36 The Ancient Battle

Van continued to watch diligently, increasingly tempering his soul as the Qi fluctuations continued to bombard him. If he hadn't hidden in the crater, causing most of the Qi fluctuations to be dispelled, his "body" in this world would've instantly disintegrated the moment the battle had started. The crater had a friendly Qi that fought against the fluctuations from the battle. For some reason, it didn't harm Van in any way.

That was a good choice on my part.

Van thought to himself. He continued to watch the battle, trying to find any chance of enlightenment. The battle continued to rage on with heavy losses occurring on either side. A no mans land had occurred around where the 7 gods battled.

Van's ancestor was fending off 3 gods with each hand. When Van opened his Qi sense to try to get a closer look, he immediately withdrew it and coughed out a mouthful of blood, severely injured. The fluctuations were too strong for him and even with all of his endurance, he would only last a moment longer, while inspecting the fluctuations with his Qi sense, before he would perish.

The battle raged on for what seemed to be hours before the six gods realized that it wasn't going to end anytime soon. The leader of the six pulled back and his face started scrunching up as he concentrated his Spatial Divine Force in front of him. A moment later, a rift appeared and out of it the shaft of a sword could be seen as the weapon slowly emerged.

An expression of surprise had appeared on the face of Van's Ancestor, quickly replaced by a grim one. He could fend off the six gods but with an unknown factor joining in, he wouldn't be able to control the fluctuations.

Van's ancestor clenched one of his hands and threw a fist at the lead god. A surprised grunt filled with pain, could be heard coming from the leader of the six gods. The rift disappeared and the handle fell off, cut off from the rest of the whole.

The eyes of the three gods glistened as they found their opportunity, they launched a full scale attack. A Water Dragon, Vortex of Fire, and Blade of Lightning descended upon Van's ancestor. Expressions of glee could be seen on the faces of the 5 ruffled but uninjured gods. When the attacks landed, a sickening crack could be heard as it reached the torso. One of the ribs had barely cracked from the impact of the full powered attacks from the three gods.

This time the grunt of surprise came from Van's ancestor. By this time, many of the combatants nearby had perished from the fluctuations. Van's ancestor had lost control of them, inflicting severe losses to both sides.

Van watched diligently as a studious student would when he found the perfect professor. The gods were applying Qi in ways that he would never have imagined was possible. This ancient battle was really an eye opener for Van. Once again, he was reminded of how vast the path of cultivation really was.

The large amount of death Qi allowed his enlightenment of the Death Dao to reach new heights. In fact, his understanding had made a breakthrough. His control of the Death Dao was more refined and if faced with the same undead horde from before, it would only be a casual endeavor for the present him.

There was even a chance that he could turn them into his slaves. The death Qi that already permeated the undead would make it easier for him to force them to submit. Of course, if the undead were as strong as him, he wouldn't be able to control them under ordinary circumstances.

Going back to the situation at hand, Van's ancestor had finished off the leader of the six gods. Wrapped in divine force, a finger had pierced through the heart of the leader. Since it was a soul attack as well as a physical attack, the attack had killed the leader in body and soul.

To Van's dismay, the other five gods stayed calm and continued their relentless assault. Divine force attacks filled the air with their domineering fluctuations. There was even a ringing of the Supreme Dao that would occur every so often when Van's ancestor imbued his attacks with it.

Van's understanding of his own Daos deepened. He understood more of each of the elements. Now, all of his Daos has reached the same level. Before, he was more inclined towards the Death Dao, giving those near him the impression of a necromancer but now, he gave a feeling of a deity, one aloof and above worldly matters.

Of course, with his current cultivation base and worries, he couldn't afford to do such things. He needed to get stronger faster. With his motivation resolidified, he continued to watch the battle diligently. He already knew his Ancestor would fall, but he still had a small part of him that wanted to shout out encouraging words.

The battle raged on as the gods fell one by one. Finally, Van's ancestor stood their heaving heavily. Despite Van's ancestor being heavily injured, none of the combatants nearby dared to test their fates by attacking him.

"What?! I thought my Ancestor died? Or maybe he was injured and is recovering. Van was about to step out of the crater to get a better look, but a bad feeling in his gut made him rethink his decision.

Immediately after, a rift opened and a youthful looking Flood Dragon in human form stepped out of the Void. He seemed to be at the same unfathomable cultivation as Van's ancestor.

"So it was you. I should've known. Ye Bao."

The cultivator called Ye Bao continued staring down at Van's ancestor.

"You took the woman I loved from me. Minh Nguyen, your day of reckoning has come!"

Ye Bao threw himself down at Minh, gathering all of his divine power for the finishing blow. Minh started burning his blood essence and put his remaining power in this final blow.

As expected, Minh was slammed into the Red Earth. Blood sprayed everywhere as all the combatants became a bloody mist.

Minh's eyes turned red with fury.

"Agh!!! You killed my son! You dare claim I stole your woman!!! She chose me over you! You and your proud Flood Dragon ass would never have loved her as much as I and she knew!"

Ye Bao's face turned ugly. He weaved his arms in a mesmerizing pattern, causing streaks of Golden Divine Force to stream behind his fingers. The forces than gathered at his fingertips and he pointed it towards Minh. A golden ray streaked towards the severely injured opponent.

In a final act of defiance, Minh punched out weakly. The golden ray pierced through his fist and straight through his heart. Before his soul could disperse it looked at Van.

"My descendant! Avenge me! Restore our clan to its previous glory!"

The soul dispersed and Van was left in the crater, aghast. The world around him warped and he was thrown back into his body.