Jinshen walked out of the tunnel. The arena completely silent, everyone was staring at Yuxan who standing there nonchalantly, his spear still in his hand.
Jinshen stood in front of him, a calm and stoic expression on both of their face as Yuxan looked down at Jinshen with a slight raise of an eyebrow.
"You're the one who got the first position in the The Trial Of The Labyrinth right?"
Jinshen didn't respond to Yuxan's question, instead clenching his fists tightly at his side as his Demonic Qi started to gather in his hands before a small boom occurred.
Yuxan was pushed back by the small shockwave a few meters, catching himself with ease, watching in intrigue as he saw the azure blue and black pulsating aura of a mix of Demonic Qi... It was like a volcano, erupting from Jinshen's body. But there was something else that Yuxan did not recognize inside of Jinshen's aura.
Yuxan narowed his eyes, the echoes of the boom still hummed but now there was something else, a mechanical whirring, like a storm was brewing inside of Jinshen's fists.
Light erupted from Jinshen's fists, a mix of white and gold like shards of glass that flew out like butterflies spiraling around his body for a moment before they started to join together like hexagons, forming two twin, large dagger like blades in Jinshen's hand.
The blades were vibrating, they had not been forged in a furnace—Instead, they were crafted through the will of Jinshen and his hidden companion, perfectly created through nanite's and Demonic Qi.
Each one of the blades was a jagged crescent of pure Qi, it was burning with a bluish-white core that occasionally sparked with gold. Transparent along the edges but solid in the center.
The handles were a solid black in color, a long, black chain connecting both of the blades together, a wave of the same shards of glass going down the handle, etching the character 焚, into it.
Jinshen was already spinning on of them around to attack Yuxan, each spin of the blade cutting through the ground, leaving trails of hot burning magma in its wake.
"You ready old man?" Jinshen said with unnerving amounts of confidence that made Yuxan feel a small pang of irritation. "It's not like I care anyway."
Jinshen threw the blade he was spinning towards Yuxan at alarming speeds, The chain instantly extended, morphing with unnatural fluidity as it rippled like water, responding to Jinshen's intent as if it were alive.
Yuxan deflected the first attack but Jinshen had already covered the distance between them both, his hand wrapped in the chain that bound his two blades together as he punched Yuxan in the face using his whole body's momentum.
Yuxan's head whipped backwards from the force, making him momentarily let go of the spear. Jinshen took advantage of this, grabbing both of his blades as he jumped up into the air, the blades pointing downwards.
Jinshen jumped down at Yuxan, stabbing him in the shoulders but then Yuxan just disappeared into thin air.
Warning: Master has been bamboozled like an absolute shithead. That was an afterimage. said Nanomachine in Jinshen's mind in a snarky tone.
His eyes widened before he was suddenly grabbed by the back of his head and slammed into the ground, making a small crater from the impact.
"Shit.." He mumbled under his breath after he was raised into the air, held by his head.
Yuxan stared at his back, a small frown on his face. He spoke in a disappointed and unsatisfied tone.
"All show and no tal-" He was interrupted as he felt a sharp, piercing and burning pain bloomed inside of his body besides his ribs like he had just been stabbed.
The Jinshen in his palms? Gone, disappeared as he watched the arena with widened eyes of shock and astonishment, his lips parted.
"What in the nine hells..."
There were now hundreds if not thousands of images of Jinshen spread out across the arena.
A small, smug smile on every one of their faces.
"Thanks for showing us your favorite technique old man." They spoke in unison, their voices overlapping with each other, layered like they were from another dimension.
Yuxan's expression hardened immediately, his eyes narrowing and his lips pursed. He took a deep breath before the black flames enveloped his shoulders and hands, crawling up to his spear which started to evolve, shifting its form inside of Yuxan's hand.
It became bigger and the handle was now made of shiny black steel that reflected the light of the arena, its head was now also larger and much more pointy, resembling flames. The red cloth that was wrapped around its neck was now golden, bellowing in the wind.
"Let me tell you this Jinshen Zhe. You're facing a much more weaker version of me. One that has his power sealed away to make the Trial more easy. B-"
He was interrupted once more as a wave of Jinshen's came rushing towards him, their voice still layered and mocking.
"Don't care! A loss is a loss!"
Yuxan tried to attack them all, as he swung his spear, a wave of black flames came out but it just passed through the afterimages.
His body was barraged with a storm of cuts and kicks, momentarily falling to the ground on his knees before his eyes glowed golden and he gripped his spear tightly.
He let out a blood curdling war cry, a wave of red Demonic Qi spread out like water rippling through out the arena as the after images got destroyed completely. The real Jinshen freezing in place out of fear, his eyes wide and pupils dilated.
Yuxan's eyes were now not their mismatched blue and white, but now they were something that could only be described as demonic and terrifying.
His sclera was now as black as a void and his iris was black, his body was surrounded by a thick, heavy black Qi that looked like ink floating around his body.
He lunged at Jinshen who managed to block the initial stab of the spear by putting his blades in a x-position but the sheer force made him fall onto one knee as he struggled against Yuxan's strength pushing down at him.
Wh-What the hell? I knew he was holding back a lot.. But I didn't expect this much. Jinshen thought to himself, trying his best. His face contorted in exertion, his teeth clenched.
Yuxan was standing over Jinshen completely nonchalant and calm. He was using a single finger to push the spear slowly and slowly further towards Jinshen.
The struggle continued for a moment, the audience holding their breath. Before he suddenly kicked the latter in the face, sending him spiraling towards the wall of the arena, breaking through it completely. Shattering it to pieces.
Yuxan sighed deeply, hoisting his shoulder on his back.
"He passed." He said to a shadow in the tunnel where a glowing pair of crimson eyes were.
Just as he was about to walk away, he felt a rapid spike in Qi as he heard footsteps coming through the hole in the wall which was now illuminated in blue light.
Jinshen walked through the wall, his eyes and veins were glowing blue and an uncharacteristic grin was on his face.
"Alright! Time for phase 2! Get ready old man! I'm gonna beat your face in." Jinshen's voice was different, it was layered like something else was speaking on top of it.
Jinshen's body was covered in a golden and blue aura that was as high as the arena itself, spiraling and pulsing with occasional electricity as once more, glass like shards of blue and white spun around his hands.
A pair of tonfa forming in his hand. The outer part a transparent blue but the core solid and glowing white as he took a stance, his stance the definition of perfect and his wounds starting to heal, skin steaming and cuts closing in on themselves.
"You're so screwed!" Jinshen said before lunging at Yuxan who immediately did the same, their weapons clashing together.