Chen Tian and the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon looked at each other, and both took a step forward. Chen Tian attacked first. The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon did not dare to attack first. If the other party truly possessed the ability to predict the future, then its own offense would be meaningless. It was better to wait for the opponent to attack. Chen Tian's fist came towards the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon. The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon watched Chen Tian's fist approach, extended its dragon claws, and the fist collided with the dragon claws. Chen Tian took a step back. The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon used even greater strength than before. Perhaps in the previous battle, the opponent was just warming up. Chen Tian's lips curled into a smile. This was good; he finally had an opponent!
His figure flickered, splitting into four. The four clones attacked the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon. Each clone was a Chen Tian of a different color, representing different elements: fire, water, wood, and earth. The four elements jointly attacked the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon. The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon was shocked, but it was enveloped in darkness. Darkness flowed from its body, making the entire cave even deeper and darker, as if swallowed by the darkness. Chen Tian's clones were gradually devoured by the darkness, their figures completely obscured. Chen Tian could not see the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon's figure for the moment. In the world shrouded in darkness, Chen Tian raised his hand, and a ball of light shot into the sky. Subsequently, the light bloomed, dispelling the darkness.
The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon's figure appeared before Chen Tian. However, Chen Tian reacted swiftly because the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon's attack was imminent. The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon's dragon claws, carrying a terrifying sharpness, aimed directly at Chen Tian's forehead. Chen Tian spread his palm, and an elemental barrier appeared. The circular, rippling barrier resisted the dragon claws. Chen Tian's figure retreated continuously, but the protective shield showed no signs of cracking. This barrier was created by Chen Tian using elemental power combined, its hardness such that even dragons could not break it unless the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon used its full strength. Seeing Chen Tian resist its attack, the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon opened its mouth, and black flames flowed and gathered at its lips, from which a black fireball was shot out.
Chen Tian clapped his hands together, and the elemental barrier merged into his palm. With a palm strike, elements filled the air. Gold, wood, water, fire, earth, light, lightning, wind – multiple elements carried terrifying power and collided with the black fireball. Boom, a world-shattering explosion sounded. Chen Tian and the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon emerged from the explosion, both unharmed. The expressions in their eyes changed. Chen Tian took a step forward, and with that step, thunderclap erupted, and his figure turned into a bolt of lightning, moving with astonishing speed. The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon spread its dragon claws, and its dragon scales covered them, making the entire dragon claw appear even more formidable and sharp.
Chen Tian and the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon collided, and the shockwaves spread. The cave shook a few times and then fell silent. It had to be said that the location chosen by the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon was quite sturdy. The battle between Chen Tian and the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon did not affect the entire cave at all; the cave was very solid. The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon delivered a spinning kick. Chen Tian's figure flashed, evading it and appearing behind the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon. He unleashed a palm strike, imbued with all the elemental power he possessed, which ordinary opponents could not resist. The dragon claw spun back, entwined with dark energy and the power of flames. The black energy, the black flames, the dragon scale-covered dragon claw directly collided with Chen Tian's palm strike. With a crack, the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon staggered back. In this collision, Chen Tian gained the upper hand.
The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon stabilized its figure, its claws gripping the ground to halt its retreat. Chen Tian stood before it, and the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon acknowledged, "Hahaha, good lad, there are very few who can make me fight to my heart's content like this."
"You're not bad either. From the beginning until now, you've only used three abilities: dark power, flame power, and dragon scale enhancement. I truly wonder what your strength would be when all nine abilities are unleashed."
Chen Tian also praised the other party, and it was sincere. With just these three abilities, the dragon could fight him with one-tenth of his strength. Dragons were indeed a divine beast race, let alone a mutated demonic dragon like this. The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon did not respond to Chen Tian's praise. It spread its dragon wings behind it, and the flapping wings stirred up a howling wind, which transformed into countless wind blades attacking Chen Tian. Chen Tian looked at this move from the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon, and a gentle breeze wrapped around his legs. He then spun and kicked repeatedly, the layered gentle breezes coalescing into a cyan tornado that charged directly at the wind blades.
The wind blades, upon colliding with the tornado, were carried by it and completely lost their direction. The tornado continued forward. The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon swiped horizontally with its dragon wings, and a black light blade shot out, piercing the tornado and slicing it apart. Chen Tian's figure dodged slightly to the left. The attack was only a meter away from Chen Tian. Chen Tian's grasp of distance was precise. He had used extreme evasion many times and was very skilled at dodging. Even without the "Extreme Evasion" skill, Chen Tian could dodge entirely by instinct; it was a habit, impossible to break. This was beneficial, not detrimental.
While Chen Tian was evading, the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon suddenly appeared above him, its claws striking down. Its dragon wings converged, forming a giant cone that descended directly from above Chen Tian's head. Chen Tian saw the object descending from above and was enveloped in a multicolored armor. Countless elemental forces condensed into the armor, protecting him. Two different orbs of light appeared on either side of Chen Tian's hands. One was a five-colored orb, and the other was a nine-colored orb. His left hand held an orb of elemental power, a fusion of nine elements. His right hand held the five powers of time, space, chaos, spiritual energy, and yin-yang. Both sides represented different systems of power. However, in the next second, Chen Tian made a surprising move.
Chen Tian merged the orbs in both hands. A terrifying aura and energy leaked out, causing the entire cave to shake violently. Chen Tian endured it with great difficulty; this was an experiment for Chen Tian. He wanted to see if his energy control could fuse energies from different systems to create a more powerful energy. Initially, the two orbs repelled each other, and the surrounding space faintly shattered, with void gradually enveloping the entire cave. The chaotic power suddenly erupted, absorbing all the energy together, and the orbs completed their fusion.
A silver-gray orb appeared before them. Chen Tian raised his hand and threw it directly into the sky. The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon felt a tremendous sense of crisis. Its entire body expanded several times. A world-shattering explosion occurred. In the explosion, both Chen Tian and the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon were blasted into the void. In the void, both Chen Tian and the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon were affected by the explosion. The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon suffered more severe damage. It was at the center of the explosion, and its move was centered on itself. Chen Tian was not faring much better; his body was ragged, and blood flowed from his wounds, dripping gray-white blood into the void.
"It seems I can't take such risks with experiments next time."
Chen Tian murmured. Next time, he would be fully prepared before experimenting. He thought the armor formed by elemental power could offset the explosion's impact, but it couldn't. The power of both their moves was too great. Chen Tian underestimated the explosive damage. He should have maxed out the armor's defense. Chen Tian and the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon watched each other in the void, neither making a move, slowly recovering from their injuries. Neither wanted to take advantage of the other. For such evenly matched opponents, not having a proper, honorable fight would leave regrets. As for sneak attacks and taking advantage of the situation, those were the actions of petty individuals. They were sparring, not fighting to the death, so there was no need for a life-or-death struggle.
Chen Tian's recovery speed was slower than the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon's. Dragons were known as divine beasts with the second-best recovery abilities; the first place belonged to the phoenix race. Phoenixes possessed the ability of Nirvana; even in death, they would be reborn. Recovering from injuries was their strength, something no other being could compare to. Dragons' strengths lay in their all-around power, recovery abilities, strength, and body resilience. Phoenixes excelled in recovery, while the Sacred Tiger clan was purely focused on power, and the Sacred Ghost clan was entirely defensive. There were many divine beast races. Chen Tian knew of these four as the ultimate divine beasts.
The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon had currently only demonstrated three abilities: dark power, flame power, and dragon scale enhancement. With just these three abilities, it fought back and forth with Chen Tian, which only spoke to the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon's might. However, Chen Tian was not using his full power either. If he were to unleash his full power, even the void would shatter, something Chen Tian did not want to see. If the void shattered, Chen Tian would become lost within it. Chen Tian's two-tenths power was the pinnacle of world power, but the damage caused by his moves was greater than his actual strength. If Chen Tian unleashed his moves, the world would fall into collapse.
Two-tenths power meant Chen Tian could only utilize two-tenths of his physical strength and energy flow. Chen Tian and the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon quickly recovered from their injuries. The two figures transformed into streaks of light, clashing continuously in the sky. The light was dazzling, illuminating the void, and sounds reverberated—a battle of the ages!
Chen Tian and the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon separated after their collision. In the previous exchange, they had clashed no less than thousands of times. They were evenly matched. Chen Tian clenched his fists, and twin blades appeared. The elemental twin blades were in his hands. From now on, Chen Tian would become slightly more serious. Seeing Chen Tian use weapons, the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon opened its mouth and spewed black flames. The flames condensed into an armor that complemented its dragon scales, covering its body. Its dragon claws became even more brilliant, with flames flowing on them.
The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon had mastered the ability of dragon breath. Dragons naturally breathed fire, and it possessed the ability to control its dragon breath, allowing it to manipulate the flames. The black flames adhered to its dragon claws, turning them into what appeared to be blazing dragon claws. Both their offensive and defensive capabilities were greatly enhanced. For dragons, their claws were their most potent weapons. The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon disdained using human weapons. If the opponent used weapons, it would strengthen its dragon claws. It was wise to be cautious; from its collection of treasures, it knew information about some weapons that possessed special effects.
Chen Tian's lips curled slightly. He took a step forward, and twin wings composed of gentle breeze unfurled behind him, increasing his speed two to three times. Seeing Chen Tian wanting to engage in a speed battle, the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon spread its dragon wings, unleashing their full speed. The two collided, dragon claws against twin blades. The dragon claws gripped the twin blades, producing a sizzling sound – the friction between the blades and the claws. Chen Tian slashed with his twin blades, trying to break free, but the Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon held on tightly, rendering Chen Tian's twin blades immobile.
"Such immense strength, completely on another level compared to before."
Chen Tian was slightly surprised internally. The Nine-Headed Demonic Dragon's strength had increased significantly. Was it due to the flames adhering to its claws? Chen Tian released his twin blades, which were then shattered by the dragon claws. Chen Tian clenched his fist, and twin blades reappeared. His energy control allowed him to manipulate any energy at will. With energy control, Chen Tian was never short of weapons, and weapons could change their form according to his thoughts. Chen Tian still preferred twin blades. He was himself, Shang is Shang, and Master is Master. In this life, I only love twin blades!