Toppled God (3)
*Crackle*
Zi Ji came to be at the sound of the crackling wind, not lighting. She was all too aware of such a sound. Many in her memories, more prominently dragons, achieved such mighty physiques that even the space around them would tremble due to their sheer internal energy. After all, in this world, nothing is absolute.
Truly.
Not even glancing at other spirit beasts licking their wounds or employing weaker members of Bi Ji's tribe to heal others, Zi Ji gazed at the sky bloated by a giant pitch-black dragon. Ordinarily, such a mighty form would only attract her adoration. Surrounded by his own Dark Domain, Di Tian would have looked like a demon god if not for someone far more menacing dodging its attacks ridiculously. His body bent in ways unknown to man and beasts. His body separated as if he was nothing but a slime but his punches shook Di Tian's scale.
For a second, Zi Ji reevaluated her own condition. The lack of her reverse scale wanted her to enter a fit of rage as her once pure and unblemished form was... tainted. The only key was held by the beast contending with the Beast God himself!
She felt as if she was dreaming but her aching draconic joints snapped her out of her daze.
An emerald swan was also working tirelessly to heal her wounds, her own vitality ignited under its ability as she began to feel better soon after but be it foreign spirit beasts like the Heavenly Snow Maiden and the Ice Jade Scorpion or their own members, none dared approach the battle ensuing midair that caused the shrouding array of the King's Lair to slowly break under their pressure.
The unconscious body of Tyrant Eye under the battle made it clear that... none of them were worthy enough to get near that battle.
None of them.
The thought of it made the dragon grind her sharp teeth in frustration. It wasn't so much so that their strength was tarnished but the fact that there existed a human capable of going against the ruler of the King's Lair, Beast God Di Tian himself!
Her experience with humans, Ja Sun included, made Zi Ji feel innately superior despite her loss but now that thought was shattered. Though, she was right. A human truly cannot compete with a dragon, the epitome of the beast kind but then again, Ja Sun had let go of his humanity long, long ago. He was trained as if one would train a beast. Either successfully pushing past his limits or die trying.
A simple inquiry netted her that the two were locked in a battle for 2 days now!
*Crackle*
The eight spider lances struck the tiny portion of Di Tian's body, failing to pierce him yet again while cracks spread throughout Ja Sun's eight spider legs. The external bone was his own self and thus any injury to this body, though capable of getting healed, did make him feel the equivalent pain.
Feeling the sludge-like but hard external carapace of his crack was similar to his bone-cracking itself. Grinning with gritted teeth, Ja Sun dodged the giant claw strike that was surprisingly fast and whipped up wind. Just as Ja Sun's domain suppressed the spatial element, this time, the dark domain of Di Tian threatened to crush Ja Sun's Death Domain all the while suppressing his entire existence.
The ultimate darkness attribute not only suppressed Ja Sun with added weight but made his spirit, mental, and internal energy more sluggish. The only reason Ja Sun continued to wield them was because of his perfect control as a realm of self. But still, he was pushed to his very limits. After all, he had to expand his domain for more than 3000 meters!
Why?
Because Di Tian's original body was of that very size including the wingspan!
Compared to Di Tian, it was right to say Ja Sun looked like an ordinary, tiny spider.
The toxins from the Death Domain proved barely useful as Ja Sun kept the domain only to negate the spatial element. It was kind of annoying while Ja Sun couldn't wield it properly himself.
Suddenly, the giant, almost tens of meter long golden eyes of Di Tian glowed and he spat a minuscule sword. It was almost three feet tall and pitch black. Its handle took the shape of a dark dragon's head and was formed entirely of black scales but the sword hummed to life and began to grow.
*Weng*
*Weng*
*Weng*
As it grew, multiple gashes not only appeared on Ja Sun's exoskeleton but also his domain itself!
A little surprised by the sudden emergence of a weapon, Ja Sum braces himself as his sixth spirit ring glowed.
"You fool!" Di Tian's somber voice rumbled, "A Spatial skill in front of spatial law is nothing but a child's play!"
The sword had grown almost a hundred meters in length and it suddenly descended. It was slow for a moment but the frightening sword intent that burst out of Di Tian's was similar to Ja Sun's bloodlust in its purity.
"Eh?"
The sword suddenly vanished from the space created by Ja Sun's sixth spirit ring— Timeless Shield, and when Ja Sun looked down, the sword's length had returned to its original size and had already cleaved through him.
Ja Sun's vision... was divided.
His body cut in half, the two purplish halves shot down from the sky while the Death Domain crumbled.
"Your domain lacks the strength of law, how can you even think of suppressing me with so many tears in it?" Di Tian had long regained his calm. He was too suppressed in his human form but his original body was at the peak of this world, capable of tackling against even the gods!
But despite his calmness, the dragon continued to wield the sword.
The pitch-black sword shot after Ja Sun's two halves that had already begun to congeal once again as he dodged the strike only to find himself cleaved in half.
'Spatial Attribute... damn,' Ja Sun clicked his tongue internally.
A golden spirit ring appeared yet again.
While the two first two spirit rings had gained additional abilities, Ja Sun had come to a realization that none of them, including the Silver Goddess Convergence would contend against the sword since it moved through the fabric of space itself at the moment. Although Ja Sun didn't wield this 'law', he could still sense as such. Finally, his third spirit ring may give him a respite.
It had never failed him before and Ja Sun hoped it wouldn't fail him this time, too.
Di Tian's intent landed on Ja Sun again, the sword moved again, intended on cleaving him until he no longer has enough strength to regenerate and make use of this outrageous external bone. In fact, Ja Sun had exhausted a bit by taking out Tyrant Eye quickly. Had Tyrant Eye been in his real form, he would be stronger... but would have fallen even quicker. After all, unlike Di Tian, whose physical defense was simply nothing to laugh at, Ja Sun would have used his greater maneuverability to stab the giant eye constantly.
Yet, in that very instant, every single being in the King's Lair had the mental or divine intent that latched onto Ja Sun burn with an audible searing noise escaping as all of them closed their eyes due to the blinding white light that expanded to cover the better half of the King's Lair.
Surprisingly, Ja Sun only felt a single intent still on him and it didn't belong to Di Tian. Shoving the thought at the back of his head since he couldn't really focus elsewhere from Di Tian, Ja Sun gazed through the pure white world, his third spirit ring— Bright World Domain.
Aside from 10% boost to all his aspects, this domain gave him a rather broken ability.
As Ja Sun gazed at the giant dark dome that still couldn't be destroyed by his domain— Di Tian's Dark Domain, Ja Sun's violet body began to disappear into motes of light...
As if merging with the domain itself!
Ja Sun's vision shifted... temporarily, he transcended mortal shackles and he could only see darkness, physically. Once moving at the speed of light, it really is hard to see anything with the 'eye'. His divine intent played a greater role this time.
Fully intended to give Di Tian a little taste of retribution, Ja Sun converged his strength at a single point.
While Di Tian could only see pure white under the shroud of his domain, unable to sense Ja Sun at all, he suddenly felt great danger to the point that his fleshy wings shivered slightly.
*Shk*
Both the domain collapsed at that very instant.
Ja Sun, unable to control his own speed, landed into a bloody ditch with a bowl-shaped crater spreading the second later while his body continued to lay in a hole similar to his shape.
While other beasts finally saw something stunning.
*Drip*
*Ssss*
*Drip*
*Ssss*
Zi Ji's eyes widened in fright as she felt all her thoughts crumble at the sight of golden blood dripping from Di Tian's pierced left eye...
Purplish veins grew, pointing out the terrible toxins Ja Sun left that even made healing of the eye temporarily hard for Di Tian's own body.
The drop of blood could fill a tub as it landed on the destroyed ground, corroding the surface even more.
A wave of silence descended as Ja Sun pulled himself out. Although he can support the Bright World Domain, he would lose control of it while going all out so it was better to retract it and save spirit energy.
Seeing Di Tian's remaining eye gazing in his direction with what felt like a hint of incredulity, Ja Sun couldn't help but chuckle, "By the way, that sword is stunning. You really have an eye for your weapons, huh."
His pun was received poorly as Di Tian's energy skyrocketed silently.
"You dare harm me?" His question was rhetorical but Ja Sun answered anyway, "That's the point of fighting, Beast God."
Unamused, Di Tian's domain spread out once again. So did Ja Sun's.
A pitch-black and a dark purple domain with viridian green miasma contested against one another yet again as wind picked up.
By now, aside from simple seriousness, Di Tian had shed every other emotion. The envy he felt at the fortune of a mere human, the greed he felt should he take Ja Sun's head and the treasures that allowed him to reach this stage, the anger he felt for getting his left eye taken out, the callousness he felt to work alongside Tyrant Eye, and the tinge of superiority he felt for Ja Sun still unaware of the way of laws despite having almost divine strength...
The sword floated in front of Di Tian once again as his gigantic body converged at a surprising speed. A pace that Zi Ji couldn't hope to achieve.
Di Tian's left eye was closed in his human form with thick, pulsating purple veins spread around the better half of his face. As if unaware of the terrible toxin that threatened to eat away on his lifeforce, Di Tian held his sword.
Ja Sun was prepared for many things but the entirety of Di Tian's domains suddenly converging and wrapping around the pitch-black sword in the form of flaming darkness wasn't one of them!
A smile touched the handsome man's face as his voice reverberated through the entire forest, "Domain is the path to law, and conversely law is the path to a domain. One can be used to achieve the other. Why am I educating you now?
Because I don't want you to die in ignorance.
My sword is named Black Dragon, after my ancestors. Swordplay was made for mankind. While a Dragon's strongest attack should be its breath, mine is this sword.
And this is my second strongest technique."
As if confirming to the face, the dark wrap of energy suddenly glowed in soft, spatial silver as if a night sky brightened by countless stars.
Although Ja Sun's mind began to overwork by the possibilities opened by Di Tian's words, he found it much more pleasurable to just focus on the man who brought him new realms of pain and pushed him even at his strongest form.
After all, which 100000-year-beast including Zi Ji could face him much less million-year-old beasts like the Deep Sea Demonic Whale. Not to mention the fact that while he did screw around with Zi Ji using his divine intent, Ja Sun was well aware as the epitome of beast kind, Dragons, at least, true ones have resistance to almost all the elements and mental attacks. The only reason Zi Ji suffered was due to Ja Sun simply being out of her leagues but that wasn't the case with Di Tian.
In fact, it was the opposite.
Even with the Million-year-old Death Spider Emperor Exoskeleton, Ja Sun could only hope to reach Di Tian's level.
2 days have already passed since the beginning of their battle and neither had actually relied on their heaviest hit...
'But... two domains and laws wrapped in a single attack is only his second strongest technique... I wonder what's the first one... it would be a pity if I didn't taste the strongest attack, too.'
Ja Sun's goal was clear. Face this attack, make it clear that it wouldn't affect him no matter what, and force Di Tian to reveal his trump cards.
But as he gazed at the cataclysmic attack with Di Tian simply waiting for Ja Sun to respond appropriately, he couldn't help but reveal a hearty smile.
"Then I'll do the same. This is going to be my second strongest attack... without any weapons."
Not willing to play around with canons and swords he had less experience with, Ja Sun summoned all his spirit rings.
Six Spirit rings lined behind him neatly, sending every other spirit beast in a daze as they were forced to realize once again just how much Ja Sun had the room to grow.
Three of them were golden-white with a holy aura around them while the remaining three were pitch-black with a sheen of crimson around them, clearly making others realize that aside from 3 million-year-old spirit rings, Ja Sun also had three other spirit rings that were close to 100000 years of cultivation.
Ja Sun heaved a deep breath.
"You sure that you wouldn't regret giving me the time to prepare?" Ja Sun inquired.
"Do your worst," Di Tian narrowed his eye.
Ja Sun's aura suddenly exploded. All six of his spirit rings began to tremble.
"Spirit rings hold spirit skills. As a novice in the ways of the array, I eventually hope to crack the secret of spirit rings," Ja Sun whispered, yet, his voice felt even more magnificent in the heart of others. After all, the forest had lost to him. All the beasts, Zi Ji included, instinctively lowered their heads as he continued, "But one thing has been made clear. Spirit rings are merely a channel filled with energy. In reality, once a spirit ring is absorbed, the skill attached to it is absorbed by a martial soul. This is the underlying principle behind a few rare martial souls evolving when absorbing a spirit ring.
Does this mean we steal the essence?
Yes.
Then what about spirit rings? What use do they actually present?"
Di Tian felt his heart shiver. No human should possess such knowledge but Ja Sun replied to his own question, "No, spirit ring does have a use...
It's an expression of our deeds. Nothing more, nothing less. They are decorations filled with energy. I believe that a true expert would have more skills than just the 9 spirit skills... humans are beasts, too. We have spirit skills, too.
That only leaves beasts and humans with one difference— spirit rings.
A spirit ring... is a decoration worth destroying..."
Of the six spirit rings, his second spirit ring suddenly had cracks forming around its surface as Ja Sun's body felt a surge of pure strength. He still had a hefty amount of spirit energy but he needed more than just that.
Under Di Tian's stunned gaze, Ja Sun's second spirit ring exploded while his body inflated under the exoskeleton. From three meters to seven meters. At this point, Ja Sun truly looked like a humanoid beast.
This was a skill he won from the quest related to the Clear Sky Hammer. Aside from the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes, they had a technique named Great Sumeru Hammer which relied on the principles that differentiated a man and a beast and characterized spirit rings as nothing more than decorations.
This won Ja Sun's admiration towards the individual named Tang Chen, or in this case, Yuehua's grandfather. The man was crazy enough to shatter his spirit rings! How can Ja Sun not admire such craziness?!
The stronger the spirit ring shattered, the greater the boost in power. To put it in a perspective, if a 100-year-old spirit ring is shattered then an ordinary spirit douluo can land a solid hit on a titled douluo. Of course, no ordinary man could train in this technique for it required absolute control not only in spirit energy but every other aspect, too. The other side effects included the inability to use the spirit technique and the spirit ring for the next 30 days.
Facing Ja Sun's almost unholy momentum ironically fuelled by the holy energy of his million-year-old spirit ring, Di Tian's sense of dread began to resurface.
"I call this the Great Sumeru Fist."
Ja Sun's deep voice rumbled. His entire being saturated with energy as his first spirit ring glimmers and all twelve of his limbs glowed before two pairs of wings grew and glowed, too.
Taking a stance, Ja Sun cocked his fist back as all the enhancement layered his right fist with unsightly shock force causing the space to crack even before he moved!
A full 4800% enhancement!
Truly, it was a battle between quality and quantity.
Laws were something Ja Sun could only counter with a sheer stack of strength.
The energy within him threatened to grow berserk for the first time in ever while the exoskeleton around his right fist including the Vajra Gauntlets had cracks spread across their surface.
"Perish!" Di Tian growled, bringing his sword down at once.
Sky changed color that very instant with darkness flooding the King's Lair from every corner as Ja Sun's body involuntarily flew towards the attack itself due to the tremendous attractive force from the Darkness and spatial attribute.
The attack blinked the next second, already in front of Ja Sun while he barely moved his fist.
"I'm having too much fun to just perish!" Ja Sun cackled.
The parts around his eyes already had tiny tears while his fist landed on the sword energy.
"Take cover!"
Zi Ji roared that very instant.
She felt she saw... the energy converging at a single point.
While Ja Sun's body was instantly cut into multiple pieces, his fist had yet to fall.
*Bang*
Ja Sun's right fist shattered with a resounding boom while white cracks began to spread mid-air, tearing the very fabric of space within the King's Lair. The cracks spread as the earth was forcefully moved while every spirit beast flew back. Only a silver barrier protected the center of the King's Lair where lay a beautiful emerald lake.
As Ja Sun's pieces crumbled onto the ground, Di Tian's own body finally got hit by the counterattack.
*Chhk*
*Chhk*
*Chhk*
His defenses grew in an instant as his body enlarged the next second yet his scales that wouldn't budge before began to fall off with every other second at an increasing pace no less!
His body, too, involuntarily flew back by the sheer strength of Ja Sun's attack, but the most vicious thing about shock force of gentle tactics wasn't the external damage...
But the internal one.
An attack with such force that lacerated Di Tian's body... It can only be imagined the mess Di Tian's innards had been turned into.
{A/N: Think of Ja Sun's Great Sumeru Fist as the punch by whitebeard... just intensified by hmm... 90+ times.}
***
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