The effect is slightly similar to the Eidolon Crucible only much more geared toward unity Tatiana observed Then she poked Randidly in the side with a sly smile on her face Having you been playing favorites and giving out free lessons on the side I hope you made Zone 7 pay an arm and a leg
Nope he did this all on his own Randidly shrugged
Then his gaze shifted to the inert form of Blackhand and his smile faded But will this be enough Show me whether the Earth really can create an image to overcome a monster
Huang Shou could see the efficient patterns of the corrosive and dangerous attacks from the ugly beast in front of him It only took a few clashes for Shou to grasp the difference in their abilities Perhaps in terms of physical strength they were equal but the added poison that ran through the octopusÆs body meant that Shou constantly needed to give up ground to survive
Shou followed the developments passively this much wasnÆt enough to shake him even as the moves available to him over here were being restricted
But there was another live stone on the board currently in the form of Huang Li Before the tournament Shou had honestly not thought much of his adoptive grandson despite his status as Captain of Zone 7Æs guard So he had come to the tournament as an agent of Zone 7Æs conservative faction to simply watch and teach the Glorious Leaders a very specific lesson Without the assistance of the conservative faction you are only capable of this much
Heh And yet after watching that boy bleed in front of me I have suddenly become nostalgic for the toil of my own youth Ah age takes us all eventually Shou reflected His brass Buddha lashed out left and right with its palms putting on the appearance of a furious increase in strength Of course it cost him quite a bit of Stamina to do so but he wanted to test his opponent
Very cleanly Richter manipulated the monster above him to act more passively while Shou exerted himself Huang Shou narrowed his eyes as he watched Richter tighten his hands on the armrests of his wheelchair and regard him in turn This boy would be quite good at Go
Still he is young With the space afforded to him Shou ceased attacking and brought his hands together Purifying Resonance A shiver spread through ShouÆs body as the sound of his clap cleansed much of the sinister energy that had seeped into him from RichterÆs attacks It was slightly shocking however that the effect was only able to rid him of 75% of the remnants Some stubbornly gathered in the corners of his body refusing to be shaken by a cleansing done in the heat of battle
Richter gestured sharply and those casual swirling tentacles now thundered downward at the brass buddha with its hands pressed together Huang Shou didnÆt even blink this was what he was waiting for Life is Suffering
White sigils flared to life across the body of the brass Buddha Shou couldnÆt keep the technique active for very long but in that instant all damage that each of them took was reflected back on the other But even as the Skill activated Huang ShouÆs wrinkled face twisted in shock You
The tentacles smashed downward spraying their corrosive and dark energy with their wild swings The white sigils flared to life and transferred that damage back to Richter whose face was locked into a grimace Richter and Shou looked eyes for a long moment feeling each otherÆs agony Then both slumped backward Richter in his chair and Huang Shou leaning heavily upon his cane His fingers were sweaty
The attacks from both sides ceased as both manifestations faded somewhat In the end the exchange was likely a draw Shou gave Richter another deep look You you have allowed something dark to take up residence within your legs huh Such an existence truly admirable that you have persevered through the pain
After a while pain is just that pain Richter wiped his hand blood leaking between his lips It is simply a body signaling a deviation from the typical As long as that deviation is expected you can easily ignore that signal
A dangerous way of thinking The mind is not the master of the body Huang Shou reprimanded His Mana had been instantly drained using that Skill but his image was quickly recovering to its former state Then Shou shook his head Either way you have lost My partner has defeated yours and will come to help me finish you Surrender now and spare yourself the humiliation of seeing your image crushed
Richter chuckled My partner has not been defeated she is simply trading away more of her body for power
An image ballooned into existence behind him and Shou shifted his feet and narrowed his eyes at this new threat Huang Li was about five meters behind him bent over and clasping his wo dao with both hands like he was still recovering from the hit he had taken earlier Perhaps fifteen meters beyond him Blackhand straightened and stood
The wizened hand lined with black veins reached up and ripped the remainder of the heavy cloak that obscured his features What was waiting beneath was a middle aged woman who looked to have one foot in the grave Her skin was grey and covered in liver spots The bags under her eyes were the color of a three day old bruise Thick black veins wiggled like worms across her body And her eyes were completely pitch black
Theodora Greyman Huang Shou said in shock The impeached former president of Zone 1 who once was believed to be the greatest roadblock to Zone 7Æs ascendance now looked like she had was just a shell of her former self
Theodora raised her head and seemed to scream with every fiber of her being Her complexion grew increasingly pale and yet somehow she didnÆt produce the slightest sound A second later a wave of that dark energy exploded from her like she was just a pipeline to a lake of caustic sewage While RichterÆs image was only soaked with the energy to the point that each movement dripped it this was the pure source
Just as Shou made to shift to fight the new foe RichterÆs octopus monster surged forward and smashed its tentacles at his back Snorting Huang Shou brought his focus back around and unleashed another One Thousand Palm To his surprise RichterÆs bold attack crumpled rather easily it seemed the Life is Suffering had inflicted more damage than he initially thought
Which meant that Huang Shou could quickly overpower Richter if he gave him his full attention but the new attack from behind would not give him that luxury He glanced over with concern at the wounded Huang Li Grandson
We see it grandfather Huang Li straightened slowly The wall of caustic energy rushed toward his face but he didnÆt even look at it He simply nodded as though reassuring himself and raised his sword upward The metal blade gleamed in the mid morning sun
The tip of the sword was perfectly upward Huang Shou found the form reassuring but there wasnÆt a single image that hung over that slash It was just a normal sword to Huang ShouÆs confused eyes
Huang Li spoke again before he attack I bet you can see it too if you look The True DragonÆs Shadow Sky Slaying Slash
The blade fell
For a second the sound of the wind drowned out everything else Huang ShouÆs eardrums ruptured and blood tricked out of his ears He could only watch with wide eyes as though he were watching one of the silent movies of his youth Huang Li swung his sword gracefully downward and something began to stir
Huang ShouÆs eyes shot upward and he witnessed it for the briefest moment an image even larger than the stadium staring down at Theodora Greyman with disdain The wave of dark energy rushed forward and was split without being able to resist at all
Bringing his palms together Huang Shou scraped together enough Mana and brought his hands together He shaped the word with his mouth but heard nothing but the roaring wind Harmonious Resonance
The energy ran through ShouÆs body and healed all his surface wounds His eardrums were once more restored
WHooH
The collision at the end was so powerful that Huang Shou was knocked to his knees when the concussive aftershocks hit his body He was breathing heavily struggling to see the outcome through the dirt and debris There was no way that she would be able to block that correct