Wu Ling sat cross legged on the ground, circulating his cultivation method and refining the Spirit Power inside him.
Absorbing nine clones in succession had pushed his Spirit Power straight to level ninety nine. His resurrection after bursting apart had also strengthened his body, allowing it to adapt completely to that overflowing Spirit Power.
Still, that Spirit Power had been absorbed by his clones before being fed back into his main body. Even if it had been pure when he absorbed it, after passing through the nine transfer stations that were his clones, some of each clone's aura had inevitably clung to it.
It did not affect Wu Ling much as the original body. But because of a little compulsive tidiness, he decided to refine the Spirit Power again.
At that moment, Wu Ling suddenly opened his eyes. Two auras so vast they made all of Spirit City tremble appeared overhead.
There was no warning and no wasted talk. A blood-red slash large enough to cover all of Spirit City struck the Magecraft formation protecting the city. A golden sacred giant dragon appeared at once and placed itself in front of the slash.
Under the combined work of several factors, the sacred giant dragon evolved from the Magecraft formation Wu Ling, Rose, and Medea had developed possessed the aura of a Ruler. Its attack power, however, was weaker than that of some high-level Titled Sages. What it had instead was defense comparable to a million-year Soul Beast.
After being forced back at first, the sacred giant dragon paid the price of part of its body shattering and successfully blocked that slash. But its body had grown far more illusory, making its condition obvious.
A faint sound of surprise rang out.
Then a blue thrust descended from the sky. It destroyed the sacred giant dragon and shattered the Magecraft formation that covered Spirit City.
The moment the Magecraft formation broke, everyone in Spirit City, including most of its Titled Sages, stared into the sky, stunned. None of them had expected that supposedly invincible defensive formation to be broken so easily. What kind of being had come this time?
Unlike the fear of the Titled Sages, the ordinary people in Spirit City felt as if their dead relatives were already beckoning to them. Before that kind of attack, they had no choice but to wait for death.
"Fly, my golden great wings!"
A piercing bird cry suddenly rang through the clouds. A great bird wrapped in golden flames flew out from Wu Ling's rear courtyard and crashed head on into the blue strike.
Red and blue explosive light covered the sky. The Titled Sages, as if they had finally found their backbone, saw that terrifying attack broken apart and hurried to every part of Spirit City to eliminate the scattered aftermath.
At the center of the explosion, a woman, at least from an ordinary person's point of view, appeared wearing revealing armor. She held a golden trident in one hand and a golden shield in the other. Her eyes burned red as she looked toward a certain point in the sky. Her smile was wild and full of delight.
"Ah ha ha ha. I can feel that bastard Poseidon's aura. And he is this weak. Master was actually telling the truth this time. Even if he only shares the name, just thinking about beating him half to death makes me want to laugh out loud."
The Heroic Spirit who had blocked the attack was Caenis. Wu Ling had summoned Caenis with Bo Saixi's soul. And summoned alongside Caenis was another Servant.
"O wheel, roll forth the flames of wrath!"
An angry roar shook the sky. A huge wheel carrying flame and blades shot from Wu Ling's rear courtyard toward the other side of the heavens.
Asura God, with his red hair, revealed himself in the air. Facing the incoming wheel blade, he calmly raised the Asura Sword and cut down. But the moment his sword touched the ring blade, his expression changed. Blood colored divine power covered his sword. After blocking the erosion of the flames, he struck once and sent the wheel blade flying back along its original path.
Halfway back, Ashwatthama flew into the sky with the help of Medea's flight Magecraft and caught his weapon.
Then Ashwatthama pointed the huge wheel blade at Asura God with one hand.
"How infuriating. You were the one who interrupted my fight with Caenis, were you not? Since he chose that one, you are my opponent. Come on. Come on. Come on. I will kill you!"
After roaring, Ashwatthama charged straight at Asura God.
While Asura God fought Ashwatthama, Poseidon faced Caenis on the other side.
"Who exactly are you? Why do you carry my... no, why do you carry the power of the sea?" Poseidon stared fixedly at Caenis. Deep wariness and greed filled his eyes.
"Ha... exactly. That is the look. The divine spirit Caenis stands before you. Look at this, Poseidon's Trident, the real thing. Add the golden armor and trident made manifest by divine protection, and I am the true immortal divine spirit, Lord Caenis."
While Caenis showed off the trident and golden armor, the greed in Poseidon's eyes almost took physical form. From that trident, that armor, and that divine body, he sensed a power of the sea that came from the same source as his own yet stood above him.
"If I can absorb all of that power, then a First Class god will no longer be the limit of me, the Sea God."
Under Poseidon's undisguised gaze, Caenis's excitement faded. Endless fury replaced it.
"That look. That greedy look full of desire. As expected, no matter which world it is, the sea god Poseidon is never anything good. I told you not to look at me like that, you bastard. Die!"
As a violent hero, Caenis possessed a special kind of Madness Enhancement. Caenis usually retained reason, but once rage accumulated past a certain point, that reason would become an unstoppable storm of the spear. Poseidon's gaze had successfully dragged up the memory Caenis hated most.
For a time, two golden tridents clashed with no clear winner.
On Asura God's side, he had to admit that the man before him was strong. If Asura God fought with his full strength, he still had confidence in defeating and even killing Ashwatthama. The real problem was the power hidden inside Ashwatthama.
Ashwatthama's body had once housed Shiva. The destructive power inside him made even Asura God feel a chill. It was not that he could not kill Ashwatthama. He was afraid that the power in Ashwatthama's body might suddenly erupt, causing losses that outweighed any gain.
In the end, after knocking Ashwatthama back with one strike, Asura God turned toward the rear and shouted, "Destruction, this man carries a power of destruction purer than yours. Do you not want it?"