Looking at Na’Vi’s sincere face, Ryu couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Although he had no siblings, if he ever got betrayed by one he would be distraught beyond reason. Not only that, his father was murdered right in front of him.

“I should’ve known that Cu-Pi-Ex was up to no good.” Cao’Po’Li said angrily.

“No would could’ve known that. It is hard to believe that he would betray our kingdom like that and even kill his majesty.” Vi’Ta’En said with a sigh.

“Enough. Ryu to be honest the trial was to find a worthy successor to carry out justice for us. The dagger that pierced my heart has been coated with the same poison that killed my father, a Celestial.” Na’Vi said with a hint of sorrow.

“Celestial?” Ryu couldn’t help but ask.

“Bla look at this kid, he hasn’t even gone through a Rebirth yet. I knew we made the trials too easy, my lord you should have made it so that one had to pass all seven sins.” Cao’Po’Li rambled like a really old man.

So that’s why there was only four rooms in the last trial. Ryu thought to himself. Each room represented one of the seven deadly sins. First room represented lust, second room represented gluttony, third room represented greed and fourth room represented sloth. The trial only required one to pass four of the seven sins so the last three sins, wrath, envy and pride were not tested. Although passing four out of seven sounded easy, countless veterans before Ryu failed to do so.

“Mere mortals probably don’t know but a Celestial is someone who has gone through two Rebirths and achieving a level of over 300.” Vi’Ta’En explained.

“300 hundred?” Ryu gasped, he literally choked as he said those words. Throughout all the manuals and memory crystals he had gone through, he had not heard of a being with a level of 100. There were rumors of legendary individuals that had achieved “immortality” but the information were only rumors and nothing concrete could be confirmed. No one would guess that it’s possible to achieve a level of 300. Just reaching level 90, the Sovereign Domain, is so hard that you won’t find more than a handful in the Heaven Continent.

“Yes, it is quite rare though. Back in the days, only the five strongest continents had produced Celestials. Although it’s been nearly nine hundred thousand years since I’ve been confined here, perhaps the situation has changed outside.” Na’Vi said with a sigh.

“Are you an immortal?” Ryu asked with wide eyes. Alexis himself had lived for over a hundred thousand years and reached level 95, mid Sovereign Domain, but he wasn’t an immortal. Reaching the Sovereign Domain only prolonged his life by two hundred thousand years. In fact, Alexis’s spent most of his wealth on research regarding sacred treasures and immortality. Alexis was afraid of not breaking through the next domain in the next a hundred thousand years, that’s why he opted to go after sacred treasures.

“Hahaha no, to be a true immortal… you have to reached a much greater height according to legends but I’ve never encountered one so I wouldn’t know. However, after the first rebirth your longevity would increase by a million years. After your second Rebirth, you would gain another ten million years!” Na’Vi explained with a smile as he looked at Ryu’s expression.

“Why waste time explaining my lord? Who knows if he’ll even reach his first Rebirth with our dwindling essences?” Cao’Po’Li said rudely. Obviously he didn’t have a high opinion of Ryu.

“The first trial was designed to test his talent. The second trial was designed to test his courage. The third was to test his heart. He passed them perfectly. Master Cao, why don’t you have a spar with the little one? I believe he is currently at level 50.” Na’Vi said with a smile. Unlike Cao’Po’Li, he believed in Ryu’s potential.

“I too believe he is special. He passed my trial perfectly. If you don’t go all out, you might lose old man Cao.” Vi’Ta’En spoke with a smile as well.

“Ha? Fine. Little brat, I’ll play with you. I’ll let you have the first three moves.” Cao’Po’Li said as his projection shone with bright red lights. The scenery around them changed once again. They were in the middle of a dessert. There were no trees and just endless amount of sand everywhere. The ground was flat, the air was dry and the sun was blinding above them.

“Show me what you got little brat.” Cao’Po’Li shouted as he stood confidently ten meters away from Ryu. Na’Vi and Vi’Ta’En were in mid-air watching in amusement. Cao’Po’Li’s apparition right now had a cultivation of level 50.

Ryu politely bowed and swung his right hand outwards. He had two fingers pointing forward and as this arm moved from one side to the other, a dozen brilliant blue streaks of light shot out.

“Psh.” Cao’Po’Li snorted as he flicked his wrist against the incoming Qi blades. As if an invisible gust of wind swept over the Qi blades, the navy blue Qi was blown away to nothingness.

However, inside those Qi blades were steel blades Ryu materialized through his mastery of the elements. By fusing air, fire and earth Ryu could make steel and iron projectiles to reinforce his destructive capabilities.

Cao’Po’Li realized a second too late that the Qi blades contained steel within them and attempted to summon a wall of sand to block them. The majority of the Qi blades were knocked away but two managed to piece his left arm.

“What happened there tough guy?” Vi’Ta’En teased from above.

“Hmph, he got lucky.” Cao’Po’Li rebutted as he pulled the two blades out and miraculously his wounds healed swiftly.

“We are shaman warriors little Ryu. We are known for our abilities to bring forth great power from nature and spirits. We are also known for our healing abilities. So don’t hold back, we can’t die in here. Our forms right now as just ghost projections of our conscious.” Na’Vi advised.

Ryu nodded as a sign of thanks. A huge golden being that’s over five meters tall materialized behind Ryu, it was his Gold Keeper that is made of pure Qi. His second Qi reservoir that had reached level 69 due to the Infinity Tome’s intervention with the Five-Colored Lightning fruit had never being used by Ryu before. This Gold Keeper was much stronger and sturdier than before. In the past the Gold Keeper seemed to be made of golden lights but now the color is so dense due to the superior Qi, it looks as if it is made of real gold! It also carried an intimating golden spear that’s five meters long.

Looking at the giant golden knight that suddenly appeared Cao’Po’Li couldn’t help but be surprised. Even he can’t accomplish something like that.

“Do you think that’s his specialization master High Priest?” Na’Vi asked in surprise. Vi’Ta’En shook her head as she looked at the Gold Keeper carefully. Although it is spectacular, it is just a lump of solidified Qi.

Ryu was slowly circling Cao’Po’Li while the Gold Keeper stood still. Just as he did a half circle around Cao’Po’Li, sandwiching Cao’Po’Li between himself and his Gold Keeper, Ru instantly started dashing forward. The moment he made his move, the Gold Keeper started charging as well.

Cao’Po’Li was actually getting kind of nervous. As a seasoned warrior with over a million years of life experience, he actually noticed Ryu forming a gigantic Qi blade right above him a few moments ago. Knowing firsthand how devastating the much smaller blades are, if the large one lands then even he won’t survive.

The logical choice to Cao’Po’Li was to attack Ryu! Ryu won’t drop the Qi blade at himself and after spending so much Qi on the gigantic blade and the gold being, how will he have enough Qi to perform another move? But he gave his word that he will take three attacks from Ryu so he could only approach Ryu to avoid the gigantic Qi blade for now. That was Cao’Po’Li’s train of thoughts so he leapt towards Ryu.

As the distance between him and Ryu shorten to a few meters, Cao’Po’Li noticed Ryu preparing a kick so he braced himself. However, he didn’t expect Ryu to kick out a devastating Qi blade! The output of power was ridiculous. That was because Ryu used the profound Mega-Kick move from the Forbidden Forest.

“Impossible.” Cao’Po’Li shouted in shock as he took the Qi blade from Ryu’s kick head on. Cao’Po’Li had focused all his Qi into defending the strike but he is still pushed back at a rapid pace. Before he could do anything, the Gold Keeper was upon him. With a mighty upward swing, Cao’Po’Li was propelled into the air like a golf ball. Naturally the enormous Qi blade from the sky descended upon Cao’Po’Li in perfect timing and Cao’Po’Li’s projection dispersed into pieces.

Vi’Ta’En the High Priest bursted out laughing and Na’Vi couldn’t help but let out a few chuckles as well. A projection of Cao’Po’Li slowly formed beside the pair but it instantly flew towards Ryu.

“I admit you have better skills then I expected. Let’s have a rematch!” Cao’Po’Li shouted at Ryu as he landed ten meters from him. Without waiting for a reply, Cao’Po’Li’s blew out a thick mist. Multiple puffs of mist just kept flowing out of his mouth.

“Does he have unlimited lung capacity?” Ryu exclaimed. It’s been nearly three minutes but the mist just keeps on forming. There was something peculiar about this mist too, it is obstructing Ryu’s vision as well as his aura. He can’t feel a thing! The mist is also very thick and durable, Ryu tried to blow it away with a gust of wind but it barely budged.

Preparing for Cao’Po’Li’s incoming attack, Ryu summoned his own defense as well. The Gold Keeper stood guard at his rear and multiple blades, fire balls, and streaks of lightning spun around him. At this point Ryu can’t even see his own hands, never mind his summoned defense. The mist was overwhelming everything!

“He’s not borrowing the power of nature like us shamans… he’s actually producing his own! How many elements does he have an affinity with?” Na’Vi said with a surprised face. This was totally shocking even for someone as powerful and experienced as him.

Bam! A huge explosion could be heard. One of Ryu’s fireball that was rotating around him defensively was taken out. Then a series of explosions followed. Ryu frowned, obviously his defense was getting picked apart.

Slap! Something blunt collided with the side of his face and Ryu got knocked backwards. The Gold Keeper instantly chopped downwards but hit nothing. Soon after Ryu got hit again. Then again. And once more. He was getting knocked around like a doll but his expression was calm. He protected himself with Qi so the damage wasn’t too bad.

What is that brat up to? The gold freak behind him stopped trying to hit me. Cao’Po’Li couldn’t figure out what Ryu was doing.

Ryu was actually adapting to Cao’Po’Li’s movements. He had tiny streaks of electricity around him at all times and each time Cao’Po’Li closed in, part of the electric Qi would be nulled so he knows the direction of the attack. The problem is that Cao’Po’Li’s speed was superior to his own so he can’t recklessly fight back yet.

Cao’Po’Li naturally decided to end this and went for the kill. Sensing the approaching attack was much faster than the previous ones, the Qi around Ryu suddenly disappeared.

“What the…” Cao’Po’Li couldn’t help but be surprised but instantly he felt something was wrong. His punch that was meant to finish a now defenseless Ryu hasn’t reached its target yet. In fact, his whole body seemed a tad slow. Just before his fist reached Ryu, an earth shattering force came from above. The already devastating and mighty Gold Keeper somehow increased its strength by tenfold and crushed Cao’Po’Li’s ghost projection once again.

What happened was that Ryu activated his Time Dilation specialization and his first Qi reservoir deleted its Qi instantly. This slowed down Cao’Po’Li’s incoming fist. Then he activated Superman-Mode on his second reservoir but instead of using the Qi himself, he transferred it all to the Gold Keeper to deal the finishing blow to Cao’Po’Li.

“Impossible!” Vi’Ta’En and Na’Vi said in union, disbelief is evident in their voice. A moment later Cao’Po’Li’s projection regenerated beside the pair once again. However this time his once prideful attitude was gone and he too had a look of disbelief.