Chapter 930: Image Versus Image
Jiang Chen wasn’t sure what his opponent was thinking, but he was sure that the other was going to use a trump card, considering that he had just suffered a couple of losses in a row. This brute must have beef with me considering how hostile he is. But no matter what background he has or what power he hails from, he is my opponent and enemy as long as he is standing in this arena. If he wants me dead, then I won’t let him live either!
The brute waved his arms and instantly ripped through the clothes on his upper body. The muscles on his torso looked incredibly powerful and impactful, almost as if they had been smelt by copper and forged by iron.
Jiang Chen snorted derisively at the display. This was a fight between experts and not a brawl in a tavern. Taking off one’s clothes and showing off one’s muscles in a battle like this was pointless. However, he didn’t dare let down his guard. He was sure that his opponent hadn’t made such a bizarre action just to flex his muscles flauntingly.
As expected, the brute made multiple hand seals and conjured many strange runes from his palm. He then slapped them into his muscles repeatedly. When he was done, strange runes slowly surfaced on every part of his body. They looked like numerous tadpoles swimming across his body. When these runes reached their rightful places, they abruptly united to form an entire entity. A fierce lion suddenly appeared from the brute’s upper torso. The lion sat with its head held high and peered disdainfully at everything before it. It looked incredibly formidable.
Jiang Chen paid attention to the brute’s every move. For some reason, the scene before him felt very familiar.
“Totem! This is the power of totems,” Jiang Chen immediately recalled the time he had fought against Xiang Tai at the Myriad Grand Ceremony. One could say that his current opponent’s technique was so similar to Xiang Tai’s that almost no difference could be spotted. His opponent was just an enhanced version of Xiang Tai. Back when Jiang Chen had fought against Xiang Tai, the physical brawl had only lasted for a brief moment before they had switched to another way of competing. They hadn’t fought each other to the bitter end. His current opponent, on the other hand, obviously had a different idea in mind.
Jiang Chen knew a little about the power of totems. It was a truly astounding power that boosted a cultivator’s combat strength massively once obtained and summoned. Even scarier was a totem’s ability to create images of greater power. There weren’t many factions that wielded the power of totems on the Divine Abyss Continent, but those who did were normally stronger than their peers. Jiang Chen stood alert, ready, and full of anticipation. He too wanted to know just how mighty this so-called power of totems was.
Emperor Peafowl also frowned when he saw this, “The power of totems? This young man can actually summon the power of totems! He can’t possibly be a wandering cultivator.”
“Your Majesty, just what is his background?”
“The legacy of totems has always been quite secretive, and a lot of great sects possess hidden totem inheritances. Therefore, it is very difficult to distinguish a cultivator’s background from their display of totems alone. However, I am sure that this young man is a youth of a great sect or a great power. Moreover, Pill King Zhen is definitely his target.”
Cloudsoar Monarch frowned, “Should we expose him then?”
“Expose him? How will you expose him without actual evidence? Plus, this fight is a rare opportunity for Pill King Zhen. If he misses this opportunity to temper his strength, he is certain to hold a grudge against you and me,” Emperor Peafowl said leisurely.
Cloudsoar Monarch looked surprised, “But Your Majesty, this brute should be at least a peak sage realm cultivator. With the power of totems on his side, he is absolutely capable of holding his own against normal emperor realm experts.”
“Just watch. Pill King Zhen has always been good at creating miracles. Perhaps this will be the battle where he becomes famous for his martial dao?” Emperor Peafowl’s smile was as calm as ever.
The rest of the spectators weren’t as collected as Emperor Peafowl, however. On the Coiling Dragon Clan side, the clan lord said worriedly, “Pill King Zhen may be in trouble this time.”
After a moment’s thought, young master Ji San finally recalled what the brute’s strange actions meant and blurted out, “Is that the power of totems?”
The clan lord nodded, “The power of totems… just who is this brute? Is he someone from Pillfire City? Are they trying to kill Pill King Zhen because they hate him to the bone for his victory over the Longevity Pill?”
Ji San muttered angrily, “Dammit, fame truly has its price!”
…...
As the brute continued to call upon the power of totems, his aura swiftly grew stronger and stronger. Jiang Chen was also fixated on the brute and gathered his own strength in secret.
“Kid, you can die now that you’ve forced me to use my power!” The brute let out a sinister laugh before he flexed his towering body. The man actually grew bigger and taller again. In the next moment, the brute grabbed his spear with both hands, stepped forwards, and stabbed it at Jiang Chen’s chest with the might of an ancient demon god.
The benefits of the power of totems were obvious once executed. It literally doubled the brute’s aura and granted him immense power. The air gathered at the tip of his spear and transformed into the pale shadow of a male lion in an instant. It pounced towards Jiang Chen with brandished claws and teeth, appearing as formidable as an ancient god or demon. It could likely tear a defenseless mountain to pieces instantly.
Jiang Chen didn’t hesitate. Instead of using weapons, he deployed the Golden Light of Demons and Gods to its utmost and used the power of his blood at the same time, swiftly creating his own image. He punched out with both fists, and the image of a giant lizard howled and slammed into the male lion without any fear or show of weakness.
“What?!” The scene stunned every onlooker present. The brute’s strength had at minimum doubled after he’d activated the power of totems and created an image. Everyone thought that Pill King Zhen was down on his last legs. But contrary to expectations, Pill King Zhen had actually created an image of his own! Although his image didn’t contain any power of totems, it was powered by Pill King Zhen’s bloodline. Not all images were totem images. The Golden Light of Demons and Gods that Jiang Chen cultivated could conjure images as well.
The surprising clash of images made the battle incredibly entertaining. There was no doubt that a melee battle was completely incomparable to a battle of images. Although the former was fairly entertaining in its own right, it wasn’t nearly as pretty as a battle of images. A battle where both parties were blasting each other with ostentatious attacks made the fight incredibly exciting.
Rumble! Although the giant lizard was bigger than the male lion, it was still ultimately torn apart. Even so, the giant lizard’s ramming had managed to stun the male lion a little and cause it to grow fainter and more blurry. Jiang Chen didn’t have time to care about the clash of images at the moment, however. The enemy’s deadly spear had come within three meters of him as the images clashed. He grabbed at the air and summoned a large cauldron right in front of him.
The big man felt like he was stabbing a mountain when he hit the big cauldron. An astounding burst of light and a horrific sound of clashing metals rippled out from the point of contact.
“Mm?” The brute obviously didn’t expect Jiang Chen to take a defensive stance instead of fighting him head on.
Furthermore, the cauldron looked a little familiar for some reason. Suddenly, the brute recalled something and asked agitatedly, “Where did you get this cauldron from?”
Jiang Chen smiled coldly, “Are you always this chatty in arena battles?”
He had gotten this cauldron from Lu Shinan, and Lu Shinan was a cultivator who deserved worse than death for submitting to the demon race. Jiang Chen felt no remorse about robbing his possession. Before this, he already thought that this cauldron’s defensive power was quite impressive. It didn’t disappoint him after he used it to block the spear strike.
The brute abruptly turned angry. “You show off your ill-gotten goods before me? I’ll destroy you with the power of my totem!”
He was in an obvious rage as he created another three images even at the cost of expending his energy. The formidable-looking images attacked Jiang Chen from the top, middle, and bottom. It was as if the power of an apocalypse was rushing towards Jiang Chen.
“Remember not to be so arrogant the next time you reincarnate, kid!” The brute said bitterly. It was obvious that he hated Jiang Chen to the bone.
Jiang Chen realized that the three male lion images were incredibly dangerous, and they had almost cut off all of his escape routes. If he chose to avoid the attack or defend passively, he would absolutely be torn to shreds and die a horrible death.
Jiang Chen knew that he had no other choice during that split second of thought. This male lion image was not just any image. It was an image that was fused with the willpower of a totem, and it possessed the instinctive warlike behavior and bloodthirst of a real male lion.
“Come.” Suddenly, Jiang Chen urged his bloodline into resurgence once more with a solemn look on his face. He awakened all of the energy in his body and made a series of hand seals with incredible speed, preparing himself for the ultimate gamble.
“With demons and gods as the foundation and inner energy as the guide, I summon my image to shatter a myriad laws!” Jiang Chen burnt his inner energy to the max as he chanted. The power in his blood detected the true essence of martial dao in that fleeting second. It was completed in the moment that followed. Hanging above Jiang Chen’s head was an image created from his bloodline and inner energy. It rose into the air behind Jiang Chen.
“What… what is that?”
“It’s a dragon!”
“It really is a dragon! Oh heavens, what am I seeing?”
“This Pill King Zhen can create an image of a true dragon. This is too scary. Does Pill King Zhen have the power of totems too? A dragon’s totem no less?”
“Impossible, Pill King Zhen doesn’t have the aura of totems on him. His image probably comes from some other powerful ability, one that can create a true dragon image no less.”
“Amazing, this is too amazing! Pill King Zhen is literally as omnipotent as people say.”
For a time, every spectator was speechless with shock. A true dragon was an existence that lived in legends. Most importantly, Pill King Zhen’s true dragon image was incredibly realistic. They could sense a powerful aura and the accompanying willpower of a true dragon from it.
The moment the true dragon image appeared, the three male lion images immediately let out plaintive whines, like a commoner seeing a king. Their wills were completely shattered by its appearance. Forget the spectators beneath the arena, even the great emperors inside the Veluriyam Pagoda were stunned to the core. It was obvious that the true dragon image had caused the battle to become unpredictable even to them!