Chapter 74

"Only damnation remains for us missionaries."

As the flames burned inside Vorgron's eyes and he was about to crush Zuyuan's skull, something flickered within his senses. "What?" 

"Damnation or not, it is not my place to know that just yet." Zuyuan spoke hoarsely as his visage sent threatening signals to all of Vorgron's senses.

[Undying Will has been activated!]

Within a mere moment, Zuyuan's body that had been deprived of any further attempts of struggling was suddenly filled to the prim with Qigong, his facial features became keener while his invisible blade sharpened its edges.

Vorgron backed up in a hurry, letting the man's head go as he cautioned to stay far away.

'Had I not rushed back, my hand woul-' Before he could even finish his silent monologue, he realized that the event he thought to have evaded had transpired.

Zuyuan's hand was raised up high, holding the invisible blade while the dragonkin's claws still tightly clenched on the cultivator's skull. 

"Oh for f*ck's sake." Vorgron grumbled, the draconic blood morphing to try and regenerate his now stump of an arm.

"Round three?" Zuyuan asked as he pulled the cut off hand of the dragonkin off his head, looking to Vorgron with a visage covered in his own blood.

"You cocky human…" Gritting his teeth, Vorgron unleashed a vortex of flames around him. Burning everything on his sight in rage, a skill with strong wide area attack. 

"Burning Tornado!" 

The vortex became higher and higher, as it changed to a hurricane of flames. Noticing that now he wouldn't be so easy to land a hit with that hurricane before him, Zuyuan knitted his eyebrows and guided his Qigong more to his invisible blade. 

Although he had used those short bursts of energy and power, coming from his special trait, Undying Will, now that Zuyuan wasn't in a state of imminent death, that strengthened power had disappeared. But then, perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to push this trait of his by doing a reckless charge to an obvious threat in front of him. 

'It will hurt like hell and there won't be any guarantee if I won't die.. Still…' 

With a rush of adrenaline in his body and his gleaming, excited eyes, Zuyuan knew it would definitely be worth a shot. 

He hadn't felt like this ever since he met that spear user missionary in the Hall of Fame. Even though he had lost and it brought him down considerably, he learned. He would adapt. And he would survive. 

"Let's see.. Who's stronger. My determination or the fire you're so proud of." Mumbled Zuyuan while grinning from ear to ear. 

Dragging his worn and injured body, Zuyuan used every energy in his body to wrap his physique and create a barrier layer for protection. In a normal situation, this thin barrier and low energy would let him stay alive only for a few seconds inside that area of destruction. Still, he would utilize this unique trait of his to the maximum. He would bet his life in that few seconds so he would activate the Undying Will again. 

Swinging his invisible sword to cut through a little bit of path, before the flames engulfed that same path, Zuyuan dived deep unto the giant hurricane of flames. As he had expected, his thin energy couldn't last more than three seconds, withstanding all the heat and damage caused by the fires. 

[Undying Will has been activated!]

Smiling gleefully from the notification in his vision, Zuyuan felt the sliver of his Qigong that was about to be extinguished became firm and wouldn't be depleted no matter how many energies he had taken off from there. In a split second, Zuyuan could feel the world around him become slower as his focus reached the peak. 

However, no matter how many energies Zuyuan had spent on the barrier, it wasn't tough enough to fend off all damages. Some of the flames still caught up to Zuyuan's body, creating many burnt marks upon his already battered figure. 

Desperately maintaining his barrier and using Qigong to accelerate his regeneration at the same time, Zuyuan wouldn't stop swinging his sword since it gave him some dozens of milliseconds of time to break from the flames as he marched forward. Unsatisfied, Zuyuan took more of his energy to activate his ultimate speed, bringing him closer to his foe than before. 

"Let's rock, Lizard man!" Shouted Zuyuan with killing intent spilled forth from his eyes. 

"You.. The hell are you!!" Bellowed Vorgron in an unbelievable tone. He had felt the energy inside that swordsman to be dwindling. Yet, here that man was, bracing against all of his flames and spending his energies as if they grew from his hairs. 

"A handsome human." Replied Zuyuan shamelessly and jokingly, while the murderous aura in his body seemed to be anything other than joke and jest. 

On another second, Zuyuan plunged himself in a thrust, aiming at Vorgron chest, where the heart supposed to be. Stepping away and reacting in time, the stab only landed its mark on the stomach instead. 

Not wanting to give Vorgron an easy escape, Zuyuan skillfully twisted the tip of his blade, enough to make a slash on Vorgron stomach and make the latter splurt his guts and blood. 

The moment Vorgron dodged the incoming blow from Zuyuan, his concentration broke and the massive hurricane started to slow down, in the process to stop and disappear. Staring at Zuyuan hatefully, Vorgron spoke, "You are like a cockroach. Hard to kill."

"So are you." Answered Zuyuan as he pointed his invisible sword towards Vorgron in a provocative manner. Smirking, he said. 

"Round four?"