Leon, He Fen, Lang, Fenrir, Haruno, Mareo, Lilian, and Mia. The comrades and friends he, Lian, Ye, and Xing had managed to find despite coming from a distant place. When he was in the Flower Sect, he and his family had led a solitary lifestyle, far from the other sect disciples. Therefore, even if he looked favorably on the sect companions who had fought with him in the Secret Dimension, the relations.h.i.+p between them couldn't be called friends.h.i.+p.

Now, however, this was different. In the months spent together facing the hard lessons of the academy, Hei, Lian, Ye, and Xing had deeply linked with these eight companions that fate had wanted them to meet. Although he had revealed nothing of their origins, Hei decided to share the contents of the Spirit Registration Sphere with them, which he never thought he would have done in the past.

"You don't need to thank us, you know," Leon replied, slightly embarra.s.sed. The young man no longer had the dark and disconsolate expression of a few days ago. Instead, he was full of determination and desire to live. Since the cause of his change lay in Hei, there was no need for Leon to receive thanks. He had already sworn to help Hei for all his life.

The other two, He Fen and Lang, nodded to agree with Leon's statement. Although they didn't know of the promise between Hei and Leon, they had learned from the latter about the Spirit Metal donated by Hei. Therefore, their already good opinion of the young man from the Forgotten Ocean improved dramatically. And even though they didn't need Spirit Metal, it was comforting to know that there was a friend who was willing to go so far to help them.

"Come on, tell us that Long Tian gave you!" Lilian intervened, destroying the silence in the room.

"d.a.m.n it, woman! You never know how long to keep your mouth shut. Can't you read the situation?" Mareo complained. He had remained respectfully silent because he had noticed a certain heaviness in the atmosphere.

"Why? Don't tell me you're not curious about the reward Hei received from Long Tian. And then, if Hei called us, it's because he wants to share it with us, right?" Lilian then turned to Hei.

Seeing this interaction, Hei laughed. It was a spontaneous laugh, like those he hadn't done for a long time. Lately, he felt more and more comfortable with his other companions, and not only Lian and his little sisters.

When Hei started to laugh heartily, Lilian observed in amazement. The others were also quite surprised because they did n'6 expect such a reaction. Lian smiled since Hei was happy. A few tens of seconds pa.s.sed, but for the observers, it seemed that minutes had pa.s.sed.

"Sorry. Anyway, yes. Lilian is right. I called you here to share what Long Tian gave me. It is a Spirit Registration Sphere, and from what he told me, inside there is a recording of the final battle that took place a hundred thousand years ago between humans and demons, in which also the spirit beasts led by the divine beasts appeared."

Thud!

As if a boulder had crashed into their bodies, Hei's eight companions widened their eyes as if they couldn't believe what they had just heard. A record of the final battle between demons, humans, and spirit beasts? All they knew of that event came from information pa.s.sed out verbally, often contaminated by untruthful facts. They didn't know there was any tangible evidence of that day, or rather, they didn't think it could exist. Yet, now, before their eyes, there was the possibility of observing that legendary event in history, not only of humans, or demons, or spirit beasts but of the whole world.

Between all eight Hei's companions, Lang and Fenrir had the most restless heart. Their heads had stopped thinking to make room only for the sphere contained in Hei's hand. As members of one of the Beast Families who fought a hundred thousand years ago alongside the spirit beasts, that battle had a special meaning for them. It was the living proof of those families' resolution who decided to turn their backs on their respective races rather than turn their backs on their spirit beasts companions.

Hei noted their reactions, especially that of Lang and Fenrir. Since they had common circ.u.mstances, he could understand what the couple of beast tamer and spirit beast was feeling.

"I want to say one thing first, though. Long Tian told me that each of the people who view the contents of this recording has different reactions to each other. There have been some who have been emotionally traumatized because they thought they didn't have the talent to reach that level. I don't know what kind of reaction you will have, and honestly speaking, I would be sorry to ruin your future because of something I have shown you. I have faith in you, though, so I decided to call all of you here. But it's your decision. If you accept the risk, then I will show you the content. If you don't feel like it, then leave the room. Whatever your decision, our relations.h.i.+p will not change."

Hei's words were sincere. Everyone present there could see the concern in his voice. However, none of them decided to leave. In their hearts, despite what Hei had said, they all felt that if they were to go now, they would regret it for the rest of their lives.

Seeing that none of them had left, Hei smiled and sat on the ground, putting the sphere in the center. Everyone else followed suit and put their hands on the sphere together. Hei, therefore, activated the recording contained inside.

Fuzz! Fuzz! Fuzz!

The walls of the room began to distort as a kind of buzzing entered their ears. This sensation lasted for a short time and ended as soon as the surrounding environment stabilized.

Whoos.h.!.+ Boom! Clang!

When Hei and the others returned to display things correctly, all of them were greeted by an explosion of noises and colors. Blades were colliding with each other, bursts of flames and other elements, blood, and corpses that were scattered all over the battlefield. The number of fighters easily exceeded any possible imagination, and Hei calculated at first sight that the number could amount to hundreds of thousands, if not millions.

As for the Spirit Registration Spheres, unlike the books that told their content through words and ill.u.s.trations, the spheres instead carried the users' consciousness inside them, projecting the registration in the users' minds. In a way, it was like being transported to a different reality, only that it was done with the mind rather than the body.

Therefore, all twelve who were watching that recording could perceive every single detail, from the sound of battle and the sickening smell of blood to the suffocating pressure of spirit power dwelling on the battlefield.

"Insane. I can't believe my eyes." Haruno exclaimed, looking in amazement at the furious clash that was happening before his eyes. Humans and demons were fighting with all they had, without sparing even a single drop of their energy. All they wanted was to kill their enemy.

Peng! Peng!

Suddenly, the attention of all twelve went to a point near them. A crystal ball floated in mid-air while a golden formation protected it. A little further on the sphere stood a fascinating-looking human man who conveyed a feeling of wisdom. On his hand, he had a sword that sent flashes of yellow light with some shades of black.

Before the man, there was a male demon. The demon had a pair of horns sticking out from the sides of the head. Unlike the human, the demon had a wild appearance and transmitted ferocity and pure power, totally different from the sensation of majesty from the male human.

"Chong Zemin! Haha, who thought my opponent would be you. Being a bookworm, you are not so bad. How about keeping me up until a more tempting opponent breaks free?" the demon chuckled as he hurled himself against the human called Chong Zemin.

"Yuan Cao. If you want to fight me, there is no problem. It's just that you're wrong about one thing. You won't be able to find another opponent because you will fall here. Rejoice, though; my sphere will record the moment of your death." Chong Zemin replied to the demon named Yuan Cao.

At that point, Chong Zemin's spirit power exploded from his body, pouring out. Overwhelming pressure spread all around. The other humans and demons who were nearby stopped fighting each other and backed away from being killed by that deadly pressure. Only Yuan Cao remained unperturbed at this sight. He smiled even more and released an amount of spirit power that was not inferior to Chong Zemin's.

"Chong Zemin? The historian Spirit Emperor about whom Long Tian was talking? Then his opponent must be a Spirit Emperor as well. "Hei deduced; he remembered the name of the person who made the registration.

"Earth Law, Sand Waves."

Quickly, Chong Zemin's spirit power turned into sand that took on a sinuous appearance like the waves of the sea. While waving his hands, the sand began to move at high speed, rus.h.i.+ng against Yuan Cao.

"Phantom Law, Repeating Fire Bones!"

Tiny bone fragments were fired from every single pore in his body like a volley of bullets. The barrage of bone bullets crashed into the sand waves, pus.h.i.+ng them away. However, the amount of sand was too much, and eventually, it reached the demon. Yuan Cao then proceeded to dodge, continuing relentlessly to shoot his bone bullets toward the enemy this time.

Peng! Peng! Peng!

Bone bullets. .h.i.t the defensive sand barrier conjured up by Chong Zemin, who didn't appear concerned at all. Instead, the human continued to have his eyes fixed on the demon, trying to overcome his defenses. Eventually, he succeeded, and his sand trapped Yuan Cao, creating a sphere of sand.

"Crus.h.!.+" Chong Zemin closed his palm, and the sand that contained Yuan Cao closed on itself to crush the demon that was inside.

"Incredible!" He Fen exclaimed before that demonstration of control and speed of the human martial artist.

"It's not over," he informed Lang that he had noticed movements in the sand sphere.

A white hand covered in blood-red stripes came out of the sand sphere. Subsequently, a second hand also came out. Together, they began to push outward and easily tore in half the sphere of sand that should have had a high density, and therefore, it was difficult to think that it could be destroyed in that way.

"Chong Zemin. What's up? That's all you can do? You know it takes a lot more to break my bones. How about skipping the pleasantries? We are both Spirit Emperors; there is no need to limit ourselves." Yuan Cao then grinned with pure euphoria while looking at his opponent.

"Zhuyan Ape Bloodline, Activate! Weapon Materialization, Gashadokuro!"

A twenty-meter-high skeleton materialized from the mace held by Yuan Cao. The skeleton was composed only of bones but was wrapped in a ghostly light that gave it a feeling of death as if it had just been resurrected from the afterlife to inflict punishment on the living.

Yuan Cao then slipped between the s.p.a.ces of the bones of this gigantic skeleton, stopping in the center. "Yuan Family Secret Technique, Bone Armor, Underworld Warrior Skeleton!"

Incredibly, Yuan Cao's Spirit power enveloped the entire skeleton, and suddenly, a thick layer of white bones with red stripes, similar to the ones on the demon, also appeared on the giant skeleton. After that, a mace made up of bones appeared in the right hand of the Gashadokuro, identical to the mace held by the demon. The most sensational thing was that every single movement of Yuan Cao was faithfully reproduced by Gashadokuro as if it were a sort of puppet.

"Desert Worm Bloodline, Activate! Weapon Materialization, Sand Jar!"

As had happened with Yuan Cao, a projection of spirit power emerged from Chong Zemin's weapon and materialized in the real world. This time it was a jar made of sand that went to tie behind the back of the human martial artist.

"Secret Technique, Warriors of the Desert!"

An immense quant.i.ty of sand came out of the jar. The sand was divided into ten equal parts, which began to twist until ten sand soldiers were modeled, each equipped with double-bladed axes and a sand armor.

"The Desert Puppeteer, right. You honor your name." Yuan Cao congratulated him. Unlike his arrogant and provocative att.i.tude as before, he now had an expression of alertness. While it didn't seem, Yuan Cao wasn't a type to take lightly his opponent, especially a Spirit Emperor. His overbearing comments were made to put pressure on the enemy, but since they had no effect, there was no need to behave that way anymore.

"The Skeleton Ape. The rumors about your account also are true. Well, it would have been a shame otherwise. Do you think your skeleton can keep up with my sand soldiers?" Chong Zemin asked, laughing. His dignified and elegant att.i.tude of before had disappeared, giving way to an overwhelming fighting spirit.

"Ahaha, I should be the one asking this question. I hope your toys don't break so easily. Because my bones are much harder than you think! "

At that point, the scenario began to distort again. Seeing this, the twelve spectators who were watching this scene from the past startled. They wanted to see more, but it wasn't possible.

"What happens? It's already over?" Mia asked. Although she was a supporting martial artist, as a martial artist herself, she couldn't help but be enchanted by such a show of strength and battle ability. After all, although the general rule was that supporting martial artists had to stay in the rear to support their comrades, it wasn't like there were exceptions.

In the past, there had been supporting martial artists who, making use of their knowledge in their respective fields, were even capable of defeating and killing attacking martial artists. And this also happened among those who were at the apex of this world, the Spirit Emperors. As a result, Mia didn't mind the possibility of having an overwhelming power like the two fighters she had just seen. If she had that power, she could fight alongside her companions and protect them instead of having to stand and watch.

"Long Tian said these are only fragments. In total, there are three. So I would say this is the end of the first fragment." Hei explained as his heart began to beat faster. It is because the next fragment concerned the entry into the battle of the spirit beasts led by the divine beasts. And at the head of all of them, there was none other than the creature known as the Serpent of Darkness, the legendary ent.i.ty that had destroyed part of the continent.