Dyon’s words entered Vidar’s mind, causing him to shake in anger. ‘Ten moves? Hmph. We’ll see.’

Truth be told, the crowd was shocked by Vidar’s performance. He was so young, and yet had already managed to become so powerful. Vidar had even found his way onto a list compiled by the Uidah universe due to the potential his faith seed bestowed upon him. After all, even if he was a Ragnor, it wasn’t as though the Uidah could just allow them to take over the entire universe.

That said, Dyon had inadvertently found his way to the top of that list. Initially, it wasn’t his fault. This was because Alidor had disguised himself as Dyon before killing the 5th son of the Uidah. That action alone had birthed the Uidah’s scorn for Dyon – it was no surprise to anyone that they were currently preparing a revenge campaign for when next the gates opened. However, the second reason Dyon could only blame on himself. After all, he had single handedly chased an army led by their second daughter alone!

There was a reason Dyon didn’t place Vidar in his eyes. Even with his short time cultivating, he had come to understand many things, one part of which couldn’t have its importance understated: and that was the importance of finding your own path.

In all of Vidar’s bloviating and chest pounding, what was he doing other than relying on the hard work and insight of another?

The entire path the Ragnors took was ridiculous to begin with. They even went so far as to name themselves after the originator of their faith seeds. You didn’t see Caedlum renaming himself, nor did Madeleine do so. However, what was quite worrisome for Dyon was that his mother in law had changed her name to Kawa, something he was sure wasn’t her name to begin with considering he recognized that name from legend.

That aside, Vidar took such pride in his faith seed that it would be his downfall. But, that didn’t mean he wasn’t being quite useful to Dyon.

Now that he had an understanding of this quadrant’s history, and he had come to know about the rise of Ragnors and more about the demon sage, how could Vidar’s body not catch his attention? In fact, Dyon wouldn’t be surprised if the original Vidar had cultivated that body the current Vidar was so proud of using the teachings of the demon sage.

‘It seems the path of body cultivation is more complex than I gave it credit for… To foster a body capable of distorting the laws of the world itself… Amazing.’ It was just a shame that Vidar was barely using it properly.

An instant later, the rough landing of yet another challenger disrupted Dyon’s thoughts.

‘Not me again, huh. And here I thought I had enemies.’ Dyon chuckled to himself.

He had expected them to try and tire him out by using their challenges. After all, there was probably only a single planet, Planet Mino, that Dyon didn’t have any enemies from. But, it seemed they had learned their lesson. If they dared to use such a tactic, Dyon hoped they were prepared to pay with it with their lives. Since they didn’t care about his life, why should he care for theirs?

Looking over, Dyon found yet another familiar figure from his comfortable and reclined position.

Thor stood tall at the edge of the arena, his long blond hair nearly touching the ground despite his now near 3-meter height.

A silver spear, reminiscent of Vidar’s was clenched loosely in his hand as he looked toward his opponent.

Dyon always found it funny that all of the Ragnors used spears, he had been half hoping that Thor would come out with a mighty hammer so he could joke about it with Clara. But, he fully understood that if such a hammer really did exist, a mere branch family of the Ragnors wouldn’t have it and it would have to be at least a supreme ranked treasure, much like the demon sage’s tower.

Thor, unlike his kinsman, was much more lowkey. He had no intention of getting bent out of shape for his pride.

In life, there were very few things that Thor wanted or expressed, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a fire burning inside him no one had seen. Well, mostly no one.

There was a reason why when Dyon listed the people he wanted to take with him into the Epistemic Tower, he had included Thor.

This was a man who had once been the entire hope of his branch family, just for that all to be taken away in an instant. True, it was his own little sister that had betrayed their newly formed Storm family, but what choice had Tammy had? If she didn’t take initiative to act, who’s to say that the Ragnors wouldn’t have stolen her brother’s faith seed and given it to another? In fact, who’s to say that they didn’t still have plans to do so?

They were a brother-sister combo that had no one to rely on but themselves. They were too intelligent to ever truly trust Patriarch Ragnor with their lives… But they were also too smart to ever disobey him…

To everyone, the Ragnors here were a mere branch family. An insignificant piece of the larger clan sent to spread their influence to weaker and lesser established universes.

To the slightly more intelligent, the Ragnors were here on a mission. To do what? They didn’t dare to speculate… But to invest so much in sending a family here, the goal couldn’t be normal.

But, to the very members of the Ragnors themselves? They were little else than caged animals, bent to execute on the whims of a man they were sure couldn’t be a simple God Clan patriarch.

That said, Thor knew that he only had one job. And that job was to get into the top ten. He didn’t have to be flashy. He didn’t have to flex his muscles. He just needed to do what he needed to do so as not to have the ire of their clan patriarch pointed toward him… Or worse, his little sister.

Thor’s opponent stood at a much shorter height but didn’t seem too worried about her opponent.

Dofi Nuru, another member of Planet Nix, was ranked ninth overall, just above Dyon. She was the clear best pick for anyone seeking to join the top ten, and it seemed that Thor acted knowing this. He was no Vidar.

However, seeing Thor’s calm demeanor, Dofi had no intention of belittling her opponent. Their Planet Nix had worked covertly to gain so many top ten spots. In the beginning, they had been happy to secure three, but now that number had suddenly been cut to two. Although members of the top ten who were booted also had the right to a single challenge, it was obvious that Yazid was in too much of a sorry state to challenge anyone. She couldn’t afford to lose her spot!

A dense and dark fog started to seep from the edges of Dofi’s dark flowing dress. She was a dark-skinned beauty in her own right, although her looks fell short of Ulu’s. However, she had a sinister and dangerous aura to her that was much more refined and alluring.

Seeing that Dofi was prepared, Thor’s entire demeanor changed. His blue eyes sparked with arcs of lightning, but unlike Vidar, his ranged wildly along the color spectrum. Dangerous reds, bright blues, eerie greens, and even conventional golds erupted from Thor, threatening to crush everything in its path.

This was the difference between Thor and Vidar. Vidar learned lightning will because that was just the way of the Ragnors. However, Thor was little else than the very embodiment of that will. He was lightning, and it was him.

Dofi’s expression froze, ‘One with heart!’

Thor’s lightning will had broken into the second intent level! And he wasn’t using his constitution to boost it!

What kind of concept was it for a person who was barely 20 to already have a second level intent? Let’s just say even some saints who had lived for hundreds of years couldn’t claim such a thing!

‘I can’t let him get close, he has too much of an advantage in close combat.’ Dofi’s mind raced as her dark will spread, covering the arena in a shadow land.

Darkness will was a high leveled will as well, placed on about the same level as celestial, time and space will. Time will was never labeled as a supreme law because its use simply had too many restrictions. However, it fell a step below along with darkness.

Everyone was beginning to notice a similar pattern with all these Planet Nix warriors… Their use of wills was simply on a complete other level. Time, space and darkness wills were supposed to be rare, and yet they used it to such a high level.

Thor and Dofi disappeared from view, but their battle was raging onwards.

Thor hadn’t moved a single step, but he had brandished his spear, waiting.

Dofi had become one with her shadow land, her silver eyes darkening over into abyssal pits. The path she had taken in her darkness will wasn’t strictly offensive, in that it didn’t increase her attack power. But, what it did do was increase her attack savviness.

Yazid didn’t seek to overwhelm her opponents. Instead, she worked slowly. Her first task? Erase her opponents senses!

Plumes of darkness erupted around Thor, seemingly unbeknownst to him. His sight had been cut off, but with it had gone his hearing as well. Even more interesting, the darkness had offset his lightning’s ability to act as an extension of his nervous system because it was constantly sending signals along every arc Thor sent out. It was felt as though the darkness was a tangible object, feeling along his lightning strikes and stopping him from sensing minute changes in the realm.

Suddenly, the plumes of darkness became shadow warriors, brandishing weapons and each launching a simultaneous attack toward Thor.

And yet, in all this time, Thor hadn’t moved a single inch.

The weapons careened forward.

One meter.

Half a meter.

A foot.

Mere inches.

Dofi held her breath, trying to withhold her excitement. ‘These Ragnors are all brute strength. That Vidar character, if it wasn’t for his overbearing body, how could Yazid have lost? They have no finesse and little understanding of wills!’

However, just as Dofi was about to celebrate her impaling Thor, he was suddenly gone.

A flash of lightning tore through the shadow domain, sending crackling and charred bits of arena flying into the air.

A sickle appeared in Dofi’s hand. She was a top ten ranker. She had earned her place. She was no pushover. Dofi had no intention of losing so easily, but she was shocking that she couldn’t feel Thor even within her own domain!

What would have shocked Dofi even more was that from an outsiders perspective, her domain had already collapsed. The only part that remained was a small cloud of darkness left around her! To the crowd, Thor was visible, standing in the air with his spear brandished and ready.

He knew exactly where Dofi was, even to the point of using his lightning intent to destroy her domain every but her immediate surroundings.

Dyon watched this with a newfound respect for Thor, ‘His understanding of lightning will far surpasses my understanding of anyone of my wills… It not just about the power, it’s also about the way he uses it. He’s comprehended no less than ten paths for that single will! Maybe more!’

Thor raised his spear into the air even as Dofi felt around frantically with her darkness will, trying to prepare for the incoming attack she had no clue would be coming from above.

In the lightning path, each color denoted a new discipline. But none were more tyrannical than the destruction path of red lightning.

Crimson arcs rained down from the skies, piercing toward the tip of Thor’s spear as he stood silently.

And then, a blinding flash of light tore through the air. Thor’s spear careened forward, intent on taking his victory. But, much like Vidar had, Patriarch Ragnor once again told him not to kill.

Dofi’s chest nearly caved in as lightning sent her flying from her domain. Blood flew from her mouth, staining her already dark dress with a crimson as robust as Thor’s lightning.

Just like that, another top ten ranker fell.

Dyon had seen the weakness of Dofi’s darkness technique just as Thor had. The problem? She covered the surface but paid no mind to the ground beneath!

Thor could have used force to destroy her domain directly, before clashing with her head on. But, he knew that would have been a waste of strength, and he might even end up losing. Thor’s cultivation was still at the higher meridian formation levels and the only reason he could bare using an intent was because of his faith seed. Using lightning will simply placed little burden upon him.

He hadn’t grown up with great resources, as the member of a branch family of a branch family. However, he wasn’t willing to become an essence gathering expert unless he was of the first-grade level, something nearly impossible in this universe.

Because he was painfully aware of the weakness in his cultivation, Thor usually tried to avoid direct confrontation. In this case, Dofi was a peak essence gathering expert much like most of the other top ten rankers. She had been weary of Thor’s high level lightning will, and thus decided to use an indirect approach. But, that had been her downfall.

Thor realized that using his lightning will as an extension of his nervous system was impossible to do in Dofi’s darkness domain because although she hadn’t grasped it at the intent level, darkness will was still a step above any elemental type will in terms of quality. However, he also knew that directly destroying it would cause an one on one battle he wasn’t too interested in fighting.

So, he made use of the ground. This was exactly why Dyon was so impressed with Thor’s use of wills.

Even without mortal realm knowledge, Thor had grasped the concept of every object withholding its very own electric and magnetic field due to the particles that made them up. Although lightning couldn’t conduct through everything with ease, this was the martial world. If Thor wanted his lightning to go through something, it would go through it!

All Thor had to do was make use of the fields in the arena tiles to check for anomalies. One anomaly would be where he stood. And the other anomaly would be where Dofi stood!

Using that information, he destroyed every part of her domain but her immediate surrounding, giving him a perfect target for his lightning strike.

The battle was over in an instant. It was clear at that point that the Planet Nix warriors weren’t the only ones with exquisite control of their wills.

In the end though, every member of Earth seemed to tacitly understand who the third, and likely final, challenger would be.

During their campaigns, three faith seeded geniuses had emerged. The first was Vidar. The second was Thor. And lastly? There was Caedlum. After all, not many knew of Ri and Madeleine’s faith seeds.

Seemingly on cue, a teenage boy that was barely sixteen years old dropped onto one of the arenas, facing the eighth ranker: Uma Hanu.

Uma was a female, but she seemingly held none of her gender’s stereotypical qualities. She stood at two meters tall, was as thick as a wall, and her side burns were much too prominent. Dyon had half a mind to be reminded of Akash, but even that Elvin commander hadn’t been so masculine.

By Uma’s side was a thick pole of about a foot and a half in diameter that was black along most of its length, but at a tip of pure white. It was suffice to say that her hand couldn’t wrap around it, even with her large figure, so it rested in the crook of her elbow.

Didn’t wear a shirt, but instead had what looked like a bandana strapped across her chest, leaving her rippling muscles and cut abs in full view.

Seeing that Caedlum had challenged her, a wild grin appeared on Uma’s features. All of the planets had seemingly wanted to take the spotlight away from her Planet Mino, maybe it was time she won it back.

Uma took hold of her long brunette hair, sliding a band from her wrist and doing her hair up. Her side burns seemed to grow more prominent with her actions, revealing just how thick they were. But, soon, everyone watched in shock as they realized it wasn’t a mere optical illusion… Her sideburns really were thickening and growing!

Thick brown hair began to sprout all along Uma’s soft brown skin. Her jaw grew, lengthening and protruding to give her an underbite.

Primal growls escaped from her lips and fur matted her body. Her arms lengthened and her back curved, leaving the remaining exposed skin to darken into a richer shade of brown.

Uma fell forward, a singular fist slamming into the ground and sending a reverberating boom throughout the arena. She hunched into a position, ready to explode at any moment all while keeping her massive pole to her side.

The calls of a primate sent a wild aura crashing through the air. Uma had become an ape… But, as much as many spectating wanted to laugh, she only continued to grow more massive…

The two-meter-tall frame became three… then four…. Then five… All while her pole grew from three meters, to five, to ten!

The sinister glow in her golden eyes set on Caedlum’s calm features. And yet, while he looked calm, a slaughtering red aura had begun to drip from him.

This was a battle all body cultivators looked forward to. There would be no wills. There would be no energy. There would be no soul.

This would be a clash of raw strength – a bloody massacre of world collapsing fists.