Seeing 16 rhinos appear, Dyon didn't hesitate to charge forward once again, absentmindedly releasing his Presence and smashing their heads in.
The second class of Presences was a bit different, although it was still capable of being stifled by Dragon Souls and Lightning Stones, the grade of both needed to be very high. The reverse scale would have to at least be at the half-step King level, while the Lightning Stone needed to contain tribulation lightning from a first-grade saint becoming at least a second-grade celestial.
These requirements grew exponentially for every step up an individual was in the Ruler Class Presences. In fact, there was no known counter for a Peak Emperor level Presence.
Luckily for those with weaker Presences, there were less than ten Emperor level Presences in the cosmos, and no God level Presences. In addition, all of these individuals had much better things to do than to bully the young masters of various clans. To many, even giving counter measures for King level Presences seemed like overkill, but many did so anyway.
The truth, though, was that among the younger generation, there were only five lower King level Presences, and no Mid level King Presences or higher. Well, in truth, there were three Kings and two Queens. In addition to these five, there were another five of the Drago-Qilin lands who cultivated half-step King level Dragon souls who were able to contend. Among them, four were male, and one was female.
Also, there a few dozen with Gold Dragon Souls and yet another few dozen with Peak Duke or Duchess Presences. Despite the disparity between these almost 100 strong geniuses, and those ten listed above, they were still highly feared, and their names reverberated through the cosmos.
As one can see, the Drago-Qilin lands did have an advantage in terms of cultivating this sort of intimidation technique because of their resonance with the Sovereign path, but that didn't mean other races were too far behind.
Of course, Dyon didn't know all of this, and his grand teacher didn't bother to tell him either. Knowing Dyon's personality, he would have already assumed that his Presence was far better than that of others simply by virtue of his arrogance. Even the day he didn't truly meet someone with a higher Presence than his own, he would simply beat them down and make sure the heavens realized just how blind they were.
Although Dyon believed in himself wholeheartedly, so did those other ten geniuses. In fact, within all of existence, those ten geniuses were the only ones who could possibly match up to Dyon's level of arrogance. All eleven of them held an undying belief in themselves that no others could match… And their only opponents within this generation were amongst themselves.
And, there was another interesting tidbit here. If Dyon was allowed to cultivate his Presence alone, and he had never taken Luna's virginity… His own Presence wouldn't be at the Peak King Level. No, instead, his Presence would be perfectly level with these ten other geniuses, only having just broken through the lower King level.
It could be said that Dyon was only lucky that he was above them. And it could also be said that his appearance had lit a fire under them all.
**
Weeks passed.
By now, Dyon was facing thousands of metallic rhinos at once and his nonchalant appearance had long since disappeared. Although the motes of light could replenish his stamina, it was never to 100%. Even worse, the motes wouldn't appear until the entire wave was gone, meaning one didn't have a chance to catch their breath until the brief pause between waves.
In addition, the waves were getting harder to deal with. Although they were the same metallic rhinos, because there were more of them, Dyon's Presence was thus spread out amongst them as well. The effects of this dissipation were still small, but Dyon could only imagine how bad this would be if the metallic rhinos were Heaven martial beasts instead. With their increased resistance, and numbers, they would no longer be paralyzed in that instant.
Dyon was very much right. For now, his Presence was still effective, even against thousands. In fact, for these metallic rhinos, no matter how many of them there were within Dyon's range of about a kilometer, they would shiver in fear and drop to their knees. However, this would become impossible if the beasts were able to resist…
Dyon's figure flashed around, the third trial's world still searing his skin as he wantonly smashed in the heads of shivering metallic rhinos.
By this point, his heavy sword had managed to rid itself of most of the disgusting brown rust stains on it, and was no a sheen-less charcoal black with only a few hints of flaking rust.
Currently, Dyon's skin was dyed in gross purple goo that was very obviously from all the rhinos he had killed, but he still didn't seem to notice. Except for the barely perceptive laborsome breaths he took occasionally, it would almost appear as though the goings-on of the third trial had nothing to do with him.
His clothes had been completely burned by the inner world, so he dashed around naked. One man and one sword against an army of tens of thousands of beasts.
His torso twisted and snapped, leveraging all the power of his core with his every swing. Without fail, every metallic rhino fell with a single blow, reaching levels of efficiency no one had ever seen before.
With a final swing, the 524 288th rhino fell, and with it, the 20th wave collapsed, sending motes of lights the blocked out the sky careening toward Dyon's gasping figure.
However, before he could even rest, a roar that resounded through the heavens resounded and he received his first message since he began.
"Would you like to continue to the second stage? Or move on to the fourth trial now?"
Dyon didn't respond to the system, instead he watched silently as a three-meter-tall lion roared with all its might toward him. The most devastating part was that it was actually of the meridian formation level, yet Dyon cultivation was still being suppressed at the foundation stage!
A wave of earth spikes charged toward him, filled with a bloody light that matched the red soil beneath his feet.
Dyon quickly dodged, giving the system the only answer it needed.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Dyon's feet surged, causing him to jump in surprise.
With a swing of his heavy sword, his feet planted on its side, blocking the spike beneath his feet with a finesse that sent him flying in through the air toward the roaring lion.
Dyon was well aware that this lion, coined the Earthen Lion, was on an entirely different level as compared to the Metallic Rhinos. The rhinos relied on their physical defense and spike horn, but the Earthen Lions had a character reserved for mid level earth martial beasts and above: the ability to use wills… Even worse, the lion itself was actually a high level earth martial beast!
In addition, its defenses, due to its thick skin and Earth will, were far higher than that of the metallic rhino. Not to mention the fact its maneuverability was on a completely otherworldly level in comparison.
Dyon couldn't help but have his anger flair up. This damned beast actually thought of him as nothing more than food. If that wasn't the case, how could its spikes so perfectly send him flying towards it. Dyon knew that his anger was almost irrational, but after having so many things fall out of his control just a few weeks ago, he wasn't willing to sit idly and allow any slight against him to slide.
Dyon's body flew in a perfect parabolic arc, but his expression was completely cold as he closed the distance toward the lion's gaping mouth.
He raised his arm above his head, holding his massive sword like a God descending from the skies.
In that moment, his Presence erupted with a majestic and royal aura, completely stamping out the roar of the lion.
In the mortal realm, Lions were scene as Kings, however in front of Dyon, it was no more than a whimpering kitten.
Dyon's sword fell on the inside of the lion's mouth, forcefully overextending its jaw far past its limits.
An audible snap resounded through the world as the earthen lion's massive lower jaw hung loosely from its mouth.
Blood flew, followed by a painful cry and shattered teeth.
