Nightmare's Kindness (2)
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Seeing Ja Sun 'fly' towards their support master, a gleeful expression touched Dai Taiyin's face as he roared--
"Now!"
With a reluctant expression touching the support master's face, the crystal orb as the martial soul suddenly lit up brightly and cracked into multiple pieces. Six pieces, to be precise and all these shards shot into the bodies of the six of the white tiger and hell civet members. The pair nearest to this spirit master had their bodies tremble and they looked at each other before hugging.
In an instant, a very tangible storm of spirit energy covered them that even pushed the support spirit master now coughing blood out of the stage. In an instant, two more such storms rose on the stage behind Ja Sun as the gales from the sheer spirit energy worked as a powerful driving force.
But after fully comprehending the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes and adding it to his arsenal... well, he wasn't limited to attacks while using the shock energy itself. Ja Sun also had another technique that he wouldn't mind using. Another technique from the Clear Sky Clan that he gained but... that technique was self-harming in more ways than one and he needed to be mindful of how he used it.
Right now, the applications of his upgraded Gentle Tactics should suffice.
Knowing that he would need more spirit energy than his opponents if he was not planning on using his spirit skills, Ja Sun had already acquired the Sigh of Immortal from his clone. At this moment, the pendant was tied around his waist and constantly replenished his spirit energy, keeping him in a tip-top shape.
Facing three spiritual storms, Ja Sun let his body fall down without any support and he soon landed on the stage.
'Let's see... if I continue using the Gentle Tactics to take on the storm, I will get injured sooner or later... or, I could use the True Fantasy of my Skull Bone and suppress them...' thoughts moved around quickly, 'to give up the Emerald Swan Monarch Core or the Wishful Serpent's Skull bone...'
Both of these items were directly unusable but when compared to each other, Ja Sun had no way of cutting off his head, extract his skill bone, and change it. Meanwhile, the core of the Emerald Swan Monarch may have unknown benefits just like how the Blue Silver Emperor's Core assisted his mental energy.
Deciding to not get injured unnecessarily, the green tattoo in the middle of his forehead resembling a vertical eye suddenly flashed with bright violet light. Deciding not to hold back, Ja Sun even mobilized the assistance of the Nightmare's Fantasy spirit soul inside of him.
An enchanting violet headgear appeared on Ja Sun's forehead that seemed to only follow the path of the green-colored third eye tattoo on his forehead. A violet ring of light immediately expanded silently. The more Ja Sun pushed his spirit energy, increasing his consumption of spirit energy to a greater limit, the wider this ring of light expanded and covered everything in a light violet domain.
A 100000-year-old spirit bone is miraculous because of its highly destructive qualities and extremely low consumption.
Meanwhile, wielding 99999-year-old skull bone, Ja Sun lacked the potency and the low requirements of spirit energy. However, the might of his spirit bone was directly under the said treasures of the spirit world.
Not to mention the fact that his body was covered by a faint layer of violet mist the roiled over his skin. Others only saw the mist being wavy but Ja Sun felt the Nightmare's Fantasy incomparably excited after being called out. The effects of the True Fantasy rose to another level. A level well between the might of the weakest Titled Douluo and a 100000-year-old beast. After all, Nightmare's Fantasy but itself had also reached above 84000-years!
The effects of the True Fantasy included the suppression of the opponent's five senses and revealing their nightmares. The more spirit energy is pumped, the wider the reach of this pseudo-domain.
Why pseudo?
Because, unlike other domains, it did not have any buff on Ja Sun. The Deathgod Domain weakens opponents and rouses oneself by killing intent.
The Blue Silver Domain wielded by Ah Yin has multiple effects including the ability to disguise and constantly undermine opponents by a large number of controllable vines and support oneself by extracting energy from these vines. That is why a wielder of Blue Silver Domain, especially a being turned into a human like Ah Yin, has the capability of being invincible in the forest.
Even the Calm Circle used by Tang Yuehua suppressed any form of energy under her domain to a certain extent including emotions and supported her by a particular rational outlook of the world within her own domain, so much so, that even Tang Yuehua was a bit fearful of her own domain once she realized the things she is capable of thinking and plotting after being 'rational.'
Such support wasn't present in True Fantasy but Ja Sun speculated that if he finds a way to break the bottleneck of this spirit bone, he will be able to get another domain.
Still, this was enough for the moment. The moment the extent of Ja Sun's skill passed through the three storms, the rotation slowed down by a lot. But Ja Sun still kept his caution. The opponent was willing to incur internal injuries to temporarily inflict harm to one's martial soul and provide benefits to the other six members. The effects wouldn't be as simple as a rise of spirit energy to the extent that a storm developed around them.
As expected, now without the guise of the loud sound of whipping wind, a low growl attracted Ja Sun's attention from the slowly dissolving storms.
Through the dissipating wind, Ja Sun clearly saw three giant structures of spirit energy given real form. Two black and one white with stripes of opposing colors respectively. Three giant tigers glared in Ja Sun's direction ferociously. Two of them almost five meters high but the spot where Dai Taiyin and Zhu Ning stood had a black-furred tiger with white stripes that was easily seven meters tall!
Spirit Fusion!
Ja Sun's eyes gleamed. Xie Xan and Hu Lana's spirit fusion- The Charm Demon, was not an assault-type technique and thus did not use a lot of spirit energy. However, the Spirit Fusion Technique known as the Hell White Tiger and the Hell Black Tiger was named after the ancestors of the White Tiger and Hell Civet Spirit Beasts. This fusion technique produced the ancient might of the extinct spirit beasts and even the fusion of two spirit emperors was not something a Spirit Douluo could easily deal with and the three of them could definitely face against a weaker titled douluo, too.
'But in exchange of greater might, they lose out on the expected duration of the spirit fusion... then this may mean that the previous act of the guy with the orb martial soul was to somehow lengthen the time of spirit fusion to an unknown extent,' Ja Sun thought calmly but there was no way he would be given enough time since his opponents were short of it, too.
The Hell Black Tiger behind him instantly pounced on Ja Sun.
---
"Why isn't your spirit fusion technique this awesome?" While others in the spectators' stand worried for Ja Sun's safety and mental sanity to face three giant hell-series tigers, Liu Erlong looked at Xie Xan and Hu Lana with obvious mockery, completely forgetting that she didn't even have a compatible partner with whom she can try this technique.
However, before the couple could defend their technique by stating its benefits, Ah Yin interrupted with a smile, "Ka-ul and I once encountered a pair of siblings that has a beet and radish martial soul... maybe something else... but their spirit fusion technique..."
She began to explain the relatively humorous encounter with a smile, wholly unbothered by the situation on the stage. Tang Yuehua, on the other hand, looked more like Jun'er and Oscar who were growing increasingly nervous. In the group, the trio was closest to Ja Sun since he was their first combat instructor, and although everyone was motivated to find similar skills that allowed them to still be able to defend themselves without the use of their spirit rings, especially Oscar and Yuehua who even lacked in this department when compared to Hu Lana with her practice of the daggers, they still worried for Ja Sun's safety. Completely different from the two sides, one unothered and calm while the other one a bit fearful, Bibi Dong had a cold expression.
In her eyes, Ja Sun was playing around even after the fact that he promised to win, and although the use of the skull bone represented that he was willing to be serious, it wasn't even close to his best condition.
While Ja Sun's teammates chatted amongst themselves and the audience found themselves greatly attracted to Ja Sun's ability to seemingly weave through the claw attacks of the three giant tigers around which the space fluctuated and a suffocating pressure was continuously released, a completely different atmosphere touched the location where many higher-ups could be found seated.
Xue Ye could barely conceal the worry in his heart. Any organization can thrive if they have good accumulation, well-minded leaders, and a talented future generation. As the Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Ye admitted he had a lot to learn and also he lacked quite a bit in personal strength. But the accumulation of the Heaven Dou Empire as the first-ever empire of the continent surpassed the accumulation of the Star Luo Empire. After all, the Empire led by the White Tiger Clan was relatively new.
And finally, in the matter of younger generation, Xue Ye now felt deeply unsettled. Spirit Hall never lacked geniuses for they represented the ordinary men and women, at least, this is the impression Qian Xunji gave. The White Tiger Clan is directly supported by its sibling clan, the Hell Civets, and similarly, their research in the White Tiger and the Hell Civet martial souls alongside the natural ability of spirit fusion paced them well above ordinary clans. Combined, the two clans can give the reclusive Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan a run for their title, too.
And the most fearful aspect of the situation was that if capable leaders and future generations have enough talent, any faction will be able to accumulate enough. In time, the advantage of the Heaven Dou Empire will be completely lost, and when that day appears...
Xue Ye calmly glanced at the Seraphim and White Tiger Douluo who sat a little distance away as his heart grew colder.
This peace... all these initiatives... this was simply prolonging the ultimate war for the benefits!
Xue Ye then glanced at Yu Yuanzhen and his expression turned a bit resolute. With the Clear Sky Clan openly showing favor to the White Tiger Clan and the rumors of its most outstanding individual from the younger generation— Tang Hao, being close with the Imperial Princess, it was clear even to the bystanders that Star Luo Empire's reputation will sore given enough time.
The Heaven Dou Empire, meanwhile, was supported by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan firmly but they lacked combat-related masters at lower levels. Out of the top three clans, only the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan has kept their neutral stance for quite a while now and Xue Ye wanted this stance shifted for the better!
The general population enjoyed the fights but the leaders understood facts and examined each match to figure out their opponent's strengths and weaknesses to prepare for the future.
---
"Almost got me," Ja Sun chuckled as he continued to dodge around under the large violet dome.
He wouldn't have been able to dodge these attacks timely if not for the fact that the five senses of his opponent were suppressed. However, one attack is all it would take for his opponents to draw a pound of flesh from him... figuratively.
But doubt still filled Ja Sun's mind. It was still too easy. Although he couldn't hurt the three tigers in any form or manner, the opposite was also true. Ja Sun was nimble and his shock force wouldn't be able to handle the tough and resistant furs and hides of the tiger. The three tigers were moderately agile and even protected their eyes with a burst of spirit energy. Despite their senses being suppressed, their reaction speed was only slightly affected.
'But drawing this much strength is bound to exhaust them... any spirit master with the slightest bit of sanity would have already withdrawn the fusion. After all, prolonging this situation only worked in my favor unless... they have something else planned.'
Ja Sun decided to excite this small pack of tigers further.
"Whoa! Look! The rumors were true! He is riding them!"
A spectator... a woman gasped with a flushed face, quite excited by her pun as Ja Sun rushed up the claws of one of the largest Hell Black Tiger and then sat on top of the giant 'king' pattern formed by the formation of the fur on the Hell Black Tiger's head.
"Prince Dai, how about it? Want to give me a ride through your wife, too?" Ja Sun grinned as a tremendous shock force traveled through Ja Sun's feet. His gaze was lit with expectations and as expected, a change occurred. Before the shock force could even travel through the first defense of the tiger's hide, hs footing suddenly disappeared and the body of the tiger turned into a phantom state. It still hadn't disappeared but Zhu Ning and Dai Taiyin rushed towards Ja Sun's side in a dark and light streak of light. Both of their right arms now adorned with a spirit bone each.
Ja Sun knew the effect of Dai Taiyin's spirit bone to be an explosion type of the light attribute, unlike the spirit bone ability of Ground Devil that exploded and caused Ja Sun to lose his left arm at the time, Taiyin's skill could be countered by other light-attributed skills. Ja Sun had spammed his Light Silver Wings to block the attack.
Light flickered around Dai Taiyin's arm and Zhu Ning, meanwhile, turned translucent. Her feline body now almost disappearing and Ja Sun understood the ploy instantly.
The thin layer of purple mist hat gave Ja Sun a ghastly appearance instantly churned and the space in front of Dai Taiyin and Zhu Ning churned. Due to close proximity, Ja Sun instantly felt this skill being used thrice and his eyelids jumped in surprise.
"You've failed me!"
"I don't need you anymore!"
Two distinct but cold voices instantly shook Dai Taiyin and Zhu Ning.
In front of Dai Taiyin, his own image was formed but this phantom had a third eye that flickered with cruel and brutal intentions. Meanwhile, Zhu Ning was stopped by Dai Taiyin's phantom again. However, the handsome prince now looked at Zhu Ning with disgust.
"You aren't talented enough to accept me!"
"You won't be able to fulfill my needs. Why should I keep you?"
The two strange apparitions sneered in tandem.
Far away, Dai Laohu could no longer keep his emotions in check as he stood up. His gaze attracted to the magnetic third eye on the phantom in front of Dai Taiyin.
Zhu Ning, meanwhile, bit her lips. Her venomous gaze stared at Ja Sun and before she and Dai Taiyin could destroy these imitations, their gazes changed.
Nay, their world changed.
Just like the three giant beasts were controlled by Ja Sun, unintentionally, the three tigers were also kept away from Ja Sun's skill within this domain- Nightmare. Different from the Yin-Yang True Illusion, this skill did not require mental energy and under Nightmare's Fantasy expert control, the prince and princess finally entered their nightmares.
The last time he used his skill, he couldn't explore its true effects because the apparition of Redstar formed in the forest directly caused the demise of the opponent they were facing due to some strange restrictions that forbade Redstar's subordinates to leak the information regarding the Hint of Evil in any form or matter.
Even now, the fusion technique was not affected by this skill. But with one less Hell Tiger to worry about, Ja Sun gazed at the remaining two who crouched in an attacking posture and roared loudly.
However, surprising Ja Sun and making him realize was the fact that the support master's ability was quite a bit different than his thoughts.
"Attack!"
The two tigers turned into phantoms, four spirit masters shot out and caution flickered on their faces as they saw the dazed Dai Taiyin and Zhu Ning. Before the Nightmare's Fantasy could weave their personal nightmares... surprisingly, the two pairs instantly fused again. The tiger was formed within an instant and the nightmare failed again and Ja Sun finally realized the ploy as the two pairs of spirit masters would fuse and then revert, creating a mirage of hell white and hell black tigers!
Evidently, after the first attack, Zhu Ning and Dai Taiyin were planning the same. However, they, too, were unaware of the full extent of Ja Sun's skull bone that was the fusion of two naturally birthed spirit beasts in the first place— The Fantasy and The Nightmare beast!
*Roar!*
Under the gradually spreading dawn, the giant membrane of the dome surrounding the arena lit up. The giant reverse waterfall glowed like a bright starry sky with myriad colorful fishes swimming that created a very mystical and beautiful scene. However, the attention of the spectators was grabbed by two spirit masters expertly weaving in and out of their fusion technique that shocked many, including Ja Sun.
The earth-shattering roar shook the arena as almost twenty mirages of the Hell White and Hell Black Tigers roared simultaneously with even Ja Sun now unable to find the real one shortly despite his Fiery Golden Pupils because none of them were illusions. He realized that right after the fusion, the spirit masters would launch an attack and fuse again to do the same.
Seeing his four sides and above being covered by claws and paws, Ja Sun couldn't help but look at the prince and the princess. His mouth curved into a sly grin.
Ordinarily, he wouldn't mind getting hurt... but why wouldn't he try to gain more treasures?
His next move shocked everyone as Ja Sun directly grabbed the necks of Dai Taiyin and Zhu Ning, shuttling through the space and keeping them as meat shields!
---
"I told you one simple thing. Let go of your family," his third eye flickered, "Kill them. Accept my sagehood and step on the path of divinity. Even with your mediocre talent, you have the grit to step into the Sage's Cave and pass the first of my trials... will you still deny your thirst for power?!
You, who easily dismantled your brother's dreams!
You who destroyed your elder's ambitions!
You who secretly felt relieved that your sister wouldn't be vying against yourself!"
Dai Taiyin coldly stared at 'himself.'
"This is an illusion," Dai Taiyin growled but the figure in front of him mocked, "Not anymore! You cannot deny what I claimed. Accepting even the slightest bit of essence has turned you better. Stronger! Dai Taiyin, you couldn't live with your failure of defending your sister's, father's, mother's, and wife's honor and where did that lead you?
Right into my furry clutches!"
The figure with the flashing third eye laughed deeply while Dai Taiyin's expression changed.
"Shut up! Your only value to the Star Luo Empire is just that measly knowledge," he sneered, "God? Sage? You're a fucking beast with nothing to your name but death and remnant spirit so you start acting like a good dog! I defeated my brother, not because of some rule. Because he annoyed me. Because he hurt Dai Mu! Because he was not better than a weak little silk pants!
Dai Mu not participating in the royal battle? You bet I'm relieved! She could never have the heart to do what your will demands. It only ends in pain."
With an increasingly growing anger, Dai Taiyin smirked, "And power? You died pursuing power. Why can't I pursue it, too? Remember one thing, Oh, Sage. We worship you, not out of reverence. But necessity. Rules, religions. All of this is merely a tool for me, my father, and my future generation to control our empire!"
The more Dai Taiyin acted, the greater the figure in front of him flickered.
The clone's image constantly exchanged that with a white tiger that held three eyes, all of them holding double pupils of blue and red.
"You punk!"
The figure gave a lasting screech!