1071 Fourth Layer Battle
Myriad Emperor World, Heavenly Court, War Room:
Wang Wei sat on a new throne, looking at the projection of the war from a formation. He was finally interested when he saw the white ring bursting with the power of death. He ordered the gathering of the bodies of these martial artists as materials for puppets, and the Death Qi was to feed the Genesis Fruit.
The Death Qi was too low in quality despite the high intensity. However, it was different for the Emperor Artifact. It should benefit his body tempering and even aid his Death Dao comprehension.
'Interesting. This war might be more beneficial than I anticipated. Maybe I can lure out some eats and snakes.' Wang Wei looked in the distance, smiled before continuing to pay attention.
...
Tie Gang held a head in his hand with three holes where the eye sockets should be. His tactic for this match was simple but direct. He bombarded his opponent with attacks to pressure him, forcing him to enter a state of extreme focus. The next step was for this martial artist's extreme state to be focused on him until he made a mistake in his visual ability by being too focused on something else.
Tie Gang then took the opportunity or flaw in the latter's visual acumen to rip the third eye from him. Without it, the martial artist's visual prowess drastically decreased so he could take the other two eyes before killing him.
'You were a worthy opponent, and I think I will remember you,' thought Tie Gang, who kept the three eyes in case they were valuable. He looked around for his next victim before noticing a change in the fourth layer.
'Have the Eternals begun to clash? It seems things are heating up,' thought Tie Gang before focusing on his layer. He soon frowned as he detected a powerful enemy approaching. He was immediately on guard as the approaching person raised his alarm bells.
'A first-class Insurgent that is very close to Eternal Class? Now we're talking,' thought Tie Gang, who felt the joy of when he was the Iron Fist Ruler, challenging cultivators all over the world to break his limits and become a Supernatural Realm cultivator.
...
"Things are not going well. We are losing too many Immortal Powerhouses," groaned Lightning Fist. "Have you noticed? These origin cultivators have terrifying battle experiences, and it's all of them." They are martial artists, and their cultivation system is more battle-oriented, and yet, they were being outclassed by their opponents in this field.
"How they fight reminds me of the demon cults," nodded Purple Dragon. The Celestial Demon Cult has a cruel method of training Heaven Chosen. From age ten, their members are gathered in groups of hundreds, sometimes thousands. By the age of 15, only one group member will remain. Then, that member will acquire the title of Sacred Son and begin cultivating with the other survivors for the position of Young Cult Leader.
The final winner in that competition will be designated as the cult's next leader and Heaven Chosen to be fully cultivated for this generation's Heaven Will.
"Is their cultivation system so perfect?" asked Lightning Fist.
"It's indeed a good system, but it should not be the cause of their battle experience," replied Qian Heng. "From how they fight, these people have obviously experienced thousands of battles against worthy foes. If I had to guess, it might have something to do with the Dream World Xu Shi mentioned."
"Using the power of dream to train?" said Saber Snake. "It's a perfect method if they can recreate all the rules of the real world."
Everyone sighed as they understood what kind of opponent they were facing.
"What? Having regrets now?" asked Qian Heng. "It's not too late to surrender and let them spread their Dream World. By then, we will also have access to it."
"Don't insult us, your majesty," said Lightning Fist. "Nothing is worse for a martial artist than to abandon their convictions." The others did not say anything, but they felt the same. A martial artist must have a firm will and conviction, or they will never survive the Death Realm when facing death, let alone the even scarier Nirvana Realm.
"I'm glad you feel this way," nodded Qian Heng. "Purple Dragon, you're up. Are you sure you don't want help?"
"Let me gauge his ability first. If something goes wrong, you can jump in to help." Purple Dragon fixed his purple robe embroidered with dragons on the sleeves, followed by his dark long hair. It was a habit he developed long ago when one of his junior sisters told him he looked terrible after winning a fight to impress her. So, from that on, he ensured he looked perfect before every battle.
"Very well."
Purple Dragon flew forward, and once he reached the formation, he was teleported to a special area in the void. Although he can see what's going on in this fight, he knows he cannot intervene, and all his actions will also not affect others.
"Ao Shen: come and die," he roared.
Ao Shen, dressed in all black, appeared before him. "That stench and disgusting aura - you're from the Rising Dragon Sect."
"Yes, and like our founder, I've come to subdue a dragon."
A killing intent flashed in Ao Shen's eyes. However, he did not lash out. Instead, he smirked, "I participate in this war, especially to slaughter you guys. Any other factions might survive this war but yours - that, I promise."
Purple Dragon shook his head, "Although dragons are Innate Creatures, at your core, you're like every demonic creature - vile, cruel, and lascivious."
Ao Shen just smiled. He was only talking nonsense to this man because he wanted to analyze the origin of his strength. His body released an aura that he found extremely repulsive. Additionally, his Eternal Class strength is not from Immortal Qi, Inner World, or Godking - it's from his fleshly body.
Ao Shen knew more than anyone how difficult it is to train the body to par with an Eternal, but this weak sect with a weak foundation actually cultivated one.
'It seems he absorbed another body that was this powerful and perfectly inherited its strength. The only person who fits this description is their sect's founder. Did he leave his fleshly body before ascending?'
Now that he had figured things out, Ao Shen had different ideas. Suppose he could add this person's body to the refining process of his Proving Dao Artifact. In that case, he will have the [Dragon Subduing Characteristic], the antithesis of his existence and nature. He won't have to worry about techniques that directly target his kind in the future.
"Hehe, who would have thought you were a gift instead of a pest I needed to crush."
Purple Dragon's body shivered after hearing these words. However, Ao Shen did not care about his reaction as he activated his [Awakening], downing the Dragon Darkness Armor. He instantly appeared before his opponent and punched him in the face.
Boom!
Purple Dragon took a dozen steps into the void with his arm crossed but successfully blocked the attack.
"So repulsive," sneered Ao Shen, who felt a power emanating from his opponent's body with a natural ability to restrict him. This thing rejected his every essence and wanted to subdue it.
'If that bastard Dragon Subduing lived in this era, I would have hunted him down to the end of the Dao,' sneered Ao Shen before increasing his strength. He appeared next to Purple Dragon and kicked him in his ribs. However, he frowned as he detected something.
'Willpower Manifestation,' thought Ao Shen, feeling the effect of this attack. He was unsurprised since he had spent years cultivating and understanding that world's cultivation system and knew it was very beneficial to manifesting Willpower.
"You're weaker than I anticipated," taunted Purple Dragon. Although his ribs hurt, they were barely bruised and healed instantly. However, Ao Shen pointed one of his sharp claws, and a small concentrated black orb manifested before turning into a potent beam full of the power of darkness.
Purple Dragon's face changed as he released his Dragon Subduing Technique. A powerful repelling force emanated from his palm to confront the darkness beam. This attempt took him a few seconds, but he was soon revealed.
"Impossible," yelled Purple Dragon before being swallowed. He survived the attack, but his body was full of bruises.
"Why are you surprised?" asked Ao Shen. "Even if your power is my antithesis, it is still based on who's wielding it. It's apparent that you only recently acquired it and cannot even properly wield it."
"Stop talking nonsense," groaned Purple Dragon.
"You're right. This is not the time for talking - it's time for killing."
Ao Shen disappeared and flew out from Purple Dragon's shadow, which should not be possible since there is no light in the void for a shadow. He plunged his arm into his enemy's back, and Purple Dragon's fighting instinct kicked in. He moved his body, allowing the claws to reach his lungs instead of his heart.
He released all his Dragon Subduing Power to push Ao Shen away and buy him some time.
'He's only playing with me,' he thought. 'In that case, there is no need to gauge his strength. Let's commence with the plan directly."
