Anger! Shame! Fear!
Spark felt a strange mix of these emotions clouding his heart. His fists clenched as he immediately expelled his opponent's wild energy from his body.
Crackle!
His cracked skin began to heal as his blood receded. Straightening his posture, he stood in the center of a crater of his own making. The nauseating smell of blood and sweat was back—but this time, it was accompanied by a distinct smell of burning meat.
"It seems even Star is going all out… I guess I'm allowed to follow in her footsteps." With each word that exited his mouth, the second half of his ability—Output—was cranked up by a gear.
The ground beneath his feet creaked and strained in agony, bearing the weight of Spark's seemingly ever-increasing power.
Since the day of his birth, Spark never had the liberty of going all out. Even his parents, from the moment he was born, always put an energy contraptor on him, which denied him the opportunity of ever using his output to its fullest.
But due to the harmlessness of his Input, he had long practiced control and usage of his input to extreme perfection. Right now, within his body were a total of nine stars, as he called them.
By using his input to absorb energy from various attacks—and even constantly absorbing all sorts of energy from the atmosphere—he had a vast ocean of energy stored in his body, without means of expelling it in fear of the havoc it might wreak.
So to solve this growing problem, he created several nodes in his body—or as he called them, meridians. He was a true webnovel addict indeed. These meridians served as storage for the overwhelming amount of energy ever growing within his body.
He divided the energy into nine parts, condensing each to the outermost limit—and that marked the creation of the nine stars.
And today, for the first time since his birth, he released his output to the highest, constantly burning on the stars!
He turned his gaze upwards, meeting the proud figure of his opponent who was standing mid-air as though it was the very ground itself. Spark spoke, "Sorry if I accidentally kill you… you see, even I have no idea how strong I am." He paused.
His fists clenched so tight his bones creaked. A smile that wasn't a smile graced his face. "Neither do I know how much damage this would deliver."
The moment he spoke, his words were barely registered when his figure blurred—and in a blink, he was face to face with his opponent, his fists inches away from connecting to the poor cultivator's jaw.
Meanwhile, Li Xun's mind was a mess. First of all, while Spark was speaking, something miraculous had happened—Spark's words, which were a jumbled mess in the beginning, began making sense toward the end as Spark began speaking flawlessly in their language.
And now Spark had moved at such incredible speed, carrying such a devilish punch—and he couldn't sense any Qi!
No spirit energy!
No divine energy!
Nothing—just pure strength!
Since when had their human race birthed such a monster?
If I take this blow, I will die! Li Xun quickly arrived at this conclusion. His feet burst into motion as he quickly performed the heaven-grade technique Seven Steps, Seven Lives.
He took a step backward. It wasn't an ordinary movement—as his internal Qi circulated, following the technique's form, his figure immediately turned illusory as Spark's punch of death narrowly missed his face by a few inches.
Bang! Boom!!!
But even at that, the mere shockwave of a punch that surpassed Mach speed was enough to fling his figure, delivering minor wounds. Well, at least he kept his life.
Li Xun shivered in horror as he stared at the vacuum which had formed at his former position. Such physical prowess! he muttered in horror. Its surroundings cracked as though space itself was disturbed.
Meanwhile, Spark, on the other hand, frowned. "That's strange. The damage seems more contained than it's supposed to be," he whispered in dissatisfaction.
Normally, the force of such a punch on Earth would be enough to level a small city—but here, it merely disrupted space and kicked up a few gusts.
But Spark didn't know which world he was in, which was why his disappointment was understandable. If not, where did he think he was?
This was Tianxue Jingjie, a greater world than Earth. Its laws were several times more powerful than Earth's. The might that it would take one to break a mountain on Earth couldn't even leave a crack in this realm—talk less of breaking it.
If Starlight too were fully conscious, she would have noticed her outburst—which normally devoured thousands of miles of space—merely traveled a few miles in this realm.
Honestly speaking, the fact that he shook space with his punch was a feat deserving of praise. But here he was, complaining. Even the poor Li Xun stood in shock on hearing this complaint.
How was he meant to contend with such a monster?
Unfortunately, he wasn't met with answers—only another death punch. Yes indeed, Spark was already upon him again.
Luckily, this time someone intervened, as Spark's figure abruptly froze mid-punch. A strange energy locked tightly around his body, forbidding him from moving. Any attempt only led to a few muffled grunts.
Li Xun's eyes brightened. He had been saved from imminent death. He screamed in delight, "Sect Master!"
The cloudy sky parted, and standing in its midst were eight elders with various mysterious attires and dignified auras.
At the same time, from the ground amid the battlefield, all spilled blood converged onto a single spot, forming a blood pond, which swirled in a vortex. Upon forming, seven demonic-looking elders emerged.
A strong voice reverberated through the battlefield: "You all—kneel!"
As though it was a heavenly order, everyone in the surroundings—willingly or unwillingly, regardless of their position, posture, or location—they all knelt.
Finally, the masters of the Righteous and Demonic paths had arrived!