"Boom!"
Long Kong simultaneously blocked attacks from two replicated bodies, retreating several steps. The force dissipation beneath his feet caused the entire world to tremble, and the five elements within his body surged like a stormy sea.
"Damn it!" Long Kong roared in anger.
Facing two replicated bodies, each no weaker than him, and perhaps even half a step stronger, he was simply outmatched. The gap was too vast.
"Five Elements Reversal Array!"
Long Kong knew he couldn't win through sheer strength, so he had to rely on technique. He didn't believe these two replicated bodies were equally strong in technique. Long Kong pressed his palms to the ground, his inner resentment surging into the earth. A beam of light spread outwards from his palms, engulfing the surroundings. In a short moment, a circular array with a diameter of ten thousand meters appeared on the ground.
Nannan, observing from the side, saw the situation was dire and quickly retreated. She managed to leave the array's range just before it fully enclosed the area.
The two replicated bodies Long Kong considered his opponents were not so fortunate, being directly enveloped by the array.
"Array activate!"
A heaven-shattering hum echoed, affecting even Fang Ming and the others hiding in the mirror dimension, causing them to feel dizzy.
"What's happening outside?" Fang Ming worried about Nannan. He quickly asked Qing Mian to open the mirror dimension so he could check on Nannan.
"But it's too dangerous outside right now," Qing Mian protested.
"What danger is more important than Nannan's safety?" Fang Ming urged, "Quickly open the mirror dimension, I'm going out!"
Qing Mian sighed. He knew the relationship between Fang Ming and Nannan was akin to father and daughter. No father could watch his own daughter die before his eyes.
"You all stay hidden here, I'll go out and see," Fang Ming instructed Qing Mian after the mirror dimension was opened, then turned and left.
As soon as he emerged, he saw three colossal giants battling not far away.
After Long Kong's array enveloped the three, the five elements composing them began to chaos. The water elements dried up, the wood elements withered, and the earth elements cracked. Long Kong exchanged injury for injury, using the cost of elemental reversal to fiercely battle the two replicated bodies! He was gambling. He was the true Ming Sha, and as long as his elements remained, he was immortal. The two replicated bodies opposite him were mere creations of talent, and in terms of resilience, they couldn't compare to him. That's why he decided to use this skill!
"Boom! Boom!..." The three giants fought recklessly, with碎石断木 flying everywhere. Long Kong, caught between the two replicated bodies, suffered even more severe injuries. But he was undeterred, even a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
His gamble paid off!
The recovery abilities of these two replicated bodies were not as strong as his! If Long Kong were compared to a self-generating power plant, the two replicated bodies were merely two large batteries.
In terms of compensating for losses, his opponents were no match for Long Kong!
The Painter, observing from the sidelines, also noticed this. Her calm face showed a hint of emotion. She hadn't expected Long Kong to be so reckless. Such a fighting style, even if Long Kong won, would leave him severely depleted, requiring at least a hundred years of recovery!
Being immortal did not mean the Ming Sha were invincible!
Nannan, who was watching, suddenly sensed a familiar aura. She looked down and saw a familiar figure standing on the ground, anxiously watching the battle.
"Fang Ming, why did you come out?" Nannan landed and walked over to Fang Ming with a smile.
"I was worried about you, so I came out to see. I'm so glad you're alright," Fang Ming smiled, then looked at Long Kong's battlefield and asked, "What's the situation now?"
"The Painter created two replicated bodies with strength comparable to Long Kong's to attack him. Long Kong was outmatched, so he used this current technique," Nannan explained to Fang Ming.
"What?" Fang Ming was surprised. "Is the Painter that powerful?"
To be able to replicate two opponents? Wouldn't that mean she was invincible within the same tier?
"Not quite that powerful. Long Kong is currently trying to break through the Painter's talent. Replicated bodies are, after all, just replicated bodies. Without the ability to circulate resentment, they would inevitably lose in a prolonged battle, especially since Long Kong has activated this indiscriminate skill targeting his own talent."
The Painter's talent was "blood," any form of blood, not just literal blood but broadly defined as all energy that sustains the body's operation.
The Painter's replicated bodies fell precisely within Nannan's talent's control range, which was why Nannan wasn't overly concerned about the Painter's talent. If they were to truly fight, Nannan would have a higher chance of winning.
The Ming Sha, possessing such a rule-based talent, would have even more pronounced counter-abilities.
"You mean... the Painter will lose?" Fang Ming frowned upon hearing Nannan's words. If Long Kong won, wouldn't they be the next opponents?
Long Kong was so formidable; it wasn't that he doubted Nannan, but he genuinely worried they couldn't win. Nannan's second-stage form could only be maintained for one to two hours, which was essentially a "Ming Sha trial card."
"Yes, if nothing unexpected happens, the Painter will lose," Nannan analyzed. "She has no chance of winning, unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless the Painter can replicate a third Long Kong and suppress the original Long Kong with overwhelming force!"
Fang Ming looked confused at this point. "Is it that difficult to draw a third replicated body?" Wasn't this the Painter's talent? Couldn't she draw as many as she wanted?
Fang Ming didn't understand the difficulty of the Painter replicating opponents, assuming she could draw as many as she wished.
Nannan had to use an analogy for Fang Ming: "The Painter drawing replicated bodies is like moving stones. The first stone is easy to lift, but adding the second one dramatically increases the difficulty. Adding a third would already exceed the Painter's limit." Fang Ming suddenly understood. The current two replicated bodies were the Painter's limit. Therefore, once Long Kong defeated the two replicated bodies, the Painter would be doomed.
Considering that the Painter's fire dragon lightning pillar failed to defeat Long Kong's companion beast, it was evident that the Painter's other abilities were not outstanding.
"Boom!"
A roar drew Fang Ming and Nannan's attention. They looked up.
Long Kong's battle with the two replicated bodies had entered a white-hot stage. All three were heavily wounded. Furthermore, due to the array, their defenses had greatly decreased, making almost every punch a heavy blow.
This roar was the sound of Long Kong tearing off an arm of one replicated body and throwing it to the ground.
"Ah!" The replicated body with the severed arm screamed and retreated. The other replicated body quickly moved to save him, but Long Kong completely ignored the approaching replicated body. He leaped up, clenched his fists, and smashed them towards the armless replicated body.
"Boom!"
"Bang!"
Two explosions followed in succession. The first was the sound of Long Kong being struck on the back by the other replicated body. The second was the sound of Long Kong's fists hitting the armless replicated body.
Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on Long Kong's back, while the armless replicated body fared worse, being smashed into four pieces by Long Kong's punch. After struggling for a moment, it fell silent and slowly dissolved into ink, merging with the ground.
"That hurt."
Long Kong sneered and touched his back. He then turned to face the sole remaining replicated body and cruelly looked at the Painter. "Only one left. Once I deal with this one, I'll kill you!"
Unexpectedly, the Painter's expression remained as calm as ever, as if she were looking at an ant.
"Long Kong, I have a question for you," the Painter said softly. "With your strength, how long can you maintain this world? Have you ever considered it?"
"What do you mean?" Long Kong's face showed surprise. After a moment's thought, he realized the situation. With his abilities, he could at most maintain this world for a few hundred years before it collapsed.
But the problem was, this world had existed for at least a thousand years since he could remember!
Fang Ming, hearing the Painter's words, looked at Nannan in confusion. Nannan's expression, however, became solemn.
She had once told Fang Ming that maintaining such a large world required at least the strength of a Ming Sha, but she had overlooked a crucial issue: time!
Starting from Xion Sha, Yuan Sha had a certain ability to extract a segment of the remembered world and make it cycle. Bai Mu Village was the memory of an Old Well Xion Sha, and this world was the Painter's memory.
However, a world formed from a memory fragment was essentially a materialized illusion of the Yuan Sha's resentment. It would be constantly worn down and consumed by the passage of real time. The stronger the entity, the slower the wear and tear. Once worn down to the end, the world would naturally perish, unrecoverable, requiring only recreation.
If this world had truly existed for a thousand years, it would absolutely not be something an ordinary Ming Sha could achieve!
"Fang Ming, things are going to get bad," Nannan said with a grave tone.
"What's wrong?" Fang Ming, being only a half-sha, didn't understand these matters.
"This Painter is likely more than just a Ming Sha!"
As soon as Nannan finished speaking, a dramatic change occurred in the sky where the Painter was located.
A scroll spanning the heavens and earth slowly appeared behind the Painter. Within the scroll was depicted a vast world, showing a bustling scene with a multitude of people. Upon closer inspection, it was none other than the Cloud Immortal Poetry Gathering!
Yun Xian Lake, the exquisite painted boat, the hawkers selling their wares, the talented scholars and beautiful ladies coming and going... "Since you are stubborn and unrepentant, I shall suppress you eternally within my world," the Painter said with a cold expression, pronouncing Long Kong's life sentence.
"Suppress!"
The Painter pointed her hand, and Long Kong's body instantly froze. Then, a suction force emerged from the scroll. Long Kong's body slowly floated upwards, flying towards the scroll.
Only then did Long Kong realize his mistake. The Painter was not a Ming Sha at all, but a more mysterious "You"! Her words became laws, and every action shook the surrounding heavens and earth!