Timeless Prominence

The female judge clapped her hands and a thick dome fed by aurae tendrils wrapped itself around the arena, locking in Rein and Runzkr!

Elder Baejenh did not only order the judge from the Fusion Sect to not interfere upon Runzkr breaking the rules and activating shell advancer power against Rein in a supposed inner advancer battle. She also ordered the outer realm judge to lock in the two young advancers!

Overseer Jeahz immediately flew into the air from his seat, only to be blocked by Convergence Sect Leader Xunzkr.

“Are you truly capable of blocking me?!” He growled. He had reached the mid-telekinetic stage. “You are just a lower-telekinetic advancer. Step aside or suffer the consequences!” He did not actually care about Rein-- what he cared about was using Rein to draw out the hidden House Larne advancers in the Great Sects!

“And what if I block your path as well?” Elder Baejenh, too, hovered and obstructed Overseer Jeahz’s path.

“Are you not meant to be neutral? So you showed your real nature finally,” Overseer Jeahz sneered as he placed his hands behind his back, helpless. The watcher, however, should arrive soon! She, too, was a telekinetic advancer. That would change the tides.

“Who says I’m not being neutral?” Baejenh smiled as she asked mysteriously. To Overseer Jeahz, she was simply attempting to enrage him with these words.

Within the now domed-off arena, Runzkr had already covered his body in a layer of earthy aurae, fully engaging his shell advancer arts.

“Rein,” he scoffed. “You are a dead man. No one can save you now. You may have taken the life of that cousin of mine. But my sect leader has many children and grandchildren. And I am the best of them! The true strength of our convergence tempering art can only be shown when used alongside the accompanying shell art!”

The earthly brown aurae layer pulsed, sending multiple aurae waves to concentrate towards Runzkr’s right fist and left leg. The pulses converged as Runzkr pushed off his left leg and punched with his right fist!

That focus of power gave Runzkr an explosive acceleration towards Rein.

Rein had no time to dodge and could only react reflexively, as he raised a left arm to block the fist with his elbow.

He could feel his flesh and bones creaking as he was sent stumbling backwards, and was forced to slightly twist his body to dispel the force from Runzkr’s fist.

He had to admit, he was intrigued. He wasn’t about to just stay passive, and soon responded by activating ‘Frog Leg Release’, pushing his body forward as he swung a fist.

“See my lovely tits~” The sound of Suey’s flirtatious voice sounded.

Runzkr’s eyes seemed distracted by something, and he failed to block Rein’s fist! Rein’s full-powered fist struck Runzkr square in the chest, and it was his turn to be sent stumbling backwards like a drunk man!

“Look at the scar on her face! That will help you stay focused!” A woman dressed in the Convergence Sect robes shouted to Runzkr.

Rein threw another punch, but Runzkr had no fear as he successfully blocked with a left elbow. This time, Rein was shocked to discover that on blocking his fist, a pulse traveled from Runzkr's elbow towards his right arm’s fist!

That pulse combined with other pulses, concentrating a thick cloud of aurae around Runzkr’s right fist. Runzkr returned this fist, and this time, Rein was sent flying before crashing into the dome formed by the judge. Runzkr shell art had the ability to absorb Rein’s punch and combine it with other pulses to strengthen Runzkr’s attack!

“This is the end!” Runzkr declared arrogantly.

“Look at this lovely sight!” Suey sounded again. Rein had no time to contemplate what the woman was trying to do. Runzkr’s eyes retained its full focus-- he was clearly not falling for any more tricks.

Runzkr was now up close before Rein. Rein blocked the first fist, and was surprised to find it not all that powerful. He blocked a second-- another weak fist! Then the third fist struck, and although Rein blocked it properly with an elbow, he was sent flying, his back crashing into the encasing dome again!

This repeated a few times, and Rein soon noticed a pattern-- Runzkr’s first two punches were somewhat weak, and yet the power of the third fist could never be resisted. The pulses on the aurae shell responded and converged with every serious third punch! Rein guessed that the first two punches functioned as a method to gather and store strength for the third punch.

This was the first time that Rein’s tempered draconic body had been pushed to the brink, and he was amazed to feel a wooden vitality healing his flesh. He wasn’t quite sure of the exact strengths his body tempering would have, but he now discovered that his body had strong recovering abilities-- it was truly a vitality-based tempering art that drew life with its wood-based element.

Having been knocked around a few times, a trickle of crimson blood rolled down the corner of Rein’s lips. He wished to retaliate, but was very much concerned that the aurae layer around Runzkr would simply absorb his attacks and converge its power into Runzkr’s own offense.

Rein knew that he had to retake the initiative. Surely, Runzkr’s aurae shell had a limit to absorbing the forces of repeated attacks.

“To think your body is this tough and durable… but I came prepared! I will have your life! I will deliver your judgment!” Runzkr’s hand forcefully ejected a stream of aurae and formed a bright sun blade!

The Convergence Sect members observing the battle were all smiles. “The Hand of the Sun. It’s rare for mid-shell advancers to have the aurae depths to form such a blade! His blade will burn through even the toughest of flesh!”

Rein had no desire to be struck by such a blade. He had no weapons to respond with-- the ones provided to the inner advancer arena lacked the strength to withstand his above inner realm physicality. His eyes glanced around him and he grinned. An idea popped up into his mind! It would have been difficult to put this idea into action without the strong dome encasing the arena.

He activated his ‘Frog Leg Release’ at the maximum, and crashed into Runzkr’s body like a flying arrow! Though Runzkr grimaced, the pulse he absorbed now traveled across his aurae shell, threatening to be returned to Rein sooner or later.

Rein was not done. He crouched and activated his unique inner advancer skill again. Runzkr swung his hand in an attempt to slice through the flitting form of Rein, yet missed! Rein did not aim at Runzkr this time, and had instead shot himself onto the underside at the top of the encasing dome.

Another explosive release from his legs, and Rein’s fist smacked Runzkr flat against the ground! With the encasing dome, Rein’s ‘Frog Leg Release’ allowed him to push off in every single direction. If that dome was not there, Rein would only have been able to angle himself by pushing off the ground, a far less effective application of power through his legs!

His form was now a zigzagging light dot, repeatedly bashing into Runzkr’s body. Rein was ecstatic to find his hypothesis correct-- The pulses across Runzkr’s aurae shell had begun to grow discordant with the rapid irregular tackles that Rein performed. Though Runzkr attempted to stab his sun blade at Rein form, he could never quite get the angle and timing right, with Rein coming from every single direction at him.

Runzkr had come across a weaker variation of the ‘Frog Leg Release’ before, but those were many times less explosive due to their users not having the toughness of Rein’s body. As such, his eyes struggled to keep up with Rein’s form. He spun around in the center of the arena in an attempt to keep Rein’s position within his sights!

“Don’t you dare!” Sect Master Xunzkr could see that the situation inside the encasing dome had changed. He truly cared about this talented descendant of his, unlike some of the others. He dashed forward to break the dome, only to be blocked by Elder Baejenh!

“I did say I was impartial,” Baejenh expressionlessly stated.

Xunzkr attempted an attack, his mouth opening in a scream as waves of aurae pulsed and threatened to converge into an all-powerful ear-splitting sound. Elder Baejenh simply thrust a palm forward, and an icy projection formed from her compressed aurae flew forth, severely freezing the converging pulses and preventing the compilation of power.

Xunzkr circled around as he attempted to avoid Elder Baejenh, only to now be blocked by Overseer Jeahz! This Sect Leader could only glare at the two with venom as the aurae shell protecting Runzkr cracked and shattered into a thousand pieces!

Rein maintained his relentless assault, bouncing off the inner surface of the dome and ground, repeatedly hammering the increasingly dazed Runzkr. The pulses on Runzkr’s flesh, too, was now a discordant mess, and Rein knew he had successfully pushed the man’s body to the limit of his tempering art. A final fist and he bashed into Runzkr’s neck with an angled fist, his ears filled with the clear cracking sound of the man’s neck snapping before the body crumpled onto the ground.

Rein then straddled the limp body and repeatedly pounded Runzkr’s skull until it was nothing but crushed bone and pulp-- he had to ensure that the man was unsavable!

The encasing dome was removed. “Victory goes to Rein of the Halls,” announced the judge.

A brawl began as the Convergence Sect members on the side rushed at Rein to take revenge, only to be met with a wave of the Halls’ members from the other side. A fool activated a powerful inscription art on his weapon as he swung his sword, only to be blocked by Xeeseir!

Before he even knew what had happened, that powerful art had been reflected by Xeeseir’s origin skill, ‘Rebound’! His eyes were filled with disbelief as his body was quite literally split into two by his own strike.

“Withdraw!” A deafening roar from Sect Leader Xunzkr stopped the brawl. “All members of Convergence Sect. We will have our justice another day!”

“You are not justice,” muttered Rein in reply.

“An ant dares to speak?” Sect Leader Xunzkr glared at the man who had killed one of his beloved descendants.

“You are no justice!” Rein declared as he raised his voice. “You came here to take my head, blaming me for Dunzkr’s death. I am quite incapable of killing Dunzkr! I am but an inner advancer! All of you know it was Supreme Jensure who righteously claimed his head-- he wished to defend me, for I am an underling within his faction! You only target me because prior to his death, Dunzkr, an outer advancer, had shamelessly attacked me, an inner advancer!”

“If you were just, you would lay the blame at Dunzkr for attacking an inner advancer as a noble ouer advancer!Or attempt to take Supreme Jensure’s head! But you are weak and incapable, and thus sought to target me to vent your anger! I can only respond and defend myself with equal force! This is fair. This is justice!”

The Halls’ members roared with approval at Rein’s words. By now, Rein’s impression of the Great Sects had dropped significantly. Frankly, all the opponents he faced today seemed to be related to the sect leader too…

Sect Leader Xunzkr had the desire to kill this young man before him, but he was blocked by Elder Baejenh and Overseer Jeahz. His only retort would be through words, yet he could find none due to Rein’s sharp tongue.

Then, out from the west, a messenger with a panicked expression raced towards Xunzkr and delivered a message to the Sect Leader. Xunzkr only had an alarmed expression.

“All Convergence Sect members! Return to the Sect!” He turned to Rein. “Step foot into the western wilderness, and you will find your death!”

Rein’s response was to wrap his arms around the deceased Runzkr’s ankles and fling his body towards Xunzkr! Sect Leader Xunzkr had no choice but to catched the corpse with a shattered skull, else Runzkr's body would be flung onto the ground! Though humiliated, Xunzkr could once again, do nothing!

The Convergence Sect quickly left. They weren’t the only ones-- the Sun Sword Sect also left.

“We have matters to deal with.” The Uni Sect and the One Formation also left!

“Well done,” the watcher’s voice sounded once Rein had reequipped the Halls robe. It had been disabled for his duels, the rules stating that none could bring a defensive armament onto the arena.

“A war should be starting. The Convergence Sect has been severely weakened, and the Uni Sect should pounce and take advantage. Even if the Convergence Sect cannot be conquered, they will lose resources and the grudges will be deepened!”

Rein sighed in relief at having completed this mission. He lacked experience with the various skills of the Great Sects, and had relied on intuition to win that last battle. Indeed, the best method to deal with Convergence Sect Arts was to relentlessly attack with a powerful force to disrupt their odd pulsing artform. Rein’s legs had turned numb from the repeated use of the ‘Frog Leg Release’.

“Who’s this young man?” A handsome white-haired prince approached Rein. Rien knew this to be the prince, for his robes had the white black-striped tiger sigil of the Dingien Clan!

“Rein,” he replied with hooked fingers and a deep bow.

“Second Prince Tohrsen. He has yet to pass the test of surviving the western wilderness,” commented Overseer Jeahz.

“No matter,” replied the prince. “I am simply drawn to talents! Especially those not corrupted by the Great Sects!”

He strode past Rein, who maintained his head lowered in reverence.

“Xuere Lyne!” Rein could hear the second prince exclaiming behind him. “I’ve come to see you. A good battle. You are worthy of--”

“Rein!” Lyne’s cool voice tickled Rein’s eardrums. 

No… please don’t. Rein complained in his heart as he pretended not to hear Lyne, dreaming that her utterance of his name was but an illusion. He knew that the second prince was here to ask for Lyne’s hand in marriage, and also to gain Xuere Clan’s support for his fight for the throne. He had no desire to get on the wrong foot with a member of the Dingien Clan.

“That was an amazing battle!” Lyne continued joyously. Her voice was getting louder, meaning that she was approaching Rein! “I did not know you had such a strong and robust body… hmm.”

This had to be intentional. Rein’s impression of Lyne had always been her rather cool demeanor, very much a more innocent precursor to Baejenh’s more hardened icy nature.

Luckily, at this very moment, Suey plastered her body against Rein’s right arm, her tits crushing obscenely against his body. Rein turned and raised his head.

“If it isn’t Miss Lyne, the future princess of our nation!” He could already feel a glare of dissatisfaction from the second prince. “The second prince is here, so I will be retiring with my kitten!”

He tenderly stroked Suey’s cheeks before dashing off while carrying the minx by slinging her body across his right shoulder. Due to the woman’s short dress, and lack of undergarments, this position essentially displayed the flower between her thighs to all present! The honeyed liquid between her legs from their previous action within the woods still flowed lewdly…

Rein thought perhaps he’d avoid the second prince’s anger by taking such action, displaying debauchery not befitting of a man acquainted with the cool Lyne. He was wrong-- he could feel the heat of the second prince’s gaze following his back as he left!