Floor Eight

Robb breathed a sigh of relief. "It's finally over..."

Every member of the Dragonsguard was sapped of energy, the long battle had truly worn them out. But now it was over. For the first time in forever, the Divine Phoenix Empire was overthrown by another nation in the Seven Nation Ranking Tournament. Such a thing would only happen in one's dreams before... now it was a reality!

Feng Hengkong sighed. "I am indebted to you once again."

Aerion nodded.

Of course, you are.

Watching the intense match had made him want to fight as well... but there really wasn't anyone who could put up a fight against him. It was a depressing thought when the only person he could fight was himself. Luckily for Aerion, an entire Realm of Gods awaited him.

"Since thirty-six people can climb aboard the Profound Ark, can I choose a few?" Aerion asked.

"How many?"

"About twelve."

"Twelve is quite a small number... you could have asked for more and I wouldn't have rejected."

"Wonderful."

Once the Seven Nations Ranking Tournament was over, most of the audience did not have a reason to remain so they left. Aerion joined the Dragonsguard and his ladies after in order to prepare for the journey they were going to have in the Profound Ark. Tomorrow was the only day it was going to be open so they didn't have much time, only a night.

"Man, that tournament was so trash." Sun Lin mocked.

"Only because you were eliminated in the first few seconds." Tai Shu countered. "For me, it was an excellent experience."

Aerion turned to Daenerys. She looked rather displeased. "Where were you all this time?"

"Well..."

The Heavenly Fire Demon laughed, he had an idea but he didn't want to betray his master. Izanami smiled, somewhat deviously. "Probably spending time with the Snow Princess. It explains all the snow."

Damn, she got me good. "You are correct. She was just so kind, I simply couldn't reject."

"Of course, she chained you to the ground and you had no choice but to stay for a whole two months!" Izanami countered.

"Your jealousy is seeping through." Tai Xia remarked.

"You're one to talk about jealousy, first and only wife..."

Aerion ignored their little clash. "Daenerys, what are your opinions of this world? I'd very much like to know."

"I felt overwhelmed at first since everything was so different. Most people seemed to focus on one thing and one thing only; their cultivation strength. There is no faith... they don't have Gods, I found that strange."

"That is because profound practitioners believe in themselves and themselves only. We, Targaryens, aren't the most pious people much due to the same reason. By the way... did you start cultivating?"

She nodded. "I broke through to the first stage of Elementary Profound Realm! But... I'm still weak when compared to everyone else."

Two months? That's quite fast, isn't it?

Aerion smiled. "Oh, that won't be a worry for long. I'll have plenty of resources by the time I finish my second conquest... and I know a method that can dramatically increase one's cultivation strength."

"What is it?" She asked, out of curiosity.

"I'll show you later."

~

They all slept in the rooms the Divine Phoenix Empire had provided. They were quite extravagant, it looked like the Divine Phoenix Empire had spared no expense. Aerion decided to make use of the night by meditating. Of course, he would enter the Dungeon in the meantime. He was feeling a little bored and ambitious so he decided it was time to advance to the next floor.

"Oi, arena manager, when can I go to the next floor?"

"Already? I was making a lot of money..."

"Answer the damn question."

"Fine, you may."

A portal appeared beneath Aerion and he was sucked into it. The fall only lasted but a moment. He looked around and took in his new surroundings. Thick layers of stone surrounded him and there was no source of light apart from the violet crystals placed everywhere. They illuminated the cave and made things easy to see. Its light had a special allure to it which began to draw Aerion closer. Behind him was a dead end... so the only way was, indeed, forward.

He tried to touch one of the crystals but he heard a round of growling and hissing so he stepped back. One... two... three... four lynxes seemed to appear out of nowhere. Aerion observed them before taking any rash actions.

Those cats hid well.

They continued growling, attempting to establish their territory and intimidate the human before them. But Aerion was no human... he is a Dragon!

They were of the Divine Origin Profound Realm, which was surprising but still, the lynxes weren't anything Aerion couldn't handle. He grabbed Sky Piercer out of the Sky Poison Pearl and began to tear through the four lynxes. The first one jumped at him.

Dragonic Heart.

Aerion stepped to the side and forced the lynx down onto the earth. Sky Piercer's axe had cleaved the lynx in half! Aerion felt guilty for some reason... the creature was cute in a way and now it laid on the floor, split in half and its blood spilling out. Must have been the purple, large eyes that made him feel that way. Aerion cleaned Sky Piercer's axe and glanced at the other lynxes. The growling seemed to stop... they were afraid. He inspected the lynx he had killed and noticed that it had something special... a Profound Core!

His eyes began to shine as he took it out.

A Divine Origin Profound Core!!!

The beasts in this floor have Profound Cores!?

At that moment, the lynxes were as good as dead. But they had managed to scuttle back to where they came from. Aerion, from his many dungeon explorations, knew that the Divine Origin lynxes were in no way shape or form the strongest existences on floor eight. They were, most likely, the weakest.

He continued walking downwards, taking a few of the crystals. Maybe they had some use apart from looking pretty. Even if they didn't, they could still be used for decoration. He did encounter a few lynxes on his walk, but they all sprinted back the moment they saw him.

I'm already infamous, eh?

Aerion didn't mind, he followed their trails which would no doubt lead to the stronger opponents. They were doing him a favour by running. Eventually, he found a set of steps that led to a new, wider floor. There were countless lynxes standing at the end of the floor, behind two even mightier existences. The two pillars who ended their fears, but only briefly.

Both of them were quite formidable lions, being in the mid-stages of the Divine Origin Realm. Aerion wasn't going to waste his energy fighting them in Draconic Heart, instead, he intended to kill them all in one fell swoop.

PURGATORY, CRIMSON DEMON WAVE!

BOOM.

Instantly, both lions and every single lynx was incinerated by the flames. Aerion walked forward and harvested their Profound Cores. There were over a hundred of them, which made Aerion feel like he had just found a gold mine. Even in the Realm of the Gods, the Profound Cores probably had an insane value tied to them.

Aerion continued forwards, to the next floor.

It was a relatively short walk. Along the way, he encountered three lone lions in total. He ended up killing two and making the other his temporary pet. Its eyes were purple, which was a trait shared by all of the cats. Something did surprise him, though. The lion could surround itself in lightning and, for some time, become stronger. Touching the lightning would result in getting electrified, not a pleasant feeling at all.

The next floor featured even more lions. Aerion sighed, this many would cause some trouble. He activated his Sharingan.

"Acknowledge me as your Master!"

The lions moved aside and let him continue his walk. Once he walked past them, they followed behind him. Now he had over a dozen lightning lions following him as if he were some lion King. Aerion cleaned the blood from his eyes and looked forward. His pack of lions grew and grew over the minutes. Soon enough, he had half a hundred.

The dungeon kept going down... but eventually, something truly frightening stood in his way. The next floor was absolutely huge, yet it was all on the same level. Aerion could see it from one end to the further. In the very middle, laid a tiger. There were no other signs of life, it was only the lone tiger.

This one tiger is...

Divine Origin 10!

"Attack the tiger," Aerion ordered, sending his lions to the afterlife. It was suicidal for them to do so but they had no choice, his word was absolute. The tiger slowly got up, furious that his peaceful nap was disturbed by some ants. Aerion watched the tiger toy with the lions, slaughtering them like cattle in just a few seconds. Then it looked at Aerion, its purple eyes emitting lightning along with the rest of its body. The tiger was ready to dispatch him as well.

Purgatory.

Aerion drew Blackfyre and steadily approached the tiger. Then it exploded behind him... and pounced him from the back! A crimson layer of profound energy stopped it from taking a ferocious bite off Aerion's neck. The layer grew into an armoured Susanoo and the tiger was forced to land onto the ground. Aerion took a deep breath.

That was way too close.

Aerion turned around and gave the Susanoo Sky Piercer. It then made a huge slash to where the tiger once was. It managed to get away with its monstrous speed. The tiger then roared and the entire stone floor was filled with waves of powerful lightning. As a result, Aerion ended up getting struck from the ground.

It was not a pleasant feeling but he stood his ground, the attack was less powerful since the lightning was more dispersed. Aerion focused his eyes on the tiger... and it stopped moving for a second. He instantly opened Silver Calamity and charged a powerful profound skill. Phoenix flames began to form a truly destructive ball of fire.

STAR SCORCHING DEMON LOTUS!

He sent it in the direction of the tiger... and it managed to dodge most of the attack! It did not come out unscathed, though. The flames had scorched most of its body which weakened the tiger. It rose with an insurmountable amount of rage, exploding towards Aerion's Susanoo. Aerion laughed.

What a pitiful tiger, it can't do anything against this absolute shield. It may be faster than I but that speed means nothing when it can't even penetrate my defences!

"Oh my, such a handsome young man."

The tiger turned around and sprinted away. Someone had walked up from the next floor... a person! The tiger went behind her and down to the next floor.

Divine Soul 1... Seven Hells, my luck isn't great as I would like it to be.

"But you harmed my tiger... do you know what that means for you?"

"You are going to try and kill me?" Aerion questioned. "Go on, many have tried and all of them have inevitably failed! You would be no different from the rest."

"A fiery, handsome, young man... I've struck gold! I have to bring you back to the village, after some restraining, of course."

Bring me back to her village... who does she think I am?

She appeared before his Susanoo and shattered it into pieces after just three, rapid-fire, punches. The fourth one hit his chest and made him vomit blood. The difference in strength was absolutely absurd. Aerion was confident in facing a Divine Origin 10 tiger... but a Divine Soul 1 profound practitioner was a completely different story!

She began to humiliate him with some more lightning-fast attacks that truly struck like lightning. She ended her attacks with an almighty kick to the gut, that sent him flying. He landed eventually and... stood up.

"You can still stand?"

Aerion gazed at the girl, his eyes burning with rage. Scales, both Silver and Crimson, began to grow in bunches, healing all of his wounds... the power of the Dragon had been awakened once again. Aerion smiled as two dragon wings sprouted from his back. He managed to control his rage... somehow.

"Now you're as good as dead, lass."

"Oh... you are so angry w-"

Aerion exploded towards her and ruthlessly punched her in the gut. The next attack, though, she managed to dodge. It would seem that the battle was more even this time around. Aerion retrieved Blackfyre from the ground and prepared to defend himself. She formed lightning from her hands and sent a chain of it in his direction. It continuously struck him. The pain was simply too great...

"Serves you right for that punch... hmph."

The lightning kept coming.

He managed to open his left palm...

Heaven... Absorbing... Silver... Claw!

"Ah? How..." She stopped sending lightning, realising that it wasn't harming him anymore.

Aerion smirked and opened his right palm. All of the profound energy in his body that was collected from the lightning was combined with his own and amplified by the Crimson scales. He prepared one attack... the attack that would send her straight to the afterlife!

HEAVEN DESTROYING CRIMSON DEMON WAVE.

BOOOM.

The Crimson Demon Wave had incinerated the girl completely but Aerion was sure he'd be seeing her again... just like the Ice Queen and her Ice Dragon. Lightning seemed to be the constant theme in this floor Eight... Aerion wondered if he might find some special bloodline here. The village could be a potential trial ground, after all.

Aerion's eyes slowly dimmed as he eventually fell to the stone floor out of exhaustion.