Facing Flame
"How long will this expedition last?" Rog pressed.
"That's hard to say, but it usually lasts at least several thousand years. If things move slowly, it might even take ten thousand. It mainly depends on what the Commanders leading the two sides decide. If neither is confident, they'll drag it out until the final battle. If one side is confident enough, it might launch an all-out attack early," Flame continued.
"Because the rewards for this expedition aren't as good as those for a Planar War, the fighting between Asura-level experts isn't as fierce. But a single careless mistake could still cost you your life. If you wait until the final battle to slaughter the enemy soldiers, though, it won't be nearly as dangerous." Flame went on to mention a few other precautions, giving Rog a fairly clear understanding of this Planar Expedition.
I really am short on Sovereign's Might right now. Since there's a chance to get some, I really do need to visit the Aoqi Plane, Rog thought to himself.
Until now, his strongest opponents had only been at the Seven-Star Fiend level. Apart from the descendants of powerful families with strong backing, few opponents at that level possessed Sovereign's Might.
But in future battles, he was bound to encounter other Asura-level experts, such as Fulaite, who had once sent people to hunt him down. If he fought them without Sovereign's Might, he could easily be put at a disadvantage, and a single mistake might even cost him his life.
The difference between using Sovereign's Might and going without it was enormous. It was perfectly normal for a Seven-Star Fiend using Sovereign's Might to turn the tables and kill an Asura-level expert who wasn't using it.
"Rog, it's been a long time since I sparred with anyone. Your Lightning Law techniques are truly unique, and I'd like to experience them for myself. What do you say?" As their conversation drew to a close, Flame finally brought up the second purpose of his visit: a sparring match!
He had cultivated the Laws of Fire to a very profound level and had even completed more than one path to fusing five profound mysteries. But he still had no idea how to fuse all six profound mysteries together. Sparring with other experts was also a chance to find inspiration.
"Very well. Let's fight in the barren mountains outside the city." To be honest, he could only sense that using the Lightning Law had made him stronger than using the Fusion Law. This would be his first time actually fighting an Asura-level expert.
Before actually fighting another Asura-level expert, Rog wasn't quite sure whether his strength had reached the Asura level.
Rog's body turned into a bolt of purple lightning and flew out of the city in an instant.
Flame likewise transformed into a streak of crimson fire and followed him. The two were evenly matched in speed as they arrived at a desolate mountain range.
It was an open area strewn with rocks. The forest stopped where it met the rocky ground, so the sunlight pouring down from the sky fell unobstructed upon the earth, warming them from head to toe.
A short distance beyond the rocky ground was a rising slope, scattered with rocks of irregular shapes. At that moment, two people stood on the rocks, facing each other.
One was a purple-haired young man with an icy aura, while the other was a young warrior clad in fiery red battle armor.
Under the sunlight spilling from the sky, Rog's cold, handsome face looked utterly mysterious. Faint arcs of electricity flickered around him. This was a new technique he had developed: he condensed streaks of black lightning over the surface of his body, making him look like a god bathed in lightning.
And when those seemingly faint arcs accidentally fell to the ground, they blasted terrifying, scorched craters into it!
Flame was impatient by nature. "Rog, let's get our fight started," he said. His voice was filled with an impassioned force, and crimson flames rose from his body, clinging to his already crimson battle armor.
The two sides' seemingly simple techniques
were actually advanced applications of the Lightning Body Technique and the Fire Body Technique. By using them to stimulate their divine bodies, they could not only unleash even more terrifying speed but also greatly increase the power of their attacks. Moreover, the technique was akin to a passive enhancement and did not prevent them from using other attacks at the same time.
Though both were Asuras, Flame was clearly much stronger than an ordinary expert who had only just reached the Asura level.
"Flame Soul Burst Charge!" As a fire-element Asura, Flame had always believed that offense was the best defense, so he opened with an astonishing attack!
A crimson flame suddenly burst from the tip of Flame's spear. The flame itself contained a searing power, ready to erupt at any moment, while a transparent phantom clung to its surface. That was a fire-element Soul Attack. The two blended together and charged straight at Rog!
"What an ingenious attack!" Sensing what made the strike unique, Rog had to admire these veteran experts. Even without a breakthrough in the Profound Mysteries of the Laws, their use of various ultimate moves and techniques was beyond the reach of other experts.
Feeling the power of the move at close range, Rog naturally understood how it worked. His opponent had combined a Soul Attack and a material attack into one. What appeared to be a terrifying material attack actually concealed a deadly threat in the form of that terrifying transparent flame phantom!
An ordinary person would certainly find it very difficult to defend against or block attacks on both levels at once.
After all, even Asura-level experts had their own specialties. Those skilled in material attacks were not necessarily skilled in soul attacks, and those skilled in soul attacks might have shortcomings in the material aspect. If one aspect of his opening attack could not be perfectly neutralized, it would be easy for him to suppress his opponent for the rest of the fight.
"What a clever application!" Rog had to admit that Flame's offensive capabilities had been pushed to the limit. Both his material attacks and his Soul Attacks were terrifying!
In that case, I won't hold back either!
"Azure Lightning!"
Rog unleashed the familiar move. Even with a veteran Asura like Flame as his opponent, he still had great confidence in it!
All at once, heaven and earth lost their color.
Gloomy thunderclouds began gathering frantically. Though they had yet to grow thick enough to blot out the sunlight, a bolt of black lightning suddenly descended!
"What a strange technique!" Only after experiencing the move up close did Flame fully realize how strange it was.
"Even my mental will is being suppressed. No wonder Yiven couldn't move." He was already suffering this much even though the move hadn't finished building momentum. If it were allowed to build to its full force, even his own movements would probably be restricted.
"Crackle!"
The first bolt of black lightning fell from the clouds and shattered the crimson flame. A second bolt followed close behind, striking the shaft of the flaming spear. The terrifying power of the lightning spread along the spear and over Flame's entire body. Even with flames covering him, the strike left his whole body numb.
"Keep erupting! The power of lightning is still far from its limit! Purge all sins! Sin-Cleansing Lightning!"
Ever since Rog had easily killed his opponent with Azure Lightning that day, he had followed that special sensation and developed several new techniques in succession!
"What?!" Feeling this even more terrifying bolt of heavenly punishment, Flame was genuinely shocked. Had Rog really only just become an Asura? How could each of his ultimate moves be so astonishingly powerful?
"Flame Soul Undying! Burn to Ashes!" Flame's previously relaxed face twisted in an instant!
He too unleashed his full power. Divine power erupted from his body as if it cost nothing, and more than half his soul power burned away in an instant!
Although the two had called it a spar, now that the fight had reached this point, it was entirely possible for one of them to die from a single careless mistake!
To be honest, Rog's latest move really was a little too terrifying! The material attack was one thing; no matter how powerful it was, it couldn't kill Flame outright. But the frightening part was that the move also carried a terrifying Soul Attack!
Soul Attacks were exceptionally dangerous! One careless mistake, and a person's body and soul would truly be destroyed!
"Perish!" Flame roared and gave it everything he had. His entire face had turned bright red, as if a flame were scorching it.
"Impressive, impressive!" Rog was somewhat surprised by the way his opponent had neutralized the attack. The profound mysteries of the Laws of Fire were almost all oriented toward offense, yet Flame had used the Fire Seed Technique profound mystery to construct a sophisticated defensive technique, turning it against the enemy to continuously cancel out Soul Attacks.
To be honest, Rog could learn something from this technique. The Lightning Law also had almost no profound mysteries primarily suited to defense, and Rog's defensive techniques had always been rather crude.