Void Cultivation

Chapter 284 283-

'Not good! I have to find a way to change the tables,' Grey thought inwardly as he bent his body at a weird angle to dodge the cleaving palm of the young man.

However, the palm came at a speed that he could not dodge in time.

He could only block.

Bang!

'Argh!'

Grey was blasted backward once again. The hands he had used to block were mangled and twisted at unnatural angles. Blood flowed freely from the torn flesh, dripping down his fingers and staining the ground beneath him.

His face became even paler.

Intense pain flooded his mind as he gritted his teeth and endured the searing agony spreading through his arms and chest.

'Too strong.'

The power of the Spirit Core Formation realm was simply too overwhelming.

Even though the other party had not revealed any clear traits of a Spirit Core Formation cultivator, his strength and speed were comparable to great experts of that realm.

Grey was not even capable of contending with him head-on.

Resisting the urge to spit out blood, Grey hurriedly activated the healing powers of the purple crystal.

Spirit power flowed from his spirit perforations and surged toward his heart, where the fragments of the purple crystal had embedded themselves.

The moment his spirit power came into contact with the purple crystal shards, a dense restorative energy spread throughout his body like a warm current.

The power began healing his injuries and repairing his damaged flesh.

However, although the healing powers of the purple crystal were extraordinary, they could not instantly mend broken bones or restore mangled flesh.

Such severe injuries required time.

Because of this, Grey did not attempt to fight the young man directly. Instead, he poured all of his energy into retreating.

In battle, Grey was always calm and always thought with his head.

Even if his opponent was weak and he could overpower them easily, he would never become careless or arrogant.

He would end their lives in the fastest way possible and in the cleanest way possible.

But if his opponent was far stronger than him, then the best thing to do was to probe them and determine how victory could still be achieved.

In such battles, there was no blind pride for Grey.

However, if the danger far exceeded what he could handle, he was not afraid of retreating without hesitation.

That was simply the type of person Grey had become.

It had not always been like this. But his own experiences, as well as the countless experiences he had witnessed, had molded him into someone who was constantly vigilant and extremely cautious.

As Grey retreated, the young man gave chase while launching repeated attacks.

With every punch that landed, Grey could feel his bones cracking and his flesh tearing apart.

Yet he did not retaliate.

He only continued to dodge and retreat.

At this point, his Special Brilliance form had been suppressed to the point that he was no different from an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator without spirit fire.

He was receiving blows from an opponent whose speed he could barely even react to.

However, after some time passed, Grey finally decided that remaining passive was no longer an option.

At that moment, his eyes suddenly shone with a resplendent purple light.

He abruptly raised his broken hand and hurled it forward.

The young man smiled coldly and threw his fist as well.

Their fists collided.

Bang!

Grey was ruthlessly pushed backward. The bones that had only just begun healing were fractured again, and the flesh that had started to mend was torn open once more.

A wave of unbearable pain shot up his arm and spread throughout his entire body.

Yet Grey did not cry out.

His eyes turned bloodshot as he clenched his teeth and hurled his other fist forward.

A moment later, their fists clashed again.

But this time, Grey was not blasted away.

He only staggered backward by fifteen feet before regaining his footing.

The young man remained where he stood.

However, his hair and clothes rippled violently as a gust of wind spread out from the impact. After a moment, they slowly settled back down.

Although Grey had not been blasted away this time, his face was terribly pale as he suppressed the bitter taste of blood rising in his throat.

'That clash just made me realize something,' Grey thought coldly.

'Even though he looks real and his fighting prowess is stronger than mine, he is actually simple-minded.'

'He didn't bother to block my punches when he could have easily dodged them.'

'And most importantly… he didn't sense the poison.'

'Not until it was too late.'

Almost immediately after Grey finished this thought, the young man's body suddenly shuddered.

A cold chill ran down his spine.

The skin on his hands began to peel away slowly, as if something beneath the surface was trying to burrow into his flesh at all costs.

The sensation was unbearable.

It made him feel extremely irritated, almost to the point that he wanted to tear off his own skin just to remove whatever was crawling beneath it.

However, the sensation was not limited to a single part of his body.

It was spreading everywhere.

Yet the place where the poison had burrowed the deepest was his hands, the very hands that had repeatedly clashed with Grey's blood-covered fists.

At first, the sensation had been faint.

Barely noticeable.

But after their fists had collided several times, the poison had suddenly become extremely active.

For the first time, the young man's expression changed drastically.

Shock appeared on his face as he looked toward Grey.

However, he soon realized that Grey was nowhere in sight.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed above him.

Before he could react,

Bang!

Grey ruthlessly headbutted the young man.

The impact was sudden and brutal, causing the young man to lose his balance.

Grey did not hold back in the slightest.

Although his cultivation was only at the Middle Stage of the Foundation Establishment realm, the strength and speed of his physical body far exceeded what that level should normally possess.

Because of this, the headbutt had a tremendous effect.

But Grey did not stop there.

The other party had shown him no mercy earlier.

Now, Grey repaid the favor.

As the young man staggered, Grey immediately followed up with a powerful kick.

Boom!

For the first time, the young man was sent flying backward.

His expression was filled with disbelief and confusion, as if he could not understand how the situation had suddenly turned against him.

But Grey gave him no time to think.

Using his speed, Grey rushed forward and caught up with him almost instantly.

He struck again with another vicious headbutt.

Then he kicked once more.

Grey was ruthless and showed absolutely no hesitation in his attacks.

Kick.

Headbutt.

Kick.

Headbutt.

The young man was struck several times before he could even regain his bearings.

Only after several more brutal blows did he finally manage to stabilize himself.

However, by that point, his face was already bloodied and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

His once handsome appearance had been completely ruined. His pale white hair was now stained crimson with blood.

While Grey had both of his hands broken and badly mangled…

the young man now had several ribs shattered, and even some of his internal organs had been punctured.

Grey had not held back at all in the slightest bit.

For the first time since the battle began, the way the young man looked at Grey changed.

The cold arrogance and domineering disdain that once filled his gaze were gone. Instead, he looked at Grey gloomily, as though he were finally facing an opponent who stood on equal footing with him.

Someone worthy.

Someone equally dangerous.

And with that realization, a small smile slowly blossomed on the young man's face.

But it was not a warm smile.

It was not the smile of respect either.

The corners of his lips stretched upward in a twisted curve that revealed nothing but cruelty, madness, and unrestrained rage.

His eyes burned with a savage excitement.

"Good… Wonderful."

His voice was low, almost trembling with anticipation.

"Let's fight."

The moment the words left his mouth, his body exploded forward. His feet slammed into the ground and his figure shot toward Grey at a terrifying speed, leaving only a blurred afterimage behind.

However, Grey did not panic.

Instead, he calmly nodded to himself.

His body swayed slightly, almost like a reed bending in the wind.

Then his figure vanished.

The next moment,

Boom!

The two figures appeared in front of each other and collided violently.

The impact sounded like two massive boulders crashing together.

A sickening crack of bones echoed through the air.

Grey's body was blasted backward like a broken kite, flying several meters before crashing into the ground. Dust and shattered stones scattered everywhere.

However, despite the terrible pain wracking his body, Grey's expression barely changed.

His eyes only grew colder.

Because before he had been sent flying, he had struck back.

At the moment of collision, Grey had thrust his hand forward like a blade.

His fingers pierced through flesh.

He had stabbed directly into the young man's chest with his bare hand and ruthlessly ripped out a chunk of flesh before being blown away.

Blood splattered through the air.

The smell of iron quickly filled the battlefield.

From that single punch the young man delivered, many of Grey's internal organs had already been pulverized into a bloody pulp. His ribs were shattered and his breathing became uneven.

Yet the young man was not in a much better state either.

Grey's hand had sunk deep into his chest.

When he tore it out, he had dragged out one of the young man's lungs along with it.

The torn organ dangled grotesquely from Grey's blood-soaked fingers before falling heavily to the ground.

But strangely,

The young man did not seem to feel the pain.

Or perhaps he simply didn't care.

Instead, the cruel smile on his face widened even further, stretching almost to the point of madness.

Blood poured from his chest, yet his eyes only burned brighter.

Without hesitation, he rushed forward again.

Grey also pushed himself up from the ground.

The two figures charged at each other once more.

Bang!

They collided again like raging beasts.

But this time, the result was different.

The young man's body was blasted backward, flying through the air before crashing violently into the ground. Meanwhile, Grey staggered several steps back, barely managing to keep himself standing.

"Yes!"

The young man suddenly roared.

He twisted his dislocated arm violently.

Crack!

The bone snapped back into place.

"More!"

His voice rose higher, filled with insanity.

"Hit me harder!"

His blood-soaked face twisted into a ferocious grin.

"Let's fight to the death!"

With that, he charged toward Grey once again like a mad beast that had completely abandoned reason.

Grey watched him silently.

His expression remained unchanged.

But his face had become even paler than before.

Blood slowly dripped from the corner of his mouth.

It was obvious that his body was reaching its limit.

At this pace, he would not be able to continue fighting for much longer.

If the battle dragged on, he would eventually die from blood loss alone.

Not to mention the fact that many of his internal organs had already been pulverized into blood mist.

Yet even so,

Grey did not retreat.

His cold eyes only sharpened as he prepared to meet the incoming attack once again.