Infinite Slaughter System: I Kill, Therefore I Ascend!-Chapter 203: The Round of 32! 5
Liang Yue stared at the black, jelly-like figure that looked exactly like him, with the same saber, same stance, same roiling Blood Power, and felt his scalp go numb.
On Bei Dongshi’s side of the field, the blindfolded youth simply folded his hands behind his back. "This is your karma clone."
"The one true entity that bears all the weight of your sins and connections in this world... now condensed to fight on my side," he explained mildly.
A shiver ran through the crowd as they understood the weight of this technique.
"So the Desolate Hell freak can... pull your karma out and make it beat you up?"
"That’s broken! Ref, do something!"
"Isn’t that basically fighting yourself without the benefit of knowing what you’re going to do?"
On the high platforms, a few elders leaned forward in shock, and even Path Saints like Zhen Mingshen and Hei An showed genuine interest, because this was an application of karmic severing none of them had seen before.
Even Li Ling’s expression finally shifted from lazy amusement to faint surprise.
"He can externalize an opponent’s karma as a combat avatar...? That’s new."
"Ha! So what if it looks like me?! If it’s a clone, I’ll just cut it down!" Liang Yue barked, suppressing his unease.
He flashed forward, saber howling with condensed Blood Power.
WHOOSH!
His blood-light slash tore out, then was met by an identical arc from the karma clone. The blades collided in midair, Blood Power and saber intent perfectly matched, exploding in a shockwave that forced both figures back in the same way, at the same time.
"Oi, that’s creepy. It even moves like him," Hu Lili muttered, her tailbone itching.
Shen Jian frowned thoughtfully. "It’s not simple mimicry, because the intent is mirrored as well. He’s literally being forced to fight his own capacity."
On the VIP terrace, Su Meiluo’s crimson eyes glittered behind her lace veil. "Using a man’s own sins and ties as a weapon against him..."
"The Desolate Hell Path has some charming toys," she murmured softly.
Back on the stage, Liang Yue gritted his teeth as he feinted low, then twisted mid-strike into a spiraling overhead cut—a variation he had never shown publicly—only for the karma clone to perform the exact same adjustment a heartbeat earlier.
CLANG!
Sparks flew as they exchanged a dozen thunderous exchanges in seconds, but every time Liang Yue tried to innovate, the clone anticipated him. Every hidden trick, every small habit in his footing or breathing, all of it was reflected back perfectly.
"Damn it...!"
He could feel his Blood Power draining rapidly due to the high-intensity clashes, while the karma clone, on the other hand, showed no sign of fatigue.
It was like fighting a version of himself that never ran out of stamina or will!
On Bei Dongshi’s side, the blindfolded youth finally lifted one hand slightly, fingers forming that inverted monkey seal again.
"The more karma you carry, the more fuel the clone has. Against an Asura whose whole path is slaughter and blood... you really shouldn’t have volunteered to be my test case," he said softly, his voice barely audible beneath the noise.
Liang Yue felt a chill run down his spine.
Before he could react, his karma clone stepped in with perfect timing, exploiting a gap in his defense and slamming a saber hilt into his chest.
BANG!
He was blown backward, crashing hard onto the arena floor, Blood Power scattering and his saber spinning away before digging into the tiles. As he tried to rise, he found the tip of his own blade—held by the black clone—pressing against his throat.
The Divine Deva Overseer’s voice cut in sharply. "Enough! Winner—Bei Dongshi!"
The karmic figure dissolved back into smoky black energy and re-entered Bei Dongshi’s body. The Desolate Hell genius bowed politely, then stepped down amid hushed murmurs.
"Did you see that? He made Liang Yue’s own karma fight him to exhaustion."
"So if you’ve lived a clean, boring life, does that mean his ability is weak against you?"
"Who here has a clean karma sheet?" someone snorted.
That shut a lot of people up.
Meanwhile, the other named competitors wore more complex expressions.
Shi Gaolin’s grip on his halberd tightened. "That guy... if I fight him, my Hungry Ghost karma will be a liability."
Hu Lili scratched her cheek. "What if he pulls out all the beasts I’ve butchered? That would be fun... or very not fun."
Bai Yegui’s gaze was cool. "No karma, severed karma, weaponized karma..."
He glanced sidelong at Li Ling, remembering the blood cloak from the previous test. "This era really isn’t fair."
Li Ling simply smirked. "Heh, what an interesting trick! But karma or no karma... everything dies the same way when I’m on the stage."
............
The matches rolled on.
The tenth match featured a Divine Deva Hall light cultivator overwhelming a Wild Beast Hall brawler with superior aerial control, pelting him from above with conjured feathers until the ground-locked, beast-blooded youth conceded with a howl.
The eleventh match featured a True Human Hall trap and formation master who was forced out of the ring by an Asura Blood Hall youngster who maximized his attack speed, dashing between traps faster than they could respond.
The twelfth match featured a cautious Desolate Hell Hall illusionist edging out a low-key Asura Blood Hall warrior by grinding down his mental stamina with layered mirages, the Divine Deva Overseer calling the bout when the latter collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
The thirteenth match featured a Desolate Hell Hall diviner who tried to pre-read every move of his Divine Deva Hall opponent, only to realize too late that one of the fellow’s Daoist arts scrambled his thoughts, turning his predictions into traps he fell into himself.
The fourteenth match featured two unremarkable wild cards from the True Human Hall and Wild Beast Hall as they slogged it out in a bruising artifact-versus-claws battle that ended with both vomiting blood, the puppet exploding and the beast youth just barely clinging to the ring by his fingernails.
The fifteenth match featured a hulking cultivator from the Asura Blood Hall who attempted to brute-force a victory against a slim female Desolate Hell Hall disciple, only to watch his own killing blow detour mid-flight and tear up his leg instead, her karmic diversion art proving stronger than his temper.
By this point, the entire stands seethed with energy, cheers and groans rising with each result from the crowd.
However, everyone knew who they were really waiting for.
When the Divine Deva Overseer lifted his jade slip again, a hush fell even before he spoke.
"Sixteenth match, Li Ling... versus Shi Feng," he announced, his voice echoing clearly.
A thin young man in dark gray Hungry Ghost robes swallowed hard and stepped onto the platform opposite Li Ling. His skin had the unhealthy pallor typical of yin-element male cultivators, while his eyes held both gloom and desperate stubbornness.
He had been one of those who had silently scoffed at Li Ling’s earlier declaration, thinking sect rules would protect them. Now, standing directly across from the white-robed Asura War Demon himself, his bravado tasted like ash.
Li Ling’s smile was mild, almost friendly. "Shi Feng, was it? You heard what I said earlier, right?"
Shi Feng’s throat worked. "...We are still within the sect’s arena. The Overseers—"
Li Ling interrupted gently. "I also said that rules, standings, and backing don’t matter to me."
He tilted his head. "Still, I’m not unfair. You may attack first, as much as you like."
The crowd shivered, because that was fair... in the most contemptuous way possible.
Shi Feng’s expression twisted. "You’re underestimating me!"
He roared as his Hungry Ghost yin flared crazily, a ghostly avatar surging up behind him that was gaunt, skeletal, and half-formed, its eyes blazing with hungry flame.
"Ghost Devours the Sun!" he roared as he utilized a Hungry Ghost Path special Daoist art.
Spectral claws and black yin energy howled toward Li Ling like a storm of vengeful dead.
Li Ling finally moved as he lifted one hand and raised two fingers, as if calling something upward.
"Ten Points Pierce the World."
Immediately, an inky blackness that had formed underneath his body rose up to cover him, ten strands surging upward from every direction, resembling spiky tendrils that could stab a person to death if used offensively.
These ten strands covered every cardinal direction around Li Ling and more, maintaining a firm posture while flowing with energy that could dissolve any attack with ease, not allowing anything to harm Li Ling in the slightest.
The incoming ghostly claws struck the barrier.
SIZZLE...
They neither rebounded nor exploded, but simply... came apart. The yin power unraveled into raw elemental qi, then further down into something even more basic, before vanishing into the tendril-like strands of black.
"W-What the hell...?"
"It... it disintegrated his attack."
"That’s not just a shield. It’s... reversing the spell?"
"Huh? A Chaos-element barrier?" one of the Six Paths True Inheritors muttered with surprise.
Zhen Xueren folded her arms and spoke. "Indeed, he seems to have fused the fundamentals of five different defensive elemental Daoist arts. Given the nature of Grandmist, anything touching it is going to be forced back down to its most basic state."
Li Ling stood comfortably in the center of the barrier, hands in his sleeves as he smiled cruelly.
"Hey there, buddy, I did say you could attack as much as you like," he reminded Shi Feng, his tone almost encouraging.
Shi Feng’s face flushed with shame and fury as he pushed his power beyond its limits.
"Hungry Ghost Avatar, Partial Manifestation!"
The skeletal phantom behind him thickened, some form of muscle forming over bone, its half-body turning into a fleshy figure draped in ragged robes, its maw opening to spew a beam of condensed yin comparable to a second-realm Daoist art.
BOOOOM!
The black beam slammed into the Chaos Barrier and unraveled just like the first, leaving Li Ling smirking at the center as he made a mocking gesture toward his foe.
