Fourth Arc: Plains of Destitution
-Plains of Destitution, Limbo between the Universes-
Previously:
He was the Successor of the Oblivion Asura, and he carried her will, the will to protect his homeland from the invaders!
He must return to the Earthly realms and fuse with his two clones, having defied death itself and becoming the first true Asura to ever be born in this Universe! This was his Path of Asura, the Berserk Sea Asura!
Continued:
-Percy POV-
Each footstep added to the other, an endless number of miles being trudged as I strode forward. My senses were alert, but even now, I hadn't sensed the presence of any other living creatures in the plains.
However, Destruction had already warned me previously that the Plains were the habitat of the enemies of all beings born from Chaos and Destruction. Any creature that lived here would be an enemy that sought to take my life!
For days now, all I had seen was the same dry earth, stretching out to eternity. However, soon, I could make out the presence of a Forest in the distance. I smiled, then rushed forward, wanting to get out of the scorching sun that hung in the skies above, the unbearable heat beating down on me.
The forest was like an unending wall, that stretched out to either side. I slowed down as I drew closer, examining the forest with a keen eye. I had no choice but to go into the forest itself. It was like a wall that stood before me, and who knew how long it would take for me to circle around it? However, the trees here gave off an ancient, sinister aura, like they were watching me.
They were all stunted and malnourished, their trunks and branches all twisted and contorted in weird shapes that looked creepy. Despite the bright sunlight, the forest was dark, as if the trees were intentionally blocking out the sunlight. I swallowed nervously, reaching up to the bow slung on my shoulder for reassurance.
then with a sigh of reluctance, I strode forward, entering the inky darkness of the forest.
Immediately, I was swamped by a thick humidity, the air around me sticky and heavy, making it difficult for me to breathe comfortably as I continued my trek into the forest.
The trees around me swayed gently, almost as if they were swaying in the breeze, though I could feel no wind from around me. The creaks and movements added to the eerie atmosphere of the forest, further setting me on edge as I swallowed again, glancing around intently.
After years of life and death battles, my instincts were keen and honed to a fine point. I trusted them, and knew that when I felt something was off, it was more likely to be my instincts warning me rather than just my imagination acting up. Thus I kept my guard up as I continued trekking deeper into the forest. As such, I soon caught sight of the dark streaks that were rushing around the forest around me. While at first I assumed they were the tree branches moving and swinging, I soon realized that the shapes were too big and fast to be tree branches.
My senses heightened further and I kept a closer eye on the streaks of black whenever they appeared at the corner of my eyes.
As such, when the nearest tree suddenly shattered, revealing a dark form, I was already prepared!
Phoenix Arts!
Flames blossomed on both hands and I leapt backwards, slashing both my hands down in an X pattern , firing off the phoenix flames at the approaching figure.
Bang!
The figure was struck head on and swept backwards as the flames engulfed it!
"SCREEEEE!"
A piercing cry rang out and I landed in a crouch, darting forward as I moved in for the kill.
Right as I arrived at the first figure, the trees around me all shuddered and a host of blurs appeared from around me, all of them rushing at me!
My eyes narrowed and I slowed, shifting the focus to my feet instead.
Phoenix Arts! Phoenix Break!
Flames exploded from my feet and I flew into the air. I twisted in midair, and the phoenix flames in my hands burned brighter as I channelled my energy into them, urging them to burn. I crossed my arms and sent out another cross of flames, this one almost a hundred meters large, hurtling down at the ground!
The beasts who had appeared all squawked and launched themselves at my attack with a rabid fury.
BOOM!
The attack and the creatures collided, sending out a ripple of flame as my attack exploded, sending the beasts collapsing to the ground. I used the recoil to move back through the air.
Moonlight Flash! First step.
I flashed away, dropping down on the ground and then standing as I saw the monsters clearly for the first time.
They were all humanoids, but covered in fur, more like Apes that humans. They were all just three feet in height, but both arms were longer than their body, almost four feet long, dragging behid them as they ran. Their fur was a mottled brown, covering their entire body, except for two circles on their face where I could see deep set eyes filled with rage and hatred.
They had no mouths I could see, but they still screeched as they raced towards me. I crouched down, then rushed forward, flames exploding from both hands as I rushed into their midst!
After training for millions of years, it was time to experience battle!
Flames roared, my aura erupted, and the first wave of these creatures were sent flying as I tore through them like an unstoppable force of nature!
I twirled in midair, and kicked out as flames roared from within my body!
A scythe of pure flames extended from my leg, striking all the beasts in the same strike! I sent them tumbling backwards, but was immediately besieged by another wave! It was like there was no end to these beasts. I scowled and thrust both hands out in either direction.
The palms of my hands flared and I felt the power of the phoenix flames building. But I held back, letting it congeal and build as the monsters drew closer, roaring and screeching with a rabid rage. At the last moment, I roared, and my flames erupted like a volcano, incinerating the beasts closest to me like ash!
Hundreds of beasts perished in a second. But there were hundreds, thousands more following after them. I frowned. "This can't keep going on. They just don't seem to end. I don't have the time or energy to waste finishing them off, but if I ignore them, they'll keep hounding after me!"
Another explosion rocked the forest as I unleashed another wave of fire at the beasts.
I closed my eyes, sending my consciousness into my soul, reaching out to the other two Percy's.
"Any Help?" I asked the two of them.
"you need a way to either hide yourself, or to force them to stop chasing after you." Body Percy told me.
"With your speed you might be able to outrun them" Soul Percy suggested.
"Unwise. We have no way to know just how many of them there are, and we don't want them chasing after Percy and attracting every monster after him across the entire plains." Body Percy countered.
"A way to hide myself?" I thought for a second. The technique that the Ice Phoenix had taught me allowed me to turn invisible when mastered. However, I still hadn't mastered it. And more importantly, I couldn't use any of her power of techniques without her Ice Inheritance, that I still had to find in the Earthen Realm.
"So no way to turn invisible" body Percy agreed. "How could you stop them from chasing after you?"
"By killing them? But that would take too long!" I frowned.
"No!" Soul Percy perked up and smiled. "Remember the Trials of the Dragon God we took with Piper?"
"Exactly! That method would work!" Body Percy exclaimed.
"wait, what?" I asked with a hint of confusion.
"The second trial. Kill 999,999 monsters!" both Percy's announced.
"oh…" I smiled "Ohhhh"
I withdrew my consciousness, returning to myself, smiling as I arrived at the battlefield.
The last time I had used this technique, I had used the Power of Poseidon. But this time, I had a much more appropriate and effective technique.
Phoenix Arts! Burning Heaven Lotus!
I rose into the air, a wave of flames exploding forth from my body, immediately incinerating all the monsters around me. My aura began to climb as I began summoning all my power.
The skies darkened and my aura started to appear around me, flickering crimson. Waves of heat and flames unceasingly surged out of my body, stopping the monsters from approaching me.
Then it began to gather above me, all of It collecting into the palm of my hand.
When I had been trapped in the Dragon God's Second Trial, I had used the Power of Poseidon to drown hundred of thousands of monsters! And today, I was going to use the power of the phoenix to exterminate all these monsters!
My eyes turned scarlet, and the flames around me roared, turning into Phoenixes! Then they began to spiral around me, screeching and crying as they protected me from attacks.
The sphere of flames over my head grew larger and larger as I poured more flames and energy into it, like a miniature sun as it illuminated the earth, brightening th entire forests beneath me. Then I began compressing it, forcing the unstable flames to congeal, causing the gigantic, twenty meter wide sun to shrink, shivering as it shrank down to almost one foot wide. At this point it was blinding, emitting a light that was impossible for anyone to look at directly!
Then, the sphere slowly began to peel open, the petals of flames twinkling and burning as they formed a beautiful Crimson Lotus.
This was the first stage of the Phoenix arts! Phoenix Flaming Lotus!
Percy roared and swung both arms down and the beautiful lotus slowly began to descend.
Immediately, it incinerated everything in a hundred meter radius, killing off all the monsters as well as clearing out the forest. Then it slowly landed on the ground.
The ground seemed to ripple like a wave as a fantastical and beautiful crimson light erupted from the lotus, rising to the heavens! Then it exploded, expanding with a fury as layers after layers of petals appeared, surrounding the lotus as it continued to bloom! Hundred meters! fiver hundred meters! Thousand Meters! Five Thousand meters! Ten Thousand Meters!
The Lotus had become gigantic structure of fire that had completely obliterated everything within the range of the fire! Then the rest of the forest surrounding the lotus exploded as it was consumed by the heat emanated by the lotus, turning into a sea of flames!
The Heavens were dyed by flames and the earth was turned into a surging ocean of flames! And above this realm of flames, stood Percy. His hair swept back in the heat and he borrowed the force of the fire to launch himself through the air, quickly continuing on his way.
Meanwhile, the flames continued to burn, bringing ruin to the forest and the monsters that lived within, the wails of their pain disappearing beneath the roar of the fire.
it took me almost a month to cross the entire forest at my fastest speed. i looked back, watching the forest continuing to burn despite the amount of time that had passed. Then i turned back to the front, where a gigantic mountain pierced into the sky. I frowned, glancing in both directions, seeing the mountain range stretching out like a fortress wall, then shrugged and started climbing. After all, I knew that this journey wasn't going to get any easier any time soon.
The mountain seemed to be made of a mixture of ice and stone, it's surface steep and the rocks jagged and sharp. As I trudged up the mountain, I felt a foreboding aura surrounding me, growing stronger as I went higher. The air around me slowly grew colder. my eyes narrowed as a fearsome aura started to assail me from all sides.
I slowed down, my footsteps suddenly loud on the ground. Then I slowly glanced around, then stared down at the ground, staring at it with a weird expression. My gaze slowly glanced across the mountain, then towards the rest of the mountain range.
My eyes slowly widened. Now that I was standing at the summit of the mountain, one thing was abundantly clear. That is… I was standing on the face of a particularly large and annoyed giant. A giant who was a part of the long mountain range I had seen. And I was pretty certain that the giant was staring at me.
I Leapt back into the air and flames blossomed around me, right as the ground shuddered and burst open, the giant entombed in stone rising to his feet!
The bow was in my hand and I wa already drawing back an arrow as I aimed at the giant. The flames around me concentrated upon the arrow, then fired at the Giant!
Boom!
The ground shook and shuddered, and the giant gave a roar of pain that shook the heavens. If a normal man were to hear this roar, his body would shatter instantaneously!
But my full powered strike… left just a single burn scorch on the thigh of the giant!
I scowled, then flipped back onto the ground. Immediately, I was overshadowed by the giant that towered over me. Putting a dent in such a large enemy was naturally going to be a pain in the ass, and as I fingered my quiver, I remembered about my arrow shortage. I had just eleven more strikes remaining before I ran out… if the bow could hold on for that long.
"If I must fell a giant… go for the head!" I stared up, looking at the gigantic form that seemed to cover the heavens themselves.
A giant humanoid, made of stone!
Then I charged forward!
I turned into a silver streak, flashing forward with the power of Moonlight flash. Each step left behind a burning lotus as I rushed up the leg of the giant.
It roared, a rumbling like the earth crying out, and sung an arm to crush me.
SCREEEEE!
The Phoenix Phantom encased me and I shot into the air, flying up even faster!
Phoenix Arts! Empyrean Wing of the Phoenix!
Two wings sprouted from my shoulder blades and I shot into the air, the air around me shimmering as I rose up above the face of the giant!
I drew the bow, nocking two arrows at once! I took aim, my eyes cold, then fired.
Whizzz!
Whizzz!
Two streaks of flame appeared, tearing through the skies before stabbing accurately into both the eyes of the giant!
"AAAAAOOOOOUUUUUUUUU!" the Giants roar was even louder this time around, and I shuddered before spitting out a mouthful of blood.
The giant swept hand forth and I was struck by the waves of turbulent air, almost sent flying back into the forest of fire again!
"This monster… it's size is too big for my attacks to have any effect! Even attacking the weak points has little effect…"
Suddenly, I was back in the battlefield in the memories of Oblivion Asura.
This same monster was wrecking havoc among their army, a legion of oversized giants causing destruction and death as they charged through the army of the Gods and Devils.
BOOOM!
The earth trembled and one of the giants was cleaved into two!
"HAHAHA" a single figure walked out from within the crowd, dragging a giant sword behind him as he stared at the legion with an excited smile. Then he spun around, and the Sword in his hand turned into a arc of death and destruction as he tore into the Giants that had seemed unstoppable. Every stroke of his sword, every swing, carried the power to overturn the heavens and the earth!
The only way to defeat a monster of brute force… was with brute force!
A determined flash exploded past my eyes and I immediately stored the bow and quiver of arrows in my inner world space. My hand extended out, and a spear appeared in my grasp!
The Spear of Oblivion brough forth a fearsome wave of power as it appeared, causing the trembling heavens and earth to turn silent.
With me as the center, a ripple spread out, immediately suppressing the Aura of the Giant. When I had picked the Heavy sword as my weapon, Artemis had asked my why I had chosen that. My answer was simple. To protect my friends and Family! But the weapon of the Oblivion Asura was a Spear. And her reason was told to me as well.
The Spear was the general of weapons, a weapon that carried behind it an unstoppable force. Every sweep of the spear could bring ruin and devastation, and it was a weapon created to charge forth! With a spear in her hand, Oblivion Asura swore to never retreat! She swore to protect her friends and family as well, but not by hiding them behind her backs. Instead she would be out in the battle field, fighting for their sakes!
My eyes flashed and I charged forth.
I was at war. Here, there was no weakness. There was no retreat.
I roared and the Phantom of the Azure Dragon appeared behind me, wings stretching to the heavens as it's roar covered the earth in an unstoppable might!
The giant froze, dwarfed before the Pride and arrogance of the Dragon King!
I flashed into the heavens, standing above the Azure Dragons head!
Thunders boomed and lightning ripped the skies as I thrust forward, channeling the power of the Azure Dragon into the Spear!
My ultimate Killing Move! Spear of Oblivion!
A terrifying explosion ripped through the earth and the heavens shuddered as I collided against the grounds, creating a fearsome crater. I rose to my feet and swung around, looking back at the Giant.
It stood motionless, decapitated, both arms raised in fear. Its arms were also reduced to stumps, my strike having pierced through the hands and head of the giant in a single blow.
Then I swung my spear aside and continued on my path.
After the death of the giant, I saw no more monsters on my way. Correction, I saw no more living monsters. All around me were testaments to the great war of Calamity, giants monsters all frozen in position of war and battle, entire armies cleaved into half, gigantic skeletons of God's and Devils locked in combat with Monsters of terrifying sizes. But to me, these were all not meaningless remnants of history. Rather, a question now rang out in my mind. If the God's and Titans were still alive, could they have resisted against this army? Could the current Chaos Heavens stand a chance in a war of this level?
Destruction had told me that Chaos wanted to raise an army of the same level as her sisters and brother had, and hopefully give birth to an asura on the same level as Oblivion Asura. However, even after these many, many years, her dream was a failure. However, destruction believed that this was simply not her fault. Asura's were born in calamity.
An asura was a Spirit of light, of good. However, unlike the Saints or angel's, Asura's had no purity. They were impure, drawing their power from Pride, Greed, Lust, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Gluttony, each of the Seven Deadly Sins. That was why Asura's were so fearsome, beings that belonged to neither the light, nor to the dark. As such, they were more volatile and unpredictable. As such, the Asura's were not beings that could be measured through common sense.
And after having seen the life of Oblivion Asura, I had seen the truth.
All her life, she had fought against her heart demons. First, it was Wrath, her rage against seeing her city destroyed, her people killed that had awoken the Asura within her, on that first day when she picked up the spear and charged into battle. Later, it turned to Envy, envy against her own friend for stealing the attention of the man she loved. And lastly pride, her arrogance that refused to let her kneel even in the face of the most powerful Enemy, the leader of the armies of Calamity, the leader of even Niddhogg and Veorfolnir!
I stared down at his hand that held the spear and knew that this was the truth. This was my power as well. The Wrath and Pride of an Asura that must never be provoked.
At that moment I raised my head, looking forward as I saw a gigantic pair of doors that stood tall to the heavens. The doors of Chaos.
I smiled, a cold look crossing my eyes and I lowered my gaze, looking down at the Army assembled at the foot of the doors. The welcoming committee to stop me.
I raised the spear in my hand, then started on my walk, heading down the mountain I stood on.
As I did, the armies amassed below charged forth, roaring as they swarmed towards me!
The spear in my hand growled, hungry for blood and the Aura of Asura exploded forth! Destruction had already warned him, that the enemies in the plain would obviously be awoken by his aura, and would wait for him near the gates of chaos. Not only to kill him, but to try and enter the chaos heavens when he entered! If they managed to enter the Chaos heavens, then they could use the Chaos energy there to heal themselves and recover to their original powers, and that would be no different to a calamity befalling the Chaos heavens. Thus, if I wanted to enter the Chaos Heavens… he must kill all his enemies!
As I was thinking, the entire land beneath him began to tremble. Rocks rolled down the hills and a moment later, in the distance plains, red symbols began to light up. These red symbols were several dozen feet high and were crowded together, creating a long length of light. There were hundreds and thousands of them, extending all the way to the end of the horizon!
-General POV-
"This is… an array formation?" Percy was shocked, this was truly a terrifying array formation. The area it covered was at least a hundred miles; this was a massive display of power!
As the array formation appeared, the origin energy of the world began to fiercely shake. The ground began to increasingly vibrate, rocks broke in half, land cracked, and giant fissures began to spring up, creating mounds of rocks as if the earth itself was bubbling.
Percy gripped his spear; he felt the killing intent that the array formation was releasing.
This was a true killing array. Once he was killed, he would die with no hope of escape!
Peng! Peng! Peng!
The mounds of rocks exploded, and puppets made of black rock emerged from the ground. There were several hundred of them, and there were even many of these rock puppets that burned with fire. Without a doubt, these flaming rock puppets were much stronger than the rest.
"These are the enemies of the smelting trial? The enemies of the first trial should always be the weakest. The enemies behind will become increasingly strong!" Percy revolved Profound Energy in his body, his heart brimming with warrior spirit. All of these puppets were no weaker than a Early Overgod realm martial artist, and there were several hundred that came up at once!
Although this was difficult, it wasn't enough to trap Percy for more than a year. That could only mean that the strength of the enemies behind them would rapidly increase!
Percy left the resting cave and stepped onto the plains, walking into the massive array formation.
Roar!
Roar!
The rock puppets issued earthshaking bellows, and the several hundred rock puppets rushed towards Percy to kill him. These rock puppets were all more than ten feet tall and weighed several thousands of jins! When they ran together, the earth would shake, and their loud cries resounded through the skies!
Percy grasped his long spear. He was one man alone facing such a mighty force. Such a scene caused the blood in his heart to burn and his soul to seethe with boiling excitement!
"I never thought that I would have to face so many enemies that are comparably to Early Overgod realm martial artists. When I fought in the beast tide at Green Mulberry City, most of the beasts that I killed were weak vicious beasts! This is also only the first array. Above this is also the true monsters who have been waiting since ancient times! No matter what, I cannot fall here!"
Percy grit his teeth, and his eyes flashed with a cold and brutal killing intent! He could already see the bloodthirsty and crazed crimson eyes of the rock puppets, and the ferocious spikes that covered their body.
"Die!"
Percy rushed into the first rock puppet. With a loud shout, azure Profound Energy erupted. His figure was like a leopard that leapt into the air, and the Spear of Oblivion was as nimble as a whip. He directly smashed down on the rock puppet's forehead.
Kacha!
Rock exploded, and fire-attribute energy that formed its eyes shot out.
"First!"
Percy borrowed the recoil of smashing the rock puppet's head and flew off to another side. The Spear of Oblivion in his hand lashed out like a serpent and stabbed a second rock puppet in the eyes!
Bang!
As its eyes exploded, Percy was pushed flying backwards by the impact, the Spear of Oblivion bending like a crescent moon as he offset most of the impact. Otherwise, with Percy's flesh and blood body, his wrist would still shake with numbness.
After killing two rock puppets, Percy fell into a group of rock puppets. In this situation, Percy remained incomparably calm, sending out his sense to capture the movement of every rock puppet. He was like a gust of wind as he swiftly dashed through the openings between the rock puppets.
With every thrust of Percy's spear, almost every rock puppet that he attacked would die!
The eyes were the weakness of the rock puppets. Every time Percy thrust out, his spear would contain vibrating Profound Energy. His attack would smash apart the fire origin energy within the eyes!
"Mm? Not good!"
At the moment that Percy jumped, two columns of fire suddenly shot out from the puppet group, swiping by Percy as they directly shot past him and into the sky. Although Percy had dodged this sneak attack, the space he had dodged into was also locked down by a pillar of fire.
Roar! Roar!
A three headed rock puppet instantly came into a pincer position, surrounding Percy. A big fist came crashing down, blocking every direction he could dodge in!
At this critical moment, Percy's pupils contracted. The Primordial Azure Dragon Soul howled as it flew out!
Puff! Puff! Puff!
With a series of light sounds, all three eyes on all three heads of the rock puppet exploded. Percy took advantage of this opportunity to heavily punch the rock puppet's chest. The power of vibration erupted, directly shattering its body.
As the rock puppet fell over, Percy rushed forth and out of the circle. His feet trod with Moonlight Flash, and he flew into the sky!
"So close!"
The blood in his body tumbled. If he had been struck by several fists at once, he would have been severely injured. That would have been very dangerous.
However, there was no time for Percy to relax. With several 'shoo shoo shoo' sounds, dozens of columns of flames were shot out by the rock puppet group, aiming at Percy.
"This is bad! If I fly then I'll just become a target!"
Percy dived down, escaping the columns of flame that came at him. Once again, he was caught in a brutal melee.
With just him against several hundred Early Overgod realm rock puppets, if he wasn't careful he would be caught in an endless siege from all sides! Even with Percy's strength, if there was an accident, he would be severely wounded. But, if he was wounded to that extent, that would spell death in the midst of so many rock puppets!
-Some Time Later-
Bang!
Within the battlefield of the Plains of Destitution, Percy's spear burst through a rock puppet, causing its body to explode into flames. He supported himself up with the Spear of Oblivion, partly kneeling on the ground. His back was covered in blood, and the bones of his left hand had been broken. The right hand that held the spear was also trembling.
He had finally crossed the second wave!
The first wave of rock puppets was the easiest to kill and the easiest to pass. Percy had only need to kill them using his overwhelming strength. But the second wave of rock puppets was a notch stronger. The first time that Percy had attempted to massacre all the rock puppets, he had been seriously wounded and almost died, eventually failing to finish them off. He had returned to his cave to heal his wounds, but unexpectedly found that the puppets he killed off were all being rapidly regenerated by the array formation.
As Percy recovered, so did the rock puppets!
The second time that he attacked, Percy had gained experience from the previous attempt and had barely managed to kill them. He had also been grievously wounded as before.
The third wave was absolutely not something he could defeat!
Percy clenched his teeth, and swallowed down a healing pill.
At this moment, the array formation started to revolve, and the crimson blood colored runes began to light up one at a time. These past 10 days, Percy had already discovered the rules of the Array Formation; soon, new rock puppets would appear. He launched his movement technique and quickly returned to the cave.
If he wanted to pass this Array without dying, he would need to do everything possible to increase his strength.
Percy revolved the Essence of Chaos within his body, absorbing energy from around himself, and within an hour the Profound Energy in his body had been restored.
While Percy was indeed very powerful, this was an array, and ancient one at that. It would endlessly keep sending forth enemies to wear down his strength and energy till he died. As such, his current strength was simply not strong enough. He needed to get stronger, even stronger.
Percy sat cross-legged, closing his eyes as he sent his energy into his inner world where the Three Fruits of Destruction slowly revolved. If he absorbed the power within them, then without a doubt, his strength would rocket and he would grow even more powerful. However, the prerequisite was his body being capable of withstanding the energy contained within the Fruits of destruction without destroying itself or exploding from the strain.
He calmed his breathing and slowly connected himself to the first fruit of Destruction. As he slowly breathe in and out, he managed to come in contact with one percent of energy contained within the fruit, then began to absorb it.
Even though Percy's current cultivation had reached the peak of Level one Overgod, controlling the energy of Destruction to temper his marrow still caused the same aching pain as before. It was as if a saber was being twisted into his very being!
This kind of energy contained the remnant will of Destruction, and was an enemy of all of creation. It was cruel, brutal, arrogant and unruly. In order to force it to yield so that Percy could use it for himself, he had to erase this will.
What Percy could do was use his own soul and slowly wear down the remnant will of the Destruction.
Percy grit his teeth as sweat streamed down him.
Thus the energy within Percy's body was increasingly manic and savage.
Percy forcefully used the tempering marrow method found within the 'memories of Oblivion Asura' and urged the Destruction Essence energy to enter his skeleton a bit at a time. The energy was thick and heavy like mercury, and also extremely pervasive. Even though Percy's bones were extremely dense, the energy easily penetrated through.
As the energy entered the marrow, Percy could hear 'chi chi chi' sounds coming from his bones. This was the energy burning his marrow, slowly refining it and changing its very nature. This was similar to when a blacksmith had to fry a wooden spear shaft in a massive wok of oil in order to cause all the impurities within them to explode. This pain was deep within his bones and utterly agonizing.
Percy's forehead was dripping with sweat. But compared to the last time that he had absorbed the Destruction Essence, he was in a much better condition. The first time, almost all of his blood had been drained out, forming a bloody carapace that covered his body. But this time, there was only pain and sweat.
In the sweat, there were traces of faint gray substances, but only a small amount. These were the impurities within Percy's body. After Percy had gone through several experiences of washing down his marrow and muscles, this was the result. Although Percy's bodily purity wasn't perfect, he also didn't have many impurities left within him.
Time passed slowly. Finally, a full two hours had passed, and Percy absorbed the last of the energy. He opened his mouth and vomited a mouthful of black blood.
This vomit actually didn't stop. Percy kept vomiting blood until the entire ground was covered in blood. It was quite a disturbing sight. Finally, it ended, and Percy wiped his mouth. He looked within himself and found that the blood within his blood vessels was extremely bright red, and thick like mercury.
Marrow and blood were inextricably linked. Marrow produced blood, and blood rejuvenated the marrow. In order to temper one's marrow, one needed to create new blood.
"Ugh" Percy groaned and stood up. "Im hungry… and some water would be great right now…" he slowly closed his eyes and sent his spirit sense out, carefully sensing for any signs of food or water nearby.
"Hmmm?" He heard a faint trickling sound coming from within the cave, as if there was water nearby.
Percy's mind stirred. He put away the Spear of Oblivion and began walking into the cave. After he walked several hundred feet, he saw that there really was an underground river in the cave.
The river water was incomparably clear and beautiful. However, Percy felt that there was something not quite right. As he reached out his hand to scoop some up, he suddenly sucked in a breath of cold air. This river water was very heavy. At least, it was no lighter than mercury. Not only that, but the temperature of the water was terrifyingly high; it was already several times above boiling.
As Percy was cupping the water, he found out that during that time a great amount of the Profound Energy that protected his body had melted away.
"What kind of river is this!?"
Percy's complexion wasn't too good. Everything he found within this Plains of Destitution was strange and dangerous.
"Mm? What's that?"
Percy discovered that there were actually creatures within the river. These creatures looked like giant crabs, and their whole body was covered with red bony armor as they lurked underneath the water. They stared at him with wide eyes.
The two claws were over two feet long!
"If it can survive in this place, then it's not some friendly animal." The temperature was several times the boiling temperature, but these crabs could still survive here. Even Percy wouldn't be able to do so. He could stay under the water for a long time, but he would eventually have to give up after his Profound Energy was exhausted. But these crabs took this river as their home, and simply didn't fear the high levels of Berserk destruction energy contained within.
A giant crab with a four or five foot tall body suddenly rose up. It brandished its two foot long claws as it tried to clamp down on Percy, as if it wanted to cut him off at the waist.
"It takes me as prey?"
Percy sneered. He punched out with the Hundred waves Fist; azure Profound Energy erupted!
Bang!
The crab flew backwards, rolling around. It finally stopped, jumped up and ran away.
"It didn't die?"
Percy was shocked. This punch was able to kill a late Early Overgod martial artist. But this big crab had actually resisted it!
Too strong!
Soon, seven or eight giant crabs gathered in the river. Percy was stunned for a moment, and then realized that the crab fellow had gone back to gather its buddies.
These crabs were the overlords of the river. They had never suffered a loss like this before. Now, they swore to eliminate Percy!
Pu! Pu!
Seven or eight giant crabs ran out of the river together, rushing to kill Percy!
This time, Percy no longer held back. He took out the Spear of Oblivion and fused the Primordial Azure Dragon Soul into the shaft. The power of Azure dragon exploded, and with a flourish of the spear, the entire cave was basked in a radiant purple light.
Kacha!
Seven or eight streaks of fire erupted from Percy's spear, each one striking a giant crab. All of the crabs were instantly killed by Percy.
Percy hesitated for a moment, and then walked over to a giant crab. He grabbed it, and then used a great deal of effort to smash its palm-thick shell. Inside was glisteningly tender red and white meat. He dug out a big chunk and began to roast it over a fire.
Percy had already become accustomed to bringing along salt and other seasonings. He casually sprinkled some onto the crab meat, and a delicious fragrance began to waft out.
Percy took a careful bite. This strange giant crab's meat was extremely savory and tender, yet still chewy.
Percy took his time. After he carefully determined that there weren't any side effects, he began to heartily chow down.
This strange giant crab's meat was very resistant to high temperature. No matter how he roasted it, it would not char or become over burnt. As he tasted it, its flavor was extremely delicious, and was even better than the dishes found within famous restaurants.
"This is the good stuff."
Even Percy, a connoisseur who was relatively picky about food, couldn't help but praise this strange crab meat.
"Mm? The crab meat in my stomach seems to nourish my body's Profound Energy?" Percy was surprised to discover. As the crab meat entered his stomach, a low heat began to flow out and dissipate. This was an extremely comfortable feeling. He felt the fire-attribute Profound Energy in his body slowly strengthening.
The magnitude of enhancement from this crab meat was far less than eating pills, but it absolutely won in terms of purity. There were no impurities and toxins contained within.
After Percy drank his fill, he felt the crab meat and water turning into heat within his body and scurrying around. His body flushed with a frantic energy. If he didn't release this energy soon, he would be feeling unwell for a while. Percy couldn't wait to go out and fight!
Percy took out the Spear of Oblivion from his spatial ring and launched his movement technique, directly flying out of the cave. Outside the cave, several hundred rock puppets had already gathered on the plains. But this time, the flaming rock puppets were in the majority. These flaming rock puppets were much stronger than the ordinary rock puppets.
As he saw this vast number of rock puppets, Percy's fighting spirit shot up. He trod forwards, his body shooting out like an arrow, creating a perfect arc as he landed in the midst of a puppet group.
The rock puppets roared, and columns of flames came blasting towards Percy. He faintly smiled and instantly activated Moonlight Flash. He was like a swallow within a storm, dancing in the midst of the crowded flames, like thread through the needle!
Hu hu hu!
All of the columns of fire passed by Percy. A 1000 foot distance was crossed in the blink of an eye. As Percy arrived in front of the first flame puppet, the Spear of Oblivion came sweeping down!
Bang!
With a loud explosion, the flaming puppet was broken apart by Percy's spear!
As strength flowed through his entire body, Percy could hear his bones popping and snapping; this inestimably comfortable feeling made him want to groan and shout!
Fight!
After tempering his marrow and eating a massive amount of crab meat, Percy felt energy crashing throughout his entire body. If he didn't vent this energy, then he would never feel comfortable.
Peng peng peng!
A spear thrust out. Arcs of lightning shot out into all directions, blazing flames jetted into the sky, and an azure light sliced through the void. Wherever the Spear of Oblivion went, crushed stone would fly!
"Great!"
"Well done!"
"Again!"
The more Percy fought, the more excited he became, and the more he burned with fighting spirit. The wounds on his body kept increasing, but no matter how much blood came out, it was like he didn't feel anything at all.
As Percy massacred every single puppet, his entire body was slick with blood, and his Profound Energy was depleted.
As he lay prone on the ground, pain coming from all over his body, Percy felt a pleasant satisfaction in his heart.
There were those that were born for battle; Percy was undoubtedly such a person.
A.N.: took a bit of a break to write this chapter in the new style I would be using from now on. I've been reading other fanfictions to understand the best writing styles, as well as Chapter sizes. Usually, I make sure my chapter is atleast 3K words in length. However, they're really short, so I tend to write chapters that are around 5K words to 7K words long. this is probably the best length and optimum for me to have monthly or Bi-monthly updates. Daily updates are great, but they're just very tiring to do, plus they take a lot of time.
So I'll be mixing different POV's from now on, which will hopefully make narrating the story easier, though I'll be using general POV for the more intense battles so I can keep a easier grasp over the situations.
Do review to let me know what you guys think, and as always, Love from Manhattan!