The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 423 Struggle of the Heart (Part 1)

Within the mind.

Roaring sounds, sonic booms, and flying sand and seawater continuously sprayed out from the battle zone.

Li Miao attempted a slam to strike with his elbow, but it was blocked before it reached the halfway point, his movement abruptly halted. At the same time, An Qisheng's claws instantly scrambled onto his shoulder, the fingertips digging into his flesh.

If it were an ordinary celestial being, they would probably have to find an opportunity to break the attack. But Li Miao obviously wouldn't—he directly took advantage of the moment when his body was forcibly stopped, and slammed another punch into An Qisheng's chest!

Bang!
scoff-

An Qisheng took several steps back.

Large chunks of flesh were torn from Li Miao's shoulder, and dark seawater flowed from the wound, dripping onto the ground and seeping into the sand.

The two looked at each other from afar.

An Qisheng raised his hand, and the flesh in his hand, after leaving Li Miao's body, gradually melted and collapsed like snowflakes, finally turning into a pool of black water in his palm.

"I see."

An Qisheng shook his palm, looking at the black liquid in his hand, and said.

"Your profound insight is of this nature."

"Fierce and cruel, growing stronger with each injury. Absolute control over one's own body, a power that will not diminish no matter what kind of injury one suffers, until the moment of death."

"No wonder you used the same suicidal strategy as Wang Gongchang to deal with me. Even though you didn't have any protective inner energy and were much more seriously injured than me, you still managed to force me to retreat."

"pity--"

Li Miao raised an eyebrow.

"What's a pity?"

"Unfortunately, this is only in the mind's eye."

An Qisheng said expressionlessly.

"In the thousand years of Yingzhou's heritage, do you know how many people I have clashed with in my mind?"

He raised one hand, spread his fingers, and shook it.

"No fewer than five fingers' worth."

"There are three who have defeated me in reality and forced me to fight them in my mind. One of them, Xuanlan, is far more troublesome than you."

"But in the end, I still won."

"Let's put it another way—"

An Qisheng suddenly raised his hand.

He actually put the black liquid formed from Li Miao's flesh and blood into his mouth and swallowed it.

"Your style of play, your profound understanding, is the weakest and most crippled form of the battle of mind... Your defeat is inevitable."

He swallowed.

The protective aura surrounding him, which had left its mark on the beach, suddenly expanded outward by an inch.

Li Miao looked up and sneered.

"I see."

"The essence of the struggle between mental images is mutual devouring."

An Qisheng had made no attempt to conceal the essence of the conflict between their minds, and although he hadn't explicitly stated it, Li Miao naturally understood.

Both Li Miao and An Qisheng are manifestations of their mental images, unrestricted by flesh and blood. No matter how they fight, even if their heads are shattered, they will immediately regenerate.

Li Miao's profound insight is useless here.

As for how to determine the winner in the battle of minds... just like An Qisheng devoured Li Miao's flesh and blood, only by completely consuming and assimilating the other party can this battle finally be decided.

Li Miao's ferocious fighting style, which involved trading injuries for injuries, was the foundation of his repeated victories over strong opponents, but now it has become a burden.

No wonder An Qisheng was so certain that Li Miao would lose.

After swallowing the black liquid, An Qisheng suddenly opened his eyes, stared intently at Li Miao, and said in a deep voice.

"Zhu Zai".

"Li Xiaosi".

"This is the name you care about most."

“I can feel your memories. I can feel the way you felt when you faced Zhu Zai, wanting to get close but instinctively resisting it with a playful attitude.”

“But something’s strange.” An Qisheng frowned in confusion.

Why didn't I feel your emotions from before you were eight years old?

"It's like, before a certain point in time, you completely disappeared. And then a new you suddenly replaced him."

As he spoke, a look of joy suddenly appeared on his face.

An Qisheng looked at Li Miao with great joy.

Do you remember anything from before you were eight years old?

"No, no, you won't answer me... Fine, as long as I devour more of you, I'll naturally find out the answer."

Before he could finish speaking, he flicked his hand.

woo-

Without any visible process, a long flute appeared in his hand, about thirteen inches long, made of jade, with a sharp, broken end at the front that emitted a cold light. The tail, however, extended from his palm, its base embedded in flesh.

It resembles the mouthparts of a mosquito.

It seems that after this thing is inserted into the body, there will be no need to swallow the flesh and blood with the mouth anymore; instead, it will flow directly into An Qisheng's body.

This was a tactic he devised when he was engaging in a battle of wits with others.

Li Miao raised an eyebrow and said with great interest.

"Oh?"

"Is it possible to create things at will within this mental imagery?"

"That would be interesting."

He raised his hands and closed his eyes briefly.

The skin on his fist began to writhe as if alive. The skin from his finger bones to his fist slowly cracked, revealing four grotesque fissures, but no black fluid flowed out.

The next moment, An Qisheng's pupils suddenly contracted.

From the crack on Li Miao's fist, hundreds of tiny, sharp teeth, gleaming with a ferocious cold light, slowly emerged, opening and closing, spewing a foul stench.

At the same time, countless mouths gleaming with cold light slowly split open on his elbows, knees, shoulders, legs, and every other part of his body that could be used for attack.

"What are you doing?"

An Qisheng hesitated.

"Oh, this?"

Li Miao smiled and waved her hand at him.

“Cthulhu, you’ve never heard of him. But since you can grow a long flute, I can naturally grow fists that can tear your flesh apart.”

He smiled and raised his hand to tap his temple.

"Just a tiny bit of imagination."

That's what they say, but the performance that shocked An Qisheng was clearly not as simple as the "imagination" that Li Miao mentioned.

Creating things in one's mind isn't about creating whatever one wants; it requires both clear concepts and deeply ingrained understanding. As for Li Miao's "mouth growing all over his body," Da Shuo probably couldn't think of anyone else like him.

In the next instant, Li Miao appeared in front of An Qisheng.

The sound exploded!

In just a moment, the two exchanged dozens of blows.

Sparks flew as Li Miao raised his hand to slap away the long flute aimed at his face, then with one arm he slipped into An Qisheng's side and flicked him into the air like a spear.

Then he flipped over and swept his leg across the side ribs!
scoff-

What should have been a dull thud as the energy struck his protective aura turned into a piercing screech, like a sharp weapon scraping against metal. An Qisheng's expression changed; his protective aura deformed and rammed into the ground, using the force to propel him backward.

His protective aura shrank by an inch.

The next instant, Li Miao's sinister smile appeared in front of him.

"You old codger, trying to bluff me. You said my Xuanlan is useless here, but yours is no better!"

The leg that he had just brushed against An Qisheng's body had a mouth on it that was constantly opening and closing, as if it were chewing something.

"Nothing exists outside the mind. Everything in the mind is composed of 'nature,' and your protective true energy is the same! The tortoise shell that I couldn't break from the outside is now a burden to you!"

(End of this chapter)