Chapter 57 – I Predicted Your Prediction

Heretical Fang Heng heard Lu Chen curse him as a practitioner of Demonic Heresy.

His expression instantly twisted into a ferocious grimace.

How dare you, a mere Qi Condensation Stage cultivator, have the audacity to spout such nonsense here?

What’s wrong with being a practitioner of Demonic Heresy? Only the living have a future—death renders everything meaningless!

You may follow the Righteous Path, but if you die, what meaning does your righteousness hold?

With this thought, Heretical Fang Heng’s Blood Sword shot toward Lu Chen’s face with lightning speed.

Yet, almost the moment before he struck, Lu Chen had already anticipated the move.

Lu Chen sidestepped slightly, his Ink Dragon Sword rising from below to simultaneously target Heretical Fang Heng’s vital points—a life-for-life exchange.

In that split second, the life-preserving Heretical Fang Heng had no choice but to abort his attack and retreat, evading Lu Chen’s strike.

But this was merely a delaying tactic.

After creating some distance, Heretical Fang Heng lunged forward again.

His Heretical Demonic Body, resembling a serpent’s tail, not only failed to slow him down

but made him even more agile and unpredictable than the original Fang Heng, capable of movements that defied human physiological limits.

Such bizarre attack patterns would be nearly impossible for an ordinary person to evade.

But was Lu Chen ordinary?

Certainly not.

In the spacious Sword Pavilion Second Floor, their figures continuously darted and clashed.

Clang! Clang! Clang!…

Each collision sparked blinding flashes and crisp metallic rings.

Though Lu Chen was inferior in both cultivation and speed compared to Heretical Fang Heng’s storm-like assaults,

strangely, he always managed to foresee Heretical Fang Heng’s intentions

and counter in advance.

Thus, even with Heretical Fang Heng’s apparent advantages on paper,

they fought to a stalemate in the short term.

Something’s wrong, terribly wrong!!!

Heretical Fang Heng’s initial contempt gradually turned to gravity as he failed to subdue Lu Chen.

He couldn’t comprehend it—this was their first meeting,

yet Lu Chen seemed to know him inside out, anticipating his every move.

Either Lu Chen was intimately familiar with him, having fought him thousands of times,

knowing all his Moves, trump cards, and even subconscious habits,

or this guy possessed an Innate Divine Ability akin to ‘foresight,’

allowing him to glimpse future actions in advance.

Heretical Fang Heng leaned toward the latter, for how could anyone know a stranger so thoroughly?

Even among heretics, such absurdity didn’t exist!

Convinced Lu Chen had a ‘foresight’-like Innate Divine Ability,

Heretical Fang Heng began subconsciously searching for how Lu Chen activated it.

Soon, he noticed Lu Chen’s constantly rotating Lotus Pupils.

‘Is this kid using those eyes to predict my movements?’

‘Yes, it must be because of those eyes.’

Believing he’d found Lu Chen’s weakness,

Heretical Fang Heng started deliberately targeting Lu Chen’s eyes,

attempting to suppress the power of his Lotus Pupils.However, this made his attacks more predictable.

Even so, Lu Chen still found it difficult to counterattack, focusing primarily on defense and evasion.

After all, the disparity in their cultivation levels was evident.

Even though Lu Chen’s Traceless Swordplay had reached the breakthrough realm, it didn’t mean his attack speed surpassed that of Heretical Fang Heng.

He had merely narrowed the gap between them in this aspect.

Initially, he could barely even dodge Heretical Fang Heng’s attacks.

But as the saying goes, prolonged offense inevitably reveals flaws.

Under continuous passive defense, Lu Chen was finally caught off guard by Heretical Fang Heng.

In an instant, Heretical Fang Heng’s left hand transformed into a flesh-and-blood longsword.

Before Lu Chen could react, the sword pierced through the right side of his chest.

Squelch!

Fresh blood gushed from Lu Chen’s chest, staining his cyan robe crimson.

“Finally caught you.”

“Kid, even if you can predict my movements, the gap in our cultivation remains. Even if you knew about this feint, what could you do? Could you dodge it?”

“I deliberately attacked your eyes just for this moment! Hahaha!”

Watching Lu Chen severely wounded by his strike, Heretical Fang Heng’s face lit up with excitement.

After being entangled by a mere Qi Condensation Stage cultivator for so long, he had felt somewhat embarrassed.

Fortunately, only the two of them were present, so no one would witness his discomfiture.

But soon, Heretical Fang Heng’s smile froze.

He noticed that Lu Chen, despite being gravely injured, showed no despair. Instead, his eyes grew sharper.

Something’s wrong—it’s a trap!

Seeing Heretical Fang Heng’s expression darken, Lu Chen suddenly gripped the blood sword piercing his body with his left hand and chuckled softly, “…But I’ve caught you too, haven’t I?”

The moment these words were spoken, an intense sense of danger surged in Heretical Fang Heng’s heart.

But it was too late to evade.

Divine Ability… Purple Dawn Divine Fire!

Under Heretical Fang Heng’s horrified gaze, violet flames erupted from Lu Chen’s body.

These flames, pure and yang in nature, inherently countered unorthodox paths like his.

What terrified Heretical Fang Heng even more was that these flames not only harmed his Physical Body but also suppressed the heretical power within him.

And this heretical power was the very foundation of existence for demons like him.

“Ahhh!!!”

Overwhelmed by excruciating pain, Heretical Fang Heng let out a piercing scream.

He began thrashing wildly, slashing with the blood sword in his right hand in a desperate attempt to break free from the terrifying flames emanating from Lu Chen.

But in such a state, his chaotic attacks posed little threat to Lu Chen.

Lu Chen calmly parried every strike with his sword.

Watching Lu Chen trade injury for injury and stake his life in this fight, Heretical Fang Heng admitted he was panicking.

No one is indifferent to their own life, not even heretical demons.

If the situation dragged on, the most likely outcome would be mutual destruction.

Having gone to great lengths to seize Fang Heng’s body, he had no intention of dying in the Sword Pavilion like this.

In this critical moment, Heretical Fang Heng decisively chose to sacrifice a limb to survive.

He severed his own left arm with a swing of his sword and immediately distanced himself from Lu Chen.Lu Chen did not pursue further upon seeing this scene, instead seizing the moment to regulate the injuries within his body.

After all, everything that had transpired so far was entirely within his plan.

From the very beginning, Lu Chen knew it was nearly impossible for him to defeat Heretical Fang Heng unscathed.

Having reopened the distance, Heretical Fang Heng extinguished the Mystic Flame on his body and said coldly, “Well, well, well. I admit I underestimated you earlier.”

“But you won’t be so lucky next time.”

Boom!

As Heretical Fang Heng fully unleashed the heretical power within him, his Heretical Demonic Body from the waist down began to swell continuously.

In an instant, a ten-meter giant serpent with a half-human figure on its tongue appeared before Lu Chen.

A closer look would reveal that the serpent’s head bore a striking resemblance to the Spirit Sword.

This was Heretical Fang Heng’s true form—or rather, the true body of the Evil Sword: Redtail.

However, having severed one of its own arms, the massive sword serpent now lacked one fang, giving it a somewhat comical appearance.

Evil Sword: Redtail—this was Heretical Fang Heng’s true form.

It was originally the Xiantian Spirit Sword that Fang Heng had brought out from the Sword Pavilion.

But due to some special circumstances, the Spirit Sword ultimately chose to devour half of Fang Heng’s body, parasitically resurrecting both itself and Fang Heng.

Although Redtail in this state no longer possessed the astonishing speed of its human form,

both its strength and defense had been greatly enhanced.

Yet upon closer inspection, one would notice charred marks from fire burns all over Redtail’s body.

Though its aura was domineering, there was also a sense of outward strength masking inner weakness—

clearly a result of the severe burns inflicted by Lu Chen’s earlier Purple Dawn Divine Fire.

And all of this was within Lu Chen’s expectations.

After all, he had experienced similar scenes hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

Staring at the colossal Redtail, Lu Chen abruptly pulled out the Blood Sword embedded in his chest, then drew a ‘Blood-Stopping Talisman’ in the air to temporarily stabilize the wound.

Now that half of the plan was complete, it remained to be seen whether he could accomplish the next phase…

(End of Chapter)