Some distance away from the countless commotions, Alexander was levitating above a group of people. Among them, three caught his eyes.
'Here you are! The next victims!'
Beneath him, a tanned young man with three curved horns and short, messy dark hair was joking with a friend. A few meters away, a beautiful red haired woman sang to the surrounding disciples. Her red robes could not hide her alluring charm along her glowing red crown of light above her head. Finally, the last target was a young angel, a woman of purity standing alone near a tree. Her white halo was quite striking, much more so than her white icy robes.
'Three horned Risorx, red crowned devil and a white halo graded angel. A reunion of big shots. Well, in front of this Alexander, such prestige is nothing more than an illusion.'
'But an illusion is a fun parlor trick. I might as well answer in kind!'
"And so that kid said-"
"Who goes there!" Spinning like a vortex, the tanned Risorx swung his arm around, hoping to hit whatever was spying on him.
"??" Quite confused, his head tilted to the side, wondering when a crow had landed on his attacking arm. However, the crow suddenly glowed a dark light, red dots submerging its eyes, influencing the Risorx' mind.
"N-No! Careful, everyone!" Shouting, he felt a tremendous pressure crush his vessel down to the earth. Collapsed, he could hardly breathe, a small crow still holding tight onto his arm.
Feeling a sense of dread, he saw the crow look into his eyes before pecking. With a simple peck, the screams of agony and complete horror unfolded for all to hear. None could blame him however, as the crow managed to tear his eye apart, tendrils of flesh exposed outside, behind the eyeball.
His shout louder than many could even fathom, the two other talented individuals felt an ominous oppression rain down.
The first to react was the fiery red devil, her first instinct to throw anything anywhere.
Knives sank into barks, smoke filled the area and arrays illuminated the world.
Yet, against Alexander, such things were nothing but clownish hopes from a lacking jester.
A large hand grabbing her shoulder, the red woman did not even have enough drive to turn her head around. Behind her was most likely a monster she could never offend in ten lifetimes, so what use was there to look?
She did not want to see what laid behind. She did not want to see the unknown all beings fear.
As for the other one, the pure angel of white light, she could see the culprit clearly. It was a monster of a man, but still, this man was handsome.
A handsome monster, a beautiful calamity. He appeared much taller than the devil, her head only reaching his sternum.
The contrast between the two, she felt repulsed from it. She felt attracted physically and terrorized internally.
Other than cold sweats, the two talented women could not feel anything else drench their robes.
"Red crowned devil... Quite the potential you have there. Unfortunately..."
"Unfortunately what? Hehe..." Gulping a few times, the red crowned woman shivered. And as the hand on her shoulder clutched harder, breaking not only her shoulder but collarbone as well, she heard an answer.
"Unfortunately... It is a sin worthy of death."
This sentence, this answer, she could only hear a death sentence. Those were not the words of an enemy. Those were the words, the sentence, the judgment, of all.
She could not tell why, but a faint silver glow illuminated her heart.
And with a bang, she broke through the Dao Heart Realm. A Nascent Soul Realm expert, stuck in this realm, suddenly awakened to a powerful yet distant Dao.
The survivors nearby were all shocked. Many rejoiced while some others issued entertaining bets.
However, one person was not happy. One person was utterly furious.
This person, it could only be Alexander.
His bulging veins covering his entire face, his entire neck, his entire being.
A dark, black color washing over his veins, he looked like an ancient demon.
"You dare..."
Clutching even harder, his teeth clenched until they created shockwaves.
"YOU DARE COMPREHEND MY DAO?!!!"
He could feel it. This talented woman managed to understand parts of his Dao of Supremacy. It was nothing worth mentioning, something quite a few people most likely achieved already. But still...
This was one of the most infuriating events that could happen. Its rage inducing power was on par with taboos. Comprehending the Dao of someone was not just about gaining knowledge or receiving enlightenment. It was fundamentally the same as spitting on the owner of that Dao and ridicule their entire life, belittling their lifelong efforts and hardships. It was the greatest insult in the world of cultivation, something extremely talented beings were bound to do at least once in their lives.
It would be fine for them if they were hidden away from the owners, but this time...
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"You sinner!!! Feel the wrath of the true Dao...!!
"And repent!!!!"
Her teeth clattering, her legs giving up, the red devil could tell whatever was right behind her to be completely pissed off. It was so pissed even, that its real strength leaked out slightly.
Its real strength leaked out furiously.
The group of disciples, amounting to almost sixty, all opened their eyes.
The sealed world was nowhere to be found. The only thing left was grey. A shade of misty grey covering their visions. And, far into the distance, they all spotted a dark shadow.
Their senses acting up, they tried focusing on it. This dark shadow felt like a humongous wall blocking the way down this direction, blocking the entire horizon. And, when all of them could not tell what it was, they all simultaneously understood.
Their eyes losing focus, these same eyes did not look for a specific spot. These eyes suddenly hoped to envision the entire picture. Because of it, they all saw that this dark shadow was extending far into the grey Heavens.
The mist clearing up, be it the random disciples betting on random stuff or the two geniuses ladies, all turned pale. Paler than they could ever become. A shade of white brighter than this entire grey world even.
A shade reflecting a fear outclassing even an entire world.
As the shadow became clearer, as the mist completely disappeared. As their mortality was reflected before their very eyes.
As the boot of a man filled their entire field of view, as the boot of a man collapsed their path.
The boot felt like an entire plane of existence so big they could not compare no matter how high they ever cultivated.
A white boot already tall enough to suppress the Heavens.
Their despair still ongoing, their poor eyes decided to continue. To try and see what laid further beyond.
"..." Mouths wide open, the poor souls finally saw it. It had been hours, days, weeks, however long they took, only to gaze upon this being.
A tall young man, a titan dimensions apart from them. Just the sole of his boot was bigger than a Multiverse compared to them. As for his actual size, they did not dare try to comprehend it.
This was not the difference between their goals, nor a clash of ambitions.
It was a simple difference in status. A mind shattering comparison between cultivation, between overwhelming strength and underwhelming weakness.
A difference so big, their real bodies were already collapsed on the earth, long dead from destroyed souls.
As no soul of their level could ever survive an encounter with a fraction of his aura.
A true testimony, a proof, of what kind of being these people would never become.
As the titan was already gazing down upon these warm corpses.
A Dao of Supremacy forcing all to kneel, all to despair. To walk upon a lone path filled with nothing but grey. Nothing but silver.
To attain the peak of everything. To complete one's destined dream.
"..." Curiously watching dozens of corpses, Alexander heavily sighed. He had been enraged, failing to contain his aura. The difference between the Empyrean Realm and somewhere around the Nascent Soul Realm was just too much.
They only saw a fraction of his might, yet all collapsed. It was a trial impossible to pass, a fate they could never escape.
As if an ant at the bottom of a tower piercing the clouds trying to look at its peak.
No, it was even more than that. Countless times so.
A height, a difference in status, so high, one would not just strain their neck, they would break it. A titan's head where visions warp, where dimensions fuse.
.
.
.
A feeling of powerlessness, a sensation of utter dread. These emotions, these strange things, all seeping into Jun's body. And to complete his anxiety, a message prompt spammed his vision.
[Enormous energy detected! Warning! Optimal advice : Run south]
[Enormous energy detected! Warning! Optimal advice : Run south]
[Enormous energy detected! Warning! Optimal advice : Run south]
[Enormous energy detected! Warning! Optimal advice : Run south]
"What is going on..." Gently putting a spiritual herb into a space ring, Jun closed all prompts in worry. He would not run, especially since a being so dangerous would not let him do so.
Would a being this strong look for him? There was no reason.
But, sometimes, reason was not something to be focusing on. Strong beings did not care about reasons.
To understand them, comprehending the power of random happenings was a must. Something a system might not be able to do.
Or so Jun thought, until the system managed to clear some of his doubts.
[Analysis finished!]
[The energy outburst had been caused by an entity above the Nihility Realm!]
[The system is unable to analyze further, please stay safe!]
"..." His mouth wide agape, Jun's hand lost grip, causing a small tool to fall onto the dirt.
'Even master... was master this strong? Above...'
'Above my master who was at the Nihility Realm...'
'The only one I can think of is either master's master or the master of my master's master... It's complicated...'
'It's dangerous! It's super dangerous!!'
.
.
.
Collecting his rampaging anger, Alexander retracted his aura, returning to the outward appearance of a little Earth Realm expert.
"At least my targets are all dead." Wondering how much he could still play with, he decided against killing everyone else. Instead, Alexander waited.
Staying in the sealed world, in an area where not even the strongest of beasts dared to trespass anymore, he stood rooted in place for almost two years.
After these two years, he slowly walked east, following behind the first disciples he saw. The sealed world was about to open again.
'The elders will probably notice me. Should I erase their memories or-' Cutting him short was his own perception, snapping his neck to the left, focusing on a young man amidst a crowd.
The crowd was obviously going to the entrance, but this did not matter.
As for the young man currently stared at by Alexander, he was receiving one or two warnings.
[Warning! Strong presence detected! You have been found! The system has been found!]
[Warning! Strong presence detected! You have been found! The system has been found!]
[Warning! Strong presence detected! You have been found! The system has been found!]
[Warning! Strong presence detected! You have been found! The system has been found!]
"..." Gulping audibly, Jun was drenched from head to toe in freezing cold sweats. The reason was fairly obvious, especially when a being seemingly stronger than his former master was staring daggers into the side of his head, almost drilling holes into his very soul.
A being close enough to even whisper to him.
Trying to appear nonchalant, Jun kept his worries sealed away, his heart steeled resolute. But...
This did not matter when a difference in cultivation was this overwhelming.
"You." Freezing on the spot, as if a petrified mortal facing Medusa, Jun gently moved his eyes to the right, where the man gazing at him prior was nowhere to be found.
His breathing quickening, Jun felt his steeled heart shatter, returning to its frail flesh.
As for the being's next words, it truly doomed his hopes, destined to fall down in Hell.
"Nice system kid. But I don't like how it's trying to warn you about me. Also, where did you even get this?"
"I...I..."
"I... I!... I..." As if a broken record, Jun could not form any sentences, any coherent message. His brain was already preoccupied with escape routes, which it obviously failed to find.
"You? Can't you speak properly?" A hand as if cotton pressing on his back, Jun trembled in spasms, his throat and mouth dry, his vision blurry.
It was as if a deadly weapon was on the verge of stabbing his torso.
"I'll just look at your soul then."
"!!" The words had been said, the sentence pronounced. Jun could only try to gain time now.
"I... I am Jun! I am a... a good fr-urh..." Almost vomiting not only food but blood, Jun felt a palm very slowly press into his back, as if a snail, mincing his flesh and muscles, obliterating his bones.
His spine long gone, the rest of his internal structure was as well. Gone to a distant, spiritual place. And before he could understand what happened, his mind turned dark. The only thing left on his corpse as it fell over face first was a palm shaped depression. It was almost reaching the other side yet did not damage anything else. A palm strike of perfect accuracy and control.