Chapter 108: Bai E

Lei Si Jing was delighted, laughing: "Haha, to see another Great Perfection duel, my luck is really great; many Lord Gods never get this chance."

The last time he saw Xiao En and Magnus's duel, there were many spectators, so it wasn't a big deal;

This time is different, not only because there are few witnesses besides him and Ai Ken, but mainly because the duel will focus on material attacks, making the battle worth observing and possibly aiding their Mystic development;

Unlike soul attacks, which are pure "soul attacks" that outsiders can't discern, and even participants can't tell what's going on.

Bai E chuckled lightly: "That's not certain; perhaps a Lord God is watching us right now."

"I think so too," Xiao En nodded.

A Lord God's divine awareness cannot detect a Great Perfection or other divine‑rank beings, yet now that two Great Perfections are together, it may draw some Lord Gods' notice.

But it's not certain; the time is still short, so perhaps not.

Ai Ken laughed: "Haha, whether a Lord God watches or not doesn't affect us much; normally Lord Gods don't involve themselves in divine‑rank affairs."

Bai E smiled: "You're right, Ai Ken, this is your territory; wherever you say we fight may not be sensed by many divine‑rank beings. I don't want the Great Perfection's battle afterimage to spread across the Divine Plane."

On the Divine Plane, occasional afterimages of a Lord God intervening appear, as do afterimages of Great Perfections disciplining some Asuras; these are trivial, essentially one‑move kills.

But afterimages of battles between Great Perfections are almost nonexistent; Great Perfections are few, and their duels rarely produce any afterimage leakage.

More importantly, other Great Perfections can't determine a winner, but this time it might be possible; even though they trust their own ultimate moves, Xiao En isn't a pushover, and no one knows whether he has other tricks up his sleeve.

Ai Ken thought and said: "There is a valley, a naturally formed dead zone, filled with intensely corrosive toxic gas; even higher deities entering might get injured, and nearby metallic lifeforms will avoid it;

That doesn't affect us; you can fight inside with confidence. Even if the fluctuations draw attention, anyone below six‑star level won't dare enter, and I'll dispatch my clan's troops to seal the area.

However, the space there is unstable, a bit more fragile than other parts of Hell, for reasons unknown."

"No problem," Xiao En said with a faint smile.

After the four decided, they quickly arrived at a canyon millions of li away. The canyon isn't large—less than ten thousand li in radius—but its interior is almost lifeless, the space brimming with intense Dark Law aura.

"Is this the devouring and evil Mystic?" Xiao En, upon arriving, sensed the surrounding Mystic fluctuations; although he lacks the Dark Law talent, he has seen many.

Ai Ken replied: "Yes, some dead zones between heaven and earth contain concentrated Mystics. This canyon gathers a massive amount of Dark Law, a holy ground for Dark Law masters, but the risk is high; many divine‑rank beings have died there, so few return."

Lei Si Jing added: "Indeed, my Zijing Mountains are also naturally formed; their gravity space is extremely strong, naturally producing amethyst that contains soul energy. Even my Zijing Divine Beast was born suddenly, and the Lord God cannot explain these phenomena."

"The realm of the Supreme God is beyond even a Lord God's reach," Xiao En said with a smile.

As a Lord God, his divine clones on the material plane have once studied some Supreme God secrets, such as teleport arrays, the post‑death soul siphon into the Underworld beneath sanctuaries, and sacrifices on the Light and Dark Divine Planes, among others;

But after countless years they gained nothing; presumably other Lord Gods, especially the research maniac Utrede and Ao Fu, have also investigated, yet to no avail.

"Before the Supreme God, a Lord God and a deity are probably no different," Bai E said softly, then looked at Xiao En: "Xiao En, we can start. If I still lose, I can finally let go of the desire to die."

"Alright." Xiao En nodded;

Before the two finished speaking, Lei Si Jing and Ai Ken hurried back ten thousand meters. Ai Ken cautioned: "Lei Si Jing, be careful later; even if a Great Perfection's ultimate move isn't aimed at Asuras, it can still easily kill them. Without a defensive Divine Artifact, you must be cautious."

Ai Ken, wielding a three‑piece Divine Artifact set, isn't afraid of the Great Perfection's battle aftereffects, but Lei Si Jing isn't, and since he is a Lord God's descendant, any mishap would be hard to report to the Lord God;

If the two Great Perfections go all out, they might not look after everyone nearby.

Lei Si Jing nodded: "I understand, don't worry, I'm not foolish."

As a Lord God's son, he is usually arrogant, but when facing peak masters or teams capable of killing him, he must cower when needed and run when necessary;

Usually no one dares to kill a Lord God's offspring, yet special cases arise—accidents or foes seeking mutual destruction—where being killed would be a terrible trap.

Far away:

Xiao En watched Bai E hovering with a higher‑rank Divine Artifact and asked puzzled: "Bai E, why aren't you using a Divine Artifact?"

Bai E smiled lightly: "You have a Physical Defense Divine Artifact; my Divine Artifact is of little use to you. This is a spar, we're comparing material attacks—whoever is stronger wins. Using a Physical Attack Divine Artifact would be unfair."

A Physical Defense Divine Artifact isn't afraid of a Physical Attack Divine Artifact, but it only provides defensive power, lacking the attack amplitude of the latter;

Many special Divine Beasts equipped with a Physical Defense Divine Artifact, combined with their spiked armor, claws, tails, etc., appear invincible, yet they only gain the artifact's hardness without attack potency.

Otherwise, who would choose a Physical Attack Divine Artifact in this world?

"Fine." Xiao En gave a faint smile, then his figure flashed and the long sword in his hand thrust toward Bai E's chest.

Material attacks are easier to control; as long as you avoid the head, there's no life danger, unlike soul attacks, which inevitably strike the head's soul upon impact.

Bai E laughed heartily: "Well struck."

His figure flickered as massive wind‑type elements gathered within a thousand‑meter radius, a powerful binding force instantly affecting Xiao En's speed.

A cyan long sword also directly thrust at Xiao En.

"Boom—" the sword tips clashed, the Hellish space shattered instantly, and Xiao En and Bai E both retreated simultaneously.

"Bai E, your material attack is a bit stronger than Hamlin's, impressive," Xiao En praised.

Bai E shook his head: "Regrettably, I still can't surpass you, but now I'll use my ultimate move; are you ready?"

"Please go ahead." Xiao En channeled divine power; the gray long sword emitted black light.

In this battle, neither of them used Lord God power, as it was unnecessary; when divine power is used, the stronger wins, and invoking Lord God power yields the same result. They both have ample Lord God power, and avoiding excessive battle fluctuations prevents endangering Lei Si Jing nearby.

Even if he isn't afraid of the Zijing Lord God, there's no need for dispute, let alone Bai E.

Bai E's gaze grew cold; massive wind‑type elements swirled around him, and with a "Bang," thousands of divine clones suddenly appeared, densely surrounding Xiao En.

All the divine clones acted in unison; Xiao En instantly felt a terrifying binding force pressing on him. If he doesn't employ extra willpower, his speed would drop by at least thirty percent.

For a Great Perfection, losing thirty percent speed is a huge disadvantage compared to others, especially since Bai E himself is a wind‑type Great Perfection, adept at speed.

Moreover, once bound, limbs are affected; material attacks require limbs, so any restriction weakens attack power.

"Xiao En, this is one of my researched ultimate moves," Bai E exclaimed, delighted that Xiao En was trapped by his myriad divine clones: "Next is my strongest attack."

Massive wind‑type elements gathered on his sword; the long sword remained still, and the surrounding space seemed unable to bear the force, shattering and revealing chaotic spatial turbulence inside.

Bai E's body spiraled like a vortex; countless wind blades tore the space around him, and within an instant, dozens of meters of space collapsed completely, hurtling toward Xiao En.

From afar, Lei Si Jing jumped in shock, exclaiming: "Bai E's ultimate—how come I feel he'll be sucked into the spatial turbulence first?"

"That's the strength of a Great Perfection; even at the edge of a spatial fissure you won't be drawn in," Ai Ken sighed. "Bai E's move is truly powerful; he tears space then attacks others, so Mr. Xiao En, to fight back, must confront numerous spatial fissures;"

Although Mr. Xiao En is also a Great Perfection, unafraid of spatial fissures, the presence of another Great Perfection means a slip could plunge one into spatial turbulence.

"All are Great Perfections; Bai E playing like this isn't also risky?" Lei Si Jing asked.

Bai E and Xiao En both did not wield the Lord God's power, which left him with almost no danger to his life, yet this move made him shiver.

"Indeed there is that risk," Ai Ken nodded and said, "but after all this is Bai E's self‑created signature move, also his own technique, so his understanding of this spatial fissure is certainly far stronger than anyone else's;"

"If we were to fight the others around us, the opponent would definitely bear an even greater risk."

"That's right," Lei Si Jing also agreed, "but this is also a mutually assured‑destruction move."

Ai Ken laughed, "Ha ha, it doesn't count as mutually assured destruction; even if the Great Perfection truly fell into spatial turbulence, the Lord God would certainly rescue it. I guess Bai E was too eager to win and devised this risky move."

From afar:

Xiao En naturally saw through the trick in an instant, and couldn't help thinking silently, "They actually play it like this."

But it must be said, this is a very useful technique: first bind oneself with the Binding Technique, then unleash this move—truly a perfect combo; Bai E's talent is simply overwhelming;

Indeed, even if the other three‑piece Great Perfection main artifacts encountered this move, they might lose, especially those Great Perfections that are not adept at material attacks.

However, now is not the time for praise; death‑god power surged through Xiao En's whole body, ignoring the surrounding spatial fissures, and his long sword slashed straight at Bai E's hilt.

"Boom~" The massive force again hurled the two, but this time Bai E was thrown farther; as he neared the mountain range, a surge of Lord God's power erupted on his surface, halting his motion, lest he crash into the mountains behind.

On Xiao En's side, he simply stepped back a few paces with ease.

Bai E, shocked, said, "That's impossible—how can your material attack be this strong?"

He clearly sensed that Xiao En hadn't used the Lord God's power; otherwise he couldn't have hidden it from him;

Yet the Death Rule itself is not adept at material attacks, and the opponent shattered his own strongest signature move with a single sword.

Xiao En praised, "Bai E, these two moves—did you develop them in the past 30 million years?"

It has been only 30 million years since the last Great Perfection melee; that span is considered very long in other novel worlds, but in the Panlong Universe, for a Great Perfection or the Lord God, it is merely a drop in the ocean.

"No, my divine‑avatar binding signature move was devised long ago; it's just that in the world no one was worthy of me using it, even other Great Perfections alike;"

"But back on the Abiya Material Plane, when I saw you act, I knew that even if I used this move on you, my soul attack would gravely wound me, so I held back."

"And the later Space‑Shattering Slash is something I recently devised; it was because I saw you exile Magnus that I thought of defeating other Great Perfections—pure attack alone is almost impossible, but exile can."

"So that's it; this move of yours can indeed threaten other Great Perfections," Xiao En nodded.

His recent material attack actually also tapped the willpower of the Lord God's divine avatar; otherwise, a plain Great Perfection encountering the combination of those two moves could truly be exiled.

Unfortunately, even if he could use this move, it would be useless; for the Lord God, "exile" holds no meaning—Bai E's signature move was purely designed to counter the Great Perfection.

Bai E self‑mockingly laughed, "Ha ha, that's true, but against you it's still useless; your soul attack can easily wound me first, then exile me;"

"We even agreed that you needn't use soul attacks; in pure material terms, I'm not your opponent either."

"Bai E, I actually admire you, sincerely; later you'll understand why," Xiao En said with a faint smile.

He is stronger than Bai E, actually due to the special nature of his willpower and soul pearl, while Bai E is truly a fusion of innate talent and effort; who could not admire such a being?

The gloom that had clouded Bai E's face vanished, and he laughed, "Ha ha, thanks. Speaking of material attacks, my strength can indeed threaten other Great Perfections."

If Xiao En weren't so perverse, he would truly be the "Number One Under the Lord God";

However, his own Space‑Shattering Slash only came to insight thanks to Xiao En defeating Magnus; otherwise, relying solely on the divine‑avatar binding move could not pose any threat to other Great Perfections.

(End of Chapter)