Inside the cave, spiritual light exploded, beast roars mingled with furious shouts, and the battle raged until heaven and earth seemed plunged into darkness.
Outside, the cultivators crowded around the entrance craned their necks, unwilling to blink even once.
"Good heavens... a nascent soul battle. This trip was worth it!" a middle-aged cultivator muttered, his face full of awe.
Where else could they normally watch a battle at the nascent soul level?
Some of the weaker cultivators even felt that, treasures or no treasures, witnessing this spectacle alone meant they had struck it rich!
"You old bastard! Your wrinkled face looks like an asshole. I'll flatten it with one punch!"
"You're so ugly you're shaking your Grandpa Bear's Dao Heart! Take your Grandpa Bear's fist to the face!"
"Fuck the grass on your grave! Grandpa Bear's going to rip it out by the roots!"
Black Mountain swung his paws at Lü Ci's face while spewing fragrant curses at his entire family. Who knew whether trash talk was part of the bear's tactics?
The spectators: "..."
If, possibly, perhaps, that black bear could shut his shit-spewing mouth, the experience might rise to a whole new level.
"You-you beasts! Come out and fight one-on-one if you have the guts!"
Elder Zhang and Elder Sun of the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect roared in furious frustration.
A pack of demonic beasts had surrounded them and was kicking the hell out of them.
The spectators: "..."
Everyone instinctively turned away to look at the other end, where Si Chen and Young Master Fang were trading blows in a dazzling fight. They could not help feeling that this was what a normal battle should look like.
"Goddamn it, that's fucking foundation establishment? Who would believe it?"
"Are... are all demonic cultivators this fierce?!"
These murmurs drifted into the battle, making Young Master Fang's expression turn even uglier as he fought Si Chen.
He, Fang Heng, had been heaven's favored son since childhood, never lacking resources, cultivation methods, or renowned teachers. He had always been the one challenging opponents above his realm. When had someone an entire major realm below him ever forced him into such a sorry state?
This was an utter humiliation!
"I admit,"
Fang Heng forced Si Chen back with a slash, his voice carrying barely restrained fury, "you do have some ability. Your foundation is the strongest I've ever seen."
Si Chen shook out his slightly numb wrist. His opponent really did have some strength, so he answered honestly, "You have some ability yourself."
But to Young Master Fang, those words sounded like naked mockery! His opponent was an entire major realm below him!
"Arrogant!"
He snorted coldly. The long saber in his hand, shimmering with rippling spiritual light, hummed as his aura surged.
"This ends here!"
Before his words had faded, Fang Heng slashed horizontally, sending saber light pouring out like a tide, wave after wave!
"Limitless... Layered Waves!"
With a low shout, he swung his saber.
The first slash surged like a tide, cleaving toward Si Chen with tremendous force!
Si Chen could sense that this move was different from the earlier ones. Not daring to take it lightly, he gathered lightning in his right hand and thrust a Thunderbolt Spear straight at it!
Boom!
The Thunderbolt Spear shattered the first slash. Shock waves billowed, and both men swayed.
But the second followed immediately, its power noticeably greater. Si Chen flicked his wrist and swung his spear to block again!
Boom!
The third slash, the fourth, the fifth...
Each slash was faster than the last, each heavier than the last!
The saber light truly piled up like ocean waves, each new slash rushing in on the heels of the one before. Its force kept accumulating, and its speed left no room even to breathe!
Against this unbroken assault without the slightest gap, Si Chen could find no room to use his Thunderbolt Flash movement technique!
He could only stand his ground and take each blow head-on!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Every collision made the entire cave hum, sending loose stones showering down.
Si Chen's arm tingled from the impacts. This layered-wave saber technique could actually stack power to such a degree. It was indeed ingenious.
Now, the sixth slash arrived!
Its might made even Black Mountain, Lü Ci, and the others fighting nearby turn to look!
This slash had already surpassed the bounds of core formation, reaching the level of a full-power strike from a cultivator at the nascent soul early stage!
A trace of cold certainty crossed Fang Yuheng's face. Each slash of his layered-wave saber technique was stronger than the last, and almost no one in his own realm could take more than three head-on.
Si Chen could be proud of lasting until the sixth, but it was time for this to end!
Yet as that sixth slash bore down like a tsunami, carrying the might of nascent soul, Si Chen showed no tension...
He was even somewhat... thrilled at the sight of worthy prey.
This was the second time such "skill" had amazed him.
The first had been Zhao Qinghe.
The sight of the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect's senior disciple from behind as he finally sheathed his sword, and that sword light named "Moon Chaser," so fast it had wounded Si Chen for the first time since his reincarnation.
The second was Fang Heng, standing before him.
Limitless Layered Waves, each wave stronger than the last, layered the saber's might through exquisite technique, driving finite strength toward an infinite peak.
"Speed" and "layering."
Two utterly different principles, two equally stunning techniques.
Like two streaks of light, they collided, intertwined, and fused within the vast starry sea of Si Chen's consciousness... all in the flash of a spark.
To the onlookers, Si Chen merely turned slightly sideways at the critical instant and assumed an opening stance no one understood, neither quite a sword stance nor quite a spear stance.
But within his own world, brimming with curiosity, he was putting his newly grasped "answer" into practice.
Power surged around him, gathering madly at the tip of his Thunderbolt Spear.
Just as the sixth slash's biting radiance was about to swallow him, he stepped forward.
His spear struck like a dragon! Launched later, it arrived first!
This thrust was fast!
This thrust was heavy!
The instant the spear tip touched the saber light, lightning compressed to its utmost limit erupted at a unique frequency.
One layer! Two layers! Three layers!
BOOM!!!
The entire cave shook violently, and the blinding white light forced everyone to close their eyes.
Some of the cultivators and demonic beasts standing closer were hurled away by the shock wave, landing in a miserable heap.
The light faded.
Si Chen and Fang Heng were both thrown backward, slamming into the rock wall and leaving two deep craters.
"Pfft-"
Fang Heng spat out a mouthful of blood, his face filled with disbelief.
How was this possible?!
His strongest sixth layered-wave slash had actually been blocked like that?!
This brat... what kind of monster was he?
What alarmed Fang Heng even more was that he had unmistakably sensed the essence of layered waves in that spear thrust!
He was not alone. The spectators, Red Wind, the guardian, Lü Ci, and the two Core Formation Elders were all dumbstruck.
The members of the Demon Race surrounding and kicking the two Golden Core elders stopped,
and even Black Mountain's endlessly spewing mouth stalled.
Si Chen, meanwhile, seemed reluctant to leave it at that. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at Fang Heng with shining eyes,
then asked a question that nearly made him cough up blood:
"Is there a seventh slash?"
Before you continue