*Boom*

Ray took the first shot at Jake.

With an energy-propelled force, he spun to Jake and dropped a kick on his head.

However, the attack didn't go through as Jake had predicted it dodged away from it.

He grabbed Ray'sleg mid-air and jabbed at his stomach brutally with his knees.

Still not wanting to give Ray breathing space, Jake held on to Ray's hand.

He infused his right hand with [Spirit Essence] and sent a punch at Ray's face.

The moment his face connected with Ray's face, he held down Ray's body so that he would receive the full strength of his attack and not fly away.

After taking a few more shots at Ray, it came as no surprise that Ray had had enough of it and freed himself from Jake's lock.

In a shocking move, [Spirit Essence] gathered on his arm and blasted at Jake, hitting him away well enough to make a sizeable distance between them.

Using the few seconds of rest he has, Ray grinned as he beckoned [Spirit Essence] to come to him.

The blue energy coiled around him. It became mightily noticeable as noises emitted from it.

However, Jake didn't move or do anything to stop it. He was confident of his own speed.

Ray made strange hand signs as he prepared his technique, weaving the energy around his arm.

The blue energy pulsed around Ray's as he announced, "[Spirit Beam]!"

A ringing sound cried as a blue beam of energy flashed at Jake.

Being prepared, Jake dodged rather effortlessly.

He commented as he felt the intensity of the attack, 'Hmmm...it is like the junior masked man's [Finger Gun] technique, but not exactly. This is more dangerous.'

Jake smiled as he saw the after-effects of the attack. The beam had destroyed the surface of the stage, a stage that that to handle cultivators' battles.

'So this is the technique he was so desperate to protect. Interesting,' Jake quizically smiled as he spotted another beam coming at him.

Evading the second one, he cocked his head, "However, this is not enough to challenge me. Plus, it is not as flexible as the junior's technique. What a sad life?!"

After his battle with the masked men, Jake had become used to attacks like this and could predict the trajectory of the beams.

Jake played with Ray for a few more moments before he decided to end the play.

He walked, step by step, closer to Ray, as he brought out his sword without anyone seeing.

Jake advanced and his speed became faster every moment.

Looking at him, Ray felt he was watching a timing bomb. For some reason, he felt like something very dangerous was going to happen, however, he couldn't feel anything.

As a cultivator, he possessed the ability to feel one's intent. This "intent" sensing becomes more clear as he advanced cultivation realms.

Yet, he couldn't pick up anything. It was as if he was staring at a cold static iceberg, something so far away and non-dominant, but his eyes told him something different.

In his panic, he failed to notice when Jake glanced past him.

It was only after his senses kicked in and felt a familiar heat that he looked up and saw the true face of horror.

He exclaimed, not bothering to hide his surprise, "Impossible! It has only been three seconds or less!"

In his astonishment, he spotted the pale look of the audience.

"What?! What?! What is it?! What….is….it--" shouted Ray.

Previously, Jake had noticed Ray's flaw was his fragile mind. He could be easily influenced as he did right now.

Ray felt to keep composure as he descended into madness. His shouts were accompanied by tears streamed down his face.

When he attempted to look at his body, gravity denied him and he found himself falling on the ground.

His mind became dreary as he slugged his head to look at himself.

The first thing he saw was an arm. He was too familiar with the arm. It was his right arm, but that was not the point.

His arm…...were not connected to his body!

"Ahhhh!!" he screamed as he began to feel the pain of a missing arm.

"Wait!.... Where is my leg?! My right leg! My left leg!" screamed Ray.

He began to understand the look of pity on the crowd's faces.

With a terror-raided face, he looked for his other limps and found them, perfectly away from his arm.

Their edges were cut perfectly and he could the swordsmanship needed for that.

That was the breaking point for Ray as he began to cry profusely on the stage.

He realized how arrogant he became when he finally broke through to [Realm-2]. He had just wanted to forget the face that hinted at him every night, the face that outsmarted him. His pride couldn't let it slide.

Ray was born a commoner, throughout his entire life, he was common. "Common" body. "Common" brain. "Combat" combat skills.

It was only through his wits that he was able to navigate the dark corners of the city he was from.

So, when he heard the news of a vagrant cultivator's remains in the Dark Forest, he killed his friend and bet his future on what he would find in the Dark Forest.

Many months later, after persevering in the most dangerous region in the southern continent, Ray found the treasures of the cultivator, but he wasn't the only one in the race for the treasure.

Various other factions chased him, day and night, and Ray became the rat caught in a game of chase.

With luck, he survived and grew amid life and death situations and became more confident in himself.

After his run-in with the trio and Jake, he began to have setbacks. His moment of victory ended and he came to know that he was just a bug.

Ray managed to maintain his status by utilizing resources found in the vagrant cultivator's remains but he knew it was finite.

Months passed by, Ray experienced a few more bizarre situations and that brought him here.....to be killed by the very person he wanted to kill.

Reflecting over his life choices, he became silent and his screams disappeared.

The crowd wept as they watched the scene. Some of them protested that they were no need to end the life of a young child, but that was the rule!

Ray, without any limb, laid on the stage floor, looking up at the blue sky.

The beautiful view was cut away from him as Jake's face entered the picture. The cold and beautiful face that laughed at him every night.

He felt helpless beneath it and didn't bother to say anything. He only looked straight at it, lifelessly....

He only looked even when he saw the calm smile on Jake's face.....

He had surrendered his life to fate, with his last thought being, 'Perhaps it is fate.'

......

After looking into the lifeless smile of Ray, Jake smiled at his perfect artwork.

Technically speaking, Ray should be dead due to the irrevocable injuries he had received, but Jake's smooth ct made it sure he would only bleed slowly.

Jake walked around the defenseless Ray and thought about something.

When he blew Ray, he had gotten his blood painted on his fist.

Later, when he checked his fist, he couldn't help but notice the color of the blood....it was dark red, just like the masked men's.

However, he didn't jump to a conclusion.

Jake played around with Ray a few more times and when he severed his limbs, he noticed that the blood was getting darker every minute.

He realized that he was not just seeing things. There was really something strange going on.

The others didn't notice it but Jake could as he had encountered a similar situation before.

However, the implications of his realization would mean that Ray was in league with whoever or whatever was behind the masked men.

That would explain his increased cultivation base which was too hard to believe. It was even faster than Jake and the Trio.

Not that something like that couldn't be achieved, but Jake just found it fishy.

'So, he is a hybrid,' Jake thought as he smiled at Ray.

His lack of action and movement made the crowd wonder what was actually going on.

However, the culprit was still pacing around his opponent, deciding on how to proceed.

'If I kill him, he would just come back to life, very fast, as a zombie. I can decide to not kill him, but...meh!' smiled Jake.

Since someone offered themself to him, he wouldn't reject.

A light ignited in his head as he found just the right way to deal with this.

He swung out his sword and shoved it into Ray's mouth. Trying to get the exact angle to the brain, he shifted it a few times.

After finding what he wanted, he giggled his final words to his victim, "What a sad life?!"

This was the first time he spoke and his young voice managed to create a contrast with what he was currently doing.

The moment a wind blew past him, Jake pushed his sword down the mouth without stopping.

He punctured the inner bone and damaged the brain.

Without any disturbance, Ray experienced a very cruel death of his making and his eyes dimmed out of life