In the throne room of the distant Astral Empire, the Astral Emperor watched Zeras' fate unfold as he peered into the divine realm through the spatial portal he had created.
Crunch!
Lilian's foot slammed down onto Zeras' skull, shattering it, ending his life abruptly. The Astral Emperor's face remained calm and stoic, as if Zeras' death meant nothing to him. However, his fists were clenched tightly, trembling ever so slightly, betraying his true emotions.
"Hmph," the Asura snorted. "All those resources I showered you with, and this is all your son could amount to. A complete waste," he scoffed, mocking Zeras in front of the Astral Emperor.
The Astral Emperor's expression remained calm, although his trembling hands tightened a bit more.
"That girl, however, is not bad at all," the Asura said, bestowing rare praise onto Lilian.
The Astral Emperor's gaze narrowed ever so slightly, his eyes locked onto Lilian, who stared defiantly into the spatial portal separating the two of them.
"Enjoy your freedom, daughter," he said coldly, "for it is soon coming to an end."
…
Gasps of shock echoed all throughout the Divine City, which had fallen silent in an instant as Lilian unleashed her fatal blow. There had been expressions of wonder, excitement, envy, and surprise as all watched battle between the two pinnacle geniuses of the Astral Empire, but now only shock remained on their faces.
They were all stunned to their cores. Zeras, the most famous young genius in the world, had been slaughtered, and by his sister no less. The crowd had assumed Lilian's request for a battle to the death had been nothing but a joke, but her actions proved her desires to end Zeras' life.
Some recovered from their shock and then grinned, happy that a genius of a different power was felled. Others felt pity that a genius of Zeras' caliber was no longer part of the world. There were a million different emotions being felt at the moment.
A million gazes were cast towards the Astral Empire camp, which was stunned silent as well. After a few moments, those belonging to the Astral Empire quickly left the city, leaving in the direction of the distant Astral Empire.
"Did…did that really just happen?" a stunned voice asked.
"It did. Zeras was just killed before our very eyes," another replied, almost unable to believe their own words.
"And that girl, Lilian, the Goddess of Death. Her talent and combat prowess is beyond anything I thought possible. Is she even from this world?" another stunned spectator asked.
No one had an answer, but they would not have been surprised if Lilian was a god descended onto their world from higher plane, if such a thing existed.
"Surely she's going to win, right?" another asked curiously. "Afterall, how can anyone be stronger than her in the same realm? That's impossible, right?"
The question remained unanswered, as shocked retaliation surged through all those nearby. They thought of Lilian and her impossible combat prowess, and then realized she was only ranked third of all the participants based on the trials they had completed.
And at the very top was John, who placed first in each and every single trial. How was such an accomplishment possible when he had to compete against someone like Lilian. At this moment, the crowd realized that their understandings of what was possible in the cultivation world might be shattered again.
"As expected of one possessing an Empyrean Dao Name," the Grand Abbot said calmly. He lifted a cup of tea that was placed before him and took a sip, and then placed it back down on the tray before him.
The cup of tea emanated a profound and heavenly aura, and his eyes lit up with delight with each sip, a rare sign of emotion on the Grand Abbot's face.
"I always wondered just how strong a possessor of an Empyrean Dao Name could get, and now that question had been answered," Prior Hishen replied, and then took a sip of tea as well. "The Empyrean reputation is well deserved."
"That it is," the Grand Abbot agreed. "That it is."
…
Lilian's gaze shifted away from the portal high above her head as the artifact spirit golem suddenly appeared in the arena before her. Her transformation faded away, returning her to her regular state. Her white and gold dress appeared on her once again.
The golem studied Zeras' mutilated body for a moment, and then looked at Lilian.
"You made it so that he was unable to voice his surrender," the golem said to her. His monotone voice made it so that it was impossible to guess what he was thinking, or feeling, if an artifact spirit was capable of emotions in the first place.
"So? Is that against the rules?" Lilian asked indifferently. While her voice was indifferent, it was also raspy and soft. She felt beyond fatigued and exhausted, and was on the brink of collapse.
"It is not," the golem replied after a short pause. "You have an hour to rest before the next battle," it said to her as it enveloped her with the powers of the healing formation. Lilian felt vibrant life energy flood into her body, slowly restoring her spent Qi reserves as well as healing the damage she had sustained.
Even she felt impressed by the profundity of the formation. She had been about to collapse from her fatigue and injuries, but the formation had made it possible for her to remain conscious. While it healed her injuries and restored her Qi as best it could, it didn't do much for her aching soul, which had been pushed to the limit as she had utilized her transformation. Healing a soul was much harder than healing a body.
Lilian nodded towards the golem, and then flashed out of the arena. She appeared next to John in the stands the next instant. The two stared at each other silently. John studied his master closely, and then smiled warmly at her, happy that his master had not only won, but had emerged without any serious injury.
"Congratulations!"
