The pillars began to tremble, the skies overturning, qi rolling in waves. Rainbow-like colors filled the dome of Heaven above, the clouds that obscured the top of the obelisk shimmering.
It seemed like they would disperse at any moment, and yet they were only growing thicker.
Then they abruptly separated.
However, the sight everyone thought they would see wasn’t there. Instead, there were lines of clouds, each one layering over a name that stood tall above the rest.
Each rainbow cloud, growing ever thicker and brighter in substance and presence, obscured the name of a cultivator that had once placed their Title down.
The path forward was obvious.
Climb as high as you could, as high as you dared, and see if you were worthy of being among those few.
Ryu only gazed at it for a moment before he took a step. In an instant, he had flashed ahead. It seemed that he had completely forgotten about the others around him.
He never did things based on the opinions of others from the very beginning. The peak of the martial world… that was what he sought after the most.
In a flash, Solara had vanished from her seat.
The pillar continued to wave around in the raging winds, the violence of the atmosphere growing to a fever pitch.
Those that found themselves too weak to withstand it could already feel in their hearts that they didn’t have the right to participate in such a matter. But the unwillingness in their hearts made them continue on.
Whether this would allow them to break through, or if they would crash and burn like so many before them, only time would tell.
But the end result for most… had long been decided already.
Yeger Sun launched himself up with a light step.
Hand in hand, the Dragon Prince and Princess did the same. The fury that hung around the former was very much still there, but the small hand of his queen seemed to satiate them just the slightest bit.
As for why they had entered their human forms… maybe only they knew.
Young Master Shade was the slowest of them all, Young Master Bright having already formed himself into a beam of golden light that tore through the skies, with his aura howling.
However, this didn’t seem to be because he was actually so slow and incapable of doing more. He just seemed to like his leisurely pace.
As his face flickered back and forth between a handsome countenance and a skeleton, he strode across the skies.
His head turned in a certain direction, landing on a few figures—dark horses that had yet to make a single move.
His lip curled, his skeleton rattling.
“Amusing.”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Several of them shattered into a rain of blood.
“Go dream of success in the afterlife,” he said calmly.
He had been getting antsy for a long while, unable to fight a single battle. It was starting to drive him crazy. This damned Title Stele liked to take its sweet time getting to the main event; if he didn’t vent a little bit now, he would end up doing something stupid at the wrong time.
“If you’re trash, understand your standing in the world,” Shade spoke lightly as many froze, looking at him warily. “Now you two, though…”
Shade grinned at a pair of figures that hadn’t even looked at him. They were separated by light years, their bodies shrouded as they shuttled ahead at an unhurried pace.
“Interesting, interesting, indeed.”
He didn’t even bother to try to fight them. There were enough pigs to slaughter already.
He pointed out a bony finger that flickered to a fair digit and then back to an outstretched bone.
Chi. Chi. Chi.
Death and destruction rained.
Young Master Shade laughed to the skies, slaughtering one group after another. There weren’t even very many to begin with.
Of so many, only 999 made it so far. Then Ryu had killed so many of them because he wanted to snatch and monopolize the named Titles.
By now, there were barely more than 700 left behind, but now Shade was killing them in droves.
Every time he killed, he sucked up a mouthful of breath, swallowing their souls with a cackling smile.
When his human form flashed, he looked quite normal. But when it faded and the Skeleton King beneath took shape, it was possible to see a universe pulsing about in his throat. Every time he swallowed another soul, a new star was formed.
From high above, Ryu noticed this, as did many others…
But those that had reached this stage didn’t waver easily.
There was no amount of improvement that Shade could make right this moment that would make a large difference to the outcome. In fact, if that was what Shade was trying to do, then he would receive nothing but disdain from the rest of them.
Trying to improve at the final moment meant that one wasn’t confident in their abilities. If you weren’t confident at this point, then you might as well place your head on a platter to be cut. Who did you think you were to continue participating?
But what was clear here was that Shade wasn’t doing this to improve… he was just feeding his sadistic nature.
If there was anything about him that was improving, it was his Dao Heart as he finally managed to calm the restlessness in him.
Watching Ryu fight again and again had truly started to piss him off. Every arrogant word Ryu spoke just pissed him off further.
There was only room for one man at the top, and that was him. Just because he hadn’t moved before didn’t mean that he was alright with everything that was happening.
He was going to crush everyone in his path.
Shade sucked in a final soul and exhaled a breath.
“Ah, I feel much better now.”
He returned to his usual calm self, a smile that was far less murderous returning to his face.
There was a light and airiness about him now that made it hard to fathom that he had just slaughtered hundreds of geniuses.
Clasping his hands behind his back, he stepped forward and shot up like a rainbow. There was a calm determination in his eyes.
This victory would be his.
**
“It seems that some have grown very arrogant.”
The voice came from the vast nothingness. But rather than black, it was a sea of delicate gold. Somehow, though, this grandeur felt empty, not because it lacked substance, but because it was so large that it felt as though it couldn’t be properly fathomed.
As such, when most faced it…
They would feel nothing at all.
“One of our own has died, Almighty. We must do something about this, or else the influence of the Heavenly Court will plummet.”
“And what do you suggest?”
“Raid the Title Stele. They place so much importance on it. Show them how easy it would be for us to claim it all.”
“… You underestimate the Title Stele far too much. There’s only one man in history that it hasn’t been able to name. And I’m sure you’re aware that the Heavenly Court has no desire to face him.”
“He does not interfere with us and prefers to manage his own corner of Existence. It is so separate from our own it might as well be a separate Existence entirely, Almighty.”
“And do you believe that the Heavenly Court does not want to control all things?”
The man had no response.
A silence fell as a result, but the man still didn’t speak, feeling as though the Almighty was lost in his thoughts.
There were many Titles that didn’t appear from the Title Stele this time, and that was because of one very specific reason…
The Title holders were still alive.
In fact, some of the strongest Titles in all of existence were still in the hands of existences that seemed undying.
The Almighty… this was none other than one of them. He had long since forgotten just how long it had been since he claimed his Title, but he knew for a fact that the Title Stele couldn’t be so easily underestimated.
The only reason it had changed its methods, allowing others to choose their names now, was because of what that man had done to it back then. That, combined with the fact so many Titles had already been claimed by old men and women cheating death…
And this was the only path left to take.
The Heavenly Court knew that the Title Stele was unhappy about this, but what could it do if those that should have long since died continued to live?
Now, it was just waiting. Waiting for someone to execute a culling…
And it seemed that that madman was the Phoenix Sky God.
It was a secret that most of the world didn’t know, that most of even the Heavenly Court didn’t know…
The Title Stele, the most powerful treasure in all of Existence, stood with the Phoenix Sky God.
There was a flash of murder in the Almighty’s eyes.
“I’ve made a decision.”
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