"HAH!!!" Lukman roared while dense light brown particles swirled all around their bodies. Wasting no time, the Prince of Sand turned the terrain under him into a vast desert with a quick stomp and allowed his shining goblet to float in the air. The eight rubies that were engraved inside of Lukman's Spirits sparkled all with pure bliss as the Prince of Sand continued to feed mana into them.
"Sand Army!" Lukman raised both his hands up, forcing his fourth ruby to glow far brighter than any of the other seven. In no time at all, over a thousand valiant sand warriors, each one armed to the teeth with armour and deadly weapons, rose from the depths of the desert and took over the entire arena.
"Infinite Weapons!" Once more, Lukman snapped his fingers. Sand tendrils arose from the depths of the sand field and broke off into an array of flying swords and spears. That wasn't all. Arrows, daggers, halberds… All sorts of sand weapons were created from one snap of Lukman's fingers, and they were all awaiting the signal to rain down like hellfire.
And finally...
"Beasts of the Desert!" The Prince of Sand pumped over a third of his mana to cast his next ability. The sand shook violently as if an earthquake with the maximum magnitude had just been detonated at the bottom of the tectonic plates. A massive shadow emerged like a hurricane, sending a vast sandstorm flying over Kjlose Yard. The shadow soon turned into a physical specimen, one that was familiar to Shin's eyes and others. An elongated tail sticking out from an armoured body with two sharp pincer claws hanging out from its upper torso.
"Scorpion?" Shin marvelled at the lifelike image of the Beast. If not for Lukman personally making it right in front of him, Shin would have thought that the Scorpion Beast was a legitimate Spirit Beast that sprawled out from the bottom of the desert.
However, Lukman wasn't done. In fact, he was just beginning. Fifty new shadows broke free from the restraints of the immensely large desert, each one bearing different features that could easily take down an army of cultivators. Camels, snakes, hawks, vultures, meerkats… An assortment of Sand Beasts took the stage, and none of them looked dead or even weakened. They were all boasting huge elemental affinities that were on par with Spirit Lords and with the Prince of Sand being their general, Lukman's Beast of the Desert were absolutely a significant threat for Shin during this sparring session.
"Amazing, so this was what I had missed..." Though, the man wasn't worried in the slightest. Back during the Summit, Shin and Lukman's bout ended in a draw, or rather a forfeit from Lukman's corner. The Elders of the Tuareg Sect didn't want Lukman to be the stepping stone for Shin to exponentially grow and had pulled the plug before the Prince of Water took all the techniques away from Lukman.
Thus, Shin had never got to witness Lukman's Beasts of the Desert upfront. Even the intellectual in him was wondering: "What would have happened if they were allowed to go all the way?"
And today, he was finally going to get his answer.
"What a powerful trump card that you've held from me… I was doomed to lose that Summit fight no matter what."
"Don't say that," Lukman chortled. "You were younger and less experienced than me back then. If you had really taken a win over me, I would never let myself roam freely ever again." Spinning his right index finger around the bottom of his goblet, Lukman waited for Shin to get into position. In a standard battle, the Prince of Sand would have attacked the open Shin a thousand times over by now. However, since it was just a mere sparring match, there was no need for such underhanded tactics.
"Either way, the past doesn't matter now. All that matters is the present. Now, Shin… I've shown you how much I grew. Now it's your turn!"
"Haha, don't worry. I always keep my end of the bargain." Shin stifled a laugh and pointed up to the heavens like a prophet calling out to his deity.
Plip… Plop… Plip… Plop…
Lukman felt a single wet spot on the crown of his head, substantially bringing his body temperature down. The first drop… The second… The third… It was gradual, but eventually, Kjlose Yard turned into a rainforest with an endless supply of monsoon rain. Many of Lukman's sand-made weapons which were floating about got drenched almost instantly, turning them into useless grime that wouldn't pierce through a rock no matter how many times it tried.
Fortunately, for the Prince of Sand, this Sand Army and Beasts of the Desert were a little more fortified. Taking on the deluge like champions in a real war, Lukman's creations stood firmly, eyeing down the floating Prince of Water.
"You think rain can stop me? Try harder!" The Prince of Sand hollered out. Once again, he raised both his hands, this time not to create anything new, but to launch his first-ever attack. All of the flying beasts that Lukman morphed into reality zigzagged their way to the levitating Prince of Water, seeking to take over dominance over the aerospace.
Expecting their arrival, Shin quickly forced the Celestial Dragon to wrap around his torso and form a dense protective barrier. The flying beasts melted away once the Celestial Aura touched their frail skins and the Celestial Dragon roared with a vengeful fury. The familiar screech of the shard pierced the eardrums of any that stayed too close to the spacious yard.
With a snap of his fingers, Shin activated the familiar shard and partially ignited it, causing numerous sparks to be sent flying. Highly concentrated lightning bolts tackled the flying sand beasts in the air, burning their wings and removing flight from their dictionary. In the end, the overpowering spiritual energies were too much for Lukman's flying Beasts to bear and they were reduced back to their sandy state.
'The Beast of the Desert are powerful, but the bridge between a Spirit Venerate and Spirit Emperor isn't that easily crossed, Lukman...' Shin spat mentally. He didn't have to overly analyse the Prince of Sand's techniques as he did back in the day. Shin could simply use his spiritual energies to overwhelm Lukman without even batting an eye.
"..." Lukman stayed quiet, possibly disturbed that his aerial assault was stopped that quickly. Raindrops dripped down his wet hair, somewhat tainting his vision and blurring Shin's visage overhead. However, the Prince of Sand didn't falter. He knew from the beginning that it was going to be a hard fight against Shin, and thus… He prepared a trump card.
"Fall." Bending his fingers like a pianist, Lukman moved all the sand around him. The tendrils twisted around the Prince of Sand like an anaconda would its prey. However, there was no malice with the sand tendrils. Instead, it was more of a comfortable embrace that protected the Prince of Sand from the dangers of the outside world. And then…
Clink.
"Huh?" Something sharp fell on Shin's defensive barrier, forcing the man to stop his assault and peer up towards the heavens.
Clink… Clink… Clink…
Sharp objects continued to be mixed in with Shin's rain, and oddly enough, many of them were falling with a force powerful enough to drive Shin to put more mana into his defence. It was a surreal experience for Shin, having his rain turn against him. However, the Prince of Water quickly deduced the reason why his created rain was being so disobedient…
Mixed within the rain, were sharp, translucent objects. Objects that were considered to be the toughest material on the planet and commonly found deep underground with immense pressure. Yet… Those death gems were now… Falling from the sky.
"Diamonds?"