444: Chapter 444 Head-on Clash

The moment the two spheres of light collided head-on at a distance of twenty-five meters, the entire spherical space trembled.

Gray and ice-blue Law energy intertwined, tore, and devoured each other frantically at the point of impact. Two completely different Law wills engaged in the most primitive and violent confrontation at that single point.

Lu Sheng's feet were firmly rooted in the ocean of spirit source, his Physical Body—bolstered by a three-fold increase to all attributes—bearing the impact of the aftershocks. Fine cracks appeared on the surface of his dragon scales, and golden blood seeped out from the fissures.

"Hold on—"

He let out a low growl, the five Laws within his body operating at full tilt, pouring all their energy into that gray sphere of light.

The sphere of light at the collision point began to shift.

It skewed toward Lu Sheng's side.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's ice-blue sphere was suppressing the gray sphere.

"His Law concentration is higher than mine."

Lu Sheng made a judgment in his mind. Although Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate was in an unstable transitional state, his foundation from several hundred years of Cultivating Laws was right there. In terms of pure Law concentration—Lu Sheng indeed could not compare to him.

The collision point shifted another half-meter.

If it shifted any further, the ice-blue sphere would crash right into him.

"I can't fight him head-on with pure power."

Lu Sheng made a decision.

He abruptly withdrew the Law power poured into the gray sphere—the sphere instantly lost its support and was devoured and crushed by the ice-blue sphere.

The ice-blue sphere, carrying double the power after devouring the other, charged straight for Lu Sheng's face!

But Lu Sheng was no longer in that spot.

At the exact same moment he withdrew his Law power, he shifted sideways with all his might—his dragonized legs erupted with incredible propulsion in the ocean of spirit source, moving his entire body ten meters horizontally.

The ice-blue sphere passed through the position where he had just been standing and slammed into the inner wall of the spherical space.

Boom—!

The law threads on the inner wall of the spherical space were blasted into a three-meter-wide crater. Cracks spread in all directions from the center of the pit.

The spherical space was shaking.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate looked at the crater on the inner wall and frowned slightly.

"You dodged."

"Would I just stand there and take the hit if I didn't?" Lu Sheng spoke while his mind calculated rapidly.

About six and a half minutes remained for the Human-Dragon State. Origin Detonation had already been used once. spirit source capacity was permanently reduced by five percent. Stamina was nearly forty percent depleted.

On Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's side—his left arm was slowly regenerating using the prototype of an elemental dao body, and the hole in his chest was mostly filled with blue-white matter. His self-repair speed was much faster than Lu Sheng had anticipated.

"If this drags on, the more he repairs himself, the less I'll be able to beat him."

Lu Sheng made a crazy decision.

He would no longer use spheres of light for long-range attacks.

Close combat.

His Dragon Claw—when an attack hit the target, the dragon runes in the palm would forcibly extract 15% of the target's Qi and blood and 10% of their spirit source.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's body was currently damaged and his Law framework was unstable. If he could land a few hits in close quarters—the Dragon Claw's siphoning effect would directly weaken his repair capabilities.

"Moreover—at close range, his Ice-Sealing Law long-range attacks can't be deployed. It's too close; he'd blow himself up."

Thinking of this, Lu Sheng no longer hesitated.

The dragon devouring spear was taken out from his storage space.

A weight of two thousand two hundred and ninety catties landed in his palm.

His dragonized fingers tightly gripped the spear shaft. Dark gold dragon patterns surfaced on the spear tip.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate saw that spear.

"A weapon at the level of a Spirit Source Secret Art?" His tone carried a hint of surprise. "You really have quite a few good things on you."

Lu Sheng did not reply.

He took a step.

The ocean of spirit source exploded beneath his feet. His entire being turned into a dark gold afterimage, lunging straight for Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate!

A distance of thirty meters—in the Human-Dragon State—took less than half a second.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's reaction was not slow. His right hand condensed a longsword of Ice-Sealing Law, holding it across his body.

Ding—!!

The dragon devouring spear and the ice-sealed longsword collided violently in mid-air.

Law light exploded at the point of impact. Gold and ice-blue fragments flew everywhere.

"Heavy!"

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's right arm suddenly sank. His body was pushed back three meters in the ocean of spirit source.

The weight of over two thousand catties combined with the strength boost of three times all attributes—the physical impact of this spear strike was terrifying.

But Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate stabilized himself. A support platform of Ice-Sealing Law condensed beneath his feet, neutralizing the impact.

"Quite a bit of strength."

"Then here's another."

Lu Sheng swung the spear.

The second strike! The third strike! The fourth strike!

Every spear strike carried the force of a landslide, slamming into Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's ice-sealed longsword. The roar of the collisions echoed in the spherical space, causing the ocean of spirit source to churn incessantly.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate blocked sword after sword. His right arm would tremble slightly after every collision—the weight of the dragon devouring spear was draining his stamina.

But he held his ground.

With Law power in a transitional state and hundreds of years of combat experience—he blocked every sword strike at the most appropriate angle, neutralizing the impact to the maximum extent.

"Can't break through?" Lu Sheng's brow furrowed.

The fifth spear strike.

This time he changed his move. The spear tip no longer slashed head-on but suddenly changed direction—stabbing toward Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's abdomen from below!

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's ice-sealed longsword didn't have time to change direction.

But his body leaned back directly—dodging the spear tip at an inconceivable angle. The spear tip grazed past his abdomen, only leaving a shallow mark on the surface of the blue-white elemental dao body.

"So close—"

Before Lu Sheng could finish his sentence, Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate had already counterattacked.

The ice-sealed longsword turned into a blue arc of light, slashing toward Lu Sheng's waist from the side!

Lu Sheng blocked horizontally with the spear shaft.

Ding—

This time it was Lu Sheng who was pushed back two steps.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's attack power was not weak either. Although his Law framework was unstable, the Law concentration in a transitional state was inherently higher than that of a Peak Spirit Saint.

"An even exchange of offense and defense." Lu Sheng stabilized his stance. "But his self-repair is ongoing—time is on his side."

He had to land a fatal blow before the Human-Dragon State ended.

Otherwise—

"Don't think about it so much."

Lu Sheng gripped the dragon devouring spear and charged once more.

The spear shadows were like dragons.

Every spear strike carried a different Law attribute—Fire, Thunder, Water, Wind, Space—the five Laws alternated on the spear tip, preventing Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's defense from forming a targeted response.

Ten strikes. Twenty strikes. Thirty strikes.

The interior of the spherical space was churned into a mess by the battle between the two. The ocean of spirit source rolled and roared, and Law fragments flew through the space like a storm.

Cracks and craters were everywhere on the inner walls of the spherical space.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate was forced back dozens of meters by Lu Sheng, but he never revealed a fatal opening.

He was waiting.

Waiting for Lu Sheng's Human-Dragon State to end.

"How much longer do you have?" Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate spoke during a brief gap when the two separated. "This transformation state of yours—it won't last much longer. I guess—four more minutes? Three minutes?"

Lu Sheng did not answer.

Just over four minutes left.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate had seen through it.

"Young man." The corner of Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's mouth twitched. "Your talent is indeed staggering. To be able to wound me at the Peak Spirit Saint level—looking across the entire Old God Domain, those who can do this can be counted on one hand."

"But talent cannot replace everything. How long have you Cultivated? Ten years? Twenty years? I have Cultivated for three hundred and seventy-two years."

"The accumulation of Laws from three hundred and seventy-two years—is not something a kid who just broke through to Peak Spirit Saint can compensate for."

"You talk too much," Lu Sheng said coldly.

He charged forward again.

This time—he changed his fighting style.

He no longer clashed head-on.

The dragon devouring spear was withdrawn into the storage space.

His hands were empty.

Dragon Claw.

On his ten dragonized fingers, the dark gold dragon runess were glowing.

"You're going to fight me empty-handed?" Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate frowned.

Lu Sheng did not speak. His speed suddenly surged—the triple speed of the Human-Dragon State combined with the displacement assistance of Space Law—his figure flashed three times in succession before Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate.

Left. Right. Above.

Lu Sheng's afterimages appeared in three directions simultaneously.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's ice-sealed longsword slashed toward the afterimage on the left—passing right through it.

It was a fake.

The real Lu Sheng cut in from the right—his right Dragon Claw striking directly at Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's right shoulder!

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's reaction was extremely fast. His left shoulder—that blue-white arm that was currently regenerating—suddenly erupted with a surge of Ice-Sealing Law power, turning into an ice shield that blocked Lu Sheng's Dragon Claw.

Lu Sheng's Dragon Claw slammed into the ice shield.

The ice shield shattered.

The power of the Dragon Claw penetrated the ice shield and struck Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's right shoulder.

The dragon runes lit up.

Siphon—begin!

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's expression changed abruptly.

He felt it. The Qi, blood, and spirit source within his body were being forcibly drained by a power that was tyrannical to the extreme!

"You—!"

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate retreated violently. His body trembled violently as he fell back—although the siphoning effect of that palm strike lasted less than a second, it had already drained nearly ten percent of his Qi and blood and seven percent of his spirit source.

His self-repair speed slowed down visibly. That regenerating left arm—its growth came to a standstill.

"What kind of evil art is this?!" Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's voice became shrill.

Lu Sheng shook his right hand. The Qi, blood, and spirit source siphoned from Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate had already been converted into his own stamina—his stamina recovered from sixty percent to seventy-five percent.

"This isn't an evil art." Lu Sheng flexed his fingers. "It's a talent."

A flash of wariness appeared in Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's eyes.

That kind of siphoning ability—if he were hit a few more times—

"I can't let him touch me."

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate made a judgment. He began to pull away. The ice-sealed longsword dissipated, replaced by dozens of long spikes of Ice-Sealing Law—hovering around him, forming a 360-degree defense perimeter without blind spots.

Every ice spikes contained the Law power of the transitional state. Anyone wanting to get close—would first have to pass through this forest of ice spikess.

"You're not coming close anymore?" Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes.

"Why bother?" Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's voice returned to calmness. He hovered thirty meters away, dozens of ice spikess rotating slowly around him. "I only need to wait for your transformation to end."

Lu Sheng's fist tightened.

Three and a half minutes left.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate was right. If he couldn't hit Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate in the next three and a half minutes—once the Human-Dragon State ended—he wouldn't even be able to protect himself.

"I must—within three and a half minutes—break through that defense perimeter."