https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-431-Heaven-Earth-Reversal-Mantra/13548234/
Chapter 432: Clash
Chapter 432: Clash
Seven Kill vaguely sensed the extraordinary power of Xiao Tan’s move, so his focus was sharper than ever before. He’d already made up his mind—no direct confrontations. He’d evade if possible; if not, he’d try to dissipate the attack’s force.
But…
“Wait… he’s not even aiming for me?” As the opponent neared the ground, Seven Kill noticed… Xiao Tan’s landing spot was still dozens of meters away. No need to dodge at all.
Meanwhile, Xiao Tan had just realized the same thing. The Heaven-Earth Reversal Mantra only inverted gravity’s effect on himself—it wasn’t real flight. To put it bluntly… he was just plummeting straight down.
Changes in wind direction and posture might shift the crash coordinates slightly, but those alone couldn’t enable significant lateral or diagonal movement. Let alone letting him target a specific point for a precision drop.
“Huh? This isn’t what I expected…” Xiao Tan immediately thrashed his limbs mid-air, attempting frog-style strokes to “swim” directly above Seven Kill. But it was useless. Even if he did fall straight toward Seven Kill’s head, the latter could simply step aside a few meters to avoid it…
In the end, Xiao Tan reluctantly abandoned his attack. At about ten meters above ground, he activated the divine mantra twice, reversing gravity twice more to land steadily.
Seven Kill stood dozens of meters away, staring at Xiao Tan with bewilderment. “What’s this kid up to? What’s the point of flying up and dropping down? It can’t be a show of intimidation… Wait, when will this curse’s time end? What exactly is it…”
“Hmph… So lame,” Xiao Tan muttered, standing there. “Unless the environment’s a giant chimney, the chances of hitting someone with this mantra are nearly zero… It needs tracking or dashing skills to work…” He felt annoyed too. “If the skill description wasn’t so cryptic, I’d have mastered the related skills already. Testing the skill’s effects on the fly… what’s the point?”
“Hey… Wang Brother, are you done playing around?” Seven Kill finally spoke. “Are you demonstrating your cultivation progress over the past fortnight?”
“Heh…” Xiao Tan gave a bitter chuckle. “You saw it yourself. Nothing special.”
“Is that so…” Seven Kill’s expression shifted slightly. “Truly disappointing.”
“If you think you’re disappointed…” Xiao Tan replied listlessly, “my psychological elevation difference is way bigger than yours right now.”
Xiao Tan was clearly referring to the Heaven-Earth Reversal Mantra’s psychological impact. After all, he’d spent ages learning it, expecting stunning results. The reality was far from his imagination.
But as the saying goes: the speaker may mean one thing, the listener another. To Seven Kill, combined with Xiao Tan’s earlier actions, tone, and expressions, these words carried a different meaning.
“Oh? Ha… Hahahaha…” Seven Kill burst into laughter. “So you are confident indeed! You think I’m no longer your match?”
“Uh…” Xiao Tan hesitated, letting out an uncertain “Uh.”
To Seven Kill and the tens of thousands of spectators, though, this was confirmation.
“Great! Then I’ll have to ask Wang Brother for guidance!” Seven Kill said. In an instant, his figure vanished.
In that split second, Xiao Tan’s combat instincts conveyed two things: one, his opponent was now behind him; two, he needed to use a clone to avoid the strike.
Whoosh—
Seven Kill’s fist lunged forward, piercing through the opponent’s spine. Yet… no bones shattered, no blood spilled. His fist seemed to penetrate the body, but it was merely striking a virtual character.
“The same technique won’t work on me twice!” Xiao Tan’s voice suddenly echoed from behind Seven Kill.
Indeed, Seven Kill had used the exact method he employed in the preliminary round to kill Xiao Tan—the Dark Shadow Step combined with the Heaven-Shaking Bone-Piercing Fist.
He’d defeated countless players with this combo, never failing. Honestly, even if the opponent knew his intent, it’d be near impossible to defend.
First, the Heaven-Shaking Bone-Piercing Fist was a skill requiring a frontal block. If hit from behind, defense was almost impossible. For a player like Xiao Tan with weak defense, getting hit meant his torso being pierced directly…
As for the Dark Shadow Step, it was an Instant Teleportation technique, letting Seven Kill appear behind an enemy within twenty meters, consuming 100 Spirit Energy Value, with a half-hour cooldown.
These two moves formed a classic combo. Together, their synergy created an effect greater than the sum of their parts.
But… Xiao Tan had successfully countered it.
The moment Seven Kill activated the Dark Shadow Step, Xiao Tan released the Wind Stops, Dust Scent Fades, while his physical form flipped backward mid-air.
The moment Seven Kill Instant Teleported, his vision abruptly shifted. By experience, the first thing entering his sight would undoubtedly be the opponent’s back. Thus, he threw his punch without hesitation.
But at that very moment, Xiao Tan was already behind him.
In an instant, the sleeve sword shot out, aiming for the neck…
But Seven Kill didn’t fall for it. Seemingly with eyes on his back, the moment his fist missed, he leaned forward, ducked his head, and narrowly dodged the sleeve sword’s stab.
“Hmph… Are you a Saint Seiya?” Seven Kill sneered, making a jab at Xiao Tan’s earlier remark.
His composure came from his initial judgment—Xiao Tan would never fall for the same trick twice.
Though Seven Kill couldn’t explain why he felt this way, he just had the intuition. It was an instinct, groundless yet certain—he didn’t know how the opponent would counter his combo, but he knew the opponent could.
This trust in one’s foe was an inexplicable thing, yet real. Sometimes… it was even more reliable than trust in comrades.
“Time to send you off!”
Without missing a beat, Seven Kill let out a threatening cry, swinging his leg like a scorpion’s tail to kick from behind.
But this time, he failed again. Xiao Tan blocked the kick effortlessly.
“Exactly… I am a Saint Seiya.” As he spoke, Xiao Tan’s hands had already slipped under Seven Kill’s armpits, clenching his fists upward to trap Seven Kill in front of him.
“What… this posture… Could it be the legendary…” Seven Kill’s mind jolted. “Legendary Dragon-Slaying Technique?”
“Hahahaha!” Xiao Tan roared with laughter. “To stop a close-combat martial artist, there’s only one way—stick to them in a grappling move. You’ve already lost any chance of dealing a fatal blow!” As he spoke, he activated the Heaven-Earth Reversal Mantra, intending to carry his opponent skyward before letting go.
But…
To his shock, neither flew upward. Instead, they remained firmly rooted in place.
Seven Kill could feel an upward force tugging at him, but it was just insufficient to lift him.
“Crap… His weight’s heavier than mine…” Xiao Tan realized the dire problem.
Earlier, Shiva had imagined this tactic too, but the premise was “if Xiao Tan could truly fly.” The reality was different—the mantra could only invert the interaction between the player and the external world (the “player” being a whole, including attire and equipment), but wouldn’t affect others in contact.
Thus, Xiao Tan’s Plan B failed…
“Your flying skill… sure flies fast, but the carrying capacity’s awful,” Seven Kill sneered, slowly turning his head—only to startle at Xiao Tan’s appearance. “Whoa! Why’s your hair standing up? And your face looks kinda flushed…”
“I’m a Saiyan,” Xiao Tan bluffed, trying to mask his embarrassment.
“Hmph… Who’re you fooling…” Seven Kill scoffed. “If you were a Saiyan, you’d have turned into a gorilla under the full moon.”
At that moment, all spectators watching the match were groaning, [You’ve got the wrong focus!]
Yet Xiao Tan retorted, “Hmph… Obviously, I didn’t transform because I’ve no tail.”
[He’s making up nonsense yet thought of such a detail!]
“Ha… Nonsense!” Seven Kill stopped bantering, snarled, and intervened.
After all, he was a military veteran—there were plenty of ways to counter a rear grapple. Seeing Seven Kill slightly bending his legs, lowering his center of gravity, he swung his right leg in a sweeping kick backward.
But the kick missed…
Xiao Tan was still in the gravity-reversed state. He lifted his feet, dodging the attack.
From the audience’s perspective, Xiao Tan was now floating in a squatting posture, his arms still gripping Seven Kill’s arms.
“Pathetic…” Seven Kill’s hands couldn’t clasp his chest but could still stretch upward. He raised both arms, grabbing backward to clamp Xiao Tan’s head.
But Xiao Tan changed tactics again, retracting his hands swiftly to seize Seven Kill’s forearms. Activating the mantra again, he inverted gravity, pressing his knees onto Seven Kill’s shoulders.
In this sudden pull and release, Seven Kill’s arms were yanked upward, his shoulders crushed under the opponent’s weight. The bones from his shoulder blades to elbows risked dislocation. As a player relying on fists, if both arms were crippled, he’d likely face dire consequences.
“Getting more interesting by the second…” Seven Kill gritted his teeth, clearly exerting force on his arms. He was confident his arms’ strength surpassed Xiao Tan’s entire body.
And indeed it was. So Xiao Tan didn’t engage in a power struggle. Instead, he suddenly released, thrusting his sleeve sword straight toward Seven Kill’s temple.
(End of Chapter)
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