A smile rose across Akata’s face.

‘So this is the Single Existence Art.’ This was an art that combined multiple things into one. It made it extremely simple to merge multiple techniques, ideas, or even cultivation bases together. It was basically the perfect thing for Akata right now since he was completely all over the place.

How could it not be? He had three different cultivation bases, was a body cultivator, mainly trained in the Outer Elements of Souls and Khaos, was learning from two different yet powerful scythe arts, and also had his mysterious runes to worry about. Any one of these would make somebody a powerful genius, yet Akata had all these things to himself. Once he combined these things to make them more powerful, how dreadful of an opponent would that make him?

‘I can only merge like-things together. But it’s not a problem if I find something that makes them alike and then merge them together. This art is extremely powerful!’ Akata couldn’t help but take in a breath. If he could merge everything he is suited to and makes it one thing, then wouldn’t that potentially multiply the power he could wield and make it easier to use? If someone was able to merge a perfect defense with perfect offense or even a super fast technique with an abnormally strong technique then wouldn’t they be a perfect warrior?

This was basically giving a turtle fangs and cheetah legs. Akata couldn’t help but be overjoyed when thinking of the countless possibilities he could use this Single Existence Art for. ‘Was it that figure that came up with this art or was it a different senior? Either way they are a paramount existence. Can I ever reach that level?’ Akata thought to himself. After a while he shook his head and cleared his mind.

‘I really have to meet that senior again when I’m strong enough. He said to meet him at the Aurasoul Whitewing Palace… I’ve never heard of it and it should be a top existence considering that seniors status. It might not even be in this universe.’ Shaking his head once more, Akata looked around and took notice of the Winged Skyfrog in the distance.

He had seen the Winged Skyfrog die by his hand but he wasn’t the one that actually did anything. It was all the figure’s work. Akata walked up to the Winged Skyfrog and put it in his spatial bag. Finally he let out a breath and sat down. He was truly tired. That vision seemed as if it took a while but in reality less than a tenth of a second had passed.

The time-lapse from the vision caused his mind to be refreshed but his body was still suffering from fatigue. ‘That was a fierce creature. I wasn’t able to do anything to it at all. That mysterious power that it had was able to somewhat control my body. If I actually trained then I could possibly stand a much better chance.’ Akata shook his head.

So far he hadn’t really trained in anything. Just testing things here and trying things there. He had yet to actually train in anything. All he has really been doing was comprehending many techniques and abilities. Someone could tell him how to lift weights but if he didn’t practice it then there was no way he would instantly become a world famous bodybuilder. The same idea applied to techniques and abilities. Only with constant practice and tutelage will one be able to increase their strength and proficiency.

‘I’ll have to make it an effort to diligently train from now on.’ Akata promised to himself.

“Akata!” Suddenly a call resounded out. Akata looked up to see his team running towards him. The two were battling quite fast and were all over the place, therefore the group couldn’t keep up with them. Only until the battle was over were they able to regroup.

“Hey.” Akata said with a light smile.

“What happened to that creature, is it still around?” Sumting Wong looked around warily while asking. He wouldn’t be able to sense it so he could only rely on his eyes. The others were all doing the same and wanted to know the answer to it as well.

“It’s dead.” Akata replied nonchalantly. As he spoke he waved his hand and the corpse of the Winged Skyfrog appeared in front of him. The others all stared wide-eyed at the corpse. Such a terrifying creature was actually killed that quickly? They had barely seen how fast it was and the power it had was immense. They were confident at all in driving it away as a group let alone killing it. Yet, Akata had been able to… and from his actions it seemed as if with ease.

“How’d you do it?” Basik Bufmann asked.

“I learned something new and tested it out. It happened to be very effective against this creature.” Akata just smiled.

The group could tell that Akata wasn’t going to share his secret and just resigned themselves to not knowing. After a bit more questioning on Akata’s condition the group rested a bit before continuing on. They were really close to the Inner Ring and once they made it there it would be much more likely to meet up with the other groups. That is, if the other groups made it.

The group walked much more slowly to compensate for their energy so they could handle the stronger beasts. The beasts in the 3rd section were as strong as the 9th Grade and all of them were terrifying existences, whether alone or in packs. The Scorchwolf was a fearsome fiery creature that sent out flames that burned the skin and blood. Only the members that cultivated the body could barely handle the flames, otherwise they would burn inside and out with no way of putting out the flames.

Once again this was a creature that Akata had to mainly handle. The group noticed a change in Akata. After he had fought the fearsome Winged Skyfrog, he had only been using his scythe with no extra abilities. It seemed as if he was training exclusively in the scythe. Although they were worried that when they encountered a fearsome opponent he would only use his scythe, they noticed that his skill rapidly grew.

Akata was indeed physically training in the scythe. He could feel his skill and connection to it slowly strengthen and becoming closer. He had thought that he was invincible within the sect and therefore didn’t even bother physically training in anything. It was true that one needed stronger opponents and fiercer trials in order to grow stronger.

Guillotine Slice. Silent Meteor Kill. Clear Passage. Dark Intent Ring. These were the four techniques from the World Omen of Lord Dullahan’s scythe arts. They were already showed outstanding prowess to begin with but now they were slowly becoming more formidable.

Guillotine Slice was a straightforward chop with the scythe. It used sheer speed and power to attack the opponent. There weren’t any tricks to it at all. This was the first strike Akata would use against a beast that was fairly weak. His speed became faster and his power increased as he used it repeatedly. It was overbearing and brought great might and pressure upon an opponent.

Silent Meteor Kill was an attack from the air. It was utterly quiet and fast and best used for assassination attempts. Akata would use this against fairly formidable beasts whenever he encountered any. As he used this his body was able to maneuver better in midair and he became faster and his swinging became quieter. Most beasts didn’t even realize Akata attacked before their heads were chopped off.

Clear Passage was the third stance of the World Omen of Lord Dullahan. It was also a straightforward strike like Guillotine Slice but its intent was completely different. It’s purpose was to carve out a path within a group of enemies. Once enemies stepped on that path they would be continuously slashed at until they were no more or they stepped of the path. Akata would use this when walking or when packs of beasts were attacking. His skill in this strengthened the fastest out of the other techniques. The passages he would create could last for half a second before disappearing. Within that half second, Akata could use that passage to catch his breath or traverse it to move at a blindingly fast speed. His speed would be even faster than when he used the Shadowlight movement skill.

The Dark Intent Ring was the fourth stance of the World Omen of Lord Dullahan. It was a protective stance that was able to defend and attack. It created an area that was controlled by the user for a short period of time. Time and space would be warped to the users command while inside this area and would be of great assistance in support. Akata would also use this stance in group attacks to get a feel for when to use the defense portion or the attack part. It wasn’t able to attack and defend at the same so Akata had to compensate for that. But because of that, Akata’s sense for fighting strengthened along with his use of the fourth stance.

It was like this that Akata improved in his scythe arts and became much more adept at it. His comprehension could be said to be at the level of a Third Rank cultivator but his skill and prowess was only about the Halfstep Second Rank. Now that he was actually training, His skill was slowly moving towards the full Second Rank. Once that happened he would fully be able to battle Second Rank cultivators. He might not be able to beat them but he could definitely hold his own for a period of time.

With Akata leading the way and doing most of the fighting, the group quickly made their way to the Inner Ring of Misty Forest. They settled down in the mist separating the Middle Ring from the Inner Ring. The mist was sort of like a safe place within Misty Forest. For some reason the beasts wouldn’t venture into the mists and therefore it was safe to relax within it.

Akata used this rest period to train in the Single Existence Art. He wanted to merge his insights of the Outer Elements of Souls and Khaos together. Ever since he saw the power that both of these elements could unleash together he had been fascinated.

Training in this art was really easy. All one needed to do was slowly have the things that needed merging link together inside of the soul and then refine them into one whole batch. Of course, the concept ws easy to understand but actually doing it was much more difficult. The more things that needed merging and the stronger and more complex the thing was the higher the difficulty would be as well.

Still. Akata was at a low level of both strength and comprehension in the grand scale of things. But as he trained in the art he quickly found a problem he would have to face. ‘The things that want to be merged have to be on the same level as each other. If I want to merge my insights of both the Outer Elements of Souls and Khaos then I have to have the same comprehension level in both of them’ Akata frowned slightly.

His comprehension in the Outer Element of Khaos was much less than that of the Soul Element. That was to be expected since he started training in the the Soul Element earlier than the Khaos Element. If he wanted to merge the two together however, he would have to train his Khaos Element up to the level of his Soul Element.

‘I’ll have to comprehend more of the Khaos Element than I do the Soul Element but that’s easier said than done. The Khaos Element is on the Fiend Path which is harder to come by while the Soul Element is on the Saint Path which is easier. Therefore, I would come across the Soul Element more often and therefore still comprehend more of it than the Khaos Element. That’s not the only problem, if I wait too long to actually bring them both to the same level, then it’ll be harder to actually combine the two of them.

Akata quickly realized that he would have to face this problem with his cultivation bases as well. ‘If I want to combine my cultivation bases then they would have to be in the same Rank and Grade. My Plant and Mortal Realm cultivation bases are closest to each other but if I combine the two of them then wouldn’t they be much stronger than my other cultivation bases at the same level? If that’s the case then wouldn’t I have to have my other cultivation bases surpass the combined ones until I can combine the rest. And then that will have to continue.’

Akata felt a headache coming on as he kept on thinking about his predicament. But soon he calmed down and a determined look appeared on his face. ‘Nothing comes easy anyways! I’ll just have to get through with it.’ Akata steeled himself for the future before resting his mind once more and going over his scythe arts and stances.