Wengu Che moved first.
He knew his own strength very well. A head-on clash with Satoru Gojo would inevitably leave him at a disadvantage, and a vicious gleam flashed through his crazed eyes. If he could not kill him head-on, he would seize his weak spot and force him to submit.
"Your companions are over there, right?" Wengu Che pointed toward the direction Qingxiao had come from and revealed a cruel smile.
Then he let out a piercing howl. The earth and stone beneath his feet instantly liquefied and flowed, and all the rubble and soil underfoot wrapped around his body like living things.
Using Earth Manipulation, Wengu Che instantly sank underground. The ground became as smooth as before, without even a single crack. He burrowed at top speed toward where Suguru Geto had fallen unconscious, intending to take a hostage and force Satoru Gojo to surrender.
Satoru Gojo's brows knitted tightly. Suguru Geto was badly injured and unconscious, utterly incapable of protecting himself, and Shoko was no match for Wengu Che either. If Wengu Che found them, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Satoru Gojo activated his Six Eyes. Countless streams of complex information flooded his mind, and he soon located Wengu Che, then teleported to intercept him.
Yet Kamo Xiansheng, beside him, did not move to stop him. He stood watching coldly throughout, showing no intention of intervening to hold him back. His sole target had been Qingxiao from beginning to end, and he had no intention of interfering in the other battle.
With that, the two battlefields were completely separated.
Now alone, Kamo Xiansheng faced Qingxiao from a distance. Both stood where they were, neither making the first move.
Suddenly, Kamo Xiansheng pressed his palms together. "Convergence!" A blood bag burst open, and some of the blood inside compressed, steadily increasing the power of Piercing Blood.
Seeing this, Qingxiao could not possibly leave him to it, but the distance between them was considerable, and he probably could not close in in time.
However, exposed rebar left by the explosion, broken iron bars, and concrete fragments littered the entire ruin. All of them were excellent weapons for Qingxiao.
Kamo Xiansheng aimed his joined hands at Qingxiao, assuming the charging stance for Piercing Blood-Convergence.
The power of Piercing Blood depended heavily on how long it was charged. A hasty, brief charge could only release a weak blood projectile, useful only for harassment. Only prolonged compression could build up tremendous penetrating damage.
But regardless of how long the charge lasted, Blood Manipulation had to keep consuming his own blood. Every time he raised his hands to charge, he was drawing down his blood reserves.
Cursed Energy gathered and compressed furiously before Kamo Xiansheng's palms, building up layer upon layer and condensing inward, accumulating increasingly terrifying penetrating potential.
He was only halfway through charging when a length of rebar wrapped in Cursed Energy came whistling toward him, cutting through the air.
"What!?"
Kamo Xiansheng's pupils abruptly contracted. The sudden attack forcibly interrupted his previously steady charge of Convergence.
He had no time to keep compressing blood to charge. He could only hastily fire his half-finished Piercing Blood, sending a small blood-red projectile toward Qingxiao while swiftly directing some blood to form a thin blood shield before him, barely managing to alter the rebar's trajectory.
With a loud clang, the rebar veered aside and slammed into the concrete wall to the side, gouging out a deep crater and sending debris flying everywhere.
Kamo Xiansheng lowered his hands and dismissed the blood shield, his initial contempt fading from his face as he silently assessed the situation. The destructive power of that throw already reached the level of a Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer. So, is it a ranged attack Cursed Technique? What a pain to deal with.
Meanwhile, Qingxiao stood dozens of meters away and easily dodged the half-finished Piercing Blood. Seeing that his strike had interrupted his opponent's charge, he made his own calculations. He can't defend while charging. From now on, I just need to interrupt him when he starts raising his hands and pressing them together. I'll deplete some of his blood reserves first.
Qingxiao decided to kite him rather than rush into close quarters. He darted through the devastated ruins, sidestepping each time at the very limit of Piercing Blood's range.
Whenever Qingxiao found an opening, he pulled out a length of exposed rebar, coated it in Cursed Energy, and swung his arm in a full arc to hurl it with all his strength.
Watching his own attacks miss time after time while his opponent's repeatedly disrupted his rhythm, Kamo Xiansheng began to grow somewhat impatient as his blood reserves dwindled.
Qingxiao knew perfectly well that he would certainly win this ranged battle of attrition.
Kamo Xiansheng's blood is a finite resource. Every use leaves him with less. Even with blood bags, he only has so many. He simply can't sustain this constant drain.
Meanwhile, exposed rebar litters these ruins, and all of it is my weaponry. As long as I have strength left, I can keep attacking without worrying about depletion at all.
After several exchanges of kiting, Kamo Xiansheng's assessment had already gone astray.
This guy has all that muscle, yet his Cursed Technique is actually a ranged type?
If this keeps dragging on, I'll definitely lose. Looks like I'll have to fight him up close...
But his hand-to-hand combat skills must be decent too. To be safe, I'd better put on blood armor first...
Having made up his mind, he hesitated no longer and charged at Qingxiao.
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