Chapter 818: Absorption

In the Void, a great battle suddenly erupted.

This was a chaotic melee; one side of the battle consisted of only a single great monster, while the other side possessed nine main combatants, divided into two different schools. The Sword Immortals from the Human World released their Sword Momentum from the very beginning; the different forms of great momentum blended together, magnificent like overlapping worlds, even more dazzling than the multicolored, bizarre creature. As for the Heavenly Demons, they focused primarily on Divine Martial Arts. Most of them possessed incomparably tyrannical bodies and indestructible explosive power. When their Divine Martial Arts were activated, there were also strange phenomena, but compared to the great momentum that could easily span dozens of miles, these phenomena were fleeting and not easily perceived; in the end, all that erupted was endless power.

Outside the battle, the only close-range spectator, Wei Zhangle, could only watch with extreme tension, secretly gritting his teeth and bracing himself.

In his view, this battle was a muddled affair. Nine powerhouses besieged one enemy, with at least one person from both the human and demon sides specifically assigned to besiege that water bubble, which counted as a decapitation tactic.

But although that water bubble looked defenseless and ready to pop at a single poke, whenever anyone approached, a portion of tissue would rise from the gargantuan creature to form a barrier to protect it—extremely tough and extremely swift, rendering any attack ineffective.

The battle here was deadlocked, and the main battlefield attacking the monster's core was even more of a quagmire. The Sword Immortals' fighting style began by opening their Sword Momentum, covering the sky and earth to create their own rules, and that multicolored monster seemed to be expanding as well; although it had not grown many times larger in its entirety, it seemed to have already spread out its rules. At the very least, it moved with ease among the various Sword Momentums, completely unrestricted.

Limited by his vision, Wei Zhangle could not discern everyone's Sword Momentum and rules simply by watching, let alone with so many Sword Momentums superimposed together, compounded by the interference of the monster's own colors. With various rules being applied and vanishing in an instant, it was quite difficult to distinguish the situation of the battle, and he could only perceive roughly from the perspective of a bystander: both sides were in a stalemate.

The multicolored monster gave him the feeling of a bottomless pit, or perhaps what is called that legendary Black Hole. It was extremely massive in itself; no matter what rules or Sword Momentums were used, they all seemed to be swallowed by it, making it very difficult to harm its core. Let alone the core, the defensive tissue it allocated to that water bubble was less than one percent of its body, yet it still had excessive defensive power, making it impossible to break through with any frontal, flanking, blitz, or sneak attack tactics.

But likewise, the monster's attack power was only average. It had completely seized control of the entire ship, surrounding it almost airtight, and could even drag it downward, but that seemed to have already occupied too much of its power. It was very passive in dealing with the battle outside, seemingly only capable of the move where it rapidly grew parts of its body into various shapes of weapons to attack the enemy from all angles.

The power of this move was immense. Zhangle clearly saw its body suddenly grow a long whip that bypassed the Sword Momentum of two Sword Immortals, punching a large hole in one of them, and landing on the other Sword Momentum—the Six Dragon Carriage of the Six Dragon Sword—breaking the tail of one of the dragons.

But on the other hand, the whip was actually not very fast. The Sword Momentum was spread very wide, and various weapons could still hit it, but it was impossible to hit the body of any specific Sword Immortal or Heavenly Demon. Because the Sword Immortals had longer attack ranges and stayed further away, they could always dodge quickly when the monster launched an attack. As for the Heavenly Demons who favored close combat, they were faster—so fast that Wei Zhangle's vision could barely track them. He could see the monster's attacks clearly, so those Heavenly Demons were indeed faster than the monster; apart from the Heavenly Demon who was caught off guard and dragged away at the very beginning, the other Heavenly Demons were not hit during the battle.

Had this gargantuan creature become a bit stronger?

And, did the Sword Momentum of the several Highnesses seem inferior to before?

Of course, Sword Momentum did not matter; it was all virtual. Soon, the dragon's tail grew back, but one could see that the power of that whip was not small. Moreover, the Six Dragon Sword was already considered a sword that leaned toward power and inherent strength; the strength of the six dragons was no less than that of true dragons, yet it still could not resist the monster head-on, and the high temperature attached to the six dragons also seemed unable to harm it.

He grew increasingly nervous and immediately looked at the Six Dragon Sword. Sure enough, although the Six Dragon Sword's momentum was still six dragons, one of the divine dragons that had its tail severed was noticeably shorter, standing out among the group of dragons; it was clear that its power had been eroded when it was attacked, and it could not recover.

Oh no!

The Heavenly Demons' methods were mostly simple and brutal, and their various fancy Divine Martial Arts were also focused on destruction. Seeing that they had pushed their power to the maximum and still could not successfully break the defense, it was clear they were at their wits' end. But the Sword Guest lineage still had many other means. Don't look at how the Sword Immortals hadn't succeeded yet; that was because they were all currently focusing on Sword Momentum.

Zhangle almost wanted to rush up immediately and shout: "You must be careful, he is stealing power!"

Zhangle thought to himself, this should still be something for our side to figure out.

Could it be that this monster has the ability to absorb power?

Neither side could do anything to the other; wouldn't this battle just remain a stalemate?

It cannot remain a stalemate, because I fear the ship cannot take it.

But before it was his turn to speak, he saw Xun Jian raise a hand, and all the Sword Immortals stopped attacking, retreating from the direction of the offense to behind him in a wild-goose formation; at the same time, the Heavenly Demon side took the same action.

Sword Momentum was, of course, the Sword Immortals' strongest means—it unfolded quickly, covered a large area, and its application of rules was mysterious, making it best suited for suppressing others with momentum. However, a Sword Immortal usually only had one Sword Momentum and only one set of applied rules; in truth, their ability to adapt to the enemy was limited and followed a set path. Conversely, Sword Technique had all sorts of imaginative variations, some containing strange rules, which were very suitable for breaking a deadlock during special times.

Zhangle was just thinking about which Highness would break the deadlock when he suddenly felt a jolt in his heart. He focused his eyes and looked again, only then confirming he hadn't seen wrong:

This...

He could observe it, which meant this increase and decrease had already reached a certain magnitude. And with one increase and one decrease, it was easy for him to think:

Was this discovered?

Sure enough, Xun Jian had already said: "It can devour Sword Momentum; everyone, withdraw your Sword Momentums!"

Over there, the High Priest had already said: "It can not only devour Sword Momentum, it can also devour power! The power struck against it was not only useless, but it also made it stronger. Everyone, don't move; don't keep feeding it."

That which does not kill me, will only make me stronger.

Even being able to absorb power was extremely troublesome. The crowd could only stop for the moment. Their power could still protect them in the Void for a period of time; as long as they stayed far enough away so the opponent couldn't attack, even if it caught up, they could flee in different directions. It seemed they were safe for the time being.

It seemed they could drag this out?

However, a long-term stagnation would not work, because although they were holding that big guy back, this monster had never relaxed its control over the ship. The ship was still teetering, and the next moment it might fall into the endless Void. If everyone stopped attacking, the ship wouldn't last long.

They were already close to that foreign world and were very far from their homeland. Apart from Xun Jian and the High Priest, the other Sword Immortals could not guarantee they could still fly back safely, and even if the people inside the ship could be transferred out, it would be the same situation; those juniors had almost no hope of survival.

Although everyone had prepared for the possibility that no one would return before they set out on this trip, now that they were not yet at the desperate end, the crowd could not disregard the companions on the same ship. Even Xun Jian found it hard to make the decision to abandon them.

Xun Jian stared at the monster and turned his head to say to the Great Heavenly Demon: "At this time, only a full-force strike—piercing through it in one go—can win."

The High Priest shook his head and said: "How do you know that piercing through it will kill it? Do you know what kind of existence it is? Does it have a fatal weakness?"

Xun Jian said: "I mean that manipulator, the one in the water bubble. Kill it, and that great monster is not worth worrying about."

Hu Tianyou, the High Priest, then suddenly realized. He hadn't thought of this point for a moment and felt a bit embarrassed. He coughed lightly and said: "Very well, I will do it."

Xun Jian said: "I will do it. I have a set of Sword Technique that concentrates all power together. High Priest Tianyou, if you trust me, lend me your power as well. If you don't trust me, then forget it; you can guard the flanks, and we will concentrate our power to complete this strike."

Hu Tianyou pondered for a moment and immediately said: "What is there not to trust? Now that we are united against a common enemy with a crisis before us, how can we still hold back power? I will lend it to you. Fadu—" He pointed to a Heavenly Demon behind him with an exceptionally calm expression and said, "This is our most powerful Divine Favored One. Let him bless you and let your power be doubled."

Xun Jian smiled and said: "If it can be doubled, that is naturally for the best."

Zhangle watched from afar and relaxed slightly. He felt it should work—although the opponent came strangely, judging by the posture, it was not necessarily the strongest in that great world; it should just be some lone powerhouse. If the Sword Saint and a group of Sword Immortals couldn't do anything about it, the gap in strength between the two sides would be too great, and then it would truly be time to abandon all illusions.

Just as he opened his eyes wide, waiting to see a miracle, he was suddenly patted.

Wei Zhangle's hair stood on end. Although he wasn't specifically activating the Vanishing Sword Technique now, ordinary people shouldn't be able to sense him, let alone here in the endless Void where there shouldn't be anyone.

He drew his sword with a 'scritch' and turned back, only to find it was Xun Jian.

So it was the Sword Saint Emperor.

Wait...

Wasn't the Sword Saint Emperor fighting?

He couldn't help but look back and saw Xun Jian in the distance. Turning back again, there was also Xun Jian behind him, but looking closely, the Xun Jian in front of him was slightly thin; it should be condensed from something like a Sword Image.

"Your Majesty..."

"Don't stay here. Go further away, so you aren't caught in the crossfire."

Zhangle agreed and added: "Your Majesty, I can strike." Although he had felt fear before, he had now forced himself to adjust, and he was ready again.

Xun Jian didn't say yes, nor did he say no, only saying: "See how it goes. If it's not the last resort, you won't be needed. If it truly reaches a desperate situation with no hope of survival, you cannot be used either. In any case, you must live well."

He placed a hand on Zhangle's shoulder, about to say something, when he suddenly frowned and looked back, saying: "What is going on?"