Chapter 18 Wang Xuanming's Forbidden Art

Each time the Red Dragon King clashed with Dracula, a blazing ball of flame would dance in the battlefield, just like the red lotus did. After about 30 minutes into the titanic clash, the Red Dragon King stopped. The areas where it had trampled upon had already turned into a sea of molten lava, covering the entire earth up. "My double only has so much power. To think that you would have achieved such a level of mastery after only a few centuries; I can't afford to underestimate you. I'm tempted to appear in my true form to fight you again, but I can't leave," said the Red Dragon King somewhat reluctantly. He had reduced Dracula's lives by one third as promised, but he was now unable to continue fighting. "Don't be so haughty, if you're just a double. Die!" replied Dracula as he ran the dragon over with a 100 meters long dragon-slaying spear of blood. The Red Dragon King was just a double, after all, and it was already close to vanishing after exhausting all of its energy. Naturally, it would not be able to withstand such a blow, and the spear smashed its double's body into smithereens. Flames skyrocketed into the air and spread all over the surrounding area. "Gasp!" Big mouthfuls of blood spewed from Clara as she fell from the skies, and Alice hurriedly went over to grab hold of her. She felt her heart ache as she looked at Clara—her tiny body was withstanding an amount of pressure that was beyond anyone's imagination. The red dragon had manifested itself upon this world using her as a medium, and the longer it stayed behind, the more of her life would be drained. Each time the dragon used magic to kill Dracula, her body would have a violent reaction, and this battle had cost her about 300 years of her life. Wisdom could last up to around 700 years, and Clara herself was older than 200. "Can I...only reach...such a level?" Clara asked as she opened her eyes with much difficulty. She was badly wounded and could not fight again, but Dracula was still left with more than 20 million lives. It was a completely hopeless situation. "As a Red Dragon Disciple and a Wisdom, you amaze me. But that's all. As expected, I can't withstand such destructive flames by completely giving up on defense; I'm still giving you humans a chance. I won't take any defensive measures, and I'll sacrifice a life to heal any minor wound I receive," Dracula raved on. Van Helsing's prophecy said that only a human could kill Dracula, and he wanted to see how far they could push him. "Chiou, if I fall in battle, take Wang Bugui and flee," Wang Xuanming's told Hanae Chiou via the psychic transmission. She did not know how to answer him, and Wang Xuanming remained silent after that. Of all the strongest human experts left, only Wang Xuanming and Alice were fit to continue fighting, and Hanae Chiou knew that mankind's chances of survival were slim. She did not speak much and looked at Wang Bugui, who was beside her and then turned her gaze to Wang Xuanming, who was walking toward Dracula. Wang Xuanming looked incredibly majestic as he advanced, and his battle instinct increased onefold with each step he took. Black and white energies burst forth from his body again, and the barrier of golden light covering its surface skyrocketed into the heavens. "You haven't come to understand the heart of darkness in humans. We can defeat demons because our heart is darker than that of your kind," said Wang Xuanming as his aura amplified to unprecedented levels. "Exactly. I want to exterminate all humans because of the ugliness in their hearts—and that fake God as well! After her death, there's no reason for the world to exist anymore," shrieked Dracula insanely, having been reminded of the King's betrayal and his wife's death as a result. In the end, he wiped out the entire army of the King, and God banished him to become a vampire, leading to him being unable to see his wife ever again. "The world is always balanced. When there's Yin, there'll be Yang, and Cause will lead to Effect. Likewise, Life and Death are nothing but part of a cycle. The human heart is exactly the same—there are good and evil people. Unfortunately, you didn't understand this fact and caused devastation throughout the world. We, pilgrims of a religious order, have the responsibility to stop you!" Wang Xuanming chided Dracula loudly before punching at him with a fist stored full of power. "Then I shall see how you're going to stop me!" Dracula shouted loudly as well, as he charged into the fray. Wang Xuanming struck with one blow of his Break Heaven Fist which contained unrivaled aggression. Dracula could not match the force of his blow, and his arm began cracking apart. In fact, just one hit had already taken 10 of his lives. Wang Xuanming followed up with a Meteorite Kick, and Dracula's leg was kicked into pieces when he tried to fight fire with fire. The vampire, however, used his power of resurrection to regenerate his leg instantly. His opponent did not give him any time to react and unleashed a torrent of blows on him. Within the short span of one minute, Wang Xuanming had made thousands of attacks, and Dracula stopped trying to engage him in close combat. Instead, the vampire burst his body open and tried to force Wang Xuanming to retreat with his blood. "Undefeatable Body of the World!" With a shout, the Yin and Yang energies surrounding Wan Xuanming merged into a mass of primordial vital energy and completely melded into the barrier of golden light. His entire body began to give off a faint golden glow, instead of all three forms of energy merely circling around his body, and his figure had become even more powerful. This was the Daoist theory of 'returning to the basics', and his body was so tough that even Dracula's bloody explosion could not harm him much. He then went on the offensive with a sweep of his Kick of the Universe. "Boom!" The kick caused Dracula's body to explode, and Wang Xuanming did the same thing again when the vampire was resurrecting himself far away. Dracula was enraged, and he regenerated his body the instant it exploded before unleashing his Torment of Divine Destruction technique. The blood he scattered across the skies expanded into a pool of blood, and it crystallized into a huge lance which the vampire flung at his opponent. "Primordial Palm!" With a shout, the golden glow on the surface of Wang Xuanming's body transformed into primordial vital energy and gathered on his palm, before manifesting into a giant palm and flying toward his opponent. The attack destroyed the terribly powerful blood crystal spear before crushing down on Dracula. The vampire grunted coldly and smashed the giant palm into bits with one punch, before using the Mournful Hymn of Hell to form tens of thousands of bloody spears. He then directed the spears at Wang Xuanming. Faced with the attacks of so many spears, Wang Xuanming did not panic. He utilized another mystical skill, and everything he saw slowed down by 100 times. To him, the spears were moving at a snail's crawl now. He then used the same mysterious footwork as when he handled the Infantes to dart in and out of the bloody spears like a golden flash of lightning. None of the spears could hit him, and he dashed out of the deadly formation like a phantom. The spears pierced into the surrounding land, which had already turned into molten lava, triggering multiple eruptions, and Wang Xuanming, who was bathed in a faint golden glow, looked like a deity. "You're a very strong human and worthy of 90 per cent of power," said Dracula calmly, before his power began to erupt again. This time, the immense pressure from the attack at nearly full power proved to be devastating for the battlefield. The lava in the surrounding area was pressurized into ash, and the entire earth was depressed by about two meters. "It seems that I won't be able to withstand you if I don't use my forbidden art. Fine, let me contribute once more toward the future of mankind," sighed Wang Xuanming. A violent surge of energy appeared in the surrounding skies and cascaded down into his body. It felt as though his body was a bottomless pit which could absorb any amount of energy, and he only stopped when he had taken in all of the spiritual energy of the earth. "Universal Order, completely remove all restrictions on the treasures of the human body! Unleash the Heavenly Battling Force!" Wang Xuanming shouted, and an overwhelming pressure shot out from his body, tearing the space around him apart. The earth around his feet had been completely ground into dust, and by this time, his capability to fight seemed to have been amplified by 10 times, and even the faint golden glow from his Undefeatable Body of the World technique had become blinding. "Boom!" Each step Wang Xuanming took trampled out a crater about 100 meters wide, and the pressure from his steps killed tens of thousands of vampires. Even Dracula's expression changed—he could sense that his opponent's strength had increased dramatically to a level on par with his own, and perhaps it was even greater! "You can't maintain this form for long, and you'll die if you force yourself to. Is that worth it?" Dracula asked after noticing the loophole of his opponent's technique. "Fight me!" Wang Xuanming's roar made nearly everyone faint. He charged directly toward Dracula to engage the vampire in bloody combat—that was his reply. It was only now that the humans knew how strong Wang Xuanming truly was—this was Dracula at 90 per cent they were talking about, yet this man could match him blow for blow yet not lose. Each of his strikes seemed to bear the essence of Dao, and his Break Heaven Fist seemed truly able to split the heavens in two now. The bloody looking world shook from their titanic clash, and there was even a crack in the blood red skies. Wang Xuanming unleashed his Kick of the Universe, causing Dracula's sword of blood and entire arm to explode into bits. The vampire instantly regenerated his arm and struck out with his own fist, but Wang Xuanming dodged the attack like a phantom before appearing above Dracula. He then twisted his body and launched a furious attack with the Extreme Heaven Explosion skill. "Boom!" A 10 meters wide crater was created by the force of his blow, along with his opponent's body. Dracula dashed out of the unsettling dust, a spear of blood crystal in hand, and engaged Wang Xuanming in a true battle to the death. Each time they exchanged blows, an intensely powerful shockwave, with the force of a meteorite crashing back into Earth, would be created.