The Dark Demon Lord - Chapter 96

He had finally broken through into Essence Manifest – Earth. Although he was progressing extremely fast, to someone like Arnin who still needed to reach his previous life’s strength, he wasn’t even close to his goal. If anything, this was just his first step towards his previous state.

Arnin got up from his spot and when he looked at his current state, he was pleased. His skin seemed much more smooth, and even his hair reverted back to its usual ashen greyish black color.

All the blood stains on his body were gone and his height had also slightly increased. Although he still looked like a child, he now looked more like a seven-year-old.

His purple eyes roamed the area, quickly locating Canae and Sinfallel. When he looked at Canae, he noticed that her aura was also a little stronger and there was more vitality on her face. She seemed a little different from before, less depressed and more spirited.

‘Seems like I am not the only one who made a breakthrough. This is good though; the more power she gains, the better it is for me.’ Arnin walked passed the two girls as he headed towards the exit of the Body Torture Pillar zone. This zone wasn’t much use to him, especially after his breakthrough. Plus, he needed to find some people to test out his strength.

Even though he felt that he was significantly stronger than before, possibly unmatched in the Essence Manifest realm, there were still people who might be similar in strength to him. He had high hopes that the people in the top ten could put up a fight and make him feel some pressure. He also hoped to meet the few that had already reached Elemental Formation and see how he would fare against them.

Soon, he left the last of the three zones. He had about two and a half months left until the end of the battlefield. Although he wanted it to end quicker, he knew that there was no way to make that happen unless of course, he killed every contestant until there were only a hundred left, but that was unlikely.

Since he had lots of time, he wanted to sharpen his skills, learn more about Essence Manifest, and try to earn a spot in the top ten or twenty. Although he wanted to play it lowkey, now that he broke through, he was willing to go against much stronger opponents. Plus, he was keen on fighting people from the top ten.

“Canae, where would most of the top ten gather?” Although he felt that one of the three zones would be the most likely locations, he was hoping to find another place where they would gather in the end. If there was such a place, he wanted to head over as soon as possible and wait for the strongest people to show up.

Hearing Arnin’s question, Canae quickly spoke up. “The Elemental River zone is the most likely place. When we went there last time, there might have been a few top ten cultivators around, however, we probably just didn’t notice them.” Arnin fell into deep thought. He also felt that the Elemental River zone was like a beacon for strong cultivators, however, he never met anyone there that was strong enough to contend against. There was a chance of him missing them or them not being there yet, but he didn’t want to go there just for such a chance.

Suddenly, an idea came to him. “Does everyone know the general area for the center of this battlefield? Was it spoken about in the introduction before you guys entered?”

Canae shook her head. “There wasn’t any mention of the center since it was just a barren place like the rest of the battlefield. However, most people should know how to get to the center of the battlefield or at least the general area.” Arnin nodded his head as he began to ponder a little further.

“Was there a gate you guys entered from?” This time Canae nodded her head.

“There wasn’t a gate, but there was a large area where everyone first gathered before separating.” Arnin’s eyes glinted with a cold light.

“Lead me to that place, and spread the word that I, the Demonic Joker, am looking to fight the trash known as the top ten. If they don’t come, then they should wait for me to find and slaughter them.” Arnin’s words were loud enough that anyone in the vicinity could hear him. This was his goal. He wanted people to know about his intentions and spread the word for him. Of course, Canae and Sinfallel would also go and help circulate the news.

‘Why should I go look for others when they can come and find me instead?’ Arnin smirked slightly as he waved his hand. “Go and spread the word. Make sure it spreads quick. Everyone should know that the top ten will be slaughtered by me and that I will be waiting for them at the place where everyone first arrived. All challenged are welcomed.”

Canae nodded her head, and so did Sinfallel. “I will lead you to the location first. Sis, you go and propagate the rumor and meet us at the location later on. Make sure to be quick and to not mess with anyone beyond your level.” Canae warned her sister before taking the lead with Arnin following behind her.

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The gossip spread like wildfire. With Sinfallel shouting Arnin’s words and even adding in her own exaggeration, people began to talk.

“Did you hear? The Demonic Joker is challenging the top ten!”

“He even called them trash and claimed the top twenty are beneath him. The Demonic Joker even said that he doesn’t want to waste his time with them!”

“He is courting death for saying such things. Who does he think he is? Just because is a little famous and is able to kill a few people above his realm, he thinks he can fight the top ten?”

Back at the Cave Temple zone, Fxi had a smirk on his face when he heard the report from his people. “Seems like he has guts. First, he slaughters my woman, then my people, and now he’s calling me trash along with the others.” Although Fxi was not ‘officially’ in the top ten, or even the top twenty, he was not any weaker than the two groups.

He was a part of the group who hid their strength from the rest, revealing his power at the most unexpected times.

Fxi sneered before getting up from his spot, exiting the Cave Temple zone. “Let’s go and find this so-called Demonic Joker and see what he is truly made of. ” With a wave of his sleeve, he and his people vanished from their spot.

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In another location, a young girl who looked around the same age as Yinsi, possibly even younger, had a deep frown plastered on her face as she heard the report from a kneeling girl.

“That trash Joker or whatever thinks he can talk so haughtily here? Just where does he get his courage! Take me to where he is. Let me show him how to spell death slowly!” Her anger erupted with her extremely powerful aura, Essence Manifest – Heaven. In comparison to her age, such strength was considered amazing, almost monstrous.

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“Take me to this brat who doesn’t know what fear is!”

“This bastard! Where is he?!”

“This little kid has been making a commotion ever since he became famous. Come, let us go and watch the show together.”

The voices of various people came from all over the battlefield. Some found the situation laughable, others were angered, while a few even saw this as an interesting event to spectate.

Soon, people began to rush towards where Arnin was. A large fight was about to commence far before the final stages of the battlefield exam.

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Back where Fae and the elders were watching, some of them couldn’t help but laugh at the scene.

“Haha! That’s my disciple for you! He isn’t scared of anyone, not even the shitty top ten! Everyone will drown under his blood, simply becoming a source of cultivation for him. Haha!” Elder Kocyte was one of the few who kept praising Arnin’s courage. Although he didn’t really think that Arnin would be able to slaughter all of his opponents, he was happy to see his future disciple now being a wimp.

Plus, there were a few hidden dragons in the top hundred who also held fearsome power. They didn’t lack any talent, only a stage to shine. Now that they were given a stage by Arnin, a bloodbath was inevitable.

Fae also saw this and couldn’t help but shake her head. “He may be strong, but he isn’t able to handle the top ten just yet. Maybe he could fight the few in the last positions of the top ten, but the ones in the forefront are just too strong for him right now.”

She felt that although Arnin’s courage was commendable, he was being too rash. Indeed, his strength was monstrously high and he could fight people much stronger than him, but couldn’t the people in the top ten also do this?

Just like Arnin, they could fight a few small realms higher than them and a couple could even fight cultivators from a large realm above themselves. It was unwise to underestimate them because their skills weren’t completely displayed yet. Underestimating them was a deadly mistake because it could lead to one’s imminent death.

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If Arnin knew about the different occurrences around the battlefield, he wouldn’t find it too worrying, rather it would be pleasing.

His goal was to find some people who could make him fight to his highest potential, not people who could easily be slaughtered like lambs. If he couldn’t get a good fight, then how could he sharpen his skills? How would he be able to test his limits after breaking through into Essence Manifest – Earth.

Currently, he was sitting on top of a large rock with his eyes closed. After breaking through, he had yet to properly consolidate his realm. Plus, he wanted to see if the Seed of Rebirth had any other property other then healing his body.

If he could use the Seed of Rebirth in combat, then his strength would increase by multiple folds.

‘I was able to make myself go through Samsara, but life and death are much more than just that.’ He began to ponder more about his elemental seed and their uses. ‘Where life exists, there will also be death. Right when something is born, it is already filled with the essence of death, slowly accumulating more death essence and moving further away from life. But, where there is no life, death also ceases to exist.’

Arnin pondered deeply about the idea of life and death. These two elements were polar opposites, yet could not exist without the other. If there was death, there had to be life, and the opposite was true as well. It was similar to light and darkness, where one could not be without the other.

‘That’s it, just like how darkness is just another form of light, light is another form of darkness. The concepts of life and death are similar. Life is death, while death is life. It’s the reason why the curse I afflicted on that witch in the past was so effective. She used to grant others life, however after being cursed, she could only steal life, granting others death.’

Soon, his whole body was shrouded by a black and white light. Wherever the black light went, things began to decay and lose vitality, however where the white light passed, things were rejuvenated with life and energy. While there were areas of life and areas of death, there were also areas where life and death met at an equilibrium. In this place, the plants and even the rocks shifted between maturation and rejuvenation until they eventually fell apart, not being able to bear the pressure of both extremities.

Seeing this small event, Arnin’s face was filled with an evil smile. “Seems like the Seed of Rebirth can also be called the Seed of Extremities. It causes everything it touches to face the extremities of life and death, forcing it to succumb under its power and disappear from sight.” With a nod of approval, Arnin got up from the rock and began to practice his Seed of Rebirth/Extremities.

He began to release life and death energy everywhere around him, causing a change in the elemental distribution. The life essence could either give or steal life, increasing Arnin’s life essence and rejuvenating his body while the death essence would either extract death energy from the surroundings or insert itself wherever it passed, causing the surroundings to slowly die. The two worked in sync, with life essence being able to cause death and vice versa.

The more he used these powers, the more excited Arnin got. Although he had used the essence of death as a Demon Lord, he used it more forcefully, ridding anything of life instantly, but currently, he was using it in a more creative and deadly manner.

Not only could he control the amount of life essence something had, but he could also manipulate the amount of death essence it contained. He could sap something of its life instantly.

An hour passed, and Arnin couldn’t help but vomit a mouthful of blood. His face was extremely pale, almost sickly. Dense death energy surrounded him, but at the same time, dense life energy enveloped him for protection. This double layer was, however, causing more damage to his body. He was yet to completely adapt to the changes of life and death with his current body. It was just too strenuous for him.

He quickly sat down and began to circulate is essence using the Demon Cultivation Manual, slowly ridding himself of the extreme death and life essences harming him. After a period of recuperation, he opened his eyes, revealing his cold purple eyes.

*SWISSHH*

The sound of the wind appeared from all around. A smirk appeared on his face as he quietly spoke under his breath. ‘Seems like they’re finally here.’