Chapter 5863: Liu Rujiao
When this woman stepped onto the stage, the Undying race’s disciples all cheered excitedly.
“It’s Liu Rujiao!”
“She’s rank three. Her power is completely unfathomable, and they say she awakened primal chaos divine abilities. Today, we might just be able to see them!”
“All the duels between the top ten Sovereign sprouts are usually kept secret. This is our chance to gain real insight!”
“Foolish human, let’s see if you can still act so arrogant now!”
The crowd’s fervor soared the moment Liu Rujiao appeared. All eyes locked onto her, and the atmosphere grew taut with anticipation.
However, Liu Ruyan and Chu Yao were no longer nervous as they understood Long Chen too well.
“Liu Rujiao, here to seek pointers,” said Liu Rujiao, giving Long Chen a slight bow.
Her hands were already poised to form seals as she treated him as a true opponent.
This respectful gesture caught Long Chen slightly off guard. He couldn’t continue with his usual arrogance. Since she had shown respect, he returned the courtesy with a cupped fist.“Elder Xihua says I’m no match for you. I refuse to accept that,” Liu Rujiao said coldly. “I too ascended from the lower world and crawled through countless life-and-death battles to reach this point. So fight me with everything you’ve got! Even if you accidentally kill me, it’s fine. I’ll be coming at you with the intention to kill. That is the only way for me to unleash my full power!”
From the moment Liu Rujiao stepped onto the stage, Long Chen already sensed the bloodthirsty aura around her. She was a true expert—one who didn't dabble in simple sparring.
Real experts fought to kill as only then could they draw out their full power. Hence, Liu Rujiao made that clear from the start.
“In that case, I won’t stand on courtesy,” replied Long Chen.
Long Chen sank slightly into a stance. The Violet Dragon Battle Armor appeared on him, along with a terrifying edge to his aura.
“No regrets in death. All that matters is that we can fight at full power!”
With a shout, thirteen heaven veins burst into existence behind Liu Rujiao. Her manifestation appeared, and endless willow branches danced in the air, covering the sky like a storm of blades.
Sovereign qi cascaded like a waterfall. The other Sovereign sprouts smiled faintly. They knew this state well.
Liu Rujiao was relying on her absolute defense—her forte. When she entered her absolute defense state, even Liu Minghao, the rank one Sovereign sprout, had been unable to harm her. All he could do was outlast her with his superior energy reserves.
In terms of pure offensive power, Liu Rujiao could at most rank fifth. But in terms of defense, she was only second to Liu Minghao.
That same Liu Minghao had only beaten Liu Ruyan due to his immense energy reserves. But Long Chen was a human—how much energy could he possibly have? Could he truly outlast Liu Rujiao?
At first, they’d feared Liu Rujiao might go on the offensive in desperation. But seeing her settle into her absolute defense, their confidence returned. They didn’t believe Long Chen could exhaust her.
“The moment you chose defense, you already lost,” Long Chen said calmly. “You lack confidence in victory. That’s why you’re relying on this.”
As always, Long Chen pierced straight through to the heart of the matter. Just from her aura fluctuations, he had grasped her plan.
“This is my strongest defensive state, but it is also filled with countless killing moves. The moment you fall into my trap, you won’t be able to reverse the tides. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Liu Rujiao declared coldly, not at all perturbed.
Long Chen nodded. “In that case, I’ll show you some true power!”
He charged like a bolt of lightning.
Countless willow branches rained down on him like flying swords, shredding the thick stage beneath them. There was no gap between the barrage of attacks, so no one could avoid it. The branches wove together like a net, sealing heaven and earth.
This attack covered the entire martial stage, having enough suppressive force to make others despair.
“Cloud Dragon Immolation Claw!”
Long Chen unleashed a massive claw, blasting open a path through the branches and bursting right through the formation to appear before Liu Rujiao.
However, Liu Rujiao did not panic in the slightest. With a snort, eight figures flew out of her body and spread across the stage.
“This technique is useless against me,” said Long Chen.
Long Chen was already in front of her, claw raised. But just as he struck, eight powerful attacks targeted him.
“My nine bodies are all real. At best, you’ll destroy one-ninth of my power. But you’ll suffer eightfold in return!” exclaimed Liu Rujiao.
Liu Rujiao formed hand seals, and a dense shield of willow branches condensed in front of her. She was being extremely cautious, unwilling to lose even one of her split bodies.
“Sovereign Blood Seal!”
Long Chen’s palm blasted through her shield like it was made of paper.
BOOM!
At the same time, Liu Rujiao’s eight attacks arrived behind Long Chen. But he didn’t even flinch, his palm slamming down on her head.
To everyone’s surprise, her head did not explode. Instead, white flames surged from the impact point, instantly encasing her entire body in ice.
“Ice Soul Divine Flame?!” Liu Xihua exclaimed as she recognized this flame.
Though Long Chen had frozen Liu Rujiao’s body, her other attacks were still on course to strike him.
Eight rays of divine light, powered by Sovereign sprout flame, hurtled toward him. However, just before impact, they curved away and shot past him.
“What’s going on?”
“I get it! Long Chen didn’t destroy her body because he predicted her attacks wouldn’t hit him!” someone exclaimed.
Long Chen said, “Well, sorry for this.”
The frozen Liu Rujiao shattered into a thousand icy shards. As she crumbled, her other eight bodies quivered.
Seeing this, Long Chen immediately lunged toward the nearest one.
“Not good! Liu Rujiao’s technique has been broken!” said one of the top disciples of the Undying Willow race.
Liu Rujiao narrowly avoided the blow, regathering all her bodies into one form.
The spot the crumbled Liu Rujiao had stood at suddenly erupted. Countless willow branches shot out of the ground, wrapping around Long Chen.
“A trap?” Long Chen was startled.
Liu Rujiao really did have some ability. Her technique had come so suddenly, even he hadn’t expected it.
As the underground branches coiled around him, millions more descended from the sky, forming a massive cocoon that enveloped him completely. It was the same technique Huai Yushan had once used—one of the Undying race’s deadliest arts. Once sealed within, it became a brutal war of attrition.
“It’s over!” Liu Rujiao snorted, forming a series of hand seals.
Her thirteen heaven veins wove another layer of grand seal, and her Sovereign sprout energy surged into it.
“Surrender, or you will be killed inside!” shouted Liu Rujiao.
This was her trump card, and she believed victory was in her grasp.
But then, Long Chen’s voice echoed from within the cocoon like a god’s whisper.
“The sun or the moon… which is stronger, which is weaker? Yin alone cannot birth life, Yang alone cannot grow. Yin-Yang Merger—All Laws Return to the Source!”
A divine heat rippled through the air. Within the cocoon, flame runes blazed into existence.
Just then, a clear sound rang out, and the cocoon started to swell.
BOOM!
In front of countless shocked gazes, the cocoon exploded.