"Thought Or Telepathy"
"Character Communication"
"Loud Speaking"
"Emphasis 'On' A Word."
Madara: A New Journey
Tang Shi tenses and a sharp glare shines in his eyes as Madara and he travels across the sky atop a Feng Shui compass. Shen Yaling had long since disappeared, but he knows where she went. Beside him, Madara had already put aside his epiphany towards world-merging as his skin glitters and shines silvery-white before turning back the next instance.
This process repeats in a cycle, white blotches similar to freckles grow at a cancerous rate in an attempt to overtake the normal skin before fading into normality. If one looked closely they would see that in between the two is a flash of oily black. Tang Shi side-eyes this bizarre process with an interest and a slight fright.
Although Tang has run into these chakra-based entities before back when he came to this world, they were somewhat different, definitely, on an individual level, those of the past cannot compare to the man beside him and just as Madara is curious about cultivators, Tang Shi is equally curious about the Ōtsutsuki.
"HALT!" Suddenly Tang Shi turns deadly serious as an imposing voice rings out through the world. He pushes his hand forward and during this instant, he saw Madara disappear as he did before, he also cast a few spells to further hide his presence that he was able to pick up on himself.
The Feng Shui compass comes to a stop from its crystalline beam of light as the star zooms to replace everything in sight. At the surface of the star, six burly men with serious expressions stare in Tang's direction. as he strides towards them that seriousness is replaced by reverence. "Divine General offers greetings to Third Heavenly Disciple!"
When the man clasps his hands in his direction, he replies in short. If he was anyone else, he'd have to show utmost respect to one of the five Divine General, but because of his power and status as a heavenly disciple, he can overlook these people somewhat, despite them all being expectational at the peak of the second step.
Tang Shi begins talking to the man, but in his invisible state, Madara doesn't bother listening in, instead, his full attention is drawn to his body with a strained look. The change is happening much faster and the silvery-white is incorporating more than ninety-nine-per-cent before being forced into retreat one final time as he heaves a heavy sigh.
An idea pops into his head at this moment and he starts drawing in the power of the world, which reveals his presence to the outside a fair bit more than what just was, but because of the extra precautions that Tang Shi took, he didn't have to worry about being revealed. "If you can stop me with this, then let's see if you can stop both!"
The star in front of him - although small compared to other stars in the realm - is in no way fathomable, small. He can tell at a glance that it is a wealth of vitality and with but thought a small portion of it changes direction and charges into him like a black-hole or bottomless pit.
The small golden core in his abdomen region swells by double and instantly shows signs of shattering, but before it can, a thick black ooze spreads from the cracks to resist. At this same time, his skin once again starts to sparkle like crystal, although this time it hangs at ninety-nine-per-cent for a flash before his entirety converts to white jade.
The instant this happens, all resistance is gone and his crimson hair transforms into a curtain of snow from the roots. His body shifts from flesh to the pure physical manifestation of lifeforce. His appearance and aura are far more ethereal and divine than before, the difference between a mortal and an immortal.
His eyes spread open, light escaping like an ethereal beam as it slowly flickers away revealing his Six-Tomoe-Rinnegan. The Rinnesharingan-like seal on his forehead also shines a glimmer of red before fading away as if it never existed, leaving behind a new black line sliding down through the pattern of rings on the seal, like an opening eye.
Two white scale-covered horns also manifest from within his hair and stick out like twin tilted towers. If one was to view his appearance now, they would immediately think of devil cultivation. He looks devilish and divine at the same time, an unholy combination that the heavens would shiver in a rage after catching a glimpse.
He breathes in a long breath despite no longer having lungs or internal organs. A smile touches his lips.
When he casts his vision to his lap, the smile fades as his lips curl into a frown. "I don't understand..." In his lap is a katana still in its scabbard. One moment it shows signs of wavering from reality and no longer existing and the next it seems solid and substantial. No one can see it, even if he revealed himself.
No matter what state the sword takes, it's an extension of his self, that's all he can truly feel. It's as if he's gained a new limb even when it reclines in his lap or nonexistent, but taking it out of its scabbard has consequences he cannot fathom from his brief mental conversation. He stands back up and attaches the weightless weapon to his waist.
A cold bloodthirsty air surrounding him as he looks at the people before him. Tang Shi finishes his talk with the leader and the others disperse into a circle and perform some seals before pointing their fingers at the flames on the surface of the star. A gap in the light slowly becomes a massive door about the size of a continent.
Despite the size of the door, it can barely be noticed from a distance. Tang Shi casts waves his sleeve and opens the door a sliver. The Feng Shui compass shoots inside. As he leaves into the distance, one of the men mutters to himself "What an awful bloodlust." All of them felt it but none of them said anything about it directly to him in fear.
Although the star is indeed a true star, the door on the outside doesn't lead deeper into the star but instead to a separate dimension, the inside of which is filled with bountiful fields and luscious almost celestial-like plants, all manner of strange creatures dwell within and even the weakest of creatures are formidable to early second step cultivators.
Three massive mountains are the most distinct in this world. They pierce the sky in this star-sized world and overlook the horizon. This word is called the star realm, a tiny cave world made specifically for the three heavenly disciples. Each one of them gifted a mountain the size of a hundred planets. Each mountain looks distinctly different.
A light layer of clouds floating above each, one mountain is of a supreme heavenly aura mixed with peace and serenity as if time has stilled around it, another of death, the cloud above that one dark and foreboding, and Tang Shi's own, filled with vegetation, life, and a green cloud, but the aura around its filled with unspeakable disdain.
Tang Shi pauses in midair turning to look at two of the mountains, an aloof yet thought-filled glint appears in his eyes. He looks behind him and feels the familiar presence still tucked away with his powers along with that individual's own techniques to stay hidden. Star marks shine into existence on his forehead.
"My divination skill is far too inferior to compete against him." He takes out a small blood jade tablet with complex symbols that he presses a finger to and then crushes. The dust dances around and floats off into the wind. "I've taken precautions that should deceive my coming actions for a time. If I can just seal my fellow disciples."
"Brother, you are delusional, something isn't right in this world! I'll take you home by force, not even heaven will stand in my way, and only when we are home will you understand why I must do this!" With that thought, he turns into a long arc that splits the sky towards the heavenly aura mountain.
"This place is the only place master doesn't keep an eye on concerning our privacy, and my brother isn't here right now! Shen Yaling, have you really not seen my true intentions?"
Tang Shi is practically cackling in excitement. He never expected that is brother would be out when he decided to attack Shen Yaling. Wang Shi rarely leaves his closed-door cultivation for long, he'll likely return soon. "Brother Madara, Shen Yaling is alone at the moment, you standby and I will finish this quickly!"
An ethereal voice replies behind him. "That is...fine with me. I'd like to see how cultivators of the third step fight."
Tang Shi releases a hardy laugh. "I'll make sure to give you a good show Brother Madara!" His speed increases tenfold and he quickly approaches the mountain. He comes to a stop outside the boundary, radiating ill intent. His hair and his clothes billowing in the wind give him a divine appearance despite his usually aloof face.
The corner of his lips twists into a small smile when a powerful divine sense lands on his body from the mountain ahead of him. It scans him and his surroundings once before a cold feminine voice floats into his ear. "Tang Shi...scram!" A painful burst clashes against him and he takes a few steps back.
"Nasty witch! You've tainted my brother long enough!" As he recovers, his hand shoots forward like a spear, his index finger pointing at the monumental mountain. The sky immediately turns green and the world of clouds above boil and split aside like the red sea at the intrusion of a nine million-foot finger descending downwards.
A massive bang shakes the entire inside of the star-realm when the finger descends and clashes with a screen of light that emerges around the mountains. Six large cauldrons rise from the mountain and inside each burns the essence of three multicoloured pills which begin melting and release their fragrance into the light screen.
Tang Shi scoffs with his index finger still flexed outwards, two other fingers on his closed hand extend to join the index finger with another thrust. When he does this, two fingers in the sky mirror this action and result in two other bangs resounding in the air. The screen of light cracks and two-thirds of the pills melt to repair it fully.
His remaining fingers extend and the sky once again mirrors this action. This time, the light screen shatters entirely as the pills and cauldrons that contained them explode. "What a shame those pills you worked so hard on have gone up in smoke" Tang mocks with a hint of mocking sadness as he charges into the mountain.
This time Madara stays back in the sky to watch, his eyes alight with interest as he watches these two incredibly powerful warriors entering battle. This is an opportunity and a gift from Tang Shi, showing how cultivators of his level fight so he knows what to expect.
Tang laughs in the air as he approaches. "In our homeworld, I was never your match, but here, I am far stronger!" He doesn't pull out any treasure or use a divine ability, instead, he pulls his fist back and pushes it out towards her body that is now only a thousand feet away.
As a member of the race "Ancient God" whom his master made a deal to obtain him as a baby with a member from the ancient clan, his greatest strength comes from his body, the might of his race is unfathomable, a single punch is all it takes to swallow oceans and split planets, to bring forth unrivalled physical power.
"You overestimate yourself, traitor!" With a quick wave of her hand, a fan with various markings expands into a full crescent shape to block the fist. A bang rings out and shakes the world. Tang Shi is forced to take four large steps back to fall onto the mountain before taking two steps forward that send cracks deep into the mountain.
His face turns red and the taste of blood fills his mouth. "Bringing out that already are we, haha, I'd be toast if you could still call upon those damnable spirits." He laughs further. His body swells up as he chuckles, one hundred feet, a thousand, ten-thousand, a hundred thousand, and a million feet.
His body is still tiny compared to the mountain that has rocks far larger than him tumbling down all around the lands. A large cust of wind blows into the surrounding area from the expansive object that is his body forcing it away.
The stars at the centre of Tang Shi's forehead revolve around and a faint scream can be heard from all of them. Madara widens his eyes as he looks closer. In the centre of that star is a miserable and sealed body, a cultivator that is trapped and alive as he lets out gut-wrenching screams.
The existence of these such individuals is one of humiliation and pain. The calm on Shen Yaling's face is replaced by seething rage and anger as she too spots them. "You're sick, detestable! Scum! Let heaven strike you down with tribulation you perverted worm!"
She spreads out the fan in her hand and it reveals three blue spots across it. "I call upon the order of three moons of the formation of Nine Joss" The fan turns black from the inside out, but once it reaches the ends of the fan, it keeps going into the sky and ground until everything is pitch black.
The three blue spots climb higher and take up what was once the sky. "Descend!" The instant that word is spoken the blue spots erupt and form into three massive celestial bodies that fill the sky and each of the planetary bodies has a trillion people on it while red lighting dances about around them. "Faith brings into existence ancestral spirit!"
"You can't bring an Ancestral spirit into existence!" Tang Shi puts some distance between him and the planets, not for a second believe that she can accomplish what she just shouted but instinctively doing so regardless. "You're talking out your ass woman, delusional! Not with your cultivation."
"A shadow is enough to destroy you." The planets crack and splinter. "Sacrifice of faith!" Those that on their knees worshipping explode into white flames and these flames burn the planets to ash in a matter of breaths. The ash and flames condense and powerful light and the warping of space surrounding it.
Tang Shi hesitates no longer and charges in. "I can't let it form!" His body grows once again, five million feet, ten million, one hundred million feet, and so on until he is almost nine hundred million feet tall. The people chained to his stars whither as he does.
His hand extends to his right and a tear in space is pulled open, a spear is taken out the next instant. "It's not a royal treasure, but it is good enough." He lunches with the spear in the lead towards the coalescing planetary Joss ash and flame.
They are about to collide when the mountain shines and another barrier intercepts him. He scoffs and waves it out of existence with the back of his other hand, but the fraction of breath that he took was all that was needed for the ash and flames to condense fully, sucking in large portions of the power of the world with it.
The light and the black scatter and the word returns to normal. Shen Yaling is revealed in a slightly drained state along with a semi-formed ancestral spirit whose body is like that of a man with the head of an eagle along with six arms, it's currently in a state between corporal and illusionary, sitting down in the air, arms crossed around its chest and eyes closed.
An aura of gold seems to mix with the brown of its wooden construction, creating a golden wooden statue in the shape of man and eagle that is ten-thousand feet tall and tiny in comparison to Tang Shi's ancient god body and even smaller when compared to the mountain.
The tip of the spear hurling towards the two of them at unbelievable speeds seems to be moving slowly when the statue opens its six eyes and looks around confused at its own existence in the world. "Who am I?" It asks the woman standing closest to him without looking.
She bows in his direction and the statue gains solid form. "You are my ancestral spirit created by the sacrifice of my Joss Flame Realm."
Splinters stick up when the statue furrows its brow and it speaks in an ancient gravelly voice. "No, I am...not, I am, an illusion, a fake, a shadow." As the spear touches the space before the statue, it places a finger ahead of itself and the two objects collide with a bang that cracks the mountain further.
The arm turns to ash and another arm reaches forward and that one turns to ash as well. Tang Shi smiles, he's not happy that he allowed Shen to create a fake ancestor spirit, but it's still only just that, an illusion that requires the faith and belief of those around it. "And I don't believe it!" His voice causes the spear to tremble in disbelief. The statue stands to its feet.
The spear continues to tremble and the intent of excitement and bloodthirst fills the air in a red hue while cracks in space gather around the tip trying to tear apart the fake and cheap entity blocking its almighty path. The spear is alive, it's arrogant, prideful, and hungry to destroy this illusionary object that dares block it.
Shen Yaling gathers her strength quickly after seeing that the statue is failing to form, although the sacrifice of the Joss Realm affected her somewhat, it was more so the remaining drain the statue needed to truly form afterwards that truly put her on her knees, but even with the statue still lacking, the two of them will be able to destroy him once she recovers.
Tang Shi scoffs once again and while holding the spear and thrusting it forward with his right hand, he extends his left, not towards the statue, but at Shen Yaling with his palm facing out. He bites his tongue and spits out a massive globule of blood that covers his hand.
"God, Demon, Devil, Ancient Dao, Celestial Seal!" The palm lines of his hand are larger than the largest of ravines, they separate and fly forward as a projection. A large picture takes up the entire sky. A sky of palm lines creates an endless net that descends in an instant.
Shen Yaling gasps and retreats in a blur. The air around her turns into snow and a large portion of the mountain into ice crystals. "Freezing Realm Ancient Umbrella!"
The crystals of the ground break away and shoot into the sky to form a solid and sky-shielding umbrella that is closed shut. "The first time freezes all things!" The umbrella opens in an instant and an avalanche of cold radiates from beneath. Everything freezes in place, from the palm lines to the smallest of elements in motion.
Even the statue and spear seem to lose their sentience once trapped in the world of ice. Tang Shi is likewise frozen in place, even Madara feels the world around him tighten, although because he's in a separate dimension, he can still move freely. "So, this is the third step. The laws of the world become a weapon. Even ethereal concepts..."
"Comprehension is a cultivator's greatest ally, determination is a requirement on the path of cultivation, luck, intelligence too. Can I really reach these levels when my cultivation avatar comes to be, am I even qualified to compete at the top of this world?"
"Perhaps I'm not as intelligent or able to comprehend as well but none of the cultivators I've encountered had been able to do these things from birth. Age determines experience, and I'm immortal. Once I step into their world truly, I will shock that world and take it by storm be it by that body or this one!"
Madara sits back and watches the unmoving world around him. He's not helping yet, this battle is as much about determining Tang Shi's worth as his battle partner as it is a way for him to see how cultivators fight. He's already learned much and this will help him in the coming battles, but Tang Shi hasn't quite proven himself yet in his eyes.
The palm lines in the sky and the spear in his hand start to shake the ice apart and the world moves slowly around the palm lines. A mocking smile appears on his lips. "Clever trick, trapping me in a world of dreams inside the ice to stop the flow of time around me like that, very clever." He was more so speaking to Madara with his words to explain.
Shen Yalin staggers back and coughs up blood. She points to the umbrella as the ice falls apart and the umbrella closes shut. "The second..." She coughs up more blood, and she starts to thin and her beauty fades, clearly opening the umbrella comes with a massive cost.
The palm lines shrink faster as her words partly echo out. "Destroys all obstacles in the world!" Before the umbrella can open again, Tang Shi pushes his hand forward, and the palm lines in the sky that have gained complete freedom wrap around the umbrella, the statue, and Shen Yaling, compressing them all to a small point of ten feet and turning into a rune.
Tang then approaches the rune and takes a seat next to it and says some strange chants with a long breath. His brow furrows and he bites his tongue and spits blood onto the rune to reinforce it. Weaving restrictions with one hand, he pulls out a flag and wraps it around the rune and it shrinks further.
He doesn't stop there, after the flag, he pulls out a dozen other treasures and continues placing seals and restrictions until the rune is only an inch large and he can hold it in his hand. Still not enough. "Saint-Splitter Vessel appear!" The space above him distorts and a huge tear is ripped in space as a million-foot wooden ship comes out.
He tosses the rune inside the captain's cabin and it closes shut. The ship shrinks to the same inch size and flies onto his palm. Tang Shi stares at the small ship and breathes a sigh of relief after twenty breaths. He closes his hand around the ship and puts it into his storage dimension. "A battle between cultivators can end in an instant of miscalculation."
Tang Shi's body rapidly shrinks to normal and Madara approaches him from the rear, although he remains invisible to the naked eye. He's impressed, in total, the fight only took a total of twenty-two breaths before coming to an end, which includes the twenty breaths of the sealing, in essence, the battle only took two breaths time.
Shen Yaling overestimated herself or underestimated him, either way, the outcome is the same. The umbrella she created cannot open anymore because time is frozen inside the ship treasure that Tang Shi sealed her within, it was a quick and clean capture worthy of praise.
"Brother Tang congratulation, it was quick and well fought, it was enlightening to see how cultivators of your calibre battle, several miscalculations resulted in defeat." Madara's ethereal voice enters Tang Shi's mind with a laugh and cheery disposition. "I dare say I feel somewhat barbaric in comparison."
Tang Shi smiles and looks at an 'empty' spot. "Your words are too kind, I'm sure when I see you battle, I'll be enlightened and my cultivation will rise by leaps and bounds!"
"Well, I hope I don't disappoint. Now that she's sealed, what is the next step of your plan?"
Standing up and dusting his clothes for remaining ice, Tang Shi ganders at the horizon and ponders. "Things are going smoothly and we've gone unnoticed. If we can seal my brother without alerting Jin Fang, the battle will be far easier for both of us and our chances at success will skyrocket. I think it would be best to wait here and set a trap for his return."
Madara nods and is about to reply when the ground beneath them shifts and throws Tang Shi off-balance. A murderous aura inscribes itself into the star realm like a tsunami of rage and anguish, turning the atmosphere crimson. The first thing he sees once his eyes regain focus is Tang Shi's mortified expression while he stares at the opposite horizon.
He himself is shaken by that powerful aura that not only forced his God Armour to retract on its own accord but also wrapped around him like wet paper and sunk his soul into a dream-like state for but a moment before some internal force snapped him out of it with an overwhelming shock to his system.
Tang Shi stands up fully at tries to punch a blur that speed in front of him, but he's smacked away by a stream of light and sent tumbling backwards into the mountain, which disintegrates large pieces of it and sends continent-sized chunks hurling into the sky to engulf a majority of the sky.
The blur shift directions on a dim, Madara dodges a blow to his head by a ball of light with a spinning flip as his arm and hand light up with a chakra blade coming to a fine point at his fingertips. He slides to the ground and dart towards the glistening figure ahead of him. His hand comes down in an arc and collides with a sword-like object held up horizontally.
A momentary stalemate occurs as tremors run down into the other's bones. He increases the chakra and cracks run down the length of the sword. His hand cuts through and touches the ball of light that releases a groan in response before actually drawing itself closer to him and knocking his right hand away. He smirks at the notion of a hand to hand battle.
WIth unparalleled swiftness, he parries an armoured arm and locks it up into a hold with one arm and drawing his body in a twist motion and using the captured arm to pull the figure towards his other hand that collides with the solar plexus, jugular, groin, and several other locations with his hand poised to cut, crush and tear in rapid succession.
Another groan escapes the figure as he points towards his own forehead. A split appears and a green smoke charges out and enters the eyes, ears, and mouth of Madara before he can even react. The figure grabs him by his neck and tosses him through the mountain debris in the sky.
Enduring immense pain and still barreling through the air, he adjusts himself and comes to a stop. His form is revealed in full at this point. A series of bangs ring out from his right but his view is covered by absolute green that surrounds his being. The area around him explodes as his chakra channels to push the fog out of his body with a roar.
Down below Tang Shi smashes against the light with his massive ancient god body, growing to the size of an entire planet this time as the figures on his stars wither even faster with tortures screams. His hand comes down like the sky, and its arrival darkens the ground further. With a flash of light, his entire body is thrown back with blood spilling down his chest.
An enraged roar travels with the light and continues to press Tang Shi backwards with all kinds of divine abilities that are almost too fast to comprehend. He grits his teeth and stops defending to take a step forwards. "Devil Dao: Waning Celestial!" The light in front of him is sucked from the world. Grey and black overtake all.
Madara at this point has already recovered and isn't going to just sit back and watch the battle. He also steps forward and turns into a long arc alongside the fading world and Tang Shi. Not even an ant would fitting enough to able to describe the difference in size, he's like the inner workings of an atom compared to an elephant.
Nonetheless, Tang Shi takes his breath and looks towards his ally, as tiny as he may be, that devilish appearance frightens him. A wave of confidence fills him as his foot lands and shatters large portions of this realm, the colour vanishing in front of him like a wave and overtaking the crimson wave from earlier.
The orb of light ahead of them keeps casting various divine abilities that make the colour in the world fight against grey and black. Madara smiles and pulls his hand back to his waist, his fingers curling into a claw shape. "Gale Style..." He claws at the space ahead of him.
His arm erupts with a powerful light and a massive claw made of blinding light that instantly turns grey and black willingly before shooting off into the sky and becoming larger and larger still connected to his hand by a stream of chakra.
The nails on this growing hand become blades and black symbols appear over the skin of it. "Enemy Decay!" With those words spoken, the claw to which has reached an unfathomable size - similar to Tang Shi's ancient god hand - slashes downwards.
The fabric of space is torn asunder and the void is revealed. The claws pierce the void and warp space around it. It slams into the orb of light while grey and black consume all of the colours in the world. The orb of light is scattered with a scream and a humanoid shape is sent tumbling downwards.
"Not done yet" He tosses his right hand into the sky and the stream of chakra and his hand disconnect and disappear into the sky like a snake. Dark thunder clouds block out the sky. Along with the lack of light and the gloomy clouds and rock above, this realm that was once filled with life and light has become the most disheartening place in existence.
Closing his claw formed hand into a fist and opening it flat towards the sky, a rumble fills the world. "Lights..." Peaking through the clouds are hundreds of thousands of blades that look at the ground below as if it was a hanging chandelier that kept the colour of diamonds. "Falling Down!" His hand travels down and points at the hole in the ground.
The dazzling blades of the only remaining colour in the world are swarmed in black lighting before charging downwards with a whizzing and buzzing sound to accompany it. The cavity in which the humanoid figure was buried is subsequently ripped into a million shreds as each blade dives tip first to murder its target.
"Brother!" Tang Shi lands on the ground with a solemn expression. He stands countless feet high with his speed in hand, his voice descends with an overwhelming presence. "Shen Yaling is in my possession, if you fight, I will destroy her soul so that it will never be able to enter the cycle of reincarnating and then forcefully take you away anyways!"
"I will spare her life and return her to you if and only if you help us return home and come with willingly. If you resist, she dies! You cannot defeat me, let alone the both of us, you know not the depth of my power brother, you are strong, but not strong enough to defeat me as I am, not in this world!"
A deathly stillness comes from the hole. The figure inside is squeezing his fists together so tightly and his white teeth are grinding together almost to the point of breaking. This only lasts for a brief time before his facial expression becomes still. Calm and rational, this change, if seen by anyone, would be incredibly frightening and shocking.
Tang Shi internally sighs from above and beneath his tough act, he's terrified, terrified that his brother will choose to fight, being confident in winning is irrelevant, having to seriously battle the only remaining blood relative in existence is the last thing he wants to have to do. "Brother, please! We can defeat him together and you can keep your beloved."
A layer of platinum hair floats out of the ground and following it is a regal cultivator. Wang Shi looks at Madara up and down and then cast his case upwards before looking down at his armoured hand, stained in blood that is then absorbed into his skin. The last traces of emotion flash in his eyes before becoming as still as the rest of his face.
Madara observes Wang Shi's change and there is a shimmer in his own eyes. "Wang Shi, I suggest you reconsider your position carefully." His words are an obvious threat meant to elicit a reaction. He knows that Wang Shi has already decided to battle, the look in one's eyes can tell a story, and he has read that story countless times.
Wang Shi doesn't acknowledge him, he doesn't even cast a look in his direction. There are no stars at the centre of his brow like with Tang Shi, for some reason, Wang Shi appears to be an ordinary cultivator. Everyone has circumstances, but for an ancient god to cast aside its own heritage to become something else is usually because of misfortune.
After a moment, Wang Shi stops his silence and speaks for the first time, his voice bitter to the core. "Ōtsutsuki Clan, Celestial Patrairch Rank Nine. Tang Shi, Seven Star Ancient God. I am not a match for the both of you with my Nirvana Void cultivation." With a quick motion of his hand, a jade slip is taken out of his storage space.
"But that doesn't mean I can't kill you in other ways." The jade slip is turned to dust that scatters in the wind.
(AN: From here on out, I'll be writing in the past tense instead of the present tense. I find it easier to write in, most importantly. Don't know why I chose the present tense in the first place, I think I had some weird idea of a perspective change for Itachi and Naruto in a much further chapter. Hopefully, the change doesn't bother anyone, I didn't want to just switch with addressing it. Now back to the story.)
The earth shook and vibrated once the Jade Dust drifted into the soil. Wang Shi's expression changed to be tinged with ridicule and mockery as he laughed to himself. A deadly sense of crisis welled up in the hearts of Madara and Tang Shi. They both knew that the Wang Shi before them was an illusionary clone at this moment.
The clone chuckled and faded but not before leaving a few parting words, "I came to deliver a message, 'The time has come that I have long awaited, your scheme is admirable and for that, if you survive I will spar your life for you to see the end of ambition'." Wang Shi smiled sorrowfully and was gone with a drifting sigh.
Both Madara and Tang darted for the entrance in a mad dash. The ground split apart at the foundation. The lava beneath spewed up as volcanoes formed everywhere. This was a complete implosion of an entire realm to kill them both in the easiest method, it's obvious that the Realm Lord sacrificed Shen Yaling to make them not even consider this outcome.
Madara knew that his speed was fast enough to make it to the entrance in time. He reached out and snatched Tang out of the air and flew at blistering speeds to the entrance, it only took a moment to get there but the gate closed shut and a barrier erupted around it long before they could get in. Both of them cursed and started using protective measures.
That's when a bright light covered all things in the realm and Madara's Truth-Seeking Orb closed around them in a bubble. On the outside, the star began to expand, but countless experts appeared outside to restrict the expansion. The expansion stopped and started to condense to the point that it nearly disappeared.
A massive explosion occurred both inside and outside. All the experts were pushed back coughing blood and the cities below were shaken, many of the people within directly exploded. Within, the space cracked and the void was consuming all that remained.
The bubble opened up into a platform to which stood Madara and Tang, "The gates gone..." Tang Shi murmurs to himself, trying to piece together a method to survive and get out without the gate, "Are chances of survival in that void is low, it's not the same as the place that you likely came from to enter this world. It is a sea of deadly energy."
Sure enough, when a piece of space shattered into the void, both of them could see the waves that shredded everything that touched it. Madara's face was grim. With a wave of his hand, he threw a Truth-Seeking Orb down to the ocean and watched as it disintegrated after a moment.
His face turned very grim at that point, "A death sentence..."
Both of them tried different things, "Something fishy is going on behind the scenes, it's definitely an act." Madara was suspicious but the trap was very much real and so he activated his Rinnegan and tried to open a portal to the other dimension but found it sealed and the pathway closing forever.
It was an incredibly effective trap, sealing them inside a realm and disposing of it in a void of annihilation that third step cultivators and himself cannot hope to survive within. The explosion was nearly a delay tactic to stop them from escaping before the realm was sealed away.
But none of that made him suspicious, it's the way that Tang Shi and Wang Shi acted, along with Shen Yaling. The manor in their speech seemed real, the anger seemed real, the sorrow at the end doubly so, but alarm bells went off in his head when he looked back at it now.
He looked over at Tang Shi who looked back at him and said, "Can you open a hole to the other dimension if I break the restriction?" Madara nodded solemnly in return, he still had several ways to survive even in that void ocean but none to return by himself with the seal in place.
A wave suddenly rose up from the void and destroyed half of the remaining world as it barrelled right towards them, "I will need a moment of peace, buy me an incense stick worth of time so I can break the seal." With that said, Tang Shi sat down on the Truth-Seeking Platform and begun to create incantations.
Waving his hand, the Truth-Seeking Platform turned into a bubble around him and thickened considerably. Although it couldn't last indefinitely inside the void ocean, it could survive for a time, showing that the more he added the more time it could survive.
That single wave was easy enough to avoid by going over, but the world was literally sinking into the ocean and space would soon run out. The world continued to collapse, forcing him to dodge and destroy the falling fragment of space with his fist or staff that he had summoned.
But as he got over one, a larger one was waiting for him, he also noticed that a net had appeared above at some moment in time. It descended slowly and pushed the world into the ocean. It was a manifestation of the seal that Tang Shi was attempting to break, or at least, a small part.
A quarter of incense of time had passed when he could no longer rise above the waves, he used every defensive technique in his arsenal, his God Armour in its second-highest state, his Truth-Seeking Orbs, the Perfect Susanoo, not a single thing was left out. Even the Jade Armour was pulled out.
When the wave collided with him, he struggled not to be pushed back or under, his only chance was to make it the other side. A coldness penetrated everything and seeped into his bones, if not for everything holding out somewhat, he'd be dead in an instant.
The first thing to collapse was the Truth-Seeking Bubble that slowly disintegrated around him, the wave made full contact with his God Armour next, it last longer but quickly shattered completely. He waved threw the Jade Armour forward and to his surprise when it made contact with the wave, it trembled.
It trembled but did not break away, for something he found in a home of a mortal, for it to hold up to that shows how powerful of a treasure it must be, but unfortunately, it only brought a couple of dozen seconds before it broke apart into ash. The sword that was with it was not nearly as powerful.
Next, he gritted his teeth and strengthened his body to the max and charged the final stretch. His body shook and tore, but his regeneration quickly recovered his body and matched the destruction for a time, enough time for him and the bubble to pierce through to the other side.
Not even half the time has passed, and another wave was on the horizon and quickly approaching, the net was above him, restricting him from rising above it. He looked at the wave and then the net and an idea popped into his head.
He sat there, another quarter of the time passed before the wave reached him. He did nothing but wave his hand in front of him, his eyes glowed a powerful light that covered the net and in the next moment, the net actually warped to cover his front and collide with the wave.
The wave trembled violently and it met its match. The net also trembled and screeched in pain, it was clearly alive. All of the sudden, a roar echoed from beyond the wave that stopped the wave from advancing further. He himself was kicked back and half of his body exploded.
He recovered and looked up in shock as the wave split apart at the arrival of a gargantuan Swordfish, it released an aura like nothing he's ever felt before, he could tell even if he was a thousand times stronger, if he even came into contact with it, he'd die, a thousand times over.
But luckily instead of attacking him, it ran sword first into the net above that screamed in terror. The net glowed as a part of it was ripped. The glow condensed outside of rip into a Seven-Coloured Crane with an arrogant face, "Y-y-you scum, don't you... know who I serve!"
The crane spoke in a frantic old man's voice that changed into a young man's voice halfway through, "I was born from the Supreme Divine Ultra Mega God-Emperor Alba in its time of sleep to watch over the world, y-y-you better be scared! To think I'd be attacked by seafood with my status!"
The swordfish dived back into the water and out of sight. The crane snorted when it saw this, "Yeah that's what I thou..." Before the crane could finish, the swordfish jumped up from beneath it and slapped the smug bird across the body with its spiky tail.
The bird skimmed across the ocean and recovered some distance away, "I wasn't paying attention, I'll consider that as you playing around with your senior, now get, before I get really mad and have to..." Once again the swordfish slapped the bird away. This repeated two more times.
Each time they clashed, Madara had to pay a heavy price to stay alive and buy time for Tang Shi to finish his ability. He used the Limbo to negate most of it, but even the tiny fraction of the power coming from those two clashing monsters sent his senses ablaze with danger.
When the swordfish attempted to hit the cursing crane, it actually dodged to the side to avoid it as if it just sensed something terrifying, "You bully, I did everything to let you off, I warned you, now you have to die! All of you!"
The crane spread out its wings and nine-coloured light emanated out from beneath the wings. The waves slowed down and the water stilled, a monumental will descended from beyond the realm and reached the crane, "Master! This seafood offended me while you slept, destroy its bloodline!"
"Tang, you need to hurry!" Madara demanded as he opened up the Truth-Seeking Bubble and stared at Tang Shi with glinted eyes. Tang Shi looked at the crane and the swordfish and sweet covered his back.
At that moment, not one swordfish immerged from the sea, but thousands, each as powerful as the first, some even stronger. The waves kicked up again and fought back at the will and started to shoot out and attack the net itself.
A tear appeared across the net and Tang Shi snapped his gaze to it. He waited no longer, "Time Essence Karma Seal" A massive quantity of blood poured from his entire body, forming a blood clone of himself that had a strange glow to it and radiated the power of time.
Two cultivators in his seals withered and died. This was a technique that required the sacrifice of two cultivators in the third-step to accomplish. The blood clone shot into the tear away from the notice of the crane that sent the will raging against the swarm of swordfish killing them rapidly.
"Haha, that's what you get, seafood, I'll cook you, hang your heads on my wall, aren't I great? Don't be afraid to beg for mercy, I am benevolent I promise..." While the crane laughed, the blood clone exited out into the much safer void on the other side of the net and directly exploded.
Red threads pierced further beyond, and the power of time actually reversed the distance needed to travel, "Yes yes, beg for mercy, come on, I...eee?!" The crane turned its head and was completely surprised to see another world appear on the horizon outside the net.
A divine sense washed out and converged on Madara and Tang Shi in an instant. Terror filled both of them, "Madara NOW!" Tang Shi cried. Madara performed some hand seals and his eyes glowed, the crane turned to look at them directly as a vicious and ridiculed expression appeared on its perverted face.
"I didn't even notice at first that it was you who caused the disturbance, haha, how foolish of me...Wait, no foolish of YOU!, How dare you make me think my great self if foolish, blasphemy, DIE!" The will power that slaughtered the swordfishes split in two and charged at them.
Madara's hand shot for Tang Shi and grabbed him, a flicker occurred, in that instant, one of them let out a groan as they both vanished from that spot as the will crashed into and obliterated the platform that they stood on.
Madara: A New Journey