Soul-Wrenching Pain

These orbs were much larger than the ship, so much so that the ship was comparable to the size of a small toy for a human child that was then compared to a grand planet... Yes, the difference was by this much and more!

Facing these two figures was a mysterious figure clad in black clothing and a black mask with long inky black hair and a pair of black eyes that were deeper than the darkest trenches of an endlessly large and expansive ocean.

"We've located the general location of the True Chaos God...!" The kneeling figure proclaimed with a voice that was monotone throughout, lacking any emotion, as if he lacked free will, merely a puppet.

On one throne was a white-haired being. On the other was a blue-haired entity. Both had their features covered by a distortion in space... The blue-haired being on the throne replied.

"General location?" Due to her sweet and seductive voice that resounded in the surroundings, it was easy to specify her gender.

The black-clothed figure kneeling in front of them on the deck a few steps below replied almost instantly as if expecting her confusion.

"It was as if a mysterious power guided us! I can say with confidence that in no more than 10 God Years, we'll find the True Chaos God...!"

"Oh?" Hearing this, an amused voice entered the servant's ears. "A mysterious force you say...? Well, if that isn't the will of the True Chaos God, then I know not what is!" The blue-haired woman was unable to hide the fanatism in her voice upon saying this as her grip on the throne's arm tightened.

...

...

The Emperor's Fruit's main ability was to draw out the truest form of Law Qi from the Origin core after one's Law descended. From there, the process of one's absorption of Law Qi would be amplified by the Emperor's Fruit to tens of what it may have been.

Though she hadn't fully etched the essence of the Fire Laws onto the walls of her Origin, due to the Emperor's Fruit forcing the flame laws to produce its quintessence, the Flaming Patterns on her Origin core had been forcefully produced.

Normal humans, if they were to force this process and forcefully etch the patterns of their Law in this unnatural manner using the Emperor's Fruit, the Origin core would be unable to handle such power and may collapse, turning the cultivator into a waste, even killing them was a possibility.

But, due to Athena's deviation from the conventional human ways, this wasn't a big deal. Upon the process of the essence of her Fire Laws being etched onto the walls of her Origin, an explosion escaped her body as she began entering the Martial Emperor realm.

Her body and her cells began absorbing Law Qi in a crazed manner. The speed was extremely fast that no human could ever compare no matter what type of genius they claimed to be. But, the most intriguing thing about this would be the Heavenly Lightning Tribulation...

Or the lack of a Heavenly Lightning Tribulation. Luckily, Blade was busy with Martial Emperors who thought that he wasn't their match, so he didn't perceive this weird occurrence... Otherwise, who knows what his mood would be like?

Unlike her, the Heavens seemed to wish to do anything to slaughter him!

Time passed...

Unknowingly, two hours went by. In these two hours, a glowing red hue coated Athena's skin as her cells continued to brim with greed and absolute desire to devour every strand of Law Qi.

Due to the Law Qi, Athena's flesh had torn apart and reforged under the intense flames of the Fire Law again and again...

Eventually, a loud bang escaped her body signaling that her flesh and tendons had reached a state where they couldn't be strengthened by the Law Qi anymore.

At this stage, Athena's aura had reached a point of saturation where, if released, could burn the body of a normal mortal to dust with merely her presence.

Even then, the Emperor's Fruit was far from its limits!

There was a reason why even Pinnacle Martial Emperors would fight for this treasure, and merely making one a Lower stage Martial Emperor wasn't anything worthy of its reputation... Even if this person is someone like Athena whose internal structure wasn't the same as humans.

From this point, the flow of time became even more obscure. As time passed, Athena's bones and marrow were reforged under the hellish flames of the Fire Law strengthening her more and more.

Four more hours went by and Athena's body released a booming explosion. Widening her eyes, her crimson-red orbs spewed out reddish dark flames.

Her pristine white hair had strands of fiery red on its ends. The aura surrounding her body was even more intense and unrestrained than before. Opening her palms and staring at them, Athena's eyes gradually calmed as the glow dimmed.

"Incredible..." Her voice couldn't hide the astonishment she felt. "Though, with my speed of cultivation, I'd have reached this state in several months, to reach this state in merely six hours upon consuming the Emperor's Fruit, this..."

Turning her gaze toward the cause, Athena welcomed the image of what she deemed as the perfection of evolution, the highest state a lifeform could reach.

In her eyes, Blade was mysterious beyond even her origins, he was neigh omnipotent... Even now, she hasn't seen him in a miserable state before.

But, her eyes squinted and her pupils shrank. On Blade's glabella was a golden infinity symbol that released a horrifying aura that made the illusion of the universe itself staring at her...!

Pale... Blade's skin was sickly pale and beads of sweat trickled down his cheek. His expression was contorted into a frown and the pain he felt couldn't be hidden.

Biting down onto his tender and thin lips, purplish grey blood oozed down his chin before dripping to the sandy surface he sat on.

At the same time, above Athena's head, a gathering of dark clouds occurred. The clouds were dark crimson and radiated with endless destructive force.

Sensing them, Athena who entered the Martial Emperor realm... Athena hadn't simply entered the Martial Emperor realm but had become a High-Level Martial Emperor, and one that was many times stronger than other High-Level Martial Emperors, only had one thought in her mind...

Death!

Those clouds. The thunder that roared through the skies... The red streaks of lightning that flashed in them... Everything about this that seemed to be a Heavenly Lightning Tribulation, released an aura that was purely destined to be the death of the one who received it...!

Instinctively, and with the help of a mysterious force, Athena's body rushed away. She had understood from the last tribulation that Blade's breakthroughs seemed to go against the natural order of everything.

Staying here would merely harm herself and drag Blade down. In just one moment, less than the time it took for the eye to close and reopen, before a blink, Athena had appeared tens of miles away, and her figure didn't stop.

She still felt the threatening loom of death hovering over her head. The dark clouds in the skies were still gathering.

As if something was pulling dark clouds toward the location above Blade's head, these dark clouds were drawn from several tens of miles away and the distance was still expanding.

Reaching their climax, these dark clouds condensed as much as possible. Soo much so that the skies above the whole of Sector 13 were dark and gloomy. Athena had long returned to Sector 15 as all in Sector 13 felt a shiver running up their spines.

At the same time, Blade opened his eyes. For a few seconds, his purple eyes were an amber gold and the infinity symbol remained but they disappeared after a couple of breaths of time.

"Oh my, it seems the Heavens truly do value me." Covering his face, Blade leisurely said with a smirk on his face. "How shy of me, so much attention from the heavens has got me blushing!"

As his words fell, coldness permeated the air and his eyes turned cold. His body was bubbling with power and if he so wished, at any moment, Law Qi would penetrate through his soul and begin reforging it and at the same time, send him straight into the Martial Sovereign realm...

Well, it already happened. During the time his system was upgrading and his soul was benefitting from the system upgrade, Chaos Qi had penetrated into the depths of his soul and begun the process of refining. What took place from there was an immense amount of pain!

So much pain that he almost blanked out. After a few seconds, the Chaos Qi dispersed as if sensing his pain limits and only the pain from the system upgrade remained. At that moment, he realized how truly painful the refinement was.

At this moment, his system was still being upgraded yet he barely felt the pain. At least, when compared to what he had felt upon the Chaos Qi seeping into his soul, this pain was stupidly flimsy.

"Unlike how I shot through the Martial Emperor realm, it seems that I'll have to take my time in the Martial Sovereign realm..." He mumbled. The pain from the process of refinement was intense enough that it left him in a dazed state that made him realize, if he rushed the process, his soul may collapse...

He had no choice but to take it slowly!