Chương 365: A single burst

Long Feng's face paled dramatically as he supported himself to his feet and felt a tearing pain assaulting his back. It was likely that a bone or two had broken from the impact of the fall even after he had repeatedly cushioned the impact with the firmament steps. He wiped the signs of blood from the side of his mouth using his sleeves then looked up in time to see a significantly large mountain crushing down upon where he stood.

The mountain was merely half the size it was when Zhou Zheng used it before, but its strength wasn't very different since he was pushing his true essence to the limits right now. Long Feng's face turned severe as he began to speed out of the area of impact before the mountain crashed. This should've taken seconds, but the increased gravity greatly impeded upon his agility, making the run a challenging one.

The moment he escaped the shadow of the mountain above, it crashed into the earth, sending a powerful tremor through the earth as well as a shockwave that exploded the earth upon spreading. Long Feng was right before the shockwave as it spread, and it would be impossible for him to outrun it. Even just this wave would be enough to significantly injure him if it hit him. Having no choice, Long Feng turned around at the last minute and unleashed his demon energy rampantly to defend himself.

The wave hit and the demon energy was torn apart by a storm of wind and unstoppable force that sent him flying over a hundred meters away before he fell down and rolled for a short distance before he stopped. Long Feng's chest was gripped with great pain as a gush of blood rushed up his throat and poured out his mouth.

"Damn. This mountain is ridiculous!" He cursed as he rose to his feet while suppressing the pain. This was no time to crumble under pain or exhaustion.

"I just need a single chance… one opening…" he spat some blood aside once more as Bai Zijun charged down with great momentum.

"World extermination flame art; A world on fire!" Bai Zijun roared with cold eyes that contained bone chilling killing intent. As he closed the distance between them to a mere dozens of meters, a pillar of fire spurted out of his body, covering the sky and enclosing a hundred meters around in pure irresistible flames that melted the earth to reveal lava and glistening glass. As the flame devoured him, Long Feng didn't have the time to overthink.

He once again unleashed his demon energy; the only energy he possessed that had defensive properties to some extent. The flames spread, burning for a hundred meters and causing the heat to rise to astonishing degrees. It was reminiscent of a literal sea of flames, if the size wasn't accounted for. A tiny dome shaped ball of demon energy in the center of this sea was barely visible as it barely resisted the extreme heat without being destroyed.

Long Feng stood under the demon energy dome with one arm extended to continue pouring more energy into the dome and keep it strong even under the shocking flames.

"The gravity… it only affects me now…" he breathed out heavily. That would explain why they were able to rapidly close the distance he opened even before he could react.

"So that's what that seal was? To concentrate the entire skill within me, even strengthening it a notch… I'm impressed." He grinned. All of a sudden, a rain of several golden weapons pierced through the flames and crashed into the demon energy dome with astonishing force, rapidly weakening the dome. Long Feng's eyes paled a bit more as he extended his other arm to support the dome even more while he laughed.

"I've finally reached it… this is the current limit of my full strength except for my trump cards in life and death situations…" His words would shock anyone and frustrate the three deities attacking him. Even now, he actually still didn't consider this to be a life and death situation…

"But…" he coughed lightly, exhaling a gust of foul air.

"It isn't the limit of my power…" he smiled. By then, the combination of the searing flames and the piercing metal intent weakened the demon energy dome to the extent that it was already nothing but a human shaped veil surrounding Long Feng's body. This was the last thing keeping the attacks from his body, and if it was destroyed, then his body wouldn't necessarily be able to survive the two attacks. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Just then, Zhou Zheng approached with a ferocious grin. He wasn't affected by the heat under Bai Zijun's control nor did the golden weapons impede his path. He rushed straight towards Long Feng and laughed maniacally while gathering all of his remaining true essence into his right fist at once.

"Earth crushing fist!" The weight and force behind the fist twisted the flames around and crushed them to nothing, and the fist swept towards Long Feng's chest with unstoppable force. Eyes drooping and pupils contracting, Long Feng reacted just in time, concentrating most of the demon energy before his chest. Then he crossed his arms before his chest and placed the sword diagonally across his arms. Boom!

Long Feng felt the metallic taste of blood flood his mouth instantly as the demon energy dome was ripped to shreds. A horrendous weight hit the sword, causing several cracks to actually spread across its blade while transmitting the remaining force of the fist into Long Feng's arms. Long Feng was simply blasted away, shooting out of the sea of flames in an instant. Only nearly two hundred meters later did he forcefully plant his feet into the ground and disperse the remnant force to the best of his abilities.

Two long and deep marks appeared in the ground from his feet as he finally slowed to a halt and then fell to his knees. The blood that flowed out of his chest was so much that it pooled up before him. His two arms weren't broken, but he didn't even realize he still had them due to the extreme numbness. The two arms shivered continuously and even supporting himself using the sword was hard. Staring at the sword that now had several cracks covering its blade, Long Feng gasped lightly.

"If all that force had directly hit me, I'd have certainly lost half of my life!" He didn't think even for a minute that his body was as tough as a peak Imperial armament! He staggered to his feet and saw the three deities rushing over once more to continue their attacks. He closely monitored their expressions and smiled thinly once he saw the relief that replaced the panic and desperation on their faces previously. In their perspective, this fight was approaching its end.

Long Feng had given his all and his strength was shocking, but the three of them were too much for him to handle. He had reached his limits. His weak breaths as well as the haggard state of his body and his severe injuries proved that this couldn't be an act. While his weakened state didn't cause them to lower their guards and become complacent, they couldn't help but feel relieved after regaining control of the situation. Without them realizing, this alone lowered their guards significantly.

"Just a bit more…" Long Feng grinned. As they approached, a new exchange of moves began, and Long Feng was completely suppressed until even defending was hard to achieve. Slowly, more injuries piled up in his body, weakening him further while weakening the caution of the trio.

"Long Feng! Is this all you've got?" Zhou Zheng certainly wouldn't miss the chance to mock Long Feng now that they had finally suppressed him completely.

"Where is your arrogance and sharp tongue? Huh? Where did that over confident fool go? Hehehe, didn't you say I was alive because you didn't wish to kill me?" He grinned.

"Look? You cut off my arm. You played me, and instead of killing me when you had the chance, you foolishly spared me. Using me as bait to lure someone over? It's a pity the person never came. What a total fool you are! As for me, I won't miss my chance. I will enjoy every moment of watching you die!" He stared at Long Feng's face, hoping to see a sign of fear, pleading, weakness, anything. But when he glanced into those pitch black eyes, all he could see was calm. Extreme calm… too calm for this situation.

A playful smile danced on Long Feng's lips as he stared at Zhou Zheng.

"The person I'm waiting for… he's already here." Zhou Zheng's heartbeat suddenly increased dramatically as he stared into those eyes. A part of him suddenly screamed at him… something wasn't right.

"Let's kill him now!" He suddenly screamed, startling both Bai Zijun and the metal Dao youth. Just then, everyone glanced at a certain direction, sensing the aura of another person approaching at high speed. Whoever could dare to come here now could only be a deity.

"That's Situ Hong?" Bai Zijun frowned upon recognizing the approaching aura. Long Feng didn't recognize the person, but he could tell that it was someone as strong as Bai Zijun. Even if it was just the weakest among the ten deities who came now, his plans would be disrupted and his only chance would be to flee. Naturally, he couldn't wait any longer.

"Now is the time." A glint flashed through his eyes. Zhou Zheng's eyes were still focused on Long Feng even as Bai Zijun and the other youth stared in the direction from which Situ Hong was approaching. His heart suddenly went cold as he saw the glint in those eyes. A sudden realization struck him, sending tremors through his soul.

'From the beginning… he has always been the predator… he never became prey…' Long Feng unleashed his demon and sword intent at once, completely suppressing the struggles of his cracked sword. His pitch black pupils were focused completely on Bai Zijun who was only just beginning to sense the rising danger and slowly turned his head. A thick ball of true essence erupted from the Dao heart in Long Feng's Dantian, sending a shocking pressure throughout his body.

His spirit cyclone slowed to near halt, his heartbeat slowed, his blood flow also slowed down… the world seemed to slow down around him. This ball of true essence was the limit Long Feng had decided his body could withstand in one powerful burst without crumbling or leaving behind hidden injuries. All he needed was one straight shot… one burst… His body wouldn't withstand a drawn fight under the extreme pressure which was why he never resorted to this means from the beginning.

But if it was just for one single shot… he could do it. The true essence followed his control and revolved through certain meridians and acupoints in his body before it poured into the sword through his arm. Instantly, the many cracks on the sword blade extended rapidly till it looked like the sword would shatter at any moment. Long Feng's eyes glittered.

"Not enough…" he poured in the entirety of the demon energy left in his body before pouring in all of his sword energy as well. The sword officially reached the end of its life immediately. It didn't crumble because the extreme power within it was holding it together, but once the power was gone, the peak Imperial armaments would crumble to pieces!

"Not enough… Solitary Sword, ruthless indifference at heart…" he silently recited the first law of the sword, strengthening his sword intent temporarily. The strongest attack Long Feng had ever unleashed brewed within the sword. The sword itself released faint cries as it prepared to unleash the greatest radiance in its life before it died… a radiance that could perhaps never come from another Imperial armament again.

All of those powerful energies merged in the sword and a faint image of a sword enclosed Long Feng's figure.

"Heaven Firmament skill…" this was it. Everything had merely been preparations for this move. Long Feng and the sword once again lost any distinction between them as man and sword seemed to become one, shooting into the sky like an unparalleled sword trying to cleave the sky. Bai Zijun's attention had been on the approaching Situ Hong and for a millisecond, he completely lost focus and guard. Normally, that wouldn't matter. But right now, that millisecond was the difference between life and death!

His pupils shrank to needlepoint as he saw a black beam of light shooting towards him. The speed of the light was indescribable. When he saw it, it was still a hundred meters away and the next moment, it was right before him.

"World extermination flame art! World on fire!" His heart literally stopped beating as he unleashed every flame he could conjure up in his body, condensing it all around him to slow down the beam of light while he tried to retreat. Unfortunately, he was a millisecond too late. The beam of light left a beautiful trail behind as it pierced through the flames and vanished. Both Bai Zijun and the beam of light were concealed by the billowing flames that blocked everyone's sights.

Behind the flames, Bai Zijun's eyes focused on the youthful face before him, the cold indifference and forced maturity on the face. Looking from so close… he was so young… much younger than the maturity and calmness on his face revealed. Those pitch black eyes… how hadn't he noticed? They had never lost their calm throughout everything. From the very beginning, he had always remained calm. Terrifyingly so. The pain came late… The disbelief was earlier… And the realization settled slowly.