“Do me a favour and stand right there,” Long Di said whilst flying towards the giant. “I’m gonna unalive you a little bit.”

****

Long Di had made up his mind to use his talents for blacksmithing and cultivation that he had asked for from the goddess to further his advancements in both of these fields at the same time.

By superimposing both talents on top of each other, the effects should be magnified, right?

Boom!

Long Di crashed into the giant with his bronze saber in hand. The impact knocked the latter back a few meters. His weight alone did most of the work of preventing him from going any further.

“Why you-”

The brute raised his giant cleaver overhead after successfully blocking the saber strike, but before he could bring it down.

“Breaking Mundane Forging Heaven, first variation, nine tempers.”

A cold declaration rang out followed by a devastating power filling the saber in Long Di’s hands.

Vrrm!

Saber intent flooded the saber as well, imbuing it with the destructive nature innate to all sabers!

Long Di was aware of one thing. The Breaking Mundane Forging Heaven was a technique that focused mainly on forging. In reference to its offensive aspect, it focused more on breaking its opponent rather than forging them and, more than anything, the technique was more apt to use in conjunction with a hammer rather than a saber.

As a result, the technique’s power was lessened in his hands. Long Di sought to fix this by adding in saber intent. In this way, the power lost from the different tools used wouldn’t be hard felt.

Bam!

The flurry of slashes whirled around the giant whilst one overhead came crashing down. This time, the blade was aimed towards his head!

Earlier, because of Long Di’s naivety to the move, the back of the saber was used. This was why the giant only suffered a bump on his forehead as opposed to a gash.

This time, however, the blade came down with the intention to split him in two.

Feeling mortal danger to this slash, he raised his giant cleaver to block it!

“Ugh!”

Bam!

The power behind the blow caused his feet to sink a meter into the ground! The giant’s bone cleaver creaked under the weight of the saber!

“Aaaaahh!!”

The somatic essence in the giant’s body roared as the massive muscles that decked his body rippled to his commands.

“Away!” He swung the cleaver, sending Long Di away in a rush.

“How are you so strong!?” He roared.

“Screw you, that’s how.” Long Di replied as he backed off.

“Argh!” He ran after Long Di to attack once more, rage driving him mostly.

Long Di backed off calmly while executing basic dodges. When he got over the overwhelming power of this idiot, his moves were easy to read and that made dodging easier.

“First variation, nine tempers,” a whisper in the wind gave voice to these words.

Shu!

The air protested the execution of these moves but could do nothing to stop it.

The giant, even in his rage, realised something. The moves may seem fast, but the first blow was the true danger, and all the others seemed to be feints of some kind.

They all missed him, with the first overheard swing being the only move that he needed to watch out for.

As a result, he had long set his cleaver to block the overhead blow from Long Di.

Bam!

The first blow landed just where he thought it was. HIs cauldrons were rotating at a blinding speed as he drove his somatic essence to block it successfully.

“Hmph! Just paltry tricks!” he sneered as he figured out Long Di’s moves.

After this, he released his block to land a decisive strike on the boy. This would have been wise and a reasonable action to take when his eyes suddenly widened in shock.

“No!”

Another blow was en route towards him! This was not going to pass him by. No matter how he thought about it, it would not pass him by!

It was too late to block with his cleaver! He had already abandoned the stance needed for such a thing!

He then raised his arm, hoping this would allow him to keep his life in the face of Long Di’s vicious attack

Bam!

“Ugh!”

The giant’s face twisted in pain as the saber cut into the arm and continued onwards. His bulwarked skin couldn’t stand up to saber intent that was emboldened by Long Di.

These factors spurred the saber onwards until…

Pling!

The saber met bone and found it arduous to go any further.

“Forward.”

Veins appeared on Long Di’s forehead as he struggled to move the saber forward!

The somatic essence within was a raging river that roared with an ineffable will. Gone was his momentum, so he had to use every ounce of his own strength to cut through the bone to dismember the giant before him!

Crack!

A loud crack could be heard as the giant’s bone creaked and gave way under the weight of the saber’s blow.

“No!”

However, the giant wasn’t resigned to this! His eyes narrowed as he clenched his teeth and spat out a single word laced with anger!

“Ignite!”

Vrrrm!

Rumble!

He ignited the somatic essence in his body, and its effects were immediately felt all around.

The ground beneath his feet trembled as a faint, almost invisible aura flared from him.

“Crapsickles…”

Long Di immediately felt the change and knew what happened.

Shu!

The giant swung the cleaver that was in his other hand towards Long Di, but not before the latter twisted his body in a deft manner, barely dodging the jacked-up blade of the cleaver!

The manoeuvre flung his body in the air leaving him open to attack.

“Wretched Edge!”

The cleaver in the giant’s hands shuddered for only a second before he threw it in Long Di’s direction.

Veeee!!!

A high-pitched ringing sound accompanied the flight of the cleaver before a daunting sight took place.

Physics permanently left the chat as the air cracked and splintered along the path it took towards Long Di.

It was as if the blade of the cleaver was an accursed thing. The air practically broke down as it barrelled towards Long Di. The edge was wretched because it no longer cut as a blade should.

It was barbaric in nature as it hacked its way towards Long Di. The somatic essence within it turned this weapon into a perverse thing with its goal focused on killing Long Di.

‘Earth Severance!’

Wasting no time, Long Di retaliated with the Earth Severance technique. The peak of the strike coincided with the arrival of the Wretched Edge resulting in…

Boom!

Though the strikes met in midair, a resounding explosion spread out all the same that spread out for hundreds of metres!

Many tall stone pillars fell, adding to the intense rumble that was taking place all around.

A dense dust cloud kicked up amidst the chaos, enshrouding the scene from view.

Sometimes after, the dust settled, revealing a ruinous site. Within a fair distance, there were only two ‘pillars’ left standing.

One was half-kneeling with an extreme eruption of steam escaping his body, whilst the other’s body was bloodied beyond recognition.

They both stood eyeing the other, waiting to see what moves the other had in store.

The tension was incredible between the two. Long Di’s ragged breathing and bloodied appearance let it be known that his consciousness was seriously being tested.

The same could be said for the giant. The steam mostly hid his physical state, but there was a redness in the mist that enveloped him. It was obvious that he suffered injuries on both the inside and out.

“You just had to be the stereotypical dunderhead, didn’t you?” Long Di’s body was profusely dripping blood as he stared at the giant before him.

“S-Stereotypi… what?” His brows scrunched up in confusion as he stared at Long Di.

Suddenly, his vision blurred as he stared at the young man, who was currently responding.

“H-Hey, are you okay?” asked Long Di, who had just now noticed that the giant was swaying back and forth.

“Of course! G-Give me a minute and I’ll be ready for a…” before he could get the last few words out, he…

Boom!

He collapsed to the ground with a resounding crash.

“Pant… pant…”

Long Di’s breathing was laborious. It was as if he couldn’t get enough oxygen in his lungs.

He calmly circulated his somatic essence as he eyed the unconscious giant. In his tightly gripped hand was the heavy bronze saber, it dragged on the ground as he etched ever closer to his defeated foe with great caution.

Long Di could sense that his body was practically drained of all somatic essence, which was a great danger for any body cultivator. This was most likely connected to the state he invoked before his last attack.

‘How could he use ignition? He’s not even in the Core Flame Evocation realm yet?’ Long Di entered deep thought.

He shook his head free of these distracting thoughts rather quickly and hefted the bronze saber above the giant’s forehead and was just about to let it fall when the giant’s eyes flashed open, his gaze quickly focusing on Long Di.

The two stared at each other as Long Di was about to stab him in the head killing him.

“Well, this is awkward.”