Something broke within Tyler when he witnessed Daredevil getting skewered like this. Despite their brief time together, the connection they had forged when Tyler had given the cub its name resonated with him on a profound level. His heart had dropped into his stomach and burned, fueled by a primordial anger and helplessness.
While his Qi was almost completely depleted, he knew there was nothing he could do here to prevent the cub from suffering a grievous injury at this point. Hell, even his parents, who were still paying close attention, were a step too late and couldn't intervene in time to save the cub as they were too far in the middle of the domain.
The moment he realized it was too late, his instincts took over. He sought any means to protect his little companion, no older than five years old.
Tyler crushed a single spirit crystal, releasing its torrents of True Essence into his inner world. While his inner world easily absorbed and integrated this energy, as it was a construct shaped by the laws of the universe during the Architect's manipulation of the planes, his physical body could not bear the sudden influx of power.
Agony engulfed every fiber of Tyler's being. A searing inferno raged within him. Tears welled up in his eyes, but this torment was the fitting penance for his failure to keep Daredevil safe. Even as the surging energy tore through his body, he found no solace, for the burning fury he experienced eclipsed the excruciating pain of his body, multiplied a thousandfold.
His entire inner world responded to this raging hatred, pain, sadness, and feelings of inadequacy. If one thought the phenomenon brought on by Tyler unleashing his entire cultivation earlier was impressive, they were in for a show now.
The maelstroms reformed from the True Essence in his inner world, their mighty cyclones again bridging the gap between heaven and earth. Fiery red, orange, and purple clouds materialized in the sky, accompanied by black lightning streaking across the landscape, even causing damage to Tyler's small island warehouse as thundering winds echoed.
As power surged, his soul avatar summoned three hundred and thirty-three swords. Even his previously damaged acupoints were commanded to reshape themselves into their cloud sword configurations, while the True Essence within the seas was forcefully sculpted into individual swords.
Drawing upon the knowledge he had gained by opening his acupoints, Tyler amalgamated the multitude of swords into a single entity. What was once 999 swords condensed into 333, then into 33, 11, and finally, three swords shimmering with heaven-shaking potency that resonated throughout the external world.
Without dwelling on the consequences, he funneled this overwhelming power through his body and into Luo Pang's Tier 3 weapon. The weapon wailed in response, showing signs of strain, with large cracks appearing across its surface and edge.
Yet, Tyler paid little heed to the weapon, and the moment he sensed that it couldn't adequately harness his power, he invoked his own technique. What had initially been the Mortal-Grade One Finger, One Sword technique had, through serendipity, enveloped the Tier 3 weapon entirely, compelling the energies within to meld seamlessly, forming a terrifying weapon.
At that moment, the sword resembled Tyler's body—gradually disintegrating. Luckily, this was nothing but a tool. With blood pouring out of all of his orifices and seeing his vitality quickly dwindle, Tyler crushed a large chunk of the healing pills within his inner world, caring little for the consequences at this point, keeping only what was necessary to heal Daredevil and the potential aftermath.
He was ready to die here. Everything else be damned. The plots, the manipulations, the desire for Maximus to challenge him to rise to the occasion, the grand schemes of the Architect. All of it. It only fueled his anger at the world, all triggered by a single panther cub.
All of this happened instantly as Tyler's emotions overtook his entire world. Before the swordfish could cause more damage than it already did, Tyler stepped directly into the air with Mistwalker's Steps. Only a select few noticed this was instant teleportation, and their eyes widened in shock.
Swinging the multicolored sword in his hand, Tyler swiftly destroyed the swordfish. The clear skies, recently cleared by the arrival of Yoon Suko, darkened once more, and this time, no Sea Formation stage cultivator could counter it.
Lightning began to descend from the heavens, striking the ground and the nearby cultivators as if they offended the gods. Thick rain poured down, with each drop as sharp as a blade. Winds were so strong tornadoes formed, and the winds mimicked the lightning's thunderous power. Everyone within a kilometer radius had to defend themselves against the onslaught of nature.
While this wasn't a threat that a Sea Formation cultivator would typically succumb to, it posed a genuine danger as this domain was brought on by a cultivator possessing a Soul Palace. Everything these cultivators did resonated with the world, their emotions exacerbated, their path on full display for all to see and battle with.
Tyler's domain was a thunderous fury directed at the world itself. Strangely, the mist behind him remained unaffected as a pair of panthers emerged from its depths, their gaze fixed on Tyler with astonishment.
Tyler, the orchestrator of this tempestuous domain, had his divine sense encompassing every inch of it. His voice resonated in a deafening roar that seemed to command even the heavens to hush, ensuring everyone heard his words.
"Big Cat, can I count on you to nurse Daredevil back to health, or am I on my own here?"
The panther responded with an equally majestic voice, echoing like a soft morning misty breeze. "If it weren't for my benefactor telling me to remain uninvolved, these pests would've died already, daring to disturb my domain like this. I'll make sure my son is healed. You take care of these eyesores."
With this, the panther teleported next to Tyler, grabbed Daredevil from the man's grasp as it nodded at him, and landed back into the mist, Sylvamist in tow.
Yoon Suko and every other cultivator from the Sword Sect acutely sensed the irresistible force of Tyler's domain and understood that they were incredibly lucky not to have already been reduced to ash by the spirit beast. None of them believed they had any hope of contending with such overwhelming power.
Moreover, within the upper echelons of all the top sects, it was widely acknowledged that domains were a distinctive trait of aperture-strengthening cultivators. Therefore, the presence of a domain wielded by Tyler, who was in the Qi Transformation realm, left them deeply perplexed.
Confusion ran rampant among them, for they had all perceived earlier that Tyler possessed no True Essence, and the sudden development seemed impossible. While his Qi was exceptionally potent and overwhelmingly abundant, it was not True Essence. Everyone was immobilized, awaiting Yoon Suko's orders.
Tyler, on the other hand, wasted no words. They had come here for him, and due to his own weakness, the only individual he had formed a genuine bond with since coming to this world was grievously injured.
Tyler stepped into the sky with speeds nearing teleportation and appeared a dozen meters away from Yoon Suko. The man was the biggest threat here by far, and he could tell that this person’s cultivation was solid. He could even tell that he had opened a total of 300 acupoints. The man’s cultivation was laid bare before his divine sense.
True Essence was burning him alive, and he was on a timer before he was out of options. The healing pills could only do so much to keep him breathing for now. The multicolored sword shined through the skies as the surrounding storm resumed its assault.
Rippling Wave.
A deluge of True Essence streaked across the heavens as Yoon Suko swiftly retaliated, taken aback by Tyler's unexpected speed. Moves were exchanged in a rapid, frenzied manner, one side employing well-practiced techniques of the Sword Sect, while the other unleashed unrestrained and partially untested maneuvers that succeeded only half the time.
Despite Tyler's numerous failed techniques, the sheer volume of True Essence surging forth from his inner world compensated for these shortcomings, meeting Yoon Suko's strikes head-on. Thrusts that generated concentrated beams of Water True Essence, slashes that rippled with power, and defensive maneuvers and parries as fluid as water intertwined in an amateurish yet overwhelming display of might.
With each clash of True Essence, the surrounding cultivators were trapped in a precarious position, torn between fending off the ceaseless onslaught of the domain's oppressive force, which relentlessly assaulted their souls, and their earnest attempts to assist Yoon Suko in the ongoing battle. The constant need to deploy defenses, however, restrained them immensely.
Amidst the intense battle and the unrelenting assault of the domain, a solitary cultivator remained remarkably composed. An illusion of a resplendent golden dragon swirled around his body. This domain alone did not give him pause; it seemed that only a genuine encounter with Tyler's direct attack would compel him to flee or retreat. He was, however, powerless to help his senior brother. He was simply too weak.
As minutes passed and Tyler and Yoon Suko continued their exchange of blows, it appeared that they were evenly matched. However, the tide of battle was gradually shifting, favoring Yoon Suko, as Tyler's energy reserves were dwindling rapidly.
Tyler’s life force drained rapidly. Only his heart and kidneys seemed to function correctly under this relentless assault, with his lungs partially functioning and slowly adapting to the hostile environment.
The more Tyler fought, the more he sensed his overwhelming anger subside. Each strike he landed, and each minor injury Yoon Suko sustained helped to temper his fury. As his rage subsided, his rationality began to resurface, and he grew increasingly conscious of the precarious state of his own body.
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He began to realize that if he hoped to keep Daredevil safe in the future and potentially uncover information from the Keepers of the Red Dust about individuals Tyler knew 10,000 years ago, he had to not only survive this confrontation but also emerge from it in a condition that would allow him to pursue those objectives.
In a last-ditch effort to retreat to the safety of the mist, Tyler harnessed a substantial portion of the True Essence coursing through his inner world, fashioning a single Ten Direction Sword for each cultivator below.
Utilizing his nearly divine abilities within his inner world was the only means by which he could exert any control over the current energy, which partly explained his struggles in executing the Azure Sword Art's techniques.
A palpable sense of threat engulfed everyone present as Tyler aimed his multicolored sword forward, unleashing precisely 22 raindrop-shaped swords, each aimed at an individual cultivator.
This time, Yoon Suko was unable to intervene on their behalf.
Treasures materialized across the battlefield, with cultivators resorting to one life-saving artifact after another. Those less fortunate, lacking such resources, struggled to defend themselves independently. While before, they could've survived the attack, this time, the technique was formed from True Essence. While it was predominantly borrowed power derived from spirit crystals rather than Tyler's energy, the source mattered little in this critical moment.
Tragically, five Sea Formation cultivators met their end on the spot, succumbing to Tyler's combined technique of the Ten Direction Sword and the Azure Sword Art's Torrential Rain Strike. Surprisingly, the sole Qi Transformation cultivator present didn't require a treasure to withstand this onslaught. His bloodline surged to full effect, safeguarding Lazar Flame's soul. Although he was still hemorrhaging from every orifice and had lost consciousness, he was alive.
Yoon Suko also didn't need to resort to soul-defense artifacts to counter this attack as his cultivation was extremely firm and profound, being on the cusp of forming his aperture. However, he needed to step back for a second to unleash a wave of soul intent and another sword strike to counter the technique.
Realizing he couldn’t fight any longer, he used the last vestiges of True Essence lingering within his inner world to use the Mistwalker's Stride and vanished into the protective shroud of mist once more. He managed to traverse only a few dozen steps before his body gave way, collapsing in a state of near death.
Even within his inner world, Tyler felt himself slipping as he reached for the last few pills he had remaining—two of Lin Jian's gifted Tier 2 Spirit-Grade Qi Revival Pills, along with a couple of general-purpose pills. With haste, he crushed them and then lost consciousness. Both his physical body and his soul lay unresponsive, replaced by a swirling maelstrom of energy.
***
At the outskirts of the battlefield, Madame Elaine observed the domain slowly disappear as she took down a few notes.
Sword Sect's Hunt for Tyler Reed and Maximus Freeman's Involvement.
On Tyler Reed.
Despite being in the Qi Transformation Stage, he exhibited abilities akin to those of a Soul Shattering cultivator, such as near-instantaneous movement, the manifestation of a domain, and Divine Sense.
The domain he wielded appeared to be a fusion of wind, water, clouds, thunder, and lightning laws, nearly coalescing into the laws of storms. Although it had not entirely reached that level, with all the individual components still distinguishable rather than forming a seamless whole, he appeared to be making significant progress toward that end.
While I couldn't confirm how he acquired so much True Essence so quickly, I assume it's through a unique storage treasure where he consumed part of a Spirit Crystal, and he will probably suffer massive injuries from this encounter.
Before his transformation, he undeniably wielded sufficient power to threaten and potentially eliminate the lowest-level Sea Formation cultivators. Even [Yoon Suko], a Core Disciple of the Sword Sect, was well aware of this and ordered everyone below the 24th level to retreat.
Following his transformation and the sudden surge in his power, though it came at a significant cost to his body, Tyler stood his ground against Yoon Suko, a true Cultivator. His domain also effectively occupied all the cultivators, forcing them to focus on defending themselves. In a single decisive attack, he managed to claim the lives of four level 24 cultivators and a lone level 25 cultivator.
After which, he retreated into the domain of one of Maximus Freeman's spirit beasts, which the Sword Sect knows not to mess with, especially after injuring one of their cubs.
With her notes done on Tyler, she observed the Sword Sect and turned to another page of her treasure.
On Yoon Suko and the Sword Sect.
The Core Disciple, a level 29 cultivator, led this expedition and demonstrated remarkable wisdom. He diligently adhered to the sect's directives while exhibiting independent thinking and decision-making.
Furthermore, it was apparent from my observations that he deliberately restrained his power to some extent during his encounter with Tyler Reed. This implied that he held reservations about the sect's official narrative and may have harbored a hidden agenda. It's reasonable to assume that he wasn't entirely convinced by the story propagated by the sect.
This perspective aligns with our broader information, as his sole peer within the sect appeared to be Lo Shen, both of them being cultivation prodigies within the Sea Formation Stage. The fact that Lo Shen had recently been imprisoned by his own father for dissenting against the pursuit of Tyler Reed likely substantially impacted his decision-making.
It's also evident that Yoon Suko is on the verge of forming his aperture. In the weeks ahead, following this intense battle and after taking the time to solidify his cultivation foundation and reflect on this experience, he should be well-prepared to advance to the next stage with relative ease.
After Tyler retreated, the Core Disciple ordered everyone to fall back and decided to call off the hunt, returning to the sect to report to their Sect Master. Notably, he left behind the storage bags of all those whom Tyler had killed on the outskirts of the mist.
This individual is honorable and bound to make significant waves within the Veridian Empire in the future.
On Maximus Freeman's involvement.
While his objectives may remain somewhat enigmatic, it's evident that he has returned officially. Despite still having some injuries, there is no doubt that his authority goes unquestioned across the entire continent, and his orders are followed without hesitation.
Given Maximus Freeman's pronounced interest in Tyler Reed and Tyler's remarkable abilities and actions, it's understandable why such a connection exists.
Whether Tyler Reed is a disciple of Freedom Incarnate remains an unanswered question, which may hold significant implications for the unfolding events and their underlying motivations.
From my understanding of the man and his recent actions, he will let things develop independently and more or less leave the Sword Sect to do their own thing with Lo Tang at the helm.
Unless, of course, they started to disregard his ironclad rules.
November 2nd, 10,029 P.S.
With her notes done, her treasure shimmered with a golden hue as the characters disappeared into the page and were added to the sect's grand records. Madame Elaine teleported to the edge of the mist domain and poked Big Cat, asking his permission to come and wait for Tyler's recovery.
She had questions to ask as she had agreed to Tyler's suggestion earlier. While at it, she brought the few storage devices from the dead cultivators outside and gave them to the panther for safekeeping.
Through this entire chain of events, no one other than Tyler, the two panthers, and Maximus even knew of her presence here.
***
Yoon Suko found himself on his treasure ship, journeying back toward the sect. His junior apprentice brothers and sisters were visibly shaken, and the teams that had lost members without even catching sight of their adversary were in shock.
The recent encounter with Tyler Reed undoubtedly left a lasting impact on all those who had been involved. The strongest sect of Veridian Peaks had been sent packing by a singular Qi Transformation cultivator.
Yoon Suko had just sent an update to the Sect Master directly and had informed the man that, in his opinion, unless he intervened himself, they had no room to maneuver here.
Being in the Sea Formation Stage, he was ill-suited to confront a Soul Shattering spirit beast within its domain. The situation grew even more precarious after he had harmed the beast's cub. It became evident that only another Soul Shatterer cultivator would have the capability to intervene effectively in such a situation. Additionally, the comments made by the spirit beast hinted at the involvement of other, considerably stronger parties.
Yoon Suko, drawing from his understanding of the mission and his own investigations, believed that there were indeed a lot of unknown factors at play.
In any normal situation, his master would have been assigned as an escort, or at the very least, an unseen protector, as had been the norm in his prior missions.
Just like many others, he didn't like to be manipulated by others, and unless he had no other choices, he wouldn't mindlessly follow the orders of a Sect Master who could imprison their own son on a whim.
Yoon Suko dismissed the concerns of his juniors, advising them to concentrate on recovery and cultivation. However, there was one exception. He turned his attention to Lazar, who had just woken up from the recent battle, and remarked, "Lazar, it appears your bloodline's fears were well-founded. This Tyler individual is formidable, and I would prefer not to engage with him again."
He said no more, hoping that Lazar would grasp the underlying message.
While it wasn't entirely true that he had no desire to face Tyler again, he was genuinely apprehensive about the man's display of power. Tyler represented a truly terrifying reality.
Yoon Suko had never encountered an individual with such an overwhelming domain—a rarity even among those who developed one concurrently with their apertures upon reaching the 30th level, which was already a one-in-a-thousand occurrence.
To possess a domain while in the Qi Transformation realm? That was likely a one-in-a-billion cultivator, if not even rarer!
***
An intense argument erupted within the confines of the Eternal Palace as Lo Tang engaged in a heated debate with his advisors regarding the next course of action in their pursuit of Tyler Reed.
Their most skilled disciples had been dispatched to hunt down Tyler and met with resounding failure.
With no other viable options available, it became evident that the only recourse left was to seek external assistance, particularly from individuals who would benefit from disrupting Maximus Freeman's plans.
In a moment of anger and frustration, Lo Tang swiftly raised his hand, instantly terminating the life of one of his advisors, leaving only his right-hand man alive and breathing. "Send word to the Ghost King. I have a favor to cash in."
His advisor, a puppet of the Ghost King, smiled mischievously as he left the mountain, heading south.
At the very top of Sword King Mountain, Maximus sighed. It would seem some people have forgotten their place in my absence.
The Ascendant waved his hand.