The afterimage of the flaming greatsword's swing formed a dazzling red light, accompanied by waves of scorching heat.
Whoosh— Whoosh—
Tang Zheng nimbly darted through the air, dodging the fierce, consecutive attacks. Fortunately, he wasn't a pure Magic Caster.
"Wrath Aspect: Anger" should be able to inflict both blindness and fire attribute damage on the enemy.
He used the Martial Arts skill "Mind's Eye," allowing him to perceive the attack trajectories of Growth Heaven's flaming greatsword with a unique sixth sense, thus mitigating the impact of the "blindness" effect on his vision.
As for the fire attribute damage, he was immune to it.
"Ninjutsu: Immobile Binding Technique!" The Shadow Clone continued to employ binding ninjutsu.
Growth Heaven's movement of the flaming greatsword faltered, its powerful continuous assault directly interrupted, and its body once again suspended motionlessly in mid-air.
An opportunity arose!
"Four Light Consecutive Slash: Break!"
Tang Zheng swung Pain of Ice Fang, its ice-white tip gleaming with cold light as it slashed towards Growth Heaven's palm.
The Heroic Spirit Soul also surged forward, its two dragon claws pressing down, preparing to repeat the attack method they had just used.
Clang!
A metallic chime echoed from about a fist's distance in front of Growth Heaven's body—a golden barrier.
The Tiger Aspect Totem flickered slightly!
"This is..."
Tang Zheng's eyes widened. A powerful recoil surged through his weapon, forcing him back involuntarily: "It can reflect attacks."
Growth Heaven, having been attacked, broke free from the ninjutsu's restraint. Seeing the Heroic Spirit Soul so close, it roared, "Wrath Aspect: Karma Slash."
A golden slashing attack streaked across the sky.
Boom!
A loud noise erupted from the Heroic Spirit Soul's chest. Unable to withstand the accumulated damage any longer, the forty-meter-tall dragon form dissipated into a beam of white light.
Seeing his "trump card" skill nullified!
Tang Zheng's expression remained calm. Growth Heaven possessed 90% physical resistance after all, and it was commendable that the Heroic Spirit Soul had lasted long enough for him to deal with Broad-Eyed Heaven.
Currently, Growth Heaven had only 39% of its health remaining!
"With such defensive measures, it will be much harder to knock down Growth Heaven's weapon again."
This thought flashed through Tang Zheng's mind as his gaze shifted:
"Then, from now on... it's a magic attrition battle!"
"Third Tier Magic: One-Sided Duel!"
This magic allowed the user to transfer to the same destination as an opponent who was using teleportation or movement magic.
The target for Tang Zheng's activation of this magic was, naturally, not Growth Heaven, but the Shadow Clone.
In "YGGDRASIL," this magic had undergone certain version updates. Initially, it could be cast on allies, allowing the user to move together with them.
However, after the version update, "One-Sided Duel" could only be used on enemies.
But!
In this Different World, without the concept of "party allies" that wouldn't be harmed by attacks, the magic could be used on anyone.
It was similar to the guild system; NPCs created by players were unable to leave the guild in the game, but in the Different World, this restriction no longer applied.
This naturally led to some Tier Magic undergoing changes as well!
"Teleport!"
The Shadow Clone cast the magic.
Space contracted, and the Shadow Clone teleported to the northwestern corner of the vast plaza. Under the effect of "One-Sided Duel," Tang Zheng was also pulled along.
Tang Zheng's current mana was less than 300, while the Shadow Clone inherited the full mana bar. To conserve mana, he had chosen this method of movement.
"Chain Thunder Dragon!" the Shadow Clone cast.
Tang Zheng also cast the magic: "Chain Thunder Dragon!"
To further conserve magic, Tang Zheng had to reduce the Magic Enhancement buffs and use pure magic attacks.
Rumble!
Fierce electrical sparks exploded on Growth Heaven, and the sky filled with blue arcs that dissipated into the air, transforming into tiny electric snakes.
The health bar above Growth Heaven's head flickered, but not even 1% of its health was depleted.
"Wrath Aspect: Greed!"
Red light surged from Growth Heaven's body, and its massive form suspended in mid-air suddenly accelerated, charging towards Tang Zheng and the Shadow Clone like a rainbow.
This was a charge-type skill!
However, no matter how fast such skills were, they couldn't compare to movement magic like teleportation.
"Teleport!"
The shadow clone disappeared, and along with Tang Zheng, they reappeared in the southeast corner of the Great Hall.
The distance was reset!
"Chain Wind Dragon!"
"Chain Wind Dragon!"
Growth Heaven, struck by two violent wind tornados, staggered unsteadily. He turned his body and, enraged, charged forward again.
"Teleport!"
"Chain Earth Dragon!"
"Chain Earth Dragon!"
...
"Teleport!"
"..."
For a time.
The entire different dimension echoed with Growth Heaven's furious roars, the chanting of magic, and the constant rainbow light shifting directions in the air.
Tang Zheng was clearly employing an extremely simple game strategy, commonly known as "kiting."
Good thing!
He had already eliminated the more complex and support-oriented Upholder of Nations and Many-Heard Heaven first.
If they had healing and various support effects, they might have even been able to block his teleport magic!
"This time it's a water-element magic attack, dealing higher damage."
Tang Zheng continuously switched elemental magic, attempting attacks, and finally determined that the water element had the best damage effect.
Soon!
Streams of "Chain Water Dragon" magic continuously bombarded Growth Heaven in mid-air.
In theory, no opponent can have a complete countermeasure against all elements; there exists a so-called limit!
Seventh Tier magic requires 35 mana. Tang Zheng had a passive skill that reduced mana consumption, requiring only 20 mana.
Even so!
After half an hour of magical bombardment.
Tang Zheng's mana was depleted first, while Growth Heaven's (32%) health bar had only decreased by 7%. The opponent's second form clearly had increased damage reduction.
His mana bar was empty.
His special skill "Mana Rapid Recovery" had also been used.
Facing this situation!
Tang Zheng calmly extended his palm, grasping at the void, and retrieved a magic item from his Item Box that emitted a light blue glow, resembling an ordinary stone – the "Death Orb."
He hadn't used this magic item in a while, so it still stored a full 300 mana.
"Chain Water Dragon!"
"Chain Water Dragon!"
"Teleport!"
With a loud "boom," the battle between the two sides continued without pause, the kiting strategy persisting.
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
The light blue glow on the surface of the "Death Orb" in Tang Zheng's hand had faded, its mana completely consumed.
Not only that!
The shadow clone's mana was also completely depleted.
"There's still 25% health left."
Tang Zheng exhaled a breath of turbid air, looking at Growth Heaven's health bar, his gaze growing brighter:
"The shadow clone's cooldown is also up, let's go again!"
The one-hour skill cooldown had recovered. Dissipating the current shadow clone, Tang Zheng once again activated "Ninja: Art of Shadow Clone."
The shadows writhed, and the shadow clone reappeared!
"Mana is depleted, special skills are used, even the stored mana from the item is completely consumed."
Tang Zheng muttered softly, letting out a cold laugh, his gaze sharp as a knife:
"However!"
"I am no ordinary Magic Caster. The law that mana is the lifeline of a spellcaster does not apply to me!"
"Experience-based casting—Chain Water Dragon!"
Passive ability activated!
350,000 experience points transformed into mana, conjuring a surging water dragon before Tang Zheng, which roared and charged towards Growth Heaven.
Fighting by consuming experience points was one of the last resorts he had to take. Tang Zheng felt a pang of regret, but there was nothing he could do.
With only one Heavenly King left, now was not the time to be stingy with experience!
The battle continued!
Tang Zheng turned into a magic cannon, constantly unleashing Seventh Tier magic with his shadow clones. The health bar above Growth Heaven's head was ground down to 20%.
Boom!
Golden Buddha-like radiance surged from Growth Heaven's body. The air faintly echoed with the sounds of striking wooden fish and chanting whispers.
"When you break through false views, you will see the Tathagata!"
The red light on Growth Heaven's body intensified. His purple-gold armor seemed to be stained with blood, like a death throe counterattack. He shouted with majestic authority.
Whoosh~
Besides the Tiger Aspect and Eagle Aspect, a Deer Aspect totem appeared above Growth Heaven's head once more.
"Third form, new abilities?" Tang Zheng narrowed his sharp eyes and whispered.
This time.
Tang Zheng didn't attack first but observed. He quickly discovered that Growth Heavenly King was still unable to prevent the "Teleport" magic.
"Tch, wasting time."
Tang Zheng pouted and complained, then resumed his tactic of teleportation combined with magic attacks.
Under the sky enveloped by flowing golden light.
Only the constantly flashing and moving Tang Zheng and his shadow clones were present, with Growth Heaven chasing them everywhere.
If Growth Heaven possessed intelligence or were a player, he would have surely hurled his keyboard at Tang Zheng's scoundrel-like fighting style!
Seconds ticked by.
Tang Zheng eventually stopped bothering to calculate how long the grueling battle had lasted. He only knew that his shadow clones had been summoned twice more.
The shadow clone summoned for the third time had also completely depleted its mana.
[Experience Bar: 48.5m → 38.15m / 1.88m]
Over 10 million experience points had been consumed!
As the final magic attack landed.
Growth Heaven's health dropped to 0%. The flowing red light, like blood, and his furious expression completely dissipated at this moment.
Buddha-nature, compassion, and majesty!
Three unique auras emanated from Growth Heaven's face, which was as calm as a water surface.
"Wisdom Sword Cuts Ignorance."
Growth Heaven floated in mid-air. The flames on the greatsword in his hand extinguished. He sheathed it, held it between his arms, clasped his hands together in front of his chest, and looked deeply at Tang Zheng.
In a daze!
Tang Zheng felt a trace of resentment and helplessness from Growth Heaven's gaze, but it vanished instantly, as if it were just an illusion.
The flowing golden light above suddenly brightened.
"With the sword of wisdom, cut down the thief of afflictions. May your heart be like Vajra, always maintaining right mindfulness."
Growth Heaven nodded slightly. Just like what happened with Broad-Eyed Heaven in the classroom, his body shattered into fragments and merged into this alternate dimension.
Seeing this.
Tang Zheng let out a heavy sigh, a look of exhaustion and joy on his face: "I won!"
Such an intense and prolonged battle!
This was a situation Tang Zheng had never encountered before. Even though his HP remained at full, the fatigue from the high-intensity combat and the constant tension could not be expressed by numbers.
"The Four Heavenly Kings have all been eliminated. What should I do next?"
Tang Zheng looked up, unable to contain his excitement at finally obtaining the first World-Class Item.
The empty golden alternate dimension lay before him.
Nothing happened.
Thump—
Like a heartbeat, before Tang Zheng could even determine the direction of the sound, he was suddenly hit by a strong repulsive force from his entire body.
It was like being deep underwater, his whole body filled with pressure, but this pressure was not intense; rather, it was gentle.
A flash of golden light.
Tang Zheng blinked, and when his vision cleared, he found himself outside the alternate dimension, standing in the central area of the council mound.
The moon was bright and the stars were few.
Under the night sky, a cool breeze blew from the distant grasslands, causing the grass to rustle and sway.
Tang Zheng, chilled by the breeze, felt his fatigue dissipate significantly. He tilted his head slightly, gazing at the night sky, and murmured, "It's already evening."
He remembered entering the different world during the daytime!
The current priority was...
Tang Zheng looked forward. The empty air ahead gradually rippled with a light golden hue, like a stone dropped into water.
However!
The golden ripples weren't spreading outwards from the center; instead, they were contracting inwards.
Although it emanated a golden light, which should have been exceptionally conspicuous in the night, this light was confined to a small area.
It was as if it were behind a thin spatial membrane, unobservable from the outside.
Swish—!
The golden light suddenly retracted.
A square object, the size of a normal magic scroll and resembling an enlarged, ancient silk handkerchief, materialized from the air!
Tang Zheng's eyes narrowed, completely captivated. Just as he was about to act, the square, multi-colored scroll transformed into a beam of golden light and landed in his palm.
The moment it touched him, Tang Zheng suppressed his inner excitement, his hand trembling involuntarily as he activated the magic "Item Appraisal."
The magic was dispelled!
"Item Appraisal" was unable to glean any information about the World-Class Item. Instead, the World-Class Item in his hand automatically fed him information.
"[Two Worlds Mandala]!"
Tang Zheng perceived the information in his mind, a smile appearing on his face as he slowly uttered the words.
He carefully examined the [Two Worlds Mandala] in his hand. It was light, almost weightless, and appeared as a square scroll.
The front was divided into nine square frames by vertical and horizontal lines, which, in Tang Zheng's understanding, seemed to represent "Nine Assemblies."
The center of the back featured a large lotus pattern, or perhaps a lotus platform, symbolizing the "Lotus Embryo Burial," surrounded by scattered circular empty frames.
"Strange."
Tang Zheng looked at the [Two Worlds Mandala], this World-Class Item, and suddenly whispered.
In his past life, he had seen images of the Two Worlds Mandala online, and the impression was quite vivid. The World-Class Item before him bore a strong resemblance to it.
However, in both the front and back patterns, all the positions where Buddhas should have been were completely blank.
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