A loud yet gentle ring of ethereal light spreading across Monarch Lu's territory, two giant phantoms of silver and gold illuminations formed.

Each a towering titan, they were nothing but both fighters' existences.

Brandishing nothing but his own hand, the silver one palmed forward.

The void shivering as if a poor leaf facing the storm, the golden one did not hold itself back.

A golden fist colliding with a silver one, Limbo was illuminated.

Each taking a single step back, the two giants were still intact, trampling over the humongous hall as if it was nothing but a toy house.

Without words, the two giants brought out a weapon each.

The golden one held a sword in its right hand, as if an extension of itself.

The silver one brandished a poleaxe, flexible in its own domain.

The two weapons stabbing forward, their impaling momentum caused dimensions to quake.

The sword's tip and poleaxe's spike colliding perfectly, the hall beneath was split in half, the floor now marked with a single canyon separating the two.

Roaring toward nothingness, the golden giant was set ablaze, an armor of dark red flames granting it newfound holiness. A ruler of the world, a Monarch of flames.

The silver one not backing out, it was enveloped with gentleness, an aura of vibrant green pulsating periodically formed all around, as if pumping energy like a heart would beat.

A Monarch of flames against a Monarch of life.

A poleaxe of silver slashing down, a green crescent moon sent flying upfront. A sword of gold cleaving, a dark red inferno challenging hierarchy.

Battling each other, none would back down.

Teeth gritted, jaws clenched, a duel between life and death took place.

Limbo was blessed with two warriors of clashing paths.

To move forward on the Martial Dao, one would need to beat the other. As only one could reign above all.

The two opposing energies still fighting the other, the silver titan felt resolute. And with a single roar, it decimated its own destiny, risking to lose everything.

This duel could not end without one chasing the other. As such was the way of cultivators.

A green glow hugging the giant, its green aura exploded outward while red lights trickled down its eyes. Raining down upon the world.

Clearly unsuspecting of such a display of determination, the golden titan could only brace itself.

The silver poleaxe turning green, it also gained a yellow and red shade. This colorful weapon pulsating a silver light.

"You!!" Howling at the void above, the golden giant only saw a green world crush its vision. A shade of yellow rob its senses. A world of red grind its body. An illumination of silver enlighten its mind.

And as the golden titan was engulfed from the abrupt slash of this simple poleaxe, Limbo turned white.

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The hall crumbling into pieces, Alexander was left on his knees, collapsed on the messy floor. His head was hung low, his entire vessel raging with pain and wither.

His white robes were tattered, and a sea of colorful blood surrounded him.

His eyes were almost fully hollow, an insignificant glow of silver still deep within their empty misery.

Coughing madly, Alexander almost fell on his face.

And far away, into the hall's depths, a broken throne amidst broken pieces from the fallen ceiling.

Atop these cracked stairs was Monarch Lu's body, limp and buried beneath his own creation. A ceiling he always saw but never felt.

His body regaining a sliver of youth, Alexander noticed his life wheel turn from near black to a dim yellow. His last ditch attempt an all out strike with his entire lifespan on the line.

Almost chocking, hoping to catch his next breath, he felt every cell in his body scream.

'Why am I even trying to breath...' Struggling, Alexander's body rose a short distance before slumping back down even harder.

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'Ah~'

'I can't move...'

He could simply not dare to believe it... yet everything called for his attention.

A man like himself... forced to go so far... just to defeat a man an entire major realm beneath...

Unbelievable!

'This Monarch Lu...' Feeling sleepy, Alexander's eyes almost closed, kept slightly opened from his sheer willpower.

Gazing at the torn open ceiling, almost completely missing, Alexander watched the void greet his miserable state. It was a beautiful view for an even more magnificent scene.

Somehow, Alexander could feel the cold breeze wash over his face. Cleansing his turbulent yet tame mind.

'He was... quite strong...' Some blood flowing freely from his mouth, it swiftly glided from his lower lip until it could finally taint his robes some more.

'I just... washed those...' Chuckling a bit more, he could not even find the strength to think.

Curiously sneaking a glance at a pair of legs far away, the only thing visible beside boulders, Alexander smirked despite his struggling flesh.

'Serves... you... right..!'

'This... Alexander...'

'...is...'

His reserves of energies dried, Alexander fell face first onto the destroyed tiles.

'...beyond... your...'

His eyes slowly closing themselves shut, he could not hear anything apart from his own words.

'...wildest... dreams...'

Losing consciousness, Alexander had received an opponent many strange addicts would die for. A being capable of fighting even him while so much weaker.

Even as he turned out to be the winner, Alexander still felt respect for this man. Something not many could claim to have received.

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One eyelid trembling, a silver eyeball was freed from eternal darkness.

Another following, Alexander was left in confusion.

'What... happened?!' His lucidity resurging, he could thankfully remember.

'Ah~'

'Yes... the battle... the duel...'

'Am I really... still alive?'

'What about... them?'

Hardly moving his eyes, Alexander looked around, but other than his right cheek plastered on the floor, he could not see much except a destroyed wall facing him.

'The doors! No...' Thinking a bit more, Alexander could not figure out how nobody came to kill him off.

'Did I... really make it? Did me killing... these pathetic bugs... called Kings, truly... save me?'

'Even if I am... in such a state... my body is still... at the... the...' Having some difficulties putting thoughts into words, Alexander did not care to follow. His mind loved to put voices and words together to create tangible information. But it did not mean he could not think without.

'...' Closing his eyes again, Alexander fell asleep.

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Not aware of how much time had passed since then, Alexander opened his eyes, his slumber over with.

'What... oh...' Regaining his memories even faster, he could finally find the strength to move.

Slowly trying to use energies to fly, he could not find the extra will to do so.

'Whatever...' His face still relaxed, he slightly drooled over the floor while his eyes remained half-shut. Putting his palm downward, he used his arms to push himself up.

'I'm heavy...' A body ten million kilometers tall, Alexander was not the lightest of creatures. However, his muscles were gigantic as well.

Easily making it back to his knees, Alexander glared at the unmoving legs far away.

'Haha... I still can't believe it... I feel like I achieved the impossible, yet...' His small laughter slowly fading away, Alexander did not look amused any longer.

'I wonder why I feel like this...'

Removing his robes, or more precisely what was left of them, he noticed marks all over his body. They overtook his entire vessel, dark snakes almost, making a mess of him.

But Alexander knew better. The black, sort of burnt flesh, these patterns...

'My poor veins...' Fake sniffing, Alexander did not really care. He could not honestly expect his body to be unscathed after forcing his very lifespan inside his veins as pure liquefied energy. However, it still came off as an efficient storage method. One would just need to ignore the possible death of the body.

'It will take a while to recover... the marks may stay forever as well.'

One's body could regenerate with incredible precision. On the other hand, some things existed that the body could not just write off.

Having used his own lifespan as the cause of these veiny marks, Alexander would most likely keep them for a while. These marks were part of his existence itself now.

'No lady will want to marry me now!' Faking a sad expression again, Alexander could however still not hide his deep feelings. And especially to himself.

'Actually... it could be that bad... I... I hope my future lady will be understanding...' A thought passing by, he felt embarrassed of himself.

'Well, I usually kill anyone near me so... first she'll have to survive my mood swings.'

Taking another glance at the corpse far away, Alexander felt his own eyes to be quite unruly.

'I know I really want to get his space ring and uncover his secrets... but I really need to rule myself a bit.'

Sighing, Alexander surged to his feet, standing proudly with wobbly legs. Taking a step forward, he inevitably fell on his face again.

"Urgh..." Annoyed, he still decided to crawl instead, dragging his feet.

'This Monarch Lu... I really want to see what he has... and his luxurious hall capable of stopping even me at my fake full power was amazing. Especially with how majestic it was... but it's too big! I can't crawl that far!' Raising his right hand, Alexander made weird signs with them, calculating a distance.

'Can the hall fit my body laid down... a thousand times? No, way more than that... It's probably a ten thousand Alexander long hall!' His mind clearly having issues still, he happily stopped.

'I'll just wait until I can use Origin Energy again.'

Exhaling a mouthful, he slouched down.

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While waiting for his body to recover enough, the slouched Alexander waited patiently, unfazed by the wealth of all kinds awaiting his hands.

And after quite a long time, his body showing signs of recovery, his neck snapped to the side, his eyes locked onto a destroyed throne of dusty gold.

His silver eyes peering into everything, his heart began to beat faster.

'I'm really becoming paranoid... did that bastard give me a Heart Demon by any chance?' Massaging his forehead, Alexander shook his head in self dismissal.

'I'm crazy-' Doing the same thing again, Alexander could swear to have heard a noise.

And to answer his growing anxiety, fearing someone to have sneaked up on him, hoping to fish in troubled waters... a voice struck his mind with lightning.

"Hahaha!! Haha... Ha~"

Unable to believe his own ears, Alexander watched on as the legs freed of rubbles jerked.

"This Lu is impressed, truly!"

The boulders covering the place behind the throne sent flying everywhere, an ominous black aura began to permeate the air.

"But..."

A hand rising from the dead, the tattered golden robes of a supposed corpse grabbed on as if clutching the void above.

"...the farce is over. It was a fun joke, and an even more fun fight. I'll give you that."

His eyes shivering, Alexander was in complete denial. His crumbled figure watching on... as a man of golden robes rose up to his feet unscathed.

A powerful life wheel behind the man retracting back inside his body, the man's long golden hair turned completely black, jewels of eyes becoming purple.

"And now..."

The void submitted to the man's pure aura of unrestrained might, it showed distortions all around him.

"...I will fight you... not as Monarch Lu of the Ninth Martial Dynasty..."

A pearly smile showing, the man, atop the cracked stairs, looked on toward Alexander with happiness.

"...but as Lu Shu..."

"Saint of the Void!"