Two sides stood on either end of a soon-to-be battlefield in a realm of Mable, with elegant buildings spanning miles and towers reaching infinitely into the sky.
Cain watched his pursuers, he couldn't see them clearly from so far away but knew they were there, blotting out the sun's light with their sheer numbers.
'How many can I kill?' The number of people was far greater than any Cain had fought before, each of them proved they were strong just surviving to this point.
'Did I dig my own grave this time?'
Seeing the opposing force, Cain was a little reluctant. Sure, he liked fighting and was crazy, but his curiosity always got the better of him, he wanted to learn the secrets of the Ancient City more than anyone else. Even now, he would rather be seeking secrets than blood.
'Might as well get Bloodletter to the 8th Tier.'
Cain was adamant and didn't run, sighing when he made his decision.
"So he has a decent temperament, good!" An Elder commented. They thought they would have to chase the Demon but seeing him remain caused the fighting spirit of the forces present to rise.
"Send a wave of Enlightened, make it a squad with high-tier Energy Spirits. That should tire him." Thomas gave a command. He hasn't met the Imperial Demon, he wanted to use this opportunity to make an example. He wanted to capture Cain before executing him.
Six disciples went out to fight, and the rest of the crowd watched from a distance.
"So, they plan to weaken me?" Cain sneered, seeing through their tactic.
Wasting no time, his body shimmered with purple and he vanished.
A hand sprung from nowhere as it clutched the throat of one of the Enlightened, as the hand manifested so did the arm, then the body, and finally the face. Cain had intercepted the enemy.
"D-Demon!" The disciple who was grabbed choked out the word before his skull was run through by a red blade. Blood was sucked out as Bloodletter hummed in delight.
'One down.'
The rest of the disciples acted in the face of their companion's death, encircling Cain.
"Tsk, weaklings dare to capture me?!"
An inferno exploded, charring the flesh of two Enlightened, they backed away to heal while the fire gave chase. In the meantime, sword crescents were sent out and caused two others to defend against an onslaught of red energy. The last disciple was then ambushed.
Teleporting behind, Cain wrapped them in wire-like webs before tugging. Scarlet blood seeped out as muffled screams rebounded inside the cocoon.
"Let's use this new move I devised!"
Cain's arm turned purple as he made a grabbing motion with his hand and twisted his wrist. In an instant, the lower half of the cocoon was gone, intestines slipping out. A few feet away, the lower half appeared and landed on a marble building.
"Hmm, the Chaotic Space Spirit is hard to control, I meant to remove their head...."
The cocoon shook but stopped after losing too much blood, no amount of healing could save them.
"Murderer!" Behind Cain, the two restrained by his sword energy were no longer affected by the confusing emotions, charging it. The other two engulfed in flames were still having a hard time, unable to help.
Twenty rounds of attacks ensued, Cain could finish a single cultivator, but two? Their teamwork made it impossible. He caught them off guard before but now their hearts were like steel, no attack would fluster them.
"Each of their attacks is in combination between all their spirits, even with an energy spirit they should be out of Spiritual Qi. Do they have high-tier energy spirits?!" Cain was baffled.
Spirits had one power, but the higher they were, the more overpowered that ability would become. Those with high-tier earth spirits could mobilize mountains, and those with high-tier water spirits could manipulate oceans.
Compared to them, Sword Spirits seem weak, but they deal in single combat more than anything, if focusing on a mountain, it can be sliced in a single move, if combatting an ocean, it can be parted with a single swipe!
"Just. Die!" Cain gathered a mass amount of Spiritual Qi and sent it into Bloodletter. A sharp and gleaming red crescent of sword energy was sent out.
"Defend!" The Disciples used their methods to protect themselves, one even using their innate spell.
The red crescent clashed, and the Disciples' defenses broke apart, but not before the sword energy broke as well.
'Damn it, I'm about to be out of Spiritual Qi, I can't keep up with this expenditure!"
Cain was at a loss, energy spirits were just too useful! To keep up until now he used his spirits in tandem, but such an expenditure was too much! If it was any other opponent, it would be fine, but the Enlightened could send one killer move after another!
'I need an Energy Spirit, I need an energy spirit...'
Cain's eyes became primal, and he teleported, using the last bit of his Spiritual Qi.
But this time, he went for an Enlightened still fighting off the remnants of his inferno. He went to this specific disciple because he knew where their Energy Spirit was.
When using a soul, the limb they are harnessed in will glow without proper control, this disciple's chest has been glowing incessantly the entire time in a milky white light. It was obvious the cultivator was a greenhorn when it came to real combat and against someone like Cain no less.
"Unlike the others, you rely on the Energy Spirit too much, you have the weakest foundation!" Cain's hand lunged into the disciple's chest, they were too off-guard to realize anything had happened.
Their body went up in flames as Cain blocked off the torso with his webs to stop the escape of the Energy Spirit. He coughed out blood in the process.
"Eighth Tier!"
Cain took the Energy Spirit without hesitation. He then shoved it into his chest. He had made prior arrangements and took the time to make the sigils on his chest, leaving his head for last.
"Hahaha! So this is the power of an energy spirit, superb!"
Cain's Spiritual Qi began to rise without stopping, he activated teleportation and attacked the last three Enlightened who quickly gathered, taking the opportunity to save their companion from the flames while Cain was stealing the Energy Spirit.
Far from the battle, the group of pursuers watched with ugly expressions.
"He took a spirit, my Lord. The Enlightened did not get as much training as I hoped, they are insufficient." The Elder beside Thomas frowned, he was in charge of training the disciples who would get the Energy Spirits.
The crowd gasped, Thomas wasn't paying attention and looked up.
"They failed."
Cain had skewered all three with Bloodletter, the silhouettes of blood flowing towards Cain while three bodies fell from the sky.
Thomas sighed, as he was about to send more people, Chambers tapped his shoulder.
"I'll go play with him."
The Beast Master Sect Leader's jaw dropped, he wanted to say something but didn't. This person was on the same level as him and once a cultivator enters the Fusion Stage, their power could differ greatly from a multitude of factors.
Chambers didn't say anything more and disappeared.
Finishing off the last three Enlightened, Cain felt proud. 'Haha! Not so hard is it!'
"Hello." A voice came from behind him.
"Who!" Whipping around, Cain held Bloodletter close.
'This....' Cain could feel the pressure this person exerted, it was bearing down on his entire body like a formless meteor.
'Fusion Stage!' Sweat poured down his back. Was he going to have to go all out now and risk everything?!
The man wore a green and blue robe, his hair was white with golden granules ridden throughout. The man radiated dignity and superiority.
"So you caused all this? Just you? A little disappointing, all this hype for nothing." Edward was disappointed.
'Hype? What strange word is that?'
The man didn't give Cain another moment, in one instance he was there and in the next, he was not.
"Behind you."
Cain's back tightened as he moved as fast as he could, only to look behind him and see no one.
"In front."
Cain shifted his head to see a hand coming at him.
SLAP!
Flying through the air, Cain didn't know what day it was. He crashed into a marble building like a seed hitting a sturdy tree.
Hourglasses appeared around Chambers, they floated, turning and flipping as the sand ran out.
The Lord of Time glanced at his hourglasses and commented, "Time is like an hourglass, in the beginning, all time is at the top, time referring to the sand. With time, the sand is lost and it collects at the bottom. Once all the sand is at the bottom, the hourglass flips to start everything again."
Cain couldn't understand what Edward meant. In truth, the Time Lord's words were the insight into the world itself, the insight of existence.
As someone who spent centuries researching, Chambers was one of the few who understood time best. If he continued his studies, he might even have hope of taking the concept of Time away if he grew powerful enough.
Time was said to be a river, but that was looking at it the wrong way. Changing the horizontal perspective to a vertical one made it easy to see time like an hourglass filled with sand. Grain by grain, time was lost, and by the end, nothing would be left. At that time, everything would reset and start again, a cycle, a beginning, and an end.
"Let me finish you off with some dignity, you were interesting to say the least. Now, Imperial Demon, die." The hourglasses brimmed with green light, Edward was going to take all of Cain's lifespan!
"Hmm? Such a long life?" Chambers was shocked, "And the potential lifespan is near infinite! How is this possible?! Tsk, it matters not, it's mine now!" Greed filled him.
"Wait! Stop!" A voice called out. It was filled with panic.
It was Fang Yuan.