Douluo Dalu: 9 Treasure Sword - Chapter 231

“Thanks for your warm welcome” Said Bai sarcastically, invoking his twin swords over his hands.

“You deserve it” Hei Qi answered with a dead voice without minding Bai’s tone “For you to directly come here looking for your death.”

“Oh? You’re too full of yourself.” Bai glanced at Hei Qi.

“You had grown a lot stronger than I thought. My plan was to wait until you achieve an appropriate level, having that body formed by swords good enough” Hei Qi explained “For you to know, I am very limited, my life is always at stake to be lost, needing the Sword God Fragments to stabilize. Your body making it perfect for this.”

“However, you are very lucky. Just as you were ready to reap, the ants’ plague started, forcing me to stay confined here” Hei Qi explained “Once the ants’ plague was stopped by you, it was already too late. Not only you gained the other spirit beasts’ trust and help, but even your strength had increased becoming stronger than mine. Understand my surprise when you decided to come here when I had just decided to forget about you. I might lose outside, but here…” All the swords around him started trembling, unsheathing from the ground, floating in the sky “I am invincible.”

“You talk too much” Bai said coldly “I preferred when the only noises that left your mouth were growlings” Bai kicked the ground dashing towards Hei Qi.

“You won’t listen to me anymore as you will be DEAD!” All the swords reacted, the ground deformed, the ceiling fell… All the swords shooting towards Bai, seemingly Bai trapped in raging waves from all sides. There were countless swords, all of them containing some intent in them, being impossible to simply ignore them.

Bai didn’t stop seeing the swords coming close to him, he jumped to the air continuing forwards ignoring the swords approaching him.

Eight spirit rings appeared surrounding Bai’s swords, the 7th shining brightly with a gray glow “<7th skill: Sword God Arena>!”. From Bai’s swords surged a gray light, encompassing him and Hei Qi. The air around them cracked and twisted, their surroundings changing.

Just as the swords were about to reach Bai, they disappeared. No, it would be better explained that the one that disappeared was Bai and Hei Qi, the swords piercing where Bai stood before. However, Bai and Hei Qi were no longer at the Steel Dump. They stood over an infinite gray space formed only by swords piercing the ground, these swords not under the control of any of them.

This was Bai’s plan. It didn’t matter that Hei Qi was a spirit beast, he was also someone who had Sword God Fragments in him. As such, he would be affected by the Sword God Arena. Being able to force him outside the Steel Dump. Bai would lose his spirit skills of both spirits, but Hei Qi’s loses would be much higher.

“<All Sword>!” Multicolored aura exploded from Bai’s swords, surrounding him. With two different colored swords at hand, Bai swung them towards Hei Qi, wanting to finish the fight quickly “<Elemental Negation>!” Pillars of different elements sword qis shot from Bai’s swords, crossing slashing at Hei Qi.

Hei Qi was a little surprised by the change in their surroundings, but quickly recovered his cool. Hei Qi clenched his black sword that changed its color become gray “<Sword: Defense>” Hei Qi’s sword shined with a gray color and contorted, becoming a wide broad sword, two meters long and a half meter wide.

Hei Qi pierced the broadsword on the ground in front of him and used it as a shield. Bai’s swords clashed with it “Clack!” Bai’s swords were unable to slice over the broadsword that it seemed like an immobile giant mountain, Bai being rebounded by it.

“Not yet!” Bai kicked the ground, swinging open his swords “<Elemental Hydra>!” Bai’s swords’ blade opened, each color separating from each other. Each part exploded with sword qi, twisting in the air like being alive snakes, evading Hei Qi’s broadsword, slashing towards him.

“Hm!” Hei Qi scoffed “<Sword: Agility>”. Hei Qi’s broadsword changed its form again, this time becoming two short swords that seemed daggers. Hei Qi held them, his aura and posture changed. Seeing the attack like-snakes slashing at him, his feet started moving erratically. His movements become impossible to foresee, he precisely evaded each attack, almost without moving, only with the minimum required movement.

Twisting his body, he deflected one attack with his short swords, creating an opening towards Bai “<Sword: Speed>” Hei Qi’s swords fused forming a rapier. His posture changed again taking the rapier with one hand, he stepped forward thrusting his rapier towards Bai, Hei Qi’s speed much faster than before.

Bai not expecting such speed, he hurriedly focused Protection Intent over him, creating a gray steel shield in front of him.

Seeing the shield, without stopping Hei Qi held his rapier with both hands “<Sword: Strength>” With a gray glow the rapier became a heavy greatsword. His speed was reduced, but his strength increased to a new level, Hei Qi’s greatsword easily piercing over Bai’s shield, destroying it.

Bai hurriedly focused his swords again, crossing them to protect himself at the same time that he stepped back.

“Boom!” Hei Qi’s greatsword clashed Bai’s swords that were bȧrėly able to resist the great strength, Bai’s body being shot over.

It took over 100 meters and some rebound to Bai to finally stabilizing, safely landing on the ground. His hands were trembling even when he had discharged most of the strength all over the body an air. Hei Qi’s strength was enormous, receiving a direct hit from him could mean death.

“You’re not bad, boy” Hei Qi said slowly approaching Bai, dragging his greatsword “For someone so young to achieve that strength, you can be proud.” Hei Qi looked at his sword “I had collected Sword God Fragments for over 200.000 years. Did you know it? When someone is accepted by the Sword God and pass over his trials, he is able to obtain a glimpse of his power, the peak of the swords, while maturing his own Sword God Fragment. I had collected such mȧturė fragments, being able to use the peak. I am the strongest!”

Bai had absorbed his share of fragments so of course, he knew about that effect. Killing and absorbing another person’s fragment, he had received some of his comprehension over their element, even a technique from the mȧturė ones.

Even if those techniques seemed strong, they had a great problem. They couldn’t be used together, they transformed your own sword and made it impossible for other intents to be used, making them impossible to be reinforced and making them overall weak. These weren’t your own powers, they were taken from others without making them your own. For Hei Qi to have based his combat style in them, always changing them, it was very peculiar and time-consuming, focusing on the peaks of physical attributes.

“So this is what you want” Bai said clenching his teeth “I can also play this game!” Bai’s swords shined with a gray glow, becoming a gray-blue single sword. Bai let it fell to the ground “<Sword: Zero Absoluto>!”

The sword seemed to dive into the ground, disappearing in it. Starting over Bai’s feet, ice expanded covering all the Arena, sharp icicles shooting from the ground as the temperature continued descending.

The ice had already reached Hei Qi, clinging over his feet trying to freeze him “Did you think this is so easy?” Hei Qi scoffed “To master other swords? Dream on!” Hei Qi swung his greatsword, cutting over the ice and creating an area around him devoid of it.

Just as Hei Qi was about to dash towards Bai, all the ice disappeared. Over Bai’s hands, there were two half-moon blades “<Sword: Infinite Moons>!” Bai’s blades multiplied and shot towards Hei Qi, filling the air of round blades.

“Useless!” Hei Qi shouted angrily. He pierced his sword over the ground “<Sword: Defense>” It became a broadsword blocking all the incoming blades. Once the round blades disappeared, Bai had disappeared, not even his presence could be sensed. Bai had used the blades as a smokescreen to enter stealth after it.

Hei Qi lifted his sword “<Sword: Perception>!” The broadsword became two thin and long swords. Hei Qi clapped both of them “Clink!” Both swords started trembling, sound waves expanding all over the Arena.

Hei turned his head towards a side “There you are! <Sword: Speed Burst>!” Hei Qi’s sword became a katana, he positioning over his hip, holding it like if it was sheathed. With a quick movement difficult to perceive, Hei Qi unsheathed and sheathed his sword with a swift movement, a shock blade shooting from his sword.

The blade cut over the air, Bai appearing in its path, his body sliced in half. However, Bai’s body dispersed in black particles showing that it was only a shadow.

“So you were there” Hei Qi turned towards his back unsheathing his sword shooting another blade.

Bai appeared over Hei Qi, he twisted his body evading the shock blade dashing towards Hei Qi. On his hand, a single sword covered by shadows

Seeing Bai reaching him, Hei Qi reacted “<Sword: Defense>” His sword became a broadsword as he pierced the ground. However, he saw Bai’s smirk in his face, the shadows over his sword increasing and becoming more threatening. Bai’s sword not directed towards him, instead towards his shadow. “Sword: Shadow Butcher!”

Hei Qi had spied Bai all these years thanks to his Sword God Fragment until he reached titled douluo and became too difficult. He saw him fighting Bi Ying, and knew about Bi Ying’s power to cut shadow. He quickly reacted, before the sword was about to complete its change and pierced the ground “<Sword: Agility>” it shined with a gray light, becoming a pair of daggers. Boosting his agility, preparing to move his shadow from Bai’s sword.

“You feel for it!” Bai said coldly. Bai twisted his ankle, changing the target and thrusting his sword directly at Hei Qi. The shadow over his sword dispersed revealing a bright colorful sword qi formed by all his intents.

“<Sword Heart: Elemental Canon>!” A powerful pillar of energy shot from Bai’s sword, all his strength and comprehension over it.

Hei Qi found himself against such a powerful attack with the daggers at his hands. The attack was too wide for his agility to avoid it. He could have stopped with Defense, but he had forced a transformation in the last moment, making it impossible to change to it so quickly. Hei Qi could only cross his daggers, being swallowed by the full might of Bai’s attack.

Once the attack disappeared, Hei Qi was 500 meters from his previous position. His armor cracked all over. “You! Tricking me!” Hei Qi shouted in fury.

If Hei Qi had fought normally, it might not fall to the trap. But he was too confident in his knowledge about Bai. Bai used it in his favor to use the shadow made it seem like the Shadow Butcher when the truth was that they were only hiding the true attack, an all powered Sword Heart.

“You forced me, boy!” Hei Qi said angrily. He put his arm over his helmet, taking it off, revealing his true face. Black hair and black golden eyes with a suċkėd face like someone that hadn’t eaten in years, he seemed more like a cranium than another thing. On the other hand, there wasn’t that resembled a dragon from it, it was a completely human face.

“Boom!” Black aura shot from his head, expanding all over the body, destroying all his armor revealing a slender human body that was at the boundary of death. The aura around him was incredibly thick and powerful. It was Death! Seeing him you couldn’t think another thing, it was a condensation of Death, the strongest that Bai had seen before, even more than him or Bibi Dong.

“Let’s stop with the games” a death and croaked voice left his lips, a complete black sword in his hands that shined with a deathly glow. Hei Qi swung his sword in the air “Crack!” “Crack!” “Crack!”

Just like this, Bai’s technique was destroyed. The Sword God Arena was completely destroyed by his single swing. No! It would be more correct to say that he had killed it, forcing his Death concept into it causing the Arena to disappear. Bai and Hei Qi returning to the full of swords Steel Dump.

“Only Death waits for you” Hei Qi said pointing at Bai.