The clash between the two could be felt by anyone within the vicinity. Each punch and kick caused the air to vibrate and the ground to quake. Their power had reached the apex of what this world was supposed to be able to handle.

In the background, the cultivators continued their fight. Unless one of the leaders fell in battle they would continue. It was a race against time, if one of those beings of power came up on top one of their sides would probably lose. The only hope the losing side had was if both of them defeated each other, then the stronger faction would win and in this case, they seemed to be around at the same level.

The golden palace that hailed from the United Element Sect collided with the dark fortress from the Chaos Sect. People started piling out from both sides and engaging in hand-to-hand combat. Seniors and Juniors were drawing their last breaths as this fight continued. There was only one way to stop this carnage and Zhang Dong was frantically pushing toward it.

“What did you do to me!”

“Luck might be on my side again…”

Wang Long shouted out in anger while pulling up various demonic techniques. Chains of corrosive energy, poisonous mists, and qi absorbing techniques proved to be very effective against all of his other opponents. While all of those powers were strong, Zhang Dong was always able to counter or dodge them in some way. As always, the way that Wang Long gained those techniques was faulty. He did not delve into the way they worked on a deeper level and this was now the result.

Yet while Zhang Dong was barely able to hold on this was not the main reason for his success. During the battle, he noticed something strange, the unique seed that represented his current cultivation was slowly opening itself. With every collision between the two enemies, he was growing stronger and Wang Long was growing weaker.

‘I’m absorbing his negative Qi or perhaps something else? Could this seed be taking in the source of his power, that is the system?’

“Hey, Bob, any input on this? Can I really just absorb the system that he has?”

“Not enough data.”

“Yeah, I thought so…”

“Current probably of success is 26%, need more data to make a proper assessment.”

“26%!?”

Usually, Bob didn’t give him such big numbers when it came to things like this. If he had one in a fourth chance of this working then it was more than enough to make an attempt. This might have been it, a way to sprout this strange seed and go beyond the limits that this world had been created under. For it to happen however, he would need to stay close to Wang Long and let his seed absorb his essence. At this point in time, they were only quickly trading blows which didn’t allow it.

Suddenly Wang Long unleashed a pillar of black light that forced him away. To Zhang Dong’s dismay, he could not actually absorb the Qi directly. Only when he was touching his enemy's body was he able to take in his essence. This made him believe that he was actually taking in the system and not actually the spiritual energy or soul.

“What is this? What did you do?”

“Having some trouble with your system? Is something not working correctly?”

After replying in a mocking tone he waited for Wang Long’s reaction. He wasn’t actually sure what was happening but it seemed that the system window was malfunctioning. What his opponent was seeing had probably changed which meant that he was on the right track. Perhaps after more of the system, Wang Long would start losing the skill that he gained through it or at least the imparted knowledge that allowed him to use them.

“Target is attempting to flee.”

“You won’t be able to get away that easily.”

Zhang Dong expected Wang Long to flee at a point that he started losing but he didn’t think that he would do it this soon. Both of them had scratches on their armor and were bleeding but for masters like them, this was nothing. None of them was near a point of no return so this attempt to teleport away only showed how cowardly his opponent was.

“I just need to farm more points shithead, you might still have the advantage but don’t think that will last forever!”

From his opponent's standpoint, it was all due to numbers. In reality, Zhang Dong never had the number of spirit points that Wang Long did. Even when he had the full iteration of the system he had never managed to kill even one proper nascent soul master. While he could still gain points it was only through spirit stones and other resources, never by defeating others which came easy.

“Is that what you think? Perhaps you will never get it… but you’re not going anywhere, Bob, do it.”

“Activating the directive.”

Wang Long was fast to go towards his system window, his fingers were clearly clicking one of the options there. Either he was going to one of the available save points or to one of his faction members that were far away. His body began to flicker as the teleportation jump was about to trigger but right before the body vanished Bob interfered.

“What?”

“You can’t run from me.”

While Wang Long was confused about his failure to teleport Zhang Dong rocketed toward him without mercy. Instead of dodging, he continued to click the other options but even when he tried it was unsuccessful. His face collided with a full-powered lightning punch and the damage he suffered was true.

This was his chance, while normally his opponent would be sent tumbling into the distance this time around it was different. Before Wang Long’s body could be sent flying away he grabbed him. A barrage of attacks ensued as the dark armor protecting Wang Long’s body started to dent in all sorts of places.

Finally, after all this time, this protective shell started to give. His own gauntlets that once protected his fist had been shredded to pieces but he continued. The pain of his bones being shattered and rebuilt almost instantly was pushed aside as he attempted to end this battle. He could see it, Wang Long had turned into a punching bag and was unable to keep his mind in place. If he managed to knock him out for even a second then grabbing and taking the rest of the system was a possibility.

Then when he could see the light at the end of this pitch black tunnel a loud roar of a beast stopped him. The Zombie dragon that was battling Bahamut appeared out of nowhere. Its huge mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth opened up wide to devour both him and Wang Long.

‘Shit…’

This creature was strong and also a part of his enemy. Even if it devoured Wang Long he would not die, Zhang Dong on the other hand would probably not come out unscathed. After weighing the pros and cons of this situation he decided to retreat. Just as the teeth came down he propelled himself back and saw his enemy be eaten.

Bahamut was not far behind as the moment the zombie dragon ate Wang Long it sunk its teeth into its back. The teeth were used as an infusion point of energy in an attempt to destroy the being made of darkness and poison. While its master was safe the dragon was now injurer, yet this was not over as another burst of demonic Qi caused both Zhang Dong and his golden dragon to fly back.

‘What is it doing? Why is it shrinking…’

The monster dragon was vanishing before them. The flesh was turning into a pitch black liquid that was condensing into something. Quickly Zhang Dong realized that this was also a technique, one that allowed for the fusion between nascent soul master and their soul beast. This was what was taking place here, to alleviate the loss of his previous Qi and to heal from all the damage Wang Long decided to fuse with his beast.

This was not an easy technique and not something that other nascent soul masters would attempt to go through. Unless they had perfect control of their soul beast and the two nascent souls aligned, it could be dangerous. If someone failed they could even lose their life or suffer a decline in their cultivation. Some even thought that a perfect fusion was a way into the immortal stage but no one could confirm this claim to this very day.

“You look different…”

“Grrrr… w-what is this”

The transformation was somewhat successful but it seemed that Wang Long was unable to finish it. His body was larger with webbed wings fused to his back. His body was fully black and his legs and feet had assumed the form of the zombie dragon. There was a tail and even two horns sticking out of his forehead but then a twisted mix of facial features arose.

It was as if someone stuck Wang Long’s handsome face into a blender and then plastered it onto a mannequin. He looked truly horrifying, it was a face that only a mother could love. It was strange to make out what Wang Long was thinking. Perhaps this was due to all of his punches mostly focusing on the face. His holy Qi could have interfered with the transformation and it probably didn’t help that Wang Long’s system was malfunctioning.

“W-what did you do to me, this is all your fault… if… if you didn’t exist I would have had it all! I’m going to kill you!”

Finally, his enemy had lost all of his marbles as he charged. While this fusion of two nascent souls wasn’t fully successful it still gave his opponent a large power boost. Bahamut was also here to help but even when it tried to swing its large dragon claw on the now transformed Wang Long it was easily knocked back. Even the golden scales weren’t enough to protect his familiar from the damage.

‘Normally this would be the part where I combine with my soul beast and win this but I’m not really a nascent soul master…’

No one really knew that Zhang Dong’s cultivation was different. Bahamut was just something entirely separate and even if he was created from a part of his soul, fusing with it would kill the golden dragon. This didn’t mean that he was defenseless, his dragon couldn’t fuse with him directly but could perform an act that was quite similar…