Chapter 1215 Source Beast
Wang Wei found four more Qis, which he believed should be enough for the Dao Burial Ground. As he was satisfied and about to return home, the green sky above his head turned dark, and his complexion became severe.
'A Source Beast? And a third rank at that?' His first instinct was to run away. After all, this beast was on par with a Paragon. However, he stopped himself and analyzed the situation. He checked the beast's strength and was relieved when he realized he was probably on par with a newborn Paragon.
'This is a good way to test my strength,' Wang Wei thought before controlling his body to release a few drops of blood into the ground. Less than ten seconds later, a terrifying creature appeared before him. It was humanoid, five feet tall, with no flesh but black armor for skin, an open chest with white ribs showing, and a helmet for the head with flame in its eye sockets.
'First, let's check my defense,' Wang Wei thought before running toward the creature, and a powerful flame Qi rushed from the mouth part of the helmet, instantly incinerating Wang Wei's body and soul. He instantly regenerated from the previous drop of blood with a wry smile.
'I didn't even last a nanosecond before the flame burned me to ash,' he thought. He was supposed to be immune to flame, but before this Paragon Tier Qi Flame, his proud defense might have well-been baby skin.
'I already knew the difference between Empyreans and Emperors, but the difference between Paragons and Empyreans is truly something else,' Wang Wei analyzed. He summoned the Black Dragon Armor Set and turned the ball into a halberd.
"Let's play." He appeared before the creature again, slashing his weapon downward with enormous strength. He knew his physical strength was not on par for this battle, so he supplemented it with the armor's power. The creature calmly condensed a flame shield on the area where the halberds landed, bouncing the attack.
Wang Wei absorbed the force from the rebounding for a second attack. He then used a Fate Cutting Technique. His action was so seemingly it was as if he was using a choreography that he'd practiced for years instead of something he improvised during battle.
A flaming aura developed around the creature, burning the power of fate from his attack. 'That's all it took to block my attack?' Wang Wei thought as he rotated his halberd as if it was a fan. He added Space Dao to the rotation, turning the weapon into a grinder capable of grinding space-time. Such an attack was enough to turn every life, atom, and energy in the lower dimension into fine sand.
A laser rushed from the Source Beast's eyes with tremendous heat and force, stopping Wang Wei's weapon. The beast then released a fluctuation from his mind, which agitated the energy in the surroundings. Wang Wei suddenly felt a slight weight in his mind.
'Energy Domination?' Wang Wei analyzed. Immortal Sovereign can use this ability to influence lower-tier Emperors, but it's useless against people of the same rank. However, Insurgent Immortal Sovereigns can also use it to affect Empyreans. However, this ability does not influence an Empyrean's Dao as it does for Emperors. Instead, it targets their soul, reducing control over their Dao.
'If I didn't have a Paragon Soul, I would have been in terrible shape,' Wang Wei analyzed. 'However, where did it get so much energy? I haven't detected an Immortal Mansion or Qi Storage Organ.' Wang Wei observed his surroundings and immediately found the answer. The Source Qi Space was the beast's Qi Storage Organ. It can draw energy from the environment and has an infinite amount; its only restriction is the amount its soul can bear.
[The Coldness of Fate]
Is fate cold? Yes, and in every sense of the word. The universe is full of pain, suffering, and atrocious tragedies, and the main culprit behind these things is fate. It ruthlessly created certain lives and gave them such fates. A terrifying chill, even worse than the coldness from Hell, rushed from Wang Wei's halberd. He used the creature's opposite element to attack it, which should have worked. However, the creatures manifested a cold blue flame with the same characteristic. The worst part was its flame rapidly absorbed Wang Wei's coldness.
[Shackles of Fate]
Wang Wei appeared behind the creature, releasing a gray chain composed of strings. The beast tried to burn it, but it bypassed him and entered its body. The creature's fate was rapidly changed and reduced to a pinnacle-ranked 2 Source Beast. Wang Wei took this opportunity to sever this creature's [Death Line] and instantly killed it.
Unfortunately, the bones from its back rushed out and hit him in his stomach before his attack even landed. 'Even my fate shackle did not last long enough to attack?' His battle instinct took in, and while flying away, he used a soul attack — Soul Sword.
As the invisible soul sword rushed to the creature, it finally moved from its spot since the beginning of the battle. Wang Wei already reigned on his body and ran toward his opponent. He focused on a double-attack approach: he would distract his opponent with his physical attack while the killer moves would come from his soul. Of course, he would also mix in a few potent physical attacks.
Unfortunately for him, the beast was now aware of his soul's potency and had already wrapped its soul with a Soul Flame Protection Technique. So, the two fought for a few days before the beast left after giving him one last glance. As he stood alone with his armor and weapon, Wang Wei muttered: "This was disappointing." In this battle, he found so many flaws in his current strength.
'All my techniques have not evolved since my time as an Emperor. It's no problem dealing with my peers since they were so good in the first place, but they are completely inadequate for fighting above my realm,' Wang Wei thought. 'I have no experience Soul-fighting with people on the same level as me, let alone more powerful individuals. Lastly, I thought I had adapted to fighting methods rank 11 and above, but I was wrong.' The Source Beast did not have a Grandmist Wheel World as part of its fighting arsenal, but if Wang Wei were fighting a genuine Paragon, he would have to worry about that.
He squinted.
'All the previous issues are primarily because I'm too young, and despite my decent cultivation realm, I haven't been an Empyrean for long.' He knew he could remedy most of his flaws after a long cultivation retreat. 'However, I still haven't figured out how to make up for the Grandmist Wheel.' His current application and utilization of the Grandmist Wheel might be sufficient for his realm but far from enough to fight Paragons.
'This battle was a wake-up call,' Wang Wei sighed. He realized how much he had underestimated these parasites and the Paragon Realm. Although he despised these people, his feelings did not change the fact they were Paragons and had access to the world's resources for countless yuan epochs.
Even a pig will become genius or wise after leaving for long enough, let alone these people who were not stupid, as proven by the fact they became Paragons and ruled over the world for so long.
Wang Wei exhaled before returning to the Eternal Ascension World. As he calmed down to drink his tea, he muttered. "I need to meet Xi Shangyan, then Zhen Biyu before I go to the Lawless Zone. Once those things are done, I should have a decent foundation. I can then stop and calm down to focus on increasing my strength."
Wang Wei looked in the distance. "I wonder how Wang Qi is doing?"
…
Origin Seal City:
The Origin Seal Continent existed in its own dimension. However, there was a physical location in the Eternal Ascension World for people who wished to enter. Usually, he would teleport to the city and utter the Empress' name, and if she wanted to see him, she'd teleport him.
However, as soon as he arrived, Wang Qi noticed a disturbance. A group of armed cultivators floated outside the city, facing this city's mayor.
'The Phoenix's people?' Wang Qi. He noticed that most of these people were from the demon race, and their armor contained a symbol of a phoenix in five colors. 'Why are they causing trouble here?' He observed around, and after seeing many people snooping, he followed suit.
"Why are you being unreasonable?" asked the army leader, a woman with purple eyes but no pupil; she was also the only one without a helmet.
"I'm just following the Empress' rules," replied the mayor, a petite woman with pink hair and wearing a white hanfu.
"Are you aware that you're committing treason?" asked the commander, but the mayor's response was a gentle smile.
"What if I insist on entering?"
"According to the Empress' words — do so at your own risk."
"Are you threatening me?"
"I am, so what can you do about it?" The smile did not leave her mouth.