Fusion

"I hadn't expected you to recognize me." Useno's expression was indifferent. "I've been waiting for you for several days."

Liewen's heart sank. What he had feared had come to pass.

Battle was already unavoidable, but he was still carrying Laina. He certainly could not fight Useno while holding a child.

Without a word, Liewen carried Laina down toward the ground.

Useno did not stop him and descended as well.

Liewen landed on the ground, set Laina down, and said gently, "Laina, go hide somewhere to the side."

Laina nodded obediently. "Big Brother Liewen, you have to beat that bad guy!"

Liewen smiled and patted Laina on the head.

Laina ran behind a large boulder by the roadside, peeking out with half her face as she watched nervously.

There were quite a few passersby on the road. When they saw Liewen and Useno descend, they were excited, because they could finally see Saint Realm experts up close.

But when they sensed the unusual tension between the two, the merchants and travelers, seasoned by journeys far and wide, immediately realized something was wrong. They cautiously moved away, leaving a large open space for them.

"Ready? Don't worry, I won't kill that little girl here." Useno stood with his hands behind his back, looking utterly confident.

Liewen rose into the air again. Light Element gathered around his body and condensed into Light Armor.

"Mm, not bad." Useno also rose into the air and faced Liewen. He clearly did not regard Liewen's Light Armor as anything worth noting.

Liewen stretched out his right hand, gathering Light Element into a white spear. He violently hurled it, and the spear shot toward Useno like a streak of white light.

Useno did not move. Black flames burned over the surface of his body, making him look like a demonic god from Hell.

The spear struck the black flames, but failed to break through. It was burned into specks of white light and vanished.

"Is that all the strength you have?" Useno asked calmly.

Liewen said nothing. That spear had merely been an application of his Mysteries of Light Element, intended to test Useno's strength.

It seems this guy really is a Saint Realm Second Tier expert.

Liewen's face turned grave. He had no confidence at all in defeating Useno and could only give it everything he had.

White radiance gathered over his right fist, and a white beam instantly shot toward Useno.

The "Purification" mystery—Purification Beam!

The Purification Beam struck Useno, completely scattering the black flames covering his body.

Useno was sent flying back dozens of meters by the blow, but he was not seriously injured.

"Not bad. You're qualified to make me draw my blade." Useno flipped his hand, and a narrow black saber appeared in it.

Liewen could only smile bitterly at the sight. That had already been his strongest attack, yet his opponent had not even used his full strength.

Of the 256 rays, he had only completed the fusion of the first and second, and the third and fourth. He was still far from fully fusing them into 128 rays.

Although he now knew the method of fusion, fusion required time.

In the original story, even with Linley's talent, it had taken him more than a year to fuse the 256 layers of Pulse of the Earth into 128 layers.

Liewen's potential was still far inferior to Linley's. It would only take him even longer to fuse the rays into 128.

Holding the black saber, Useno flashed forward and charged before Liewen with astonishing speed.

Liewen took a deep breath and swung his fist toward Useno's black saber, once again unleashing the Purification Beam.

Since the Purification Beam has no effect, I'll rely on Light Armor and my 9th Level Peak body to fight him head-on!

Useno was an ordinary human. Liewen believed that in terms of physical strength, he held the advantage.

The black saber collided with the fist covered in Light Armor.

The light of the Purification Beam was scattered. Liewen was sent flying by the slash, while Useno merely swayed slightly.

Liewen flew backward dozens of meters. The arm portion of his Light Armor had completely collapsed into white motes and dissipated. A sharp pain shot through his right arm, and a wound had been cut into the back of his hand. If his body had not reached the 9th Level Peak, that slash might very well have severed his right arm.

But what Liewen found hardest to deal with was Useno's Soul Attack.

A Soul Attack was a method of directly attacking an opponent's soul with one's spiritual force.

Useno's saber carried a Soul Attack.

The instant the black saber collided with his fist, Liewen felt a wave of dizziness.

I can't fight at close range.

A chill ran through Liewen. In a battle between Saint Realm experts, even the slightest distraction was unacceptable. If he could not withstand Useno's Soul Attack, he could easily be killed while stunned.

Liewen did not have much confidence in his spiritual force. When his magical talent had been tested as a child, his spiritual force had only been twice that of children his age, still below the standard for a mage.

After his potential improved, he began comprehending the Laws' Profound Mysteries.

His spiritual force also increased as he comprehended the Laws' Profound Mysteries.

After Linley began comprehending the Laws' Profound Mysteries, he stopped carving with a flat blade, because the spiritual force gained through comprehending the Laws' Profound Mysteries had already caught up to that gained through flat-blade carving.

Over the years Liewen had spent comprehending the Laws' Profound Mysteries, his spiritual force had improved considerably, but it was at most comparable to that of an 8th-Level Mage.

Although Useno was not a Saint Magus either, since he cultivated Soul Attacks, his spiritual force certainly would not be weaker than Liewen's.

Liewen widened the distance between them, intending to rely on the speed advantage of the Laws of Light to wear Useno down while using the Purification Beam to exhaust him.

Useno saw through his intentions. A scornful cold smile appeared on his face as he moved with incredible speed, like a black shadow.

Liewen was horrified. His opponent was not slower than him even in speed.

Useno kept slashing. Liewen could only defend passively. After several exchanges, the Light Armor on his body completely shattered and dissipated, leaving several saber wounds across him.

One of those slashes struck his chest, cutting so deeply that bone was visible.

Liewen circulated Light Battle Qi to heal his injuries, but the healing speed was far slower than the rate at which he was being wounded.

"Your body is quite good. Once I take you back to Holy Island, you'll add another Six-Winged Angel to my church."

Useno's expression remained indifferent as he slashed again. Liewen's speed had already been affected by his injuries, leaving him with no way to evade.

Gritting his teeth, Liewen used the last of his strength to unleash the Purification Beam while controlling Light Element, trying to condense Light Armor again.

The Purification Beam struck Useno's black saber. This time, however, the more than two hundred rays were different.

Useno swung his saber into the Purification Beam, but his body jolted as if struck by a heavy blow and was blasted away.

Only after retreating dozens of meters did Useno barely stabilize himself. A trace of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

"How is this possible?" The confident indifference on Useno's face finally changed. The power of Liewen's last attack had been several times greater than before.

Liewen was also surprised, but he already knew what had happened.

"Haha! Fusion! The 'Purification' mystery and the 'Light Element' mystery have entered the initial stage of fusion!"

When he had used the two mysteries simultaneously just now, under immense danger, he had unexpectedly found the point where the two mysteries could be fused.

Of course, this was only the initial stage. If the two mysteries were completely fused, he would be a Midgod. Liewen was still far from that.

Even so, his strength had soared, allowing him to enter the ranks of Saint Realm Second Tier experts in one stroke, even approaching the Saint Realm Limit.