Chapter 366: Elif Vs Charuli

While Imaging how tortuous my next sparring session was going to be, I sensed my twenty-fourth opponent appear on the other side of the room, prompting me to open my eyes as I glanced at the projection; however, I couldn't help but wickedly smile at what stood before me. Directly opposite of me stood a large tortoise that was a few times my size, but even though that was the case, I'd seen this tortoise somewhere before, and I could only smile as I realized who stood before.

"Hehe, well, look what we've got here." Muttered Elif with a faint smirk as he fearlessly approached Charuli with his hands behind his back while Hokori floated beside him.

As I approached a much, MUCH younger version of Charuli, I stood directly before his head, yet he didn't try to attack me; instead, he retracted his limbs back into the safety of his shell, including his head.

"Ho, I didn't know you were such a coward; well, given your Immortal Will, I'm unsurprised." Said Elif mockingly in amusement as he stepped forward before knocking on Charuli's shell, yet there was no reaction, causing him to chuckle.

I could sense nothing from him, not even Qi fluctuations, so he was truly just hiding from me like a genuine coward, though at the same time, I was still wary of him; after my previous fight, it was apparent that this next enemy would be even stronger, so I didn't wish to be caught off guard.

Grabbing Hokori out of the air, I leaped onto Charuli's back and stabbed my sword as deeply as possible into the shell, though I could barely push the tip in before it became impossible to move with just my strength alone; using Sword Will, causing the sword to faintly glow, I was able to push significantly deeper into the shell, but once Hokori was half-way in, it came to an immediate halt, causing me to click my tongue.

'So his shell has two layers? It seems the internal one is significantly stronger than his external one as well.' Thought Elif lightly with furrowed brows as he eyed the small hole Hokori had made.

Leaping off the shell, I landed on the ground and gazed directly at one of his five openings where his limbs emerged from his shell. I'm sure I could easily kill him if I were to attack one of these weaker spots, but I didn't want to. I was going to break through his protective shell; that was how I was going to defeat him; after all, what better way to show how inferior he was than defeating him by destroying what he relied on most?

However, while I thought about that, I couldn't help but think back to the Hippogriff from before; she had put up a really good fight, and given my performance, it didn't exactly look like she was inferior to me.

'Tsk, I'll need to fight her again.' Mused Elif with a slight frown before shaking his head while focusing on Charuli before him, only for him to move slightly.

Sensing movement, I gazed at Charuli, watching as his head emerged from his shell, though when he did, I sensed an excessive amount of Qi stored within his mouth, causing me to frown deeply as it caught me off guard since I wasn't able to sense it previously.

'Can his shell also conceal his Qi fluctuations?' Thought Elif with a frown as he narrowed his eyes at Charuli while bringing his sword to his chest.

Preparing to engage in battle, I saw Charuli's mouth open, allowing me to see a rotating orb of highly dense Qi that was probably three times the size of my head. With his mouth open, I was able to get a much more accurate reading of his Qi with my divine sense, though what I sensed caused my expression to tense as that orb of Qi held more than enough strength to blast me to smithereens.

Just as I was about to make a move, Charuli did instead and flicked his tongue, causing the orb to suddenly expand as it transformed into a mighty beam of Qi that headed directly for me at immense speed, though it felt pretty slow when considering what I had just previously experienced.

Coating Hokori in sword will, along with a thick, ethereal, flaming purple aura, I raised my sword before slashing downwards, withholding nothing as I used all the strength I could gather. As Hokori and the beam came into contact, the impact was so powerful that it threatened to rip my sword directly out of my hands, though I held onto the hilt firmly and pushed against the beam.

The clash lasted for numerous seconds, and during this time, its strength didn't decrease a bit; I was forced to deal with its full strength the entire time, though eventually, after ten full seconds, the beam of Qi came to an abrupt halt as it dispersed into the air.

Watching the Qi fizzle into nothingness, I shifted my focus to Charuli, preparing myself, yet he didn't attack again and instead retracted his head back into his shell, causing me to frown as I lowered Hokori. Glancing at my body for any signs of wounds, though in the end, other than my wrists feeling slightly sore, I was completely fine.

"Whatever technique that just was, he most likely needs time to prepare it, roughly a minute." Said Elif lightly as he gazed at Charuli with a slight frown, only for him to shake his head.

'I could easily kill you during this time, but where is the humiliation in that? Protecting Comet will come with some consequences.' Mused Elif with a wicked smirk as he glanced at Charuli before lowering his stance and closing his eyes.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my sheath with me, but it would still work without it; placing Hokori beside my hip where a sheath would normally be, I kept my eyes closed as I surged my Qi into my sword, causing the ethereal purple flames wafting off my blade significantly increase in density, seemingly a moment away of materializing into existence.

Unlike Charuli, I didn't have a technique where one could essentially charge it to acquire more power, well, maybe Gyakusatsu, but that still technically wouldn't be considered a technique one can charge to grow in power. However, while I couldn't do that, I did have an exorbitant amount of Qi that none could compare with, and so I abused that; using exactly half of my Qi reserves, I compressed it all into a blade as I intended to launch my most powerful Heavenly Scar, excluding the time I used my forbidden technique to forcefully increase my cultivation base.

I would've used all of my Qi, but half of my total Qi was already more than excessive; if I had used all of it, the increase in strength wouldn't be anywhere as potent as it should be, instead of being twice as strong, it would at best see a ten percent increase in power.

With my attack ready, it was merely a waiting game now, though I will say that keeping such a colossal amount of Qi compressed within my sword with my current proficiency of Heavenly Scar wasn't exactly an easy feat. However, before the first droplet of sweat touched the ground, Charuli's head emerged from his shell and opened his mouth; eyeing the rotating orb of Qi, I faintly smirked as I watched it morph into a beam of pure devastation while it rapidly headed straight for me.

Tightly clenching my hilt, I unsheathed Hokori, even though I didn't actually have a sheath, and slashed upwards at the incoming beam of Qi, manifesting a massive purple sword wave of Qi from the tip of my blade as it flew directly towards the beam while radiating sword will.

Nothing needs to be said as my heavenly scar traveled through the air before colliding with the beam, yet as if it were just a weak wall, my attack was only slowed as it cleanly sliced the beam of Qi in half; once my attack reached Charuli, it had lost a good chunk of power, yet it was still enough to escape the constant beam of Qi before leaving a deep gash down the middle of his face while his shell protected his body.

Chuckling in amusement, just like before, Charuli didn't follow through with his attack and retreated back into his shell, causing me to lightly shake my head while I floated above him.

"Foolish mistake, though it didn't matter what you did; you were never going to defeat me." Said Elif pridefully as he gazed at Charuli while bringing his arm back behind his body, though he kept the tip of Hokori pointing at the shell.

Using nearly all of my remaining Qi, retaining just enough to keep me floating in the air, I compressed it even further down to just the tip of my blade, which was significantly more difficult than before, and I could already feel it slipping out of my grasp, thankfully, I didn't need to wait for anyone this time. In one powerful motion, I thrust forward Hokori, releasing a thick, purple beam from the tip of my blade as it pierced Charuli's external and internal shell; I had made sure to aim for where his head would be so after a few moments, his body started to disperse.

"Heh, I would say easier than the last opponent, but I've got next to no Qi remaining." Muttered Elif lightly as he gracefully landed on the ground while stabbing Hokori into the ground.