(AN: Chapter not edited.)
"We obviously have the same enemy, so why choose to waste time and energy fighting?" said Xiao Songxi, trying one last time to negotiate a peaceful resolution to this situation.
"I never like you–Sea Race," said Ao Shen with a sneer. "You are obviously part of the demon race, but separate from us and call yourself another name."
Xiao Songxi frowned, "Although we are from the source, we have evolved into different races with our own culture and custom."
The Sea Race has the same origin as the Demon Race; they were created from Innate Demons born in the same. However, like the demon race, they also revolted against their creators and sided with Acquired Life during the war in the Null Era.
"The worst part about your Sea Race is you abandoned us," continued Ao Shen. "While the demon race suffered Eras' worth of misery and suffering, you people remain intact, thriving in your domain.
"You never try to give us a helping hand–not even once."
Xiao Songxi was quiet. Although the demon and sea race originated from the same source, the Sea race no longer identifies with the demon race. Furthermore, over time, as the status of the demon race became worse, the Sea Race distanced itself from the demon race.
Many members even denied they originated from the same source as the demon race.
"The sea race did what it had to do to survive," replied Xiao Songxi. "The Golden Ape Emperor wanted to force us to become his subject and conquer the world. If we had agreed with him, our fate would have been the same as your demon clan."
"Golden Ape Emperor," said Ao Shen with gritted teeth. The source of the demon's current plight is the Golden Ape Emperor's attempt at conquering the Myriad Emperor World.
The humans and other races used his action countless years ago to justify all their atrocities against the demon race. Without him, Ao Shen believed the demon race would be one of the most powerful races in the Myriad Emperor World.
"Well, none of that matters," he added, releasing his aura and summoning his Darkness Dao.
[Darkness Fist]
Ao Shen punched with tremendous force. As an Innate Dragon, his fleshly body can naturally grow to a few Dragon Elephant Force without even cultivating. As long as he grows to maturity, he can reach such heights. And with enough resources, Ao Shen can accelerate the rate of his growth.
However, he knew this achievement was nothing compared to Primordial Dragons–A Chaos Lifeform that can reach 1 Primordial Dragon Force as long as they grow up naturally. As such, Ao Shen tempered his body and finally reached the third stage of the True Power Dao Realm.
With this one attack, he punched with strength worth 23 Primordial Dragon Force. Furthermore, his Darkness Dao amplified his attack potency.
A black cloud, even darker than deep space, emanated from Ao Shen's fist. Everything the cloud touched disappeared as they returned to darkness–a state similar to nothingness.
[Swallowing Vortex]
Xiao Songxi's face changed as he felt the intensity of this attack. He acted swiftly and waved his hand to manifest a vortex with his Swallow or Devouring Dao. He absorbed the attack, thus increasing his aura in the process.
"You broke the barrier between Mortal-Immortal," said Ao Shen with some surprise.
"With the Star Stage, it would be a surprise if I did not," Xiao Songxi replied. However, he was not happy or prideful about this. And that's because he saw the limitation of his talent after following the advice of the Star Stage.
Ao Shen squinted his eyes as he decided to go all out and not waste time. He did not want to give his opponent time to escape or create a way to change defeat into victory.
[Darkness Slash]
Ao Shen made a chopping motion, generating a slash containing dark power. With this one attack, the space of this battlefield was separated into two. And if he did not take the corresponding action, Xiao Songxi knew his fate would be the same.
So, he once again absorbed the attack. However, to his horror, he discovered this attack reached 4-Leaf and was beyond his peak 2-Leaf Strength. So, he absorbed as much as he could, increasing his power to 3-Leaf.
Then, he redirected the rest of the energy back to his opponent.
"I am the embodiment of darkness. Do you think you can harm me with my own attack?" said Ao Shen as he gazed at the black slash headed toward him. The attack did not even touch him as it disintegrated.
[Darkness of the Heart]
Sweat appeared on Xiao Songxi's head, and his face became stiff; he looked like he was struggling intensely. In his mind, he could feel numerous negative emotions evading his mind, thus corroding his soul.
The emotions focused on his intense hatred for his father for abandoning his sister and mother. So, he hated this man with a passion. Even after becoming the patriarch of the Baishe Clan and forcing his father to kneel before his mother and apologize, he could not completely remove this hatred.
And now, Ao Shen's technique brought the darkness hidden deep in his heart, affecting his soul in the process. Xiao Songxi tried using his Swallow Law to remove the power affecting him, but he soon discovered the process was extremely slow.
Bang!
Ao Shen punched with all his strength, determined to cripple Xiao Songxi while the latter was dealing with the issue of his soul. Unfortunately, Xiao Songxi's passive Domain activated and swallowed most of the force of the attack and directed the rest in different directions.
Regardless, Xiao Songxi did not succeed in completely removing all the strength behind the attack. As such, his unresponsive body flew countless light-years away before crashing into a half-destroyed planet.
His body generated a shockwave that almost destroyed the remaining half of the planet.
Ao Shen took one step and teleported to the planet. He frowned as he discovered Xiao Songxi had managed to regain the mobility of his body and barely countered his technique.
'He temporarily swallowed all his emotions, leaving only pure logic.'
Someone who functions on pure logic will be indifferent, thus unaffected by emotions or the darkness in their hearts. Of course, due to the intensity of Ao Shen's attack, Xiao Songxi was barely conscious.
After figuring this out, the proud dragon sneered, "All sentient beings fear the unknown, and one of the greatest unknowns is what exists in the darkness."
Ao Shen's words seemed to contain a terrifying charm or magic. Immediately, Xiao Songxi felt an even more terrifying emotion–fear. In the back of his mind, he felt some unknown, indescribable, incomprehensible beings watching him from the dark.
And no matter what he did, he could not remove the feeling of being watched. As such, he became more and more scared, wondering who was watching them and what their intention was.
The fact he could not remove the feeling of being watched drove him crazy to the point his soul began to split.
Boom!
Ao Shen attacked again. However, his attack was once again unsuccessful. And that's because a scepter appeared before Xiao Songxi and blocked him.
"Emperor Artifact?" Ao Shen frowned. He waved his hand to manifest his own artifact–a pair of golden claws. For this battle, Heavenly Dao only allowed the use of 3 Emperor's Artifacts. Beyond that, the participants won't even be able to take it from their space ring or Sea of Consciousness.
Using the claw, Ao Shen sealed the scepter. However, this short time was enough for Xiao Songxi to react. He connected to the array the Sea Race established in the Southern Quadrant and used the spell: [Sound of the Sea]
The sea has healing powers, and it is the source of life for many creatures and civilizations. Xiao Songxi used the array to create a unique technique where his mind could only hear the sound of the sea, thus eliminating the effect of his overwhelming fear.
Xiao Songxi looked at Ao Shen with red eyes; he did not expect the latter to be so strong. The worst part is the demon race has not even revealed his true form.
Ao Shen gazed at him, "Your biggest mistake was using the sea to heal yourself. Don't you know one of the greatest darkness in the world is the abyss of the sea; it is one of the sources of the unknown, the pinnacle of the unknown is hiding in the darkness."
As soon as he said these words, Xiao Songxi's face changed. He remembered how many Sea Races have wondered what is hidden deep in the ocean, all the mysteries and unknowns associated with it.
Then, he sensed a pair of eyes looking at him, coming from the depths of the ocean The feat in his mind drastically rose. He hurriedly tried many things to remove this gaze from his mind, but it was useless.
An uncontrollable fear overwhelmed his mind, making Xiao Songxi scream his lungs out before passing out. His soul was on the verge of collapse.
Meanwhile, Ao Shen calmly looked at the latter on the floor, his tongue out of his mouth and his eyes inverted; Xiao Songxi looked as if he had seen something terrible and passed out of fear.
"I would have killed you if you were not useful."
