Facing the gaze of the Tidal Blade King, the Vast Sea King glared right back.
"What are you looking at?"
"Hmph!"
The Tidal Blade King snorted and said nothing more.
The barrier before the group didn't disappear; it simply remained there, making it convenient for them to chat while they waited.
…
"Choose your opponent. You may choose a warrior, a spiritual force controller, or a spiritual illusionist."
"Select any one opponent. Defeat them, and you may proceed to the fifth level."
A familiar voice echoed from within the vast sea of clouds.
Luo Fan didn't hesitate for even a moment.
"Warrior!"
The same mysterious figure appeared again, holding a Tidal God Blade identical to Luo Fan's.
After appearing, the figure didn't attack immediately but stood silently, watching Luo Fan.
After a long time, the figure finally spoke.
"You… not bad."
It seemed as if he hadn't spoken in ages; even now, his tone was cold and sharp like the winter wind.
Just as Luo Fan was about to respond, the figure suddenly attacked.
The mysterious man raised his Tidal God Blade and slashed toward Luo Fan.
The next moment, countless blade lights filled the space.
A sea of blades surged toward Luo Fan.
It was the same move Luo Fan had used before: the fourth form of the Tidal God Blade, Sea of Blades.
Without hesitation, Luo Fan raised his blade and slashed out.
The two seas of blades collided head-on.
The countless blade lights shattered upon impact.
The mysterious man's comprehension of the Ice Peak Chaos Monument was deeper, making his blades more resilient.
However, Luo Fan's understanding of the laws was more profound, he walked the path of analyzing the essence of the laws themselves.
Thus, his blades were more elusive and unpredictable.
As countless blades sliced through the air, violent spatial ripples appeared in the void.
The originally empty space became filled with waves of distorted space.
These distortions had no effect on Luo Fan's blades, but they slightly hindered the mysterious man's.
Many of Luo Fan's blades pierced through space and struck the opponent directly, forcing him to block continuously with his Tidal God Blade.
Yet Luo Fan wasn't at much of an advantage either.
The mysterious man's blade lights were tougher; several broke through Luo Fan's sea of blades and reached him.
He too had to parry them.
At this point, the two were evenly matched.
However, since the mysterious man's blades were stronger, Luo Fan expended more strength with each block.
He knew that if this continued, he would eventually lose.
He had to find a way to break the deadlock.
While deflecting stray blade lights, Luo Fan rapidly thought of a countermeasure.
As time passed, he noticed another unfavorable sign.
Because his blades were more unpredictable, more of them reached the mysterious man, but that also meant fewer remained in his own blade sea.
His sea of blades was gradually being overwhelmed!
Without hesitation, Luo Fan prepared to unleash another Sea of Blades.
But this time, it was different.
The countless blade lights didn't spread outward; instead, they gathered onto Luo Fan's Tidal God Blade.
The terrifying power made even Luo Fan struggle to maintain control.
Taking advantage of the moment when both their blade seas had mostly canceled out, he raised his Tidal God Blade, now charged with immense energy, and cut straight through the collapsing sea of blades.
The mysterious man reacted immediately, raising his own Tidal God Blade and performing the third form.
A massive blade of water formed in his hands.
Luo Fan didn't hesitate, he slashed downward.
Boom!
Crack!
The water blade shattered instantly.
The light of Luo Fan's blade dimmed significantly, but it was enough.
The Tidal God Blade, now filled with condensed blade energy, struck the mysterious man.
He tried to dodge but was too late.
Luo Fan's blade severed his left arm.
However, Luo Fan also lost control of the gathered blade energy.
Boom!
A violent explosion sent both of them flying.
In truth, this was a deeper, more advanced application of the Sea of Blades.
Normally, it required an extremely high level of insight into the laws, at least the comprehension level of the fifth layer of the Ice Peak's Sky-Piercing Bridge.
Thus, the mysterious man couldn't use it yet.
Strictly speaking, Luo Fan shouldn't have been able to either.
However, the Tidal Blade King's battle techniques contained a similar move.
After the King modified it, he passed it to Luo Fan.
This allowed Luo Fan to barely use the technique, though it couldn't last long and easily resulted in the blade energy going berserk.
Only by fully mastering the essence of all nine spatial laws and all eighteen water-origin laws could he execute it perfectly.
Luo Fan's understanding of the water-origin laws had reached that standard, but his comprehension of the eighth essence of the spatial laws, even with reward bonuses, was only at 92.12%.
Combined with interference from the opponent, the blade energy went wild.
Because the explosion's power was dispersed, neither suffered fatal injuries.
However, with his arm severed before the blast, the mysterious man was far more seriously hurt.
Luo Fan didn't pause, he struck again.
Countless blades gathered onto his Tidal God Blade once more.
The mysterious man's expression changed.
He immediately performed Sea of Blades again, trying to attack before Luo Fan finished condensing his energy.
But this move was invented by the Tidal Blade King himself, the master of this technique. It had no such opening.
Luo Fan unleashed his half-condensed blades.
In an instant, they dispersed again into a storm of blade lights.
This time, though the sea was smaller in scale, its power was far greater!
The Tidal God Blade had once told Luo Fan:
Only when you can condense the entire Sea of Blades into a single slash will your technique be complete.
This time, it was different.
Luo Fan's new Sea of Blades annihilated most of the mysterious man's blade lights.
He saw the opponent's severed arm beginning to regenerate, slowly growing back.
Without hesitation, Luo Fan activated Ten Thousand Streams.
Ten thousand phantoms appeared.
Each clone and the original held a Tidal God Blade, all gathering blade energy simultaneously.
In mere moments, before the mysterious man's arm had even regrown one-third, Luo Fan appeared before him.
He slashed down.
This time, his target was the opponent's head.
The mysterious man attempted to block with the third form, but failed once more.
At the instant his head was severed, the gathered blade energy erupted.
Boom!
The mysterious man, dead.
Ice Peak's Sky-Piercing Bridge, Fourth Level, Cleared!
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