The Innkeeper

Chapter 1312  The Spar II

It was not that the arrow was too fast for Lex to detect, but rather that Cornelius didn't use a normal arrow to begin with. So far, whenever Lex fought another immortal he had the advantage because they would try to use their control over laws to influence Lex. However, owing to the fact that he had a Dao level ingredient in his body, among other things, affecting the laws of his body was easier said than done.

He in turn, could affect his opponents however he wanted, or even rely on his many other abilities to gain the advantage. But Cornelius launched an arrow targeting not him, but laws. Those laws did not try to change anything about him. Instead, he just felt the law of physical force smash his chest with the strength of a missile large enough to wipe out a city.

In essence, the laws were not changing anything about him. Instead, they were directly acting on him. The distinction was minor, but the point was that it worked.

Lex was, of course, not harmed by the initial impact, but he quickly began to suspect that that wasn't the point of the attack. Instead of crashing into the mountain range, he fell into an ocean of thick, viscous liquid that quickly absorbed all his momentum. Yet at the same time, the liquid offered so much resistance that Lex found it difficult to move. It was also beginning to lower his body temperature.

Before the situation could progress, Lex activated his own tenet. Though he was taken by surprise, that did not mean he was a pushover. He was not familiar with this liquid, and the laws governing it were unfamiliar as well, though he was certain his left eye could reveal the details.

He was, however, familiar with the effects of temperature, and the laws of it as well. The liquid began to boil all around him, suddenly becoming very runny, allowing him the freedom to move once more. He was about to launch a salvo of Golden Inferno when his eyes widened. His instincts warned him of coming danger, but for once they had no suggestion for how to escape. As if there was some hidden catalyst, the liquid that surrounded quickly started turning to gas, becoming ever hotter.

The heat was not the problem, since Lex was mostly immune to heat. No, the problem was that the laws began acting on their own, rapidly increasing the heat way more than he intended, causing a huge drain on his tenet. The worst part was that he was unable to detach his tenet from the law.

Clearly, something was amiss. Lex summoned his sword intent, as strongly as he could, and slashed at the gas that was closely sticking to his body, cleaving an open path for his escape. At the same time, he activated his left eye to study the laws to see what was going on.

Yet what he saw gave him pause. The chains that represented laws were still there, but atop each of them seemed to be Cornelius' figure, looking down at Lex.

"Come on Lex," the millions of Cornelius said together. "Impress me."

Lex snorted. Clearly Cornelius was way more experienced than Lex in fighting as an immortal. But Lex was not helpless either.

Although he had not intended to bring it out so quickly, Lex summoned forth his Domain! He grabbed ahold of the law of defense, even with his tenet which was quickly consuming all its energy, and grew the law until it pushed out everything around him.

Suddenly, the immense drain on his tenet vanished, and the sight of countless Cornelius' disappeared. Instead of affecting him, Cornelius was affecting the world and laws around him, and was very good at it. But by isolating himself from the influence of all other laws temporarily, Lex broke free of even that external influence.

"A Domain while within the Earth Immortal realm," said Cornelius walking towards Lex. "I admit, I am impressed. I've never seen that before."

"Cornelius, back in my home, you know what we call strength?" Lex asked as he flexed his shoulders. His left eye never stopped working, and he was absorbing every little move Cornelius was making, learning from him, adapting to him.

"What?"

"There's this popular little punching bag machine that people like to give a try, but pushing it back is not easy. It's supposed to be very difficult. Punching that bag till it's pushed all the way back and no longer visible - now that's strength. So get ready, I'm coming."

Lex repeated Cornelius' words, and used the one advantage he was certain he had over Cornelius. He used his raw, physical strength.

Once upon a time, Lex was stronger than everyone and everything within the same realm as him because he kept training atop a dragon, and kept absorbing its strength. Then he gained the heart of a dragon, and his strength multiplied.

The ground underneath him shattered into fine dust, forming a massive crater as Lex shot forward at his fastest speed, causing multiple sonic booms.

Cornelius, who was keeping a close eye on Lex, barely caught sight of what happened. One moment, Lex was acting cool, throwing his own words back at him, and the next moment there was a fist breaking through the visor of his helmet.

For the first time in a long time, Cornelius' nose broke as his body shot through the air at supersonic speeds, crashing into, and through the mountain.

Instead of pursuing him, Lex grabbed Naraka with both hands and used the first move of the sword technique given to him by the Governor of the Origin realm.

The Ten Tribulations sword technique, which incorporated sword intent and lightning, was far from easy to learn, even for Lex, but he'd gained a basic understanding of the first move. Now, he was going to use it for the first time.

The veins on Lex's arm became visible as he concentrated his strength into his sword, and channeled his sword intent into Naraka. The sword, in turn, let out an eager screech that cut through the air.

Cornelius' body finally landed in the ground, the momentum from the attack finally ending, when Lex unleashed the first move.