blood Spear pointed at him. Behind him, the Black Dragon Phantom let out a low growl.
At the moment when victory and defeat had been decided, the battlefield lay in ruins, and an eerie silence briefly settled over everything, the cold prompt in Si Yao's mind rang out one after another like celestial music:
[ Ding!]
[Angel Yan, Angel Chase, Holy Kaisha, Holy He Xi, Morgana, Sun Wukong, Dukao, Lianfeng, Lena... and others believe the "Blood Spear," "Yuanshi Realm Divine Power · Black Dragon Form," and "Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Super Gene" you fabricated are real!]
[The Manifestation Degree of "God-Slaying Weapon · Blood Spear" has increased to 40%!]
[The Manifestation Degree of "Yuanshi Realm Divine Power · Black Dragon Form" has increased to 52%!]
[The Manifestation Degree of "Su Xiao Li · Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Super Gene" has increased to 85%!]
[True Points gained: 5,000,000]
[Current True Points: 5,000,000]
Five million True Points! And the Manifestation Degree of three core abilities had increased significantly!
Even Si Yao couldn't help feeling a rush of satisfaction.
Although this "sparring match" with Sun Wukong had consumed almost all his True Point reserves, the rewards far exceeded his expectations!
He had not only successfully demonstrated his strength and intimidated the various factions, but more importantly, by leveraging these top-tier powerhouses' "belief," he had anchored the "lies" he'd spun more firmly in reality, greatly reducing the cost of improving those abilities in the future!
This had been a massive profit!
The lines of his usually tense, cold face softened without him realizing it, and the corners of his mouth lifted into a clearly visible smile.
It was the heartfelt joy of a bountiful harvest.
Lying on the ground, Sun Wukong had been grimacing at the burning pain in his chest and brooding over his ruined weapon and damaged armor. When he looked up, he happened to catch that fleeting smile on Si Yao's face.
Sun Wukong first froze. Then, as if he understood something, he couldn't help chuckling. The movement tugged at his wound, making him suck in a breath, but his smile only grew more evident. It held a touch of helplessness, a touch of relief, and the exhilaration of finding a worthy opponent.
The two of them both knew.
Though the fight had been fierce and perilous, and they had even let their tempers flare, neither of them had truly set out to kill the other at any point.
Si Yao had turned his Blood Spear aside at the last moment, leaving only a wound instead of running it through him. Sun Wukong's Dinghai Throw hadn't been impossible to dodge, either; Si Yao had chosen to meet it head-on to test the limits of his own defenses.
For beings of their caliber, a battle like this—with sparks flying, trump cards revealed, and even a divine weapon destroyed—had been enough to clearly gauge each other's strength and attitude.
That was enough.
Si Yao's smile faded, but much of the coldness in his eyes had already dissipated. With a thought, he let the Black Dragon Phantom behind him slowly disappear. The scale patterns, fangs, and claws quickly receded as well, returning him to his usual human form. The Blood Spear in his hand turned into a streak of blood-red light and vanished into the Dark Plane.
"Cough, cough... You really don't hold back, do you!" Sun Wukong rubbed his chest and looked at the Golden Cudgel lying on the ground in two pieces, his heart aching. "Old Sun's cudgel's been with me for over a thousand years, and you went and wrecked it!"
Si Yao glanced at the broken cudgel and replied evenly, "The material's decent, the craftsmanship is crude, and the algorithm's passable. It's just as well it broke. You can find a better craftsman to reforge it."
Sun Wukong: "..."
You really know how to hit where it hurts!
Before you continue