A look of caution flickered through both faction leaders' eyes as these thoughts began to take root in their hearts.
Of course, the most shocking thing for them was Aiden's current condition. He had steady breathing and a calm expression. He did not seem like he had just been through a massive battle. This was going against everything they knew.
This should have been a battle that was tougher and more dangerous than the bloody battle on the long street! However, neither of them could spot any signs of fatigue on Aiden's face nor wounds on his body. It was as if instead of an arduous, long, and hard-fought battle, surviving against countless traps and deadly toxins all around, he merely took a casual stroll in the afternoon air.
Was it all just a farce? Was he merely putting up a strong front, hiding the real and bitter truth that he was actually at the end of his road?
Pei Syriac and Yang Zahn glared intently at Aiden, wanting to expose his true weakened self. However, a moment later, the two of them gave up.
They couldn't read him at all! That man looked to be a frail scholar when he was calm. His astounding strength and power could not be felt, no matter how hard they tried.
One could only experience the terrifying strength emitted from his usually frail looking body after he made a move and it was even fiercer than the most ferocious beasts! A stampede of wild carnosaurs was nothing compared to him!
Pei Syriac took a deep breath of air and turned his gaze towards Tai Liu's group. When he saw their size, he gave up on his idea. No matter what Aiden's current condition was, it would be difficult for him to attempt to make a move against Aiden at this very moment.
Still, this did not mean that the Crystal Palace Sect was actually afraid they were just moderately wary of the Azure Myst Sect. In a head-on battle, the strength of the top factions such as them, wouldn't be anything that a mere Azure Myst Sect, that's main focus was in alchemy, could realistically contend with.
Right now, the Ancient Burial Grounds' ruins had yet to open up and they hadn't seen any real treasures yet. There was no need for the Crystal Palace Sect and Pei Syriac to fight anyone to the death since outsiders could seize the opportunity to take advantage of them while they were weak.
Taking one last look at the scene and the main figure of them all, Pei Syriac turned around and left with his group from the Crystal Palace Sect decisively.
On the other side, the Dark Lord of Malevolent Earth Sect, Yang Zahn, made the same decision at the same time. He expressionlessly turned around and returned to whence he and his group of demonic cultivators came from.
…
Whilst Pei Syriac and as well as Yang Zahn thought that most likely their hated opponent, Aiden was merely putting up a strong front and was just hiding the truth….
In reality, Aiden's appearance was truly not faked. He was really not tired, nor did he felt anything at all after such a long series of battles.
All the spent energy was more or less recovered through the countless life essence donors, the past disciples of the Corpse Poison Sect, as well as the greatest of them all, Dorah Kai who was like a huge bag of gifts that kept on giving.
After he and his group of pests were dealt with, Aiden unleashed his true nature that he kept hidden and contained for so long and absorbed more than a dozen of dead disciples in one go.
Whilst most did not give anything meaningful other than restoring some of his spent energy, and rejuvenating his tired, slightly sore muscles; Dorah Kai was of a different story.
His body was filled to the brim was countless poisons. That man, or more precisely that skink was actually a rare mutated specimen, one that the system called Venomous Draconic Skink. Though he did not gain any new form to use, Aiden received a great boost to several of his skills as well as stats.
For one, after all the absorptions and processing, his System Skill points have directly grown to an all time high of 25 thousand points, almost doubling their previous maximum size.
For his main attributes, after all the new life essences were processed they looked like the following:
[Attributes:
Might: 48
Agility: 48 (+2)
Spirit: 66 (+5!)]
A direct boost of +5 to his spirit was a massive increase. After processing it, Aiden could immediately feel it. His connection to the ether was stronger than ever before, he could sense the ever present invisible particles in the air clearer than before.
At the same time, he could feel his movements becoming just a bit more defined. His smaller increase of Agility that now matched his Might allowed him to be a bit more dexterous as well as swifter than ever before even without relying on his Soul Power.
On the other hand, he had received a boost to a couple of skills as well. For one, his Primal Absorb main and most defying skill had received some increase in its mastery, growing closer and closer to breaking through its current limit of Level 10 and evolve.
Whilst the obvious increase in Poison Resistance passive effect that has directly broken through its previous Level 6 rank all the way to Level 9, just a bit shy away from the peak Level 10, he had also gained the most unexpected gain.
His [Divinity: Basic] skill, that he had just started to cultivate has grown slightly stronger. Whilst it was not enough to break through Level 3 and tap into the next level, the next stage, Aiden did feel the growth nevertheless.
Still, maybe the most important gain of them all was the appearance of the new skill that he had also gained: [Poison Mastery].
Most likely derived from the life experiences and massive knowledge related to all kinds of toxins -be it lethal or not- of Dorah Kai, Aiden now shared a similar recollection and could not only identify them in an instant, he felt that by relying on his Divine Energy, but he could also directly create them by transforming the wild life essence of any living being. Even his own.
Whilst this was not an ability that Aiden himself would probably want to use, the skills' passive effect of learning all he could of this world's darker side was nevertheless an incredible gift.
In the end, the gains far outweighed all the energy, stamina, and effort Aiden had spent. Not to mention, after dealing with the greatest threat, Dorah Kai himself, the rest of the battle had turned into a one-sided massacre.
Making use of his far superior physique, strength, as well as speed, Aiden killed brashly and no one could hold out a single round against him!
For some of the cultivators that escaped further, he hunted them down like a hungry predator, tearing them apart flesh by flesh.
In this battle, more than a hundred of the Corpse Poison Sect disciples were completely annihilated with no survivors!
Whilst his Captains as well as the little snoring sleuth took it relatively well, Tai Liu and the Azure Myst Sect disciples were completely stunned as they froze on the spot.
Earlier on, Tai Liu was reminding them repeatedly that after entering the battlefield, their priority was rescue instead of fighting.
However, their plans could not catch up to the changes. By the time they arrived, they didn't even have the chance even if they wanted to fight the Corpse Poison Sect disciples.
Although Tai Liu had very high regards for Aiden's strength, she could not believe that he could overwhelm the entire Corpse Poison Sect, one of the most terrifying forces of evil, singlehandedly!
Aiden strode over leisurely and arrived before Tai Liu and the others, smiling gently.
"[Reptiliang I have caused you guys worries. Please relax as I am fine."
In that short period of time, Tai Liu went through a roller coaster of emotions. Initially, she was only worried about Aiden. After seeing that he was fine, she felt like a load was lifted off her shoulders.
Right after, she felt indignant as she looked at him in a huff, revealing a hint of a maiden's attitude that was extremely charming. Tai Liu merely felt that the person before her was extremely horrible to create empty worries for her, causing her to lose her composure time and again. Her emotions were in a chaotic frenzy.
"[Reptilian] Y-y-you! Didn't you say that you were merely going out for a walk?!"
Initially, Tai Liu wanted to give Aiden a good, harsh lecture. However, when she saw the latter's smile, her words sounded like the grumble of a cute couple at odds.
Captain Dragha, and the rest of Aiden's captains looked at the Young Master strangely.