The instant the flame appeared, the atmosphere turned humid and hot. Natalie and Grace saw steam appearing within the battlefield as the moisture contained within the gra.s.ses wildly evaporated, forming droplets of skin on their skins.
"That"s the Chimera Flame? He"s actually using it against Vincent?"
"Yeah, that"s definitely the Chimera Flame, although dear isn"t using all its power..."
Grace and Natalie commented at the side. Vincent who stood right before Dan felt the brunt of the heatwave and couldn"t help but flinch in fear. The heatwave that penetrated even his Spiritual Energy subconsciously made him terrified.
Dan disregarded his expression and focused on drawing out the most minimum power that he could from the Chimera Flame so that he won"t inadvertently kill or severely injure his enemy. Only when the Chimera Flame safely coated his daggers did he heaved in relief and stared at the terrified Vincent.
"What"s wrong? Is that the extent of your courage?" Dan coldly smirked and without any warnings, dashed at Vincent"s direction. His daggers flashed, leaving cold lights amidst their wake as Vincent hurriedly heaved his lance and received the former"s attack.
Bang!
Sparks flew and Vincent was thrown backward, his back struck the fence as he slowly dropped on the ground. The injury on his chest and the damage from the impact further weakened his body. Gnas.h.i.+ng his teeth, he stabbed his lance in the ground and stood up. Facing Dan with a defiant expression on his face.
This time, he made the first attack, exploding with the brilliant light of the sun. He stabbed forwards with his lance. In response, Dan merely sidestepped and parried his lance to the side, before counter-attacking with a kick at Vincent"s torso.
"Hmmph!" Vincent coldly snorted transferring his lance to his right hand, he moved his body to the left and avoided Dan"s kick before sending a palm strike with his left hand to Dan"s chest. However, he was horrified when he saw that Dan didn"t have the intentions to judge his fully-powered palm strike
"What is he doing? is he planning on withstanding Vincent"s strike?" Grace said with worry visible in her tone. She was evidently astonished by Dan"s actions of standing still.
"Yeah, even with our tempered bodies, there"s no way that we wouldn"t suffer any injuries after sustaining such a strong attack. But he"s clearly not planning on stepping aside, just what is he trying to do?"
Natalie curiously thought, and Grace nodded her head. As Dan"s wives, all two of them knew him too well. He wasn"t someone that would whimsically act without any plans, so they were curious about what he was trying to do.
Bang!
A fierce explosion rang out as Vincent"s foot struck a wall of flame that coincidentally had the same size as his foot sole, when his foot and the wall of flame collided, the two energies belonging to the same affinities momentarily merged with each other.
Unfortunately, both energies possessed the trait of absolute dominance and absolutely disliked seeing someone trying to step over their dignity. As a result, in that instant, the two energies cancelled each other out and exploded into a burst of flames, sending a curtain of fire in all directions.
Grace moved and with a sweep of her arm, Yin appeared and the temperature abruptly plummeted, the flame created from the clash of Dan and Vincent"s energies stiffened and turned into frozen sculptures that shattered upon impact on the ground.
Natalie turned to look at Grace in admiration, her fast reaction and fine control of her Spiritual Energy made it so that they wouldn"t cause any collateral damage to the surroundings. Dan made a sidelong glance at Grace before turning to look at Vincent once again.
Even though Dan used less than two percent of the Chimera Flame"s power, the Spiritual Energy that he used to fuel the Chimera Flame should be enough to cause severe injuries to someone like Vincent, but miraculously. He cancelled his attack and remained unscathed.
Such strength was something that infinitely neared the true threshold of the Divine Soul Realm. One last push or inspiration will definitely cause his break through. Inwardly smiling, Dan crossed his arms and coldly said.
"Now you finally have that courage to stand up for your own benefit..."
He snorted and a.s.sumed an offensive stance. Before Vincent could even reply, he vanished and appeared right before Vincent"s eyes with his daggers stabbed forwards. Vincent predicted his movements and made a short backward leap, turning his lance around. He swoop horizontally at Dan, his lance sparkling in a golden sheen.
The golden sheen from his lance came from his main cultivation method that Vincent never once revealed to anyone apart from the Elders and the Headmaster, It emanated a strong heatwave and the trace of Yang, along with an extremely corrosive force that could penetrate through Spiritual Energy in an instant.
With this in mind, Dan knew better than to clash against his lance with his daggers coated in his Spiritual Energy. Ignoring Vincent"s attack, his eyes flashed with resolve as he decisively thrust his daggers at Vincent"s body, aiming for mutual destruction.
"You... You"re not planning on dodging?!"
Vincent was horrified, with the Spiritual Energy that he injected in his lance, his attack was comparable to a Mid-Stage Divine Soul Realm cultivator. If it landed squarely on Dan"s body, he would be lucky if he only sustained severe injuries.
"Retreating isn"t in my dictionary. If you wanna win against someone, you must be equally ruthless to yourself..."
Dan merely chuckled and continued his thrust. Vincent actually didn"t want to injure Dan for he still treated him as a brother despite the fact that the former wanted to kill him earlier. Unfortunately, he was horrified to find that he couldn"t stop his attack anymore. If he forcefully did, he risked damaging his meridians and crippling himself.
Time slowed down and almost grind to a halt as Vincent"s lance neared Dan"s body and Dan"s thrust reached Vincent"s chest. Vincent gnashed his teeth and took a leap backward, avoiding Dan"s strike while his lance swoop through the latter"s body, splitting him in half.
Before Vincent could react and express his shock, Dan"s cold voice echoed behind, startling him.
"Did you really think that something like that is enough to kill me? How naive..."
Vincent hurriedly twisted his body and blocked Dan"s attack using his lance. With the collision of the Chimera Flame and his cultivation method came a fierce explosion that prompted Grace"s response.
Despite the commotion, the two of them never darted their gazes away from each other, afraid that one of them might sneak attack and cause their demise.
"Dan... Why are you doing this to me? I thought we were brothers! Yet, you... Why are you trying to kill me?!" Vincent angrily roared, asking for explanations. His face turned hysterical amidst his disbelief and denial.
Towards Vincent"s question, Dan merely smirked and coldly replied.
"You really need to mature starting now, Vincent. If you do not, then there"s no way that you could stop me from reaping your life, nor you could survive long enough in this world.
"If you want to achieve the peak of cultivation, become ruthless! Only when you"re ruthless and powerful enough will people respect you... Without it, you"re nothing but a cannon fodder."
"Is that what you want to become in the future? Do you see yourself as a mere pebble on the ground, incomparably insignificant and unworthy of mention?!"
Dan"s fierce words filled with righteousness shook Vincent"s core. Staring wide-eyed at his direction, he started struggling against Dan"s attack he gnashed his teeth and roared, starting his counter-attack with a volley of thrusts.
"Of course, I want to reach the peak of cultivation! Of course, I want to get wealth, fame, and power! But everything"s not so simple, everything"s not so simple, Dan!"
Clang!
At the end of his sentence, Vincent smashed downwards with his lance, forcing Dan away and scattering his Chimera Flame across the ground. Some of the flames landed on his clothes and it started to burn, eating his clothes away and burning his flesh.
Anyone that felt their flesh burn should feel the pain, yet Vincent merely stood there with a dignified expression. A strange air started revolving around his body and the Chimera Flame that ate his clothes slowly vanished into nothingness, consumed by the brilliance from his cultivation method.
"Interesting..."
Dan blurted out loud, it has to be known that the Chimera Flame possessed the affinities of all the elements, including Earth, Water, Fire and Wind. Meaning it shouldn"t easily extinguish even when someone used everything that they had to do it.
Nevertheless, Vincent managed to extinguish his fire, it goes to say that his cultivation method was a notch higher than the Chimera Flame. Such findings piqued the interest of Natalie, Grace and Dan who stared intently at Vincent.
"Everything"s not so simple... Everything"s not so simple... Everything"s not so simple..." He continuously muttered as if he was out of his mind. His eyes looked listless and his figure stood stiff as if he was in a trance.
Dan knitted his eyebrows and observed Vincent"s changes. Through the System, he understood that he was currently undergoing a fierce emotional upheaval, triggered by post-traumatic stress. Right now, it was best that he do not intervene and let Vincent fix himself
Within VIncent"s memories was the fading figure of a woman. The woman stared at him affectionately and cupped his chin as she kneeled down. Her eyes sparkled with the light of maternal love as she said in an amiable voice.
"Listen, Vincent. Inside this ruthless world where strength speaks everything. Someone that has such a pure soul like you is akin to a qilin"s horn and a phoenix"s feathers. You must not let your soul be tainted. You must live a life of forgiveness and learn to accept everything that comes to your way..."
The juvenile Vincent sweetly smiled and nodded his head. The words of her mother were engraved inside his mind and he kept on doing what his mother wanted until that fateful day. His father, that recently returned from the battlefield at the Katze Plains, suddenly broke into a huge fight with her mother and killed her.
In this world, strength was valued more than anything else including familial relations. Seeing his mother die so miserable and humiliated ignited Vincent"s anger who in that time had started his cultivation in their ancestor"s cultivation method. In his fury, he ignited half of his body"s potential and took revenge for the death of his mother.
As a result, he was ostracized for his decision and was eventually sent to an exile. Ever since the death of that b.a.s.t.a.r.d father of his. Vincent swore that he would never take another person"s life for his own benefit, and if possible. He would solve everything in a peaceful and orderly manner unlike what"s common in this world.
Unfortunately, that led to his dao heart going into hibernation, and even with his remaining talent, his cultivation grind to a halt and he got stuck at the peak of the Spirit Tempering Realm.
Despite the amount of Heavenly Treasures that he used to boost his cultivation and reach a breakthrough, it never came and he never broke through.
Dan"s words awakened these memories from within the depths of Vincent"s heart and mind, sending him into hyperventilation as his mind madly spun out of control.
A part of him wanted to become ruthless and take revenge against the unfairness of the world that killed his mother while a part of him desired to keep his mother"s principles.
Facing reality, Vincent knew the answer but he was afraid. Afraid to take that step forward lest he could never come back to what he was before.
Sighing, Dan finally deduced Vincent"s train of thoughts, turning to look at him. He said in a cold voice.
"Wake up!"