The world was silent for a heartbeat—then shattered.
The earth split into jagged scars, entire trees disintegrated into drifting ash, and the mountains in the distance groaned as if struck by some ancient god's wrath. The Asura manifestation that had been unleashed moments before had torn through reality itself, leaving nothing but broken rock and charred land in its wake. Dust swirled in the air like a thousand wailing ghosts.
Riku stepped out of the storm of ruin, his white coat fluttering in the windless air. Beside him, the Great Guardian landed with a heavy thud, his black dress catching the faint light from the smoldering sky. The destruction behind them was absolute—no walls remained standing, no cries for mercy echoed. The Asura had done its work perfectly.
They moved forward in silence, the crunch of shattered stone underfoot the only sound. Their destination lay ahead: the site where the Blade Master and his personal guards had fallen. When they arrived, the carnage was fresh. Dozens of corpses, some missing limbs, others frozen in twisted postures of agony, lay scattered in pools of blood that steamed faintly in the cooling air.
Riku's crimson eyes glimmered. He could feel it—rich, potent qi lingering in the bodies, slowly dispersing into nothing. To let it go would be a waste. A wicked smile tugged at his lips as he extended his hand.
Demon Emperor Absorption Technique - he created this technique with an inspiration from original novel .
Black tendrils of qi, darker than night, poured from his palm and wrapped themselves around the corpse of the Blade Master. This was no ordinary technique—it was something Riku had forged himself, drawing upon the Demon Emperor Qi he had stolen from a demon during his last campaign in demon cave . Demonic qi was the end of all things; every energy, whether spiritual, elemental, or divine, eventually degraded into it. By mastering Demon Emperor Qi, Riku could fuse and consume all forms of power without resistance.
The Blade Master's corpse trembled violently. His skin sank against his bones as if centuries of life were stolen in seconds. His once-proud form shriveled into nothing but a husk. The black streams of qi rushed into Riku, flooding his meridians, igniting his core like molten fire.
But he didn't stop there. One by one, he placed his hand upon the guards, tearing away their life essence. Some had been in peak supreme rank; others had barely entered in the realm .It didn't matter. Their strength became his.
A pulse of raw force surged through him—his dantian quaked, his qi sea roared like a typhoon. The barrier holding him at the early Life and Death realm shattered. His power condensed, sharpened, and rose. He stepped firmly into the mid Life and Death realm.
"Not enough," he murmured, his voice dripping with hunger.
He turned his gaze toward the far ridges where whispers spoke of the Wind Spirit—a creature of ancient origin, said to be the guardian of the skies in this region. Its core alone could push him further.
It didn't take him long to find it. The Wind Spirit was no ethereal mist—it was a tiger, massive as a fortress, its silver-white fur rippling with streams of razor-sharp wind. But now, it lay bound in colossal chains of light, snarling with a sound that split the clouds.
Riku's eyes narrowed. "Perfect."
He clapped his hands, summoning his Wood Golem Technique. From the torn earth, roots and branches twisted upward into the form of a towering wooden titan, its emerald eyes glowing with life. The golem roared and lunged, grabbing the tiger's limbs and forcing it to the ground.
In the same breath, Riku's Susanoo erupted—an armored giant of pure chakra, its form looming over the battlefield with an unyielding presence. The Susanoo's spectral sword gleamed with killing intent as it raised its blade high.
One strike.
The sword came down. The Wind Spirit's neck was severed in an instant, its body collapsing with a thunderous crash. The chains shattered, the winds howled one last time—and then silence.
Both the Susanoo and the Wood Golem faded away, their purpose fulfilled. Riku stood before the corpse, his expression unreadable.
With a flick of his wrist, he summoned another figure—his demon beast, the one he had captured in the depths of the Demon Cave months ago. Its eyes burned with submissive loyalty now, the fierce hostility it once had long gone.
"This core," Riku said, pulling the glowing essence from the Wind Spirit's chest, "will be shared."
He split the core in two, tossing one half to the demon beast. Both of them started absorbing the essence in silence. The power was wild, storm-like, trying to tear through their meridians, but Riku's control was absolute.
Hours seemed to pass. When the last fragment of the core dissolved into his veins, he turned his attention to the body itself. The flesh of a Wind Spirit was not mere meat—it was energy, compressed into physical form. By absorbing it, he could fuse wind's very nature into his being.
Once again, the Demon Emperor Absorption Technique flared to life. Black streams wrapped around the white-furred corpse, devouring every drop of essence. This time, the process was not painless.
Riku gritted his teeth as waves of searing agony tore through his body. His blood boiled; his bones groaned as if being reforged. His demon beast howled beside him, writhing in similar torment. But neither stopped.
Above them, the sky darkened. Flashes of lightning cracked through the clouds, as if heaven itself recoiled from what was happening below. The ground around them fractured, unable to contain the pressure of their rising power.
Far away, the Great Guardian—still searching for the fabled Blade God Arts—froze as a violent explosion ripped through the air. The shockwave carried with it a suffocating mix of demonic qi and primal wind force.
His instincts screamed at him. He rushed toward the source, crossing valleys in seconds.
When he arrived, the sight before him was both awe-inspiring and terrifying.
Riku and his demon beast floated several feet in the air, their bodies wreathed in an aura so dense it made the air hum. Riku's black hair whipped wildly around his face, his crimson eyes glowing brighter than ever. His skin bore faint markings of wind patterns, and his presence felt heavier—more absolute—than any mid Life and Death cultivator should possess.
The demon beast, too, had transformed. Its form was larger, more defined, the faint shimmer of wind surrounding its claws and fangs. It looked down at the Great Guardian with something close to arrogance, as if it now knew it could slay armies alone.
The Great Guardian exhaled slowly, his golden eyes narrowing. "My lord… you've grown even more monstrous."
Riku simply smirked, his voice low but carrying the weight of the storm. "This… is only the beginning."
The air trembled again, promising chaos yet to come.