A clash of metals rang out in the deserted alley where two people fought. There was a strange barrier that covered the alley and it prevented the destruction inside from leaking out to the outside world.
But inside, the fight was raging on with the exchange of moves happening fast enough that for an ordinary person, it would look like a blur.
Not only that, but the pulse of the transcendent energy made it so that the small rocks inside were flying chaotically, and the dust swirled around the two people.
“In the end, it comes to whose fist is bigger and whose power is stronger!” The old man used the walking stick as a weapon and managed to deflect a stab attack by Long Wu.
The walking stick was made from Orichalcum and Long Wu knew this. It was quite a good metal to be crafted into a weapon. But his dagger was made from part Adamant so the hardness and sharpness were practically guaranteed.
“Looks like it is the case.” Long Wu did not deny the old man’s words. After all, he knew well enough about someone with the moniker of the Right Hand. But to destroy a weapon made from Orichalcum was not easy, even if his weapon was made partially of Adamant.
Reinforcing it with the transcendent energy gave it extra hardness and durability that enhanced its capability beyond its physical hardness and that applied to armaments made by Orichalcum.
Then Long Wu plunged straight into the attacking range and slashed his dagger at the old man. The old man dodged it quite easily since he knew the style of the person in front of him. Then he retaliated by swinging the stick at Long Wu.
Long Wu parried using his free hand, forming a palm as it redirected the swinging stick to somewhere acceptable within the vector range.
But it caused them to be deadlocked in the heat of the battle. Using the transcendent energy to fuel their battle as well as clashing their weapons against each other in each exchange. Their eyes narrowed as the only focus of this battle was the two of them.
Long Wu had known the old man and the old man was the same. Both of them knew each other’s moves and responded in kind, move after move and they countered it with another move after move.
Pressure was rising and each time the two clashed, the pulse increased and put a strain on the barrier that had appeared. The transcendent energy caused by the two changed the area inside the barrier, as black became the main color that appeared.
The black color swirled, as if the two inside were the ones stirring up the black undead element.
While the two were in their battle, the situation outside was different. Chaos was barely subdued but then the rest of the Glings gathered toward the one who was controlled by the Queen.
“Merge. Be the one who changes the fate of my race in this Star Battle!” the Queen ordered them to merge and become something more powerful than they were ever individually.
The Queen believed that the Red Moon in the sky was a gift from the Metamorphic God and she intended to use it to her fullest. She knew its effect and intended to use it for her advantage.
The Mist Glings then became a purple mist that slowly gathered and became dense enough that the purple mist could not let light come through.
The Queen felt that the Gling became something stronger than the strongest transcendent in the Star Battle. Add the Red Moon effect and it became unrivalled in this place. She believed that no being could match it now.
The transcendent who was scattered throughout the Central Plains City looked at the condensed purple mist and realized that a pressure of a higher power came from the mist. Their hearts beat faster as a sinking feeling rose in their mind.
‘Whatever that is, we cannot match it.’ That was the thought of the transcendents.
One such transcendent found about the barrier that enveloped the deserted alley. He held his scythe carefully for a potential attack from the enemy but all he could perceive was the pressure coming from the barrier.
‘This kind of barrier prevents anything from the inside from coming out so easily. The barrier sometimes trembled. Is there someone who battled in there?’
Lucian thought before he gripped his black robe to confirm something. Then the black robe shone faintly in a calming white light before dimming and fading.
‘According to the members of the Hunters, this place is the general location of their leader Long Wu. Could it be that the one inside the barrier is him?’
Lucian frowned when he thought in that direction. Whoever created the barrier meant that he understood the transcendent energy utilization and it was probably an advanced mastery.
He also remembered that Tatsumi reminded the reinforcement about his teacher’s movement in this place and he could not help but connect the issues.
‘Although I know that Long Wu is probably inside but this barrier cannot be broken from the outside.’ Lucian thought as he attacked one section of the barrier with his scythe, enhanced with the transcendent energy and it only caused ripples on the surface of the barrier.
He was worried that the strongest of them were entangled in the battle, that the creatures who was the result of the Glings gathered in one location became more formidable as time went by.
Add the Red Moon in the sky, which let out an ominous light, causing even Lucian to have cold shivers.
Another clash of metals rang out inside the barrier as Long Wu and the old man matched each other. The battle was extended to hundreds of moves but clearly there was no definite winner.
But both of them still held back and did not unleash their trump card either.
Long Wu felt his hands both slightly numb from the attack, parry and defense that he had done. The old man was also feeling the strain of doing the moves but his energy was still enough to emanate. Long Wu was also similar in that he radiated the energy without restraint.
“Solid foundation is the way after all.” Long Wu breathed out and regulated the flow of energy inside his body. His core was spinning at a fast rate since he needed that much for the exchange. He said that because he realized that the foundation allowed him to gain an advantage against someone who had great strength.
“You are fortunate with that but it does not mean that you will win with that alone.” The old man said.
Both of them met each other’s gaze as they prepared to use their trump card. Whoever emerged from this would become the best transcendent in the entire civilization.
Long Wu was the first to move. He had someone at the Transcendent Academy to test some of the theory he had and even became a cooperative project. He sensed a certain part of his body and poured the energy into it, forcing it like a floor gate to be opened.
He remembered the one who wanted his cooperation of this one.
-
Long Wu was looking at the body structure of the human body according to the transcendent scientist in the academy called Maito Dai.
“So what you are trying to say is that there are eight specific points in the body that can enhance the foundational power of a transcendent?” he made sure to ask, since this topic was interesting.
Maito Dai replied with a grin. “Well, it is quite a discovery but the problem is that it needs a strong body to endure the rampage of the transcendent energy in your body. But theoretically, it can enhance your foundation by manifold depending on the individual.”
“How do you open these gates then?” Long Wu decided to ask the important question.
“You need to pour at the specific point in a certain manner…”
-
Long Wu felt that the transcendent energy inside his body started to go into an uncontrollable state as he opened the first gate. He felt that his body was expanding to compensate the transcendent energy that was rampaging throughout his energy pathway.
Even his core became more active at letting out the transcendent energy. Long Wu did this while in the move and used this for the attack.
On the other hand, the old man underwent a gruesome transformation. His blood vein then changed color to that of purple while his entire frame increased in mass and proportion, becoming something like a giant. His skin became copper-like while his eyes turned purple.
Most of all, his pressure increased as he was affected by the Red Moon.
“This is true power, youngster! This might!” he said while only using one hand to block Long Wu’s attack. He assumed that the attack would be destructive but costly. He was right but there was one thing he miscalculated.
Long Wu poured the remaining rampaging energy into his limbs and pushed for the attack. Long Wu realized that the attack power of his surpassed even the highest power output of a self-detonated Core Formation Realm transcendent.
“Sorry to disappoint you but this is the true power!” Long Wu let himself smirk at the thought of increasing his foundational power manifold, directly increasing his output.
Limb against limb, the two matched their move and then the biggest energy pulse happened and shattered the barrier that enveloped the two.
Lucian who realized the pulse energy then retreated a few meters before stopping. The barrier did a last job at preventing the outburst of the two fighters from spreading out. Then the barrier disappeared like a soft light spot while dispersing slowly.
Lucian could see two figures standing still. One large and the other smaller. It looked like the battle had come to an end as he could see the smaller fighter retracted his fist and arm.
“You may have transformed similar to a Gling but what I have found is the way for the transcendent human to wield their own power at the foundational level. It came from the weak that you despised so much.” Long Wu looked at the transformed figure and then there was an explosion of flesh in the torso of the giant figure.
The moment the old man changed into a giant, Long Wu’s sharp sense felt the change in the weakness of the figure. It was right at the place that was supposed to be the heart. Long Wu did not know the exact reason why the head became not a weak point but he would not ask that.
Whatever the case, his attack shattered the protective flesh and bones of the old man and reached the heart, obliterating it along with the rest of the torso, although it was delayed. Without a shadow of doubt, the life force disappeared from the remains of the body.
Then he felt that blood flowed out from his orifices as he got the backlash from opening one of the gates in his body.
But he was still able to walk as he realized that there was another transcendent that stood not far from the alley.
“Who are you?” he asked in a language that the other would feel familiar since Long Wu realized that they were not from this continent, judging from the inner clothes the figure had.
“You can understand me, no wonder.” Lucian suddenly had his eyes glint with delight.
“What is that entity there?” Long Wu pointed at the Gling who were the manifestation of the combined Mist Gling and were currently causing destruction in the downtown.
“That is the Gathered Mist Gling, the combination of the dozen remaining Gling in this city. Please help us in dealing with that creature.” Lucian requested help from this figure.
He knew that the giant which was Long Wu’s opponent, was not even his match. He would lose if he faced the giant but Long Wu could defeat it. It meant that Long Wu may stand a chance at defeating the combined Gling.
“I can see that but why are you asking me? Dozens of transcendent are in this city so they should be able to overwhelm that creature.” Long Wu asked for clarification.
“Because of that thing in the sky!” Lucian pointed at the Red Moon.
Long Wu realized that the thing probably increased the strength of the Gling and he realized that the giant was strengthened by the object in the sky too.
He furrowed his brow as he thought about the power of the old man after the transformation and realized that the Gling who was destroying things now had similar power.
‘But opening the gates required me to take the backlash. I am not sure if I can do it consecutively but for now let me heal myself.’ Long Wu thought while opening the pouch and drank a potion.
The potion served as a supply for transcendent like him to heal both physical injuries as well as help in dealing with the depletion of the transcendent energy.
His body slowly recovered but he had to move quickly since the Gling was destroying the supply depot as well as trying to kill the officers of the Cerulean Defense Force.
“You lead the way, I will follow.” Long Wu said to the transcendent in front of him.
Lucian sighed before he nodded. He moved and as expected, Long Wu followed him. He then moved to the Gling location where his companions had gathered.
The Gling became something that towered equal to the high-rise building in the city but some transcendents tried to attack it.
Long Wu saw all of this and realized that the attack results were minimal to none at all. He felt that they lacked the power behind their attack as the attack landed without even causing a small mark on the surface of the Gling’s skin.
Core Formation Realm transcendent did minimal damage but it was not decisive and the Gling went on a rampage.
“What’s the current situation about the Gling?” Long Wu finally met someone who could talk to him since the others had to deal with the giant Gling.
“Ah, you have appeared. Thank goodness.” The man sighed in relief after seeing Long Wu. Lucian did not understand their words but knew that the Hunters' members were relieved to see Long Wu.
“The situation is critical. While we have managed to take down some Mist Glings and the traitors, we cannot prevent the giant from wreaking havoc in the downtown.” The man said with a grim face.
“Because you lack the necessary power for it, right?” Long Wu cut to the case and asked for confirmation.
“Yes! Do you have a solution for this?” The man looked at Long Wu, starry-eyed.
“I will try to damage it. You all just need to strike where I land my attack and it will be done.” Long Wu relayed to the man. The man felt like he had heard something unbelievable but he had to put his trust in someone like Long Wu.
“I will relay your words.” The man then used a communication device to contact not only the Hunters but also the reinforcement unit that came to stage an all-out attack against the giant Gling.
The downtown area was fortunately more governance-related than residential so the evacuation was an easy matter. They had to move under the fight between the Gling and the transcendents to distract the Gling from destroying any facilities and buildings.
One building had been destroyed, razed to the ground as a result of the appearance of the giant Gling. The evening light made the Gling fiercer and threatening.
But several other buildings were tilted, on the verge of collapse and the transcendent had to fight in the limited space where there was only a small field where they could unleash their power and fight.
“Orders received! We will coordinate our attack with Leader Long Wu.” The transcendents received a transmission about their current order.
They realized that Long Wu was probably the only one who could damage the giant Gling and possibly defeat it.
The rest of the scattered transcendent gathered after receiving information that the all-out attack was going to commence. They did it after making sure that there was no variable to the operation zone.
“Gather at the downtown!”
“We are coming!”
“Let’s eliminate the threat!”
There were quite a lot of people gathering at the nearby location of the Gling and some of them tried to engage with the Gling. They were careful; they only did some probing to measure the power of the Gling.
Red lightning flashed and some of the transcendent were electrocuted but still managed to retreat from the swing attack by the Gling.
“Incoming transmission from HQ. Listen up, everyone!” from the communication channel, there was a new piece of information and it came from an unexpected place.
Long Wu and the rest of the transcendents listened up as they looked at the formidable frame of their opponent.
“The unknown object in the sky is the reason why the enemies in the Rift and our planet to becoming stronger. The official name for it is the Red Moon of the Rage but we can also call it the Red Moon. The frontline is having a tough time since they are being attacked by another wave of the combination of the Gling and the Elves but those at the Central Plains City should know the effect themselves.
“We ask that you, from the Hunters as well as from the Transcendent Academy as reinforcement team up and eliminate the Glings in your location. We can only hope for the best and plan for the worst. That is all from the HQ. Please engage the enemy!”