A surge of spiritual energy slithered through a white room. It took the shape of multiple lightning bolts that clashed with blue flames. Both energies filled out half of the space and continued to push against each other in a shoving match. The sources of these strange energies were sitting on a pure white gazebo that at this point in time was becoming ripped apart by these two colliding powers.

“I don’t think you understand my little brother…”

“Oh, I understand and I refuse your proposition. If you think I’m incapable of backing up my words with force, you are gravely mistaken.”

The whole space started to warp as Zhang Dong exerted more spiritual force against the Azure Emperor. Long Qing was visibly stunned by the display of might, his face switched through varied emotions before settling down on a smile.

“I’ve underestimated you, my brother, I didn’t believe that you were hiding this much from me.”

“You think this is much?”

“Is that so? It doesn’t look like that to me…”

The Azure Light started glowing brighter and pushing back at the golden lightning. Zhang Dong had to give it to the Azure Emperor, he was no weakling. If he had to compare it to all the other Emperors that he had faced, then perhaps he did have a bit more spiritual energy than them. It was somewhat comparable to the Emerald Phoenix Emperor. Considering that the two were just straining their spiritual energy against each other, the Azure Emperor probably had some more to give.

While for a moment the blue energy seemed to be winning soon it was stopped. A different type of glow was mixed into the golden hue as purple light slipped in. The Dao of gravity made it in to push against the azure flames and equaled out the exchange. Soon after more lights were added as Zhang Dong utilized various other greater Daos that he had acquired throughout his many travels.

The Azure Emperor was in possession of an enhanced Dao of Fire. It was similar to his golden heavenly lightning and not enough to push against his younger brother. The whole white area started shaking and the gazebo was being shredded to pieces by these two pinnacle cultivators. Soon an explosion rocked the entire area as the two bounced back.

‘Hm… There is something more than that one Dao of flames, is it the Dao of the sword?’

A longsword appeared in Long Qing’s hand right before he was about to overpower him. It was a very nice-looking blade with an azure hilt and long silvery edge. An illusory dragon was swirling around this blade. After using the system he became aware of its grade going over heavenly.

‘It’s not quite an immortal grade weapon, a quasi-immortal item, this might be a problem…’

This was perhaps the ace in the hole that Long Qing was hiding away. With this weapon in his hand, he was able to equal the playing fields. When it came to pure Qi and the number of Dao’s then Zhang Dong was superior. His own sword that he had created from the best available resources didn’t come close. It would probably be impossible for him to break that strong item without offering up some blood.

“I did not expect this, my little brother has large fangs.”

“I also didn’t expect that the great Azure Emperor would hide behind a sword.”

“You insult me, brother. This is part of my strength just as that immortal heritage you have been lucky enough to unearth.”

“Immortal heritage? What do you mean?”

Zhang Dong asked as he was a bit confused about the accusation.

“How else would you be able to rise to these heights? Do you want me to believe that you’ve done it all through hard training and skill?”

“...”

He could not really say anything back against the accusation. In reality, all that he was today had been throughout the system. It was used by him to quickly push into the nascent soul level and then to gain his new mysterious cultivation base. If Long Qing was relying on treasures then so was he. Without the system, he would have been unable to even have this conversation here.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Your silence says it all. There is no shame in it, we use what we can that has always been the way!”

Long Qing raised his quasi-immortal sword up into the air with one hand and quickly slashed forward. In an instant, a blue wave of flames was created and burst forth. The power was astonishing and not something he could block. Yet, the person that was using this weapon was not as strong. As long as he could read through the movement, there was a small window that he could react to.

Remaining passive in this situation was not wise. His brother was trying to get a feel for his capabilities and how much wiggle room he had. To not disappoint, Zhang Dong pointed out with his finger. Even when some of his white locks got severed by the sword slice he counter-attacked instantly.

A ray of golden energy formed in front of his finger and flew forward. It was timed to shoot out at the same exact moment as he dodged the azure energy. Long Qing who was attempting to launch a follow-up attack was forced to change the trajectory of his blade. His blade slashed in a horizontal fashion to block the beam attack but even when he did, his frame was pushed back by a few steps.

‘That sword…It’s not really what it seems to be… ‘

After this exchange Zhang Dong noticed something, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. When he assumed that he was going up against a quasi-immortal weapon, his victory chances plummeted. Now on the other hand, after Long Qing received the concentrated beam with that weapon, one thing became clear.

‘This must be the weapon of the old Emperor, it must be ancient.’

He was not sure how old this sword was but it had to at least be a hundred thousand years. It was possible that it was once an even more powerful fully immortal weapon. However, even these were susceptible to the passage of time. Even though it was called an immortal item it didn’t mean that it would last forever.

After the hit connected, he could sense a strange resonance within this weapon. He was one of the better craftsmen in the whole empire. Making a heavenly sword had become as easy as breathing. Through his experience, he could feel that this sword had begun to lose its luster. The more the fight continued the more it would deteriorate and eventually shatter by itself.

‘So I need to drag this thing out until it breaks, the more he uses it the more damage it will suffer. If it was not an immortal weapon it would have probably already collapsed on itself.’

This ancient weapon had a limited amount of uses and the Azure Emperor probably also knew this. If it was at its full power then producing more of those azure shockwaves could become troublesome. Yet instead of pushing forth with the sword raised he was taking his time and conserving its power.

‘His probably going to conserve it and only use it when he has to… so I actually have to give him a reason to defend himself.’

It was easier said than done. The blade was still a weapon that could damage his body that was immune to almost all heavenly weapons. If he got too close then his head could fall off. The man he was facing seemed to be focused on the Dao of the sword a lot more than he ever was so staying at range was perhaps the better solution.

Thus before attempting anything, he decided to keep some space and barrage him with a few well-placed bolts of lightning. A shower of golden light descended from the heavens onto the Azure Emperor that had led him here. The wight chamber filled out with various bright colors as various techniques descended toward the man with the blue sword.

This mass of energy would cause any normal nascent soul master to sweat and panic. The Azure Emperor on the other hand remained in place and just moved his blade forward. With one thrust he produced a torrent of unimaginable power that pierced through all the various pinnacle techniques Zhang Dong could produce. While they weren’t quite focused, not even someone like the demi-human Emperor who possessed a body unmatched by anyone would remain uninjured.

‘Damn, are you serious? Isn’t this cheating? Hey Bob, can you calculate how many more times he can do that with that thing?’

‘Calculating… insufficient data, can’t measure…’

His Ai failed him as he could not present him with a number. Without knowing the amount of power the Azure Emperor needed to use it was impossible for Bob to make the calculations. Zhang Dong did notice one specific thing, something that his enemy probably tried to hide. A small tick appeared for a fraction of a second in his body. It was as if something had happened after he cleared out the space with his blade, perhaps Long Qing knew that he didn’t have much time and that if he couldn’t end it fast, it could be his downfall.

‘His pushing, this might confirm it…’

Long Qing was now on the attack for the first time and so was his large Azure Dragon. It collided with his golden counterpart which was called Bahamut. Their draconic might exploded and caused whatever was left from the little platform in the middle to evaporate into nothingness.

The speed at which the four beings were clashing with each other generated sonic booms everywhere. It was the battle of an epoch taking place but no one was here to notice it. Other cultivators would give away their limbs to be able to analyze the various battle techniques that were clashing against each other.

For the moment the tide was turning and the Azure Emperor was on the path of victory. His weapon was able to slice through all of Zhang Dong’s defenses and calling forth his golden armor for help did not do him any good. Swipe after swipe the spiritual metals continued to be shredded to pieces and even his body was becoming injured.

Yet he prevailed, with each injury he received his blows rained back. Even if he was able to just tear through the emperor's clothes and give him a little nick, it all counted for something. These tiny scratches started piling up as the seed inside of his body started reacting. All the years of training didn’t go to waste as the Emperor’s Dao of the sword began getting infused into his body by the ferocious attacks. He was slowly learning, even without absorbing it through the system his own Dao of swordsmanship was starting to evolve…