End Of The Change Merit Trials

"m- hm, uf? What's that...?" Heian Ciemnosc felt his body wake up just a few little minutes after losing consciousness. He felt Neutral Energy bathing his upper back as his neck was held carefully by a tall beauty. He could tell it was a she and a beauty because of his ample experience dealing with beautiful women... and his Spirit Sense instantly scanning everything around him once. Noticing him waking up, the crowd made some gasps and extra murmurs while the beauty holding him stopped moving and looked back at him.

“Heian Ciemnosc?” Sahnyr’s voice peered into his ears, quieting down any outside noise. Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes struggled to open. His body was held up by Sahnyr, who almost carried him in a princess carry-style. When he saw her, Heian Ciemnosc realized he was looking at a damsel in distress, granted relief from his previous actions. Blinking a couple times however he could, he heard her voice again. “Thank you so much…”

Smoooooch~.

“Woooaaah!” - “What?! She too?!” - “Wooooouuu~~!” The crowds were amazed and surprised, but not shocked, to see Sahnyr smoothly part her mouth and join it with Heian Ciemnosc’s. She wasn’t just pecking him, to which some would’ve thought of an innocent, intimate ‘thank you’ on her part. Nope. Her lips were moving up, down, back, and forth. Her tongue lusciously moved everywhere around his lips, teeth, and tongue. And just as everyone thought she had eaten enough of his saliva, she would open her gladly opened eyes, look at Heian Ciemnosc with smiles in her eyes… and continue all over again.

After Sahnyr feasted on his pale red lips, pale rosy tongue, pearly white teeth, and inner cheeks, she beautifully smiled, exposing her breathtaking dimples, and looked deeply into Heian Ciemnosc’s face as if he were her lover. With 3 last pecks on his salivated lips, by her moist but cleaned orange-ish lips, she asked as Elena walked over with her eyebrows up, but her brown eyes were serene. “Can you stand up? Ah, I am fighting in 2 days. Will you watch me?”

“Oh… sure, I just… need to rest first,” Heian Ciemnosc was unfazed by the intimate session he just went in. He could tell Biston observed everything, but the latter was just as unimpressed as Heian Ciemnosc. He patted Sahnyr’s backhands, holding onto him as she helped him stand up to meet Elena, whose eyes scrutinized him and his pale torso. After ensuring he was fine, she rushed to his arms, briefly hugged him with her ear against his pale sternum, and placed his left arm over her shoulders. She didn’t leave without being polite, turning her head towards Sahnyr.

“Thank you, senior apprentice Sister.” Elena thus marched back to the Wrath Nihility Academy’s vip zone with Heian Ciemnosc’s arm over her shoulders. The crowd was simply shaking their heads. How could things end like this? Harems and open relationships could work perfectly. It was even a common sight in the world, but… sigh! Who didn’t want to be Heian Ciemnosc at these moments? They could only look at the sides with longing… in their imagination.

“Mn, go on.” Sahnyr looked at someone’s little Fera jump around, impatient to receive Heian Ciemnosc’s body, but only Elena got permission to get out of her vip zone with a host’s word. As the bleachers turned somewhat silent and Sahnyr stood still, she looked towards Tene, who was coincidentally looking at her. Both stared at Heian Ciemnosc’s departing back and then looked at each other again before shaking their heads with slight traces of smiles.

“... I have to say… that wasn’t bad, huh,” Elena commented. She flicked her short blonde hair at his face and forehead before asking him as she looked at him almost directly. “How did it feel? Good? Sahnyr was really worried. She really didn’t want to see you beaten down like Biston. But she just has been far too little time naked beside you, sigh. Who asked me to submit to such a horrible husband?”

“Mn… it was good. But I think that was because Sahnyr is very delicious,” Heian Ciemnosc said. Elena’s chin lowered, and she ‘seriously’ lifted her eyebrows. Heian Ciemnosc internally chuckled before adding, “But my wives taste better. Mn, even Fera tastes better. She has to be our son’s sweetheart, right? I’m sure she’ll do well in that department…”

Heian Ciemnosc suddenly lost the will to continue speaking as he looked at the ground while getting into the vip zone with Sahnyr behind them. Elena noticed it right away and asked, “You should rest first. Do you want me to walk you back to the bedroom?”

“Mn, bring the young one. She can sleep with us. I don’t need any dual cultivation… Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten my promise to make you suffer after this- sigh is over.” Heian Ciemnosc sounded so mature in Elena’s eyes. She grinned, showing her left canine, and nodded before walking towards Fera. “Okay. It will be a couple months before we can see Big Sister Alyona and Hong Mei again. Are you excited?”

Heian Ciemnosc grinned. Although Elena asked him like a curious little girlfriend, she also knew how much he would think of them even in their in and out moments. However, this was normal since he couldn’t see them too much whenever he wanted. Soon, Heian Ciemnosc will return to the Academy. With his proximate plans, he might not see them for at least a couple of years. He had to make use worth of at least a few months together so he would not falter in this cruel world.

“Mn. Good.” Elena commented again before walking to some higher-ups who wished them well. Elena and Heian Ciemnosc departed from the vip zone first, but not without Arla hugging him and holding his neck while giving him some smooches, and Sakura doing the same but more delicately as she slightly tip-toed and tilted her head a lot to the left. Once Heian Ciemnosc was done being pampered by beauties, he bid farewell to his COs and went on his way.

. . .

The rest of the tournament continued, with an extra announcement that brought the stadium discomfort and hopelessness. Heian Ciemnosc chose to abandon the tournament section, but his spot and ranking would remain after having made it thus far. Similarly, since Kilah was ‘out’ of the tournament, or anything else for the time being, there wasn’t a problem deciding the top 4 participants after the top 8 were determined.

On the same day, 2 days after Heian Ciemnosc’s last arena fight, Sahnyr fought against an opponent and won her spot to vie in the semi-finals. Tene undoubtedly won her fight and also became one of the top 4. However, before the announcement for the semi-finals was given, with these top 4, as only 1 other participant didn’t need to fight and the last fight had its semi-finalist decided, those two other participants quit.

Thus, those last few fights were the end of the day, and a whole week had to pass before the finals started to decide the Change Merit Trials event’s most acclaimed champion. Heian Ciemnosc’s face was quickly forgotten and overrun by 2 beauties whose fighting capabilities were just about the same. Of course, while they were in the Neutrality realm 6th stage, Heian Ciemnosc was in the Broken Crystallization realm 2nd stage.

While Heian Ciemnosc was the small chatter of the Middle Godly Spatial Station, the incoming finals were the top topic everyone was discussing whenever they had a chance. The most promising youths from the Existence were about to fight it out to determine the strongest. And one of them wasn’t from the Phosphorescent Flower Sect! It was a match to decide geniuses between the Obscure Orb Sect and the Wrath Nihility Academy!

One was 2 whole Steps below the other! One had more history than the other! However, both their geniuses, at the same level, would fight to determine the youth leading the face of the Existence of her generation. Although many thought about the Phosphorescent Flower Sect and how it should’ve at least reached the semi-finals, they couldn’t deny that the early fight between Tene and Yun Nitu was what they were asking for precisely.

Feeling some comfort in their hearts when getting to that point, the people would debate battle prowess between both parties. Tene and Yun Nitu had the strength everyone had been guessing beforehand, and although Sahnyr had never shown her cards, there must be a reason why Tene never gave her strange eyes. Of course, only those participants who faced off against her directly could understand what it was like to face Sahnyr.

On the other hand, most believed Kilah’s strength to be above the 3 of them, at least from the base. The outcome could be decided one way or another, but many also believed Yun Nitu to have the highest probability of beating Kilah with Genoa’s Descent Supreme Art. While the Interchanging Dust Dynasty had a movement-based Supreme Art, it wasn’t an Elemental Art. Thus, it had little to no actual power, and like before, it struggled to deal with any Elemental offensive technique or enhance one’s power to penetrate Elemental defensive techniques.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It would have been an all-time-tension if Tene would have faced her, mysterious if put up against Sahnyr, and definitely what most wanted if Kilah met Yun Nitu instead. In the end, however, after Biston’s excellent show of 5 Elements and not just 4 like Heian Ciemnosc. And one can’t forget the strange face-off between Elena and Gora, followed by Heian Ciemnosc vs Gora… Heian Ciemnosc was the participant to take out, and in such a way, Kilah out of the way, nearly killing her in the process.

Heian Ciemnosc’s battle prowess was unquestionable, even more so after he was walking like nothing and could still move that nameless Supreme Art’s dark whip to change its shape and murder Kilah before her upper echelon’s eyes. Her Soul was saved, but that was something outside Heian Ciemnosc’s hands… or so did the crowd believe.

… The 18th year, 2nd week, and 1st day of the new Change commenced, and even before it did, the bleachers were full, an additional ‘floor’ above the stadium for more guests and crowds was erected, and an enormous arena floated in midair. Unbeknownst to everyone except the Godly beings that had seen Heian Ciemnosc and politely scanned him before the fight started a week ago, this was also Heian Ciemnosc’s time living in the world.

When the sun was soaring, illuminating every corner, the whole Existence was already watching as 2 figures were transported into the large, nearly 50 square km golden arena with dusty-like, protective array formations. This time, as soon as the fight started, no one could come in or out until a winner was decided. And, of course… no killing would happen this time. Both finalists weren’t bloodthirsty, and what’s more, they seemed to know each other.

With all these thoughts calming the hosts, the duel started, with Bajo as the referee this time. Needless to say, the Godly beings increased in number, and although they could see Heian Ciemnosc, this famed little black monster, in the flesh, they couldn’t see him fight with their own eyes. Of course, they weren’t the only ones mentally sighing in disappointment. Even the Godly veins who did witness Heian Ciemnosc fight were lamenting not having paid full attention to him back then.

The fight finals commenced, and Sahnyr went all-out, showing her Neutral Energy around her body as her crystallized armor only covered parts of her body that Tene was aiming and wasn’t putting 100% effort into hitting her. Even when Tene used a wee bit less prowess than full-ahead, Sahnyr would let her crystallized armor deal with it, and she would eat the pain away. Her claws, undersized and elegant, unlike Heian Ciemnosc’s, were still precise and sharp.

The beginning was spent with both young women sliding through the arena’s floor for several kilometers. It sounded boring, but taking less than a minute to traverse a kilometer with their potent melee exchange was more addictive to observe than one could imagine. Shockwaves resulted from each of their blows, but before those were gone and spread in the air, they were already over 100 meters away.

When the time to try something new came, Sahnyr used a Supreme Art not belonging to the Academy. Her body gleaned a dusty, goldish orange, making her skin appear rosy, and her hands were covered by energy paws of an orange-ish brown color. Her claws elongated, and although they seemed slimmer, they had enlarged their volume by at least a couple centimeters.

Her hands were covered by the Supreme Art’s energy, shown to the Existence for the first time and in the tournament. Tene might have frowned and turned pensive as she started utilizing her Milblades Storm Supreme Art, appearing and disappearing from the naked eyesight however she wished. Like an acrobat, Tene analyzed Sahnyr’s Supreme Art, but she also found out to be in a race against time as Sahnyr started finding her whereabouts whenever she tried to attack!

Tene might be mostly unaware of what was going on at the beginning and could only realize what happened after the fight was over, and she could meditate, like any other cultivator. Except Heian Ciemnosc. He could deduce this was not only Sahnyr’s Supreme Art but also her ‘simple’ smelling sense. Sahnyr could distinguish Tene’s traveling trajectory whenever the latter started using her Milblades Storm Supreme Art just by her smell.

Although the Supreme Art seemed to just cover Sahnyr’s body and act like a body-enhancing Spirit Image, giving her paws on her hands and feet and even a translucent tail, blinking in and out of existence, Her Soul and blood were churning within her body as she fought. Her bodily strength was already above what the cultivator in her realm could achieve, but with the Supreme Art added in, she became faster, stronger, nimbler, and quicker to respond.

Tene had no choice but to start making use of her Artifact, her gloves. At once, strings flew around them as Tene took to the skies. Sahnyr followed, and her speed was equal to Kilah’s Blue Era before forcibly breaking through. As those strings came in, trying to stab, slash, cut, and entrap Sahnyr, she flew faster, avoided flexibly, and even sent furious Neutral Energy bouts to injure or deter Tene from continuously harassing her.

… Like Kilah with Heian Ciemnosc, Tene opted, at first, for non-direct combat after Sahnyr gained ample advantage over that subject. Thus, the crowd watched as Tene and Sahnyr engaged in pure, Neutral Energy combat while closing in on each other. Sahnyr’s flexibility was too much for the spectators’ eyes. Sometimes, she seemed to move at faster speeds than anyone else in her realm should be able to.

In the most intricate moments, where a tunnel cage of obscure violet strings was just about to capture her and pin her down like Tene did with Yun Nitu, Sahnyr would break off from it without even touching them. Sahnyr’s body was simply too swift and as if boneless even. The fight was severely successive, and no stops occurred, even when they spouted blood from their mouths, together or individually, or were sent flying with a potent impact.

No matter who was on the losing end, the other would follow and start distributing strikes and Neutral Energy bouts. In under a few minutes, Sahnyr’s body had many cutting, slim wounds around her body. Tene had been clawed, stabbed, and even given haircuts. Although she looked ravishing, especially with her eyes gaining determination as Sahnyr’s eyes grew more excited, and the spectators’ turned intensely engrossed.

At the same time, even as they were sent flying, pinned down, stuck, lashed, cut, punched, and struck time and again, they didn’t seem to be on the losing end. Especially so when, after a series of brutal attacks, they employed a medium-sized energy bout to overwhelm the other. For a good while, the world watched as Tene and her gloves moved through the air, got hurt, continued fighting, and bled.

For a long while, the world watched as Sahnyr and her mighty Supreme Art fought one-on-one at the Existence’s top younger generation. The Wrath Nihility Academy was just gaining the reputation they had worked insanely hard to build all this long when, suddenly, Sahnyr halted her chase. A couple of seconds later, Tene also stopped, heavily breathing as she looked down at Sahnyr.

Sahnyr closed her eyes, and under the watchful eyes of everyone, her aura started rising. Behind her, an indistinct figure slowly took shape. But it was too ethereal, and it was morning. Somehow, even with Spirit Sense, that image seemed tricky to see just because of the fact that it was in the morning. Similarly, Tene became deadly serious and started going Category 1 from her Milblades Storm.

As those obscure violet blades started appearing around the arena, covering most of it, widely spread. The bleachers became absurdly engrossed, leaving Tene and Sahnyr as if only those two were alive in this moment. Tene floated in midair while Sahnyr was ‘stuck’ to the floor. Sahnyr’s surrounding air started morphing into orange, ethereal energy, and Heian Ciemnosc could have sworn to see tiny globes’ even more ethereal appearance than her energy within as he used nature reading.

Then, Sahnyr opened her eyes. In them, a most magnificent gleam shone from her pupils’ very center. She gained new, orange-glowing eyelashes, longer than her natural ones, already long and beautiful. Her body was semi-adorned with a tribal’s armor pieces and garments, appearing like a heavenly beauty from yore, from times when anything was barely ever known. But more importantly, as her limbs returned to normal, as her claws and fangs became longer, more elegant, sharper, and breathtaking… Besides gaining a new, fluffy, ethereal tail 9 meters long, Sahnyr’s aura and smell was that of… a Beast!!

Not just a Beast Race member, but one that has crossed over unthinkable thresholds. Tene was unfazed even if she was amazed and praised Sahnyr in her heart. The blades around her finished preparing, ready for action and wanted to start flying at her command. Sahnyr looked at them, analyzing each, and her face became stern.

Seeing it again. In the Academy’s vip zone, Heian Ciemnosc compared it to his previous mimicking technique and saw many faults on his part. Either way, he watched as Sahnyr remained on the ground and simply walked several meters forward until she stood half a meter before Tene, who was still in the sky. After looking at each other one last time in silence, the Milblades Storm, Category 1, was effectuated.

Hundreds of obscure violet blades flew downwards, spiraled, and nose-dived towards Sahnyr. She simply looked up and stared at Tene before slowly closing her eyes and smoothly turning around with her hands below her waist level. The orange-ish air energy followed her around as she spun, and obscure violet blades started dancing with her as if complementing her movements, beauty, and magnificent closed eyes.

From smooth movements to rapid yet still elegant and crafty last-moment motions, Sahnyr’s body became engulfed with obscure violet, disappearing from the spectators’ eyes. It was already difficult when they first saw Tene use it against Yun Nitu. But as she used it again, and this time with more effort as there were slightly more obscure violet blades, it was clear Tene wasn’t giving the championship away from some goodwill.

Yet, after those minutes went by with Tene’s skin paled. Just as her left nostril streamed down a red, bloody drop and obscure violet blades were still obstructing any sighting of Sahnyr below her. The latter appeared, suddenly streaking from within the smallish river of obscure violet blades, and stood before Tene. After an initial shock, Tene relaxed and looked at her opponent before giving in. If there was something Tene wanted to lament, that was her brief understanding of her Sect’s Supreme Art. If she could have trained her synergy with it, as Sahnyr did with hers, this would’ve been a more intense fight with an even more unknown victor.

Of course, she was not to blame. While Tene was like Kilah, just without having learned even half her Supreme Art’s definite methods, in Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes, Sahnyr’s Supreme Art… was like his.

…