"Hiss... hiss..."
A blood-colored glow flowed over Pash's entire body. A three-inch horn grew from his forehead, and a layer of blood-colored scales covered him.
Lei Jialie thought to himself that Pash could transform too, which would naturally raise his strength further. He felt the pressure as well. Could I win this fight?
Lei Jialie was not entirely confident either. This was indeed someone who dared charge into another's home territory to spar.
"Pash!" Lei Jialie fixed his purple eyes on Pash and grinned. "Whatever the outcome of this battle, I'll remember you." As his words fell, a ripple rapidly spread from his body. A gravitational field with a peculiar structure immediately formed around them, and Amethyst Space appeared once more.
Whoosh!
With the aid of the gravity within Amethyst Space, Lei Jialie shot toward Pash at tremendous speed.
"Slowing me down while speeding yourself up. A fine trick, but it's still far from enough!" Pash did not retreat at all. A layer of destruction divine power covered his body, constantly annihilating the gravity acting on him. Although he was still not particularly fast, he streaked forward in an arc to meet Lei Jialie, his saber mercilessly cleaving toward Lei Jialie's head.
Lei Jialie swung his arm.
Clang!
His fist, flowing with earthen-yellow earth divine power, clashed with Pash's saber.
Bam!
The recoil drove both men back, but an instant later, they shot toward each other again at tremendous speed. In terms of speed, Lei Jialie clearly held the advantage now, and Pash could not possibly block every attack. Yet the layer of destruction divine power around Pash constantly rippled, affecting every punch Lei Jialie threw as it approached him.
That tiny interference was enough to affect the outcome.
Boom!
A punch accelerated to the utmost under the amplification of Amethyst Space.
Pash was a beat too slow after all. The punch struck his left upper arm directly, sending blood spraying. Just as Lei Jialie prepared to follow up with another punch, Pash's saber slashed down above his head again. If he did not dodge, Pash would at most suffer another injury, while his own fate would be uncertain. A strike to the head was no joke.
He immediately let gravity pull him backward, dodging away.
Yet an injury of this degree did not affect Pash's strength at all.
Who would win, and who would lose?
At present, it was genuinely difficult to say.
Based on what Rhodes knew, for one thing, the Amethyst Behemoth Lei Jialie had not used all of Amethyst Space's capabilities. Amethyst Space did more than exert pressure; it could freely change the directions of attraction and repulsion. That was its true killing move. Once you adapted to attraction, he would turn it into repulsion. Once you adapted again, he would turn it back into attraction, in a different direction at that. It was impossible to guard against.
Pash, meanwhile, had merely transformed to strengthen his defenses and covered his divine body with his ultimate technique to counteract the gravity. He had not yet used his Devour innate divine ability, which could directly devour all things. Devouring the divine power of an innate divine ability would be no problem either. With the divine power gone, how could Amethyst Space be maintained?
"Hahaha!" Wild laughter rang out. Growing more excited as he fought, Pash had put away his saber at some point and begun exchanging punches with Lei Jialie in a flesh-pounding brawl.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The sounds of fists striking flesh rang out incessantly. Within Amethyst Space, Pash could be seen being suppressed throughout, and the scales covering him were indeed less durable than Lei Jialie's. Under their attacks, more and more shattered scales and flying amethyst fragments fell away.
Rhodes frowned slightly, because Pash had already begun to fall behind. He did not know why Pash would not simply use his innate divine ability. In fact, Pash had wanted to use it to kill Lei Jialie when he first fell behind, but although he had sensed Lei Jialie's killing intent at the start, he could no longer sense it now that their battle had progressed this far. Thus, he had not used his innate divine ability and had instead begun an intense hand-to-hand battle with Lei Jialie.
The Midgods watching below all used their own means to record this intense battle, hoping to comprehend the mysteries of the laws or gain combat experience from it, or perhaps exchange the Floating Shadow for other things. This Battle Projection would eventually circulate on other continents as well, indirectly spreading the two men's fame.
Thud!
The battle finally ended. Pash was still no match for Lei Jialie, but he had forced Lei Jialie to use the final means of his innate divine ability: controlling attraction and repulsion in all directions, abruptly shifting up and down and completely disrupting Pash's rhythm. Unable to adapt in time, Pash was blasted straight underground by a punch from Lei Jialie containing the power and pulsations of the earth.
At that critical moment, Pash had also used his Devour innate divine ability, devouring most of the power within Lei Jialie's punch. Otherwise, that blow would have left him gravely wounded, if not dead.
Pash rushed out from underground. "Lei Jialie, I lost this battle, but the gap between us isn't large. If your amethyst divine body's defenses weren't so strong, and if your Amethyst Space hadn't suddenly changed its gravity at the end, I wouldn't have lost so quickly!"
Lei Jialie nodded slightly, acknowledging that Pash had a point. During their exchanges, he had discovered that Pash was not much weaker than himself. Then he had noticed Pash inadvertently showing deference to Rhodes, which meant Rhodes must be stronger than Pash. Once he understood this, Lei Jialie had reined in his killing intent.
In the end, this had been a sparring match in which both men gave their all.
Anyone who could cultivate to the Midgod level in the short time since the world's creation and lead a force was no fool. Sometimes, one needed to risk one's life; sometimes, one did not.
"A loss is a loss. I, Pash, can accept defeat. Rhodes, do you want to fight Lei Jialie and his wife?" Pash said with a sigh, then transmitted to Rhodes, "I feel Lei Jialie still has some hidden strength. Be careful."
Rhodes had watched Pash and Lei Jialie's entire battle. Honestly, sparring with them now felt a little like bullying them. Judging by Lei Jialie's strength, he was probably around the Five-Star Fiend level at present. A Five-Star Fiend might seem unremarkable, but everyone here was currently a Midgod, not a Highgod-level Five-Star Fiend.
Recalling Pash's words about Lei Jialie's hidden strength, Rhodes decided not to continue fighting him. If Lei Jialie did have hidden strength, he would certainly reach the Six-Star Demon level. Rhodes did not want to use his willpower; it was his trump card. A fight between two people of equal strength was extremely dangerous, and he could easily fail to hold back and kill Lei Jialie.
"Lei Jialie, we actually mean no harm. We only wanted to come here and pick up some amethyst. There's too little amethyst outside, and most of it is used up within your alliance. We can't obtain any through trade at all, so we could only come take a look at your alliance. After all, everyone wants to improve their strength." After a brief thought, Rhodes spoke to Lei Jialie and his wife.
Rhodes remembered that in the original work, these two should both have been Destruction Element Sovereigns: Zijing an intermediate Sovereign, and Lei Jialie a lesser Destruction Sovereign. The one who had just fought Pash was his Earth Divine Clone, not his Destruction Divine Clone. Rhodes reckoned Lei Jialie must still be holding something back. His earth strength was already at the Five-Star Fiend level, so his Destruction Element strength was probably somewhere between the Five-Star Fiend and Six-Star Demon levels.
Having figured this out, Rhodes no longer intended to keep fighting Lei Jialie and his wife. After speaking, he directly unleashed the aura of a Six-Star Demon, sending its overwhelming pressure toward Lei Jialie.
Feeling this aura, Lei Jialie swayed slightly as an aura no weaker than Pash's rose from his body, matching Rhodes's aura evenly.
Only then did Lei Jialie's expression change, softening slightly from its earlier coldness. His tone was no longer so overbearing either.
"We've gotten acquainted through a fight. Since you've come to the Amethyst Alliance, you're our guests. Let's have a drink in the Amethyst Mountains first. There'll be plenty of time to spar later. What do you think?"
The Infernal Realm truly was a place where strength mattered. With strength, one could go anywhere; without it, one could barely take a step.
PS: I just received a site message today saying that I'll be getting my first round of recommendations over the October 1 holiday, and I'm incredibly happy. Thank you to all the big brothers who vote for me every day. I wish you smooth sailing in everything you do, all your wishes fulfilled, and great wealth in the days ahead. Brothers with votes to spare, please cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Thank you.
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