Chen Tian had made up his mind. He would kill You Ying here and now. Chen Tian's aura reached the same level as You Ying's. Their gazes locked, and both had energy coiling around their palms. Chen Tian's palms were wrapped in a nine-colored radiance, his dragon scale armor glowing. His claws transformed into dragon claws, the armor affixed to them. Blood-red patterns filled the inscribed scales, making his arms even tougher. You Ying, on the other hand, had death energy coiling around his palms, which condensed into armor to envelop them. Simultaneously, a circular indentation appeared in the center of his palm. Chen Tian and You Ying moved at the same time.
Their palms and dragon claws shot out, lunging at each other. Two beams of light streaked across the horizon. Chen Tian and You Ying both retreated three steps. You Ying's entire body vibrated, and power erupted from his palms. He unleashed a barrage of palm strikes, filling Chen Tian's vision with palm shadows. Chen Tian spread his dragon claws, and a nine-colored orb of light formed and slowly grew on them. Chen Tian hurled his palm forward, the nine-colored orb shooting out. Countless palm shadows were swallowed by the orb, which then compressed and exploded with a resounding boom. The orb burst, and along with it, the countless palm shadows vanished.
You Ying extended his palm, and from the indentation in its center, a black drill emerged. A familiar aura appeared before Chen Tian. Chen Tian was stunned. This aura belonged to the Evil Spirit Race. Damnation!
A black drill shot directly towards Chen Tian. Chen Tian spread his dragon claws, forming a nine-colored barrier. The drill collided with the barrier, and Chen Tian was forced to retreat continuously. Cracks appeared on the nine-colored barrier, which then shattered. The drill continued its trajectory directly towards Chen Tian's face.
Activating Extreme Dodge, Chen Tian skillfully evaded the attack. The drill missed its target. Seeing that he was consistently falling short, You Ying became increasingly anxious. The scythes on his arms extended again, merging into a single long saber that appeared in You Ying's hand. He took a step, instantly appearing before Chen Tian. Chen Tian sidestepped, and a saber gleam missed its mark, striking the void and causing it to crack and show signs of fragmentation.
Chen Tian backflipped to create distance, observing the weapon in You Ying's hand. It was imbued with the aura of the Evil Spirit Race. Had You Ying allied with the Evil Spirit Race? He could hardly believe it!
Chen Tian questioned, "Have you allied with the Evil Spirit Race?"
You Ying retorted coldly, "So what? As long as I can kill you, it doesn't matter who I ally with!"
"Stubborn and unyielding!"
Chen Tian's expression changed. The You Ying before him was no longer the You Ying he knew. Chen Tian felt there was no longer any need to hold back. He then declared, "Asura's Soul, Asura's Body, Asura's Form, Asura Slayers All Under Heaven. Asura Awaken! Asura Armor!"
Rumbling sounds echoed, and a vortex appeared in the void. It was a blood-red vortex, from which emerged a set of armor and an ethereal figure. The figure looked at Chen Tian and nodded in satisfaction, pushing towards him. That set of armor also entered Chen Tian's body.
On Chen Tian's body, the blood-red chest plate was inscribed with the characters "Asura." Simultaneously, his armguards were entwined with black patterns, exuding an aura of endless slaughter. Blood-red lotuses were etched on the armguards. Behind the backplate, a long spear was strapped. The entire backplate resembled opening wings, as if it were composed of wings.
The leg armor was covered in blood-red circular dots, from which blood-red energy continuously spewed. This energy coiled around Chen Tian's body. On Chen Tian's helmet, four short horns grew. The helmet was pointed, and Chen Tian's eyes opened, his blood-red gaze fixed on You Ying.
At this moment, Chen Tian had truly awakened. He was the true King of Asura, not the Blood River Asura.
With a thought, Chen Tian vanished. When he reappeared, You Ying's body was riddled with countless bloody holes. The awakened Chen Tian was leagues apart from the unawakened one. Now, they were not on the same level. You Ying could not defeat Chen Tian and would instead lose his life.
You Ying exclaimed in horror, "Impossible! How can you possess such power! When I break free from the seal, I will surely kill you!"
"I'm afraid you won't have the chance. Perish!"
As Chen Tian spoke, a beam of light pierced through You Ying's body, which then disintegrated into countless stardust motes that drifted towards the sky. The surrounding scene returned to normal. Chen Tian stood above the Guardian Hall, looking towards three distant locations. He seemed to sense something, then closed his eyes. When he reopened them, Chen Tian's main consciousness controlled his body.
Chen Tian heeded the warning from the Blood River Asura in his mind, nodding silently. He said, "I will be careful. Thank you."
He landed on the ground, turned back to face the Guardian Hall, and thought that it was time to complete the mission.
Chen Tian brought up the game interface and the quest log, searching for ways to complete the mission. He understood it at a glance.
He approached the entrance of the Guardian Hall and placed his palms on the center of the grand doors. A magic circle appeared on his palms, a white magic circle covering the entire door. The residual black energy completely dissipated. The white magic circle emitted light, and the Guardian Hall once again became dazzling. A beam of light shot directly upwards from the hall.
Shou Tian moved, and the chains that bound him were instantly broken. Shou Tian regained his mobility and appeared beside Chen Tian, kneeling on one knee. "Greetings, Lord Asura!"
Chen Tian released his hand. The magic circle and the Guardian Hall were gradually merging. Chen Tian said, "Rise. Just call me Chen Tian. I am no longer Asura."
Chen Tian had accepted everything from the Blood River Asura, all its memories. This was the Blood River Asura's request before its departure. The Blood River Asura hoped that Chen Tian's main body would accept Shou Tian and the others, as they had accompanied him for a long time, and were his subordinates, friends, and brothers.
Shou Tian stood up and stood behind Chen Tian. A synthesized voice sounded in Chen Tian's mind: "Ding! Congratulations to the player for perfectly resolving a Guardian Hall. Gained 3500 experience points."
"Ding! Player has reached the level cap and requires a breakthrough quest in the fourth layer world to level up. Experience is currently stored!"
"Ding! Congratulations to the player for obtaining one Guardian, Shou Tian!"
"Ding! Congratulations to the player for obtaining one Skill Fusion Card."
Chen Tian nodded with satisfaction at the synthesized voice, though he regretted reaching the level ninety-nine cap. He needed to complete a breakthrough quest to level up. Fortunately, his experience could be stored; otherwise, the excess experience would be wasted for a normal player.
As a player in the Cold Observer mode, Chen Tian had many privileges, including storing experience. Normal players could not store experience. Chrono Era prevented players from exploiting experience storage to gain an advantage by leveling up significantly all at once.
Chen Tian glanced at Shou Tian. His Divine Eye displayed information, showing that Shou Tian had become his guardian. Chen Tian spoke calmly, "Shou Tian, let's go. To the next Guardian Hall."
"Yes, Lord Asura!"
Chen Tian's face darkened. He opened his mouth to explain, "I am not Asura. My name is Chen Tian. From now on, call me Chen Tian. This is an order."
"Oh, alright, Chen Tian."
Chen Tian did not like that form of address. Why? It felt like a master-servant relationship, and Chen Tian disliked that. People should be equal, regardless of status. Freedom belonged to oneself, not to others. No one had the right to control anyone's life or death.
Chen Tian's ideal life was one of freedom and unrestraint. He had experienced this for the past four years, but things were different now. A great responsibility rested on his shoulders, and Chen Tian had no choice but to bear it.
Shou Tian said respectfully, "Chen Tian, there are teleportation gates in the center of each Guardian Hall. They are connected. If the seals in other Guardian Halls have not been reversed, they can be used."
"It's no use. I've checked. The seals in the other three locations have been reversed, and the seal near the Spirit Guardian is about to end. We need to hurry."
Chen Tian swiped his left hand, and a spatial vortex suddenly appeared. With Chen Tian's current strength, creating a spatial vortex was easy. Shou Tian and Chen Tian stepped into the vortex together.
As they entered the spatial vortex, Chen Tian paused for a moment and pouted. 'This is so troublesome. Shou Tian, we'll go to the Guardian Hall first. I need to leave for a bit.'
"Alright!"
The spatial vortex closed. In the northwest, beneath a mountain range, thousands of meters underground, lay a vast city. Above the underground city, a spatial vortex appeared, and two figures stood in the sky.
Chen Tian said, "Shou Tian, wait for me in the city. I have something to attend to, and I'll be back once it's done."
Shou Tian nodded, indicating that he would wait.
Chen Tian directly exited the game, logging out. In the real world, Chen Tian awoke and picked up his phone, which was full of missed calls from Pigeon. Chen Tian answered. Pigeon's urgent voice came from the other end: "Chen Tian, it's bad. The Evil Spirit Race has invaded the northern region of China. The martial artists there can't hold on, and the cultivators have already gone."
"What's going on, Pigeon? There shouldn't be any nodes or seals in the north, so why did they appear there?"
"I don't know, but I sense that someone used teleportation abilities to bring the Evil Spirit Race over. But the Evil Spirit Race shouldn't have such abilities!"
"Never mind that for now, Chen Tian. Hurry and help! The north cannot fall, or the Evil Spirit Race will expand."
"Okay, I understand. Send me the address, and you have to hold on over there too."
The call ended. Chen Tian's eyes flashed with killing intent. The Evil Spirit Race could not use teleportation abilities. Therefore, there was only one answer: traitors from China or traitors among the cultivators.
Chen Tian had seen players helping the Evil Spirit Race in the game before. If that person had also inherited their abilities from the game, it was possible. As for the cultivators, their magic formations were inherently designed for teleportation. Thus, the ones behind this were humans, humans themselves.
"When will humanity evolve for the better?"
Chen Tian sighed to the heavens and disappeared, heading towards the battlefield. The Evil Spirit Race absolutely could not be allowed to occupy the city, or the consequences would be dire.