'They're really trying their best to piss me off…' Dyon's gaze sharpened as the moving gears sounded, snapping the large golden door shut for what Dyon felt would truly be the last time…
War's golden doors slowly opened, but the clopping steps were decidedly weaker than they had been in the past. As expected, yet another War slowly walked out. However, just like before, this version was much more human than the previous versions.
The clattering of teeth filled the quiet hall as yet another comical scene unfolded.
Despite absorbing half of Famine's white qi, it wasn't a surprise that Dyon was still in a terrible state. Yet, another of the four horsemen, men that supposedly embodied the apocalypse, was trembling in fear.
Unlike the sympathy Dyon had for Famine, he had next to none for War.
However, it also seemed that War wasn't intent on staying still and doing nothing like Famine. Even as he trembled in fear, it was his nature to battle.
Unfortunately, the special nature of his qi shone through.
What would happen if Dyon tried to activate his wills during a moment of cowardice? Considering all of his wills followed the sovereign path, wouldn't they severely weaken? How could one communicate with sovereignty and take control of it if you were a coward?
By the same token, War feared Dyon greatly. His nature was telling him to battle, but deep within, he knew that this was the last thing he wanted to do.
In the end, War couldn't tap into even 10% of the strength of his qi and wills. Dyon's battle with him was even easier than the last War.
"YOU'LL DIE ALONG WITH ME SOON ENOUGH. I'LL WAIT FOR YOU IN HELL."
Dyon refrained from rolling his eyes. How could he take such threats seriously when they were said through chattering teeth?
"[Devour]."
This time, Dyon didn't hold back.
As he absorbed everything, he finally felt a bottleneck shatter.
From the first moment Dyon stepped into this trial, he hadn't been able to sense qi at all. More precisely, he had sensed famine and war qi, even conquest qi, but he hadn't sensed any atmospheric qi. It was as though this world was blocking him from touching it.
However, at that moment, Dyon realized that it wasn't that this trial wanted to squeeze him dry of his stamina, thus resulting in expunging this battle room of qi entirely. Rather, it was that a wool had been pulled over his senses, blocking it from noticing what was right in front of him!
Not only did this room have qi, but it was just as densely packed as the qi below the Ancient Battlefield waters!
Dyon felt like a blind man that could finally see. However, the most shocking part of this change was that Dyon suddenly felt that world's restrictions loosen on him!
Dyon took a deep breath in, feeling more relaxed than he had in a very long time. He didn't hesitate to use [Devour], greedily sucking up all the qi in his surroundings.
His suppressed cultivation rose quickly. From the lower celestial realm, he entered the middle, then the higher, and finally the peak.
When the surge slowed to a crawl, he had settled in at the lower dao formation realm. Though this was a far cry from his true strength, it was most definitely far better than it had.
The weird thing about this weakening of the suppression was that Dyon's effective strength was still fundamentally the same. Hardly anything had changed.
One had to remember that the reason Dyon could survive to now was because he had been rapidly comprehending war qi while using the white side of famine qi to heal himself. His qi was functionally as powerful as a peak dao expert currently, thanks to him devouring War's true form. So, a rise to the lower dao realm didn't mean much at all. If Dyon tapped back into his enigmatic qi, he would actually become weaker.
However, this wasn't to say that this was meaningless.
Firstly, Dyon no longer had to rely on burning his soul to resist the suppression. It was now just weak enough for him to fight it on his own.
Secondly, because he didn't need to rely on this masochistic technique, he could be more free in using it because he wouldn't have to worry about what would have if his soul stamina suddenly ran out. Even if it did, he would still be able to move now.
'A little too late though.' Dyon thought somewhat bitterly.
With War now dead, and Dyon having comprehended his will and qi, there was only the easiest Conquest fight left. So, any boost in strength he received now didn't mean much to him.
Dyon held onto War's crimson blade. His arm casually swung it as he changed its size and shape at his whim.
He had shattered his Weapon's Master Will for the sake of this ability, yet the truly odd part was that there was no new array that appeared within his Mind's Eye. Dyon didn't know if it was just how this world's system worked, or if he was still lacking. But the important part was that he didn't believe this ability was any weaker than the will he gave up for it. In fact, it was objectively several fold stronger.
'It's no wonder I kept subconsciously gravitating toward the use of just one weapon. No matter how great Weapon's Master Will is, I only have two arms. How could I use 9 weapons at once?
'Plus, the way in which War applied his bow True Weapon Will is far more suited to my liking. If I added the homing and constant acceleration ability to my weapon's arrays, especially [Judgement], their strength would increase to a new level…'
Dyon was satisfied. Whether he got a fancy Dao Array out of it or not didn't really matter to him. With his current strength, he was even more confident than before. There was no need to hold back any longer. Once he returned to the Ancient Battlefield, he would start the war to end it all.
