Whilst Yaan’s current opponent was technically ranked below the other guy he had just killed previously, this person had been in seclusion for 150 days straight now. Many audience members gasped as they realised his improvements. This 2nd ranked competitor of the 3rd level was clearly at the level of those in the lower 4th level!

“I may be ranked lower than Johan, but that’s simply because he attained the first position whilst I was in seclusion and too busy to come out…really, I should thank you for dealing with him.”

Yaan stared forwards silently. In this 4th realm, he often felt like the people were…well, not really people. There were so many men with enormous bodies, there were women with scaled forearms, people with glowing golden hair and actual, lion-esque manes!

After doing some brief research into this matter, Yaan somewhat understood. Unfortunately, this battle had cut him off half way through his reading though.

The person before him was a man, a dark skinned man who stood at 10-12 feet in height. He towered over Yaan, dwarfing his body both in height and muscularity. He had an innate arrogance cemented into his gaze, and a confidence that could not be shaken by anything in this world.

But what Yaan noticed before anything else, were the man’s tattoos. As Yaan examined the closest tattoo on the back of the giant’s hand, his eyes lit up and he stared intently, curiosity clear in his gaze.

The large burly man stared back at Yaan, who was clearly not taking him seriously in the least, then let out a hearty laugh.

“PAHAHAHA! Such arrogance child! From your reaction, it is the first time you have witnessed a warrior bearing astral tattoos, no?”

“Right, this is a first for me.” Yaan nodded. He didn’t mind to admit this, since he was trying to get this arrogant looking guy to talk a bit more about his powers.

It worked.

“Very few humans dare to battle against an astral spirit. However, should you emerge victorious, you will subdue the astral spirit and forcefully imprint it upon your flesh in the form of an astral tattoo! This is a unique path of cultivation, a body tempering path that very few can excel in!”

“I see, so it’s a type of body cultivation.” Yaan nodded. “Before we fight, could you tell me how many astral tattoos you have? And do you have other power, and…are you actually human?”

Towards the series of questions, the man raised an eyebrow. However, he had his pride, and he refused to kill a child without even responding to his inquiry.

“I am a human but also not; I am a member of the glorious Aztec Tribe, and I don the power of a grand 72 astral spirits! We are superior humans, born with innate strength beyond mere mortals, towering above all others!”

“Is it a constitution shared by your tribe? Or a bloodline? Or-”

“Enough questions! We will now battle to determine the ultimate powerhouse of the 3rd level!”

“Oh…ok.” Yaan nodded, feeling a bit disappointed that this helpful person had stopped answering his questions.

However, despite acting this way, Yaan in no way looked down upon nor disregarded his opponent. He acted casual, as if this was nothing serious to him, but his senses were heightened to the acme. As the Aztec man stepped forwards, Yaan seemed to vanish from his position. When he reappeared, he was in front of the large man, but the man’s fist had almost collided with Yaan’s head!

Just as everyone thought Yaan had lost this battle, the fist passed through a mirage, causing the image of Yaan to dissipate. The man growled out loud, the black tattoos across his arms suddenly glowing and emanating a deep aura of power.

WHOOSH!

Yaan was slightly startled, this large guy moved so fast! However, with his Agile Sword Arts…

SWOOSH WOOSH BANG!

Yaan dodged twice, then was forced to take an attack head on. Everyone believed that since Yaan attacked head on, the match would be over. Be it the size different, or those 72 astral spirits, it really seemed like the Aztec man had the advantage in every regard.

Whoosh…

Yaan was thrown back by the force of the impact, but his sword likewise left a deep cut on the tribesman’s fist. Before the giant man understood what was happening, Yaan had vanished. It was as if his body turned into a blur of wind, propelled forth by a jet powered stream of water.

ChiChiChi!

Yaan executed the first stage of Synchronised Pierced five times, attacking five different points. His attacks forced the aztec man to raise his arm in order to block. At this point, Yaan merely took a single step, and he was now staring up at the man with a sharp gaze.

The man stared back, blinked and tried to react, but it was far too late. Yaan activated Cutting Typhoon even before he stepped in, so by the time the man blinked, the hurricane and torrential storm had already engulfed the pair. By the time the aztec man flinched, instinctively activating his full astral power by pulsating all 72 tattoos simultaneously, blades stabbed into tens of points across his abdomen, seemingly formed from water and wind.

CHICHICHIBANG!

As the illusion faded away though, all that was left was a sword soaked in blood, having stabbed into the man’s body for a total of 28 times.

The large dark man staggered back, his eyes wide in shock. Narrowing his gaze, Yaan rushed forth again. He had the distinct feeling that if he gave this guy even a single second, he would do something crazy…so crazy that Yaan’s own life could be forfeit!

This was an instinct that had been honed throughout his life, he trusted this feeling more than anything else in this world.

But he was too far away…he needed to get faster, he needed to get closer, he needed to pierce his blade through the Aztec Tribesman’s neck!

Yaan paused. He stood there in a daze, his sword sticking into the man’s throat. He didn’t even move, and yet the man’s throat exploded into bloody chunks in all directions, sending his head flying back, whilst a destructive force pummelled towards, tearing apart every internal organ and overall decimating his complete body.

“Huh?” Yaan was stunned.

How…did he do that?

Unfortunately, as usual, Yaan did not have the luxury to wait around and ponder things. Perhaps if he had finished studying up on astral spirits, then he would have understood that he was currently in a seriously dangerous predicament.

TSSSHHHHHH!

Like the hissing of snakes, black gas seeped out from the man’s body. It was slow at first, but rapidly accelerated, until they suddenly solidified, forming countless demonic forms which charged directly at Yaan, intending to take him over as their host.

The shock he felt towards his execution of that unknown move was replaced by the shock of these bizarre assailants. They came so suddenly that there was literally nothing he could do; by the time the realm’s light descend upon Yaan and protected him from the astral spirits, there were already 18 assaulting his body.

With a flash, Yaan reappeared in his 3rd level abode, dropping to the floor and gasping for breath besides a startled Zue Yin. She dropped her book immediately and rolled Yaan over onto his back. After pulling back his robe, she groaned, immediately understanding what had happened, and what was now going wrong.

“Yaan listen, this is essential!” She shouted directly into his ear. “After killing a wielder of astral spirits, the spirits flee and attack the nearest living host! Since they have already entered your body, you have no choice but to battle against them for control over your body! You have…” She quickly counted across his body, turning increasingly pale, before saying: “18! There are 18 astral spirits, but luckily they’re all 1-Star, they’re weak, you can defeat them!”

In her mind, she had no hope that he could defeat them. Even facing one, especially your first one, was a life and death ordeal. Yaan would likely be taken over by the astral spirits!

As the thought of being left alone in this foreign land entered her mind, Zue Yin trembled slightly with a fear that she had been trying to avoid facing, ever since she entered this place.

“Huh?” Zue Yin stared as Yaan, slowly and very painfully, sat up.

“These things…want to take my body…or my mind?” Yaan’s voice was gruff and he barely growled these words out. Zue Yin was confused by the question, but she replied anyway.

“They enter you body, taking control over your motor function, attaching themselves to your flesh…but they can only control you entirely by subduing your mind.”

A dark and twisted smile slowly spread across Yaan’s face.

“Then…they have no hope…”

Zue Yin stared at him in a daze. She saw that he was in pain and struggling, but he genuinely felt no fear that he might lose this battle. Just where did that confidence come from? Did he have some secret ace…?

“Ah, there are pills that can-!”

“No need!” Yaan half growled, gritting his teeth and keeping wide open his bloodshot eyes. “I can do this without…this is…perfect psyche training!”

Psyche cultivation, the cultivation of the mind! Even stepping onto this path was borderline impossible for someone at Yaan’s age and strength, but he understood that the best way of doing so was by continuously facing and enduring mental challenges such as this! Of course, he was under no delusion that just this small event would be enough for him to enter the world of mental cultivation, but it was a step towards the path that he had recently decided he would walk.

“Crazy! You make no sense! Idiot! Insane person!” Zue Yin cried and cursed at him until she gave up, finally collapsing onto the sofa.

Yaan didn’t have time to ponder why she was so worked up about this, or why she even cared about his life and death in the first place. In his mind, they were allies, sure, but that was where their relationship started and ended.

He sat down in the lotus position, but did not shut his eyes. His eyes remained wide open, yet he didn’t so much as flinch as the shadows of the astral spirits drifted across his retina. He didn’t react when they penetrated his brain. He didn’t seem to care when they embedded into his heart, his bones, his organs, his skin, his, everything.

The astral spirits overtook his everything, yet Yaan ignored it, persevering on. He felt the overwhelming desire to give up, to submit his control, to relinquish his body and his mind…

But he was no stranger to this feeling. Compared to the bloodlust when he had lost himself completely in Zong Village, this much was nothing!

Time passed by, and it seemed as if the astral spirits became more and more restless. At the same time though, they were exhausted, worn out and unable to move, unable to affect Yaan so severely.

3 hours following his absorption of 18 astral spirits, he had regained his sound mind, but the spirits were still resisting, wearing him down and causing him to endure endless mental and physical pain.

And then…

“No!” Zue Yin leapt to her feet and cried out. She stared as that oh so familiar beam of white light took Yaan away, transporting him into his first 4th level abode battle!