Of course, Aiden couldn't let Fang Zhen get his way. A bolt of lightning shot out from the thunderball between his hands, an Electric Snake striking at Fang Zhen!
However, suddenly, Fang Zhen's figure blurred into a series of afterimages in everyone's eyes, making it impossible to tell which was his real body.
Aiden was also stunned.
"BOOM!"
The Electric Snake struck Fang Zhen's... afterimage. Arcs of electricity and sparks flew everywhere, but it hit nothing but air.
Fang Zhen dodged with ease, completely unscathed.
"That's impossible! No one is agile enough to dodge a lightning strike! A human can't do that!" Aiden's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief. The reality before him shattered his understanding.
In truth, Aiden's understanding wasn't wrong.
Aiden's lightning strike was far faster than human reaction ti. By the ti you saw the Thunder Serpent coming, all that would be left in your vision was an afterimage of the electric arc. The mont you saw it, you were already hit, with no ti or space to react.
Human nerve reflexes could never be faster than lightning.
But the thing was, Fang Zhen didn't wait for the lightning to co before reacting.
He had precognition.
A full second earlier, Fang Zhen had foreseen that the Thunder Serpent would strike, and even knew exactly where it would land.
So he executed an Assassination Step, leaving behind an afterimage.
And just as expected, Aiden obligingly struck the afterimage with his lightning.
Fang Zhen had been cautiously observing Aiden earlier, wondering if the Lei Ming family's Crystal Bone Techniques were a counter to him.
However, in practice, he discovered that while the Lei Ming family's Crystal Bone Techniques were powerful and would hurt a lot if they hit, his own super-sensory premonition was the perfect counter to Aiden.
'What does it matter how strong they are if they can't hit ?'
Aiden's perception was shattered, and his expression quickly twisted into one of uncontrollable rage.
That's just how people are. When a deeply held belief is overturned, the first reaction isn't always curiosity, but more often, anger.
Aiden was now in a state of pure rage.
The thunderball in his hands continuously fired off Electric Snakes in a wild barrage, determined to obliterate this anomaly who defied all conventional logic.
But for all the Thunder Serpents' power, they just couldn't hit their mark.
Fang Zhen's movents were incredibly elegant, as if he were waltzing at a noble's ball. And yet, with just this Body Technique, no matter how wildly Aiden bombarded him with lightning, he couldn't even co close; the most he could do was blast the afterimages.
A barrage of eight or nine Thunder Serpents rained down, but Fang Zhen evaded them all. He did so with such calm, elegant ease, dodging the fatal attacks as if he were taking a leisurely stroll.
Aiden's face fell.
After eight or nine consecutive lightning strikes, Aiden's bone energy was nearly depleted.
But the toll on his Spirit was even more severe than the consumption of his bone energy.
Aiden had lost all of his initial high spirits. His face was pale, his forehead beaded with cold sweat, and his whole body trembled—not from fear, but because he was sinking deep into self-doubt.
Fang Zhen's godlike predictive dodges had shocked Aiden into a state of stunned withdrawal.
"The Assassination Step Technique... That's the Assassination Step Technique I've always wanted to learn but never could... Are you from the Dark World?" la Night Shadow, her skin charred in places from the explosions, was also staring in a daze. For a mont, she even forgot about being the first to enter the Netherworld Stone Gate, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on Fang Zhen.
"So you recognize it," Fang Zhen replied, slightly surprised.
He hadn't expected la to recognize the Assassination Step Technique.
'But on second thought, the Assassination Step Technique is probably the ultimate footwork a humanoid creature can achieve without the intervention of Extraordinary Power. Without Extraordinary Power involved, it's possible that different worlds would arrive at the sa conclusion, or that skill, when perfected, approaches the Dao, making the creation of a very similar Assassination Step Technique not at all impossible.'
"No, that's not right... it's impossible..." la imdiately denied her own thought. "No one could possibly use the Assassination Step Technique while wearing a Warrior's full plate armor! It's a technique of such imnse difficulty that even my father couldn't master it. How could you have learned it in anything less than decades?"
"How dare you use the Assassination Step Technique in plate armor?"
"Have you no basic respect for this divine assassin's skill?" la shouted, sowhat enraged.
"You just need feet for it," Fang Zhen replied casually.
la, who was normally so cold and aloof, now wore a look of utter bewildernt and confusion.
Her confidence had been dealt a massive blow.
'I don't understand it at all!'
Fang Zhen's very existence was beyond la's comprehension.
la's current state of mind was like that of an heir to a Magician dynasty. Imagine this heir had already received widespread recognition from the Magic Realm and built up their confidence through public performances, confirming to themselves that they were a highly talented and brilliant Magician. Then, after ten years of painstaking research based on their family's legacy, they developed an incredibly complex and exquisite master-level magic trick—one that could leave a bold mark on the history of the Magic Realm. Filled with this confidence, they set out to perform it.
But then, on a train, unable to contain themselves, they decide to show off their master trick to the other passengers in their car, hoping to reap gasps of shock and applause.
Unexpectedly, however, a man across from them, who is in the middle of feeding a baby, rely glances over. While still feeding the baby, he casually replicates the Magician's master trick with one hand, and then proceeds to perform three or four advanced variations that the Magician themselves couldn't even dream of doing.
When asked how he did it, the man just says, 'You just need hands for it.'
At that mont, the Magician's state of mind would surely be one of complete collapse. They would wonder what was wrong with the world, their perception of reality would be warped, and they would be consud by extre self-doubt.
This was exactly how la felt right now.
For a mont, la was overco by an emotion of indignant grief.
Her years of hard work seed like a joke in front of Fang Zhen.
Fang Zhen had no ti to deal with them and dashed toward the Netherworld Stone Gate.
Two other assassins from the Night Shadow Family saw that their Young Master, la, was reeling from the blow to her Spirit and hadn't reacted properly. They exchanged a look and charged toward Fang Zhen.
The two of them seed intent on holding Fang Zhen back to buy la so ti.
Suddenly, Batuma from Black Garden flicked her leather whip.
The long black whip swept out. The crystal bones on it suddenly lit up, and Batuma's whip transford into nine black pythons. Their heads were startlingly real as they enveloped the area, forcing the two Night Shadow Family assassins back.
"Batuma! This is none of your business! Even if you stop us, you won't get Anlon Lie Feng's treasure either! You're just handing it to that foreigner in plate armor!"
"What are you trying to accomplish?"
One of the male Night Shadow Family assassins shouted at Batuma, furious and exasperated.
"I'm causing trouble," Batuma answered, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"I just can't stand the sight of you thirteen families. If I can kill one, that's one down. And even if I can't kill you, I want to see you suffer."
"Besides, I probably can't get the treasure anyway. And even if I did, I'd be targeted by everyone. I'm not confident I could survive with it, so I might as well not even try."
"I hate you thirteen families, so I'll help that foreigner. Why? Because he's handso and I like the look of him. Plus, he's your enemy."
"Hee hee hee, I'm just trying to piss you off. What can you do about it?"
"I just love it when you can't stand
but can't do a thing to stop ."
Batuma said with a giggle.
The Night Shadow Family assassin choked, a breath catching in his throat, and was so enraged he was left speechless.
But in truth, there really wasn't anything the two from the Night Shadow Family could do to Batuma.
Because they really couldn't beat her.
Batuma unfurled a torrent of whip-shadows, the lashes covering a wide area. The Night Shadow mbers had nowhere to hide and were sent crying out in alarm as they were driven back by her whip.
At this mont, Fang Zhen had already reached the Netherworld Stone Gate and was about to charge through.
Aiden had sowhat regained his composure.
Seeing that Fang Zhen was about to enter the Netherworld Stone Gate, a vicious look appeared on Aiden's face as he suddenly raised both hands.
Between Aiden's hands, a pale-blue thunderball flew up, rising four to five ters high.
Aiden's eyes blazed with pale-blue electrical light, looking incredibly powerful, as if he were about to unleash so ultimate move.
In that instant, the thunderball in the air suddenly swelled, growing to three or four ters in diater.
Then, the thunderball vanished, only to reappear a mont later high above the Netherworld Stone Gate.
In a fraction of a second, the pale-blue sphere of lightning transford into a vortex of thunderclouds.
The pale-blue thundercloud floated overhead with a vortex at its center. The cloud revolved around the vortex, indiscriminately striking the area below with falling bolts of lightning.
Fang Zhen ca to a screeching halt.
He furrowed his brow.
Since his Thunder Serpents couldn't hit Fang Zhen, Aiden had decided to just use an area-of-effect attack.
The thundercloud was imnse and its range was vast, completely sealing off the Netherworld Stone Gate.
'I'm not confident my Assassination Step Technique can evade the thundercloud. The randomness of the strikes is too great; even my super-sensory premonition might not be enough to dodge them all.'
Behind him, la had finally recovered from the ntal shock. She wordlessly charged at Fang Zhen with her shortsword drawn, seemingly intent on tying him down and delivering a fatal blow.
Fang Zhen had no path forward and pursuers at his back.
However, he didn't panic.
He had a skill that could break this stalemate.
And that was...
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