The spear avatar not only seemed to layer his strikes, it carried a partial will of the staff. It combined concepts of momentum and resonance to cause multiple strikes to become one. However, it wasn't until Dyon understood a third concept that he finally passed this trial after two weeks: Effortlessness.
It wasn't just about mastering your movements to the point that they seemed to flow from your body, but also about effortless attacking. Why ram into your opponent's shield when a chink in his armor was obvious? Why attack where your opponent had momentum when you could attack him on his back foot?
The spear was a weapon that took advantage of range even more obviously than the glaive. It was a weapon made to ease effort. To defeat your opponent before they had a chance to defeat you… This was the inner working of the spear.
The bow avatar appeared next as a beautiful blond woman with flowing robes. Her dress was far more conservative than the glaive avatar, but her eyes were even sharper and more vicious. If it wasn't for the existence of the Dragon Armor, Dyon would have died millions of times over… If his head was destroyed beyond repair, what was the point of an undying body?...
No one in the distance could understand the kind of pain Dyon was undergoing. To them, he was shot backward and immediately came back, so many thought that his armor was simply impregnable… Little did they know that every strike he took filled this armor with blood and organ tissue.
Not only did the arrows of the bow avatar follow him wherever he moved, they grew faster and faster the longer they spent in the air.
The worst part was that Dyon's arrows didn't stand a chance against them. Although all of the arrows Dyon produced were of the moon grade, there was something about the bow avatar's arrow will that he simply couldn't replicate.
This fight was by far Dyon's hardest and he only managed to win after he deviated from his normal path. Before, he had focused on emulating the abilities of the avatars, but no matter how much he tried, it seemed impossible to replicate the abilities of the bow avatar.
Constant acceleration? Homing? He seemed to be lacking something he couldn't quite grasp… These abilities were simply too heaven-defying.
In the end, he used his spatial will to make up what he was lacking. He took advantage of the fact the avatars only used their respective weapon wills and nothing else. It was even more convenient that the bow avatar never moved personally, only using her bow to deflect all attacks.
It took more than a month for Dyon to come out victorious, yet the rumbling of the saber seemed even more ominous than the bow…
The moment Dyon tried to attack, the red-haired saber avatar's weapon absorbed the strength of his attack before slashing forward with a saber qi that blotted out half the sky…
The battle between Dyon and the red-haired saber avatar was one the oceans below couldn't withstand.
Tsunami-like waves rushed outward, towering hundreds of miles as the focal point of their battle caused whirlpools of dark liquid to form.
A chasm opened in the waters below, so deep that even just a bit more power might introduce the ocean floor to world.
By the time Dyon figured out the hidden ability of the saber avatar, he once again realized just how lucky he was. The saber wielder could absorb the attack of its opponent and incorporate it into its own strength, but that wasn't the end of it. Even when Dyon avoided attacking the saber directly, it was able to absorb the energy in the very atmosphere itself!
If it wasn't for the fact the energy of this universe was so scarce to begin with, Dyon could only imagine the kind of power such an attack would have elsewhere.
Although on the surface, Dyon's tenacity had still not lessened, he was inwardly growing anxious. It had already been more than a month since he began fighting the saber avatar and not only had he just barely begun to grasp the concept of his technique, he could see signs of his healing energy running out.
This was just the first challenge! According to the twins, there were three total. If the others were like this… How could Dyon survive?
Dyon grit his teeth. He only had enough energy left to be used at this pace for three more months. At that point, he wouldn't have any of the healing type energy left to be used. He had somehow drained more than 40% of an energy the bull-bird took 10 years to accumulate!
'Is this selfless state really not enough?' Dyon thought of entering the third state, even if he had to give up his life, it was better than dying. However, it was impossible to enter the third state willfully.
When Dyon entered the legendary state, his mind had been so focused on one train of thought that he gained the recognition of the heavens. That was what it took… If entering such a state could be done so casually, it wouldn't mean a thing.
Dyon had to be willing to die to enter that state. Yet, the reason he wanted to access it was to live. That was a contradiction the heavens would never accept.
Dyon roared in anger, the 12-meter-long blade of his saber swinging with such rage that it lit afire.
His fury seethed as he thought of what put him in this situation. If he didn't make the kitsune pay after getting out of this situation, his name would no longer be Dyon Sacharro!
To his back, Head Void felt Dyon's change in momentum and couldn't help but smile bitterly. All this time, he had been used by Dyon and could only accept it.
By surviving to this point and forcing the avatars to split in two, he effectively alleviated half of Dyon's burden. He gave up thoughts of attacking and only continuously defended. As a dao formation expert, even when facing an opponent so much stronger than him, stalling was well within his abilities.
But he would be naïve to think that Dyon was thankful to him for this. For one, Head Void could only bet on Dyon's success, or else he would die. And two, if it wasn't for him, Dyon wouldn't have been in this situation to begin with! He would have already passed his first tribulation and entered the ranks of the saints smoothly.
Not only this, but Dyon couldn't forget the face of King Mino. He had no time to find out whether or not that King had survived the kitsune's assault, but whether he did or not wouldn't lessen Dyon's rage in the least.
He had only fought that man for a few hours, but Dyon learned a lot about the kind of person he was. He was prideful and willing to sacrifice for the good of his people, but he wasn't deceitful or underhanded. To find that kind of man in the martial world was akin to looking for a needle in an ocean, yet the kitsune dared to play with his life on a whim!
A domineering aura erupted from Dyon. He suddenly remembered what he had learned about the saber when fighting Sokzac.
The King of weapons had always been the sword… It was the weapon of emperors. However… The saber was the weapon of War Lords.
It was unyielding, unforgiving, and willing to take anything by force.
This was the momentum of the saber. This was what it meant to wield a saber.
Your energy? Mine. Your will? Mine.
Dyon raised his saber high into the skies, his emotions flaring uncontrollably. His royal blue blood raged through his body, seething with an unfettered will for dominance. The Presence of the Titan Emperor couldn't be ignored and the saber's will seemed to resonate with it perfectly.
Suddenly, the domain of energy swirling around the red-haired saber avatar began to deplete at blinding speeds. Before it could react, Dyon's domain grew larger as his saber expanded to a grander size.
A domineering qi with the will to block out the skies blinded the vision of all watching before a wall of dense black flames engulfed it all.
And then, Dyon swung.
