At the lifeless body of the Blood Queen Bee, Kaal crouched down and calmly dug out its core. No one made a move to stop him.
Samrat observed him silently, his gaze lingering on Kaal’s battered form. A cruel smile crept across his face. Without warning, he launched a punch aid straight at Kaal.
The sudden assault caught Ashen and Divya off guard.
Kaal, unaware of the strike at first, felt a sharp jolt in his instincts, a sixth sense provided by the Myriads of Thousand Demon Body. He shifted his weight and stepped to the right just in ti, letting Samrat’s fist cut through empty air.
"Hahaha! Your instincts are top-notch," Samrat sneered, showing not an ounce of guilt for the surprise attack.
Kaal didn’t answer. He simply turned his head and t Samrat’s gaze with eyes as cold as steel. Despite having no Qi left and his body marked by wounds, he stood tall, unflinching, unafraid.
The mont their eyes locked, the smirk faded from Samrat’s lips. The cold, unwavering look in Kaal’s eyes drained the amusent from his face, replacing it with a vicious look.
Ashen glanced at the escalating tension, then at Divya, whose injuries had yet to fully heal. Wordlessly, he drew his sword. Divya, sensing his intention, narrowed her eyes and shifted into a defensive stance, her body tense despite the pain.
The atmosphere was suffocating like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
Kaal looked down at his sword, noticing a long crack running along its blade. The weapon had served him well, but it could no longer endure the sheer force of his physical strength. That was the reason he had begun transitioning to axes in the first place.
With a flick of his wrist, Kaal discarded the broken sword. Then, stomping the ground with explosive force, he launched himself at Samrat.
A straight punch, raw and brutal, shot toward Samrat’s face. Samrat raised his sword to block it.
Boom!
The impact thundered through the clearing.
Samrat staggered backward, forced to take twelve heavy steps before he could regain balance. His arm trembled. The numbing shock from the punch traveled up his wrist to his shoulder.
In contrast, Kaal stood unmoved, rooted like an unshakable mountain.
Samrat’s eyes widened. He had already witnessed Kaal’s monstrous physical strength while he battled the Earthcore Beast, but this... this direct clash made it undeniable. Kaal’s body was beyond normal; his strength was absurd, even terrifying.
The ferocity of the exchange left Ashen and Divya frozen, montarily forgetting their own tension. All eyes were on the two titans.
Just as the conflict reached its peak, a trendous force descended upon them, a suppressive pressure neither human nor beast could resist.
A blinding light engulfed them.
In the next instant, they were flung from the battle site and expelled from the Nirvana Tower.
The Spirit of Nirvana Tower had intervened.
The Spirit of Nirvana Tower hovered above the battlefield, his gaze sweeping over the four figures below. "The second round of the True Dragon Competition has concluded," he declared, his voice echoing across the void like a tolling bell.
His ethereal eyes lingered on the group, and a thoughtful hum stirred in his mind.’ This generation... truly the cream of the crop. First, the competition was interrupted by a bloodline awakening, and now, uninvited Earthcore Beasts appeared. Even more absurd, these four monstrous brats managed to kill one. ’
His gaze paused on Kaal, sharp and calculating.’ Especially this one... The strength he displayed borders on the unnatural. Not even the founder of the Kilvis Clan was this inhuman at his age. ’
With a casual wave of his translucent hand, the remaining participants were summoned and materialized beside Kaal and the others, their expressions a mixture of confusion and relief.
The Spirit turned to the gathered crowd and spoke, his voice resolute."In this round, thirty participants were ant to advance to the final stage. However, all of you are disqualified. Only four have proven themselves worthy: Divya Pawar, Samrat Kilvis, Kaal Kilvish, and Ashen Kairn."
A wave of murmurs and protests rippled through the participants like wind through dry leaves. One of the youths stepped forward, his voice pleading, "Elder, this isn’t fair! How can we be disqualified? That was an Earthcore Beasts! How could we possibly face that?"
The Spirit turned his gaze to the young man, calm yet piercing. Then he looked out over the rest of the participants and spoke, his tone heavy with ancient wisdom.
"Is life ever fair? How many cultivators perish in their pursuit of the Divine Realm? How many die at the doorstep of fate, unable to seize their mont? The heavens favor the brave, the chosen, the ones with a will strong enough to defy reality, or those whose determination is so fierce that it bends destiny itself."
He paused, his eyes now on the four chosen."Look at them. Despite their injuries, despite overwhelming odds, they faced the storm head-on. This... is the heart of the strong. This is what it ans to walk the path of the Dao."
With those final words, the Spirit gave a nod toward the sky."The next round’s announcent will be made by the Patriarch."
Then, like mist caught in a sudden gust, the Spirit of Nirvana Tower vanished from sight.
As the Spirit of Nirvana Tower vanished into thin air, silence fell over the arena. Kaal, Samrat, Ashen, and Divya exchanged glances, each filled with unspoken thoughts, pride, tension, and the weight of what was to co.
Without a word, they turned away from one another, each walking their own path into the fading light.
And just like that, the second round of the True Dragon Competition ca to a quiet, decisive close.
The curtain had fallen.
*******************************************************
[ That evening, within the quiet seclusion of Kaal’s courtyard,]
The sky burned with the last embers of twilight, casting long shadows over the stone tiles. Kaal sat cross-legged beneath the old moonlit tree, his breathing calm, his expression unreadable.
Before him rested the crimson core of the Blood Queen Bee pulsating faintly, as though it still contained traces of the creature’s dark will.
According to the knowledge etched deep within the Origin Core, a whispering guide hidden within his bloodline, his Hell Asura Bloodline possessed the ability to devour demonic beasts and obtain their abilities.
Ordinarily, the Blood Queen Bee was a Spirit Beast, an intelligent beast, not a demonic beast. But sothing had gone terribly wrong. This one had been corrupted, twisted into a Demonic Beast by an unknown force.
And that... made it a target.
In theory, the core should be safe to consu. But theory and practice were not always kind allies.
Kaal stared at it in silence, the weight of his decision hanging heavy in the still air.
Then, after a long pause, he spoke aloud his voice low but resolute voice."If I want to reach the top... being a coward is not an option."
Without hesitation, he lifted the core and swallowed it whole.
If anyone had witnessed Kaal’s actions in that mont, they would have recoiled in sheer horror.
To directly consu a beast’s core was nothing short of madness, a slow, suicidal death. Beast cores contained not only raw, untad Beast Qi, but also fragnts of the creature’s dying will, chaotic, violent, and utterly incompatible with the human ridian system.
Ordinary cultivators knew better. No one dared consu a beast’s core directly. It was alchemical law that Beast Core must be refined, purified, and tempered into pills before a human could safely ingest it. Even then, the risk remained great.
And yet... Kaal had swallowed the core whole.
The Blood Queen Bee’s heart still pulsed with residual fury, its will clinging to existence like a specter of vengeance. For most, it would have torn through the soul, ruptured their dantian, and left nothing but a mangled corpse.
But Kaal was not a madman. He has confidence in the Hell Asura Bloodline
Beneath his skin, the Hell Asura Bloodline stirred. A cursed legacy, ancient and monstrous, forged not to coexist with the laws of nature, but to defy them. It did not reject the chaotic Beast Qi; it devoured it.
Kaal felt the burning begin almost instantly, a searing fla flooding his veins, clawing at his soul. Yet his expression didn’t flinch. He closed his eyes, his breathing slow, calm, controlled.
He had placed his faith not in alchemy, but in the {Origin Core}.
"This is the path I’ve chosen," he whispered to himself, voice steady amid the rising storm inside him."And I will walk it alone, no matter the cost."
Far above, the moon hung in silence, watching as the boy who swallowed death began to forge it into power.
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