Chapter 004: Conflict

With a loud “boom,” the small fireball collided with that combat energy. Amidst the explosion, centered at the point where the two forces met, an invisible shockwave scattered everything within ten meters.
Caught in this shockwave, Du Fan was lifted into the air like a feather. At the last moment, he used a wind-based spell called “Light Feather Technique.” Leveraging the force of Aldas’s attack, he managed to avoid that fatal strike.
Once in the air, Du Fan slowly took out several more magic scrolls and attached them to his body. These scrolls provided various supportive effects, boosting one’s abilities by a few points at least. However, they were extremely expensive. Aside from Du Fan, few people in this world could afford such extravagance.
After attaching the last magic scroll, a multicolored magic shield slowly rotated around his entire body. Only after finishing this did he coldly glance at Aldas not far away and say, “Oh my, Young Master Aldas, did you really intend to take my life just now?”
Aldas sighed slowly and said, “Du Fan, you’re quite good—really good. You even managed to withstand my attack. But I wonder how many magic scrolls you have? From just now until now, you’ve relied on them to fight me. If those scrolls run out, how many of my attacks do you think you can block? One? Or two?”
Du Fan smiled bitterly. Although he still had quite a few magic scrolls left, they certainly weren’t abundant.
He slowly spread his hands, holding more than a dozen scrolls between his fingers—each as beautiful as the most precious artwork.
“Even with these magic scrolls, you can’t stop me from killing you,” Aldas said with arrogant confidence. His face remained handsome, but it carried a hint of ferocity. “They might buy you some time, but they won’t save your life.”
Du Fan suddenly sighed and said, “Young Master Aldas, it’s never been these magic scrolls that have saved my life… it’s time. If I’m not wrong, it’s almost time. It depends on whether you want to kill me first… or leave first…”
Aldas frowned and asked, “Du Fan, what do you mean?”

Du Fan gave a strange smile and said, “What exactly does it mean? Who knows that? But… I think you’ll find out soon, Young Master Aldas… Only, will you regret it by then?”
“Still boring nonsense!” Aldas licked his lips. “I’d better kill you first!”
With that, Aldas let out a fierce roar. Waves of combat energy radiated from his entire body, and his overwhelming pressure was like a heavy hammer striking everyone’s heart.
Unfortunately, Aldas miscalculated. No matter how much stronger his pressure became, it had no effect on Du Fan, whose consciousness harbored a divine origin.
Previously, Aldas had been like a lion in front of Du Fan, but now, even if he were a lion, he was like one with a sick stomach and weak limbs.
Seeing Du Fan’s still mocking expression, a hint of surprise appeared on Aldas’s beautiful face. Though fleeting, it was quickly noticed by Du Fan.
His expression turned grim as he waved his right hand again. The long sword in his hand suddenly grew several feet long, yet it didn’t feel heavy at all in his grip. Suddenly, with a cold laugh, Aldas swung the sword at Du Fan. The blazing combat energy almost blew away the air around them. Du Fan felt an invisible pressure pushing him toward Aldas.
It seemed as though it wasn’t Aldas swinging the sword at Du Fan, but rather Du Fan rushing toward the sword himself.
Du Fan’s heart trembled. In an instant, he realized that Aldas’s sword strike had already reached the threshold of the Saint realm. But after all, he was only at the peak of level eight—how could he possibly reach that threshold? Yet, there was no doubt that such power did influence the rules of the Saint realm!
Facing this attack, Du Fan had no way to avoid it. Gritting his teeth, he threw out more than a dozen magic scrolls. Fortunately, he had prepared in advance—these scrolls all contained the fire-based spell “Explosion.”
One after another, explosive sounds rang out, and red-and-white lotus flowers kept blooming. But Aldas’s sword strike wasn’t so easy to deal with!
With a whoosh, a white light shot out from the red lotuses, like the dawn breaking through clouds. Before Du Fan could react, it struck his magic shields, causing them to shatter into pieces with a crisp sound.

Du Fan wasn’t quick enough to dodge, and as he grabbed the white light, it struck his chest with force. His expression changed instantly, and with a “waah” sound, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Ordas sneered from mid-air. Seeing that the first strike had worked, he shook his right hand slightly again, unleashing an astonishing surge of power. With just one more strike, Du Fan’s life would be over!
But at that moment, Ordas’ expression suddenly changed. The half-formed sword of combat energy vanished, and he gave Du Fan a strange look as his palms began to tremble slightly.
Du Fan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His body still swayed slightly, but he sneered and said, “Young Master Ordas, do you really think I, Du Fan, am that easy to bully?”
At the last moment, Du Fan realized that his Explosion Technique couldn’t block Ordas’ sword strike, so he deliberately controlled the timing of the explosion, detonating it at the final second. Caught off guard, Ordas also suffered some damage.
Ordas laughed heartily and said, “Good. In all these years, few people have managed to survive more than ten moves against me, Ordas. You haven’t disappointed me. I begin to understand why Emily fell to your hands back then.”
Du Fan replied calmly, “Is Ordas planning to settle both old and new grudges at once?”
“No,” Ordas sneered. “I just want you to die knowing why.”
Du Fan sighed lightly and said, “You can wait until you kill me to say that, right?”
Ordas sneered again. This time, he didn’t even use combat energy. He rushed at Du Fan head-on. Du Fan couldn’t dodge in time and could only shoot out a small fireball, which was instantly split in two by Ordas.
In just half a second, Du Fan understood Ordas’ intentions. He stopped gathering power and focused on speed, not even giving himself time to pull out his magic scroll.
Gritting his teeth, Du Fan had no time to retrieve his magic scroll. He simply drew the long sword at his waist with his right hand and began fighting swiftly against Ordas. Both of them relied solely on speed, with no chance to use even a trace of combat energy. In such a life-or-death struggle between strong opponents, it was hard to say whether it was progress or regression.
Every time their swords touched, sparks flew, as if both of them were enveloped in flames.

But moments later, Du Fan began to feel numbness in his hands and feet. His cultivation relied almost entirely on trickery—how could his mere physical strength compare to that of Aldas? Without the enhancement from auxiliary magic, he would have lost long ago. Even so, he was sweating profusely. Aldas had seen through his greatest weakness. Fighting in this way might not necessarily be enough to take Du Fan’s life, but it would certainly deny him any chance to use trickery.

It was a battle that, though ordinary, was extremely dangerous.

Just then, a long laugh suddenly rang out.

A voice cold to the extreme let out a low sigh and said, “The two of you must have some misunderstanding, right? Fighting in such a situation? Both of you are young heroes of the Gavin Empire. If either of you gets slightly injured, it would be a loss for our empire. If there really is some issue between you, please consider my, Joshua’s, face. If you really must determine a winner, this is a hunt—let me be a witness. Why not change your method so as not to damage your relationship?”

The swords of Du Fan and Aldas’ men both stopped. They both knew that since Joshua had arrived, even if they really wanted to continue fighting, it was no longer possible.

Du Fan was secretly relieved, while Aldas was filled with frustration. He had been determined to take Du Fan’s life, only to be stopped outright—how could he not be angry?

Yet Aldas was after all an extraordinary person. He stepped back a few steps in midair and slowly landed on the ground, declaring loudly, “Lord Joshua is joking. Master Du Fan and I were merely admiring each other’s skills and couldn’t help but spar a bit—there’s no other meaning to it!”

Standing on the uneven ground, it was obvious to anyone that the two had just fought for their lives. But Joshua didn’t point that out either. Instead, he smiled softly and said, “That’s good! That’s good! Master Allen and I thought some misunderstanding had occurred. Hahaha…”

As he spoke, Joshua casually waved his hand, and a stream of combat energy shot out from his palm, cutting through the air instantly.

Following that, horse hooves and shouts came from all directions—clearly soldiers from the Northern Legion.

Du Fan realized that they could no longer continue fighting. He also had no intention of continuing, so he stepped back a few steps and slowly descended from the air.