As Orion faced a new opponent, Zanthar too faced his own struggles.
Opening his eyes, Zanthar found himself in the middle of a desert, surrounded by hordes of White thunder tigers.
Not intimidated in the least, he summoned his Katana as he jumped in.
His blade flowed like water, unobstructed by their bodies a none managed to survive more than one strike.
Simultaneously, his mind created thousands of essence beams that constantly annihilated the tigers that tried to sneak up on him.
'Tsk, their Heaven cleaning white lighting is becoming annoying.'
Vanishing, he reappeared in the air. Immediately, the runes on his skin lit up as his pupils blazed like crimson suns.
The world darkened as he became the only ever shining star within the vast darkness that had engulfed the desert.
The earth vanished, the heavens crumbled and the laws cried as he swung his Katana down.
[First Truth: Nothingness.]
ZIMMM!
There was no explosion nor impact, they simply dissolved.
Releasing a steamy breath, Zanthar stayed hovering in the skies as he waited.
While the desert reconstructed itself and the sunny blue skies of the trials reformed under the power of mysterious laws, a golden portal opened up.
From this portal, a figure walked out.
With long unkept white hair, curves that could entice even the purest of monks and sharp golden eyes this being could only be called beautiful.
Her bountiful assets were only held by the skin of a slain dragon as a large spear was strapped to her back.
Her aura pierced into the skies as she let herself known. In a mixture of primal tyranny and majesty, she stood, staring at him.
"Come down."
As if listening to an order from their creator, the laws of existence wrapped around Zanthar as he was forcibly pulled down.
Heavily crashing onto a sand dune, Zanthar didn't have time to react as she stretched her hand and once again invoked the laws.
'Hmph!'
The runes on his skin multiplied and covered his entire body as he shattered the laws that had been trying to take hold of him.
Lightly cracking his neck, Zanthar smiled as veins of frustration riddled his forehead.
His blood force and essence melded before flowing through his veins, as his body reached a realm no Ethereal cultivator should ever reach.
His soul cried to life as spiritual force flooded his mind.
On his forehead, a third eye sprouted as an aura that invoked truth and subservience emitted off of him.
Despite all of this, the primal lady that had appeared stood unbothered by it all.
"Hm, makes sense. They wouldn't send you here if you weren't capable of this much." She said as she took her spear out.
BOOM!
Zanthar didn't wait for her to get ready as he shot forward, leaving multiple after images in his quake.
His blade mercilessly swung down, aiming to slice her in half but she effortlessly dodged with a side step as her knee instantly accelerated, driving into his chest.
Twisting his body, he narrowly dodged but he didn't have time to think any further as he felt his senses scream in horror, the blade of death upon his neck.
Igniting his essence, Zanthar managed to hasten his speed and narrowly dodge her cleave. Though he kept his life, she managed to inflict a massive bloody gash on his back.
"Who told you to turn your back to me?"
With a step, she vanished, reappearing behind him. Turning around, Zanthar swung his sword but he could only gasp in surprise as his blade met air.
PURCHI!
His chest was impaled by a sharp spear as her essence immediately ravaged his insides.
Vomiting a mouthful of blood, he couldn't even perceive her movements as a powerful leg swept across his body, sending him flying.
WHOOOSH!
Reappearing behind him, her expression still as blank as before, she swung her spear, aiming to end this battle.
"ARGHHHHHHGGGGGG!"
A beastial roar reverbated through the desert as Zanthar's body exploded with power.
Stopping his thrashing body, he reappeared a few meters away.
His muscles had violently bulged as his smooth skin turned completely red, covered in obsidian runes.
The eye on his forehead turned crimson as threee demonic horns sprung out of his head.
He vanished.
The lady, still as unbothered, turned around as she immediately predicted his warp point. To her dismay, she could only helplessly watch as her balance broke, her right leg cleanly sliced off.
Before she could heal, Zanthar appeared in front of her, his body duplicating as two swords came down.
Her frown deepened as she used her ability to control the laws and send herself a few meters away.
When she reappeared, shock appeared on her face as she found herself on the same spot, still facing the two incoming blades.
'How?!' She frantically thought, her cold expression completely breaking.
She was born with the Universal Deity constitution, giving her the ability to perfectly control and sense all laws and types of energies despite her cultivation stage.
This constitution was so exaggerated that she could predict someone's next movements by reading their mental energy fluctuations or simply stop their heart from beating by sucking them of all their energy.
SHURP!
The sound of flesh tearing apart akin to paper and bones breaking reverberated as Zanthar completed his swing.
'I…missed?' He thought in shock.
The ability he had used was called [True Finality], with this ability, whatever he decided no matter what, would happen, regardless of their cultivation level. He rarely used it since it heavily drained his blood and spiritual force but for it to miss… it shouldn't be possible!
Heavily panting, Kamilia, the woman's name, could only force her blood force to flood her injuries despite the fact that it wouldn't fully heal.
Feeling the drain on her blood force, her face paled as she nearly fell to the ground but her constitution acted as it greedily sucked in all the energy in their surroundings, including Zanthar's.
Devilishly smiling as her body quickly regained its prime shape, she resumonned her spear.
Dispelling his infant demon god form, Zanthar closed his eyes in frustration.
"Fuck! He's gonna kill me!" He angrily exclaimed.
Sighing in frustration, he sheathed his sword.
"Whatever, it's better than losing."
[Ascendant form: Absolute Yang God.]
Time stopped.
Zanthar's body didn't go through any grand changes or transformations as he uttered these words.
With a swipe of his hands, Kamilia's body was erased from existence, literally.
Undoing his form, Zanthar vomited mouthfuls of blood as his soul nearly collapsed from the pressure of his innate powers.
He was much too young and inexperienced to use these, even if he was born with them.
Laid on the sand as the sun burnt his skin, he smiled, his bloody teeth making him look quite terrifying.
"He's for sure gonna kill me." Dejectedly said Zanthar as he thought of his father.