"How is this possible? Dad is actually losing ground!"
The members of the Whitebeard Pirates, watching as Whitebeard struggled against Li Yuan, were all shocked and unable to believe what they were seeing. They had always revered Whitebeard as the strongest man in the world.
Whether it was Li Yuan or Gold Lion, they believed that neither of them was a match for their father. If not for their own shortcomings, Whitebeard's crew would have been the most powerful pirate crew in the world.
But reality had dealt them a harsh blow. From the start of the fight, Whitebeard had been continuously forced onto the back foot by Li Yuan.
If things continued like this, their invincible father could lose.
This was a devastating blow to the Whitebeard Pirates!
"No, dad is the strongest! He hasn't even used his Devil Fruit awakening power yet!"
"Li Yuan isn't a Devil Fruit user. This is all he can do. Once dad uses his awakened Gura Gura no Mi, he'll definitely turn the tables and defeat Li Yuan!"
Marco clenched his fists and shouted loudly to motivate himself, and also to calm the members of the Whitebeard Pirates, hoping to strengthen their resolve.
"That's right, dad is the strongest! The awakened Devil Fruit power is something Li Yuan can't contend with!"
Hearing Marco's words, the Whitebeard Pirates began to suppress their worries and supported the belief that their father could win!
"Hahaha, Li Yuan is really strong. Even Whitebeard is being pushed back by him. As expected, Haki is the ultimate force that surpasses everything!"
Kaido laughed as he saw Whitebeard being continuously driven back by Li Yuan.
"Hahaha, Li Yuan's strength is truly remarkable. But Whitebeard, you should be holding back, right? Your Gura Gura no Mi should have awakened, right? I'm looking forward to seeing if your awakened power can surpass mine!"
Gold Lion laughed, his confidence boosted by his own awakened abilities.
"This is dad's full strength in swordsmanship? It's so strong! Three types of sword intent perfectly fused together, bringing out the pinnacle of swordsmanship!"
"I'm nowhere near as skilled as dad in sword intent. No, even just one of those sword intents, I'm far from reaching that level. Let alone the power of three fused together!"
Gai Nie, along with Li Yuan's children, was watching the battle between Li Yuan and Whitebeard. None of them could contain their curiosity about just how strong Li Yuan really was when going all out!
"Is this the strength of the world's greatest swordsman? And the strength of the world's strongest man? I'm still far from it!"
"One day, I'll wield my sword and aim for the title of the world's greatest!"
Hawkeye Mihawk, watching Li Yuan and Whitebeard fight on the island, felt a surge of excitement and fighting spirit. His eyes sparkled with newfound determination!
Once again, after a direct clash of swords, even with Whitebeard using all his power, he still couldn't resist the immense strength behind Li Yuan's blade and was pushed back by over a hundred meters.
They had fought countless exchanges up until this point, and each time, Whitebeard was the one being pushed back.
"Whitebeard, your strength should be more than this. Show me everything you've got, or you won't have another chance!"
Li Yuan said seriously.
As the battle raged on, a special energy continued to build within Li Yuan's body, causing his skin to gradually turn red. This was a sign of the accumulated power from his King's Fist!
"Gulalala, you want me to go all out? Then let's see if you can force my full power!"
Whitebeard remained stubborn, continuing to charge toward Li Yuan with Murakumogiri in hand.
However, as Whitebeard advanced, he used the power of his Devil Fruit, and with a burst of speed, he vanished from Li Yuan's sight.
Even Li Yuan's Observation Haki, which covered the battlefield in all directions, couldn't catch any trace of Whitebeard.
"Observation Kill?"
At this moment, Li Yuan understood. Whitebeard had also mastered the technique of "Observation Kill"—an advanced application of Conqueror's Haki.
"But Observation Kill is something I've already figured out!"
Li Yuan thought to himself.
At the same time, a special frequency of ultrasonic waves radiated from Li Yuan, quickly locating Whitebeard's presence.
In an instant, Li Yuan, holding his Seven Star Sword, turned to his left and slashed backward!
"Clang!!!"
Whitebeard's Murakumogiri was perfectly blocked, and with a surge of power, Li Yuan once again sent Whitebeard flying back by over a hundred meters.
"I didn't expect this move of yours to fail against me!"
Whitebeard said gravely.
Continuously being pushed back by Li Yuan's immense power, Whitebeard had been slightly injured each time. These injuries accumulated, and once they reached a certain threshold, they would explode into more serious damage.
He had originally hoped that "Observation Kill" would turn the tide of the battle, but to his surprise, Li Yuan had found a way to counter it!
What Whitebeard didn't realize was that once Li Yuan mastered "Observation Kill," he immediately focused on figuring out how to counter it.
Knowing the power of the technique, he didn't want someone who could use it to take advantage of him.
After some testing, Li Yuan discovered that "Observation Kill" could easily be countered.
Since Observation Haki couldn't locate the enemy's position, he simply needed to use other abilities to determine the enemy's location.
For those without a Devil Fruit, cracking "Observation Kill" would be difficult. But for Li Yuan, a Devil Fruit user, it was quite simple.
He used ultrasonic waves for full-range coverage, and while "Observation Kill" could block Observation Haki, it couldn't block the ultrasonic waves. By scanning the area, he could pinpoint the location of his opponent.
"Hahaha, Whitebeard, let's see if this move works against you!"
With that, Li Yuan's feet erupted with power, and the force propelled him to a speed beyond what Whitebeard could track. In an instant, Li Yuan vanished from Whitebeard's sight, and even his Observation Haki couldn't lock onto his position!
"Observation Kill!"
Whitebeard immediately realized that Li Yuan had used the same technique he had just employed. He knew exactly what it was capable of.
If Li Yuan were to strike directly, Whitebeard's immense physical strength and Gura Gura no Mi wouldn't be enough to stop the sword.
"Awakened Gura Gura no Mi—Resonance!!"
Whitebeard had originally intended to keep observing Li Yuan's strength, knowing full well that Li Yuan had a method to temporarily increase his power.
That method, he suspected, was Life Return, which, although brief, was terrifyingly powerful.
Whitebeard also knew that when Li Yuan had defeated numerous top-tier fighters in the past, he had relied on this short-term power boost.
Now, seeing Li Yuan use Observation Kill, Whitebeard had no choice but to activate the full power of his Devil Fruit.
A white mist enveloped his body, and with a stomp of his foot, a tiny tremor sent waves of resonance power through the ground, spreading for miles.
Whitebeard became the epicenter of this powerful vibration, sending shockwaves in all directions.
"Observation Kill is ineffective!"
As soon as Li Yuan saw Whitebeard activate the full power of his Devil Fruit, he knew his "Observation Kill" technique had been neutralized.
Suddenly, Whitebeard's eyes flashed with blood-red lightning, his muscles swelling as he gripped Murakumogiri. All of his awakened Gura Gura no Mi power, combined with Conqueror's Haki, surged into his blade.
Even before Murakumogiri was swung, the sheer power radiating from the blade caused the space around them to fracture like a spider's web.
"Annihilation!"
Locking onto Li Yuan's position, Whitebeard turned and charged, veins bulging as he swung Murakumogiri with all his might.
In an instant, the space around him shattered like glass, and the entire world seemed to tremble as if it was on the verge of annihilation!
Whitebeard's reputation as the man capable of destroying the world was no exaggeration. His awakened Devil Fruit power had shown the ability to shatter space itself.
Theoretically, if this power continued to grow, the resulting space collapse would trigger massive earthquakes, tsunamis, and natural disasters, bringing the world to its knees!
"Life Return—Extreme Limb Enhancement!!"
"Blood Boiling!!"
Faced with Whitebeard's awakened power, Li Yuan didn't dare be careless. He activated all of his augmentation abilities except for his Vampire Beast Form.
His muscles exploded to their maximum capacity, and his blood circulated rapidly, turning his skin an intense red.
"Three-in-one Secret Art—Conqueror's Wrath—King's Dominion!"
With a single thought, the air around Li Yuan began to converge into a whirlwind of energy, compressing into his Seven Star Sword.
All of his sword intent, Haki, ultrasonic waves, blood power, and the special energy within him gathered in that one blade.
Li Yuan had reached the peak of his abilities. With a single slash, all of this power merged into a shockwave of unprecedented strength.
The shockwave shattered the ground, cracked the sky, and even tore apart the very fabric of space itself.
"Gulalala, Li Yuan, take my strongest strike!"
"Hahahaha, Whitebeard, you're the one who will be defeated!"
In that moment, two world-shattering forces collided, and the sky was filled with blinding white light.
In the next instant, cracks in space spread out rapidly, resembling a spider's web. Wherever the cracks spread, the earth tore apart like soft tofu, and waves of air and seawater flooded into the rifts. Even the island and its surrounding magnetic fields were thrown into chaos.
The two forces were so overwhelming that the island couldn't contain their collision. What was once a beautiful island now crumbled, sinking into the ocean.
The surrounding seas erupted with intense turbulence, sending massive waves hundreds of meters high crashing outward.
(End of Chapter)