Kicking off the ground, and leaping into the air at the same time, Long Hua and the white figure clashes above the dark crater.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* within the span of a single second, more than 50 moves are exchanged between the two, and as the white figure begins to fall—
"Hm?"
The hems of their trench coat—extend in length, and lunges towards Long Hua like blades.
*Boom!!!* towards the incoming trench coat tails, Long Hua strikes a punch—causing their movements to halt, while sending the white figure crashing towards the crater's center.
"…"
As the white figure pushes themselves off the charred earth, Long Hua lands, and looks to the former coldly.
"…"
Straightening their back, the eight hems of the individual's trench coat split themselves off into a scalp numbing amount of ribbon-sized blades.
"…"
Narrowing his eyes, the body outlines of the white figure at this time, cause a vague image to appear on Long Hua's mind.
However, giving Long Hua no time to dive deeper into the mysterious image, the white figure lunges their ribbon-like blades forward!
"…"
Drawing Shui Yue, Long Hua slashes with it—to fill the space between the white figure and himself with flower petals.
*Klang! Klang! Klang!* hit by the flower petals, the ribbon blades' movement trajectories would shift, and by the time they reached anywhere near Long Hua, they would have long lost the momentum behind their lunge—making it easier for Long Hua to evade them.
Kicking off the ground, Long Hua dashes over to the white figure in an arc trajectory, and upon closing in on the latter—
"Moons Dwelling within the Lake."
Manifesting a bloodstained moon behind the white figure, Long Hua slashes with Shui Yue—causing the moon to detonate into numerous threads of black and white sword Qi, which pincers in on the former's head!
"…"
As the hood of the white figure is torn apart—
"…!"
Long Hua widens his eyes—to see the white figure possessing the same face as himself, but with pale skin and red eyes.
"Surnamed Long?"
"Ah?"
Similarly, the other weapon spirits are just as surprised to see "Long Hua" beneath the hood.
"…"
Turning towards the actual Long Hua, the white figure throws a punch, which lands squarely onto the former's chest, and throws them backwards.
(What kind of situation is this?! Why is there an imposter of you?)
"Hmph!"
Raising a cold snort, Long Hua stomps his foot down, and slides to a halt.
But even before Long Hua can straighten his back, the white figure approaches once more, and simultaneously, the latter strikes with their ribbon blades along with their fists!
*Klang! Klang! Klang!* evading or blocking off the attacks, Long Hua quickly turns his head in thought—in an attempt to figure out this white figure's true identity.
...…
"Ah? What kind of situation is this?"
"A weapon spirit posing as senior?"
Situating themselves at a distance, behind a building, are Qing Ming Yang, Lin Yu Heng, Yao Ying, and Tian Cheng—who are all just as lost as Long Hua, towards this situation that had abruptly presented itself.
"…Doesn't this mean that he won't be able to use his actual identity for the duration of this excavation?"
Towards Yao Ying's question, Tian Cheng replies—
"Or after the excavation for that matter…"
...…
"Hua?"
Seeing two Long Huas, Zhui Yun can't help but think that the blue-robed practitioner might be someone else entirely.
Beside Zhui Yun, Qing Yue thought—
(What's going on? There's two surnamed Longs?)
...…
Acting like the commentator of a live wrestling match, Lin Song says—
"Unbelievable, the white-coated Sinner is actually pushing the Immortal back! Could he be the hero that we're waiting for?!"
Compared to Lin Song, who is quite into this, Nian Yao Yao blinks her eyes in confusion, while thinking—
(What's going on? Is that practitioner not Ah Long?)
Due to the recognition inhibiting mask, not a single person is able to see the actual Long Hua's face; hence—
(If that practitioner isn't Ah Long, then who are they? …Are they an actual practitioner from the Ling Yuan family? In that case…)
Recalling the individuals, who had accompanied the blue-robed practitioner initially, Nian Yao Yao originally thought that they were probably something that were akin to the doll that accompanied Long Hua regularly, but if they were actual practitioners instead—
(…Let's assume that that practitioner is Ah Long, for him to obtain outside help from other practitioners, doesn't this mean that he's...…? Is he planning something with that white-haired guy from the hotel incident?)
As a means to maintain their relationship's tranquility, Nian Yao Yao hadn't bothered to probe Long Hua on what he and Bai Wen had discussed after the hotel incident—believing that it was safe, so long as their contract continued to stand.
However, facing the current situation, and looking back into the past, a feeling of bad premonition and regret manifests in Nian Yao Yao's heart—realizing the possibilities of something major occurring during this excavation.
(If he and that white-haired guy really are planning something together during this excavation—regardless of what it is, then… Going forward, I cannot be naïve enough to continue to treat him as an ally. But with that contract in place… Tch, I can only shut one eye to his misdeeds—at least for the time being.)
Settling on this decision, the question of which Long Hua is real no longer matters to Nian Yao Yao, as she has decided to treat both with wariness.
...…
Not suspecting anything, Shao Tianming mutters—
"Just what is this surnamed Long's Relic? It's able to take on so many forms…"
"If there's anyone that can defeat this thing, maybe it's the ancestor alone?"
"…"
Towards Chen Lan's remark, Wang Yongning frowns, and replies—
"Hard to say. I feel like that Immortal might still be holding back."
...…
As the real Long Hua throws out an Immortal Suppression Palm, the fake one lunges their ribbon blades forward.
Impaling the Immortal Suppression Palm, the fake Long Hua tears it apart—using the ribbon blades, prior to closing the distance to strike!
"Uh?"
Just as the real Long Hua thought to charge forth as well, the sleeve of the fake's coat transforms into a scythe-like blade, which closes the remaining bit of distance between them!
"He has him!"
"Kill that Immortal!"
As the fake lunges the end of its scythe towards the real Long Hua's head, the latter unleashes the power of the metal element—releasing a magnetic force of energy, which slows the movements of the incoming scythe!
Just as the scythe is less than a few inches away from impaling him through the head, the real Long Hua lands a punch onto the side of the scythe—causing the blade to shatter!
"…"
Having already expected this, the fake Long Hua takes aim with its left hand, and lunges a second blade towards the genuine article!