Defeat and Reflection

"Kill!" Huang Wuye finally stopped holding back his fighting spirit. With a long roar, he thrust his spear forward and charged at Ye Wuhen.

Ye Wuhen didn't underestimate him. He twirled his War Blade and swung it, charging to meet him.

A fiery red figure and a blue blur collided violently in the middle of the arena.

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The clash of metal rang through the sky as sparks flew. Red light and blue brilliance crossed and recrossed.

"Your spear technique isn't bad, Your Highness! I'm absolutely terrified!" Ye Wuhen looked completely at ease. His lips curled into a faint smile, and he still had enough breath to make remarks as they fought.

Huang Wuye's mouth twitched. Ye Wuhen had a truly awful personality, but his strength was undeniable.

Ye Wuhen's blade came down again and again, each strike imbued with a strange rhythm. He seemed to be dancing rather than fighting. Yet each seemingly weightless slash carried immense force.

Feeling his hands go numb, Huang Wuye came under mounting pressure. His spear technique was no worse than his opponent's, but the gap in their strength was considerable.

Ye Wuhen's Light Domain had also reached the ninth level, and his comprehension of the law of light had advanced well beyond the entry level. With the law of light empowering his blade, each strike came incredibly fast, light and graceful.

Dozens of breaths passed. Their fight grew more and more intense, and Huang Wuye gradually began to falter.

"Oh? Is Your Highness done for? If that's all the strength you have, our game is about to end!" Ye Wuhen's eyes gleamed with amusement as he continued their "friendly exchange."

Even Huang Wuye, with his formidable composure, couldn't help the veins in his forehead bulging. He stopped holding back and brought the law of space into play.

"Take this! Void Breaker!" The two figures had just crossed paths when the red blur suddenly accelerated. Moving at incredible speed, Huang Wuye thrust his spear.

The tip of Huang Wuye's spear flickered and vanished in the blink of an eye. When it appeared again, it was already before Ye Wuhen's face. This was a secret technique Huang Wuye had developed by combining it with Instant Roar: Void Breaker.

Ye Wuhen seemed unable to react in time. The spear pierced straight through his head. But Huang Wuye wasn't pleased, because...

"Oh, my! That was close! I nearly didn't make it! How dangerous!" Ye Wuhen's figure slowly faded where he stood.

A figure appeared out of thin air behind Huang Wuye. It was Ye Wuhen, still looking as carefree as ever. But then his expression turned slightly serious.

"So this is all the strength Your Highness has? Then, Your Highness, have you ever felt the embrace of light?" His lips moved slightly. Ye Wuhen suddenly accelerated, transforming into a streak of light as he rushed toward Huang Wuye.

Fast—faster than words could describe! Huang Wuye had never seen such speed before. It wasn't like his Instant Roar, which moved through space. Yet Ye Wuhen's speed gave the impression that he was truly teleporting.

It wasn't quite that exaggerated, of course, but to Huang Wuye, who was only at Star Level, the difference was negligible.

"Light Phantom!" Ye Wuhen murmured. Then he and his blade swept past Huang Wuye like a beam of light.

Huang Wuye saw a blur flash past. His consciousness grew hazy, and only afterward did he feel the pain.

They were back in the same hall. Huang Wuye sat with his eyes closed, recalling the fight. Huang Xue and Huang Hu sat beside him, drinking refreshments without disturbing him.

"How did it feel? Did you gain much from the fight?"

After a long while, when Huang Wuye came back to himself, Huang Xue asked him gently.

"Very well. Fighting a true expert really is worthwhile. He was still holding back, but I gained a great deal too," Huang Wuye replied.

He wasn't surprised by his defeat. Even though he was a genius with an extraordinary talent, he had ultimately been cultivating for far too little time.

A genius like Ye Wuhen had both immense talent and years of cultivation behind him. He certainly wouldn't have lacked opportunities, either. Losing to him was nothing Huang Wuye couldn't accept.

But Huang Wuye was confident he'd catch up. He had already surpassed plenty of geniuses over the years.

"Little Uncle, congratulations on placing 137th in your first ranking! You might've placed even higher if you hadn't run into Ye Wuhen. You're a real monster." Huang Hu took a sip of wine and congratulated him.

"Haha, not bad. You two both made the top hundred, and you get a million points every year. Why don't you try fighting each other?" Huang Wuye said with a laugh.

Huang Hu and Huang Xue exchanged glances, then both shook their heads.

"Let's leave it for today. Maybe next time!"

The three of them started chatting again, and the room soon grew lively.

At Wuye Residence, Huang Wuye sat dressed in a white robe, holding a brush as he wrote and thought.

He liked this feeling. It helped clear his mind and put his heart at ease.

"Right now, both my spiritual force cultivation and my martial cultivation have reached Star Level. Although I'm stronger as a spiritual force cultivator, the gap in our comprehension of the laws is too great. I still can't defeat Ye Wuhen."

It was true that Huang Wuye was stronger as a spiritual force cultivator. His powerful soul gave him a spiritual-force amplification far beyond what his level should allow—over a hundredfold.

As a result, his spiritual force cultivation far surpassed his martial cultivation. His spiritual force cultivation had even reached Stellar Level Three.

There was no helping it. His spiritual force cultivation kept shooting upward without him needing to do much at all.

Huang Wuye could only say, "My talent's just too good. What can I do?"

"Still, even though I'm already fairly strong, there's no reason I can't grow stronger quickly."

"First, I need to speed up the creation of my second clone. A clone with powerful affinity for the laws and an Innate Secret Technique will further increase the speed of my Law Comprehension.

"My affinity for the laws is already quite strong, but it's still inferior to that of some people favored by the laws."

"I also need to put my second Innate Secret Technique to use. I can buy the hereditary substances of certain races and use Life Analysis and Reconstruction to improve my genes.

"My Gene Multiplier is already five times that of an ordinary person, but I can become even stronger.

"A higher Gene Multiplier can also enhance my affinity for the laws. That will further increase the speed of my Law Comprehension, and in the end, I might even surpass those favored by the laws."

At that thought, Huang Wuye stopped writing. He turned to Dasheng and asked,

"Dasheng, did you send the email I asked you to send my father last time? Did he reply?"

"Boss, your father sent a reply. You'd just broken through and gone to the Battle Space, so I didn't get the chance to tell you."

"Your father said he'd received news of a powerful Special Lifeform in the Morning Light Secret Realm. He's already gone there. We should hear something before long."

"Good. Send him another email and tell him I need a large sum of money. Ask him to send me some. Also, ask him to gather the hereditary substances of a few rare races." Huang Wuye was delighted. It seemed his first clone was within reach.