Even though the second silhouette was formed almost instantly, it was in the middle stage Martial Apprentice realm with combat strength that surpassed any cultivator that Ace had ever met.
It was only Ace's conclusion, but he wasn't wrong, it was the truth that all the silhouettes possessed combat strength that belongs to the elite tier in the Divine realm.
His phantom slaughter law manifested into a sword wave behind him once again, but oblivious to him, the amount of shadow energy the silhouettes here possess were actually beneficial towards the slaughter law he cultivates.
"Lucifer, don't tell me that it's a coincidence that you're using the silhouettes you've created with your own shadow energy." Jay commented the moment he found Lucifer who was sitting on his throne staring into space.
"I'm just curious about the rumors about the shadow law being beneficial towards the slaughter law since it has never been proven to be true, but now that I've seen it with my own eyes, I'm curious as to how much he can develop in this one month."
Lucifer replied after a few moments of silence, having processed his thoughts and cleared his mind, confidence once again resurfaced on his face.
"As someone whose name was renowned in the Divine realm before I was banished and sealed here into the fragmented cultivation realm, it'll only be a matter of time before I grow strong enough to take revenge against those who betrayed me." Lucifer said without a single trace of emotion in his voice, but his clenched fists betrayed his emotions.
"Let's hope that we made the right decision today, we're already at the point of no return after having taken matters far enough to groom him to the best of our abilities." Jay replied after glancing at Lucifer who was clenching his fists, his eyes gazing towards the door he entered from.
Back in the other dimension, Ace had just slain the second silhouette with his phantom slaughter law easily when shadow energy started to gather together once again.
But unlike the first two times, it took about ten seconds or so before the silhouette was fully formed, just like the previous two, it possessed superior combat strength and was in the late stage Martial Apprentice realm.
Ace once again manifested his phantom slaughter law into a faint sword wave behind his back, above his head, only for his attention to be attracted by a long object.
In the hands of the silhouette was a halberd, the weapon explained the reason behind the longer time taken to be created besides the larger amount of shadow energy needed.
*Swoosh*
The sword wave manifested by his slaughter law dashed towards the silhouette at a rapid speed with a single thought from him.
This should be it. Ace concluded the battle within his heart, after all, even cultivators in the peak stage Martial Apprentice realm have been unable to stop this attack of his.
Yet, all the silhouette did was stab forward with its halberd to destroy the sword wave and even though it was injured from that attack, an injury of such a scale meant nothing to a silhouette that is only a projection to begin with, it felt no pain.
With his sword still sheathed, Ace immediately conjured two individual sword waves of the fire and frost intent as they dashed towards the silhouette to end the battle before things could escalate even further.
*Swoosh*
Even though Ace was able to defeat the silhouette, this battle alone was already draining his stamina and mental capacity.
With the third silhouette already beginning to pose some difficulty, the fourth silhouette and the subsequent ones would only grow stronger and stronger, but he couldn't back out now.
Unsheathing the sword which he received from that mysterious woman and surreal illusion, he infused his slaughter law into it.
Closing his eyes, he cleared his mind, allowing the distracting thoughts in his mind to disperse as he waited for the fourth silhouette to fully form itself patiently.
The moment it appeared, he stabbed towards the silhouette without any hesitation which caught it off guard, after the fourth silhouette parried his charge with his spear, Ace then followed up with a vertical slash downwards which ended the battle swiftly.
While the fifth silhouette was gathering and forming itself, Ace closed his eyes and before his eyes, he saw rose petals embodying crimson flames falling into the blood pool.
Each petal reflected into his eyes were vital targets of the enemy he had to strike, before the silhouette even fully formed itself, Ace was dancing around with his sword unsheathed, each movement of his sword was swift but precise.
His eyes were closed, but this moment felt too perfect. If this current image were to be frozen in time and recorded, it would definitely become an artwork that would leave behind its legacy.
At this moment, Ace had a deeper comprehension of life. Since there wasn't a way for him to surpass the shackles of life and fear of death because of his shattered past, then there was only one thing he could do.
Shattering his past. By shattering his past, he'll utilise the one moment of strength in order to bring out a slash that goes past his limits, bringing out all the strength within his body to bring out a slash that decimates anything in his way.
It was his first trump card, an ace he can rely on in order to turn the tides of a battle.
When Ace opened his eyes again, the brief moment felt like an eternity as his sword stabbed into the head of the early stage Martial Master realm silhouette that should have been a tough opponent.
With a single stab of his sword, it easily punctured the chest of the opponent silhouette which dispersed into shadow energy that was consumed by his slaughter law before returning to its infinite space.
The sixth silhouette took around five minutes to appear, but it was just way too short of a time for Ace who was still recovering from the state of enlightenment.
He was mentally exhausted, but he found a new way to execute his sword moves.
He should keep them simple, make his swordplay a dance and enjoy it to the fullest.
He shouldn't allow himself to be restricted by the traditional sword moves.
Instead of making flashy moves that can store immense amounts of power, I'll make sword moves that create a natural dance, executing each move swiftly in a manner as simple as possible.
When the sixth silhouette manifested with axes in both its hands, Ace didn't show any signs of fear against a middle stage Martial Master with impressive combat strength and instincts, nor was his heart heavy with pressure.
Instead, he felt carefree as he dashed towards the sixth silhouette without any signs of fear on his face.
When his initial stab was blocked, Ace switched over to a wide vertical slash.
When his successive flurry of attacks were blocked, Ace made use of his momentum to slide backwards, baiting the silhouette upwards as it raised its axes and slashed down on him from above.
This is the chance!
Seeing the opening which appeared as a rose petal to Ace, he dived into it without any hesitation and slashed his sword towards the silhouette after infusing it with his slaughter law.
His sword tore through the body of the silhouette as though it was paper, but right when he thought he was going to face another foe that was more dangerous, the next scene shocked him with the sudden appearance of countless shadow energy vortexes.
Lucifer was laying on his bed thinking to himself how an hour or so had already passed in what felt like mere seconds to someone of his cultivation base, he was about to close his eyes to rest when the orb on his table suddenly glowed brightly with a violet glow.
"Has he already awakened the seventh difficulty of the twenty difficulties I've prepared? Still, is he able to deal with the four late stage Martial Master silhouettes that will manifest within an hour's time?" Lucifer mumbled to himself, but kept the spike in difficulty a secret from Jay lest he interfere with his plans again.