n

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nAn astonished expression formed on the face of the middle-aged soldier as he looked Daniel up and down, almost as if trying to find out from which of his pockets he was getting this level of confidence. Despite Daniel's disrespectful behavior, in order to avoid offending a possibly higher domain, the middle-aged soldier released a wisp of his power and let it wiggle its way towards the disrespectful young man that was floating just a few feet away from him, while holding one of his descendants by the throat.

nDuring the few seconds of quiet staring that followed, the middle-aged soldier saw nothing but a man in his late thirties with the appearance of a young man in his mid twenties, a cultivation that had just breached through the stage of true championship, and the presence of a power that belonged to an aspect of existence that he had never encountered, and whose purity could be compared to that of the weakest members of his, and the other domains.

nTaken aback by Daniel's boldness despite not having anything to back it up, the older soldier casually let more of his essence crawl out of his body, and reach for the younger members of his domain, as well as the young man who had locked them in time. When his power touched the space occupied by the bodies of these few cultivators, however, instead of following his orders and wrapping itself around them like a formless snake around its prey, the essence moved through, as if nothing was really there.

n

"What..

" muttered the middle-aged soldier while initiating a second attempt.

nThe moment his shapeless essence moved through Daniel's body a second time, two more powerful cultivators appeared next to him. From their attire and power, it was clear that they did not belong to the domain of War, and that they were likely there to observe the encounter between the young champions of War and Morality the same way the middle-aged soldier had a few seconds ago.

n

"Is that what I think it is?

"

n

".. it would appear so. What concept of time do you think this is?…

"

nThe conversation between these two cultivators, an old man dressed in a simple white robe that seemed to be connected to his impressively long white beard and equally as long hair, and an old lady dressed in an entirely pink attire composed by a jacket with stiff shoulder pads, a skirt that covered her legs all the way underneath her knees, shoes with short heels, and a flower hat, was able to catch the attention of the middle-aged soldier, who turned towards them in confusion, and asked,

"What are you two talking about?

"

nThe two old cultivators looked at one another, then, after confirming what they had seen, the old lady turned to look at Daniel, and asked,

"Who taught you these concepts of the essence of spacetime? To my knowledge, no one has ever been able to control time to this extent.

" Her voice could not hide the deep curiosity she was feeling.

nDaniel ignored the question, and instead, looked past the area of space he was controlling to observe the thin film of solid spatial essence which had inconspicuously formed around the battlefield. This barrier was made entirely out of pure spatial essence, which, reinforced by the immense power of the old man dressed in white robes who had created it, had soon become impossible for someone at Daniel's cultivation level to penetrate.

nDespite being trapped, Daniel did not panic. Instead, he turned to look at the old man with a seemingly unbothered expression, and asked,

"Do you think that barrier would stop whoever taught me how to control the essence of spacetime, from leaving?

"

nThis question had heavy implications. It was clear that these two ancient cultivators were extremely proud about their knowledge of the essence of spacetime, and that pride had been shattered by someone that even their younger descendants would refer to as a junior. And yet, they did not feel too bad about it, as whoever had a degree of comprehension of the essence of spacetime which could not only rival, but overcome their own, must be quite a legendary figure in the multiverse..

nWhat was stopping them from releasing Daniel, even if out of respect for this unknown elder, was the fact that his skills were much more likely to have been learned from an extremely rare treasure of time essence, or encountered somewhere in the multiverse, instead of having been taught by someone with a knowledge diametrically opposite to his fame.

nEven if hypothetical, the existence of a treasure of time essence formed by an unknown concept of time, or of a place within the multiverse where time behaved in a way that could allow those who studied it to gain a deeper comprehension of it, had been at the core of every debate between experts of either space, or time essence.. However, no one had ever been able to prove their existence.

nIt was for that reason that, after noticing Daniel's deep comprehension of time essence, the two scholars of spatial and time essence had decided to jump in-If not to obtain that knowledge from Daniel, at least to form a friendly relationship with those who they thought could share it with them.

nUnfortunately, their actions were not perceived as intended, as while the creation of this barrier was only meant to secure the area and prevent Daniel from leaving prematurely, the two scholars had no intention of harming him.. After all, discarding negotiation before even trying would have been foolish of such experienced cultivators.

nNevertheless, based on Daniel's response, it seemed that he had jumped to the worst possible conclusion.

nIn hope to clarify their intentions, the old man in white robes floated next to his female companion, but right before he could speak any of the reassuring words that were forming in his mind, Daniel turned towards the middle-aged soldier, and with a cold tone, he while pointing at the injured team of Morality's domain, he said,

"You can take back your descendants, but they come with me.

"

n

"If you accept his request, your domain will lose the fifteen universes you bet on your descendants' win, as well as each individual bet you have taken on the specifics of that win, for a total of seventy-six universes.

" Said a silvery voice that was just as powerful as the one of the three elders present, but that was hidden in the depths of space.

nIt quickly became clear to Daniel that, while the younger generation of champions were fighting for their lives, the older generation would enjoy the show while betting vast chunks of their domains on the result.. And that was likely to be the reason why the unwritten rule of not meddling in a fight had been created.

nAware that the two old cultivators had found value in Daniel, the middle-aged soldier did not hesitate, and with his hand straightened into a blade, he raised his arm at supersonic speed and slashed the empty space that separated him from the disrespectful young man.

nThis seemingly ineffective attack was able to stretch the surrounding space beyond its breaking point, after which it split apart-destabilizing Daniel's formation to a point where it could not prevent the attack from approaching him, and landing squarely on his chest, splitting his body in two.

n

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

" Barked out the old lady with fury.

"YOU OLD IDIOT! Our domains would have paid for your loss, if you had had the decency of letting us speak!

"

n

"Your decrepit universes mean nothing to my domain.

" Said the middle-aged soldier while looking at his descendents, who were now free, and trying to understand why their surroundings had changed without them even noticing.

nThe two old cultivators looked at Daniel's corpse with disappointment.

"His elder doesn't seem to be here. Take the body, for now. We can make it presentable, and hand it over to the elders of his domain.

" said the old man while turning to look one last angry look at the retreating middle-aged soldier.

n

"But, whose domain do we deliver the body to? I can't recognize his breath.

" Asked the old lady with uncertainty. She had immediately understood the intentions of her companion, who wanted to build a good relationship with whomever had taught Daniel such a profound level of comprehension of the essence of spacetime. However, Daniel had never presented himself, nor had he announced to which aspect of Existence the power he had been blessed with, commonly known as Breath, belonged to.

n

"We'll find out during the assembly.. There is no other way.

" Said the old man as a portion of his power emerged from his finger, and drifted towards Daniel's body. Before it could touch him, however, a formless spirit reformed in each of the two parts of Daniel's body. These two halves instinctively stretched outside of Daniel's remains, and reached for one another, as if trying to reunite.

nAfter finally reconnecting, what was left of his body was forcibly pulled together by Daniel's intact spirit, merging back into a full one.

nOnce whole, the nasty looking wound that went from his right shoulder, down to the left side of his waist began to glow with a white-colored essence which, in just a few seconds, lost intensity, and ultimately disappeared, leaving behind a patch of smooth skin, repaired muscles and bones, and reconnected veins. The entire process took less than three seconds.

n

"I am causing you a loss.. So I will take this as compensation.

" Said Daniel to the back of the elder of War's domain, who slowly turned around with brows narrowed in confusion-a feeling he shared with the two old cultivators, and the observers. Daniel's few words were able to strike a chord within the middle-aged soldier, causing him to turn to face the disrespectful young cultivator with his entire body. He then advanced in his direction with the intent of finishing the job he had started.

nBefore he could do anything, the two old cultivators appeared in between the two of them. Their expressions shaped into benevolent smiles which they hoped could calm the old champion of War.

"He survived a hit from you, let that be. We will pay your losses, and your domains will keep your universes.

"

n

"Then you'll lose a portion of your territory for no reason.

" Said Daniel with a cold and detached tone to the old lady that had just spoken in his defence.

"My domain refuses your help, and if you insist on meddling with our affairs, you will be owed nothing.

"

n

"This isn't the time to be prideful, boy! Do you have the power to negotiate a peaceful resolution while still being this arrogant?!

" The old lady barked out angrily.

n

"I am not giving him a choice.

" Daniel responded.

nTo the eyes of the observing cultivators, Daniel had fallen into madness. Many had already guessed that he had survived by relying on a specific constitution, and yet, none of those present lacked experience against any kind of cultivator, be it mental ones, spiritual ones, or physical ones.

nDaniel's apparent madness was temporarily ignored by the two old cultivators, who looked at one another in exasperation before once again attempting to stop the old soldier from killing him. From their perspective, Daniel could not possibly have the authority to make decisions that would have created enemies, friends, or debtors for the entire domain.. After all, he appeared exactly like a member of their domains' younger generation.

n

"Keep your face, and leave with no losses.

" Said the old lady to the soldier while the old man shrunk the solid spatial barrier to fit Daniel, just in case the attempts at persuading the old soldier would fail. But, alas, while they paid attention to most details, they failed to notice the most important one.

nBeing treated like a child was quickly getting on Daniel's nerves

"Remove the barrier..

" he said calmly.

n

"I could kill him, let my kids kill their adversaries, and win my bets.

" Responded the old soldier, who had now joined the two old cultivators in ignoring Daniel.

nThe old lady shook her head in disagreement.

"You'll make an enemy out of a domain you know nothing of.

" she said while quietly reinforcing the barrier around Daniel.

nThe conversation went on for several seconds, until finally, Daniel's attention was caught by the summoner, one of the young champions of Morality. Her life essence had been eaten away ever since she had been injured, and was now close to dying. To prevent her and her companions from healing themselves, were their now free adversaries, who were now pointing their guns while in a tightly packed formation, ready to end the conflict as soon as their elder would give them permission to.

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"Let me out of here..

" said Daniel through his teeth while feeling an indescribable feeling of anger and indignation.

nAware that there was no chance that the old soldier would concede even an inch, the old cultivator in white robes looked at the young champions of morality with an apologetic look, then said,

"You don't need to kill him. We'll bring him back to his domain's elders, and you can end your bat-

"

nHis words were stopped by a sudden feeling of doom.

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"I said.. LET! ME! OUT!!

" Daniel shouted while unconsciously releasing the full extent of his powers as the aspect of Karma, which exploded outwards creating a wave that in just a moment, traveled throughout the entire universe, and landed on the shoulders of every cultivator like a steel blanket.

nThe pressure created by this outburst was enough to bring the most powerful of cultivators to their knees, and for their mind to instinctively fall back into a pure state of submission, while the weaker ones dropped helplessly on the ground, barely conscious.

nWhile this feeling was easily recognizable as the power of a relatively young aspect of existence, there was something different in it- And that was Daniel's anger, which, compared to the neutral or indifferent displays of oppressive power that had been witnessed in the past, had created the most intimidating and crippling feeling that any living being within the multiverse had ever experienced.

nLuckily, this power only lasted for a few moments, after which it retreated back into Daniel's body, and went back into it's dormant state.

n

"Was that clear enough?

" Daniel uttered as his eyes went for being pearls of pure gold, to their original color.

n