The fight continued.
However, everybody was able to tell that—even though Six Lives Buddha was attacking continuously, appearing as though suppressing Luo Ying—none of his attacks landed squarely on Luo Ying, and his strength was being exhausted for nothing.
He didn’t have unlimited strength!
“Your weakness…”
Luo Ying narrowed his eyes and noticed a weakness exposed by the monk. It was a moment, an opening between attacks. He suddenly swooped down, coming to a stop halfway, then flashing a strange smile. “Just kidding. I won’t attack you.”
He could be hit when he tried to approach and attack the guy.
The monk’s heart became heavy when the guy came to a sudden halt. He had deliberately shown a weakness to lure his opponent and make him approach, but the guy didn’t fall for it.
His expression didn’t change while his onslaught of attacks continued. He merely showed weaknesses every now and then, giving Luo Ying a chance to attack.
However, the latter was extremely patient. Although he seemed to be nothing more than a runner, he wasn’t in a rush to prove himself; he had chosen to only dodge patiently.
He was still waiting for an opportunity.
“This kid is too prudent!”
Many Ascendants had realized the way Luo Ying could win the battle, as well as the possibilities that would lead to failure. They didn’t expect that the young man would simply let all his opponent’s weaknesses pass by, ones he could have taken advantage of.
None of them believed that he didn’t see the weaknesses. He was simply being overly prudent, opting for a prolonged battle.
He was going to exhaust the monk’s energy!
There was no time limit or unexpected factors in the match. Therefore, if one opponent was continuously exhausted, he would lose sooner or later!
What a smart and patient kid!
That was the remark made by many Ascendant experts when they saw Luo Ying perform; they held him in a higher regard now. After all, there had been too many geniuses in history; only the real smart ones would survive until the end. The excessively arrogant ones would often die young, despite their masters’ protection.
Phew!
All of a sudden, the monk’s movement paused for a moment; there was a slight change in his expression. It was not a weakness purposefully shown; he was truly becoming exhausted.
To his relief, Luo Ying was still dodging, not taking the opportunity to attack.
He created an opportunity to slow down his attacks after some quick thought.
Luo Ying had also slowed down. The pressure he felt was considerably lowered when the monk’s rate of attacks decreased; he was then able to focus more on his attacking strength.
Six Lives Buddha had to resist Luo Ying’s attacks. The two of them seemed to be evenly matched at the moment.
However, it became obvious for many that the monk was obviously losing. He was like a caged beast, while Luo Ying was the brutal hunter wearing his prey down until he swallowed it.
“What a shame.”
Su Jin’er could not help but shake her head; there was nothing the monk could do about Luo Ying except to let himself be swallowed.
Su Ping, however, observed without making comments. The monk was clearly stronger than Luo Ying in a head-on clash, but he was clearly being worn down at the moment. Was the path of time and space no better than this?
As time passed—
Very soon, Six Lives Buddha was unable to maintain his future selves. One of them was dispelled, and the other was also fading away.
You cannot stop me if you only use the power of one future self.
Luo Ying sneered upon seeing the other falter, not giving him a chance to rest. His attacks were so powerful that his opponent had been forced to use two future selves to resist earlier.
Bang!
Luo Ying dashed forth and attacked like lightning.
The monk’s expression changed a bit as he hurriedly counterattacked. However, he shook during the clash. He was suppressed by Luo Ying, even though he was using his future self!
One had to consider that his future self was at the peak of the Star State!
Although an incomplete version, since he couldn’t use all the secret techniques, he did have an extraordinary amount of astral power. It wouldn’t be a problem for him to suppress a Fate State cultivator, yet he was hardly able to resist Luo Ying’s attacks.
Luo Ying was the best in other aspects too, aside from speed!
Six Lives Buddha was soon wounded and was forced to retreat; he was forced to summon his second future self again.
At that moment, however, Luo Ying quickly dashed back and attacked remotely.
Six Lives Buddha looked awful. He found it rather frustrating to be fighting against the fastest constitution of the universe in such a way.
He attacked with his two future selves; still, he could not land a hit on Luo Ying. In the end he had to cancel his second future self again.
However, Luo Ying took that chance and attacked once more.
Whoosh!
The second future self, who had just been canceled, appeared in front of him without any kind of warning. Both monks had a brutal air when they gazed at the fast approaching Luo Ying.
Boom!
A daunting, unrestrained power burst out, so great that it didn’t seem to have been exhausted, at all!
Luo Ying’s pupils were constricted. He flashed and tried to dodge, but he was still hit; he vomited blood when he was flung back. He quickly flashed and managed to dodge the monk’s subsequent attacks.
“This is impossible!”
Luo Ying looked at him in shock. “How can you possibly have that much strength left?”
Six Lives Buddha looked at Luo Ying with eyes full of regret; it would be harder for the latter to fall for his trap now that the ambush had failed.
“You shouldn’t try to wear me down.”
Six Lives Buddha looked at Luo Ying. They were at a stalemate, which was quite the dilemma.
Luo Ying looked at the monk with glittering eyes. Suddenly, he came back to himself and said, “Got it. You didn’t cancel your second future self; you simply relocated it to the next second, predicting that I would attack, saving you the summoning time.
“As for your strength… You’re constantly summoning your future selves from other times and spaces to replace them!”
Six Lives Buddha didn’t comment on the latter’s findings; it would have been odd if the guy wouldn’t have realized this yet.
“If one second means one time and space, you have billions of times and spaces, and you’re at your peak state all the time. You were just pretending to be weakening…” Luo Ying mumbled. He couldn’t help but put on a bitter smile after realizing that.
Exhaust, then hunt?
Not going to happen.
Such a tactic would have worked to kill any other kind of opponent, except for one able to harness the path of time and space.
But was he going to admit defeat?
Certainly not.
He wasn’t on the losing end, either, since the monk had yet to hit him.
The battlefield became quiet. The two of them confronted each other in silence and pondered about ways to win the match.
Time flew by, one second after the other.
All the onlookers were shocked after hearing Luo Ying’s revelation.
Was the path of time and space so utterly unbelievable? He could summon all his other future selves?
Didn’t that mean that it wouldn’t matter even if he was wounded?
“It’s not so simple. He had to summon his future self to heal it in another time, or his injuries would manifest somewhere in the future!” an Ascendant State expert explained in a low voice.
It was like advance payment.
Even so, it was a powerful method.
The man would only need to heal his wounded future selves when he wasn’t fighting. It wouldn’t affect him during battle.
“He’s so unbelievable. He’s like a cheater among cheaters!” cried one of the geniuses with a mix of jealousy and eagerness.
Everybody loved such an invincible method.
However, it wasn’t easy to grasp the laws of time.
Su Jin’er knew she had been too quick to judge.”I didn’t think he would be able to survive it…” she mumbled, then looked at Su Ping in shock. “How did you beat such a strong guy earlier?”
“He somehow lost as the battle progressed,” said Su Ping.
Su Jin’er rolled her eyes and secretly heaved a sigh. Ascendants were probably the only people able to figure out how Su Ping had defeated the monk.
Her current reincarnation was too weak. She might have also figured out the reason if her original self were there.
Su Ping, for one, wasn’t really impressed by the monk’s ability. After all, even if he could keep himself in his best status all the time, he would eventually fail if he endured attacks that were unbearable even for his best status.
Unfortunately, Luo Ying didn’t seem to have that kind of power.
The war of attrition didn’t work out… What is going to happen next?
Su Ping was curious.
On the stage—
They were still facing each other without moving a muscle.
Time seemed to have been frozen.
A long while later…
Several hours passed.
Several days passed.
A week passed.
Finally…
In the sky above the void battlefield—the Ascendant referee appeared between the two constants. He communicated privately with each one, receiving the same answer.
“The battle ended with a tie!”
“Six Lives Buddha and Luo Ying are evenly matched. Nobody wins, nor loses!”
The Ascendant’s announcement echoed in space, producing an astounding effect. Very few people were surprised by the outcome after a whole week of waiting. Still, it was quite rare for players to reach a tie in such games.
“Tomorrow, to decide the championship, Luo Ying will fight Su Ping!”
The Ascendant State referee continued, “The winner will be king! If Su Ping fails, he’ll take second place, and Six Lives Buddha third! If Su Ping wins, both Luo Ying and Six Lives Buddha will remain in second place!”
He had clearly asked for the Celestial experts’ opinion, to later make a fitting announcement.
“There’s another battle?”
Many were surprised; they thought that Su Ping was already the de facto champion, not expecting that he would have to fight again.
Hai Tuo, Ciro, Xingyue Shen’er and a few others were quite reluctant.
They had been shaking with excitement at the beginning of the announcement, thinking that Su Ping would become champion. The rest of the announcement was similarly surprising.
“Why?”
“WHY?!!”
“They reached a tie, while Su Ping had defeated the space-time monk. Why does he have to fight again?” Hai Tuo couldn’t help but roar.
Many people whispered in space too.
The Ascendant expert glanced in Hai Tuo’s direction and replied indifferently, “Luo Ying and Six Lives Buddha have their respective advantages; that is why you cannot defeat each other. However, such a case may or may not be the same for Luo Ying and Su Ping. I don’t need to explain the reason. You’ll find out soon.”
Everybody fell quiet after hearing that.
After all, the Ascendant State referee was a famous Heavenly Lord!
Nobody would try to question his instructions, or demand an explanation.
Hai Tuo blushed and gritted his teeth, but he managed to hold back.
He knew that it was the Celestial experts’ decision, since not even Heavenly Lords had the power to change laws the way they wanted.
He also knew that, while Luo Ying and Six Lives Buddha had ended up in a tie, this wouldn’t happen again in the following fight against Su Ping, since their abilities were different.
It was even possible for Luo Ying to defeat Su Ping.
After all, maybe Luo Ying had special advantages against him.
That was why Hai Tuo was so reluctant and concerned.
Su Jin’er turned around and looked at Su Ping. “Feeling confident?”
His opponent indeed was the fastest in the universe. Yes, Su Ping had defeated the monk, but the outcome of a battle between him and Luo Ying would eventually become evident.
“Yes, I think so,” said Su Ping vaguely.
He didn’t want to be the center of attention, that was why he couldn’t claim that it would be a piece of cake for him.
“…”
Su Jin’er was rather lost for words, as Su Ping was obviously very confident.
So, could he really win?
She wore a strange expression, thinking that the young man next to her would later become the king of geniuses in the entire universe. It wouldn’t be long for him to grow up and become as strong as her original self, would it?
It was at that moment—You Long flew over and chuckled. “Junior brother, it seems that another battle awaits you. Keep it up.”
He wasn’t too angry about the results. He was the proud sort. being a Heavenly Lord; never afraid of an additional battle. A real man would never cower before any challenger!
“I will.” Su Ping nodded.
Su Ping instantly left the battlefield with his senior brother and resumed his cultivation.
Su Ping had achieved the basic condensation of his small world after a day of cultivation. He then focused his attention on building the following Astral Painting.
The second Astral Painting was named Eight Nine Astral Painting. Like it’s namesake, it was able to gather Eight Nine Astral Power once condensed inside a person’s body. This would significantly increase the practitioners’ control over a person’s body, making your attacks unpredictable!