Chapter 30

The land in a hundred-meter radius around Zheng floated up fifteen meters. Inside this land was he, Luo YingLong and many half-orcs. Luo YingLong circled the area on his sword. All the half-orcs were shredded into pieces. He then jumped off the sword. There was now only he and Zheng on the land.

“It’s quiet now. Come. Let us have a good fight. The last time we fought your clone, we saved a few Caucasians from him using our numbers advantage. There’s no one to disturb us now. Let me see if the power of your unlocked stage can rival the power of Xiuzhen!” He shouted.

Zheng threw away the broken arm in his hand. He had entered a berserk state but he didn’t leap at Luo YingLong mindlessly. He straightened his posture. His hands reached for his ribs. Following a crackling sound, he pushed a dislocated rib back into its original position.

Luo YingLong curled his lips. “Look at your stupid face. Don’t you know to buy some high-level charms? How can you come into the battlefield unprepared when you are someone that reached the fourth stage? You are strong but the abilities God has are infinite. Some of the abilities are prominent only in offensive stats. I might have to abandon my body if I get surprise attacked by those abilities. Haha.”

Zheng didn’t say a word. After he relocated his bones, he roared then charged at Luo YingLong. Luo YingLong stood there and watched him as though he wasn’t concerned about Zheng. “Slow down. Let me explain my items first. These are crafted from Xiuzhen abilities. The only thing they have to do with God’s Dimension is the valuable materials. And being able to use them is feat of my Xiuzhen. Next, about my abilities, they are also…”

Zheng rushed up to him using the double steps. The movement speed from this technique was extremely fast. Luo YingLong had only spoken a few sentences when Zheng’s hand reached for his face. Qi and Red Flame crossed over around his claw. Boom! A violent fire flared up from his claw. However, before the fire came close to Luo YingLong, a golden light spanned out from his body and blocked off the fire.

“…they are also Xiuzhen!” Luo YingLong shouted. He lowered his body into a horse stance. His palm struck Zheng’s abdomen. The strike wasn’t fast. However, in the center of the palm was the symbol of the eight trigrams.

Zheng’s other hand intercepted Luo YingLong’s palm. As soon as they came in contact, his hand trembled as though he was hit by an electric shock. The character representing thunder printed onto Zheng’s chest.

“Borrowing from the force of heaven and earth! Thunder shock!” Luo YingLong retrieved his hand. Yet, a glowing golden sign remained on Zheng’s chest. Luo YingLong gave a shout then electricity discharged from the sign. The clothe near it burned to ashes in an instant. The electricity struck Zheng and sent him back over ten meters. He lay on the ground trembling.

“Be careful. The person who falls off the platform loses… Do you know why I lifted the platform? Because not even I can defend against arrows in such quantity, especially shots that came from two arrows simultaneously. I won’t even have the chance to support my items if I take ten of those shots at once. The item will shatter immediately. Hoho. I wonder how strong you have to be in order to overcome the numbers advantage.” Luo YingLong shrugged as he walked toward Zheng.

Zheng stood up after only a while of lying there. He looked almost unharmed aside from the blood by his lips. Luo YingLong knew that his shock attack could electrocute an elephant. The reason Zheng could still stand was probably due to the power of the fourth stage. Infinitesimal control allowed him to restrict or neutralize the electricity with Qi or other forms of energy.

(Activate Destruction to its peak. Focus the attack to a single point. The result of this battle lies on this instant!) Zheng stood in place. His eyes were still completely red. The lust for blood never receded and instead grew more intense as blood flew down the corner of his mouth. As Luo YingLong began to approach him, his Qi and Blood Energy surged violently.

Luo YingLong sensed the danger and stopped his steps. “What other self created or exchanged ability do you still have? The fourth stage boosts the power of these abilities but normal abilities have no way of breaking my defense…”

Before he finished talking, Zheng roared to the sky. The bat wings suddenly grew. Then. He disappeared from Luo YingLong’s sight.

“What is?”

Pah!

Luo YingLong was feeling the abnormality and suddenly pain registered from his front. He was sent flying backward ten meters. He didn’t even have the time to figure out what happened to his barrier when something weighted down on his chest. He saw Zheng’s knee striking down at his throat. It pressed down on the golden barrier to its extreme. The barrier was almost touching the skin of his throat. One could tell how much force the knee was exerting.

(Destruction at full strength… Modify the third, seventh, and tenth sets of genes. Drain Qi from the Na Ring to repair the body. Drain Blood Energy to maintain Destruction. Body limit after modification… twenty seven seconds!)

“Aou!” Zheng roared with insanity. He didn’t wait for Luo YingLong’s next action. He retrieved his knee then struck Luo YingLong’s face with his fists. His punches broke the sound barriers. Every punch was followed by a sonic boom. The immense force compressed the air around him then the air exploded. Visible shockwaves spread from the center of explosion. In less than thirty punches, Zheng’s clothes became shredded pieces from the shockwaves.

This power once shattered a dragon’s chin. Under the strength and speed of the attacks, the golden light of the barrier was pushed to the other parts Luo YingLong’s body, unable to return to their original location in time. A few dozen punches later, pah! Zheng’s fist hit Luo YingLong’s face. The force passed through him and into the land below. Cracks spread through the hundred meter platform. Zheng paid no attention to it. His fists continued landing on Luo YingLong’s face while the cracking became larger and larger.

“Separate! Borrowing from the force of heaven and earth! Spiral Separation!” Luo YingLong still managed to utter words under such mad attacks, although his words were barely discernible.

Following these words, Zheng felt that his punches were landing on cotton. His strength couldn’t touch anything and a spiraling force redirected his fists. However, infinitesimal control wasn’t so easily defeated. Zheng stopped punching straight downward. His hands rotated in the opposite direction of the spiraling force. His hands moved so fast in Destruction that he created a spiraling force of his own. The two forces collided then an enormous force struck Luo YingLong in the chest. The force penetrated him and went into the platform. Bang! The platform began to collapse from the cracks.

“Borrowing from the force of heaven and earth! Ten Ton Mountain!”

Zheng used Luo YingLong’s ability to his advantage and crushed the platform beneath. He pressed onto Luo YingLong’s body and struck several more punches. Luo YingLong vomited a big mouthful of blood then began chanting again. Following the chant, he fell faster than Zheng and disappeared among the broken rocks in the next instant.

Both the orc and human armies were shocked with their eyes and mouths wide open as the platform shattered. The fight was visible from the middle level of the city. The powers they displayed were simply monstrous. It seemed like a battle between the gods and giants in the legends.

Zheng roared again and pushed his arms open, sending the rocks near his body away. He then looked over to Luo YingLong who was standing ten meters away and wiping blood off his mouth.

“The fourth stage is indeed powerful… So this is your self created ability. Also powerful. Along with infinitesimal control, you can match up to my strength…” Luo YingLong’s expression turned ferocious.

He shouted. “Then you are qualified to take this attack that I originally prepared it for the psychopath… Vanquishing Formation!

Cauldron of the Eight Trigrams!”

Any person who reached the fourth stage had his unique combat style. Of course, it wouldn’t change principally from before. An archer would still be an archer instead of running up to the enemy with a sword. A caster would still be a caster. They develop further within what they were most skilled in.

To Luo YingLong’s knowledge, SongTian excelled at breaking through brute force with techniques, Zhui YinKong excelled in speed beyond comprehension, Clone Zheng excelled in utilizing infinitesimal control to an extreme level. The Zheng in front of him… he wondered what caused him to develop the technique that exchanged damage to his body for a short moment’s strength. He could see the increase in strength would be followed by damage to the body that would strip him of continual fighting ability. However, he was unstoppable within his time. “Simply impressive. I probably can’t sustain ten seconds for real… Are you a psychopath? How could you have created such an impressive ability. Exerting and destroying your own body to the extreme.”
Luo YingLong stood on the flying sword and shot up to the sky. Zheng chased closely with Geppo. The gap between them was only a few meters and it was shortening. Luo YingLong pulled out eight little flags from his pocket. He threw the flags down. The flags grew in the wind. In just a moment, they reached several meters big each. The flags circled Zheng and began descending. Zheng felt the weight of his body increased by a hundred folds. He couldn’t help but fell down to the ground.

Luo YingLong finally stopped to catch his breath. He looked down to see the area inside the flags in a mess. Dust whirled as Zheng moved. He was attacking the flags with all his might. Each attack was accompanied by violent shaking of the whole flag. Yet, these seemingly cloth made flags confined him in the center. He couldn’t escape from the confinement despite the terrifying power of Destruction.

“Give up! This Fabao (magical item) took me eighty one days of full concentration and numerous valuable raw materials to craft. The requirement to utilize its full power is Nascent Soul stage. But even at the limited utilization, it can still confine you until your death. I have not seen anyone that can escape from its attack!” Luo YingLong said fiercely, although his hands were forming various signs as fast as he could. He channeled Xiuzhen energy at its maximum output. Zheng’s force would have broken out of the confinement if not for this.

(Man… he’s strong. I underestimated him. His strength has become like his clone, nearly throwing me behind in the race… Damn it!) Luo YingLong felt increasingly irritated. Then he vomitted a mouthful of blood. However, that actually made him felt better.

(He even broke my Dummy Signet. What terrifying destructive force that was… Then he broke my bones by merely grazing past with his fist… Both he and his clone are crazy. What kind of organism did they inherit? Is it the strongest monster that surpassed the saints?) Luo YingLong cursed. He manipulated his Xiuzhen energy to repair his injuries. Once he suppressed the pain, he stood firm. His steps followed the shape of the Triones while his hands formed two signs.

He chanted the spell. “Cauldron of the eight trigrams! Heaven, lake, fire, thunder, wind, water, mountain, earth!”

The characters representing these eight words of truth emerged on the flags following his chant. The trigram figure associated with each character appeared on the back of the flags. The flags began to rotate as the chanting continued. Zheng felt the surrounding pressure grew exponentially and pressed him down in the center of the flags, unable to move. He reacted quickly with great strength as he drew out Tiger’s Soul. Qi channeled into the sword and a layer of light blade barrier enveloped his body.

“Purple flame of Tushita, mystics of the eight trigrams! I command you…”

“Cauldron of the purple flame and eight trigrams!”

The sound of Luo YingLong’s voice grew increasingly distant as he uttered the last word. It felt as though the Xian from the heaven spoke. A Taijitu appeared beneath him. The Taijitu began to rotate along with the consumption of his Xiuzhen energy. Purple flames ignited on top of it. The flames gathered into globs then dropped down into the flags.

These flames hit Zheng’s light blade barrier. One, two. Cracks began to appear on the barrier. Zheng repaired the cracks with Qi the moment they appeared. Infinitesimal control allowed him to utilize his Qi in fine precision. However, he was aware that his death was imminent because the purple flame started burning around him after they fell off the barrier. He activated his Red Flame also, but it only barely blocked the heat. The purple flame’s temperature was as hot as the Balrog’s flame. Furthermore, these flames did not dissipate. They continued to burn as the flags rotated. A few more globs dropped down and created a sea of fire within the center of the flags!

(Going to die? Am I… going to die?) Zheng’s consciousness came back while he was still in the unlocked mode at this life and death deciding moment. However, the situation was already desperate. Death was only one or two seconds away.

Bang! A loud bang echoed. A golden light exploded in brilliance around Luo YingLong. However, this light then shattered. He reached for his chest with his hand and touched it without uttering a sound. His body began to disintegrate beginning at his chest. Two seconds later, his whole body disintegrated into particles. A dazzling light came out from the disintegrated head and flew west.

“That’s basically it. Zero unlocked the first stage and has undergone training. The probability of success is approximately 60%. Of course, each person is different when it comes to the actual time of action. Some people can exert their full potential and some can only exert half due to stage fright. However, Zero is one worth placing my trust in. I believed he can make it 100% at that critical moment.” A black haired young man with glasses sat in front of another black haired young man.

A moment of silence followed. The other young man said with a sarcastic smile. “You still like to measure human lives with data so much… what do you think comrades are? Data?”

“No.” He answered calmly. “Not data. Humans.”

The other young man was surprised then he laughed. “I lost. You’re always so rational. When are you going to give us a quarrel? Please, show some human nature.”

The man with glasses was Xuan, who died in Helm’s Deep. Yet, he was unharmed as he sat in front of the other black haired young man. And this man was the new member of team China, HaoTian.

Xuan looked at HaoTian in a serious manner. Several minutes later, HaoTian couldn’t help but said. “I get it. Ask what you want. You can find it directly in my head if I don’t want to answer you anyway. Though the information might come out incomplete and might damage my brain.”

“Correct.” Xuan said with certainty. HaoTian shrugged.

Xuan adjusted his glasses. “There are a few questions I haven’t figured out. First. This is your first time entering God’s Realm, correct? How did you team up with Adam who’s in team Celestial? Based on my deduction, you have no means of contacting them in this movie. The only possibility is you two met. However, you haven’t entered this realm at the time. So it must have happened in the real world.”

HaoTian gave a straightforward reply. “You’re right. That’s the case. I lied in the beginning. Adam accidentally entered God’s Realm. He came up with the same method you did. I found out from the records in the Chinese government that you schemed the leader of team China to communicate your information and no one was wiped. The items are also presevered. Adam used the same method. Then I obtained some information about the regions, leaders, team Celestial and Devil. Adam gave me a phone that can contact other users anywhere within the same Earth as you guessed.”

“Oh.” Xuan’s expression didn’t change. Though the people next to him changed their expressions drastically. This scheme was crazy.

HaoTian continued. “Adam met team Devil a few movies after he entered team Celestial. He said he met your clone there and an extremely powerful person. That power almost reached a level where it could ignore any kind of wit. He didn’t want to see his plan fail so we began planning at that time. I went to China and hypnotized myself to enter team China. If you and that other person exist in this team, I would display my strength to gain your trust. The best result is to become an important figure in the team and once we run into team Celestial, we will wipe the team. Then I only have to complete some bonus missions or kill a few unimportant members of team Celestial to survive. I would become the leader of team China and join team Celestial afterward. After that, I will commence our theft plan…

To steal the whole God’s Dimension! We are a band of thieves! How could we forgo such a huge treasure? How could we forgo such a story of a battle of wits? Haha…”

Xuan showed no sign of anger. He nodded, acknowledging HaoTian’s words. It seemed that he had known of HaoTian’s plan all along.

HaoTian was anxious and asked. “How could you know our plan? It was designed at a place beyond where you can sense. There’s no way for you to know. Furthermore, didn’t you die? I am certain I heard the notification of your death. The surveillance through the broken cellphone left in Helm’s Deep also confirmed your death… Is it a skill that can deceive God? Or is it a device or item that created an illusion on me?”

Xuan nodded. “You’re correct that I died. This body currently speaking to you is merely a zombie. The plan began since the information I obtained from Galadriel… Galadriel has a method of preserving the soul because the elves can come back to life once their souls return to Telperion. This method requires the presence of a high elf which I didn’t have. So I resorted to rely on the blessing of Galadriel. Secondly, souls can neither speak nor move. I wouldn’t have been able to do anything even if my soul continued to exist for twenty days. Something else was required to allow my body to move, to allow my soul to reside in my body, and to protect my body. This was the leaf of Telperion.”

Xuan touched his forehead. “I suspected you since your entrance to team China. Your actions were normal, nothing extraordinary. You could be seen as a new comer to this realm, except that you have a little knowledge of it. Unfortunately, you encountered team Celestial in your first movie. You wouldn’t have exposed your first flaw otherwise. You showed interest at an action that had no personal benefit to you. Hence I handed all the items to you.”

HaoTian pointed at the back of his head and gave a bitter smile. “This thing is your true intention. I pondered over the use of this thing but I never expected it to be a single use item… Then that means the Uruk-hai Nemesis are your baits. Nice scheme! You planned to feign death in the beginning, right? You deceived me so that I would send the message of your death to Adam. His paranoid personality will lead him to assume your death as fake. As a result, he would not send their strongest member, SongTian, to the siege of Minas Tirith because he and SongTian can easily survive the movie even if they lost the battle. They will find a place to stay until the of the movie. Thus, team Celestial would lose but not end in a wipe. While team China would be the big winner that overpowered team Celestial.”

HaoTian shook his head. He was wearing a silver metallic circlet. The circlet was the device used to hypnotize the Uruk-hai Nemesis. He used this device without worry after he learned of Xuan’s death in order to gain control of the Nemesis army. As to the other function of the device, it was a part of a bigger device which was in Xuan’s hands. The main device could control and destroy a person’s brain via strong electrical currents. The process of putting it on was fairly complex so it would only work when the wearer was willing to do so or he was captured. Unfortunately for HaoTian, he put it on willingly by himself.

“Partially. The rest of the movie is basically set after this victory when team Celestial was forced to hold back. They can now either confront us with the risk of being wiped or hide until the end comes. Having you put the device on is also a reason. You have a high chance of not doing so if I don’t die. And finally, this was someone’s request.” Xuan said calmly.

HaoTian was surprised and stared at him. “Someone’s request? Telling you to die?”

“No. He didn’t tell me to die.” Xuan shook his head. “He informed me of the number of members team Celestial has, each person’s combat level, and Adam’s location. His only request is for me to create a situation where he can fight SongTian one on one. I think Zhao ZhuiKong is on the way to team Celestial right now. We also have to hurry. It’s time to set out. All Uruk-hai Nemesis, Kampa, WangXia, and Gando, pick up your weapons and wipe team Celestial!”

On a mountain somewhere within Mordor, ZhuiKong smiled at the two people in front of them. These two were Adam and SongTian. SongTian gripped onto a plain looking singled edged Chinese sword (dao) with a stern expression. ZhuiKong held a delicate dagger in his hand. They were obviously in a stand off despite their contrasting expressions.

Adam touched his forehead and said. “… The dots are connected. Xuan was scheming like I described, correct?”

ZhuiKong shrugged. “How can I know what you psychopaths plan? And I am too lazy to guess what’s in your heads. Anyway, since my clone trusts him in team Devil, he should be someone capable instead of those boasting their intelligence. That was why I gave it a try. The end result actually developed to this point. I don’t even know how he did it. But whatever… Haha. SongTian, you took an arm from me in the last battle. Take another arm again today!” ZhuiKong laughed with insanity then he disappeared from their sights.

SongTian reacted immediately. He stabbed his sword forward. By this time, ZhuiKong reappeared in front of him. SongTian dragged the sword within the space between them. His speed grew increasingly fast then he slashed downward before ZhuiKong could close in on him. A whirlwind erupted. After it moved past, the ground was shredded. Wind sliced the rocks into pieces.

“Impressive infinitesimal control. Sweeping the wind with your sword. You confined every bit of force inside the whirlwind. SongTian, the power of your aura with swords have grown.” ZhuiKong stood on a boulder next to SongTian. His clothes were filled with cuts.

“Same with you.” SongTian replied. His clothes suddenly ripped apart as he spoke. ZhuiKong’s attack touched him but only his clothes.

ZhuiKong breathed out. “The stages of close combat goes from hitting with a weapon, to using techniques with the weapon, then to using aura. You’ve reached the stage of the aura of swords. What you need to do is to refine your strength and increased the power of your aura. Let the battle begin. I am getting excited already!”

Adam muttered. “Zhao ZhuiKong, why did you choose to cooperate with team China? Only for an opportunity to fight SongTian? Or is there another intention?”

ZhuiKong replied without turning his head to Adam. “I am an assassin, not a warrior. Do you expect me to come straight to you and get ganged on instead of finding the opportunity to challenge him? I know you are aware of the potential of Luo YingLong more than anyone else. He’s growing every single day. It’s only a matter of time before he surpasses SongTian. Although he isn’t strong enough to join the battle between SongTian and me right now, I have to admit that magical item he crafted can post threat to me. Get it? If the rest of your team don’t die, especially Luo YingLong, how I can fight you without worrying? How can I… wipe team Celestial without worrying?”

Zheng didn’t die. Luo YingLong suddenly died at that critical moment and the formation went out of control. Zheng felt forces pulling on his body as though they were going to rip him apart. He had to squeeze his body with all his might. He was still inside the fourth stage yet he somehow retained control over his consciousness. At this moment, he entered a profound and abstruse state.

He felt as though he could sense the structure of his DNA. This sensation wasn’t expressed in images nor numbers. Yet, the structure was extremely defined. Information regarding each gene appeared in his head, the weak genes, the strong genes, the genes governing bursts of strength, the genes governing endurance, the genes governing energy, the genes governing self-healing…

(It’s hot. I need genes that can withstand heat and genes that toughen the body.)

The eight flags stopped rotating. However, the purple flames did not. They flowed faster and faster then flashed in a bright light. The flames exploded.