Away from the activity of the World Tournament, a plan millennia in the making was underway.
The location was the Belmont Holy Land, but, instead of being the luscious boon of nature it was usually, it was shrouded in a dense darkness from within. However, from the outside, nothing had changed at all.
“Have you not contacted King Belmont yet?! He was prepared for an instance like this?!” A Belmont with flowing purple hair raged as his peak saint cultivation raged as he faced off against something that shook him to the core.
“Elder, we aren’t able to communicate at all! We’ve tried awakening the ancestors from their slumber, but even that’s been cut off!”
The Belmonts that had remained to defend their land were in despair. Just this morning, everything had been perfect, and yet it had all changed in an instant.
They couldn’t believe how easily their communication had been cut off. They had reserved arrays for centuries, dating back to the time of the celestial deer sect, in order to ensure that this never happened. And yet somehow these enemies they had never see before still cut them off. Just what kind of power did it take to cut off arrays created by foremost experts of that level? They couldn’t even fathom it!
That said, if they were to choose, accepting something like that was more acceptable. But, to not be able to awaken their ancestors? This was ridiculous!
The lifespan of celestial level experts could be expanded by tens of thousands of years as long as they induced deep sleep within themselves. The concept was very simple. In a mortal body, over time, damage to the body and, namely, DNA, would lead to aging. However, when one reached the level of a celestial expert, that damage was slowed to such a considerable degree that you could live up to ten thousand years as a human and even up to thirty thousand years as an elf or beast.
But, there was a level of control over the body that peak expert reached that allowed them to stop their cells from dividing, thus shutting down their whole bodies and stopping the progression of this DNA damage. This would only be done once a celestial or dao level expert reached the very end of their lifespans, unable to transcend. This provided clans with an extra layer of protection from their best experts in times of distress.
Depending on the level the expert reached during their normal life span, they could be awakened anywhere from a single to tens of times without death. And then, after performing this duty for their clan, their good karma would increase, thus allowing their chances of reincarnating with higher talent much better.
This concept of karma was quite complex, and often something one needed to reach a high level of cultivation to come to an understanding of. But, it paints the perfect picture for how difficult it was for an enemy to interrupt such a sacred system. It was simply unfathomable.
However, during that Belmont elder’s last thoughts, he was almost happy that their ancestors didn’t have to come out to face what he was facing.
A massive ball of dense black flames engulfed him and an entire mountain range with a single thought.
Dragons had descended upon the Belmont family Holy Land.
**
Back in the arena, the battle between Caedlum and Uma was raging.
The feral growls of Uma’s ape filled the stadium as she swung her pole toward the calm Caedlum.
Furious booms of fist colliding with stone was grating on the ears, lasting exchange after exchange with blurs of red skin and dense fur flashed across the stage.
“HAHA!” Uma’s growls turned into delighted laughs. Caedlum’s lack of hesitation at using his body to meet her rod was immensely satisfying to her.
This was a true man! She thought to herself.
Caedlum remained unperturbed, “Pakal Emperor’s Will. Act 1. Stage 1.”
In an instant, Caedlum’s body grew to three meters tall, his frame expanding to meet Uma’s next coming strike.
His foot slammed into the ground, sending cracks reverberating as fist seemed to glide through the air.
Dyon’s eyes flashed. The first thing he noticed was the similarity in technique. But, he had already guessed that his Demon Emperor’s Will was shared, at least in some portion, with the Pakals. What caught his attention more was this Caedlum’s fist movement.
It seemed so slow… But…
Dyon’s thought were interrupted by Uma’s massive figure flying backwards.
However, instead of hearing a dull and pained cry, Uma’s laughter only increased. “Yes! More!”
Uma flipped in the air, landing softly on her hind legs before leaning her forward to slam her fist into the ground again. But, this time, the shock wave was on an entirely new level.
The raging cultivation of a peak essence gathering expert wildly flooded the arena. But, it wasn’t energy cultivation! Her body was just that powerful!
Her once brown skin reddened as her energy amplified, again and again.
Suddenly, the arena cracked under her weight as she tossed her pole into the skies. If anyone was paying attention, they would have noticed that the upward force needed to throw her rod was so much that it cracked the stage beneath her feet! Just how heavy was that weapon?!
Uma roared, bringing her fists to her chest and pounding madly. Her eyes reddened, turning into rubies of dense blood, veined out of proportion.
Just as her rod fell from the her skies, spinning wildly, Uma’s fist found a way to its end, sending it careening toward Caedlum.
Space cracked, wildly distorting reality as sound barrier shattered to the naked eye.
Even Caedlum’s normal calm expression turned serious at this moment. The amount of power in this strike was something her previous attacks couldn’t match up to a tenth of!
Without time to think, the rod was before him in an instant.
Caedlum crossed his arms, wincing as he felt his forearms crack under the impact.
His body flew backward, sliding across the arena floor. However, this was by design. The shortest distance for him to go in dodging was downward, so he made the decision as quickly as possible.
However, Uma only smirked.
Under the shocked gaze of everyone in attendance, the rod expanded its length by hundreds of meters in an instant!
How rare were weapons that changed form? So rare that even King Acacia himself had put that on the top list of abilities Dyon’s Dragon King sword could do. And yet, here was yet another!
King Belmont narrowed his eyes. He had long since gotten intelligence reports about the shifting of power on not just Planet Nix, but also Planet Mino.
With the previous defeat of two Planet Nix warriors, thus kicking them out of the top ten, he had felt slightly relieved. It wasn’t ideal for those spots to be taken by the Ragnor family, but, the Ragnors were at least a variable that the Belmonts could account for. The Nix and Mino planets were complete anomalies!
The World Tournament only took place every hundred years. But, that time was a drop in the bucket even for a saint level expert. For the power structure of not just one, but two entire planets to be sent into complete upheaval in just that time was unprecedented. And yet, it had happened.
In fact, the first inklings of the new Jafari Royal God Clan of the Nix, or the new Shruti Royal God Clan of the Mino, only started popping less than two decades ago.
Even more interestingly, it was around the same time that the Kitsune locked on to this universe as a location they could find their Kawa in…
What event set them off? Even the culprit was unawares. But, just under two decades ago, there was in fact an event that shone a beacon on this universe. And it was that same beacon the sped the plans of the Daiyu forward.
Everyone was so focused on this World Tournament, but those privy to the right information, knew how little it really meant.
In an instant, Uma’s rod had extended itself back under her arm. Now an expansive hundred meter long rod lay horizontally under her control… Hovering just above Caedlum’s figure as it skipped along the stage tiles!
Uma grinned, her uproarious laughter filling the stadium. A vicious glint in her eye lit as she tilted forward, slamming the rod downward.
The sound was sickening, forcing most to look away. The loud boom was accompanied by a crunch that could only have been human bone grinding to dust.
A mist of blood erupted from Caedlum’s position. His body cultivation technique heated his body up to such an extent that even when he bled, it came out in a gaseous form. However, that only made this worse, increasing his blood lost by manifold as his veins pumped vigorously.
Uma’s ape form continued laughing, “Get up! I’m having too much fun! Get up!”
There was no doubt about it. Uma’s body cultivation had reached such a frightening level already. But, with the boost of her beast form and her fur reddening technique, she had pushed her upper limits from essence gathering to the outer fringes of sainthood!
The problem with body cultivation techniques that amplified strength was that simple amplification didn’t allow your body to reach saint levels unless it was by a ridiculous amount. Even if your body was at the peak essence gathering level, it didn’t necessarily mean that any minute change could bring your body up to the saint level.
This was the same principle as will amplification. You could use manifestations and constitutions to boost your will to levels your comprehension didn’t match, but you would always be weaker than a person who had truly reached that level.
The Demon Sage had understood this, this was why he created the Demon Emperor’s Will amplification technique. Instead of relying solely on simple amplification, it also used aspects of comprehension. This was why Dyon needed to master intent level demonic will in order to breach the second act of the technique. This was the only way for his body to truly reach the level of a saint!
However, almost too shockingly, Uma’s technique had nearly accomplished the same thing! Her body was already at the level of a pseudo saint, and was but a hair’s breath away from truly reaching that level even as she lifted her rod to slam downward again!
Another gush of blood mist escaped from Caedlum as he coughed. He knew he couldn’t afford to lose, but he was truly too young. He was the same age as Dyon, but he didn’t have world breaking soul talent to make up for his short time cultivating.
The top ten was truly too strong…
Vidar had lucked into an opponent that his faith seed could directly counter. Thor had such mastery of his wills that he was able to take advantage before his opponent realized her mistake. But, Caedlum’s opponent’s strength was his strength… The only difference was that she had cultivated for much longer!
‘Damn… I guess I have to use it…’ Caedlum thought bitterly. The problem was that he knew good and well that if he did, he could forget about competing for a better spot in the top ten. He would forever be slotted into the tenth position. But, maybe he’d have to be happy with that. Because, quite frankly, if he was in such a sorry state, someone could very well challenge him and boot him out of the top ten entirely!
Suddenly, a dense red began to drip from Caedlum as Uma threatened to slam her rod down yet again. But, this time, its momentum was stopped entirely.
Uma frowned. Her arms flexed, but she couldn’t move the pillar at all! It was stuck!
The rod began to slow move upwards, completely out of Uma’s control. She tried to stand her ground, but she found herself nearly losing her footing entirely.
At the other end of the pillar, an astonishing sight graced the eyes of the silenced crowd.
A young man with skin as red as the blood coursing through his veins stood at ten meters tall. However, that wasn’t the most shocking part.
His arms had multiplied from two to six!
He was like a demon risen from the dead.
Caedlum roared, sending a reverberating boom throughout the arena as he yanked Uma’s rod from her before throwing it with such velocity that the rod itself cracked under the pressure.
Uma’s eye’s widened. ‘That’s a grandmaster level weapon! What?!’
All this time Planet Mino was trying to stay lowkey, they had disguised their weapons as simple master level ones, which was why no one noticed the oddity of Uma’s rod until it expanded in size. But, Uma knew the truth behind the weapon’s strength! It shouldn’t be possible to crack it like this!
Patriarch Pakal sighed. He knew very well the state his son would be in after using this technique, but, it seemed he preferred to win this battle and injure himself than to lose his old man some face. ‘I’ve truly burdened you too much… You’re just a child yet you carry such a weight on your shoulders…”
Twin horns continuously grew from Caedlum’s forehead as his aura seemed to grow more and more powerful with each passing moment.
‘Is this his faith seed?… How domineering…’ Dyon thought, his eyes flashing with appreciation.
Uma’s voice raged as she slammed her fist forward to meet the coming rod. This was her weapon! How could she be harmed by it?!
But, reality was cruel. In the face of absolute power, Uma’s rod had forgotten who its master was. It didn’t slow, nor did it stop in the face of Uma’s rage. It only carried forward, snapping the bones in her arm and causing a blood curdling scream to fill the stadium.
Caedlum leaped in the air, the dark abyss of his eyes entranced on Uma’s weak figure. She had managed to stop the rod in the end, but it had clearly cost her the use of both of her arms. But, just how domineering were the healing capabilities of body cultivators?
Under the view of the crowd’s shock and awe, the whites of her bones began to mend at a pace the naked eye could witness.
That said…. Would Caedlum wait for such a thing?
He fell from the skies, a flurry of six arms and fists riddling the crown of Uma’s head with power that could only match a saint!
Just how ridiculous was it for Caedlum to reach such power? Uma’s technique had taken her from the peak essence gathering stage, to a pseudo saint level. And yet, Caedlum had started at a mere lower essence gathering level and brought himself all the way up to a true saint!
Uma was sent crashing into the ground, being grinded in further and further with every punch.
Roars of anger filled the stadium as Caedlum’s fists became coated in blood. In what seemed like an instant, Uma’s fur dimmed to brown, and then disappeared entirely, leaving her naked and muscular body complete exposed.
Caedlum seemed intent on slamming his fists downward again, but that was when a sharp pain filled his senses, causing him to stumble backward and fall to his knees.
He panted heavily, his arms disappearing as though they were never there right along with his gained height. He looked up expectantly at Elder Den.
The previous battles had been obvious, so his judgement wasn’t necessary. But, here, Caedlum was severely injured and Uma seemed to be trying to get up as well.
Elder Den waited, watching the two contestants struggle to climb to their feet.
There was no question that a glint of expectation was in the eyes of the bottom ninety contestants. No matter who won, they were severely injured! If they were quick to challenge, they just might earn a spot in the top ten!
This was especially true of the top 20 contestants. If a normal bottom ninety ranker won, they would be immediately challenged. But, if one of them, as high rankers to begin with did, then it might act as enough of a deterrent for others to not challenge then at all.
Caedlum and Uma both had blood seeping from their mouths, but at the same time, they both managed to stand to their feet.
‘You can do it.’ Dyon thought resolutely, silently supporting Caedlum. He hadn’t had many interactions with the guy, and the few he had had were quite cold, but he had a small respect for Caedlum after hearing about the burden his father had placed on him.
Even if Dyon had initially held a grudge against Caedlum for not helping him when he had to fight one versus eleven at the Legacy World opening, something Dyon of course hadn’t done, he definitely wouldn’t now. Caedlum had his family’s future to think about. His father quite literally placed all of their hopes and dreams in him. How could he risk his life for a person he had only met just days before?
Caedlum brandished his fists, prepared to fight as he looked into Uma’s dark brown eyes. In fact, they were almost too dark for brown at all… But, that was when Caedlum noticed that it wasn’t because of the color of her eyes that it was so dark… She had lost consciousness!
“Winner: Caedlum Pakal!” Elder Den’s voice boomed
**
At this time, the city of the Cavositas was completely empty. After all, there was no fee for attending the World Tournament. Anyone who could be there was… Which was why the figure of a lone girl, raggedly dressed, running down the barren streets was so odd…
She was petite and had long brunette hair. But her most striking feature were her violet eyes.
Her clothes were torn in many places, and she had blood streaking down her leg, but she had a determined expression on her face as she clutched a box tightly to her chest.
If Madeleine or Delia had been there, they would have instantly broken down into tears and embraced her as tightly as they could…
This was their missing sister, taken away from them by the cruelty of the martial world.
Bai Meiying.