Silence blanketed the Awakening Coliseum like sheets of darkness. The eyes of several Immortals nearly bulged out of their sockets, while the Divines instead had sneers playing their lips.
It was common knowledge in the cultivation world that Fortune was just as dangerous as it was good. Even Mortal Clans knew of this. Yet, Osric, who had not only been bred by Immortals, but also boasted of roaming amidst Divines for several years, still failed to know something as simple as that..
No, it wasn't that he didn't know of this, but he had instead allowed the words of the young man get the better of him, and the end result: his death. How pathetic.
If just a few words could set him back considerably, then they had no doubt that, even if he hadn't died here, he wouldn't last a long time in the Martial Verse. This was what they thought.
"Unfortunate. Really unfortunate. In his ignorance, the young boy died a rather unsatisfying death. I suppose this is a line befitting the end of his life story."
The young man of the Fahren Clan chuckled before he reached his right hand forward. A strand of Qi escaped his index finger, and its destination? The bloody remains of Osric. He had every intention of wiping Osric's existence off the surface of the Realm.
"I could do a little cleaning."
The Qi careened through the air, the intent behind it palpable. But… just as it appeared as though Osric would forever be forgotten in the annals of history, an inexplicable pressure beared down on the Awakening Coliseum, crushing the strand of Qi with incomparable ease.
Almost immediately, the expressions of all the experts contorted. Without taking a moment to think, they began vanishing with a speed they never thought they would reach. The young man's face, for the first time, became pale.
'This pressure… it isn't something even the Ancestors can possibly match… could it be the Heavens?... But, why are they still reacting this way?'
The young man's thought ran swiftly, surfing through several possibilities before his eyes suddenly grew wide.
'It couldn't be, could it?'
The moment his thoughts reached this point, the world suddenly lit up. The perpetual darkness that hung above the Divine World after several Perfect Awakenings vanished without a trace.
And in replacement, golden clouds rolled over the whole Realm, lighting up all the Planes with unmatched brightness. Golden lightning thundered amidst these clouds with a ferocity never before seen.
Below, Osric's shredded remains began trembling as though possessed with life. First, they trembled, and then, they began pulsating with a blinding golden light. And then, they suddenly shot few meters into the air, and then, began coalescing to reform his body at breakneck speed. Within seconds, Osric's body had gone from bloody remains to a complete healthy figure that looked as though it had never exploded to begin with.
It was at that moment the world that had been placed under a perpetual day suddenly turned brighter yet again. To this, many of the experts eyes flew wide. Could this even be regarded as a Perfect Awakening anymore?
As though to confirm their thoughts, a golden pillar of light descended from the skies, its' mass easily a hundred times larger than that of a Perfect Awakening. The young man's pupils constricted into pinholes, if he didn't leave right now, then his death was imminent.
Without hesitation, he took to his heels.
Osric, though, couldn't care right now. He had felt every sensation the moment his body exploded and frankly, it wasn't an experience he would wish for even the young man.
The pain he had felt was so glaring he almost wished for death. No, he really had embraced death in every sense of the word. But inexplicably, he was still alive.
Now, though, he was feeling an euphoric sensation the likes of which he never knew existed. His body glowed a light that was discernable even within the pillar of Heavens' Blessing that had descended on him.
The moment it sunk into his being, Osric's Dantian shook. As though the Heavens themselves had descended, the apparition of a vast and seemingly endless universe hung above him, stretching above the Dark Edge Realm and beyond.
It was just an apparition and yet, even the Ancestors of the Fahren Clan felt their Dantians cower.
Next, it was his Meridians. If one could peer into Osric's body at this very moment, it would be possible to see his Meridians stretched across him like thin steel cords. Although it bore no manifestation, its' momentum wasn't any lesser than his Dantian.
Then, it was his Body. It shone like the purest of gold, nearly blinding everyone present, and suddenly, it felt as though Osric had became insurmountable. Next in line was his Soul. The moment it awakened, a heavy pressure descended upon the whole world, and just above Osric, a faint replica of himself appeared. And while it was Osric himself, its appearance wasn't anything like that of Osric's.
It donned a regal golden robe, matching perfectly with the golden sceptre gripped between its right palm. A crown carved of the most precious stones in existence sat on its' head, as it looked down with an unmatched regality.
It carried itself as though the world was beneath it, as though the Heavens were beneath it, as though, before it, every other creation must worship him like a Sovereign!
But… this was only the beginning. The moment his Bloodline trembled into existence, the world bowed. Including the invisible Ancestors, all felt the need to bend their knees and kowtow before Osric. His body radiated an auspicious light that seems to make even the whole Realm bend underneath his gaze.
And in one fluid step, his cultivation rose from non-existent to the very peak of the Nascent realm. Osric's eyes snapped open, their light brown color fading away to give way to a blinding gold. If Seina's eyes were a radiant, pure gold, Osric's eyes, however, carried a unique regality that felt almost stifling.
His lackluster brown hair shedded to make way for thin filaments of glossy bronze hair, which seems to glare an immense light. His muscles pulsated like an heartbeat, the vitality contained within palpable. And least of all, his figure grew several inches.
Without fail, each of Osric's Talents seems to have transcended the realm of Divine.
A stifling silence descended upon the whole world.