Understandably Ryu was very surprised by the sudden turn of events. The Destiny Defiance skill was a profound mythical skill that allows him absorb the Qi from his targets as long as he makes physical contact. At its very zenith of mastery, it can even be performed as a long-ranged attack. The unusual skill had worked miraculously for him in the past and even accelerated his already rapid advancement in cultivation.

Therein lies the flaw. Ryu had utilized it on opponents that were significantly weaker than him or around his level of strength, opponents whose control of Qi couldn’t hold a candle to his dominant natural control over Qi. It took him a split second to realize that this person in front of him had vastly more experience and mastery over Qi than himself. His natural talents had always given him a supreme edge but it turns out there’s always someone better!

This realization came a bit late since failure from the skill caused a severe backlash that sent shockwaves throughout his Qi channels and into his very own Qi reservoirs. Sovereign Domain practitioners can live over two hundred and fifty thousand years naturally if they were not killed in battle. To reach the Sovereign Domain one would need a life-time of devotion to cultivating, a certain amount of talent and extreme luck. By the time they reached Sovereign Domain, their enlightenment and mastery of Qi have reached great heights normal cultivators can’t even dream of. Thus, making them the “true” powerhouses of the Heaven Continent.

“How does a kid like you know the sleazy Qi Embezzlement skill from the Undead Clan?” The mutated man asked curiously. Nonetheless, Ryu couldn’t answer as he coughed out blood uncontrollably. The damage he had taken was not light.

Just now the mutated man felt his Qi draining from his body, his first reaction was to counter. What better way to counter than to give the “kid” what he wants with unlimited Qi to drain? He had purposely sent bits of malicious Qi that he had absolute control over which he later used to attack Ryu’s inner Qi channels. If he wanted to, he could have stopped his own Qi from flowing out as well.

He was only able to react in a timely manner because of his experience with the Qi Embezzlement skill mentioned earlier. No skills are one of a kind in the world. Even Specializations could be copied if one had the same innate talent and have the same conditions. The members of the Undead Clan are practically zombies who feasted on the Qi of their victims. While the six major clans, six major sects and six major organizations from the Dark Continent may seem united on the surface against the rest of the other continents, there is massive turmoil, resentment and conflicts between them.

As a member related to the Death Origin Organization that Alexis was part of, he was obviously armed with the means to deal with rival powers from the Dark Continent. The Qi Embezzlement was a trademark skill of the Undead Clan. Its powers are not to be underestimated, it can drain a victim of their Qi and use it against them later. Qi Embezzlement can’t use the stolen Qi to cultivate oneself like the Destiny Defiance skill. They do however share one major flaw and that is the skill consumes Qi indiscriminately. This can easily be taken advantage of, all he had to do was excrete harmful Qi that is set to detonate inside Ryu’s body.

The Qi Embezzlement skill is a far cry from the Destiny Defiance skill from the Anti-Heaven tribe. As the name suggests, it has the ability to defy the destiny of the user. Not only can it steal the cultivation from people, it can also steal luck, talent and longevity. Unfortunately, Ryu can only perform the first function due to his limited cultivation level and comprehend of the profound skill. Such a thing was unheard of, if Ryu can wield the skill freely then he’ll be an unstoppable juggernaut, like a snowball rolling downhill.

Seeing that Ryu was in no condition to talk, the man snickered as he took out a transparent bottle with a seemingly ordinary brown caterpillar inside. With a flick of his finger, the insect flew outwards towards Ryu. The moment the brown bug let the bottle, it let out a terrifying shriek and its innocent look became that of a devious expression. It dove straight into Ryu’s mouth which was held open by an invisible force.

An eerie gross sensation resonated through Ryu as the invading bug tunneled its way down towards his inner organs. After what felt like an eternity, the unknown insect settled inside Ryu’s stomach and suddenly a strange suction started to suck all the Qi from within him.

“This is what you get for trying to take my Qi. I’ll learn all your secrets soon.” The man laughed hysterically like a madman. His grotesque limbs slowly shrunk and his features became more like a regular human’s. In fact, he even looked quite handsome and had a robust physique.

“Oh look at the time… it’s time to meet senior.” The man said as he took out a yellow compass with unusual markings on it. The odd compass pointed north, opposite of the direction Ryu came from. He then looked at Ryu, “Whether you are related to the Undead Clan or not, you have a lot of answering to do.”

With a wave of his hand, a scroll with multiple inscriptions appeared. A brilliant flash of light flared and pieces of bones appeared. The multiple pieces of bones swirled around and formed into a large roc. Like an eagle carrying its prey, Ryu was snuggly wrapped in its skeletal claws.

The Infinity Tomes instantly flipped open and information regarding the bug showed. The bug was a Qi Devouring Bug, it is a form of torture that yields a nutritious cultivation source later. The little insect will slowly eat away at the victims Qi until it has enough to form a cocoon. After the cocoon has formed, it’ll continue absorbing the victim’s Qi until it transforms into another insect that can be consumed. This was all in Alexis’s collection which Ryu inherited. Even the antidote was inside the tomes but unfortunately the antidote is a poison that needs to go inside Ryu and kill the existing bug. This had to be administered before the cocoon hatches because once it hatches, the victim will be under the complete control of the user.

Ryu can’t take the antidote when he is under the captivity of this man. Once he sees Ryu healed, it’ll raise troublesome questions. Also, he’s currently under the tight grips of what appears to be a Supreme Domain beast. Although the beast’s cultivation is also suppressed to the King Domain, it still had a very majestic aura and shocking might.

In a flash, the man flew across the frozen wasteland with the skeletal roc carrying Ryu right behind. A few unlucky contestants that met them were instantly killed and robbed of their tokens.

“What is someone from the Dark Continent even doing here?” Ryu wondered as he attempted to suppress the parasite within him while looking for a way to escape.

Inside the raging coliseum, the skies were filled with countless rectangular Enchantments showing the activities inside sixth qualification challenge. Each Enchantment screen follows a particular contestant, if a contestant meets his demise than the Enchantment screen displaying him would disappear. The view was from the sky’s point of view so everyone could only see downwards from above.

There were countless breathtaking actions at all times so the incident involving Ryu received very little attention. Dozens of life-or-death battles were happing at the same time

One of the most viewed screens was a rogue cultivator that sat back as his mount did all the work for him. This cultivator never had to lift a finger in the whole competition and was still one of the most accomplished individuals so far. That was because his summoned beast was a sixed winged dragon! A demonic creature with piercing red eyes covered in impregnable metallic scales. The mountain-sized creature emits a misty crimson aura that looks like blood. Some people even question of the Qi suppression is even working on this heaven rebelling monster.

Thankfully this rogue cultivator is only acting against those in his path. If he was actively picking fights with other contestants then it would be hard to say who could really stop him. Countless factions have tried recruiting him but no one was successful.

The combatants representing the Chu Empire also garnered a ton of attention. Not only are they second in the competition, they have revealed a large army of experts unheard of in the Heaven Continent. Everyone’s wondering where did they come from? Their elite warriors were all wearing a purple uniform that distinguishes them from the rest. Not only were they near invincible, they also had an overwhelming number of them.

Naturally the ones leading the competition with the largest and strongest coalition of warriors had everyone’s attention. The Commonwealth are currently gathering towards a great misty island. Like the mutated man holding Ryu hostage, every member has a tracking device that allows them to coordinate with each other. Senior members of the Commonwealth who acted like generals in a battlefield found the island first and instructed everyone to gather. Everyone who arrived to the charred island with an impossibly huge volcano at the center got into position as commanded right away.

The audience held their breath as more and more members of the Commonwealth arrive at the island of doom. There was a massive beast bathing inside the colossal volcano that looked to be over a hundred kilometer wide already. Is the Commonwealth daring enough to provoke it? No one had every defeated the overlord of the previous challenges.

“They might just be able to do it this time. A grand formation with a hundred thousand King Domain experts!”

“No way, they have failed all the previous time against the overlords.”

“That was because of the cultivation restriction. Powerful formations require much higher cultivation regardless of the numbers. I’m telling you, The Commonwealth will be able to do it this time!”

As expected, the audience were excitedly chatting about the developments they see on the screens. Most were noting down information regarding exceptional individuals for information gathering. Some were just excited about the bets they made. Some were recording down personal grudges made against their own members. Although Ryu’s battle was spectacular, not many paid attention to it. Even so, in an audience of tens of millions, some ancient figures caught interest nevertheless.

“Impossibly… the lineage for Merciless Tiger disappeared ages ago!” A thin grey haired elder looked up and squinted with disbelief.

“Why does that kid know Eternal Phoenix arts? Is he related to that heinous bastard?” A scholarly man in green robes said with contempt.

Back to where Ryu was, his face just kept getting paler as time passed. The hungry bug inside him kept draining the Qi from his Qi reservoir. By his estimate, the parasite will take a few days before it start forming a cocoon. Right now Ryu is down to a few desperate options. He could use the Dimensional Destruction Specialization and at least escape from this madman. Or he could utilize the Superman-Mode skill which allows him to bring out all his power at once, when completely unleashed he is sure he can break free. Howbeit, in both scenarios, he’ll be exposing his trump cards to the world.

“Kylus, where are you?” A sound came from the man’s robes, it was a voice of a very gruff man.

“I’m on my way sir. Was delayed by an interesting toy, seems to be a brat from the Undead Clan.” The black robed man took out a voice crystal and spoke into it with utmost respect.

“Playing around as usual, you are just like Alexis.”

“Please don’t group me with him deputy manager Tasque.” An obvious hint of annoyance can be heard when Alexis was mentioned.

“Haha still holding that grudge? Don’t worry, I’m sure after a few thousand years you’ll emerge victorious against him. Sigh, the boss gave me an earful about his disappearance, that’s why I was sent here to back you up. I was in the middle of orchestrating the most beautiful slaughter between two states on the Frozen Continent. Three million casualties, decade long war. It was breathtaking.” The man on the other side of the voice crystal gasped ecstatically as he mentioned the deaths.

“I highly doubt he’s stupid enough to defect from the organization, his disappearance is a bit worrisome.”

“We’ll see. Anyways, what’s this about an Undead Clan kid you found? He might make a useful bargaining chip… Ah I see three tasty females that need my attention… I’ll see you at the rendezvous.”

Kylus shook his head as he put away the voice crystal. Knowing his superior’s nasty personality, his victims will wish they were dead long before he’s done with them. Personally Kylus prefers swift and fast results. This was why he fed Ryu a Qi Devouring Bug instead of personally torturing him.

“I sense a dozen formidable figures in the direction he’s going. If you are going to escape, you better do it soon.” Eni’s gloomy voice warned him. Since they are connected, she had already read Ryu’s mind about his thoughts on escaping.