Chapter 79 – Breaking Through with Azure Lotus—Your Dual Blades Are Good, But…

The reason Jade-Faced Mantis was so shocked by Lu Chen’s single sword strike cracking his Demonic Blade Arms lay entirely in the fundamentally different power system of Nether Fiends compared to Cultivators.

Unlike Cultivators, who grow stronger by absorbing Spiritual Power and comprehending the natural world, Nether Fiends—or most non-human races—achieve strength through physical mutations that elevate their life forms. This is commonly referred to as “evolution.”

Thus, among these races, there are no concepts like Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, or Golden Core. Their method of measuring strength is straightforward: “unevolved,” “first evolution,” “second evolution,” and so on. The Immortal Alliance uses terms like “Qi Condensation Stage” and “Foundation Establishment Stage” to classify the strength of these fiends essentially for the convenience of Cultivators in understanding their threat levels.

The Jade-Faced Mantis that Lu Chen now faced was a being that had undergone “first evolution.” Similar to how Cultivators experience a qualitative leap in both the quantity and quality of their Spiritual Power when advancing from Qi Condensation to Foundation Establishment, Nether Fiends, after each evolution, not only see a massive boost in physical attributes but also develop mutations in certain body parts. These form special organs akin to a Cultivator’s “Natal Weapon.”

For Jade-Faced Mantis, the special organs resulting from his first evolution were his two arms. Although Jade-Faced Mantis is renowned among Nether Fiends for its speed, the sharpness and durability of its two Demonic Blade Arms alone are comparable to Magic Treasures refined by ordinary Cultivators over many years.

For Lu Chen to accurately strike the weak point of his Demonic Blade Arm on his very first move and leave a visible crack was no less shocking than if he had destroyed a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator’s Natal Weapon in one blow. How could Jade-Faced Mantis not be astounded?

Watching Lu Chen’s continuously shifting Lotus Pupils, Jade-Faced Mantis felt deep regret. I was careless. I shouldn’t have underestimated him just because he’s only at the Qi Condensation Stage among the Human Race. This human Cultivator’s eyes… they’re definitely unusual!

At this thought, Jade-Faced Mantis’s killing intent toward Lu Chen intensified. No, I absolutely cannot allow a human prodigy like him to grow. He would become a grave threat to our kind!

Resolved, Jade-Faced Mantis decisively got serious. Instead of prolonging the fight, he leveraged his terrifying speed to instantly create a distance of three body lengths between himself and Lu Chen. This retreat wasn’t a flight but a tactic to reclaim control over the battle’s tempo.

In Jade-Faced Mantis’s view, Lu Chen was likely a fighter who, like himself, favored swift and decisive engagements. In such confrontations, seizing the initiative often meant securing the upper hand.

Had Lu Chen not been limited to the Qi Condensation Stage in cultivation, it wouldn’t have been so easy for Jade-Faced Mantis to disengage unscathed. Despite Lu Chen’s extraordinary Swordsmanship and mysterious ocular technique, his physical constitution remained quite ordinary.It was completely incomparable to this once-evolved Nether Fiend.

Therefore, after creating some distance,

Jade-Faced Mantis’ wings behind his back rapidly fluttered, stirring up a fierce gale around him.

Then, the compound eyes on his triangular head locked firmly onto Lu Chen, and his figure instantly vanished from sight.

Almost simultaneously, Lu Chen seemed to foresee the future,

suddenly turning and slashing with his saber toward a specific direction behind him.

Bang!

Lu Chen’s Magic Sword once again clashed with Jade-Faced Mantis’ Demonic Blade, erupting in a shower of sparks.

But this time… Lu Chen was at a disadvantage.

Because Jade-Faced Mantis’ subsequent attacks came like a violent storm, giving Lu Chen no chance to catch his breath.

The two Demonic Blades struck alternately, like relentless ocean waves, one after another.

If it were anyone else, they would have likely been decapitated by Jade-Faced Mantis by now.

But for Lu Chen, who possessed the realm-breaking Traceless Swordplay,

not only was his pure sword-drawing speed nearly on par with Jade-Faced Mantis’,

but with his exceptionally high swordsmanship mastery, he even surpassed Jade-Faced Mantis in technique by more than a notch.

This allowed him to unleash stronger attacks using less Spiritual Power.

On one side was the Nether Fiend with obvious physical advantages, on the other was the Human Race cultivator with clear technical superiority.

What seemed like it would be a one-sided battle to outsiders actually reached a stalemate in a short time!

Half a minute later, the human and fiend who had exchanged hundreds of blows briefly disengaged.

But neither seemed willing to give the other any rest, tacitly immediately colliding again the moment they steadied themselves.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

This was a direct contest between the alien’s saber technique and the cultivator’s swordsmanship, a test to see whose blade was faster.

This wild battle, stripped of all flashy techniques and returned to its primitive roots, not only made the combatants feel they had met their match but also left the teachers and investigators watching in the conference room utterly stunned.

“I-Is this the swordsmanship a Qi Condensation Stage Sword Cultivator can possess? How on earth did he train?!”

A Third High teacher, watching Lu Chen hold his own against Jade-Faced Mantis in the short term, was so shocked he could barely speak coherently.

And it wasn’t just him; everyone around was equally speechless at the scene.

Because no one understood the caliber of Jade-Faced Mantis better than these teachers.

Although Jade-Faced Mantis’ cultivation ranked only ninth among the ten Foundation Establishment Stage Fiends in the exam,

his terrifying speed made him one of the top three entities in terms of eliminating students throughout the history of the joint exams.

He was a bona fide examinee killer.

After all, Qi Condensation Stage cultivators, due to the quantity and quality of their Spiritual Power, cannot master powerful defensive spells.

Coupled with the rule that real-world Magic Treasures cannot be used in the joint exams, most students’ strength in the exam is significantly weaker than in reality.

With this imbalance, ordinary examinees facing the speed-renowned Jade-Faced Mantis

truly have almost no ability to fight back.

Often, those eliminated by Jade-Faced Mantis don’t even see his figure

before being decapitated by his blade.

Therefore, when they saw Jade-Faced Mantis target Lu Chen, and Lu Chen being alone…They all believed the battle would be a one-sided slaughter.

The only difference was how long Lu Chen could hold out.

Yet they never expected Lu Chen’s swordsmanship to be so terrifying.

So much so that in their very first exchange, he managed to damage one of Jade-Faced Mantis’s demonic blades, putting the latter at an unexpected disadvantage.

It was precisely this that made Jade-Faced Mantis somewhat hesitant in the subsequent fight.

Whenever he needed to attack with the demonic blade in his right hand, he would instinctively hold back,

fearing that his blade might not withstand Lu Chen’s strikes and shatter completely.

Otherwise, with his significantly superior physical attributes, Jade-Faced Mantis would have had several opportunities to break through Lu Chen’s swordsmanship and deliver a heavy blow.

But on the other hand, this also spoke volumes about Lu Chen’s own prowess.

Even if an ordinary cultivator noticed this weakness, being able to exploit it was an entirely different matter.

It could only be said that Lu Chen’s strength far exceeded their expectations.

Although they all hoped Lu Chen could single-handedly defeat Jade-Faced Mantis,

as seasoned Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators, everyone present knew this was merely wishful thinking.

Because the Jade-Faced Mantis in the scene before them… had yet to go all out!

Or rather, Lu Chen had not yet pushed him to the point where he needed to use his precious trump card.

Despite appearing evenly matched with Lu Chen at the moment,

Jade-Faced Mantis had suffered no substantial losses in the fight so far, aside from expending some stamina.

Lu Chen, however, was in a completely different situation.

To sustain himself until now, he had been draining his precious spiritual power.

Which resource recovered faster—spiritual power or stamina—was self-evident.

Thus, if Lu Chen continued this stalemate, it was only a matter of time before Jade-Faced Mantis wore him down and exhausted his spiritual power.

This was not only clear to the teachers in the meeting

but also to both Lu Chen and Jade-Faced Mantis in the midst of battle.

“Kid, your spiritual power won’t last much longer, will it?”

After another clash with Lu Chen, Jade-Faced Mantis fluttered his wings and landed on the glass railing of the mall’s second floor.

Crouching there, he looked down with a smile at Lu Chen, whose breathing had grown slightly labored.

Faced with Jade-Faced Mantis’s taunts, Lu Chen seemed intent on using this precious moment to recover some spiritual power and did not respond.

His silence, in Jade-Faced Mantis’s eyes,

only reinforced the latter’s confidence in his impending victory.

So much so that he couldn’t resist teasing Lu Chen further.

“To be honest, human boy, you’re the second interesting prey I’ve encountered since arriving here.”

“Your status among the human race must be akin to that of the royal clan in our Nine Hells.”

“The thought that I’ll get to slay a human prodigy, comparable to a Nine-Hell royal, fills me with excitement.”

“Because I truly relish the look of resentment and unwillingness in the eyes of talents like you when you die—as if given just a little more time, you could easily defeat me.”

“…But I simply won’t grant you that time to cultivate, haha!”

After his laughter subsided, Jade-Faced Mantis’s gaze toward Lu Chen turned deadly serious.

Then, intricate green patterns began to emerge across the surface of his emerald insect armor.A mysterious power within him erupted completely at this moment.

As a result, his body now faintly emitted an enigmatic green glow.

“To force me to use my innate ability… human boy, you should be proud of achieving this much.”

As these words fell, Jade-Faced Mantis’s figure suddenly blurred, and three phantom images materialized around him.

The teachers observing in the conference room immediately recognized this technique.

“It’s appeared… Jade-Faced Mantis’s Three Hells Killing Array.”

The Three Hells Killing Array was a special ability Jade-Faced Mantis awakened after his first evolution, similar to a cultivator’s Innate Divine Ability.

The most remarkable feature of this ability was that the two phantom images beside Jade-Faced Mantis weren’t mere visual illusions to confuse enemies.

They were special clones possessing partial combat power of Jade-Faced Mantis himself, capable of actually harming opponents.

While the ‘Three Hells Killing Array’ might not pose much threat to opponents of similar level,

for Lu Chen, who already faced a significant cultivation gap with Jade-Faced Mantis, this presented an extremely difficult situation.

Before Jade-Faced Mantis unleashed this ability,

Lu Chen had barely maintained a delicate balance against him.

But after the activation of this special ability, the balance between Lu Chen and Jade-Faced Mantis… was broken.

Standing up from the glass railing on the second floor of the mall, Jade-Faced Mantis declared confidently: “Three against one. What will you do now?”

Lu Chen provided his answer.

Divine Ability… Purple Dawn Divine Fire!

Brilliant purple divine flames enveloped the left half of Lu Chen’s body, and a unique long sword completely composed of purple flames materialized in his left hand.

Then, surprisingly, Lu Chen altered his original stance.

He lowered his posture, gripping both swords in a reverse grip.

Witnessing this all-too-familiar scene, the smile froze on Jade-Faced Mantis’s face.

This… this is my Dual-Blade Style!

Impossible! How could this kid have learned my Dual-Blade Style after just a few exchanges!

Under normal circumstances, this would indeed be impossible.

Although Lu Chen’s Azure Lotus Eye could copy techniques he witnessed, transforming these copied skills into his permanent repertoire would typically require considerable practice time.

However, it just so happened that Jade-Faced Mantis’s proudest ability was his exceptional Dual-Blade Style.

And between saber techniques and sword techniques… there were many similarities!

Therefore, Lu Chen found it not particularly difficult to learn.

Moreover, he had gained substantial experience points during this examination.

After just a few brief exchanges, relying on his own Comprehension Ability and a mere ‘3000 experience points,’

Lu Chen had completely mastered Jade-Faced Mantis’s Dual-Blade Style.

[Dual (Saber/Sword) Style: Major Achievement (Cannot be upgraded)]

[Effect: Allows non-dominant hand to execute (saber/sword) techniques with 100% of dominant hand’s power]

[Current Experience Points: 1325]

Truth be told, if not for wanting to learn Jade-Faced Mantis’s Dual-Blade Style,

Lu Chen had numerous opportunities to eliminate Jade-Faced Mantis before he could even activate the Three Hells Killing Array.However, after discovering the Dual-Blade Style—a remarkably suitable skill for himself—Lu Chen abruptly changed his mind. After all, a skill that could turn both hands into dominant ones offered him significant improvement.

Witnessing Lu Chen’s flawless Dual-Blade Style starting stance, Jade-Faced Mantis was utterly enraged.

“Die!!!”

Bang!

Jade-Faced Mantis and two phantoms shot out from the second floor, transforming into three streaks of emerald light as they lunged at Lu Chen.

The next moment, countless green saber gleams seemed to emerge from all directions, sealing off every possible angle of escape for Lu Chen.

Facing this dense onslaught, Lu Chen’s reverse-gripped sabers in his hands wove into an impenetrable barrier of swordsmanship, continuously deflecting the attacks from all sides.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

In a three-against-one situation, Lu Chen inevitably fell into a disadvantage.

Although his Dual-Blade Style was exceptional, even surpassing Jade-Faced Mantis’s own execution, this slight edge in swordsmanship couldn’t fully compensate for the numerical disadvantage he faced against Jade-Faced Mantis.

Thus, after more than a dozen exchanges, Lu Chen’s body bore several fresh wounds.

Logically, Lu Chen’s defeat was only a matter of time under these circumstances.

Yet, for some reason, as Jade-Faced Mantis watched Lu Chen’s constantly rotating Lotus Pupils, an inexplicable unease gnawed at him.

No good, I must end this quickly!

Seizing an opening in the battle, Jade-Faced Mantis swung his saber straight at Lu Chen’s chest.

Lu Chen crossed his swords in front of his chest, barely blocking the strike.

However, the tremendous force behind the blow sent Lu Chen’s body flying backward.

Mid-air, he executed a flip, landed on his feet, and slid several meters before coming to a steady stop.

Observing the multiple wounds on Lu Chen’s arms and the blood seeping from them, Jade-Faced Mantis felt victory was within his grasp.

But before he could act, Lu Chen unexpectedly spoke up.

“Is… this all you’ve got?”

“Huh?”

Jade-Faced Mantis stared at Lu Chen in bewilderment, unable to comprehend why he would say such a thing.

It didn’t take long for him to fully grasp the meaning behind Lu Chen’s words.

Suddenly, the Lotus Pupils in Lu Chen’s eyes blazed with light, and two green patterns spread rapidly from the corners of his eyes, soon covering his entire body.

Witnessing those familiar patterns, a horrifying realization dawned on Jade-Faced Mantis.

Wait, could this human be…

The next moment, two phantoms materialized around Lu Chen.

Indeed, the ability Lu Chen was now displaying was the very special Awakening ability Jade-Faced Mantis had just used—the Three Hells Killing Array.

Stunned by this sight, Jade-Faced Mantis froze completely.

If he could barely accept Lu Chen learning his Dual-Blade Style with a single glance, the sight of Lu Chen unleashing his ‘Three Hells Killing Array’ was utterly unacceptable!

How could a mere human learn my Awakening ability, unique to a Nether Fiend like me, just by looking?

Are you even human or some kind of Nether Fiend yourself?!

As for how Lu Chen managed to learn Jade-Faced Mantis’s Three Hells Killing Array, the reason was actually quite simple.

The answer… lay in his Azure Lotus Eye, which had reached the Realm-Breaking level.

[Azure Lotus Eye (Twelve Lotuses): Realm-Breaking (Cannot be upgraded further)][Effect: Eyes manifest azure lotuses, granting panoramic vision with no blind spots upon activation. Briefly memorizes witnessed techniques, comprehending myriad methods at a glance…]

[Special Effect · Lotus Power: Consume one petal of lotus power to enhance a specific ocular ability]

The originally Major Achievement-level Azure Lotus Eye naturally couldn’t replicate Jade-Faced Mantis’ highly race-specific ‘Three Hells Killing Array’.

But as the Azure Lotus Eyes achieved breakthrough realm and unlocked the special energy of Lotus Power,

Lu Chen only needed to apply Lotus Power to enhance the ‘Copy’ ocular ability.

Even non-Human Race exclusive techniques could now be imitated through Lotus Power.

And this was merely the enhanced version of the ‘Copy’ ability alone.

It must be remembered that among Lu Chen’s ocular techniques, there were still three others: ‘Strong Sight’, ‘X-Ray Vision’, and ‘Lotus Mark’.

Thus, the truly terrifying aspect of breakthrough-level Azure Lotus Eyes was when Lu Chen simultaneously enhanced all ocular abilities.

Only at that moment would the complete power of breakthrough lotus manifestation be displayed.

Lu Chen had previously tested this effect, and the results…

Let’s just say once he chose to do this,

Ordinary Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators before him… would be utterly defenseless!

The current Jade-Faced Mantis hadn’t yet reached the level that would force Lu Chen to use this trump card.

A single enhanced ‘Copy’ ocular technique… would suffice.

Watching the speechlessly astonished Jade-Faced Mantis, a faint smile emerged on Lu Chen’s face.

“Theoretically speaking, any opponent only gets one chance to strike against me, as I never fail against the same technique twice.”

“But unfortunately… you missed your opportunity.”

(End of Chapter)