Chapter 676: Titanic Collision
‘Hold up, if I’m reading the aether art description for this correctly, its a three or six part combo, right? Why does it feel like the gangster of an ancestor up there is trying to do all those parts at once?’
‘I make monster warriors out of random knock knacks on a daily basis, I’m fairly certain I will believe your answer.’
‘…okay, looks like I don’t believe you. Well done.’
=He is actually correct on this one. Most of you mortal only have one set of aether channels per hand and the realms depicted in the [Symphony of Samsara] requires mastery over six different formations within those channels. Hence why it can be a three to six part combo, two formations per hand.=
‘That…huh…wait, why did you say “formation” and not “aether formation”? ‘
Once he was given that bit of information, something in Zhen Liu’s mind just click as he came a to a crazy realization.
‘I used [Chaos] to make artificial channels and then make formations and arrays…what’s stopping me from kicking out the middle-hold up…am I going nuts or is the [Chaos] coming off of those two getting a bit…weird?’
<=You are nuts, but that spike is due to the original owners of those parts up there are acting up.=>
‘Ah. That makes…hold up…did you say “original owners”? I know about Grand Blue, you identified the other one?!’
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[Symphony of Samsara!]
Zhen Xun Tian swung at Gao Ao Long with not one fist, not two, but six simultaneous punches that all radiated six unique energy signatures, as if they were channeling the power of the six realms of existence. Then again, the fact that a construct of the Samsara wheel made of three different types of energy appeared right behind Zhen Xun Tian as she threw out these six fists, did add to the idea that she was actually doing that.
Normally, this art could only be condensed into three moves at most, due to the need of having to maintain formations in one’s fist until the blow could be delivered.
However, Zhen Xun Tian had discovered that by making use of the [Dragon Stranglers] and the weird tattoo on her back, she could tap into the power of all six realms at once. Granted, four out of six of those realms would be using an entirely different type of energy other than her own aether. However, that was actually a benefit due to how much harder it made it for opponents to block three different types of energy at the same time.
In other words, Gao Ao Long was kind of completely fucked…at least, he would’ve been had he not have an ace up his sleeve…and a literal demon arm. With the arm present, Gao Ao Long was only partially fucked.
Sensing that four out of the six fists flying towards him were actually dangerous, Gao Ao Long focused on the pair fists that didn’t feel as threatening: Zhen Xun Tian’s actual hands.
Understanding where the flaw in his opponent’s technique was, Gao Ao Long came to a split second decision.
‘No time to dodge or block…attack!’
For the first time in this particular fight, Gao Ao Long finally took his transplanted arm out of his clothes.
A weird energy then began to rapidly gather and condense into the transplanted arm, forming into a strange looking armor that seemed to make it stronger. Once his arm was fully saturated with this weird energy, Gao Ao Long decided to attack.
[Tsunami Smashing Whale Fist!]
In a sharp contrast to Zhen Xun Tian’s six fists that seemed to radiate otherworldly energy, based on the concept of Samsara, Gao Ao Long’s attack was incredibly straightforward and instinctually threatening.
The shadow of a giant armored whale manifested over Gao Ao Long’s transplanted arm, moments before he actually threw a punch. Then, when he finally punched back, the whale moved with him.
*KRACKA-BOOM!*
As Gao Ao Long’s giant fist made contact with Zhen Xun Tian’s six smaller ones, a terribly loud sound, like a mountain collapsing, echoed out and practically shook everyone who heard it a mile long radius.
Some of the people who heard it assumed it was a natural disaster happening several miles away, but anyone who was in the know realized what the fuck was going on and how bad things were actually going to get.
Because as it would turn out, that sound wasn’t the sound of one person’s art failing to withstand the might of another, that sound was what happened when two equally destructive arts collide with one another, and neither side wants to back down.
<
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In other words, the battle between Zhen Xun Tian and Gao Ao Long had reached sudden death.
Literally.
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‘Okay, no, that is bullshit. How is the Frankenstein-style war whale up there somehow withstanding both the power of dragon force and [Chaos]? The former literally annihilates [Chaos] like acid on metal.’
=…or it’s because his blood and aether are literally flowing through that stolen kaijin arm and granting it a bit of both has upped its defensive parameters…=
<=Either way, you may need to get involved if you want this battle to end in your clan's favor.=>
‘of course…’
He didn’t know how this moment looked to the fighters themselves, but from his point of view, it looked as if a giant whale monster was colliding headfirst with a six-armed Asura that was had six different types of gauntlets on.
Visually, this was impressive as all hell.
Zhen Liu had no idea if it was possible to get in there without being collateral. Granted, that’s because his first plan was to just get in there, make use of a recently acquired ability of the kaijin and slice off Gao Ao Long’s arm.
‘Wait…I don’t need to physically be in there…to help…but will it be enough?’
In moments such as this, Zhen Liu would normally use the power of his Possesstol and use that to infuse his family and friends with a “little” bit of kaijin power(read: forcibly possess them).
However, in most of those scenarios, the kaijin were way stronger than their targets and served as a means to enhance their innate abilities.
Zhen Liu had no idea if any of his kaijin could power boost a fucking Aether Emperor at their current level, that and he had no idea what the fuck would happen if someone who can already channel [Chaos] through one method suddenly develops another method.
Zhen Liu was pretty damn sure there were records about this sort of thing happening in the Library of Nowhere, but he’d address that later.
That and he didn’t want to risk accidentally hitting Gao Ao Long with a power boost if he could help it.
‘Wait…what if I just blast him, blast him? Hmm…’
His other option of assisting was to use the [Godoku Gourd] and just straight up blast the man with a [Ragnarok Shot] and hopefully knock his ass into either the stratosphere or into a massive hole in the ground.
Then again, he could also accidentally hit Zhen Xun Tian in the process, and she probably wouldn’t appreciate the novelty of being hit by a magic cannon blaster thingy that could sing while doing so.
Or the absolute worst case scenario was that he somehow missed and get collateralled by Gao Ao Long with a flick of his finger.
Either way, Zhen Liu was in situation where one bad choice or a mistake in a good choice would lead to dire consequences.
This wasn’t exactly a catch-22 situation, but it was pretty damn near to being one.
‘What if I…wait…that wouldn’t…ah fuck it, I’m just going to blast him.’
Eventually though, Zhen Liu decided it was time to bite the bullet and just blast Gao Ao Long with the [Godoku Gourd] and pray that-
[Wait, milord, I just thought of something.]
‘Huh? What’s up?’
[Earlier, Razorstella and Spring Brawler attempted to sever the man’s arm in order to reclaim it. But they failed due to not being at the right angle to do so.]
‘Yes, and?’
[Well…isn’t his arm stretched out right now?]
‘…huh.’
Zhen Liu turned to see if he could pierce through the aura image of a whale colliding with an aura in order to confirm that Gao Ao Long was indeed stretching his arm out and making the stitching obvi-
“Hold up! Jin Fang, what are you doing?!”
“I’m not sure either! But my instincts are telling me to stop these naughty kids from infighting!,” Jin Fang replied with a voice that didn’t sound quite like hers.
Zhen Liu didn’t notice this because he was freaking out his girlfriend’s actions…at first.
“What the- instincts? Naughty kids?! What the fuck?!”
Zhen Liu didn’t know it at this point in time, but he was going to be absolutely flabbergasted in a couple seconds.
As were Logos and Pathos.
