Foundation Establishment Battle

Wei Zhong did not reply, merely staring at that blood-colored figure with a grave expression.

It stood twice the height of an ordinary person, with long, slender limbs. The face at the center could barely be recognized as Candle Daoren's.

No skin covered its body. Scarlet muscles lay exposed over its surface, and the stench of blood it gave off was enough to make one retch.

This was the monster formed by Candle Daoren merging with the Blood-colored Clone. The aura it emitted had reached the Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment.

Wei Zhong's nerves tightened. A faint stabbing pain prickled between his brows, as though a venomous snake were watching him. The slightest lapse, and it would lunge forward to bite him.

Just as Wei Zhong gripped another Black Ball, the pain between his brows suddenly intensified. Without a second thought, he retreated backward.

The blood that had fallen with the spiritual rain earlier had somehow been controlled by Candle Daoren's spell, transforming into strands of Blood Thread that darted toward him. Their tips split open, seemingly lined with sharp teeth.

No. The Soaring Cloud Art can't withstand this many attacks.

Wei Zhong immediately activated the second-grade robe he wore. Golden runes instantly emerged across the cyan robe, linked by golden threads and layered over its surface, dyeing the cyan robe gold in an instant.

To outsiders, it looked as though golden light had flashed over Wei Zhong's entire body. He received every Blood Thread, then emerged unscathed from the bloody net.

Wei Zhong had only just escaped danger and had yet to feel relieved when a towering figure appeared before him. Candle Daoren had used an escape art to reach his side while Wei Zhong was blocking that attack.

His body, over ten feet tall, bent slightly and nearly enveloped Wei Zhong. Holding enormous Stone Shears, he smashed them down at Wei Zhong from above.

A broad, pitch-black dharma sword instantly appeared in Wei Zhong's hand. He held it above his head as the spiritual power throughout his body surged wildly, causing even the dark blade to shine with a layer of light.

The two weapons collided.

Boom!

Wei Zhong's ears rang as an immense force pressed him into a crouch, burying half his legs in the rock.

The rocky ground around him instantly crumbled into fragments as the force spread through it. This was a force-dispersing technique unique to Wei Zhong's water spiritual power.

Without this technique, Wei Zhong would likely have been seriously injured by that blow.

Just as Candle Daoren was about to activate his dharma artifact and shear through Wei Zhong's sword, a warning flared in his heart. A streak of spiritual light shot straight at him.

It was the second Black Ball Wei Zhong had thrown. Though it had been activated hastily, its power remained terrifying at such close range.

Close. Too close.

Candle Daoren watched helplessly as that streak of light flew straight for his head. He could only shift the Stone Shears slightly, trying to alter the attack's trajectory while desperately tilting his head aside.

But he had still underestimated the power of the Flying Throwing Art. The Black Ball merely grazed the Stone Shears, yet the force transmitted through them nearly made him lose his grip. Both his arms, together with the Stone Shears, were jolted upward.

Though the Black Ball's trajectory changed slightly after striking the Stone Shears, it still sliced away half of Candle Daoren's head and blasted one of his raised arms apart at the middle.

Naturally, Wei Zhong would not miss such an excellent opportunity. His great sword had already shifted from defense to offense, sweeping horizontally forward to sever Candle Daoren's head and both arms at the roots.

Yet Candle Daoren, despite suffering such a heavy blow, showed no trace of sluggishness. Holding the Stone Shears in one hand, he leaped backward and avoided Wei Zhong's slash, then retreated several steps to widen the distance between them.

Wei Zhong's slash missed. He withdrew his sword and returned to defense as the severed limbs and spilled blood once more transformed into Blood Threads that struck against his dharma sword.

As he defended, Wei Zhong stared at Candle Daoren in the distance, confusion on his face.

Even a Foundation Establishment Daoren should have died from that blow. Yet this monster Candle Daoren had become could still move freely after losing half its head.

In the distance, Candle Daoren's remaining half-mouth twisted into a ferocious grin. The muscles and blood in his arm flowed toward its severed end, and in the blink of an eye, a new arm was formed. His head also gradually returned to normal beneath a blood-colored covering.

Having endured two consecutive attacks from such powerful spells, retreat had already arisen in his heart. But red light flashed in his eyes, and violent emotions instantly surged into his mind.

Kill, kill, kill! Tear that bastard who ruined my dharma body into eight pieces, pull out his bones and extract his marrow...

Wei Zhong knew nothing of this change. He merely narrowed his eyes in thought.

Such a fatal injury had vanished in the blink of an eye. What he had witnessed had already exceeded everything he had understood through years of cultivation.

Wei Zhong understood that he could no longer treat the monster before him as an ordinary Foundation Establishment Spirit Cultivator.

Ordinary Spirit Cultivators fought with flying swords and spells from afar. If they could avoid close combat, they would never approach. Who fought like Candle Daoren, charging in to hack at someone from the start?

Moreover, Candle Daoren possessed the mana of a Foundation Establishment Spirit Cultivator, strength seemingly no weaker than a Foundation Establishment Body Cultivator, and such bizarre healing methods besides.

Wei Zhong sighed. His first enemy after advancing to Foundation Establishment was already such a hard bone to chew.

There was no helping it. Wei Zhong had never liked fighting the strong while weak.

Years Dao Method,

Open!

Once. Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment. Surging spiritual power poured from Wei Zhong's body. His pale black spiritual power became even darker, and its heavy, weighty aura grew increasingly apparent.

But it was not enough. He was only barely on equal footing with Candle Daoren in spiritual power, while Candle Daoren still surpassed him by an entire realm in physical strength.

Then a second time. Years Dao Method.

Spiritual power several times denser surged forth again. At this moment, the spiritual power within Wei Zhong's body was nearly black as ink.

Wei Zhong instantly rose from Early-Stage Foundation Establishment to Late Stage Foundation Establishment. Seeing this change, Candle Daoren regained a moment of clarity and prepared to flee the cave.

But how could Wei Zhong give him that chance? With a light sweep of his sleeve, he instantly stirred the spiritual energy within the spiritual land.

Dark clouds formed one after another at the top of the cave. Then came a sharp snap—not thunder, but the sound of Wei Zhong's fingertips striking together.

As though a switch had been pressed, raindrops black as ink fell one after another, pouring down upon Candle Daoren's head like a barrage of bullets.

Candle Daoren's steps halted. He activated the enormous shears in his hand and held them over his head. Under the effect of his spiritual power, red-black magma seemed to flow across the surface of the black Stone Shears.

The black rain fell as though striking blazing-hot stone slabs, releasing sizzling sounds.

But how could a single pair of giant shears defend against all the rain falling from above? Raindrops that fell through the weak points in its defense pierced his body like sharp blades, leaving countless savage wounds in the blink of an eye.

"Ha!"

Seeing that things were going badly, Candle Daoren took out a red stone, crushed it into powder with his spiritual power, and scattered it over the Stone Shears.

It was as though an extraordinary accelerant had been added to a flame. The magma over the Stone Shears began spreading endlessly until the entire pair of shears glowed red like a fire-heated branding iron, forming a red halo from within and without, like a handleless great umbrella that blocked all the rain.

The heat it emitted was so intense that even Candle Daoren's hands, raised to hold the Stone Shears, could not endure it. Waves of scorched stench spread out.

Mixed with the smell of blood, it made one feel increasingly ill.

There's poison too?

Wei Zhong swept his sleeve, and a layer of ink-colored water drove away all the poisonous gas rushing toward him. At the same time, his spiritual power rolled up the Black Balls scattered nearby, preparing to use the Flying Throwing Art to end this battle.

Candle Daoren in the distance had only just resisted the spiritual rain's assault. Before he could leave its range, a warning suddenly flared in his heart. Looking down, he saw that damned technique again.

With a roar, he did not even bother with the spiritual raindrops above his head. He lowered the red giant sword he had held high and planted it upright before himself.