The crimson warrior that was previously subdued by the Judgment Tome heard everything the Qilin had muttered to itself and was scared witless. Immortals, Gods and Heavens were not something one mentions lightly. This crimson warrior, before his defeat under the hands of the Wudang’s founder, had been searching for a way to exceed the Celestial Domain for millions of years. Since ancient times mortals have longed transcend their limits and reach the higher planes of existence from legends. However there were no concrete evidence that mortals can indeed reach the Heavens.
Thus the term “Immortal” was used loosely for beings that have gone through their first Rebirth. The first Rebirth grants a few million years to longevity and that itself makes most believe that is immortality already. On the contrary true immortality is when one have unlimited life span unless they are killed off. After hearing the Qilin mention True Immortals and Anomalies shocked him to his very core. He had slaughtered millions of people and beasts alike, wresting away their talent and luck in hopes of becoming a True Immortal but never came close to breaking past the Celestial Domain.
Since the creation of the Heaven Continent, only nine individuals have managed to become “True Immortals”. The Heaven Continent has been around for billions of years and the last person to have reached to the end of the path to immortality has been long forgotten. That meant out of countless trillions of beings born on the Heaven Continent, only nine managed to arrive to a higher plane of existence labeled as Heavens.
[Mentioned by God-like being that only nine immortal have come from the Heaven Continent. Chapter 29]
The Qilin finally noticed the crimson warrior was shaking like a leaf, it’s as if he had been electrocuted. The holy beast could understand why a mortal on the path of immortality would be shocked to this extent. What he had said is beyond most cultivators’ wildest dreams.
“Ah you… you practiced the taboo art that seizes other people’s soul. Right now the different streams of souls are corrupting you to the point of insanity. Hmm how about I fix this little issue. I’ll need a companion to chat with anyways. Who knows when the kid will complete his first Rebirth and even then, he won’t be able to draw out even one percent of my power. If he meets any danger, I’ll have you help him out.” The Qilin pointed a talon at him and a strange symbol appeared on the crimson warrior’s forehead. The symbol exploded with light and disappeared abruptly.
[One can only enter their spirit world inside their soul freely once they go through their first Rebirth. Chapter 69]
For the first time in countless millions of years, the crimson warrior’s mind was completely lucid. His eyes were clear and void of any confusion. All the voices inside him were nowhere to be found. A sense of new purpose crossed the threshold into his awareness. Instantly he kneeled down and bowed humbly. “My name is Daz-Has-Tar, the last member of the Anti-Heaven Tribe. I pledge my eternal allegiance to you.”
“Your life will now belong to the boy. I understand that unlike me, your body still exists in this world. When the time comes, I’ll help you retrieve it. This boy needs to be nurtured properly so he may have a chance to alter the doomed fate that all the Heavens will face in the future…” The Qilin slowly instructed Daz-Has-Tar of his new duty at Ryu’s future guardian.
Ryu returned back to the physical world and instantly tried to understand what happened. He had contracted his first spirit and it turned out to be the mighty Qilin. The seven ancient beast schools were all created after seven divine beasts. Ryu got a little background on each of the seven beasts from the Drunken Master. The Qilin was rumored to be a good omen and the guardian for great rulers in the past. It is also the most sacred and rarest amongst the seven ancient beasts because the other six beasts can still be found in the world while the Qilin species have long become extinct. The Qilin school was also the strongest out of the seven schools, perhaps it is the strongest out of the seven ancient beasts.
“I actually managed to contract my spirit. I don’t have to open a connection to the afterlife realm for Spirit Fusion anymore!” Ryu said excitedly. Although he had not used Spirit Fusion all that much in the past, it was still an extremely formidable skill. The reason why he doesn’t use it is because in order to do so, he had to request a spirit from the afterlife to temporary lend him their power. Since spirits that managed to enter the afterlife are all lofty beings that were at least in the Emperor Domain in the past, they would rarely agree. Since Ryu wasn’t even in the Emperor Domain, he would always be begging a random spirit. The realm of the afterlife is larger than one could ever imagine, each time you open a connection it would be in a different location and the spirits nearby would be different as well. Thus increasing the chances of failure of getting a spirit to aid you. Each attempt would cost a large sum of Qi as well, regardless of success.
However now that Ryu has his own contracted spirit, he does not need to attempt to summon a spirit from the afterlife to help him out. He can just use the one that resides in his own spirit world. Prince Na’Vi told Ryu in the past that it’s extremely hard get a contract with a spirit, especially when one’s cultivation is low. That’s because the contracted spirit would have to live inside one’s soul. The higher the cultivation, the stronger the soul. The soul has to be strong enough to contain the spirit you are attempting to form a contract with. Prince Na’Vi didn’t think Ryu who was in the entry King Domain the last they talked would be in a position to form a contract so he didn’t tell Ryu the specifics of the process. If they knew that Ryu not only formed a contract with a spirit but with a Divine Spirit at that, their view of Ryu would be greatly changed once again.
“Oh right! I forgot to ask about Exoe.” Ryu exclaimed out after snapping out of his daze. The Qilin had traveled with the Infernal Fist founder centuries ago and even helped him out slightly, he definitely could shed some light into what was going on with the Infernal Fist founder. Right now his clone and Exoe were half way to the capital of the Lin Empire. Exoe had remained fairly quiet during this time and nothing exciting had happened on their journey so far. Coupled with the recent events, Ryu had a lot on his mind.
[The Qilin was inside a God-Sealing Orb that helped Exoe awaken his bloodline.]
Ryu slowly made his way back to the Raging Thunder Sect’s camp. The reason was that there were still a few experts around in the area which he avoided cautiously. He still has not gotten the Destiny Defiance skill under complete control yet, if his attention lapses then the Qi around him would be suctioned off into himself. This is why Ryu is covertly traveling back to the camp while practicing to keep the Destiny Defiance skill suppressed so he won’t harm innocent people.
Ryu had been gone from the Raging Thunder Sect’s camp for roughly three days now. The reason he’s regrouping with them isn’t to participate in the tournament but to gain entry. Previously he just wanted to see the spectacle that would unfold so it didn’t matter how he gained entry but now he wants to see if he can enter the Thousand Swords Graveyard’s mythical zone. He needs to enter the Thousand Swords Graveyard with the sect because it is divided in sectors. Those not participating will only be able to reside in the outmost sector.
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Even if he can’t pass any of the stages, he can at least cultivate in there hopefully but that’s not the main reason. The primary reason is that the secret revealed from the Destiny Defiance skill and the Life and Death Governance skill needed more investigation. The two skills from the Anti-Heaven Tribe came from a suspected mythical zone so Ryu hopes to find more clues regarding the secret. The secret was dreadful enough to throw the world into turmoil. Hopefully the Infinity Tomes will give him the edge to pass at least the first stage of the mythical zone.
[A shocking secret was recorded in the Infinity Tomes after it copied the skills from the crimson warrior. Chapter 67]
Ryu expected there will be a significant change in the atmosphere around the camp. The incident regarding the essence possessing Leia must have shook the sect to its very core. The causalities were not light either, at least a few elders must have perished. This is all excluding the revelations that Has-Tai wasn’t the legitimate child of the sect leader but was the child of his brother. No matter how tight lipped the people involved tries to be, the news would eventually spread out to the whole sect and beyond. Upon arriving Ryu was greeted with a desolate empty land where the sect used to reside temporarily. On the ground a few words were carved – “Thank you senior, hope to see you at the Thousand Swords Graveyard.”
“Of course… it takes two days to fly there but a whole sect would need more time to travel there.” Ryu said to himself as he realized he only had four days to actually make it there himself. There’s no point going to the nearby city for a flying mount since it’ll be undoubtedly all rented out. The only option is to fly full speed by himself but that would be quite taxing even for him.
One of the Infinity Tomes opened up behind him and a scroll fell out. It was a beast summoning scroll that belonged to Alexis. Ryu totally forgot about this item since it was useless to him until a few days ago. The weakest beast in his collection was in the upper King Domain. Since Ryu had just reached entered upper King Domain himself, he could finally subjugate the beast to do his bidding. Summoning a beast doesn’t mean it’ll obey you, the summoner has to control the beast by using an equivalent or stronger Qi to suppress the beast’s.
This was the first time Ryu attempted to summon a beast and he wasn’t even quite sure what type of beast it was. Since the Infinity Tomes suggested it, he didn’t question its judgment and injected his Qi into it. A bright flash of dark light appeared and a daunting horse-like beast flew out. The moment the intimidating beast appeared, a small portion of Ryu’s Qi started channeling through the scroll to control the beast. Ryu had no idea what this beast was called but it looked fearsome and formidable. It had the shape of a horse but has eight legs. Above its head contained two petrifying sharp horns and all its hoofs emitted a cerise ruby blaze. Hopping on its back, Ryu politely asked the beast to take him north towards the Thousand Swords Graveyard and it took off with a gigantic leap.
The Qi consumption of this method was much more efficient than flying and allows Ryu to focus on other tasks. The skill he got from the Qilin, Path to True Immortality, only applies when he enters the Emperor Domain. It was a skill that strengthens the essence, an evolution of the Qi reservoir, and the soul. Right now Ryu is attempting to decipher more regarding the first stance of the Destiny Defiance skill. Although it forcefully drains Qi mercilessly, it also contained many profound secrets regarding Qi that most probably don’t know about. In fact, Ryu was eager to control this skill as it could be an alternative for him to use against evildoers in the future instead of utilizing the Absolute Agreement to bind people to him for life. The Absolute Agreement cannot be undone and the people under its influence will always feel its presence even if Ryu takes away all the conditions.
Beasts in the same domain are naturally stronger than cultivators because of their stronger bodies. Ryu knew that but was witnessing it for the first time as he watched the horse-like beast effortlessly carried him across the land. Ryu estimates that he would arrive at the Thousand Swords Graveyard in less than two days. The next day passed without incident, occasionally Ryu would see flying mounts pass from above him. Right now he just needs to cross a small patch of forest and he’ll have arrived at his destination. The forest was filled with Heaven Domain beasts mostly and they fled at the sight of Ryu’s hellish looking mount.
A loud boom sounded from his right followed by a huge gust of wind. The ordinary trees near him were physically bent from the wind pressure, ready to snap any time. Spreading his senses out, Ryu noticed a human in a mortal combat with what looks like a colossal reptile a few kilometers away in the air. Out of curiosity Ryu decided to observe a bit. Upon closing the distance between them, Ryu noticed that there were over a hundred experts lying in wait underneath the battle between the man and beast in the air.
“Ha!” A topless muscular man with long golden hair howled out as he punched at a crocodile-like beast. The beast was actually in the peak Emperor Domain and was capable of flight. The human opponent was only in the early Emperor Domain but was holding his own against the terrifying beast. The reptile beast was at least a three hundred meters long and twenty meters wide. With its terrifying long mouth, it was aiming to shred its opponent to nothingness. Hundreds of its razor sharp teeth flashed about like it could devour a small mountain like candy. Each breath it exhaled emitted a noxious gas that could disintegrate metal. Its tail had glowing spikes that could puncture most armors.
The man battling showed no fear but instead looked excited. He appeared to be a fearless god of war that could slay a thousand men. Ryu haven’t witnessed many battles with Emperor Domain beings so it was an eye opener. Prince Na’Vi’s group and the Drunken Master usually restricted their profound Qi to around Ryu’s level when they trained him. Ryu noticed that the Qi discharged by the golden haired man was very compact and much denser than what King Domain experts are capable of. This was an example of quality of quantity. The large reptile beast was emitting an insane aura all around him, it was leaking upwards like a bonfire. The golden warrior condensed his Qi to a thin layer around his body and was able to penetrate the beast’s aura despite the difference in levels, ultimately injuring it.
Although he was tangled in a deadly combat with the Emperor Domain beast that was quite a few levels higher than him, he was carefully observing the situation around him at the same time. Ryu was also discerning the situation cautiously from afar. In the center of crowd stood five hooded figures in Emperor Domain channeling Qi towards a long red scroll that floated in mid-air. This was how they were controlling the peak Emperor Domain beast that’s combatting the warrior in the air.
“Wu-Ming even if you are a Chosen from the Golden Lion Clan, your life will be over today!” One of the Emperor Domain expert channeling Qi towards the scroll binding the beast shouted out with eagerness.
Hearing this, the golden haired man unleashed a frightening palm strike against the beast’s bloodcurdling spiky tail that resulted in a loud bang which sent both flying backwards. The golden man laughed out loud after he stabilized himself and shouted, “Despicable! I, Wu-Ming, have encountered many dangers before but never would I expect to be betrayed by my own clan members!”