While waiting for the Demi-Gods to arrive Ren continued to supervise his disciples' training. Ren would even help some of the Void Sect Disciples with their problems from time to time, well those that were brave enough to speak to him.
...
There were many disciples who wished to honor Ren as their master, unfortunately, Ren was not interested in any of them. On the other hand, Ren's pseudo-disciple Ming Hao was done with being a punching bag and was now running up and down a mountain with weights on.
Fang Mu was standing at the top of a small pillar of dirt swinging his sword. The pillar only had enough space for Fang Mu to swing his sword in a certain stance without moving even a millimeter. If he moves in the wrong way he would fall. Normally, even if he fell from such a height it wouldn't be able to harm him, but Ren had sealed the flow of Fang Mu's Qi making him essentially a normal mortal man. Now if Fang Mu fell it would either mean being gravely injured or death.
Finally, there was Mo Feng, Ren also deprived this disciple of his Qi and placed him in a dark room where not even a tiny dot of light may enter. Ren recreated the training he did when he was still a horned demon. Not only does this training enhances one's senses but it also makes one more cautious. Seeing Mo Feng's performance before Ren felt that this training was the best for him.
...
Of course, Ren himself continued his own practice. At this moment, he has learned hundreds of new techniques from his past incarnations. Ren understood that knowing too many techniques might become a problem later on. For now, because his opponents were too weak he wasn't bothered, but the moment he meets an opponent of equal strength having too many options might slow down his reaction time.
'I need to figure out which techniques would work well together so that my attacks will flow better.'
Ren then closed his eyes and started to do image training, he was imagining an opponent of equal skill and power. Normally he would go into his soul realm to find an opponent to practice with, but battling one of those guys gets a little bit out of hand so it was better to do this image training first.
Ren started using all the different techniques he has learned to see which one goes well with the other. Of course, some of the techniques upon use will cause large-scale destruction so Ren chose not to practice those for now.
In the beginning, Ren's movements were stiff and the chain of techniques was horrendous, then slowly it started to click much better, then after a while, the flow became faster and faster until finally, each technique came beautifully after the next.
The way Ren moved was like a dance, elegant, powerful, and alluring. The way each move ebbs and flows with the other was enthralling.
...
Richard Tranor was watching Ren at the side with absolute awe. He wasn't there when Ren showed his might in front of everybody so he was very curious about this person who everyone was afraid of. As a descendant of an incarnation of the Strongest Mortal Soul Richard was very curious as to how strong Ren was, and his will to challenge the strong was making his blood boil.
He wanted to go find Ren and challenge him, but when he found Ren, Richard was stunned in place. The techniques Ren was showing were so eye-catching, Richard was enamored by the brilliance of each technique.
After the dazzling display of techniques, Ren who had his eyes closed this entire time opened them and looked in the direction where Richard was watching.
"So what do you want?"
In a dazed state, Richard was not able to respond for a minute.
"Did you not hear me?"
Ren spoke again as he suddenly appeared right in front of Richard who woke up from his dazed state.
"Oh, I'm Richard Tranor I came here wishing to challenge you."
The moment Ren heard Richard challenging him he could not help but smile. Every single one of his past incarnations' descendants that met him would immediately challenge him. Despite seeing him using all those techniques this descendant called Richard wasn't scared, instead, it seems like he was very excited. Ren then started laughing, Richard was bewildered by Ren's hearty laugh and misunderstood.
"I know that I'm no match for you, but I hope that you can accept this challenge from a junior."
Richard wanted to bow his head but could not, the pride of being a descendant of the Strongest Mortal Soul was stopping him from doing something like that. Admitting that he was no match for the opponent was already too much for him, much more bowing.
"You misunderstand..." Ren sighed as he shrugged his shoulders. "Fine, I accept your challenge."
Ren's shadow expanded and two short swords came out. The two short swords had no ornaments and looked to be dull and had scratches on the blade, but the aura they exuded was quite powerful.
"Allow me to see what you can do." Ren grabbed hold of the two broken-looking short swords.
"So you also use two swords." Richard unsheathed his two swords. Hearing what Richard said, Ren did not bother correcting the other party and simply chuckled. The two then stopped talking as their aura became sharper.
Richard noticed that Ren's stance was similar to his own, a defenseless-looking stance but in truth was full of hidden danger.
'A similar stance?... No, this just means that Ren has also reached the same conclusion as the Ancestor. Still, it doesn't mean he's as good as the Ancestor. Let's see if he's able to respond to this move.'
Richard who was feeling a little tense a while ago calmed his breathing, and his eyes became even sharper than before. Richard had entered a state of absolute concentration, this was his best state. Once he was ready, Richard started walking forward and as if to mirror him Ren walked forward too.
When the two were about a hand's length away their bodies seem to blur and the two passed by each other. It was then, the scabbards on Richard's waist broke and he coughed out a mouthful of blood. Richard staggered a bit but did not fall and instead looked at Ren with eyes mixed with different emotions.
"Who are you?"