Chapter 16: Aurelia vs. Arslan
Aurelia and Arslan, these two unbelievably strong Dantian Grade experts were glaring at each other, only moments away from engaging in a fierce fight. Both of them released powerful spiritual energy that immediately put the coliseum under a stifling pressure.
Dantian Grade cultivators were the recognized elite of not only the Azure Dragon Kingdom, but instead the whole Four Divinity Continent. A cultivator of this caliber was an untouchable existence and under normal circumstances it was impossible to meet such an individual.
They released their whole power, which meant they also released their invisible law energies, which further amplified their already strong spiritual energy. Their spiritual energy and auras were clashing against each other, creating various phenomena.
One type was fierce and unrestrained and basked one half of the coliseum in a mesmerizing green, while the other half was tainted in blood red and formed numerous illusory, yet deadly lotus flowers.
Aurelia and Arslan clearly did not intend to give the other party any room to take advantage off and instead released their full power right from the start.
Just before Aurelia waved her hand to direct her short sword, another person crashed down on the stage like a meteor falling from the heavens, standing between them.
The person was engulfed in raging flames, throwing the previous stalemate in chaos. The instant the person appeared, the surrounding temperature rose to shocking heights.
Right now, there were actually three powerful Dantian Grade experts on the stage. The mere presence of these experts caused ripples in the air.
Seeing those near legendary existences on stage, caused the spectators to gasp. Many of them have never seen such powerful experts, as Dantian Grade cultivators were the cornerstones of their respective sect or force and could even found a force by themselves.
The third person who appeared had an ugly look on his face, because two Dantian Grade experts interrupted the tournament, which was equal with giving him no face at all. The person surrounded by the raging, orange flames was the patriarch of the Hunlua Clan, Dyetz.
He was watching the spectacle unfolding on the stage with great interest. But after the two experts entered the stage, he was forced to take action, because he was the host of the kingdom’s tournament this year. So, he was responsible for everything that happened.
Originally, he planned to form closer ties with the Azure Dragon Sect by using the kingdom’s tournament, as this year, even an elder of the Azure Dragon Sect was attending the tournament.
For that reason, he wanted to make sure that the tournament proceeded without any unforeseen events, but after seeing Aurelia and Arslan completely disregarding him and the rules of the tournament which forbid any form of interference by external factors, his heart nearly stopped beating immediately.
As the clan leader of the Hunlua Clan he was responsible for everything that happened and two Dantian Grade experts fighting against each other during the first round of the kingdom’s tournament certainly was not how things were supposed to be.
Frightened by the reaction of the Azure Dragon Sect, Dyetz had to stop those two from fighting, even though he was unwilling to oppose Aurelia or Arslan and the forces that stood behind them.
Never in the history of the tournament has someone dared to blatantly disregard the rules. But today, it actually happened, in his Hunlua Clan! And they were even two late stage Dantian Grade experts. Even more reason for him to stop the fight. Otherwise, his Hunlua Clan may not exist tomorrow.
Dyetz turned to Aurelia and Arslan, who were like fire and ice and pleaded, “Fellow Daoists, please stop your actions and give this old man some face.”
Arslan and Aurelia had long expected for Dyetz Daoists to enter the stage. It would have been weird for him not to act. Still, for them, it did not matter. In the great scheme of things, the measly Hunlua Clan could do nothing against them, so they cared little about what Dyetz was saying and ignored him completely.
Dyetz naturally noticed their indifference and was furious inside. The flames surrounding him grew more powerful and the temperature increased greatly again. At this moment he was his spiritual energy with his law power.
He took a last look at the two experts and took a deep breath. If they would not listen to reason, he could only try with force, even though it was likely for him to be beaten into a miserable state.
However, for the sake of the Azure Dragon Kingdom’s face and prestige as well as the dignity of the Hunlua Clan, he had no choice. He had to act right now.
Before he could take action, however, a calm, yet imposing voice spread though the arena and another man appeared out now nowhere between Arslan and Aurelia, “You two you sure have guts, interrupting the kingdom’s tournament.”
The three Dantian Grade experts looked at the newcomer. Arslan and Aurelia looked unsightly, but Dyetz breathed out and was relieved instead. They all recognized the newcomer.
The newcomer was old, had gray hair and a long gray beard. He wore an azure robe, with majestic dragons woven into the fine linen.
This old man was the one who spoke with Arslan earlier and was called Old Dragon Dario by those who knew him. Old Dragon Dario was the elder of the Azure Dragon Sect, who was sent to attend the tournament.
At this moment, his presence alone subdued every living being in the coliseum. Even the visitors were suppressed. Breathing became tough and everybody felt their blood flow slow down due to the immense pressure. Some unlucky fellows even fainted.
This seemingly harmless old man was clearly furious.
Arslan and Aurelia who stood in the center of the suppression immediately became pale. Old Dragon Dario was also a late stage Dantian Grade monster, but he could suppress all the other experts with ease.
The reason for that was simple: Dario was no normal human. He possessed something extremely valuable. It was a drop of blood of the Azure Dragon, which flowed through his own veins.
The Azure Dragon Sect was an ancient sect and had deep roots. In the ancient times when they were at their peak, nobody could threaten their position, as they were humans with dragon blood flowing in their veins.
The Azure Dragon was one of the four holy god beasts and only one drop of its blood was extremely powerful. The neighboring kingdoms on the Four Divinity Continent, were named after the three other god beasts and strove for supremacy since time immemorial.
The White Tiger, the Black Tortoise and the Vermilion Bird were existences which stood on the same level as the Azure Dragon. The other kingdoms also had leading sects which inherited the blood of the other god beasts.
However, as time went by, the rich heritage of the Azure Dragon Sect became sparse. Their once proud bloodline was on the decline and the Azure Dragon Sect today was only shadow of its former self.
Even with a diluted bloodline, they were still the overlord in the Azure Dragon Kingdom. For the Azure Dragon Sect today though, every drop of Azure Dragon blood was incomparably important and the fact that Dario possessed one drop of Azure Dragon blood, showed his high standing in the sect.
After he unleashed his bloodline power, he recalled it while he spoke unhurriedly, “It is normal in tournaments for accidents to occur, but what the two of you are doing is going too far.”
Dario executed a formless pressure, even without his bloodlines power. He then slowly turned to Aurelia and spoke with a warning tone, “In regard to your disciple life and current situation, I will not punish you further for your presumptuous behavior. I will even overlook your accusations of this young man being on the demonic path. Look clearly in his eyes. Is that what a demon looks like?”
After he said those words, everyone looked at Yasha and surprisingly, his evil aura was already withdrawn and his eyes regained their clarity. It was clear, that he finally regained control.
The moment Yasha regained control over his body, he was shocked by what he saw. It was similar to what happened some days ago when he underwent his awakening. At some point he lost his consciousness and he had no control over the events that took place during his absence, because at both times, he entered an illusory realm.
However, those two realms did not really exist. Only he could enter and leave them. Whereby, Yasha was not sure about the second realm he entered, the dark chamber. That was something even more mysterious than the Glory of the God of Battle world and the heaven piercing mountain in it.
While Yasha thought about that weird dark room, he shuddered violently. It had been too scary! One after another, more memory pieces from his encounter in the dark room appeared inside his mind.
The absolute darkness in combination with the piercing coldness made him tremble once more.
And when he thought about that poor person, lying on the hard, cold ground, cowering in fear and pain, Yasha shuddered even more. The scariest part was that he could feel all of the painful feelings the person felt.
The person not only looked like him, he even felt the same as the person. One of the most intense feelings at that time had been despair. Absolute despair. At that point, he could not really distinguish between his thoughts and the thoughts of the person on the ground.
What was the reason I could leave in the end? I only touched the person and then everything suddenly changed again. What does this exactly mean…? Yasha could not grasp what was happening.
With an empty gaze, he slightly tilted his head and watched the gloomy dawn painting the sky. For how long did I lose control this time…?
Yasha’s odd behavior was naturally noticed by everyone in the arena. In Old Dragon Dairo’s eyes flashed a little light that vanished nearly immediately after it appeared. Aurelia still looked at Yasha with enormous killing intent and Arslan looked at Yasha with deep concern.
Dyetz knitted his eyebrows and tried to see through the simple black robe of Yasha and with his cultivation base that naturally was no problem. After he saw those unfamiliar red eyes, pale skin and snow-white hair he was lost in thought. Why did this young boy look so familiar to him? Have I seen him before somewhere?
Yasha ignored all those gazes directed at him. After some seconds, he took a deep breath and returned to reality, facing the chaos he induced.
His previous tranquility and determination, was replaced by a thick cloud of uncertainty. He was not dumb, so he knew what had transpired after he saw the unconscious girl in the wall, the destroyed stage and at last, the powerful persons on the stage.
Yasha had no way to judge their unfathomable cultivation bases, but he was sure they were real experts, who could kill him with ease, even though he inherited the uncontrollable powers of the Asuras. He naturally recognized Arslan, but was too ashamed to look him into the eyes.
Even though Yasha was scared by what he had done, he still dared to face Aurelia and looked her straight into the eyes. Of all the persons standing on the stage, he felt the greatest resentment from that woman. From that he concluded that she was someone that was close to the girl he fought against.
Still incomparably furious, Aurelia stared back at Yasha and returned his gaze. She saw a pair of blood red eyes that looked demonic and mesmerizing at the same time, but Aurelia had to admit that they showed even more than that.
As she looked more deeply, those eyes alone gave her an unfathomable feeling. This pair of eyes seemed to possess no end. They were limitless, deep like the ocean and wide as the universe. But there was also an innate stubbornness, prestige and even divine.
Not only that, at times she thought that she looked not at one person, but at countless pairs of eyes, a weird and disturbing feeling. Something she could not grasp. The longer she looked at the silent Yasha, the more her fury cooled down.
Yasha had no idea what Aurelia was thinking or who she was, but he still needed to do something to quell his inner discomfort. He cupped his fists and spoke with a guilty voice, “This junior is deeply ashamed of what has happened. I cannot control my power well enough. It is my fault, so I hope you will accept this apology.”
Aurelia looked flatly at Yasha and snorted, “What? A simple apology suffices? You really make me laugh! You basically crippled my disciple! Your words mean nothing to me!”
After her furiousness calmed down a lot before, it now erupted with even more might.
Yasha shook and smiled bitterly. I crippled her in the end. Fortunately, I did not end up killing her. Otherwise, she would have already shredded me into thousands of pieces. And I would probably not be able to forgive myself…
Contrary to his expectations, it was an old man with an azure robe who answered Aurelia, “Aurelia its enough! I already said, how I will handle the situation. Or do you want your Soaring Sword Sect face destruction. Don’t keep challenging the Azure Dragon Sect’s might!”
Aurelia was unwilling to let the matter go, but she had no other way. The Azure Dragon Sect was a hegemon that she could not afford to offend, forget her, even the Soaring Sword Sect could not hold a candle in front of the enormous Azure Dragon Sect.
Even though she did not understand why Dairo protected Yasha, she bit her teeth and swallowed her unwillingness. Then she turned around and flew to Alice. She grabbed her and together they flew off to the horizon, leaving the arena.
Yasha had no idea who the old man was and why he would help him, but this old man seemed to be of extremely high standing. When he saw the dragons on the robe, he had a faint guess who that man could be.
This robe… Why would an elder of the Azure Dragon Sect help me? Is it just to save face for his sect, because some experts entered the stage and interrupted the tournament? Yasha did not know why, but he was sure that there had to be another reason for the old man to step in and help out.
After Dairo had dealt with the chaos on the stage, he smiled meaningfully at Yasha and then went to the judge and spoke some words to him, after which he returned to his seat in the VIP area.
Arslan wanted to speak with Yasha, but he also had to return to his seat, as he could not afford to anger Dairo any further. He was already lucky enough that Dairo did not pursue his interference in the kingdom’s tournament.
On his way back, he glanced at Yasha one last time, who once again seemed to be lost in thought, thus Arslan could only leave reluctantly.
Now, Yasha stood in the arena in complete silence. He just stared on the ground. Nobody knew what he was thinking. The other participants looked at Yasha with fearful eyes. From their point of view, he was a monster, who had no limits.
Of course, not everyone was feeling the same. Aside of the six prodigies, some others were able to resist the sudden outbreak of the Asura blood. Those were also not frightened and were instead eager to have a fight with someone like Yasha.
Deeply hidden in the crowd, the old man from the Weapon Pavilion intently watched everything. After everything returned to calmness, he stroked his beard while staring at Yasha.
Lost in thought, the scene where the Asura Blood took control over Yasha’s body played over and over before his inner eyes, while he pondered about one particular part. This power and this aura… Hm, it does feel slightly familiar. It must be a bloodline, I am sure now. But, what kind of bloodline is it? The Yama bloodline? No, that’s not it. That boy’s power is too fierce. Inheritors of the Yama bloodline are more enigmatic and are not that fierce.
Maybe it’s some kind of beast bloodline? No, this isn’t it either. His power is also kind of sublime. It is really too weird, I have not seen something like that before. One thing, however is clear, this bloodline is incredibly tyrannical.
The crowd did not dare to make the slightest bit of sound, while all of the events took place. Only now, after all the Dantian Grade experts left the stage, they started whispering again. They were all completely frightened by the battle.
The whole attention was now on Yasha and the sole topic of discussion was Yasha. The rest of the six prodigies were not even mentioned once. Everybody wanted to know who the black clothed man was that made three Dantian Grade experts enter the stage because of him.
Not much time passed and the familiar voice of the judge echoed though the arena, “Because of some unexpected events, the second round of the tournament will be postponed to tomorrow.”