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Chapter 381: Chapter 381: Doppelganger

Liu Dao\'s eyes turned cold. He planted his feet in a bow stance, reversed his fist, and fiercely collided with Zhongshan\'s approaching fist.

Where their fists met, strong astral winds erupted, seemingly pushing the air ahead of them.

Under Zhongshan\'s fierce gaze, their explosive fists collided.

"Boom~~~~~~"

The clash of fists produced a tremendous roar, and the astral winds shattered as if they were breaking through folded air, leaving eerie cracks in their wake.

A full-powered clash of the Harmonization Stage.

"Peng~~~~~~" "Peng~~~~~~~~"

They staggered backward, each smashing a mountain and creating caves before coming to a halt.

They swiftly burst out of the caves, ascending into the sky once more. Liu Dao couldn\'t believe it—Yuanying Stage? What had Zhongshan consumed to leap from his cultivation to the Harmonization Stage? It was impossible. Even so, his physical body couldn\'t possibly match mine in toughness.

They charged out of the cave and clashed again, bare-handed, smashing each other with their fists.

Boom... Boom... Boom...

They relentlessly exchanged blows, each strike carrying immense force. For an ordinary Yuanying Stage cultivator, a glancing blow from these fists would cause severe injuries. But they punched faster than thought, each refusing to yield.

Liu Dao bore marks of the battle on his body, while Zhongshan\'s clothes were merely torn, exposing his rugged muscles like molten iron, brimming with explosive power, unmarred by any sign of injury.

Zhongshan and Liu Dao fought madly.

Gradually, their figures disappeared from sight, leaving only the sound of explosive impacts echoing through the air. They battled in strength and speed.

Accompanying the explosive collisions, the rocky forest and surrounding mountains were continuously demolished and collapsed by their incredible force. The ensuing astral winds swept up the rocks, pulverizing them into dust mid-air.

Liu Dao repeatedly struck at Zhongshan\'s core, unable to believe Zhongshan\'s body could be so robust. How could it be? How could his physical body at the Yuanying Stage surpass mine? Isn\'t the demonic body tempering the greatest advantage?

Refusing to accept it, Liu Dao\'s eyes blazed as he continued pounding Zhongshan, relentlessly targeting his core, yet achieving no effect.

Liu Dao sidestepped slightly, but Zhongshan struck him three times in succession, causing intense pain. Yet at that moment, Liu Dao finally drew his own greatsword.

He swung the massive blade fiercely at Zhongshan.

A tremendous blade astral slashed down. Zhongshan\'s eyes glowed crimson as he gritted his teeth and fiercely smashed his fist against the blade astral.

"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

Zhong Shan was smashed into the ground by the force of the slash, yet the enormous sword energy that accompanied the attack was shattered by his powerful punch. Despite his Purple Mansion being wounded, Zhong Shan showed no fear. Though his upper garments were torn to shreds, making him appear half-naked, he still wore an invisible piece of armor beneath—a gift from Princess Qian You, obtained from an ancient cultivator. This was the \'Liuli Heartguard Armor,\' a Grade Eight artifact that adhered to his body and remained concealed.

"Roar~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

As he landed, Zhong Shan drew his broadsword, \'Nightmare,\' with a reverse grip and swung it towards the heavens, aiming to cleave through the very laws of the world.

"Heavenly Decree! Wind Ripper!"

"Rip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

The sky was torn asunder by a massive rift, extending towards the distant figure of Liudao. Confronting this gaping void, Liudao struck back with all his might.

"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

Unable to withstand the tremendous impact, Liudao was sent hurtling skyward. The clouds dispersed as he soared, reducing to a mere black speck before the terrifying force was finally dissipated.

With a long howl, Zhong Shan launched himself skyward. Liudao, just recovering from the tremendous blow, looked on in horror. How could this be? How could a Nascent Soul stage cultivator wield such power?

In an instant, Zhong Shan was upon him. He swung \'Nightmare\' once more, and this time, it wasn\'t just a mere Wind Ripper. As the sword slashed through the air, the void seemed to fill with a surge of lightning, gathering around the blade and slicing towards Liudao with devastating force.

All the surrounding energy was sealed by Zhong Shan, leaving Liudao with no escape. He could only roar and muster all his strength to counter.

"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

Just like before, Zhong Shan\'s ultimate move was overwhelmingly powerful. Liudao could only withstand it with great effort, before being struck downwards with even greater speed, accompanied by a colossal bolt of lightning.

"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

A thunderous crash shook the earth as Liudao impacted the ground. The terrain quaked as if struck by an earthquake, and cracks spread like a spider\'s web from the point of impact.

"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

The lightning struck Liudao again, engulfing the area in a blaze of electric light. The web-like cracks deepened and widened, tearing the ground apart.

"Zhong Shan!" Liudao\'s voice roared from below.

Zhong Shan descended swiftly once more, blade raised for another strike.

"Your empress is going to die!" Liudao shouted desperately.

Zhong Shan\'s hand paused, his eyes reddening as he glared at the smoke-shrouded Liudao. Liudao\'s clothes were charred black, his hair disheveled, and he stared at Zhong Shan in disbelief.

"What did you say?" Zhong Shan demanded, eyes wide with rage.

"I said, your empress is going to die. Before coming here, I made arrangements! Someone is already on their way to kill your empress! Gan Bao\'er!" Liudao wiped the soot from his face with a sinister smile.

He hadn\'t anticipated Zhong Shan\'s ferocity—how could he? A Nascent Soul stage cultivator? He had underestimated Zhong Shan. But what did it matter? Liudao, with his strategic brilliance, had planned contingencies. Yet, he couldn\'t execute them while being relentlessly attacked by Zhong Shan. He needed to disrupt Zhong Shan\'s rhythm to gain the upper hand. Only by throwing him off balance could he ensure victory.

"No one can kill her!" Zhong Shan retorted immediately.

"What about Xuan Yan of the Imperial Extremity Realm?" Liudao replied, pulling out a round mirror.

Zhong Shan saw the mirror in Liudao\'s hand, but his primary concern was Bao\'er\'s safety.

"Impossible! Why would Xuan Yan get involved?" Zhong Shan countered quickly.

"Why not? The Xuanwu clan favors their young master even more than the Wolf clan does. If persuaded, the young Xuanwu would naturally order Xuan Yan to act. Haven\'t you noticed how the crown prince has already established a good relationship with the young Xuanwu? With just a word from the crown prince, Xuan Yan would kill Gan Bao\'er." Liudao sneered.

"I don\'t believe it. But regardless, your words are enough for me to wipe out your entire clan. You will die, your empress will die, and your crown prince will die too!" Zhong Shan said coldly.

A dragon\'s reverse scale must not be touched, and neither must Zhong Shan\'s. Liudao had crossed a line.

Seeing Zhong Shan\'s increasingly dark expression, Liudao let out a cold smile and said, "Then let\'s see if you\'re willing to bet. Either way, you\'re all going to die!"

As Liudao finished speaking, he waved his hand, sending the mirror soaring into the sky, where it quickly disappeared.

Seeing Liudao\'s actions, Zhong Shan knew he wasn\'t bluffing. What was he up to?

Just then, a beam of light suddenly descended from the sky, shining directly onto Liudao\'s head, as if the mirror had collected a massive amount of sunlight and was now reflecting it down.

The beam illuminated Liudao, and in an instant, another beam shone beside him, creating a second Liudao.

One after another, sixteen more beams of light shot down, producing sixteen additional Liudaos.

Eighteen Liudaos now surrounded Zhong Shan, moving rapidly until it was impossible to tell which one was the original.

Zhong Shan narrowed his eyes as the Liudaos encircled him, their figures flickering like ghosts, making it impossible to distinguish the real from the fake.

All eighteen Liudaos let out a synchronized roar, wielding their broadswords and slashing towards Zhong Shan.

Not even his divine sense could detect the fakes. Zhong Shan braced himself and swung his broadsword fiercely at one of the Liudaos.

"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

He hit nothing but an illusion, a mere light shadow. Taking advantage of this, Zhong Shan dashed towards the edge of the circle, but the real Liudao managed to land a blow on his back.

"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

The Liuli Heartguard Armor protected Zhong Shan, but he still found himself in a precarious situation. He managed to evade the surrounding Liudaos and stared intently at the eighteen figures beneath the light beams.

"Don\'t bother trying to discern the real me. This mirror comes from the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Below the Imperial Extremity Realm, no one can tell which is my true self and which are my projections!" The eighteen Liudaos sneered in unison.

"Hmph, why bother to distinguish?" Zhong Shan scoffed.

The Liudaos collectively widened their eyes and glanced at the sky in disbelief. What was happening?

Opposite them, Zhong Shan\'s figure flickered slightly, and suddenly two more Zhong Shans appeared behind him, identical in every way.

Impossible! How could he do that too?

As the Liudaos stood stunned, the two new \'Zhong Shans\' flickered again, producing six more Zhong Shans, with even more continuing to emerge.

(To be continued...)