Fusion

"I didn't expect you to recognize me." Useno's expression was indifferent. "I have been waiting for you for several days."

Liewen's heart sank; it was truly a case of fearing the worst.

A battle was now unavoidable, but he was still holding Laina, and he certainly could not fight Useno while carrying a child.

Liewen said nothing, holding Laina as he descended toward the ground.

Useno did not stop him, descending alongside him.

Liewen stood on the ground, set Laina down, and said softly, "Laina, go hide over there."

Laina was very sensible and nodded. "Brother Liewen, you must beat that bad guy!"

Liewen smiled and patted Laina's head.

Laina took a few steps, hid behind a large rock by the side of the road, and peeked out with half her face, watching nervously.

There were many travelers on the main road, and they were quite excited to see Liewen and Useno land, as they could finally see a Saint Realm powerhouse up close.

When they felt the strange atmosphere between the two, these seasoned merchants and travelers sensed something was wrong and cautiously avoided them, leaving a large open space for the pair.

"Are you ready? Don't worry, I won't kill that little girl here." Useno stood with his hands behind his back, appearing very confident.

Liewen rose into the air again, and the light element gathered around his body, condensing into Light Armor.

"Hmm, not bad." Useno also rose into the air, standing opposite Liewen, unimpressed by Liewen's Light Armor.

Liewen extended his right hand, and the light element condensed into a long white spear. Liewen threw the spear violently, and it shot toward Useno like a beam of white light.

Useno did not move, black flames burning on his body, looking like a demon god from Hell.

The spear struck the black flames but could not break through, being burned into specks of white light and dissipating into nothingness.

"Is that all the strength you have?" Useno said flatly.

Liewen did not speak; that spear was merely his application of the Mysteries of Light Element, and he only wanted to test Useno's strength.

It seems this guy really is a second-tier Saint Realm powerhouse.

Liewen's expression was grave. He had no confidence in defeating Useno and could only give it his all.

White light gathered on his right fist, and a beam of white light shot toward Useno instantly.

The Purification mystery—Purification Beam!

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

Useno was knocked back dozens of meters by this blow, but he was not injured.

"Not bad, you are qualified for me to draw my blade." Useno flipped his hand, and a narrow black longblade appeared in his grasp.

Seeing this, Liewen could only smile bitterly; this was already his strongest attack, and the opponent hadn't even used his full strength yet.

Of the 256 light rays, he had only completed the fusion of the first and second, and the third and fourth; he was still a long way from fully fusing them into 128 rays.

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

In the original story, with Linley's talent, it took him over a year to fuse the 256 layers of the Pulse of the Earth into 128 layers.

Liewen's current potential was far inferior to Linley's, and it would only take him longer to fuse the light rays into 128.

Useno held the black longblade, his figure flashed, and he rushed in front of Liewen with incredible speed.

Liewen took a deep breath, swung his fist to meet Useno's black longblade, and unleashed the Purification Beam once more.

Since the Purification Beam has no effect, I will rely on the Light Armor and my peak level nine physical body to fight in close quarters!

Useno was an ordinary human, and Liewen believed he had the advantage in physical strength.

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

The light of the Purification Beam was scattered, Liewen was sent flying by the strike, while Useno only swayed his upper body.

Liewen flew back dozens of meters, the arm section of his Light Armor completely shattered, turning into white light spots and dissipating. His right arm throbbed with intense pain, and a wound had been carved into the back of his hand; had his physical strength not reached the peak of level nine, this blade would likely have severed his right arm.

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

A Soul Attack was a method of using one's spiritual energy to attack the opponent's soul directly.

There was a Soul Attack imbued in Useno's blade.

The moment the black longblade collided with his fist, Liewen felt a wave of dizziness.

I cannot engage in close combat.

Liewen felt a lingering fear; a duel between Saint Realm powerhouses allowed for no distraction. If he could not withstand Useno's Soul Attack, he might be killed instantly while in a state of dizziness.

Liewen did not have much confidence in his own spiritual energy. When he tested his magical talent as a child, his spiritual energy was only twice that of his peers, not even reaching the standard for a mage.

After his potential improved, he began to comprehend the Laws and Mysteries.

His spiritual energy had also increased while comprehending the Laws.

After Linley began to comprehend the Laws, he gave up flat-blade carving because the spiritual energy gained from comprehending the Laws had caught up to that gained from flat-blade carving.

Liewen's spiritual energy had improved significantly over the years of comprehending the Laws, but at most, it was equivalent to that of a level eight mage.

Although Useno was not a Saint Magus, since the opponent practiced Soul Attacks, his spiritual energy would certainly not be weaker than his own.

Liewen put some distance between himself and Useno, intending to rely on the speed advantage of the Laws of Light to entangle his opponent before using Purification beams to wear him down.

His plan was seen through by Useno, who wore a sneer of disdain as he moved, his speed as swift as a black shadow.

Liewen was struck with terror; his opponent's speed was not even inferior to his own.

Useno struck repeatedly with his blade, leaving Liewen to defend passively. After a few exchanges, the Light Armor on his body shattered and dissipated completely, leaving several saber wounds on his frame.

One of the strikes landed on his chest, deep enough to expose the bone.

Liewen circulated his Light Battle Qi to repair his injuries, but the speed of recovery could not keep up with the speed at which he was being wounded.

"Your body is quite good. Once I bring you back to the Holy Island, you will add another Six-Winged Angel to my Church."

Useno's expression remained indifferent as he struck again. Liewen, already injured, found his speed compromised and had nowhere left to dodge.

Liewen gritted his teeth and, exerting his final strength, unleashed a Purification beam while simultaneously controlling the Light Element in an attempt to reform his Light Armor.

The Purification beam struck Useno's black longblade, but this time, those two hundred-plus rays of light were different.

Useno swung his blade into the Purification beam, but his body was struck as if by a heavy blow, sent flying by the impact.

After retreating several dozen meters, Useno finally managed to steady himself, a trickle of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

"How is this possible?" Useno's consistently confident and indifferent expression finally shifted; the power of Liewen's strike just now was several times greater than before.

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

"Haha! Fusion! The profound mystery of 'Purification' and the profound mystery of 'Light Element' have reached the entry level of fusion!"

By using both profound mysteries simultaneously under the pressure of a massive crisis, he had unexpectedly found the point of convergence between the two.

Of course, this was only the entry level; if the two profound mysteries were fully fused, he would be a Mid-level God, and Liewen was still far from that.

Yet, even so, it had caused his strength to surge, propelling him into the second tier of Saint Realm powerhouses in one leap, even approaching the limits of the Saint Realm.