The greatswords behind the two gods each turned their tips towards each other. After being decomposed and reassembled by divine power, the greatswords, imbued with the gods' divine power, possessed immense might.
He Li's divine body was different from Kexuotu's. He Li was a true human body. Even with the divine power augmentation and infusion, he still couldn't withstand the greatsword attached with divine power.
However, he was currently in a stalemate with Kexuotu. If he were to directly withdraw his divine power and dodge the greatsword's attack, his body would be decomposed by Kexuotu's divine power in an instant.
This was a predicament with no apparent solution, but He Li wasn't worried, because He Jun stood behind him.
A greatsword of green ghost fire,
A greatsword of white fluorescent light,
Stabbed down rapidly.
Clang!
Clang!
He Li neither dodged nor blocked, allowing the greatswords to strike. Just as the ghost fire greatsword was mere inches from his chest, a hand reached out from behind He Li, grasped the sword's edge, and the greatsword immediately shattered.
Kexuotu's barrier, sustained solely by divine power, forcibly blocked the greatsword.
And as Kexuotu diverted divine power to block the sword's edge, He Li suddenly exerted force, unleashing a more colossal divine power. The erupting divine power directly decomposed the divine power barrier in front of Kexuotu.
Kexuotu's eyes widened in astonishment. In that fleeting moment, Kexuotu had no opportunity to recondense his divine power and could only watch as the tip of the greatsword struck his chest.
Boom!
A resounding boom exploded, scattering a vast ripple of divine power.
Kexuotu was sent flying backward. After a trajectory of dozens of feet, he stabilized himself in mid-air. The divine power greatsword that had struck him also gradually decomposed and dissipated. Kexuotu, once a high-ranking god and now a middle-ranking god, possessed a divine body that was not easily destroyed.
Previously, when the weakened Xiapeshui was besieged, those gods could not do anything to Xiapeshui's divine body. In the end, they could only forcibly extract Xiapeshui's divinity, humanity, and bestiality, and then divide Xiapeshui's body into two parts, allowing Kexuotu to decompose and destroy it bit by bit with divine power.
Now, with Kexuotu's three natures intact and his divine power formidable, killing him was not an easy task.
The difference between lower-ranking gods and middle-ranking gods was vividly displayed at this moment. When He Li killed Ricard and Aleswa in Tokyo, although their bodies were also divine bodies, they were as fragile as mortal flesh under He Li's divine power slashes.
Kexuotu touched his chest. The shattered clothes caused him some distress; it seemed this outfit was not cheap. He looked at He Li, who stood suspended with his halberd, and smiled faintly.
"Fighting with a weapon, you've really changed your style. After tens of thousands of years of fighting bare-handed, you've now learned to use weapons. It seems the failure of the last era has made you improve quite a bit."
He Li let out a cold snort, shouldering the Gravity Great Halberd, and sneered, "I heard you were the one who destroyed Xiapeshui's divine body last time. Should we settle this score?"
Kexuotu looked at He Li with a peculiar expression, hesitated, and said, "Nine thousand years ago, you killed me too. How should we settle that score?"
He Li replied, "It's been too long, your debt has long since rotted."
Kexuotu was speechless. He wanted to laugh but couldn't. This guy was still as unreasonable as ever. If your debt from killing me nine thousand years ago has rotted, then why hasn't my debt from destroying your body four thousand years ago rotted?
Is that how debts are settled? Xiapeshui was a reasonable fellow, although his reason always favored him.
Kexuotu raised his hand, and a short sword about thirty centimeters long appeared in his hand. It was entirely deep blue with a sharp edge. Without another word, he charged directly at He Li.
He Li spat, raised the Gravity Great Halberd, and met Kexuotu head-on.
The speed and impact force unleashed by gods were unimaginable. Air shockwaves and spatial tremors erupted, the vast ocean of eerie ghost fire on the ground trembled violently, and dense collision sounds filled the air.
The collision between the great halberd and the short sword was at extreme speed. The divine power of both sides was continuously poured out, and the scattered divine power fiercely bombarded the spatial barriers and the sea of fire on the ground.
Amidst the thunderous clashes, He Li gained a new understanding of divine power. Divine power brought not just immense strength, but also a feeling like a vast sea constantly surging with colossal waves within the body. His limbs were like rivers connected to this sea, feeding power back into it, and the sea's power, in turn, nourished every corner of his body.
He swung the Gravity Great Halberd, attacking Kexuotu with a dense barrage like a storm. However, Kexuotu remained at ease. Unlike Ricard and Aleswa, Kexuotu possessed formidable divine power and exceptional combat experience. He didn't just barbarically crush opponents with divine power; instead, he utilized every trace of divine power to its utmost, like a precision machine, with every movement accurate to the extreme and seamlessly connected. The more this was the case, the greater the pressure on He Li.
How should one defeat an equally matched, or even stronger, opponent who made no mistakes and no errors?
Rumble!!!
Kexuotu forced He Li back with a sword strike, flipped, and retreated, creating distance. His expression was solemn, his eyes calm. He floated in the void, and eerie ghost fire suddenly rose behind him, burning across the sky. He looked at He Li, slowly raised his hand, and held his short sword level.
Kexuotu's voice was calm as he said, "Setting aside those lower-ranking gods, battles between middle-ranking gods are difficult because our strengths are similar. Entrusting Ques and Aigfen, although slightly weaker, with the divine positions of middle-ranking gods is equivalent to giving them the qualification to fight me. I, I don't look down on them. In my heart, I am still on the same level as you and Sesoujiang. But, I am different from you. You are the source of the gene lock's power. Your unparalleled mental strength means the divine position affects you minimally. You can continuously strengthen yourself, transcend divine position limitations, and kill any god. But I cannot. This middle-ranking god divine position has confined my power within a circle. I have spent thousands of years trying to escape this circle. I accept being killed by you head-on; I am convinced. However, being restricted by the divine position, I am not convinced. I am truly, from the bottom of my heart, unconvinced."
He Li listened quietly to Kexuotu's lament. He could hear Kexuotu's grief and defiance, but what did it matter? Abandoned here by the gods, the gods slaughtered each other to determine the final victor. And then what? Leaving this place, what would their fate be? On Earth, they were powerful gods who could suppress all dissenting voices with their power, indifferent to the lives and deaths of any living beings. They were gods, rulers. But looking up, beyond thousands or tens of thousands of miles of void, how many eyes were watching them? They were like gladiators in the Colosseum of ancient Rome, constantly fighting, killing their companions to please the lords in the stands. The one who survived would be taken away, moved from a pigsty to a slightly cleaner single room. What remained unchanged was the killing, the need to enter the arena, pick up a sword and shield, and begin the next killing performance. They were not gods, but slaves, tools used to please others through the death and blood of their companions.
A wild thought suddenly arose in He Li's heart. He wanted to achieve victory, leave this place, and go to that unknown realm to see those so-called gods. And then, he would kill them all. Those lords, who had watched for hundreds of thousands or millions of years, should also come down from the stands and enter the cage of trapped beasts. They should pick up swords and shields and have a true battle, like real warriors.
At this moment, Kexuotu's voice echoed in He Li's ears.
"Barrier decomposition."
...