Without delay, they climbed the mountain. Minutes passed, and now they had only 10 hours left to complete the main mission and return to their universe. As they ascended, Alm and Bruno already imagined what awaited them ahead, and their concerns did not diminish.
Reaching the region of the sixth test, they quickly touched the totem. ’Infinite spatial dilation...’ Bruno thought about the technique, anticipating the problem. That incomplete Dao increased physical distance by manipulating space, and it could be combined with various other techniques.
As space distorted, they took a deep breath in concentration. Everyone found themselves floating in the void of space. Only stars could be seen in the distance; there was nothing else around. Everyone looked around confusedly, searching for something in that emptiness.
"Where is the master’s reflection..." Corin muttered, looking around. "No... don’t tell me? Master was the universe itself and its laws!?"
The group was shocked to hear this, their hearts beating rapidly. However, they soon noticed Ruri next to the whale, and he was coldly looking in a specific direction.
They didn’t see anything initially, but upon closer inspection, they noticed a glimmer of light. Focusing their Qi and full attention on it, they soon realized something peculiar, small, and fragile. It was a round piece of divine metal? Everyone thought out loud, and the whale listened.
’It’s a ridiculous and simple cleaning robot,’ Bruno responded mentally only among them.
"Master, is that... you?" Ruri asked, confused.
"It’s a kind of machine... something mechanical, made with parts of metal that move with some energy. Don’t be fooled by the size and pathetic appearance... I was once known as a robot god in this form," Bruno said with a bit of pride in his achievements, while Alm reflected deeply.
Ruri nodded slightly, and something crossed her mind. "How interesting. Was it in this form that the third sister met the master?"
The whale snorted, not denying. Then, the sound of cleaning mechanisms echoed, leaving everyone puzzled. Quickly, they felt the laws stir. In a second, two runes lit up on the hull of the small robot. Everyone recognized these runes; they were the same ones that glowed on the whale’s fists.
"Attack," commanded the whale.
The whale unsheathed its black saber and advanced with cold eyes. In the same second, Ruri drew her katana and moved forward. Corin lit up, his multicolored ring emerging, and he ran as well. Both disciples followed right behind the whale, while Ruri activated the spatial shadow with full force.
The heroic domain didn’t work on tattoos, only on pure Qi and laws, so the only option was to attack before...
The remaining five members of the group, a bit behind, watched the three standing in the vacuum of space, radiating power, not moving a single inch forward.
’That little bastard! It will take us years to get close like this!’ Alm mentally roared.
Soon, everyone felt space and the world distort. An infinite Yin and Yang power accumulated around the small cleaning robot, as if an entire universe was channeling its forces to him.
’Screwed! We can’t get close, and the tattoos combined with the soul gem create a divine resonance... just like what we used before.’
In a second, the palpable presence of death fell upon their heads. If they didn’t do something quickly, everyone would die.
’Shit, we have to stop it,’ Alm thought with all his might. A single idea surfaced in his mind. ’We have to use the same method our reflection used in that desert!’
Bruno recalled the image of the round reflection using tattoos to balance and negate their attempt to merge Yin and Yang. All the power of their tattoos was nullified before even leaving their bodies. If they did the same, it really was possible.
They looked at the robot, feeling the pressure weighing on their backs; they had never really reached the second level of the collector technique up to this day. But now, they had to do it in less than a minute, or everyone would die.
The whale stopped, and its eyes closed, its tattoos glowing intensely in response. Ruri and Corin stood by their side, feeling the disaster approaching. Both waited in silence for an order from their master; there was no doubt that he would resolve this.
Meanwhile, Alm and Bruno worked feverishly in their minds. ’We managed to do the most difficult and impossible before. Just making the two tattoos work together shouldn’t be impossible.’ Bruno commented, tense.
’Uniting our souls was an easy answer. Now, making both of us work perfectly together without truly uniting is another story.’ Alm retorted.
’Maybe... yes, and simpler than we think,’ Bruno pondered quickly, opening his eyes to see the fractured space like spiderwebs before that power. ’Kind of like what we already do, right? We use Ruri to synchronize our souls.’
The world seemed to be crumbling, and everyone was pale, feeling death approaching. With death hanging over their heads, no one could move, think, or even breathe in the face of instinctive fear.
Then, the whale spoke calmly. "Ruri, focus on nullifying the spatial dilation."
"Yes!" Ruri responded immediately, held the whale’s hand, and closed her eyes, connecting with space. In a second, she entered deep meditation, completely ignoring the imminent death and the collapse of the world around her.
Who in the world would have such confidence to disconnect from the world with death so imminent? That confidence was being transmitted from her hand to them. Alm and Bruno, as they observed this, sighed inwardly. They who had lived so long and caused so much harm were truly receiving something so pure from her.
’Do you feel it?’ Bruno said softly. ’I do; we both feel it together.’
’I see.’ Alm responded coldly, looking at the extreme Yin and Yang power around the smal robot.
The two kept that synchronized feeling between them, and as they witnessed the janitor robot’s maximum use of Yin and Yang, everything seemed to become clearer and simpler. In five seconds, the tattoos on their fists pulsed together. Yin and Yang did not unite, but worked together in perfect harmony.
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At that instant, the destruction around them froze.
The whale sighed, and everyone felt as if a mountain had been lifted from their shoulders. Corin looked to the side and saw the calm whale, but his eyes trembled as he noticed Ruri lost in the world in a meditative state. It was too late for him to realize that he didn’t fully trust his master, but the girl seemed unfazed and simply held the whale’s hand.
"Prepare to attack; we depend on you. I can’t afford to be distracted, and Ruri will break the spatial technique," Alm told Corin with the whale, without turning around. "Everyone has their role; you’ve just arrived, so don’t be hasty. With time and effort, you can achieve great things. For today, just admire the accomplishments of your younger sister."
Corin trembled, clenching his fists so tightly that blood began to seep. Now, he wouldn’t be alone anymore and would have all the time to learn everything he could from the two.
’It seems we gained a son out of nowhere.’ Bruno commented mentally, and Alm chose not to respond.
Minutes passed, and both of them were using their tattoos with extreme precision. What they were doing was like walking on a tightrope; any distraction could make them lose balance. Meanwhile, Ruri remained in meditation before the spatial technique. An hour passed, but this time, it was the whale who had complete confidence in her.
Time continued to pass... two hours... three hours...
Heavy drops of sweat ran down the whale’s forehead. Luckily, the only resource the janitor robot had was the power coming from the tattoos. Nullifying that, the robot would focus solely on the spatial technique, and they would never catch up to it. This contest had the potential to be infinite, but Ruri was the key to changing that.
At this moment, she finally opened her eyes, bringing relief to everyone. Corin immediately nodded, retracting his spear and looking ahead.
"Sorry for the delay, master. I was arrogant to think I could understand the technique, but in the end, I only managed to find a flaw."
It was a supreme Dao, but incomplete. Clearly, there had to be a flaw, but Alm and Bruno, not having studied spatial laws, couldn’t pinpoint exactly where in a timely manner.
Ruri then drew her katana, and a faint spatial law enveloped it. Alm and Bruno nodded approvingly; she could now manipulate space minimally on her own. Quickly, a swift cut through the air was delivered, and a spatial blade advanced, colliding with something.
CRACK!
The sound of breaking glass echoed rapidly, spreading in all directions around the robot. Without delay, the empty space was instantly illuminated by vibrant colors, and a roar followed as a lance surged forward.
As Corin’s lance was about to touch the robot’s chassis, the whale lifted the domination of the tattoos and activated their souls, focusing directly on the robot. This was a reflection of them, and obviously, it had a secret weapon to use, which was its powerful soul.
Everything was nullified in the poor robot. Its soul was used, but a confrontation with Alm and Bruno pressed it. Soon, the lance destroyed it completely, leaving no chance of defense.
When Corin returned, space distorted, taking them back to the mountain. They lost three hours in the sixth challenge, and now only seven hours remained. Everyone felt the pressure of time and rushed up the mountain.
As they climbed, the whale felt a gentle touch on its arm and turned to Ruri, who was excitedly holding onto them tightly. She finally felt like she had become a spatial cultivator, and her happiness seemed to overflow.
The distance between the tests on the mountain increased, causing them to take fifty minutes to reach the next one, which made them even more concerned. They practically ran towards the totem and read everything carefully before destroying it.
’QI ballistic concentration technique. It seems that in other universes, someone had the same idea of creating weapons using QI as projectiles,’ Bruno said sarcastically, trying to alleviate the pressure that came with this technique.
The world distorted, and they found themselves in the familiar space vacuum.
But now, they didn’t need to fight to find the enemy. Right in front of them, they saw a strange and tasteless robotic figure, bordering on the grotesque. It was something that could only be described as a robot chimera.
"Oh! Master really looks like a god-robot in this form!" commented Ruri upon seeing that figure, which emanated a subtly malicious and unmistakable presence. Corin nodded in agreement while Alm and Bruno wondered how this girl could have such extremely bad taste.
Zzzzt-zzzzt- Zzzzt-zzzzt- Zzzzt-zzzzt
A sound resembling electricity and mechanical movements echoed in all directions. In less than three seconds, they found themselves surrounded by an army of thousands of robots, with their lethal weapons pointed at the group in the center.
Suddenly, the robotic chimera made movements, and its mechanical parts shifted in a strange manner. Then... a gigantic cannon emerged. The same cannon that Alm and Bruno had constructed to fight against the Elven heroine was now aimed at them.
’Fuck...’ Bruno muttered tensely but was interrupted.
As if the situation wasn’t already bad enough, a dense and dark pressure was felt by everyone above. Infinite Yin surged in the world, covering the entire region above them. In the center of this aura, everyone spotted a female figure with a single Yin tattoo shining on her fist. Her appearance was gentle and beautiful, but her skin was as white as a corpse.
Ruri immediately jumped, recognizing the unmistakable tattoo. Even Corin connected the dots as he looked closely at that figure.
"This... is Sister Rehvka?" Ruri murmured to the whale, who responded positively with a sigh. Then, an honest look of admiration accompanied her words. "So beautiful and powerful."
’Fortunately, everyone’s cultivation is only at the second level of the Heaven Stage Realm,’ Bruno commented internally, his mind working fiercely. ’We already considered the possibility of being surrounded by robots. There is no other method now.’
Alm snorted, then the message reached Ruri, who nodded while clenching her fists. The whale mobilized its entire bloodline, gathering Yin and Yang and channeling the three extreme powers directly into Ruri’s hero rune.
It was something that could only be used once, as the bloodline would take time to recover. They were familiar with the soul gem, both having their souls connected to one before and creating an artificial one when giving life to the Law of Dual Shadows. So, they knew the way to defeat the robots: master these gems. But only unparalleled power would be required to nullify thousands of robots at once.
Ruri ascended to the skies, radiating her maximum power to the limit. A golden sun expanded, and its heat was a force that penetrated all beings. Ruri rose like a golden goddess, and the entire world seemed to be bowing before her presence.
All the robots immediately stopped, and their soul gems froze. The robotic chimera was equally disoriented, but due to the powerful soul it possessed, it could still move, although it couldn’t fire its cannon.
Then, the whale looked up to the skies and spotted Rehvka’s reflection. Ruri was already using all her power on the robots. Their soul gems had a predominant density of Yang, and the Yin from the woman above was something entirely different. Ruri would have to split her consciousness into two different parts to deal with two opposing powers simultaneously. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the ease of Alm and Bruno to do that.
’We have to deal with her...’ Alm began to say but was interrupted by a strong feeling.
They watched the skies and saw another energy and color emerge in the golden sun. It was an intense violet, which quickly condensed into a gigantic lotus. In the center of it all, Ruri shone brightly between the two powers. Her eyes shed tears of blood, but her will only grew stronger.
"I WON’T LOSE!"
A roar echoed from her mouth, reverberating through space. Soon, in the center of the golden sun, the mental lotus spun frenetically. The world seemed to want to collapse under the intensity of the mental power in the lotus, which multiplied several times.
’She has fully mastered the first level.’ Alm murmured in admiration. ’Nine God-Slaying Lotus... it’s a mental cultivation technique, and its name and power reflect its main use. A power capable of killing gods.’
BOOM!!!
Suddenly, the golden sun exploded with a deafening roar. The golden engulfed everything, and then the violet spread like venomous snakes among the golden. The two powers didn’t conflict but worked together in harmony.
’They are two very different energies, almost opposites...’ Bruno commented, observing everything around. ’It seems she learned things from us without us even teaching her. She’s doing something similar to the Yin and Yang we use.’
All of this took ten seconds. And since the moment they arrived, not even two minutes had passed. The robots and the reflections didn’t have time or any chance to react.
When it ended, there was no longer any sign of life in the thousands of robots. The dark woman, now with completely violet eyes, just closed her eyelids and slowly fell powerless.
As for the chimeric robot... it was as resilient as an infernal cockroach; they could throw the world at it, and it seemed to refuse to die. The whale snorted at their own reflection, and then their saber cut through it, swiftly destroying it.
With a leap, they caught the girl falling slowly into their arms. Ruri clung to them with a tired expression, almost fainting.
"Stay awake and take deep breaths; the energy of this place will restore you gradually," the whale spoke, looking deeply into her eyes, which only trembled slightly, as if expecting something.
"Good job, I’m proud," they added, and a radiant smile quickly blossomed on her face.