"Clang!"
The sound of metal clashing rang out, and a look of horror appeared on the Whitebeard's face.
The Murakumogiri was striking a yellowish-brown halo filled with mysterious runes, but the powerful blow failed to create the slightest ripple.
Just as the Whitebeard was still in a daze, Xia Chen's calm voice came.
"What are you daydreaming about in the middle of battle, Whitebeard!"
A blur of a staff flashed by, instantly appearing in front of the Whitebeard.
At this moment, Whitebeard, having been distracted, was too late to take any defensive measures and could only cover the area where he was about to be hit with Armament Haki.
"Bang!"
A dull thud was heard, Whitebeard's body flew backward like a cannonball. After flying a certain distance, Whitebeard landed on his feet, plowing a long track in the ground to dissipate the impact.
When the Whitebeard man came to a stop, the distance between the two was several hundred meters, with a long trail clearly visible and dust billowing everywhere.
Whitebeard narrowed his eyes, then suddenly burst into laughter.
"Gurgle, Xia Chen, that blow was powerful... Pfft!"
Whitebeard was speaking when he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, causing Ace and the others, who were some distance away, to shout in alarm.
" Pops!!"
At this moment, they were completely baffled by the situation on the field, especially Marco, who had been by Whitebeard's side for who knows how long.
Because he followed Whitebeard very early on, Marco had witnessed Whitebeard's power at his peak.
He was the one who helped Whitebeard briefly regain his peak strength, so he naturally knew exactly what level Whitebeard's strength was at.
To put it bluntly, even if it's not 100% of its peak power, it's definitely 95% of its peak power, which is not much different from its peak period.
He thought that even though Xia Chen was very strong, his Pops's ten minutes of near-peak strength, gained at the cost of his last breath, would be enough to give him a 50/50 chance against Xia Chen in a short period of time.
But the current result is that they are no match at all. Anyone with eyes can see that Xia Chen has been walking leisurely throughout this battle.
He could easily parry all of Whitebeard's attacks—oh! He didn't even use his hands!
However, Xia Chen's attacks always caused Whitebeard considerable trouble.
"Is Xia Chen really that strong?" Marco murmured to himself, his eyes flashing with an unreadable meaning as he looked at Xia Chen slowly walking towards Whitebeard in the distance.
" Whitebeard, I won't go easy on you just because you're about to die. That would be disrespectful, wouldn't it?"
Xia Chen spoke casually as he walked towards the Whitebeard.
"That's right, Xia Chen, if you really go easy on me, that would be an insult!"
"Since you've got the strength, I won't hold back anymore. Don't blame me if you die!" the Whitebeard roared, then quickly ran towards Xia Chen.
When he was still dozens of meters away from Xia Chen, he leaped high into the air, Murakumogiri in his hand, Conqueror's Haki coating, bringing it with immense force as he attacked Xia Chen.
As Murakumogiri closer to Xia Chen Xia Chen, even before it touched him, the oppressive aura emanating from it shattered the ground around Xia Chen's position, demonstrating the immense power of this strike.
Xia Chen, sensing the power of the strike, became intrigued, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
"As expected of the former World's Strongest, that strike was indeed quite powerful!"
Whitebeard's current strike is even more powerful than Red Hair's Divine Departure Summit War. This power is enough to make him, in his normal state, take it a little more seriously.
Xia Chen did not use the Sovereign Safety Shield again. Instead, he gripped the staff with both hands, his Conqueror's Haki coating it, and charged towards Murakumogiri.
In the instant before the two collided, the world around them seemed to turn black and white, all sound disappeared, and everything froze in that moment.
However, the next second...
"Boom!"
A devastating commotion erupted instantly, the deafening sound accompanied by incredibly powerful shockwaves that spread outwards in all directions.
The ground near Xia Chen's location was cracking and splitting, and even the entire island trembled slightly during the clash.
The problem is that this collision is not over yet; shockwaves continue to spread.
At this moment, in the center of the battlefield.
"Gurararara! That was so much fun! It's been so long since I've had such a satisfying fight. I really miss it!" Whitebeard laughed heartily.
The feeling of fighting with all his might and being evenly matched made his blood boil.
"It was really exhilarating!" Xia Chen said with a faint smile.
Looking at the gap between Murakumogiri and his staff, and feeling the power emanating from the Whitebeard sword, Xia Chen felt that they had perfectly recreated a famous scene from the original work.
To be honest, Xia Chen didn't expect the dying Whitebeard to give him this surprise, which made him feel a long-lost sense of excitement.
It's a pity he didn't experience Whitebeard's peak; otherwise, a battle with Whitebeard at his prime might have been quite interesting!
Just as Xia Chen sighed inwardly, the Whitebeard voice came from in front of him.
" Xia Chen, you just said that you can't be distracted during battle, how come you're making that mistake yourself now!"
"Um?"
As soon as Xia Chen came to his senses, he saw Whitebeard kicking at him with one of his legs. There was a white halo around the leg, which was the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!
Just as the Whitebeard was about to kick Xia Chen, Xia Chen remained calm, his expression unchanged.
The next second, Xia Chen's figure vanished from the spot like a ghost.
"!!"
Seeing Xia Chen's figure disappear from his sight, the Whitebeard's pupils suddenly contracted, and he hurriedly activated his Observation Haki to try to find Xia Chen's figure.
But just as he was searching, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach, followed by a feeling of weightlessness, as if he were flying.
Hmm... it wasn't just a feeling, we really did fly!
Whitebeard's body flew backward at an incredible speed, leaving a trail in the air! He flew for an unknown amount of time before finally landing on the ground.
This time, Whitebeard did not land on his feet, but on his back, leaving a long trail on the ground.
Xia Chen stood calmly in place, surrounded by countless ravines and ruins. In the distance, Ace and the others stared wide-eyed in disbelief at what had just happened...