Chapter 23 Augus Vs. Akuma

Qin Ming was wide-mouthed; he expected the dorje thunderbolt to be powerful, but this was insane. Icedawn could only smile seeing its power be released once more.

"We should head back, we still don't know the dangers here." Icedawn warned Qin Ming.

He crossed his arms and held his chin rubbing the delicate hairs on his face. Although he was a kid this didn't stop his beast lineage from growing. Qin Ming continued to ponder. "Yes it does seem quite dangerous, but there is invaluable knowledge here. I'll only leave once I master all the Primordial Daos!" Qin Ming was quite eager to master them.

"Fine if you wish!" Icedawn sighed under her breath.

Back in the real world

"Still no sign of that bastard huh!" Augus ground his teeth, his eye turning bloodshot.

Yunshe Li grabbed Augus's shoulder "no worries friend, Ryu will come when we need him."

Augus grumbled and walked away. Yunshe Li took a deep breath and held his palm "I hope he does!" Yunshe Li thought to himself.

A couple rooms down

The spirits were high in this small section of the world, like they had been given a chance to stick it to the world. In terms of power it was the Crystal Kingdom, the Diamond Continent, and the Ruby Alliance. However, the Jade Empire was given the chance of a lifetime. It was a chance to pull one's self up from one's boot strap.

"AHAHAHA yes my friends what a glorious time to be alive!!" Akuma starts shoveling food down his gullet, he wraps his arms against a skinny youth.

"Would you stop that!" The skinny youth blew up and pushed Akuma off of him.

"Jin Wu this is an amazing time to be alive is it not the final four!" Akuma gushed.

Jin Wu got up and walked to the doorway. He leaned against the door frame away from the party. A sudden knock on the door followed by Jin Wu flying the door open. "What the hell is this a note?" Jin Wu continued to read it.

"If you want to cripple the Crystal Kingdom, take out the head. This is-!" Jin Wu didn't stay much longer. He turned into a blur and without a trace he disappeared.

On the roof

"Ahhhh, to make it into the tournament, how great is this!" Raya muttered to herself, calm and tranquil as she gazed at the stars. Her heart was big and full and she couldn't contain herself. She was saved to participate in the actual rounds; her role was of the utmost importance.

"A night stroll~ Quiet a nice night for one~" Jin Wu sang

"Who are you!" Raya hoped to her feet.

Eighteen azure stars hung over Jin Wu's head "ready let's go!!" Jin Wu pointed his finger and each of the stars flew over to her.

Raya lifted up nine rock walls which each of the stars broke through with little effort. They continued to charge her. With each step she took the back the stars gained three more. Each rock wall only aimed to slow down the stars. Although miniscule the power did lower somewhat.

Raya continued to retreat, the stars hurling over at extreme speeds with no signs of stopping. "Tch will I really have to use that technique!"

A giant sphere of lava surrounded the two of them, and in the next instant two pillars of lava came smashing to the stars and in less than a second, obliterated them. Jin Wu frowned, then charged back at her. Raya flicked her hands and two more pillars came crashing at Jin Wu. He dodged them with little effort. His palm came across her chest with a smashing force. Blood spurted from her mouth, her organs ruptured in that same moment.

They were trapped in a zone which Raya had created where she reigned supreme and was impossible to exit. "You must be pleased Jin Wu, that you landed a blow on me huh?" Raya said through gritted teeth.

She grabbed his arm and held it tight, his bones almost shattering. She twirled her fingers and the barrier reacted to her movements causing four pillars to come hurdling over to Jin Wu. The force of the pillars comes full force, his bones crushing under the force of these pillars might.

Jin Wu laughs like a mad man "now who is the pleased one!" with a simple movement of his arms the pillars suppressing him shattered apart.

"You say this zone is yours yet look how easy it crumbles!" Jin Wu ran his hand through her stomach. Raya's blood covered the floor and his hand.

BOOOM BOOOM!!!!!

"Enough of this!" a tall muscular figure tears down the barrier put up by Raya in one small stroke. This man carried the presence of lightning itself, static followed him like moths to a flame.

The man took another stroke with his weapon, almost killing Jin Wu in the process. "Just who in the hell are you!"

"Me, no one special. You however Jin Wu.... that name doesn't fit, how about dead man walking?" The man spoke with little regard for Jin Wu, but without a second's notice Jin Wu disappeared.

He floated down to greet the woman he had just saved. "Wait a second! I know you, your appearance has changed slightly but it's still you! Qin Ming you really came to save me!"

"Hehe in the flesh, what did that man want with you?" Qin Ming was no doubt concerned with this sudden attack.

Raya shook her head "that however I don't know!"

"Hmmm very well let's go inside and rest up a bit." Qin Ming led Raya to the rooms and started to wind down himself.

He grabs his face and sighed from the pit of his chest "the Abyssal Region is draining!"

He had spent a total of three years in that place and had developed in many areas, however one thing did not change, his mastery in the Dao of Martial Arts. Although he learned the source Dao's in which they were created, he still needed actual experience and needed to be pushed to the limit.

Learning Primordial Daos was easy and mastering was just as easy. After all, Qin Ming had reached the World Level in a few Daos. So his talent and understanding of way more lesser and strictly speaking simple Daos was as natural as breathing.

In truth not even a second had passed in the real world, however in the Abyssal Region nearly three years had gone by. Although he had learned Primordial Daos his power has not increased much.

The Court of the Stars

"Hmm troubling, Highbringer, do you see the mockery they made of my child?" Amaterasu held her chin and rubbed the skin on it. Her face turned into a small frown.

"This is quite a problem isn't it. Well what should we do?" The Highbringer was several leagues above anyone in the heavens at the moment, Amaterasu was more or less than an ant to him, but it wasn't always like this. He isn't so fond of flaunting his power during the week. So he was humble around her.

"Not yet, let's see how she develops, this could be a chance for fortune, or a calamity. Either way it will be important for growth." Amaterasu had taken quite an interest in this tournament herself. In fact almost every single immortal and cultivator was interested in the outcome.

Why was this? Sure it was a Major world but it ranked quite low. What was the real point of interest was the fact that there were whispers of Qin Ming being the son of Xùrì Lièrì and the disciple of Sagacious Sun Li, however this was just rumor. When they asked Wen Shui about it, he said 'hehe you'll just have to watch', so the Immortals of the Three Realms did.

Back on the Oldjade Major World

Augus and the others were sitting around a table with plates of food and wine. Qin Ming and Augus shared a few laughs together.

"Qin Ming my good friend, we could never have gotten this far without each other. We worked as a group and fought as a group. From this moment on I want to tell you this one thing. Win or lose…" Augus felt a lump in his throat.

"Dear friend of mine, you talk as if we have already lost." Qin Ming gulped down a couple of sips and began to laugh with his friend.

"Many of our friends got hurt on the way here, me included! However you were always there to help us. You are the key to everything. You are the only one who has reached the Xiantian level!" Augus sighed a bit and began to take a few more sips from his cup.

"Augus at this current moment I would say you could give anyone here a run for their money. I have sensed out most of the competition and you give off ripples equivalent to the other Xiantian level figures here!" he patted Augus's back and fed him some more words of encouragement.

"That Ryu still has not returned!" Augus started to grind his teeth in a fit of rage.

"Good brother Ryu is away training and when he returns he will be much stronger than ever before, so why the anger?" Qin Ming clasped his hand.

"He wasn't here for Tianlong Xun! Are you not mad, he acts like this is beneath him!" Qin Ming laughs a bit at his brother's words.

"Augus, if he was here, is there anything he could have done? I was here and it still happened. Besides you were there to watch over her, were you not?" Augus relaxed his shoulders and breathed a little easier at his words but still didn't like this situation in the slightest.

Yunshe Li laid back onto one arm, "what are we doing here!" Yunshe Li couldn't help but feel odd.

"Huh what do you mean we are just eating and talking?" Taotie Zishan gave a sideway glance at him, his lips curled at this.

"I mean why are we here celebrating! This is pointless! Tianlong is still out of commission, the Diamond Continent has several legs up on us! That Fudo is probably one of the strongest and I don't know who could even stop them!" Yunshe Li stood up and slammed his hand on the table, the goblets of wine spilled over.

"This is bullshit! What do we have to celebrate! Raya was nearly killed, guess where she is!" Yunshe Li continued his fit of rage.

"Alright Yunshe Li, that's enough!" Qin Ming stood up, and grabbed his shoulder, close to crushing his bones.

Yunshe Li tugged at his grip and pulled himself off of his grip. "Whatever I'm leaving!"

Naomi glanced up and saw how upset Yunshe Li was. She also left with him.

Taotie took a grim look as he looked at his friend leaving. He frowned and had lost his actual taste for his food or wine. "He has a point. There isn't much to celebrate, but we came so far it's hard not to! We came so far. BAH!! What does that fool know? Let's enjoy our moment now!"

"YEAAHH!!" Qin Ming jumped up and laughed with his closest friends.

"Hey… Yunshe, I don't know what all that was about, but please come back inside. Let's enjoy what times we do have!" Naomi tugged at the reams of his robes and beckoned him back inside.

"Naomi, it's a sweet sentiment, but I can't enjoy myself when others suffer." Yunshe Li gazed into the moon and thought of the stories he had heard. Its quite embrace wrapping him in its cold touch.

That day went by and soon there time for resting and relaxation also came to an end as well. With their bellies full and their hopes high, Augus was looking forward to fighting in the first round. His fist could hardly stay still with a burning passion flaring in his eyes.

A few steps on stage and he would see the man he must face, in a few moments he would have his time to shine.

DROOOM!!

"What the hell is this energy!?" Augus lifted his arms to defend himself from this sudden exposure of energy.

"Hehe you wanted to know what that energy was, well it was me!" Akuma jumped onto the stage and shattered the ground beneath him.

"So it was…" Augus looked Akuma over seeing his radiance of power ripple towards him, he felt a little uneasy.

"So this is the power of a Xiantian huh? Truth be told I'm a bit disappointed to be honest." Augus flaunted a fraction of his power which caused the earth underneath him to crumble.

Akuma grinned a bit at this display before vaulting head first. With his fist pulled back he came at Augus full force. His speed was unlike any Augus had seen before. With this sudden brake Augus could only do so much. He lifted his hands and caused a veil of flames to catch Akuma's fist. This did little but slowed him down quite a bit. Without a second thought Augus changed his stances up a bit.

After all he came from a different clan with a whole slew of different techniques. The one he learned from Lei Laoshi was wonderful to say the least, but it was not what he was comfortable with. This technique that he opted to use came to him as easy as breathing.

"[First Stance, Moths to the Flame]"

Augus created a trail of flames behind him as he rushed Akuma. Each blow dealt to Akuma was faster than the eye could see. When Augus connected a blow his hands were blown back. Akuma's body was sturdy like a brick wall, and Augus's fist was more like feathers.

"My turn!" Akuma's face reached from ear to ear, he lifted his hands up then brought them back down with heaven shattering force.

BOOOOOM!!!!

The stage splintered under Akuma's fist which failed to connect to Augus. His footwork looked like a new person as well. He danced around the big oaf, Augus was as graceful as a leaf making its descent from the sturdy oak. There was no way he could be touched. A million arrows could rain from the sky but not a single one would hit Augus.

"HAHA YES AKUMA SHOW ME YOUR MIGHT!!!!" Augus's face turned ugly he snarled a toothy smirk.

Twenty lightning fast fists land clean on Akuma. Each blow was weak but each carried a hint of the Dao within them. Augus himself was extremely close to reaching the World Level in the Dao of Fire. When this happened each blow of his would be able to damage Akuma. Right now his fist could only wear him down.

This barrage was made up of the '[First Stance, Moths to the Flame]' each of these blows were meant to be faster than the enemy could handle and target the vital spots on the enemy. Right now he was able to spit out about thirty in a single breath.

"Ack" with that blow Augus landed on Akuma he slightly winced from this blow.

'Now's the time!' This is what Augus had wanted, to finally break that ironclad defense.

"[Eight Stance, Dazzling Sun Crashing Star]"

Augus pooled as much fire as he could into his right palm, these flames being a sharp crimson color. In his left palm a much softer and less grand ball of flames coalesced, however this was a sapphire colored ball of flames. His right hand slammed into Akuma's abdomen. Akuma's face twisted and contorted at the same moment the arena blew into pieces from the sheer force of this move. In the next breath his left hand came crashing in and utterly destroyed Akuma's left side.

BOOOOOM!!!

Both the flames mixed together and created a brilliant ball of fire. Each on their own was magnificent, but together the sheer awe of this move could be appreciated. When they met it leveled the surroundings, several blastwaves of pressure blew back onto the crowd. There was no more marble tile, only a charred earth. There were some puddles of lava that radiated an awesome heat. If there was any plant life it had long since turned to ash.

"Hehe, you really did it now kid!" a stream of blood trailed down from the lips of Akuma. His eyes trained on the strained Augus. Akuma's eyes turned mad with blood lust. He only wanted one thing right now.

Akuma grabbed Augus's right hand and held it tight so he couldn't escape. He couldn't hit him before, but now it was free game. Akuma beat down on Augus each blow that landed on his face painted a gruesome picture of blood on the floor of the remaining ground.

The hand that gripped Augus, flung him into the air. In less than a second he had reached about three to four kilometers in the air. Akuma leapt into the air to meet Augus. Akuma had made the jump in less than a second, and as soon as his fist could land on Augus's scrawny body it did.

BOOOOOOOM!!!

As soon as his fist met Augus, he was blasted back into the ground three concussive bangs rang throughout the crowd. His body crashed into the floor making a thirty meter crater in the ground.

Augus picked himself up as quickly as he possibly could. Akuma turned into a speeding rocket. His body was coming down so fast that it looked like a rocket coming back into orbit. There was no way to stop Akuma, but if Augus wanted to live he had too.

Augus sprouted four new arms and two new heads. One of the many things Agni gave him. This simple divine ability was used by every god in the cosmos, taking up little to no Immortal energy, most gods could go on in this form indefinitely. For Augus however, he'd only be able to last a few hours. This didn't really matter since most battles between Immortal practitioners lasted for about three minutes, sometimes less. In truth this one had lasted almost a minute.

Augus scent hordes of crimson fire qilins to slow down Akuma, each one was torn apart the second it met Akuma. This did lower his power just a bit. In these last moments Augus could only look back.

He saw the warmth the Dao of Fire provided him since birth. It was his only comerad for the longest time. He gave his life up in the pursuit of this Dao, exploring its intricacies. Then it struck him. The Dao of Fire was not only just about destruction. There was another side to this coin, life! When a forest burned down it would grow back stronger on its ashes. Some plants could only produce seeds in extreme heat.

Augus reworked and reworked every single one of his techniques to fit this. It was true that mid battle breakthroughs were common but this was a stroke of fortune to happen now. He was so close to breaking through to the World Level he could almost taste it. Drip, drip, drip, like drops of water falling into a full glass his insights piled up more and more. Every life experience was pouring into him. Until it overflowed.

"So this is the world huh?" Augus was like a blind man that had just gained the ability to see. He finally experienced the world on a truer level than before and his eyes opened to the truth. This was One With the World, this is what it meant to be connected to the Dao on a deeper level. Fire could not only be a median for destruction if it also didn't bring life and creation. After all it is one of the five elements that repaired the pillars of heaven. The five elements made up everything in the Three Realms so the Dao of Fire could not only mean destruction.

He once again summoned up a new hoard of fire quilins each of which infused with World Level energy. The power level between the two were shocking, so shocking in fact Akuma began to take notice. He still smashed through each but was slowed down tremendously.

"To think I'd have to reveal this technique so soon." Augus had many tricks up his sleeves but so did Akuma, ones which Augus couldn't dream of.

Akuma sat in the lotus position and a nine petal golden lotus formed underneath Akuma. The lotus emanated unheard of power and the ripples caused Augus to shake. Augus may have reached the World Level, but Akuma had reached the One With Everything Level in the Dao of the Lotus. This lotus brought along heaven shattering might. Akuma started to hurl towards the earth like a gigantic meteor.

Augus took a deep breath in and everything around him started to slow down. He took his position and with each of his arms he used them in a circular movement. The flames trailed from his fingertips and made a circle big enough for his fist. In this vortex of flames even the air around it incinerated. Heat began to rise faster and faster, the ground beneath him started to melt.

"LETS GO HAHA TO DIE IN BATTLE IS TO DIE A HERO, COME THEN AKUMA KILL ME!!" Augus struck the circle and a giant cone of pressure and flames ate the meteor.

Akuma came crashing down just as fast. He was eaten alive by the sheer power of this technique. One petal after another slowly came undone. The power was just too much to withstand.

BOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOM!!!

Pressure and wind flew off in every direction the power from both attacks collided and demolished everything in sight. A ball of energy flew up into the sky before exploding and settling down. The stands were protected by a Divine Mortal's energy so the people were fine. In fact the stands remained completely untouched. That was something someone at the Xiantian level couldn't touch.

After everything settled, only one person remained standing and the other laid face-down in the dirt. It was such a close call, they almost didn't want to announce the results of this match. This was such a brilliant display of today's youth they wanted both to win. In the end only one person could be named a winner and the other a loser. It was the closest call they had ever seen.

"With these ladies and gentlemen we have our winner. From small beginnings we have our winner, Akuma shall proceed onto the next round!" The Director of the tournament called out.

"HAHA YOU FOUGHT WELL MY FRIEND!" Akuma held his gut laughing. He walked off stage and went to go meet his comrades.

Qin Ming hopped down from the stands to go collect his friend. "You fought well Augus! Don't worry I'll pay you back!" Qin Ming put Augus's arm around his shoulder and carried him away.

"That was the most fun I've had in awhile. That is where real men belong Qin Ming, In the fight. We fight then eat good food, then we fight some more! Only the strong can have a seat at the table!" Augus laughed as soft as he could since even that hurt his wounds.

"We shall all have a seat my friend." Qin Ming smiled and was confirmed with Augus.

"And it shall be the sweetest wine we could ever taste!" Augus closed his eyes and faded out of consciousness.

"Sleep well Augus." Qin Ming turned into a blurb and carried him away.