Chapter 1448 (2/2)
A towering monstrosity had finished manifesting above Richter. It was a sea horror oozing puss and stricken by a horrible affliction of black veins that made its fleshy body seem to be in its death throes. Yet two small and beady eyes could be seen on the spongy main body, surrounded by a thousand such tentacles.
“Enough.” Richter was extremely pale and gaunt, but that insidious and almost caustic energy that weakened images in the surrounding area was now radiating off of his person in dense waves. “Don’t struggle any further. At my full power-”
“What hubris. Ten Thousand Palm.” Huang Shou interrupted, casually stepping forward and thrusting his hand forward. Behind him, an unadorned brass Buddha manifested. As Huang Shou attacked, the buddha mimicked him without even opening its eyes.
The image that Huang Shou produced was so robust that Huang Li had to blink. Perhaps I really should learn to play Go...
BOOOOOOOOM!
Richter sent several of those ropy tentacles to meet the buddha’s palm, but the tentacles were blasted to the side. The palm moved serenely forward, the Buddha advancing rapidly to attack the giant octopus monster.
“You…” Richter’s eyes narrowed. “Well, if a few won’t work, how about a few hundred?”
Rumbles shook the arena as the two image projections clashed. A small frown formed on Huang Shou’s face and he used his other hand to chop through the air and blast away a significant portion of the tentacles seeking to smash and bind his image. At the same time, several tentacles whipped sideways along the ground, aiming for Huang Shou’s actual body.
Meanwhile, Huang Li pounced forward once more toward the wounded Blackhand; he had his own foe to fight. He dodged the spikes but was stopped dead as Blackhand spun and simply made a small spiked dome around his position to protect himself. Pressing his lips together, Huang Li once more raised his hand and unleashed the Cloud-Slaying Claw. Struck unexpectedly, Blackhand’s image faltered and Huang Li could forcefully smash his way through to stand before the Zone 1 representative.
Huang Li’s wo dao cut sideways and Blackhand clapped his hands together to unleash a blast of energy. That caustic, unstable wave smashed into Huang Li’s chest even as he felt his blade ripping through the other’s flesh.
Blackhand collapsed to the ground with yet another deep wound, but Huang Li briefly lost consciousness hit him like a horse kick to the chest and left him dazed. But he was awoken by the physical sensation of skidding across the arena and took stock of his situation. It felt like acid had been poured on his image, steadily eroding its strength. Horrified, Huang Li pressed his eyes closed and did his best to steady his image.
I might be scarred… but I cannot afford to fail… After a few seconds of frantic image reinforcement, Huang Li bit his lip and raised his head. His vision was blurry and a pounding headache raced back and forth within the confines of his skull. Still, his breath hissed out between his teeth and he forced himself to his feet. Then he held himself in a standing position, even while he continued to sway.
Gradually, things came back into focus. Blackhand was twitching on the ground, but still down. Blood was staining the arena beneath him. Across the arena, Huang Shou’s palms were light and smooth, the buddha above him turning those strikes into domineering thunderbolts that smashed away the surrounding tentacles. But with the strange intuition that Huang Li had gained from his flood dragon swimming on the wind, he could see that Richter’s monster had cast out a tightly knit net. It was only a matter of time before Huang Shou was captured.
Huang Li began to take abrupt staggers toward Huang Shou and Richter’s battlefield, the hand not holding the wo dao tracing the lines of his own body to check for injuries. He was certainly sore and dazed, but he was lucky that nothing was broken.
Honestly, the worst of the damage was to his image...
Huang Li raised his left hand to unleash a Cloud-Slaying Claw to wound Richter, but then he hesitated. His headache gradually receded and his thoughts cleared. Huang Li lowered his left hand with a frown. If he truly is a similar fighter to me, he will have noticed the move I used twice to wound Blackhand. He hasn’t experienced it himself, but Richter probably will spot the weakness of it instantly if the first attempt doesn’t put him out of commission…
So instead, Huang Li flexed his fingers and empowered his dragon image as much as he could. The strange damage dealt by Blackhand’s final attack made the effort painful, but Huang Li would not let the first round that his adoptive grandfather conceded the point and helped him also be the round that they were decisively beaten.
As the process continued, Huang Li could no longer avoid the truth; the damage to his image was almost crippling. In his current state, he simply couldn’t wrap his mind around enough details to make the image potent.
Yet if anything, this only made Li relax further.
I could never make an image that was truly this powerful on my own, anyway. Huang Li continued to walk forward, his joints aching. The clouds above the arena slowly began to circle the stage as a weak but determined wind spread rapidly outward. It is only due to my heritage and instructors that I came this far. It is only due to the spirit of my people that I can stand on this stage. So now, for all of you who are watching… please… I need your help. Show me the dragon that can slay not just the clouds, but the entire sky…
The stirring wind spread outward, seeking inspiration and support.