The God Virus

As a result of her breakthrough and a great deal of rejuvenating blood she had absorbed, Hu Yuexin's chest wound had scabbed already as the bleeding stopped.

"Hehehe!" Cracking up like a maniac next, Hu Yuexin stormed at Virus, brandishing the longsword with an even faster speed than before. "You're going to regret coming here today!"

Seeing her exponential increase in speed going above his physical limits, almost unable to keep up, Virus could only raise his longsword in advance, attempting to block the incoming blow with a simple calculation in mind.

Thud!

"Ah, pfft!" Alas, retracting her sword at the final moment, Hu Yuexin kicked him instead.

Feeling the painful blow to his stomach, the gastric acid inside Virus' stomach all came rushing out as it was followed by the force of the kick sending him flying into the nearest tree trunk.

CRUNK! CRANK~

Propelled backward by such force, Virus' physique immediately went right through the first tree before hitting the second one faraway, nearly crushing it as well.

"Haah…" standing up, Virus could taste iron in his throat. He knew he had suffered slight internal injury from the attack just now.

"You're good." He admitted, wiping the trail of blood off his mouth.

Normally, a person would feel distressed and in fear while facing a stronger opponent. However, this battle was only riling Virus up instead as he felt his blood boiling within his veins.

"But regret? Stop joking! I'm nothing but grateful! Hahaha…" Going against his first worthy opponent since entering his physical body, exhilaration and anticipation were now dominating Virus' heart as adrenaline pumped him up.

"Entertain me more!" Charging at her, Virus swung his longsword vertically. But Hu Yuexin blocked his attack in a lock easily. 

He punched in response using his other hand only to face an easy dodge from Hu Yuexin's part.

"More! More! MORE…" Virus continued repeating and howling like a madman in fever as he released one attack after another at her.

Hu Yuexin's movements were so graceful and impeccable that Virus could find no faults or openings in them. They were so flawless that Virus knew one had to possess a monstrous amount of fighting experience before accomplishing such a feat.

For instance, at Hu Yuexin's previous feint sword attack, there had been no sign of pretense and deception. All of her muscle movements, the force behind it, and even her intent had been completely genuine until the very last moment where she backtracked and kicked instead.

Every move was full of mastery and they flowed like water itself.

Already on the offensive, Virus bashed into her tens of time. He advanced while Hu Yuexin retreated step by step. Unfortunately, every attack was either dodged or casually blocked by her who was putting on an expression that screamed, 'You're no match for me.'

"Pathetic. Your struggles are like that of a chicken in the slaughterhouse, completely in vain." Confirming her thoughts out loud, she went on offensive abruptly, easily preventing Virus' advances and forcing him into defending instead.

Clang! Clatter! Fizzle~…

By the time her fifth sword slash was upon him, a gaping wound showed on Virus' left shoulder. It was clear she had been playing with him so far.

"Argh!"

"The next one's going to separate your head off!" Determined, Hu Yuexin decided to end the battle at once!

On the other side, covering the wounded collarbone with his right hand, a more firm shimmer went past Virus' countenance as he declared, "Hooo! Looks like I need to get more serious before you get any cockier."

"Hmph! Let's see how long you're going to maintain that confident face of yours!" Declaring that with much annoyance, Hu Yuexin was just about to rush at him and brandish her longsword at his neck when Virus' subsequent sentence beat her to it.

"You're not the only one who can do that little trick you know!" Directing his eyesight at the remaining nineteen monstrous beasts still lingering around, Virus lunged at them using the maximum level of speed he could achieve.

He was like an unstoppable hurricane as he massacred them all in a single moment!

Next, the flood of energy overwhelmed Virus.

60%... 69%... 79%...

87%... 95%... 100%!

That was the sharp level of increase in the percentage of synthesis between his third and fourth pathways as all the energy within the monster carcasses were drawn into Virus' pathways at once.

And, as sudden as that, Virus' cultivation level at the second level of Liberation shot up like lightning as he hit the roof the following instant.

With the completion of the fusion of his second pair of pathways, Virus could now release energy from one more pathway. In the meantime, Origin also transmitted a strange type of energy into the doorway of his fourteenth passage, directly unlocking it as well.

And yet, that wasn't the end as the last remaining vestiges of monster energy that had yet to be utilized made him break through to the next level and achieve a one percent fusion rate between his fifth and sixth pathways.

Third Level of Liberation!

Meanwhile, witnessing the nigh identical method Virus had utilized to progress in cultivation, Hu Yuexin's eyes had long gone wide open as she screamed in disbelief, "Impossible! How did you do that!"

"Huh! It's possible for you, but impossible for me? Ptooey!" Spitting on the ground, a grin crept over Virus' face. This was one of the rare occasions where Virus expressed and displayed his true emotions without restraint since the feeling of entertainment and fun was one of the only modus operandi that moved him.

Rip!

Ripping the corner of his cloth at the same time, he tied it around his open injury, immediately stopping the bleeding from his left shoulder.

Then wagging his already bandaged arm and cracking his neck, he declared, "Shall we start the next round?"

Click~ Clank! Whoosh! CREAK!

Fizzle~ SHRR! Whish~ THUD!...

Once again, the intense battle was resumed as hard blows were exchanged between the two. 

None uttered a word again as the hum of their longswords making contact with one another was the only voice filling the battlefield. 

While one was grinning from ear to ear in pure anticipation, beads of sweat had covered the other retreating opponent's frowning profile.

Although one might assume their strength should be on par after Virus had also broken through to the next stage, that was incorrect. And there were a few reasons as to why.

The first reason had to do with Virus' beast-like nigh-infinite stamina that was the result of him achieving Ethereal Metamorphosis in the Corporeal Tempering stage.

While he was still as vigorous as ever even with the addition of his wound, that same logic didn't apply to the panting and tired Hu Yuexin who was only relying on her internal energy to keep fighting at this point. Her physique was already at its limits.

The second factor was because of his Fourteenth passage of energy! 

After his Fourteenth pathway was unlocked with his breakthrough, a rather considerable quantity of energy had joined the previous amount, allegedly making him even stronger than one should have become after a simple breakthrough!

And last but not least, before his breakthrough, Virus had merely been around the middle phases of the second level of Liberation while Hu Yuexin was at the very peak of the fourth level of Liberation.

And the result of these three causes put together was the current advantage Virus had over the retreating Hu Yuexin.

'There!'

Swish!

Finally spotting an opening in the tired and slower Hu Yuexin's guard, Virus thrust the tip of his longsword at Hu Yuexin's stomach!

RIPP!

Freezing, Hu Yuexin gazed down at the penetrating blade within her stomach as her pupils shrank to the size of a mere dot.

Splash~

Subsequently, pulling the blade out with no hesitation, Virus splashed the blood off his sword as he looked into her eyes and comforted her. "Don't worry, you won't die as long as you come with me and let me treat that hole of yours nicely."

Meanwhile, blood was gushing out in massive amounts turning her dress color into red in just a few seconds!

Checking that fatal injury of hers, gritting her teeth, all thoughts of resuming the fight left Hu Yuexin's head at once as she understood she was going to die soon unless she treated it fast.

Therefore, turning around, she attempted to flee!

"Oi, Oi, Oi! And where do you think you're going, my lady? What's the rush?" Unfortunately, having seen through her little plan already, Virus blocked her path of retreat, leaving her with no other option but to either follow him and get treated willingly… or die!

"YOU!" Looking at Virus' smirking face, Hu Yuexin's anger turned into rage and her rage became wrath and hatred, she wanted nothing but to cut him into a thousand tiny pieces by now.

Although Hu Yuexin didn't care about Virus' existence prior to this day, after being pushed to the very edge of a cliff, hostility overtook her heart as she vowed. "Remember, if I live through this, you're going to regret ever provoking me. Mark me, I will be back for you!"

Then, turning toward a specific location all of a sudden, as if she was going to make the most important decision of her life, she ran in that direction in utter resolution!

That course of action baffled Virus at first as he wondered in some amusement, 'You know you can't escape, I'm faster, and-'  before Virus could even finish his thoughts, however, identifying the direction she was running to, he realized in shock. 'Shit! She's going to run into the other Rift! This reckless idiot!' 

Indeed, only a dozen meters away, there was the second Rift that had yet to trigger unlike the first one. 

And Hu Yuexin was sprinting to it like there was no tomorrow!

"Don't! You're going to kill yourself! You idiot!" With his eyes wide open, trying to intercept, Virus dashed at her using all his strength. Of course, the target of his concern was Hu Yuexin's body rather than the soul occupying it.