The broken remains of four puppets were slowly sucked inside the floor of the arena, leaving not a single trace of the latest fight. Torn off limbs, melted heads, or crushed torsos – everything was gone, while the olive-green artificial enemies were reforming back to their pristine condition. Joining their fifth brother in the motionless state nearer the furthest wall, they readied their weapons. However, breaking Robert’s expectations, they stayed frozen in the same spot, not rushing into an attack at once as they did previously. Instead, a new message appeared, created by calligraphically perfect letters, made by a real master.
The final combat stage. To proceed further say “Ready” … It’s the first time they decided to give me a break to recover. Not that I need one… So, what is the reason?
Measuring all five opponents with his “blind” gaze, Robert tried to think about what the next jump in difficulty could be. The previous pattern was different, marking each stage with a single but mightier opponent and slowly going up to five of them at once before repeating the cycle again. The only exception was the first stage, which started with a full party of puppets, and it seemed the end of the sixth, considering the written text.
Wait. Combat! Maybe the Ascension Tower just can’t recreate an opponent similar to the seventh realm? It may be it… and then the next stage can have a different trial, finally giving me access to the last floor of the pavilion. Hmm, if I am correct, I don’t see any problem. Hope I am.
His reasoning was simple – Robert had finished forming his own cultivation technique, reforming the inner structure of his body. Using ninety-nine percent of available obsidian steel, he readjusted everything completely. It took a lot of time and effort, often leading to a self-destructive situation in that Rob barely managed to survive just because of his stubborn desire to live, despite being reduced to the state of a melted liquid amidst a shining ball at some point. During his experiments, his limbs could suddenly explode, disintegrating at once. Or his reactor would drop in power, making most of his body simply vanish. Or he would lose specific form, turning into a giant sphere without any ability to move. Rob went through a lot to get to this point, where his stable system was making a change, slowly empowering instead of ruining him from the inside.
Robert’s body long ago became a solid piece of steel with identical density, which he raised to its peak possible value. He had no working lungs, stomach, or any other inner organs, apart from the spherical “heart”. But even the latter wasn’t pumping blood but energy. Instead, Rob now used obsidian steel to create a contour of everything he meant to have if he were human. Muscles, veins, other organs – everything got its own shaped outline, but nothing else. Just a rough scheme made in a hurry, but not a real model. Rob had no bones, relying on the firmness of his own flesh. Then he proceeded with adding meridians.
Forming a second set of blood systems, he spread all around his body, reaching even the most distant spots and connecting everything in a closed circuit. In its turn, the latter was attached to the complex system of energy filters. Failing many times to find a perfect construct for this purpose, Rob decided to use a set of them, each transforming the devastating mana into something more useful than his goal. Therefore, his reactor core was surrounded by multiple oddly shaped models made from obsidian steel that almost created a second layer on top of the force shield that surrounded the reactor. Not stopping on it, he redirected half of the produced energy stream back to the reactor. Somehow, the mixture of these energies intensified the reaction, leading to even more power output. That helped Robert to finally cut off Aether and Hell from his “heart”, readjusting them directly to his filtering system to avoid any potential “polluting” from these mighty beings with clearly hidden agenda.
It created a system where the steel inside his reactor core was constantly collapsing to produce energy, which went outside. Filtering and changing its nature, it spread across Rob’s body, while the small part was returned to the reactor core to set the next explosion, increasing its power in the process. The force shield that contained the devastating reactions was fueled by this new energy, somehow keeping its effect despite the absence of any logical reasoning as there was no device to create it. Considering that Rob could hear, speak, or see, not having any dedicated organs, the magical absurdity was an answer. Or maybe his hybrid nature somehow managed to combine the powers from different sources in its own abominable version.
However, this force shield wasn’t that needed as Robert himself kept the radius of the blast in check, manually causing a reaction. At this point, his mind managed to do it automatically by itself, but Rob had no desire to check what would happen if he lost consciousness. Luckily, he never needed to sleep. On the other hand, with the system running not only did he have no dependency on the outer source anymore, basically turning him into an advanced version of a self-sustaining creature, but he was also constantly growing stronger, doing absolutely nothing.
The reason for this was the specific properties of energy he managed to take through several consecutive transformations. It wasn’t mana or Qi, but more like a self-invented variation of spirit energy with a focus on nourishment of a soul. The idea was consolidated from multiple techniques of the fifth realm – Nascent Soul. Taking into account that Rob’s body was merged with his soul, becoming one, while his body could grow endlessly because of his draconic heritage, it empowered him dramatically. Moreover, it would continue to do it without any visible limit as far as he knew. The tradeoff of this system was an inability to use any cultivator’s combat arts or any Qi manipulation. The other downside was the loss of free obsidian steel, as the black matter that he had available was not bigger than a thumb. Still, Rob was happy about this exchange, even though he was basically destroying a part of his constantly restoring soul that was in an endless cycle of growth to fuel his being.
“I better to ask – are YOU ready to face me?”
He spoke loudly with a mad grin plastered on his face while tensing his body. The obsidian steel was already covering both his palms, forming something akin to thin black gloves. Emitting barely visible light from the destructive layer that was coating them, they were the single piece of anything that resembled clothes on his body. Otherwise, Robert once again was nude, showcasing his muscular grayish body instead of menacing pitch-black armor that made him look like a mannequin. Not if the puppets cared about it.
The olive-green opponents with huge joints took a battle stance, preparing for an inevitable fight. The archer's drowned bow was aimed at Robert, while its owner was pumping Qi into his combat art. The martial artist was conjuring two flaming whips, concentrating all his available fire on his weapons. The other three were amidst of stepping forward, with the spearman in the center. The latter was already lunging forward, coated in a tiny whirlwind. The saber and sword wielders finished the battle formation, ready to intercept a “human” at any moment. The picture didn’t last even a fraction of an instant, captured by Robert’s mind before he started to act. Then everything accelerated, starting with Rob himself.
Charging forward, he closed the distance way before the puppet with the spear managed to finish its technique. Avoiding the thrust by stepping to the side, Rob shot his left fist forward using the accumulated inertia. Pushing his shoulder forward and stretching his arm, he almost turned himself into the same long-shafted weapon. The puppet tried to redirect its combat skill, but it was already impossible. Forming a tiny hurricane with razor-sharp wind, the Qi art was launched behind Robert’s back, trying to shatter a surprisingly fast “human”. However, the only thing that was shattered was the face of the puppet. Getting smacked hard, it was sent flying with half of its head missing, destroyed by the impact and the destructive layer.
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In the next moment, Robert ducked under the wide swing of the sword. Squatting deeply, he shot upward with his right fist clenched. The powerful uppercut threw away the second puppet, but he had no opportunity to celebrate as there was another attack coming. Twisting his body, Rob’s mind registered how the two-handed saber flew in bare millimeters from his chest, almost touching his grayish skin. Smiling from the fact, he completely missed the flaming whips, coming from the side. Catching his neck, they wrapped it instantly, tightly squeezing him and merging in one thick and scorching scarf. Not stopping on it, the weapon caused the flame to rise, enveloping Rob’s head and painting the surroundings into hellish red. Then he felt a pull that dragged him down toward the incoming bluish blade.
Robert’s mad grin never wavered when he headbutted the two-handed saber with all his force. The blade managed to cut through by an inch (2.5 centimeters) before getting stuck, despite being empowered by two sources of qi and Rob’s onrushing motion. The next moment his steel flesh moved, trapping the weapon, while he pushed upward with his leg. Raising back into a straight position and towering above the puppet with his current 7 feet height (213 centimeters), Rob made the artificial opponent stretch its arms above its head so as not to lose the handle of the saber. It left the enemy vulnerable.
Ignoring the burning whip around his neck that failed to melt his body and only managed to slightly scorch his grayish skin, Robert swiftly shot both his palms, gripping the elbows of the puppet. The joints fought for a long second before failing to resist the overwhelming force and destructive layer. The next instant both arms were simply torn away, and the enemy got a mighty kick right into its chest. Rob noticed how the deep dent and multiple cracks formed on the surface of the enemy during the strike before inertia pulled the puppet away, smashing into the wall at the opposite side of the arena. However, the periphery of his sight caught a glimpse of forming combat art above his head.
It seemed the archer waited for this opportunity, preparing the execution of his flashy technique when there would be no allies near the intended target. This time, instead of shooting with copying arrows, the olive-green opponent focused on the creation of hundreds of projectiles, turning them into a frozen downpour that was accumulating its strength before finally venting its mindless anger onto anything caught in the radius. And Robert wanted to avoid such fate. Therefore, he acted on his instincts immediately upon noticing the threat. There wasn’t even the tiniest delay in his action when his legs tensed up, and he launched himself into the air, jumping right onto the forming skill. Propelling himself through the air, Robert broke through the row of arrows an instant before the cultivator’s spell dropped onto the floor, releasing the destructive force.
Wait, I was captured by whips…
Hitting the ceiling, Rob bounced back, still not capable of damaging the Ascension Tower. Rotating amid the air, he finally registered that the flame scarf was already dispersing as its creator wasn’t in the state to supply it anymore. Being on the other end of its own weapon, the puppet was basically dragged by Robert onto the line of fire, getting the full power of skill with long preparation. Getting riddled with energy arrows, the flame wielder got to the point of being perforated akin to a sieve, losing half of its body. It only started to collapse when Rob dropped down like a cannonball, shattering it into pieces.
Pausing for a moment, Robert jumped to the side, avoiding a gust of wind from the spear wielder, which was rising back despite the damage that the puppet’s face experienced. Ignoring the following arrow from the archer, Rob pulled the stuck weapon from his own head only to block the swing of the sword. Enveloped in black Qi, it cut through the blade with ease. However, being pushed by inertia from the mighty strike, it dragged the puppet further, exposing its side. Robert immediately used it. Releasing the leftover saber, he caught the puppet’s palm that was holding the sword. Tightening his grip, he easily fractured the opponent’s fingers. In the next moment, his leg shot forward, sending a low kick toward the enemy. Dropping onto the floor, the puppet failed to stop the incoming motion of its own arm with the sword. Another instant brought the blade right into the artificial being’s neck, beheading it at once.
Rob only started to rise when the arrow penetrated his eye, sticking out from the other side. Then the whirlwind hit him from behind. Shredding his steel flesh, it threw him forward… right onto the archer. Turning his flight into a roll, Robert became a bowling ball that hit the skittle with a bow. Falling onto the puppet, Rob quickly adjusted his position before finally grabbing the enemy’s head, intensifying an energy output from both his black gloves. Shining like on a Christmas tree, they melted the skull. His fingers dived deeply into the puppet’s head. Then he stopped the effect. There was a short pause when the artificial flesh resisted the pull, but Rob’s strength was too huge. In the next moment both his hands were stretched to the opposite sides, still holding the remnants of the torn apart head.
Only one left…
Turning around, Robert instantly fell down on his back, dodging the powerful thrust that still managed to gauge his face. Throwing two improvised projectiles into the spear-wielding enemy, he managed to destabilize its stance for a fraction of a second. It appeared to be enough to push himself in a backward roll. Halting the motion the moment he felt he was standing in a handstand; Robert straightened his arms before pushing himself into a rotation. Swinging his leg as if it were a weapon, he hit the spear’s shaft away, exposing its owner. The following rotation smacked the shoulder of the puppet, sending it stumbling. Rob, on the other hand, pushed himself into the air, getting back to his feet. Using inertia, he proceeded with another rotational leg strike, using all his strength. This time not only was the force behind it powerful, but also it was directed into the puppet’s cheek, resulting in a shattering hit that demolished the already damaged head into pieces. The corpse hadn’t even fallen to the floor, when Robert returned to his feet with surprising agility, making a real pirouette.
It seems some parts of the skills from the serums are still there. Nice.
Glancing over the broken remains of the puppets that started to disappear, Robert finally pulled the arrow from his head. Checking the surroundings to see if there was anything else, he directed his attention toward the new message that was written on the wall.
According to your battle prowess and level of cultivation, you will be granted the highest position of the Grand Elder. By completing the combat trial, the Ascension Tower will be transformed into a spiritual trial until you are ready to go through the Ascension Gate, attempting to get to the next realm or die trying. Until then, entrance for everyone is banned. Be reasonable as your sect members will need to wait for you. Be proud as only rare cultivators can achieve it. Be humble as you aren’t the first to do it. Be brave as courage brought you to this stage.
All unspoken questions were shoved to the side when the puppets started to reform. This time, instead of reappearing in humanoid form with a slight change, they immediately merged into one, turning into a purple stone mass. Then this artificial thing moved again, spreading to the side and simultaneously rising above the floor until it became an arc right into the center of the arena. There was a moment of overwhelming silence, when not only the time but even the air seemed to freeze, turning everything into a simple photo. Then the pressure came. Dropping down onto Robert like a meteor, it smacked him against the surface with enormous weight, far exceeding anything he experienced before.
It took several seconds just to attempt to rise, but he somehow did it. Trembling from the invisible force that was constantly trying to tear him apart from the inside, Rob took a first step toward the arc. The effect was immediate as the strength of the pressure made another leap in power, almost shattering his knees from the ethereal weight. Instinctively backing off, Robert made the presence of this intangible force lower its effect, turning everything tolerable but not in the slightest easier. After spending a few moments observing the arc, Rob shook his head with recognition.
Nah, let’s start with more information first. According to this message, the thing isn’t disappearing anywhere soon… And I am not powerful enough yet. Yeah, spout some arrogant nonsense as if you become an OP, and reality instantly will pull you to the ground, Robert… Are YOU ready to face ME? Dumbass!