Fourth Arc: Devil and the Boy
-Beast Realm, Unknown Territory-
"uhhhh…" Percy slammed into the ground and rolled away for a few metres before coming to a stop. Then he slowly raised his head, staring at the girl. "Are you at least going to tell me your name?"
Th girl smiled. "You are unworthy to even know my name. at first, I thought that you, the successor of my father would be some challenge. But now it's obvious, without the devil sword, you're nothing but trash!"
"Your father's… successor?" Percy thought for a few seconds and smiled as he rose to his feet. "So, you're… the daughter of the Sword Master?"
The girl laughed. "Enough chit chat! Now drop dead for this princess!"
She raised her sword and swung down. A bright golden glow erupted and an unstoppable force smashed into Percy, sending him flying again. Riptide flew out of his hands and his chest burst open in a shower of blood.
"Now… Die!" the girl disappeared and appeared before Percy, her sword thrusting down towards Percy's chest.
Clang!
The sword Percy kept hanging by his side was now in his hand as he blocked her strike, twisting the blade away before he spun and kicked out towards the girl's face.
She smirked and dodged back, pulling away. "so, you were holding back?"
Percy landed in a roll and sprang to his feet, the sword in his hand thrusting towards her face again. The girl parried his strike, sidestepping before bringing her sword around in a strike to Percy's sword arm. Percy dropped to the floor, slamming his palm into the ground before pushing himself aside in a roll.
The two of them slowed and took a moment examining each other.
Then the girl burst into laughter." Such a pity!"
Percy narrowed his eyes. "what do you mean?"
"you must have thought that you could defeat me if you went all out and took me by surprise. Well, unfortunately for you, you've made a miscalculation." The girl mocked.
"and could you enlighten me?" Percy asked with a smile.
"Our swords. They're on different levels. Originally, even if your devil sword was being suppressed by my holy sword, its quality remained the same. But this ordinary sword… there's no way it can survive a battle against my holy sword! If I get serious, it will shatter in a single blow!" the girl said.
"oh…?" Percy's smile grew wider." Is that so? Why don't you try breaking my sword then?"
"that's my thought exactly!" the girl roared and she appeared before Percy like a phantom. A golden glow blossomed around her like a halo and her sword descended on Percy like a meteor.
"Beast Sword Style! Second Stance! Uprising!"
Percy roared and his sword swung upwards, clashing against the golden blade. The air around them rippled and the ground ruptured under Percy's feet, then with a shriek, the girl was sent flying backwards.
Percy didn't stop there, and immediately leapt after her, his sword turning into countless shadows as he thrust it forward." Beast sword style! Seventh Stance! Endless!"
The girl grit her teeth, twisting in mid-air as she spun to meet hi strike, sparks exploding in mid-air as the two weapons collided. Her weapon shuddered and the golden glow grew even brighter. "DIE!"
Her sword tore through the shadows, the golden glow dispersing every single attack. However, even as her attack finished, Percy appeared behind the disappearing swords. "Beast Sword Style! Fifth Stance! Twister!"
He spun in mid-air and his sword burst forth with unstoppable momentum.
The girl screamed with rage as her entire body exploded with golden power, the phantom of an angel appearing behind her, white wings stretching to the heavens as she thrust her sword forward.
The golden Holy blade and the ordinary steel blade collided like two mountains. In that moment, the aura around Percy flickered and a phantom slowly appeared behind him.
Th girl's eyes widened till it felt like they would burst. "How?! How does he have a phantom for an ordinary sword?"
The Phantom of a beast appeared behind Percy, arms reaching out to ruin, destroy the world. An earth-shaking roar shook the heavens, forcing back her angel phantom. Similarly, her sword was sent flying from her grasp as she was struck down into the ground.
Percy floated in the air, staring down at her like a god of war.
"I am the Successor of the Sword Master. This is my sword Style, My Sword Dao. Sword Soul Fusion Style!" he pointed the blade at the girl. "Whether it is my Devil Sword, or any other weapon… I can summon its soul, summon it's will into this world. This sword was made for me by my father. And it's will. is to protect me! With this sword in my hand, you can forget about ever hurting me with your measly strength!"
Th girl forced herself to her feet and summoned her sword. "Shut Up! I don't want to hear your bullshit! I know that I can defeat you! I will defeat you, take back the devil sword and surpass my father!"
The golden sword in her hand began to tremble and shudder, uttering painful shrieks as it almost escaped from her grip. An almost endless power burst out from the sword. Percy's expression dropped. However, his mind was not on the power. "You're… forcefully drawing all the strength of the sword? If you keep that up, the sword will be destroyed. Any swordsman knows that the weapon is an equal, you cannot put al the stress on your sword to raise your own power!"
"I said SHUT UP! I don't need to hear you lecture me about sword's being equals! You can keep that useless philosophy for fairy tales and stories for children! The real world doesn't work like that!" she snarled. "I will use my sword technique to defeat the sword technique my father created!"
Percy grinned." I know, the real world is very much different from the stories we all love. But …" he raised his hand and riptide flew back into his grasp "If you want to tell me that my sword technique is weaker than yours, you'll have to beat me first! I'll show you, my power of two against your power of one!"
Crimson and Black Gaseous flames erupted from around Percy and an aura of destruction and desolation swallowed the world, slamming into the holy aura she had.
"Now, let me show you, the power of a Devil!"
"Bring it on! Holy Light Erasure! Erase all filth from existence!"
She swung her sword and her sword exploded with power, the blade fracturing and cracking as all the power contained within was emptied into a single attack.
"Devil God Arts! Heaven Swallowing Slash! Swallow the heavens and gods!"
Percy swung his sword down to meet her strike, two sword phantoms appearing at the same time, one created by the Devil God Sword Riptide, the other appearing from Percy's own power. The two Sword Aura's mixed together, fusing as they gave rise to the phantom of Asura. Asura's Rage was unstoppable as it swept forth, clashing with the golden glow of the angel before swallowing it and extinguishing it!
The girl was simply unable to resist as she collapsed to her knees, kneeling before Percy. Percy slowly dropped hi sword onto his shoulder, an inch from her neck. If he had stopped a second too late, she would have been decapitated.
"So!" Percy smiled energetically. "Why don't you tell me what the fuck is going on here?"
-Spiritas Realm, Unknown Territory-
-Two years later-
"Are you so certain that you must leave?" Stella asked Percy, her eyes wide as she stared intently at him.
Percy gave a soft smile, reaching out to gently caress her cheek. Previously, she would never have allowed anyone to behave so intimately with her. But her time with Percy had softened her and she had grown to adore the boy with the sparkling green eyes." I know that you're worried about me. But this is something I must do. This is not where I belong. I must return to my homeland; my people need me. My friends must be worried sick by now."
Stella went to say something, then stopped herself and nodded her head." Yes, of course. I understand that." She gave him a bright smile. "I hope you find them safe and well."
Percy chuckled, then turned away, looking into the cave behind him. As he did, Stella's eyes flashed with emotion and her lower lip trembled. 'You fool… you'll never understand… never hear… the voice of my heart. And maybe that's for the best."
She half raised her hand, reaching out towards the back of the boy who had saved her from herself and her darkness. Her eyelashes trembled and her lips parted with a soft whisper.
"Master!" Mrs o Leary ran over to Percy's side, leaping up and embracing his side. "Are we really going back?"
Stella abruptly lowered her hand and blinked repeatedly to clear her vision. Seeing him… he suddenly seemed so far away.
"Yes! Why don't you believe me?" Percy laughed softly, reaching out to ruffle the Wolf's hair, making her keen with excitement, looking up at him with bright and excited eyes.
Percy felt a smile cross his lips at the sight of her excitement, then tossed Stella a last smile before gripping Mrs O Leary's hand and stepping into the cave of Netherworld Rivers.
-In the Depths of the Cave of Netherworld Rivers-
The Cave of Netherworld Rivers was a sacred land, made only for those that had been cursed by a River of Erebus to enter. Usually, it was a dark and gloomy place. All sounds were stifled, and it seemed lifeless.
However, now there were sounds of swords clashing, cries of pain and shouts of rage.
Inside, a single man walked forward, heading towards the depths of the cave, where the sacred core, the Doors of Death lay. And facing off against him, four people stood.
The Crimson King! Stella's uncle. However, he had another identity as well. Possessor of the Curse of Cocytus, Eyes of Gloom, One of the Five Guardians of the Doors of Death!
Asclepius! The Medical Saint! And his other identity was… Possessor of the Curse of Phlegethon, Blood of Flames, One of the Five Guardians of the Doors of Death!
Delphi! Holy Daughter, Princess of the Spiritas Realm. Her identity was… Possessor of the Curse of Lethe, Orb of Life, One of the Five Guardians of the Doors of Death.
And Lastly. A man wearing simple leather Armor and holding a bronze spear. He had a Greek sword forged from bronze strapped to his waist, and a shield was strapped to his left arm. He wore simple sandals. His body was well built, but chiselled, the armor showing off the defined edges of his muscled body. His black hair was cropped short, his eyes were a pale green, and he had smile line across the edges of his eyes. He stood at the forefront of the other guardians, leading their defence.
The greatest warrior to ever be born.
The invulnerable warrior of Greece, student of Chiron.
Achilles!
Possessor of the only Curse of the River Styx, River of Hatred, the Styx Poison Soul!
And he was the leader of the Five Guardians of the Doors of Death.
He twirled the spear in his hand, thrusting it towards the man attacking them. The man struck his spear aside, stepping in close as his sword thrust towards Achilles face.
Achilles grinned, bending backwards as he dodged the strike, raising his shield arm as he battered his opponents' side. At the same time Delphi struck, her whip cracking from the side as it struck at her opponents' arm, restricting it.
Asclepius raised his staff, chanting as a bolt of pure white struck out at their enemy.
The enemy stumbled back, barely dodging their co-ordinated strikes. His blond hair swung back, revealing a cruel and scarred smile. He was similar in build to Achilles, well built and wearing leather armour. However, his armour was ripped and ravaged, almost as if a beast had clawed it open. He held a weapon with a double edge. One half was made of steel. The other was dark bronze, giving off an evil aura as the two metals met. It was four feet long, and its aura was terrifyingly powerful.
Luke Castellan, the Prince of Mist.
Possessor of the Curse of the River Acheron, River of Pain and Torture, the Hell Forged Body!
One of the Five Guardians of the Doors of Death, turned traitor.
"How long do you four think you can hold me back?" Luke chuckled softly.
"You Bastard!" The Crimson king growled. "To think that you would turn traitor! How could you even think about breaking the vows we took?"
"The vows we took? That joke? Hah!" Luke sneered and raised his sword, the air humming around it. "I suffered in the River Acheron, why on earth would I want to thank and serve it? I only serve one person, and that is the Titan Lord!"
Luke slowly tilted his head, a crazed smile crossing his lips. "Once I connect the doors of death to his seal, his seal will be broken and he will be able to return to this world immediately! At that moment, every one who has stood against him shall suffer!"
Achilles sighed and shook his head sympathetically." And how do you plan to cross us?"
Luke raised one hand. "oh… don't worry, I have a plan for something you cannot beat!"
Suddenly, a terrifying roar echoed across the cave. "Oh…" Delphi whispered softly. "… Fuck"
-Destruction Realm, Gates of Destruction-
Percy stood before towering gates that appeared to be forged from Chaos itself. They were multi-coloured, their shape everchanging as it sometimes dripped like melting ice, sometimes turning into steam that rose up before solidifying around the top.
These were the Gates of Destruction, the Portal that connected to the Gates of Chaos.
By passing through the gates, the Challenger would be allowed to return to the realm of the living. Assuming he survived the Trial of the Gates of course. That was simply because, the two gates were connected by a long stretch of land. This stretch of land was barren, and originally lifeless. However, a long time back, this was the bridge between the twelve universes. Now, ten of the universes were destroyed, and that Bridge had been the war field where the Chaos and Destruction Universes had battled against the Invading enemies. It was an ancient war, and it was long over. However, beings of immeasurable power had been involved in this war. Even after they died, fragments of their soul and power still survived to this day. While their original power was simply beyond anything Percy could imagine, enough to destroy him with a single thought, the power of these fragments was much weaker. However, they were still not something to be looked down on. Each of them contained the power of at least a god level warrior.
If Percy was to take this carelessly, he wouldn't even know how he had died.
Thus, if Percy had to return to the realm of chaos, he must battle his way across the war zone, and find the gates of Chaos.
Destruction had brought Percy here, and he had explained all the rules of the battle field to him. Now, he stood before him. Between the two of them, three fruits containing explosive power floated. "These are the Fruits of Destruction. They are the accumulation of the excess power created by my Universe of destruction over theses limitless millennia. I was hoping to use them when I started creating God's of Destruction, but the chance never came up. Now, it appears the best choice would be for me to bestow them upon you"
Percy carefully examined the fruits. They were shaped like pears, but purple with mottled black veins running over the skin of the fruit. The mottled veins were pulsing with Essence of Destruction. Even though Percy had never actually seen the effects of Destruction Energy in the Chaos Heavens, he knew that so much energy would probably be enough to entirely devastate the entire earthen realm. The Destruction energy within was simply too unstable and berserk. The second even a drop of it were to leak out, it would immediately cause the entire fruit to explode.
"Ummm… I know I've practiced Destruction arts… but this is too much energy for even me to absorb. And if this is exposed to the Chaos Heavens, it might even destroy the Chaos Heavens." Percy glanced at destruction, wondering what exactly his plan was.
Destruction smiled and clasped his hands together, and a jade slip flashed out of his forehead, shooting into Percy's mind. He carefully picked up the jade slip and brushed off the dust of years, probing it with his senses. There were only some words within it.
"To those that enter Destruction Palace, kneel in the centre of the altar and use the sincerity of your heart to feel the Destruction Gate until the date that the gate opens. The road of martial arts defies the heavens, and although you must stand proud and tall in this world, you still must have the heart to suffer in silence, passing through layers and layers of difficulty until you reach the peak of martial arts."
Kneel in the centre of the altar and feel the Destruction Gate with the sincerity of his heart?
Percy originally thought that the test Destruction devised should be something similar to a battle, but he didn't think that the first trial would be to suffer patiently and quietly; it was a test of his disposition.
"Senior Destruction should have calculated that a potential successor who was able to arrive here must be an extreme genius of their generation, and possibly an arrogant and overly proud person. This test isn't meant to be an obstacle, but rather to sharpen the will."
As Percy thought this, he stepped onto the altar and knelt down.
And at this time, with a loud rumbling sound, the giant ancient bronze bell that was hanging above the altar came slowly falling down, soon covering Percy within it.
Percy knelt on the ground the same as before, allowing the Destruction Bell to fall.
Clang!
With a loud bang, the altar suddenly trembled. Like this, Percy, along with the Destruction Gate, was covered within the Destruction Bell.
In the moment when the Destruction Bell fell over him, Percy could feel a terrifying pressure fall onto his body.
This was Origin Chaos energy!
Contained within the Destruction Bell was a massive amount of Origin Chaos energy. Although this Origin Chaos energy didn't directly press on Percy's body, its existence still caused the surrounding space to become dreadfully heavy.
If it weren't for the Destruction Bell forcefully stabilizing this space, the void within here would have collapsed due to the great weight of the Origin Chaos energy.
Now, Percy finally knew what Destruction meant when he wrote down to suffer in silence. That meant to be covered within the space of the Destruction Bell where the pressure reached an incredible level.
Percy felt his entire skeleton creak under this pressure. If a normal late Divine Sea martial artist were to stand here, the pressure would have crushed them into pieces of meat.
Percy summoned his true essence, his entire body revolving with energy. He forcefully resisted this pressure with his formidable body and true essence.
His foundation was deep and his body was formidable. To withstand this kind of pressure wasn't anything at all.
Like this, he knelt on the altar for a full two months.
Within the Destruction Bell there was nothing but darkness. Only the Destruction Gate in front of Percy emitted a faint shimmering light.
Two months later, Percy discovered that the pressure within the Destruction Bell began to gradually increase.
After another ten days, the pressure rose to a terrifying degree. The phantom of the Heretical God Tree flashed out from between his eyebrows, covering down from the skies and planting itself behind him. By relying on the Heretical God Tree, Percy was able to withstand the increased pressure, finally allowing him to relax a little.
"It's been two and a half months…"
Percy silently estimated the time that had passed. His foundation was extremely deep. Even as he controlled his breathing underneath this heavy pressure, he was able to absorb heaven and earth origin energy around himself to maintain his consumption of true essence.
But soon after, the pressure continued to grow stronger and stronger, Percy could easily withstand another eight to ten days, but once more and more time passed, such as a dozen or even 20 plus days, he would inevitably tire himself. His entire body would be pressured to the point of unimaginable pain and the massive amount of true essence he had to consume would be ridiculous. This was a great trial to any martial artist that kneeled here.
If it weren't for his powerful mortal body, his solid foundation, his ability to endure suffering, and his firm and unyielding heart of martial arts, it would have been impossible to continue.
"No wonder Destruction put out such a test. If one's will isn't firm, they might have a mental breakdown in such an environment."
Humans feared the dark and they also feared being alone. If a mortal were trapped inside a little pitch-black room for three days, they would start to go crazy, even if they had food and water. If they were closed in for a month, it was likely they would develop mental problems even after they left.
In that aspect, martial artists were much better. Even so, being enclosed in a dark, inescapable space, day after day while enduring a massive pressure, this sort of suffering could be imagined!
During these three months, the Destruction Gate remained completely still the entire time, as if it had no intention of opening at all.
"The pressure is still increasing… even at this level, the Destruction Gate still doesn't seem as if it's opening at all. This sort of test can truly drive one to the edges of despair."
Percy was already the number one genius of the Divine Realm. For him to withstand Destruction' test was relatively easy. If it were a normal genius, they would have exhausted themselves like a dried-up lamp by now.
But in that exhausted situation, a person would have a glimmer of hope even if the Destruction Gate moved just a little bit. But now, there was still no sign of anything happening nor any clues about when something would happen. This left one drowning in hopelessness.
"This test is quite difficult…"
As Percy was thinking, his thoughts suddenly stirred. He discovered that above the stone gate, at some unknown time, a thin layer of Dao patterns had begun to emerge, like ripples in water.
Percy could clearly recall that when he first kneeled in front of this stone gate, it didn't have these Dao patterns at all. Although the stone gate was extremely mysterious and had the aura of the Great Dao, the power of these Laws was buried deep within it, without any way to bring it out. With Percy's current ability, wanting to break apart the stone gate to perceive these Great Dao Laws that Destruction left behind was simply the babblings of a madman.
But now, these traces began to appear, revealing themselves before Percy.
These traces were similar to the chaos stones that Percy had seen before, but they were at least 10,000 times more profound than what he had experienced in the past!
Chaos stones were also divided into ranks. Some chaos stones formed later in the universe, after the five elements had evolved. At this time, there was very little remaining primal chaos energy remaining in the universe. Moreover, those stones might only be common stones of the universe. It was impossible for such stones to withstand recording too many of the Chaos Laws, otherwise they would simply disintegrate into nothing.
However, there were some stones that were formed at the very beginning of the forming of the universe, when primal chaos energy still existed everywhere. Moreover, these types of chaos stones were naturally treasures of the heavens and earth; the degree of exquisiteness of the Laws recorded within them were as different as the sky and mud between these and ordinary chaos stones.
And currently, the Destruction Gate that Destruction created was made from this kind of top rank chaos stone.
This massive 100 foot tall block of chaos stone contained an inestimable strength of the Primal Chaos Laws.
Percy was overjoyed. He wanted to study and perceive these traces. In terms of perception, Percy didn't lose to anyone at his boundary. Moreover, he had perceived chaos stones before, so it would be familiar to him to do so again.
However, Percy underestimated just how mysterious the traces of the Great Dao on the Destruction Gate actually were.
As time passed, the traces on the Destruction Gate became increasingly clear. There were many mystical truths contained with, enough that it overwhelmed Percy. Some truths were not fully understood, but at the same time they floated to the surface of his mind; he found it hard to digest for some time.
And the pressure was becoming heavier and heavier!
At the fourth month, the space seemed to fill with more and more Origin Chaos energy. The space around Percy compressed so much that it felt as if his body would collapse at any moment.
Although Percy could revolve his true essence and forcefully resist this pressure, this clearly wasn't a long-term plan. As the pressure increased, no matter how deep Percy's foundation was, he would begin to lose ground until his body finally gave in.
Percy firmly believed that amongst those of his age, in terms of talent, foundation, bodily strength, and ability to resist pain, he could be called number one!
If even he couldn't pass this test then this test simply wasn't aimed at Overgod Level geniuses.
Closing his eyes, Percy carefully felt the flow of Origin Chaos energy around him. He faintly discovered that there were some rules that governed it.
In these past days as he was perceiving the chaos stone, Percy had become aware of many more things. And these things he became aware of could be used to unravel the Origin Chaos Laws within the Destruction Bell.
"So that's how it is… I see now. Destruction left the power of the Origin Chaos Laws within the Destruction Bell in order to act as a test for martial artists to perceive the chaos stone. If one's comprehensions are lacking, they won't be able to withstand the rising pressure and would be defeated."
After realizing this point, Percy was suddenly enlightened. His admiration towards Destruction also grew deeper. It was amazing that he could design such a smelting trial by using his own understandings of the Origin Chaos Heavenly Dao.
Within Destruction' smelting trial, if one's strength was lacking, they wouldn't be able to withstand the great pressure and would be eliminated.
If one's will and perseverance were insufficient, they wouldn't be able to withstand the debilitating despair that accompanied this pressure, making them unable to last until the traces of the Great Dao started to appear.
If one's will was sufficient, but their perception wasn't enough, they wouldn't be able to comprehend the mysteries of the chaos stone, let alone use the profound power of Laws contained within the chaos stone to resist the pressure of the Destruction Bell.
If one wished to pass this test, strength, will, and perception were all necessary!
Time passed day by day. Percy didn't feel the passage of time as he constantly furthered his comprehensions, refining his understandings over time. Even so, during this time, the pressure within the Destruction Bell grew greater and greater every day.
But, the impact of the Origin Chaos energy was resolved by Percy's understandings of the Destruction Gate.
In this endless process of struggling, Percy's comprehensions into the Chaos Laws grew increasingly deep.
Then, half a year passed…
Outside of Destruction Palace, the two thin old men waited still for half a year without taking a single step.
"Half a year! What Lord Destruction said is true, this Percy was truly able to persist for half a year. It seems he'll be able to stay for a much longer time."
"In accordance with the test established by Honourable Master in the past, lasting three months is already enough to enter the sect. As for half a year, that is considered an outstanding result."
"I have no idea just what Percy's situation is within the Destruction Bell. It's impossible for us to probe what is occurring inside."
The tests that Destruction left behind in the past were extremely harsh in their requirements, but wanting to inherit a part of his legacy wasn't difficult.
However, to perfectly obtain his inheritance, that was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
This wasn't because Destruction was purposefully making things hard for others, but because the requirements to cultivate the Destruction martial intent were extremely high.
Depending on what the degree of completion was, Destruction intended to pass down a corresponding level of the Destruction martial intent. If one lacked the ability to pass the test, then passing them any greater part of the inheritance was pointless.
"Half a year has passed and lasting for another half year shouldn't be a problem. But, after a year is another greater ridge. Just how far Percy can continue going forwards will depend on his good fortune and ability."
As the two old men spoke, the Destruction's deep voice echoed outwards.
One year passed, just as stated.
On this day, the Destruction Bell that covered over Percy began to faintly tremble. This sort of trembling caused the Origin Chaos energy to stir about.
Placed within it, Percy could feel the Origin Chaos energy surge around him. The pressure suddenly increased!
Originally, the Origin Chaos energy casually existed in the void around Percy; it didn't truly press down on his body. But now was different. This Origin Chaos energy began surging towards Percy's body like a tide, impacting him and causing his flesh and blood to nearly break apart.
Ka ka ka!
A faint cracking noise sounded out from Percy's knees, nearly crushed by the pressure. Even Percy's soul began setting off with great storms.
Percy's thoughts stirred. The Heretical God Tree howled out, directly suppressing the storm in his soul.
Meanwhile, from behind Percy, a black bead slowly rose up, rising above Percy's head and slowly spinning around.
This was the Demon Seed that Percy cultivated.
it was like an endless void, absorbing everything, devouring all of existence. This was the unique power of Tartarus, the power of Black Holes and devouring that shared similar traits with Origin Chaos energy. Both reached unimaginably heavy levels and were able to absorb all matter.
With the suppression of the black hole seed, the pressure around Percy drastically lowered.
But at the same time, Percy's consumption of strength massively increased.
"The traces on the Destruction Gate have changed again."
Percy's eyes shined.
He discovered that upon the Destruction Gate, the words and formulas of cultivation method manuals appeared, followed by images. These images illustrated a variety of poses; each pose contained the charm of the Great Dao, with the Laws circulating all about them.
"This is… Destruction' martial arts inheritance!"
After one year, the Destruction Gate showed not just the Origin Chaos Heavenly Dao, but had evolved into the martial arts inheritance of Destruction!
Percy tamped down the excitement in his heart, impatiently looking everywhere he could. His memory had long ago reached a terrifying degree and he could memorize every image that appeared in just a few breaths of time. And among these images were all sorts complex runes, long seal formulas, heart mantras, all sorts of magnificent moves, and many other things. Even so, Percy was able to instantly remember all of these things, never forgetting them in his life.
Not just that, but Percy's heart formed a preliminary understanding of all of this that would slowly be perfected over time.
Unconsciously, Percy had entered a state of sudden enlightenment, and it was an extremely long period at that.
This sort of state could only be encountered through a stroke of serendipity.
Image after image appeared. The Destruction martial intent was a truly comprehensive martial art.
Percy saw that a blood red lotus flower began to bloom above the Destruction Gate. That scarlet lotus flower contained all sorts of mysteries, making one be fully immersed in its enchanting beauty.
Above the scarlet lotus flower there was the phantom of a Heavenly Demon and a Heavenly God. And in between them, there was an Ancient Human… Asura!
This was the complete Destruction martial intent, with Heavenly Demon, Heavenly God, and Heavenly Mortal combined as one.
Before, what Percy had cultivated was only the Heavenly Demon martial intent.
In truth, the Destruction Gate was the 'jade slip' of the Destruction martial intent. By using some stunning and extraordinary method, he had carved the essence of the Destruction martial intent which represented all of his life's martial arts studies into this top-level chaos stone. This sort of method was truly praiseworthy!
Only Destruction, whose attainments in the Origin Chaos Heavenly Dao had reached the pinnacle, could use such an amazing method!
Training passed without a sense of time. Placed within the Destruction Bell, Percy had no idea just how much time passed. The only testimony to the passing of time was the ever-increasing pressure of Origin Chaos energy within the Destruction Bell.
However, Percy himself was constantly strengthening. His understanding of the Origin Chaos Heavenly Dao also continued to deepen!
No matter how great the pressure of the Origin Chaos energy rose, Percy was like an ancient mountain, solemn and unshakable.
On top of Percy's head, the black hole seed continued to revolve as before. Behind him, the phantom of the Heretical God Tree was faintly visible.
Percy had a fervent desire to study all of the inheritances left behind by Destruction. He did not know of the passing years nor did he care about exhaustion!
Unconsciously, his cultivation had already reached the extreme late Minor Overgod Realm.
Percy entered a wholly absorbed state. Without knowing it, the Origin Chaos energy within the Destruction Bell had reached the peak.
Like this, every inch of space within the Destruction Bell was filled with a weight more terrifying than a 100,000 foot tall mountain.
This was like an ordinary mortal being immersed underneath 100,000 feet of mercury; the pressure they had to withstand could be imagined.
Even if Percy had the dual suppression of the Heretical God Tree and the black hole seed, and he was also becoming increasingly skilled in the Origin Chaos Heavenly Dao, his body began to slowly crack apart underneath this titanic pressure.
Streams of fresh blood began to leak out from all over his body.
Feeling his body breaking apart, Percy didn't have any change in expression. "Origin Chaos energy is the true foundation of the Destruction martial intent. Since it has crushed my body, it might as well truly enter my body!"
In that moment, Percy made a crazy move. He introduced a wisp of Origin Chaos energy into his body and sealed it within himself!
Heavy matter already created an enormous pressure on a person's body if it was outside. After it entered the body, the destructive force would be increased by 100 times. If a mortal committed suicide by swallowing gold, they would die because the gold was too heavy; they wouldn't be able to digest it and it would eventually penetrate through their stomach lining.
If it weren't for Percy's understanding of the Origin Chaos Heavenly Dao having reached an extremely high degree, he would never have dared to absorb the slightest wisp of Origin Chaos energy.
Underneath the control of Percy's thoughts, he slowly brought that wisp of Origin Chaos energy into his body.
The moment that the Origin Chaos energy entered his body, he felt as if his meridians and blood vessels had been crushed flat. How could one's flesh and blood possibly resist the gigantic weight of Origin Chaos energy?
Origin Chaos energy flowed through every inch of Percy's meridians, crushing apart his body.
He didn't care about the pain that spread through his body, instead focusing his every thought into revolving the Origin Chaos Laws and refining the Origin Chaos energy.
Only when Percy consumed too much energy in his body did he slow down to restore his lost strength, continuing to refine the Origin Chaos energy afterwards.
The process was extremely slow, but, every time he built up a little bit of the Origin Chaos energy the pressure on him would lighten. Like this, he could continue to refine even quicker.
Hard work eventually didn't disappoint those who put in the effort.
After over a dozen days, Percy finally completely refined the first wisp of Origin Chaos energy.
Origin Chaos energy was one of the three main sources of the universe. Now, Percy had finally obtained it.
In that moment, Percy was extremely excited. Starting from today, his Inner World space was no longer filled with elementary Origin Chaos energy but true Origin Chaos energy.
The difference between an Inner World space with Origin Chaos energy and an Inner World space without Origin Chaos energy was greater than the difference between the clouds and mud. Even someone like Percy, who was skilled in the Origin Chaos Laws, had to withstand a tremendous amount of pressure throughout from Origin Chaos energy within every inch of the Origin Chaos space. If it were someone else, then the effects could be imagined. Once an enemy entered the Origin Chaos space, they would enter an absolute domain that was within Percy's control. If they wanted to withstand this pressure, it would be impossible for them to display any further combat strength!
Percy pressed down the wild joy in his heart. After he slowly restored some of his used up true essence, he began to gradually absorb the second wisp of Origin Chaos energy.
Every wisp of Origin Chaos energy that was refined required a tremendous amount of effort, pain, patience, and will.
It was like Percy was lost beneath a spell, unaware of exhaustion as he continued to refine.
To him, time had lost all meaning. Percy didn't remember how much time passed, only how many wisps of Origin Chaos energy he refined.
Withstanding the tremendous pain caused by the pressure of the Destruction Bell was also forgotten by him. He had slowly acclimated to the heavy pressure brought by the Origin Chaos energy, even enjoying it a little.
Every wisp of Origin Chaos energy was suppressed to the lowest degree possible. Even so, with so many wisps gathered together, it was still considerable!
"Three years!"
Outside of Destruction Palace, Destruction and the Ice Phoenix were able to clearly recall just how much time had passed since Percy entered Destruction Palace. After one year had passed, every day added another point of happiness to their hearts.
And now, three whole years had passed.
"It seems that Honourable Master's inheritance has finally found a worthy successor…"
Percy stayed within Destruction Palace for three years. This was something that the Destruction had never imagined to be possible. In fact, when Destruction left behind this test, the original intention of it was to have a martial artist withstand the heavy pressure of Origin Chaos energy, allowing them to train in the Destruction martial intent as they perceived the Origin Chaos Heavenly Dao and opened the Destruction Gate.
But as for training speed, that all depended on a martial artist's perception.
Originally, Black Dragon and the two old men both believed that if one could continue to withstand Destruction' test, then as long as they lasted for two years within it, they could nearly fully open the Destruction Gate. But now, Percy had stayed within for three years.
The reason for this long period of time was that Percy was refining Origin Chaos energy.
He used one year and three months to absorb 30 wisps of Origin Chaos energy.
Now, placed within the Destruction Bell, Percy no longer felt that the heavy pressure of the Origin Chaos energy upon his body was painful. Rather, because he kept pouring Origin Chaos energy into his body, he felt himself filling up with a potent strength instead.
Finally, Percy had reached the limit of his body's ability to absorb Origin Chaos energy. Percy controlled his breath and collected those 30 wisps of Origin Chaos into a surging current, using them once more to attack the threshold of life and death in his Inner World!
The already opened threshold of life and death opened even further as this mighty impact smashed upon it.
Percy shook. His entire body released explosive crackling sounds as a strength beyond description erupted from within his body, as if a True Dragon were awakening inside him.
This strength recklessly flushed outwards, crashing into the Destruction Bell. With a loud echoing sound, the Destruction Bell was rung!
The melodious ringing sound echoed within Destruction Palace. The separate world that Destruction Palace was located in simply couldn't contain this ringing sound. It echoed out, passing through the Eternal Demon Abyss, like the long beat of the Great Dao transmitted through ancient times, passing through from nothingness, cutting through the empty void and echoing throughout the skies.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The power of blood vitality rapidly grew within his body, causing his inner world to wildly shake.
The boundaries of his inner world were being constantly impacted by energy!
Percy's inner world had reached the precipice of imminent expansion, but now that it was being wildly forced open by this power it actually came bursting apart at the seams!
In that instant, all of the energy contained within his inner world surged out like an unleashed dam, wildly crashing into the boundaries set up in the void of his inner world.
Percy's inner world was soaring, rising!
And at this time, the heaven and earth origin energy within his inner world became more tranquil, drawing ever closer to the real world and reality.
The energy became increasingly strong, forming extremely rich origin energy clouds in the skies of his inner world.
Then, there was origin energy rain!
As this origin energy rain fell to the ground, young sprouts began to emerge from the earth, moistened by this rainwater.
They grew extremely fast, soon turning into ginsengs, snow lotuses, flower roots, Lingzi…
In just several breaths of time, they had grown the same span as in tens of thousands of years!
Moreover, this was not the end. After several more breaths of times, the essence energy within these plants became increasingly rich and intense. All of them began to gain a spiritual wisdom of their own and childlike phantoms evolved from their bodies, parting from the plants as they pranced about and played around in the origin energy rain.
These miracle medicinal herbs were not true plants, but plants formed by heaven and earth origin energy.
Right now, if spiritual plants were to be planted in the soil of Percy's inner world they would be able to grow just like in the real world. If an animal were to enter Percy's inner world they could also breath and survive.
This sort of change in his inner world also meant that Percy had taken the final step from Mortality to true Godhood.
Bang!
Percy's eyes opened and it was like a True dragon's roar, the heavens around Percy shaking and trembling as his explosive power erupted.
Destruction Lightly pushed his hand forward, and the three fruits of destruction floated forward, and were directly absorbed by Percy, being assimilated into his Inner Soul World. They were bound in the centre of his inner world, revolving like three cores, slowly releasing their destruction energy for him to absorb.
While it would take him some time to finish absorbing everything, these three fruits would now become Percy's greatest source of power.
"Percy, come with me."
The Destruction waved his hand and a beam of light wrapped around Percy, instantly causing the both of them to disappear. Percy felt space around him twist about and in the next moment he had arrived in a completely separate space.
This space was extremely vast and broad. The area where Percy was standing was a desolate and bleak land.
The brown and ashen land was endless. Broken rocks littered the ground, without the least bit of life anywhere. Occasionally, massive bones thrust out from gaps in the earth. It was unknown just what sort of creature had left behind these giant bones, but as these bones were half exposed to the air, they resembled broken halberds that pointed towards the skies.
The skies were also empty, without any clouds at all. There were no stars or other celestial bodies and the heaven and earth origin energy was very thin.
In the vast distance, Percy could even see certain areas of space collapse, crashing apart into turbulent space flows before returning to normal. Besides that, this world was without the tiniest sound; it was utterly silent!
"The space here naturally collapses on its own; this is proof that the space here has reached an extremely fragile point."
Percy thought to himself. This sort of world seemed like the moment in stories when vast dimensions were on the verge of annihilation. All life would cease to exist and space would become extremely unstable.
Great dimensions also had their own life cycle. After many hundreds of millions or even billions of years, everything would collapse before returning to nihility.
"This place is…" Percy began to ask the Destruction.
"This is my inner world." The Destruction indifferently replied, as if this didn't matter at all.
Percy's heart skipped a beat.
Inner world!
"Alright, I brought you here because there is something I wish to give you…" As the Destruction spoke, Percy felt the earth in front of them suddenly tremble. Countless runes appeared in the void, slowly spreading out in a large array for several miles.
This giant array formation was profound and exquisite, faintly gathering all the nearby heaven and earth origin energy. In the centre of this array formation was a giant cocoon formed from crystalline silk threads. The cocoon was translucent, and one could even faintly make out what was occurring within.
Within, one could make out lumps of flesh that were wrapped up together.
"This is…"
Percy could feel a vast ocean-like power of blood vitality rushing out from this giant cocoon. There was clearly a living creature within that cocoon, and it seemed to be growing ever so slowly as it absorbed the essence energy of the world.
The cocoon was covered in numerous complex Dao patterns, exuding the aura of 10,000 different Heavenly Laws.
It was like an egg, an egg that wrapped a flesh and blood embryo.
In that moment, Percy was already able to faintly guess what it was.
Following that, the Destruction's words confirmed Percy's guesses. "This is an unhatched dragon. I know that I do not have much time left in this world thus I have been preparing this dragon egg within my inner world. For these past years, I have been fusing all of my life source, blood essence, and blood vitality into this dragon egg, forming a flesh and blood embryo. This egg is now an extension of my life. Soon, in the future, it will hatch, and I do not wish to see it be born into the world of the Eternal Destruction Abyss, a land without life or light. Take it, and treat it well, allow it to see the vast mysteries of the endless universes…"
As the Destruction spoke, the countless silk threads that wrapped the dragon egg split apart and the dragon egg came slowly floating towards Percy.
This was a baby God Beast, a true God Beast.
Percy held his breath, his eyes staring unblinkingly at this unhatched dragon egg. Up until now he had never had a true contract beast. Most extreme talents like him were also the same;
It wasn't because contract beasts were useless, but because they couldn't find one that was appropriate.
A God Beast was simply an unthinkable wish. As for other contract beasts, their rate of growth couldn't compare to these peerless geniuses. If the talent of these contract beasts was cast too far off from these extreme geniuses, their function would be greatly reduced.
But now, Percy possessed his own dragon, a true God Beast!
Such a contract beast was something that not even an Olympian could dream of possessing. This was because there weren't many more God Beasts than Olympians, and most God Beasts in existence were wild and freely wandering existences that were also incomparably proud and lofty; just which one would lower themselves to work as the contract beast of a human?
Let alone an Olympian descendant, even an Olympian wasn't good enough!
Only an extraordinary God like Destruction could possibly have the lucky chance to encounter a God Beast and also to subdue it.
In the future, Percy and this young dragon would also have such a relationship.
To be comrades in battle and also friends.
Percy didn't say any words of refusal. He simply allowed this dragon egg to fly into his inner world.
After the dragon egg fell into Percy's inner world, Percy immediately summoned the pure world power within him to fuse into the dragon egg without reserve, nourishing the growth of the baby dragon.
Then, Percy deeply bowed towards the Destruction. "Lord Destruction, rest assured that this junior will treat this child like a true brother!"
The Destruction nodded. "You have a startling destiny. If it follows you, it will also be affected by your destiny. I hope that because of this, its future growth will be even better…"
Percy nodded. "I swear open the heavens, that I will do my best!"
Destruction smiled, then swung his hand as the Gates of Destruction slowly opened. "Prepare yourself then. This is the true trial."
A.N:- I'm out of practice with typing long chapters.