Before their eyes was a cliff, below which lay an iridescent rainbow-colored lake spanning several kilometers. The surroundings of the lake simply could not be described with words.
There were trees, plants, beasts, fish and small insects, all of them radiating a very powerful aura which seemed derived from the lake, as if all of them were merely the creations of that lake as well as the part of the whole. The two found it very hard to breathe here because the Spirit Energy was so thick that even the air was becoming gas-like. There were many single-colored clouds made of pure Spirit Energy in various unique colors intersecting with each other.
The cheerful roars of beasts reverberated through this space, which was obviously completely separated from the outside world. When the two figured that out, they suddenly turned around them intending to check what happened with the 'Lifeless' forest they came from. As they expected, there was no trace of the said forest, but there was a golden-colored swirl of Spirit Energy gathered in a circle several hundred meters away from them.
Asura Ryuu: "Is that... a portal?"
Asura Tenka: "Seems like that is the case."
Asura Ryuu: "Did you try using your Divine Sense?"
Asura Tenka suddenly realized that she didn't with the help of his words and hurriedly tried using it, just to find out that it was useless. Regardless of where it swept, everything appeared non-existent. If their eyes were closed, and they relied solely on their Divine Sense, they would even think they died. No information was fed back through the Divine Sense, similar to how one couldn't see shit in the darkness relying solely on their eyes.
Precisely at that moment, the two saw the tiger from before coming out from the side at the foot of the cliff and noticed the little pathway that led down the cliff. They sat down and observed what's about to happen when the tiger approaches other beasts. It was obvious that all of them were Sprit Beasts and they were pretty strong. Some of them resembled those the two had seen in The Realm of Gods, but they believed there was no way those kinds of beasts would appear here - after all, this was the lowest plane of all Celestial Plains, both because of the quality and concentration of Spiritual Energy as well as the level of overall life in it.
The lowest plane of all Celestial Plains couldn't possibly have a living Nine-Headed Five-Elemental Hydra, could it now? As they were marveling at various creatures that seemed straight out of fantasy, the red-colored tiger arrived in front of the lake.
What happened next left them speechless.
As soon as the tiger came in front of the lake, its body broke down into molecules of red gas which condensed into a single transparent droplet and fell into the lake.
"The fucking tiger turned into a drop of water!!!", the two thought.
They felt very dumb after coming here. It was already hard enough to breathe because of the thick atmosphere formed from Spiritual Energy, and now such a scene happened before their eyes. It wasn't so uncommon to see similar things happen with Spirit Beasts that had reached a certain level, but the tiger wasn't much stronger than the two of them - how could it possibly do that?!
There was only one explanation that seemed reasonable but caused the fear to surge in their hearts - everything here was one entity. The air, the birds, the water, even the ground and the sky - everything belonged to a single entity that could change shape at will. It was the most logical explanation they had conjured after observing the surroundings for a while.
There was no other reason why the Spirit Beasts would turn into water and vice versa. Every now and then, there would be a new baby Spirit Beast formed from a drop of that rainbow-colored water.
Was that water in the first place? What if that's a lake formed from pure liquid Spirit Energy?
When Asura Ryuu thought of that, his face drained of blood. If the lake was liquid then the mountains, trees and solid surfaces... aren't they the solid Spiritual Energy?! When the Spirit Energy becomes solidified it represents a whole new world - the world of Gods.
Cold sweat already drenched Asura Ryuu's plain black clothes, and his heart was jumping with fear. He had an impulse to grab Asura Tenka and run out through that portal while they were still alive but seeing her remain here and her thinking figure, he forced himself to stay. It was the first time he felt genuine fear in a very long time.
Asura Tenka, however, seemed absent-minded, as if the scene didn't have any influence on her. It was as if her mind wandered off somewhere and she forgot where they currently were.
Asura Ryuu wondered whether he should just grab her and run out of this dream-like place that could swallow them whole in an instant, but was suddenly interrupted by a very loud roar that came beyond the lake followed with an earth-shaking aura of oppression.
His heart grew an uneasy premonition which came true as fast as it formed. The black flying beast could be seen on the other side of the lake, splitting apart the air and rushing in their direction. Even without Divine Sense he could still feel the chilly gaze that creature had shot towards the two of them.
In the next moment, the little black dot in the distance zoomed in and appeared in front of them, leaving only the trail behind itself. It was a pitch-black humanoid creature with red cracks along its body, similar to blood vessels. Even its eyes were red.
Behind the body, twice the size of Asura Ryuu, a pair of majestic outstretched wings filled with scales radiated an abyssal aura as the Spiritual Energy around them was being absorbed endlessly.
The pair of blood-red eyes glanced at Asura Ryuu, causing the deep-seated fear in his heart to spread through his entire body. Merely a glance made him realize how small and insignificant he was.
"Did both of us suffer through nine lives just for us to die here in this way? Why do the heavens bear a grudge against us?!", he thought.
He was still subconsciously thinking how to send out Asura Tenka outside and distract the devil in front of them, but there was no more time. The devil raised its hand in which a crimson light condensed and burst forth, but Asura Ryuu didn't notice it was only aimed at him.
Instinctively, he let the black chain submerge into the spear and summoned it even though he knew he'd be dead before the spear could appear in his hand. Just as he was about to be disintegrated by the fearsome energy hidden in that red ball, the crimson light shone out of his and Asura Tenka's forehead as the bloody red dragon emblem appeared in its place.
As soon as they appeared, the emblems separated from their foreheads and formed a barrier around them. The red ball of energy came in contact with the red barrier, and a fierce collision took place. In the end, the barrier couldn't hold up beneath the power and exploded.
It couldn't save their lives, but it was enough to give them a second of time for Asura Ryuu to summon his spear. As soon as the spear left his Spiritual World and felt the abundant Spirit Energy in the surroundings, it began absorbing it greedily which made Asura Ryuu's hand swell because the energy was transmitted inside his body through the spear.
He was no cultivator yet therefore he couldn't store that energy anywhere. The energy coursed through his arm and body, causing him to scream in pain and agony brought by the pressure exerted on his internal organs by the Spirit Energy.
The pain came from the torn bones, muscles and tissues only to finally cause Asura Ryuu to lose the consciousness and not even have the chance to retaliate against the enemy. The last scene he saw before he fainted was a very detailed bloody-red ball of condensed energy that scorched his eyes, taking away his vision and aiming for his life.
.
.
.
Silence.
Complete and utter silence.
Instead of an explosion or the sound of burnt flesh, nothing was heard - not even wind.
Why? Because everything froze in that moment, even time.