Even Peak Stage Martial Masters that were on the brink of their breakthrough into the legendary realm and become Martial Grandmasters themselves were no match for the power of these protector elders!
After all, the two stages were on completely different levels. One was at best have just stepped into the legendary realm whilst the other was a peak stage Martial Grandmaster with decades of experience under his belt.
In terms of strength, it was a complete suppression!
The wrath of a peak Martial Grandmaster was not something that a mere Martial Master could deal with!
Many martial artists present at the cave abode who were watching the epic showdown started to back off slowly, trying to get as far away from the gray robed stranger as possible lest they were implicated.
Pei Syriac and the golden-robed old man of Crystal Palace Sect exchanged glances when they saw this; both could see the utter joy in the other's eyes.
This was the best case scenario for them!
This way, their Crystal Palace Sect could just sit this one out and reap the spoils later. No matter which side stood victorious, the Crystal Palace Sect would be the biggest winner in the end of it all!
"[Reptilian] Good… Very good." The skinny old man from Malefic Demons Clan's expression darkened completely as he glared at Aiden with unmasked malice. The aura that he emanated turned increasingly terrifying and sent shudders down one's spine!
Narrowing his gaze, Aiden held Rygintarth in one hand and faced off against the skinny old man without losing out in terms of aura.
He had fought with a real Martial Grandmaster before. Not even one, but three at the same time and still managed to come out victorious!
Even more, at that time, he still had constraints on his true power and was still trying to conform to this world's laws, lest he would be exposed before the hiding Ancient One and the High Priest.
However now, the situation was different. Even though he had yet to see anyone from the High Priest's forces, Aiden was certain they were here somewhere… And that their fated encounter and meeting would happen either before or when he ultimately reaches his end goal… the chamber at the belly of this sealed mountain.
In fact, this whole farce, wasn't planned. In reality, if not for the strange power emanating from the elixir and his system guide's Enya's words before, Aiden would have ignored these clowns. Whilst they annoyed him to no end, they have yet to cross the point of no return.
Yet, Destiny seemed to had a different idea, and marked this specific moment in time as their fated encounter.
From the looks of it, Aiden was certain that there was no other choice anymore, he needed to resolve this matter. Yet, he still wanted to keep at least some of his power a secret for later.
He still had no idea of the true power of this High Priest at all. He may very well be one of those select few figures that, -with the help of the Ancient One- managed to find a way through the world's mortal barrier and become a Quasi-Divine Realm Martial Artist.
That, if that conjecture would turned out to be the truth, would be the hardest challenge Aiden would have had to face so far and every surprise, every edge he could have for himself could very well be crucial towards his hopeful victory in the end.
As such, unless it was absolutely necessary, Aiden wanted to keep some secrets to himself, whilst still slowly unshackling the spiritual chains holding him back.
However, that also meant that in terms of actual strength, he was definitely no match for a peak Martial Grandmaster.
Still, now he had a chance of winning.
These old fogies were already at the end of their lives. They could not simply unleash their power… They maybe had one or two shots in them before they would be claimed by the void!
As long as Aiden could survive that attack, these elders would be the ones to die.
"[Reptilian] DIE!" The skinny old man raised his foot and lightly landed.
In that instant, the earth and mountains shook!
Under countless gazes, a huge crack appeared on the ground and extended continuously, arriving beneath Aiden's feet in an instant.
*SWOOSH!*
A pair of spirit wings appeared and Aiden soared into the skies while the glimmer in his eyes sparkled with bright golden luster once again. In the next moment, the chains inside his soul loosened just a bit more once again, allowing more of his true power, the terror that once shook a whole world to be allowed to seep out one more.
The crack on the ground was deep and dark, shooting forth with an ink-like black malevolent aura. Rumbling, a gigantic palm was formed and it grabbed towards Aiden who was in midair!
The malevolent aura surged and black fog filled the air, causing the wind and clouds to change!
The pitch-black palm resembled a demonic fiend's claw that extended from the Abyss with the power to forcibly pull all living beings into the pits of hell!
Even the martial artists who had retreated far away felt chills when they caught sight of that palm, let alone Aiden who was standing in the epicenter of the battlefield.
That was the power of a peak Martial Grandmaster to be able to suppress everything!
*BOOM!*
At the same time, a loud sound came from above the cave abode.
A gigantic golden ball appeared and pushed every living being down with its impressive aura and blinding golden radiance. The imprints inside the energy carried a strange, archaic sensation, as if the source was something incredibly ancient… primordial even. It's aura was so terrifying it seemed like it wanted to purge all mortal under its domain!
This was none other than Aiden's true power as it slowly was being unleashed. Because of his opponent he could not play his usual games and had to be serious right from the start.
Still, his energy was nowhere near his peak performance. By itself, his aura alone was not enough to fight against the spiritual art released by a peak Martial Grandmaster.
*BOOM!*
The two opposing powers collided and produced a deafening sound!
Lights of two different colors, gold and black, intertwined and collided. A terrifying halo of power spread out, causing the entire cave abode to shake on the verge of collapsing.
Right in front of everyone, the golden surge paused for a moment before dissipating.
As for the black palm shrouded with malevolent aura, it had clearly weakened!
Many onlookers could not help but feel shocked when they saw that.
If the both of them were at similar martial realms, the mighty power within the golden energy would have been able to suppress the skinny old man's dark spirit art!
*CLANG!* *CLANG!*
After the two palms collided, a sharp sound of swords humming sounded.
A dark ebony blade however in mid air before the gray robed Aiden, shining brightly with terrifying spiritual light.
It levitated in midair, pulsating streak of bright colorless beams of light. The beams slowly condensed into a sharp sword formation that emitted endless sword energy.
"[Reptilian] ATTACK!"
A huge sword-shaped disk was formed and charged towards the gigantic black palm, buzzing and trembling!
The black palm opened up, as if it wanted to blot out the sky, and grabbed the gigantic ebony sword beam directly.
*POOF!* *POOF!* *POOF!*
Initially, the sword-shaped disk was still spinning continuously. However, it came to a stop after being grabbed by the black palm and let out a sorrowful sound.
*BOOM!*
The sword formation dispersed in the end, leaving behind nothing but the single ebony sword, Rygintarth only as it flew back beside its owner in the next instant defeated.
However it wasn't a completely pointless attempt from it. No, far from, in fact as a result of its action the malevolent aura surrounding the black palm faded even more.
Although the ebony sword beam had dissipated, its power was so terrifying that it riddled the black palm with holes!
The two attacks, Aiden's initial surge of aura and the ebony sword beam of Rygintarth consumed a huge amount of spirit energy and they were also one of Aiden's strongest trump cards.
Even after Aiden's two trump cards, the remaining power of the elder's spirit art was still terrifying enough to destroy everyone!
*SWOOSH!*
The black palm descended and enveloped Aiden before closing its grip tightly!
Aiden's figure was held in the center of the black palm and he was instantly engulfed by the spreading malevolent aura.
Although it was blocked by the two attacks, Aiden's initial surge of aura and the ebony sword beam of Rygintarth, this was still the power of a peak Martial Grandmaster after all.
Even if Aiden's physique could withstand the grip of the black palm, he would be killed the moment the malevolent aura of a peak Martial Grandmaster seeped into his body and corroded it!
It was over.
Everyone thought he would surely be dead by such an attack…