164 Sect Leader Laws (2/2)
”I'm just killing time since we've got plenty to spare.” Chonglin's chuckled.
Spotting the origin of the voice, Xia turned towards an empty space. He pointed forward, and a seven-colored streak of lightning shot from his cloud.
BOOM! A seven-elemental lightning explosion cleared the invisible space, revealing Chonglin. His body was completely covered in a purple crystal-like armor with not even his face being revealed.
”Heh.” Chonglin mocked. ”You surpass me in the realm of lightning laws by quite a large margin, but I don't mind playing anyways.” He rose his fist towards the sky, causing bits of purple mana to radiate up from his body. Storm clouds gathered overhead, casting the world in dark shadows. However, the clouds did not condense together like Xia's had earlier. Instead, they only released ordinary silver lightning towards Xia and the sister.
”Is this a joke?!” Xia mocked as he activated his mana to create a new cloud for himself. Any lightning that neared him was simply absorbed into the cloud, becoming his own.
”It's an investment!” Chonglin replied. ”Once you shoot some more lightning at me, I can make a few more seven-lightning pellets for cheap! It's a real bargain for me!”
”AGHHH!!!” Xia roared as he flew the cloud closer, prepared to join the sisters in their close-combat fight against the clones.
...
Ed watched the ongoing sky battles in shock. 'Sect Leader Fang had mentioned he mastered over a dozen laws... And he clearly has a seven-colored mana-core as well. No wonder he led over the other sects... In comparison, the other sect leaders only seem to have mastered one or two laws each.'
”It's not all about the number of laws.” Dongfeng interrupted Ed's thoughts, seeming to have guessed some of what he was thinking about. ”While it's true that Chonglin controls many laws, most of them are weak and nearly useless by themselves.” He pointed towards the water and fire clones fighting in the sky. ”The clones represent two different laws. They are not the result of simple mana manipulation, as they are fully independent with their own thoughts and actions. Normally, they are very weak and easy to defeat. However, Chonglin has not only allowed the different clone types to support each other but has also buffed them with a type of dark law. This alone makes him a fearsome cultivator.”
”Humph.” Ying snorted, interrupting Dongfeng. ”All small tricks. The only law that really matters with Chonglin is his damned mana condensation law.” She glanced at Ed. ”In fact, it's fairly similar to your own abilities.”
”Mm.” Dongfeng agreed. ”His ability to create any nonliving thing from his mana is powerful, but the really terrifying thing is how he uses it to condense and reuse the attacks of others. He can conserve most of his own mana while turning everything around on us.”
”Is that why you're not getting involved?” Tai asked.
”I could fight him...” Dongfeng replied before shaking his head. ”But there isn't much point. My long-range attacks would be reversed by him, and I'm no match for him in close combat. It'd be a waste of my efforts, like what Xia is doing.”
Ying sighed. ”We'll simply have to wait for the barrier to break. Once we begin slaughtering his sect members, he won't be able to fight so defensively. He'll be forced to go on the offensive and use up his massive mana reserves. Then we'll finally be able to finish him off.”
”I agree.” Dongfeng nodded. ”But will they really be able to hold him off from attacking our army until then?” He asked with concern visible in his eyes.
”They will.” Tai confidently answered. The other two glanced at him, confused as to where the newbie's confidence came from, but they didn't bother commenting on the matter.
”How long do you think the barrier will take to break?” Ed asked as he stared at the mountain crushing down upon the purple barrier.
”That...” Ying hesitated while looking towards the barrier. ”They have so many cultivators maintaining it... Even though gravity is doing most of the work for me, I'm still using up quite a bit of mana to maintain it. If it doesn't break within half a day, then I'll have no choice but to retract it to conserve my own mana for the war.”
”I see...” Ed nodded. ”In that case, everything will be for nothing. Our armies won't be able to invade, and they'll simply continue to turtle within the barrier. At most, they'll send more elemental giants towards us while we try to retreat.”
”Well, I think we'll break through right on time.” Tai gave Ed a knowing smile. ”After all, they are both left behind by ancient powers. Won't they put up similar levels of performance?”
'As if it would work that way...' Ed thought to himself. 'One is being maintained by a single powerful individual and gravity while the other is being maintained by thousands of weaker individuals. There's practically zero chance of the barrier breaking right as she's forced to retract the mountain... But I suppose things will conveniently work out that way on purpose for the sake of the Fire Dragon Sect and Purple Origin Sect's plans.'
Suddenly, a new wave of elemental giants exited the purple barrier. With Xia and the sisters busy fighting in the sky, they would be forced to face it themselves.
”I can't waste any mana on them.” Ying frowned while turning to Dongfeng. ”You're up.”
”Right.” He nodded in agreement. Green wind swirled around his body as he slowly walked forward. However, he seemed to speed up with each step he took, and soon, he vanished.
Ed's eyes widened in surprise as he watched Dongfeng shred through the elemental giants. It was as if the man was both slow and fast. He'd briefly appear, his motions completely visible to the naked eye, and then he'd vanish while hundreds of elemental giants were torn to bits and pieces.
”Not good.” Ying sighed. ”Dongfeng is best suited for one-on-one long-range combat.”
Indeed, it seemed Dongfeng was having a hard time keeping up with demand despite his massive speed. The elemental giants being produced far outpaced his speed of slaughter.
”We have no choice but to send in the armies.” Tai stepped forward. ”We knew it would likely come to this.”
”Tch. If your father was here, we wouldn't have this problem.” Ying complained. She was unaware of Tai's recent sacrifices for progress, and so he was little better than dead weight in her eyes. If not for the Fire Dragon Sect's armies, she wouldn't even bother giving him a 2nd look. ”Fine.” She turned towards the waiting armies. ”GO!” She yelled. ”Show the Purple Origin Sect how real cultivators fight!”