Seeing the cleaver lunging towards him, Ye Ling didn't dare to be careless and immediately dodged to the side.
The impostor Nuoying's attack missed, and with another scream, she swung the knife horizontally, slashing at Ye Ling again.
"What in the world is this thing?"
Before Ye Ling could figure out the origin of the impostor Nuoying, he didn't dare to meet her attacks head-on. He quickly retreated, evading the impostor Nuoying's slashes.
The impostor Nuoying, having missed twice, seemed to become hysterical. She let out another piercing scream and then flew out of the distorted space, lunging at Ye Ling.
As the impostor Nuoying lunged, Ye Ling finally noticed that her lower body was a mass of black mist, making her appear like a phantom generated by this interlayer space.
"Could it be that this interlayer space can read my memories and create illusions based on them?"
Ye Ling narrowed his eyes as he observed the impostor Nuoying's appearance. He then laid down runes around her, attempting to block her path.
The impostor Nuoying seemed unfazed by the runes and charged straight into them!
*Bang!!!*
Ye Ling's runes lit up with a dazzling glow, and the impostor Nuoying was repelled by the rune wall.
Ye Ling pressed his advantage. The moment the impostor Nuoying lost her balance, he immediately wove another large net of runes, binding her.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
The impostor Nuoying struggled with all her might, her screams tearing through the air. She thrashed within the rune net, black mist sizzling from her body, on the verge of being completely annihilated by the runes.
However, just as Ye Ling thought he could use his runes to eliminate the impostor Nuoying, a large amount of black mist began to emanate from her.
To Ye Ling's surprise, the sizzling black mist from the impostor Nuoying began to slowly corrode his runes. Then, the black mist that had corroded the runes condensed around the impostor Nuoying into black runes identical to Ye Ling's.
Wherever those black runes existed, Ye Ling's runes became completely ineffective!
"That thing... is learning my runes?" Ye Ling's eyes instantly became solemn at the appearance of the black runes.
Although the black runes condensed around the impostor Nuoying were few in number and not on the same scale as the runes Ye Ling commanded, the black mist was continuously corroding Ye Ling's runes, and the types of black runes around the impostor Nuoying were also increasing.
If this continued at this pace, it was estimated that the impostor Nuoying would soon learn rune techniques!
Realizing that continuing to use runes would only strengthen the enemy, Ye Ling immediately withdrew the runes that had bound the impostor Nuoying.
Regaining her freedom, the impostor Nuoying screamed again and charged at Ye Ling with the cleaver.
However, unlike before, the impostor Nuoying now had the enhancement of runes, her strength and speed significantly increased!
"Looks like I need to get serious!"
Seeing the impostor Nuoying charging, Ye Ling's gaze sharpened. This time, he no longer dodged. He condensed a demonic sword in his hand and, with a single strike, severed the impostor Nuoying's cleaver-wielding hand. He then swung his sword again, decapitating the impostor Nuoying.
Although Ye Ling rarely used his sword after mastering runes and the Devouring Domain, his mastery of swordsmanship was already divine. Furthermore, as he had become an ultimate powerhouse, his strength, speed, and precision had all undergone qualitative changes.
The impostor Nuoying's swordsmanship was utterly unskilled, relying purely on strength and speed. It wasn't difficult for Ye Ling to decapitate her.
However...
What Ye Ling hadn't expected was that decapitating Nuoying would actually accelerate the deterioration of the situation!
Tendrils of black mist emerged from the impostor Nuoying's severed hand and neck. Then, the hand reformed, no longer holding a cleaver but a demonic sword identical to Ye Ling's!
"This is!"
Ye Ling's pupils contracted sharply as he saw the impostor Nuoying condense an identical demonic sword. A bad premonition surged through his heart!
In the next moment, the impostor Nuoying unleashed the same swordsmanship as Ye Ling, thrusting towards him!
Suddenly facing his own moves, Ye Ling could only parry in a flurry, barely evading the impostor Nuoying's tempestuous assault.
During the sword fight, Ye Ling used the force of the clash to create distance between himself and the impostor Nuoying. He watched from afar as the headless impostor Nuoying's neck wound continuously leaked black mist.
"This thing has such strong learning ability? What do I need to do to kill it?"
As Ye Ling pondered a countermeasure, the black mist emanating from the impostor Nuoying's neck began to replicate a new head for her.
However, this time, the face formed by the black mist was identical to Ye Ling's!
"This thing has become me?"
Seeing the impostor Nuoying grow a head identical to his own, Ye Ling's heart was thrown into turmoil!
If this continued, that thing would likely steal everything Ye Ling possessed!
However, the impostor Nuoying's face, which had become identical to Ye Ling's, soon reverted to Nuoying's face. It then transformed into an evil ghost's visage. It then performed a sword flourish, pointed its sword at Ye Ling, and chuckled, "Ye Ling, let's spar with swords again!"
"I don't have time for this!" Ye Ling roared. He ignored the impostor Nuoying and fled into the distance.
Ye Ling was no fool. He knew very well that without understanding the impostor Nuoying's weakness, all his techniques would be copied. Fighting like this would only make the enemy stronger.
In such a situation, timely disengagement was the wisest course of action.
However, as Ye Ling chose to retreat, a large number of black spikes condensed within the interlayer space and shot towards Ye Ling at extreme speed!
Ye Ling was forced to divert his attention to deal with the black spikes, which significantly slowed him down!
The pursuing impostor Nuoying seemed to be learning and copying again. The runes Ye Ling used to defend against the black spikes were also being learned by the impostor Nuoying!
"Ye Ling, take this sword!"
The impostor Nuoying thrust her sword at Ye Ling's back. Because the black spikes had slowed him down, Ye Ling could only reluctantly parry the impostor Nuoying's attack!
*Clang clang clang!*
In an instant, the impostor Nuoying and Ye Ling exchanged hundreds of blows, her swordsmanship becoming increasingly refined.
"Damn it... I've run into a monster today! Let's see how much you can learn!"
Seeing the impostor Nuoying's swordsmanship about to catch up to his own, Ye Ling made up his mind. He transformed his demonic sword into a long spear, and the impostor Nuoying, seemingly unfamiliar with how to deal with a spear, was pierced with dozens of holes by Ye Ling's demonic spear!
However, large amounts of black mist emerged from the holes in the impostor Nuoying's body, repairing all the wounds. Subsequently, the demonic sword in her hand transformed into a long spear identical to Ye Ling's, and she counterattacked with the same spear technique.
Ye Ling had anticipated this. As the impostor Nuoying's sword transformed into a spear, Ye Ling changed his spear into a saber and once again chopped the impostor Nuoying into a human-shaped log. He then kicked her away.
"Although my other martial arts are not as good as my swordsmanship, whether it's on Earth, the Eastern Xuan Continent, the Chaos Battlefield, or the Origin Upper Realm, I have read countless ancient texts. I am proficient in all eighteen martial arts. Let's see... how much you, a copycat, can learn from me!"
Seeing the impostor Nuoying begin to wield a saber again, Ye Ling transformed his saber into a giant axe and swung it at the impostor Nuoying once more!