During the last 15 years, other than cultivating, Knox did nothing else. The only times he went into the Forgotten Library was when he needed a new cultivation technique, which happened a total of two times now — one for the Golden Core Realm and one for the Nascent Soul Realm.
It was the obtainment of these Saint-rank Cultivation Techniques that allowed for smooth sailing into a Peak-Saint Rank Foundation.
"I have no clue how good such a Foundation rank is within the Moonlord Kingdom, but I don't think it's too bad," Knox coped, hoping that his start wasn't as bad as he believed it to be. "The Divine Rank is above the Saint Rank, and something like an Outer God Physique is of said Rank. So surely the Saint Rank can't be the worst…"
*Ding!*
[Wrong! The Divine Rank is not above the Saint Rank! Who told you this!?]
"...Pretty sure you did…"
[Then you're mistaken, because the Supreme Rank is above the Saint Rank! Then comes the Divine Rank!]
Silence…
With his comprehensions of the Scriptures, Knox honestly didn't feel much anger anymore. Thus, in response to the System's remarks, he simply returned to the act of Cultivation.
But in the back of his mind, the thought that he truly was lacking in terms of Talent and Prospects gnawed away at him…
Eventually, after the passing of a couple relatively mundane weeks, Knox couldn't take it anymore.
*Fwooosh—!*
He rose from his cultivation mat, swiftly moved outside of his room, and headed for the exit.
However, suddenly smelling something heavenly waft into his sniffer, his head turned. There, standing by the house's kitchen was Lily Serpentine. She sang a faint tune while swaying left and right in her loosely fitted apron, giving Knox a naughty view that he didn't ask for.
'Void thy mind… Void thy mind…'
With that, his expression blanked. And even while staring at Lily's mostly exposed backside, he felt nothing.
"I'm going out," he said, startling her a bit. "Would you like to come?"
Shifting around to face him, Lily's eyes instantly brightened. She placed down her rubber spatula and leapt at him, though stopped just before touching him.
"Would… Would like to come if you'd have me," she mumbled, fidgeting in place, her sparkling eyes casting furtive glances at him. "B-But if you'd like me to stay, I can do that too—"
"No, you need to get out every once in a while," said Knox, ruffling her hair with indifference. "Come, let's see if this City has anything interesting."
"Mhm!"
With that, Lily quickly changed and the two of them left their home. And while strolling toward the huge, almost dystopian city of metal in the distance, Lily didn't know whether she should hold onto his arm or not.
She wanted to, but felt like it might turn him away…
While fighting with herself, she failed to notice the passing of time. And before she knew it, they were already deep within the limitlessly large city, looking up at a large arena-like building in the deeper parts of District B-5021.
"Fighting Arena," it read. Nice and simple.
But a tad below those massive neon glowing letters was fine print that read, "Life and Death Battles await you."
Lily's nervousness grew at the sight, but Knox couldn't be any more thrilled!
Without hesitation, he stepped to the back of a very long line. Hours later, he and Lily finally made it to the registration area.
A couple of seconds later, and after filling out some dubiously written paperwork involving risk of death, Knox successfully signed up as a fighter in the Arena.
It was as easy as that to put your life on the line!
In the World of Immortal Cultivation, no one purposefully sought out death, but in order to evolve, death sure as hell found its way back to them!
Entering the enormous Fighting Arena, Knox saw thousands upon thousands of rows of seats, with a multitude of different kinds of people lining the rows. The weakest among them were poorly dressed commonerfolk in the Qi Condensation Realm, whereas the stronger among them were of the Void Refining/Void Crossing Realm.
In the higher-level Kingdoms like the Moonlord Kingdom, the Void Refining Realm was often referred to as the Void Crossing Realm. And it were these types of powerhouses that could be found pretty easily as long as one looked hard enough.
Down below the countless rows of seats was a very big isolated space. It was both fortified by numerous high-tier formations as well as manipulated by the Law of Space to incorporate more space on the inside than it took up in reality.
Sensing the Law of Space reminded Knox of his Law of Time, urging forth an exasperated sigh.
Over the years, he did his best to progress the Law of Time past Level 3, but it was easier said than done. Even with the constant presence of Lily by his side, going beyond Level 3 was near impossible.
Then again, the Time Law was so overpowered for a reason…
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to announce that today will be a very exciting and fruitful day in the Moonlord Kingdom's #1 Fighting Arena franchise!"
The Announcer's booming voice reverberated, and in no time at all, the Spectators erupted in cheers. This was a day that many of them had been waiting for.
It wasn't every day that two Behemoths of Dawnshaw City's Southern Districts came out to play!
And even the Void Crossing Realm Powerhouses were impatiently anticipating what was about to go down!
Seeing that the crowd was raring to go, the Announcer—while standing high above in the VIP stands—raised his hand.
A pin-drop silence followed.
Suddenly!
BOOOOM!!
With the dropping of his hand, the Announcer's loud voice was muffled out by the thundering of two godlike figures appearing in the arena. Their dramatic entrances caused the crowd to go crazy, with all of them screaming out two domineering names that struck fear in the hearts of any who opposed them.
Amplifying the volume of his voice, the Announcer finally got around to shouting, "Welcome Fighting Arena Rank #1, Ba Tian Long, the Overlord Heavenly Dragon!"
OOOM!
Ba Tian Long radiated an immense pressure exceeding the Void Crossing Realm, making even Knox start to feel the pressure.
"And Fighting Arena Rank #2, Xue Ying Wang, the Bloodshadow King!!"
WAAA!
The Bloodshadow King's aura was far different from the Overlord Heavenly Dragon's, for it exuded a strong omen of bloody death. But that was in no way to say that his was any weaker than the latter, for they were both absolute powerhouses surpassing the Void Crossing Realm.
Even while isolated in a spatially encapsulated world, everyone outside felt their hairs stand on end just from the energy being passively emitted from their bodies. It was enough to make even Void Crossing Realm VIP Spectators go a bit pale.
{[Ba Tian Long (Body Integration 2nd Layer)]}
[Age: 2780/5300]
[Cumulative Prospects: Mid-Saint Rank]
{[Xue Ying Wang (Body Integration 2nd Layer)]}
[Age: 1763/5360]
[Cumulative Prospects: High-Saint Rank]
'So even powerhouses of this level are still within the Saint Rank,' Knox thought. 'That's good to know.'
As for this Body Integration Realm…
Well, it was nice knowing what lay above the Void Crossing Realm. But if he were being honest, all he wanted to do right now was slay them and take all their Attributes for himself.
'But the Scriptures… They forbid senseless killings…'
Brooding over the matter, Knox wondered how he should go about Attribute farming then. And ultimately, he figured that since he couldn't senselessly slaughter people, all he had to do was get them to strike first.
Then it would be categorized as self-defense, no?
While lost in thought, the two Body Integration Realm champions of the Fighting Arena faced each other with a suffocating amount of tension. Their expressions gradually grew fiercer, with their figures releasing even more stifling energy into the surroundings.
"They can't hurt us from in there, can they, Big Brother?" Lily asked from the side, pulling on the bottom of his blackish-gold robes.
Knox shook his head, alleviating most of her unease.
"But this fight will certainly be a very educational one, so you should watch closely," he added. "And in case you were curious, these two are of the Body Integration Realm. The Realm above the Void Crossing Realm."
"Body Integration Realm?" Lily repeated, a finger cutely pressed against her bright red lips. "How powerful is that? Stronger than you…?"
In her heart, no one was stronger than Big Bro. But as she came to learn as of late, the World of Immortal Cultivation was rife with the unknown. And with the unknown came the extraordinarily powerful.
Knox wore a complex expression, with even he himself unsure of the question she asked.
On his way to Dawnshaw City, he encountered a large group of Bandits who wished to rob them and take Lily for themselves. The Leader of that unusually well-organized group was a Bandit in the 5th Layer of Void Crossing.
And though the fight got a little out of hand toward the end, Knox won pretty easily.
But in comparison to the auras of the two facing off in the Arena…
Like the difference between Heaven and Earth.
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!