The power of heavenly thunder in Tian Dao's hands enveloped Chen Tian. Rolling heavenly thunder gathered above Chen Tian's head. Chen Tian showed no fear, appearing completely fearless. This was amiss. Tian Dao quickly sensed something was wrong. Chen Tian, according to logic, should not have been standing still when facing this move. This was heavenly thunder, unleashed with Tian Dao's full power. Chen Tian stood motionless beneath the thunderclouds, a situation unprecedented. After all, it was heavenly thunder. Even the strongest being would be annihilated under heavenly thunder. Chen Tian made no move to defend himself.
He couldn't understand. Truly, he couldn't understand. Tian Dao had expected Chen Tian to reveal his trump card. As the heavenly thunder descended, with a deafening roar, lightning furiously poured down from above Chen Tian's head. The lightning was as thick as several pillars, covering Chen Tian's figure. The thunderous power churned, and terrifying heavenly thunder manifested, causing the surrounding space to fracture. Chen Tian stood on the spot, completely undefended. He remained still as if nothing were happening. Chen Tian closed his eyes. As he was submerged in heavenly thunder, the world tree seedling within his body absorbed the full power of the heavenly thunder. Chen Tian appeared to be withstanding it head-on, but in reality, the heavenly thunder was merely a facade. Its true energy was entirely absorbed by the world tree seedling within Chen Tian.
The world tree seedling Chen Tian nurtured in his body slowly began to grow. Its growth was rather sluggish. Chen Tian did not expect it to grow too quickly overnight. After all, it was a world tree seedling. Chen Tian needed time and nourishment to cultivate it slowly. Tian Dao watched all this unfold. It took him a full hundred seconds before he realized something was wrong. Logically, Chen Tian should have been annihilated under his move by now, yet this move had persisted for so long. No one could withstand heavenly thunder for such an extended period. Tian Dao had never heard of such a thing.
When Tian Dao wished to cancel the heavenly thunder attack, he discovered he had lost control of the thunderclouds. He could only watch as the heavenly thunder continued to fall, engulfing Chen Tian's figure. Tian Dao exclaimed in shock, "Impossible, heavenly thunder, heavenly thunder is no longer under my control. This won't do; if this continues, I will sustain damage."
Tian Dao began to panic. Heavenly thunder was, in essence, an evolution of Tian Dao's origin. The continued release of heavenly thunder consumed Tian Dao's origin power. How could Tian Dao not panic? Once his origin power diminished, his control over the world would lessen, and then Tian Dao would face a true crisis. As the apex consciousness of a world, Tian Dao could withstand being sealed without significant issue, but the depletion of his origin power would affect his consciousness.
The current Tian Dao harbored resentment towards humans but not towards the entire world. The heavenly thunder had completely gone out of control. Tian Dao could only watch helplessly. According to the thunderclouds he had created, the heavenly thunder's power would soon be exhausted, and then it would use his origin power to continue the attack. Chen Tian, situated at the center of the heavenly thunder, was immensely craving its energy. The world tree seedling within his body had already grown to three centimeters in height and was still growing slowly. Suddenly, the world tree seedling within his body emitted a radiant glow. Chen Tian's body followed suit, emitting light. The entire heavenly thunder and thunderclouds dissipated.
Chen Tian reappeared before Tian Dao, unharmed. Tian Dao could scarcely believe it. Chen Tian had sustained no injuries whatsoever within the heavenly thunder. Even a minor injury would have been astonishing to Tian Dao. This was the first time he had witnessed a cultivator emerge unscathed from heavenly thunder. Did he consider heavenly thunder a bath?
Upon reflection, Chen Tian seemed to have treated it as a bath. After such an extended period, Chen Tian had suffered no damage.
Chen Tian stretched his body, and crackling sounds echoed throughout. Chen Tian had not been harmed, but surviving within heavenly thunder for a period had still had some effect on him. At the very least, his physical strength had improved by a notch. Chen Tian shook his body, and the electrical power within him leaped before vanishing. The heavenly thunder coiling around Chen Tian's body dispersed. Tian Dao's face turned cold, and he said, "Boy, how dare you!"
Tian Dao finally sensed the change in Chen Tian's body. There was the aura of heavenly thunder within Chen Tian. Heavenly thunder, as Tian Dao's ability, was being absorbed by a human and used as nourishment. The thought filled Tian Dao with rage. His heavenly thunder was meant to punish the beings of the world, not to be used as sustenance by Chen Tian. Tian Dao's form arrived directly before Chen Tian. He threw a punch, a full-powered punch. Facing Chen Tian, Tian Dao was truly enraged.
Chen Tian saw Tian Dao attacking. "Good," he thought, "I want to see what my current strength is like." Chen Tian clenched his fists, gathering his strength. It was pure physical power. Purple light flowed within Chen Tian's blood and converged on his fists. His fists, entwined with purple lightning, swung out. Chen Tian's fist collided with Tian Dao's.
With a bang, one figure was sent flying. The one sent flying was Tian Dao. Tian Dao forcefully stabilized himself, finding himself at a disadvantage. This news, if spread, would be enough for Chen Tian to boast about for a lifetime: "I once repelled Tian Dao," a feat that even Chen Tian's first life had not accomplished. Chen Tian felt the power within him. After the system's explanation, the world tree within Chen Tian was constantly deriving the absorbed heavenly thunder energy and circulating it throughout his body. This meant Chen Tian's body would generate heavenly thunder power endlessly.
Heavenly thunder power, in simple terms, was derived from Tian Dao's power. The world tree filled Chen Tian's entire body with Tian Dao's power, elevating Chen Tian's strength by several levels. The current Chen Tian could absolutely crush the phantom of Tian Dao. In a sense, Chen Tian was also Tian Dao. His body was filled with Tian Dao's power. Chen Tian and Tian Dao looked at each other. Chen Tian spoke indifferently, "Give up. I have only come here to save a race, and I do not wish to have too much conflict with you."
"Boy, even now you want me to give up? You absorbed my heavenly thunder. I don't know how you managed to generate Tian Dao's power within yourself, but you shouldn't have come here. Humans should be exterminated."
"Not all humans in all worlds are the same. I understand your feelings of being sealed by the beings and humans you trusted. But hatred will grant you nothing. Hatred will only lead you to destroy the world."
"Silence, silence! What do you know? Humans should not exist. Since they desired power, I will grant it to them. This world becoming like this is all their doing."
"I am merely complying with their wishes. Humans should not appear in this world. You will not leave here today."
Tian Dao and Chen Tian stood in opposition. This was Chen Tian's first encounter with Tian Dao, and he was utterly speechless. What had humans and beings done thousands of years ago to make Tian Dao hate humans so deeply, to the extent that all humans on Starfall Continent were turned into half-humans, and even outsiders were forbidden from entering?
This battle appeared to be shaping up to be a fierce one.
Chen Tian was prepared. Chen Tian and Tian Dao faced each other, their eyes locked, their auras clashing. The entire sea surface churned violently. Chen Tian took a step forward, and Tian Dao moved. The two figures surged simultaneously, causing earth-shattering explosions on the sea. The sea surged upwards, forming a water curtain hundreds of meters high. Within this curtain, Chen Tian's fists struck out hundreds of times in a single second, his punches covering the entire field of vision. Tian Dao faced Chen Tian's move without flinching.
With a gentle wave of his hand, Chen Tian's hundreds of punch shadows vanished. "Hah, this is Tian Dao's world. I can alter Chen Tian's power level at will." Chen Tian saw through Tian Dao's actions. Continuing to fight like this would be disadvantageous. Chen Tian needed to drag Tian Dao into the void, where there was no energy, and Tian Dao's methods would be unusable.
Chen Tian's fists changed their trajectory, forcefully charging directly at Tian Dao in a head-on collision. Tian Dao saw Chen Tian's intention to drag him into the void and chose to evade. He avoided colliding with Chen Tian's fists, his form turning into afterimages, constantly dodging. As long as Tian Dao did not engage in a head-on confrontation with Chen Tian, the void would not form, and Chen Tian's attacks would be harmless to Tian Dao. This was Tian Dao's thinking. Unfortunately, Tian Dao had underestimated Chen Tian's methods.
How could Chen Tian not know Tian Dao's intentions? Chen Tian suddenly clapped his hands together, his figure appearing beside Tian Dao. The collision of two different energies from Chen Tian's left and right hands generated energy fluctuations that caused the surrounding space to collapse. Seeing this, Tian Dao shouted, "You're insane! Colliding two different energies at such close range will cause severe explosive damage to yourself."
"You madman!"
Tian Dao could not believe Chen Tian would intentionally collide two different energies. While it was common for a person to wield multiple energies, Chen Tian's deliberate forceful collision of two energies to create an explosion, using the energy fluctuations to forcibly create the void, was the idea of a madman.
When two different energies collide, one must focus entirely on controlling them, and they cannot have identical energy fluctuations. The explosive aftermath meant Chen Tian, at the epicenter, would sustain damage. Tian Dao watched the space collapse.
*Boom!*
A massive mushroom cloud of an explosion rose. A huge crater was blown into the sea surface, which was quickly filled by the seawater. The surrounding space exploded and fractured in an instant, like a shattered mirror, breaking apart with the slightest touch. Within the void, Chen Tian and Tian Dao appeared. The void contained no energy, and Tian Dao's abilities were directly sealed.
The void did not exist within the world but was generated outside it. There was no energy here. Heavenly and earthly energies did not exist. Tian Dao's strength would be affected here.
"Madman, you are truly a madman!"
This was Tian Dao's evaluation of Chen Tian. At this moment, Chen Tian's condition was not good. Chen Tian's aura fluctuated, sometimes strong, sometimes weak. The residual energy from the explosion had caused him to suffer backlash, which Chen Tian was suppressing.
Otherwise, Chen Tian would have long since lost his footing.
Chen Tian smiled wryly, "Now it's a fair fight."
"I don't believe you can still contend with me while suffering from backlash. If I kill you, I can still leave here."
Tian Dao saw Chen Tian's condition. Chen Tian was merely holding on. As long as he endured the backlash and Tian Dao unleashed his full power, he could kill Chen Tian.
Chen Tian might have been a handful to deal with before, but the current Chen Tian was at his weakest. He had to eliminate him before he recovered.
Tian Dao decisively attacked. Chen Tian knew very well that Tian Dao would not miss this opportunity to strike when he was injured. Chen Tian still had a seventy percent chance of victory against Tian Dao.
Chen Tian's injuries healed quickly. As long as Chen Tian could hold out, his injuries would recover, and victory would be his.
The premise was that Chen Tian had to survive Tian Dao's fierce assault and last until then.
Tian Dao unleashed his move, clapping his palms together. The power of heavenly thunder condensed into a giant hand, rolling thunder surging. The colossal hand charged directly towards Chen Tian, making him appear like a tiny ant before it, easily crushed.
This was a matter of hierarchy. Tian Dao's power was fundamentally several levels higher than the energy within a cultivator's body. This was a feeling of distinct levels.
Chen Tian saw Tian Dao directly unleash the power of heavenly thunder to form a giant palm. Tian Dao was more anxious than he was. Facing this palm, Chen Tian struck his own palm against it, channeling energy madly into his palm. Due to the backlash, seventy percent of Chen Tian's energy was lost. He could only unleash thirty percent of his power.
Whether it was the move or the energy, Chen Tian opened his palm, forming a large, semi-circular shield with energy to defend himself.
Chen Tian's shield collided with the giant purple heavenly thunder palm. Chen Tian retreated a few steps before stabilizing himself on the spot.