Chapitre 144: The battle with Yue
The Phoenix sword vibrated vigorously in response to Ace's desire to fight, the intense heat comforted Ace and obliterated his fears.
Ace could hear the soul of the Phoenix sword, it was whispering into the depths of his soul, "There's no battle we can't win together."
"Devil Sage Yue, come at me with all you've got." Ace taunted as slaughter energy gathered into his sword, it's the power within full control of Ace that wouldn't affect his mental state.
Yue returned Ace's arrogance youthfulness with a cold gaze, her body approaching Ace in an unorthodox pattern, quickly and stealthy.
Ace tried to follow Yue's movements, but each time he located her position, it was already too late because she would have made her next move.
Left without a choice, Ace could only utilise the combined destructive power of the frost and fire elemental laws as his sword stabbed into the ground, causing an impactful shockwave around him.
"Scarlet Frenzy First Slash: Imbalanced Harmony!"
The sudden surge of energy around the area forced Yue to reveal herself for a split second, the confident smile on her face telling Ace that the fun has only just started.
The next moment, Yue vanished once again, her entire presence was nowhere to be detected by Ace.
Knowing that going on the offensive wasn't possible against an opponent that was lurking in the dark, Ace surrounded himself with the Nirvana Flames to prevent Yue from pulling off a successful ambush.
There was one fact that Ace had neglected up till this point. If Ace was given enough time to think, he would have realised that Yue possessed the strength to end the battle from the start.
As for why Yue was going through the tedious process of extending the battle, it was so that she could gauge Ace's strength and how he would fare compared to the geniuses of the Divine Realm.
"Swoosh!"
Razor-sharp projectiles surrounded Ace the next second, each resembling a broken shard of glass.
The razor-sharp projectiles sliced through the air, each dashing in an unorthodox movement as they aimed towards Ace's vitals, making a change in their course of direction whenever Ace managed to figure out their trajectory.
There's gotta be a way to defend myself from her attacks that could strike at any moment. Ace thought to himself as he devised multiple battle plans that could be of use, only to abandon them cause his plans wouldn't be practical in this situation.
Left without a choice, Ace decided to pull out his trump card. The Slaughter Law and the first ability of the nine major blood pools. The ability to devour all surrounding energy in a burst within seconds.
Ace initially thought that this ability would only come in handy when making a cultivation breakthrough or when there are countless cultivation resources that he had to absorb in a short period of time, but this unique method only arose by a stroke of luck.
Ace faintly remembered the portals that he had stepped into until now and realised that there one thing in common. The portals had a strong suction force to them that encompassed the area around it. That was the concept Ace grasped.
The Slaughter Law formed a suction force with Ace as the centre, enabling the countless projectiles to be controlled be within his control, as he destroyed all of them easily with his Phoenix sword.
"Devil Sage Yue, there's no reason for you to conceal your strength to gauge my limits. Let's have a battle fair and square." Ace lowered his sword and pointed it towards the ground, the natural demeanour of his gaining the approval of Yue who revealed herself.
Seven orbs, violet in colour just like Yue's hair, danced around her as though they were her precious children. With a single thought from her, the seven orbs spiralled around Ace as they continuously targeted his vitals rapidly.
The lightning speed velocity of the orbs made it difficult for Ace to even retaliate, the Phoenix Sword losing its lustre against the seven orbs in each collision.
Ace was struggling to even defend himself and in just the matter of seconds, blood stained his black robe with visible wounds apparent on his body. The wounds were deep to the point that his bones could be seen, but his grip on the Phoenix Sword only tightened.
Yue on the other hand was standing casually as she spectated the scene of Ace getting crushed by her energy orbs.
"Is this all you got to back up your confidence? If that's the case, your life ends here." Yue said calmly as the orbs merged and formed a crescent, rising into the air as the amount of energy concentrated in it grew exponentially,
The next moment, the crescent ripped apart the air and gradually moved towards Ace at a snail pace, but the amount of energy concentrated within it was increasing with each passing second.
Left without a choice, Ace could only dash towards the crescent as he gathered all the slaughter energy within his control, releasing all his strength knowing that this would be the final chance he had.
For the first time, Ace knew the severity of the situation as he burned his blood essence. This might affect his foundation and future cultivation progress, but if he perishes here, then there wouldn't even be a future for him to think about.
Relentless ignition would be pointless in a decisive collision, if he had utilised it earlier, it might have been of use, but now, there was only one risk he had left to take.
This boy is burning his blood essence? What's with this familiar feeling his blood essence is giving me? Yue thought to herself as the crescent and Ace's sword finally collided.
"Shattered Past!"
This was Ace's strongest attack method, but it was also a double-edged sword. If he fails to end the battle here, then only death awaits. But it was evident that the battle wouldn't end here considering that Yue was a true Mystic Sage Realm cultivator.
"Boom!"
"Swoosh!"
By the time the thick fog of explosion dissipated, Ace had already collapsed onto the ground. He was still conscious, but his body was devoid of strength, he lacked the strength to even lift his finger and could only watch as Yue walked up to him while holding her crescent sword.
It seems that this is the end of the line for me...I'm sorry Charlotte. This was the main reason Ace wanted to grow stronger, he sought the answers, but more than anything else, he just wanted the strength to protect those around him.
Ace wanted to move, but he couldn't even blink right now. That was the drawback of 'Shattered Past'.
In exchange of strength in a short time frame, his mental energy was completely exhausted, the same went for his body which had to withstand, contain and exert that amount of energy.
It was the energy that went beyond the total capacity his body could hold.
Yue however, did not take Ace's life. Instead, she approached him and forced him to swallow down a precious elixir from the Divine Realm, which helped him to recover to his peak state in a matter of seconds.
If it was just recovery elixirs meant for a Martial Lord, then it might not have been of much use. But to a Mystic Sage like Yue, even the lowest grade elixirs she would have with her would be of the 7th grade and above, which is usually meant for Martial Saints.
The chance of Ace being unable to absorb the essence contained within the recovery elixir existed, but Yue's instinct told her that Ace would be able to absorb it considering the familiar blood essence she sensed in that brief moment.
The blood essence Ace lost might be slightly troublesome to recover, but it was still fairly easy to Yue who finally revealed her true purpose.
"Not bad...to think that a Martial Lord first realm cultivator like you, would possess strength equivalent to that of a Martial Lord eighth realm cultivator in the Divine Realm."
If it was some other genius, they might already be jumping in joy upon hearing this piece of great news, it was a feat that even countless talents in the Divine Realm couldn't accomplish.
In the Divine Realm, anyone that could defeat an opponent that was three minor cultivation realms above them was considered a genius. Those who manage to defeat someone a major realm above them when in the Martial Lord seventh realm and above, while considered talented.
As for those who were able to truly suppress anyone within one major cultivation realm of theirs, they were the true demons of the cultivation world that everyone in the younger generation looks up to. Even the older generation has to respect them unless they possessed similar talent when young.
"Aren't you going to kill me?" Ace asked upon realising that Yue had kept her sword.
"I don't have a reason to kill you since you've proved yourself to at the very least be quite talented. But you have to remember that I suppressed my cultivation realm to the same realm as yours, yet I still managed to suppress you without difficulty."
Ace lowered his head in the disappointment of his own strength, especially when he had a system which gave him an edge over other cultivators.
"Devil Sage Yue, just how strong are you as a Martial Lord first realm cultivator?" Ace couldn't help but ask as he found himself a new goal, forgetting the prideful moments of himself defeating opponents with cultivation realms above him with ease.
In the end, cultivators in the fragmented cultivation world were still too weak for him to consider as true opponents, now that he knows of the Divine Realm and the difference between the two.
"Me? I can easily defeat anyone in the Martial Lord Realm. Even Martial Kings wouldn't be able to defeat me even if they can gain the upper hand." Yue replied as though this amount of strength she possessed wasn't worth mentioning, but to Ace, it was a different story.
Ace had found himself a new goal to strive for, one which he found impossible, yet knew was achievable.
What Ace didn't know was that the Mystic Sage itself was a peculiar realm that only the chosen ones could step into. This was because of the three harsh conditions that must be met. The first demanding them being undefeatable in the Great Saint Realm.
That itself was a title that had to be acknowledged by all. As for the other two prerequisites, that was something Ace would know in the future.
"New system mission has been issued!"
Mission: Lead your disciples in the ongoing annual sect competition and defeat the Moonlight Cult
Rewards: Based on the number of victories your disciples manage to gain over the Moonlight Cult
Mission difficulty: Extreme, failure to complete the mission might result in disaster befalling your disciples (Details are unknown)
Penalty: Death of disciples (Details are unknown)
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone