"Taking bets! Taking bets! Who do you think is gonna win?! Young master of Falon or Ethos?!" Rio yelled at his stand.
"What a joke. Young Master Haze is just a lazy bum with no redeeming quality. We're speaking about the man worthy to be betrothed to Elder Alexis Falon!!" a man laughed as he bet 100 spirit stones on Matthew. "This is just easy money!"
"We'll see about that in the duel!!" Rio laughed as the man walked away with his receipt. 'I'll remember his face and beat him up later.'
Like that, everyone was starting to gather at the Talon Arena.
"Quite interesting!! Why don't you bet on your boy, Samuel?!" an old man's laughter could be heard as a large group approached the betting stand.
The Elders! The Elders of the Falon clan!!
Elder Samuel: he was responsible for the training grounds.
Elder Leon: he was responsible for the clan's treasury and commerce.
Elder Dominius: he was responsible for training the core disciples of the clan.
Elder Blake: he was responsible for outside relations.
Elder Viridian: he was responsible for guarding the clan library.
Elder Hemlock: she was responsible for the outer and inner disciples.
All that was missing was Elder Alexis, who was responsible for recruitment, Grand Elder Connor who was responsible for the cultivation rooms, and Patriarch Sirius, the head of the Falon clan.
If those three were here, the entire upper echelon of the Falon clan would be present for this duel!
"Seems like we've gathered quite the audience." Matthew laughed as he approached Haze in the contestants' room.
Haze turned to Matthew with a sigh. "Just so you know, your reputation is gonna go to shit."
"I'd like to see you try." Matthew smiled sinisterly.
"I warned you." Haze said nothing as he walked to the arena with Matthew next to him.
"Ladies and gentlemen!!!" a booming voice was heard as Grand Elder Connor descended from the sky on a flying sword.
"No way..." all the Elders felt a smirk crawling onto their faces as they watched from their elevated VIP seats.
"Soul Formation realm..." Matthew looked on with shock.
"He broke through, huh?" Haze smirked.
Flying objects. They were only known to be under the control of powerful cultivators at the Soul Formation realm. Soul Formation realm cultivators used their telekinetic-like Soul Force to move around their weapons, or ride them with high speeds.
"Save your congratulations." Connor raised his arm with a smirk. He stood in front of Haze and Matthew. He talked in a voice only those two would hear. "What are you two doing here?"
"Father-in-law allowed for this duel." Matthew said with a bowed head.
"Very well..." Connor sighed. His voice then boomed. "Contestants!! Take out your weapons and hand over your spatial rings!!!"
Matthew took out his spear and gave up his ring. Haze sighed.
He took out the 6 flying knives and placed them on the ground. He then took out the 2 spears and placed one of them down too. He then handed Alexis's ring to Connor.
"You think you'll beat me just because you have more weapons?" Matthew almost burst out laughing.
"Let the fight begin!" Connor roared as he retreated on his flying sword.
Lighting Body!!
Weapon Field!!
Haze turned on his trusty Lightning Body, then sent out a wave of lightning all around him. The lightning formed something like small invisible strings that connected each of the weapons to Haze. They suddenly started flying around him. Each of the flying knives started spinning madly and the spear that was on the ground simply floated behind him like some kind of halo.
'There it is!! The 4th skill, Weapon Field!!' Mystra thought as she saw Haze's skill. She could recognize the first 5 skills of the Lightning Immortal Technique, but she didn't know the intricacies of them, so she didn't practice them. It would be a disaster if she accidentally killed herself while practicing.
'I'll finish this quick.' Haze thought.
Bolt.
BOOM!!!
Haze attacked Matthew with his spear, causing the poor man to almost fall to his knees.
"A surprise attack?! How cheap!!" Matthew roared as he swung his spear madly.
Attack Mode!!!
His muscles bulged as he rushed Haze. Haze kept dodging his attacks calmly, yet barely.
"Hmph!" Haze sneered as he sidestepped Matthew's spear. He grabbed the tall man's arm and hung on to it. He let go of his spear and slithered onto Matthew's back. He started choking him, which quickly caused him to fall on his back.
"Damn it..." Haze felt the air get knocked out of him slightly.
Paralysis!
Matthew felt his body go weak as Haze put both of his legs on his back and kicked the burly man up. The young master of the Ethos clan went flying into the air.
Puchi!!
Puchi!!
Puchi!!
Splat!
Four of Haze's flying knives stabbed into Matthew's limbs, lifting him forcibly.
Haze held out his right arm with his palm facing upwards. He caused the floating spear to rest on his arm.
He cupped over the shaft of the spear with his left hand. An insane amount of lightning caused the spear to spin to the point where sparks were flying from the friction with the air.
"We're done here..." Haze narrowed his eyes as he pointed it towards Matthew. "Mr. Amateur."
Rail Gun!!!
BOOOOM!!!!!!
The spear broke the sound barrier!!
Falcon's Talon!!!
All Elders jumped in and unleashed the Falon clan's strongest skill. Falcons made of fire flew at the spear and redirected it towards the ground.
BOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!
A crater 10 meters deep was formed from the spear.
"Are you insane?!" Connor whispered to Haze with a wrath in his voice.
"I was just going to blow his arm off." Haze scoffed. He retrieved his weapons with his skills.
Thud.
Matthew fell to the ground. He had lost consciousness from fear.
Haze took his spatial ring from Connor and put his weapons in there. The spear was badly damaged after being used for the Lightning Immortal Technique's 7th skill, Rail Gun. He walked up to Matthew and started searching him. He took out a token from his pocket.
"The Falon Zone's token!?!" Connor's eyebrows went up. "Why does Matthew Ethos have that?!"
All the Elders seemed enraged. An outsider having access to the Falon clan's greatest resource spot was not something to be taken lightly. Such a thing would call for a meeting involving the entire upper echelon!!
"Father gave it to him, probably to spite me. He said that if I beat him in a duel, I can take the token." Haze sneered as he turned off all his skills. "Now...if you'll excuse me, I have a certain grandfather of mine to visit."
Haze left the arena under the crowd's cheers. He met Mystra in the contestants' room.
"You were amazing!!" Mystra punched his shoulder. To her surprise, he stumbled to the ground.
"W-What's wrong?!" Mystra started to panic.
"I...I used too much lightning...I really need to visit the Falon Zone and breakthrough as soon as possible." Haze grunted as he got up.
"Big Bro!!!" Rio ran up to Haze. "We made so much!!!"
"How much?" Haze smiled lightly as he rested on a bench in the room.
"283,125 spirit stones!!!" Rio laughed.
"It saddens me to think that my own city would think that lowly of me. No one even bet on me." Haze shrugged his shoulders sarcastically.
"A-Actually, two people bet on you. We still need to give them their money." Rio said awkwardly.
"Who and how much?" Haze sighed.
"Elder Samuel and Elder Hemlock...we need to give them 100,000 each..." Rio grit his teeth.
Haze's eyelid twitched. "Why did those geezers trust so much in me? I haven't even met Elder Hemlock!"
"She said something about how the senior generation should have some faith in our young ones." Rio chuckled.
"Whatever...get them their money and run back here. Quick!" Haze ordered.
"Yes, sir!" Rio comically saluted and ran off.
After he came back, Haze ran to the main building of the Falon Estate with his two subordinates.
In the main garden, Haze stood in the middle of the garden's beautiful design. He took out the golden token and sent Qi into it.
Their world suddenly went dark, then bright again.
"I never knew it was an array!!" Mystra said with surprise.
"D-Did we just get teleported?!!" Rio looked around frantically.
"You are not allowed here for now." a deep voice called out to Haze's group.
"Guardian Romulus." Haze quickly bowed.
Mystra and Rio almost pissed themselves when they heard Haze. They quickly bowed towards the voices direction.
It was Romulus Falon!!! The legendary Guardian of clan Falon!! The only Enlightenment realm cultivator in Talon City's history!!
"You are not allowed here for now." Romulus's voice called out again.
"I have a token, Guardian." Haze presented the token.
"Hmm...." Romulus seemed to be thinking. "Fine, but those two need to stay. The Falon Zone's Inferno has almost been dried up by Connor and Alexis. It needs to recharge."
"Actually, Guardian, we're not here for the Inferno." Haze said respectfully. He truly respected this man. Romulus Falon, an Enlightenment realm cultivator with a Lord rank in using longswords. This man would become a powerful man in the future. Escoile Empire's Emperor, Romulus Falon, a False Emperor realm and Holy Saint in using the longsword.
"You're the Ethos clan brat that Sirius mentioned? Well, I don't approve, but he is the Patriarch. You may use the Falon Zone's Hurricane." Romulus sighed in relent.
"A-Actually, I'm not Matthew Ethos, nor am I here for the Hurricane." Haze awkwardly said.
"Who are you, boy?" Romulus seemed to start getting irritated.
"Haze Falon, Guardian." Haze bowed slightly deeper.
"Hmm? Whose boy are you?" Romulus's mood seemed to improve. All that was left in the Falon Zone was the untouched Storm. If the Falon clan gained three people who pursued lightning cultivation, they'd finally be able to put the Falon Zone's Storm to good use.
"I'm Patriarch Sirius's adopted son." Haze sighed.
"Ah..." Romulus seemed to remember. "The failure? Seems like your father's opinion of you has changed recently, boy."
Romulus erupted in laughter. Haze sighed once more. "Not really. I had to beat his favorite son-in-law before I could get this token, even though he promised it to me before he gave it to Matthew."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Everyone turned silent.
"You may use the Falon Zone's Storm however you wish, but be careful." Romulus broke the silence with a deep voice.
"I will be careful." Haze nodded as he motioned for Rio and Mystra to follow him.
"Walk down the hallway, it's the first door to your left." Romulus instructed. "Each of you take one of the jade slips in the room. Don't lose them. They have return and healing arrays inscribed into them. I'm going out for a bit."
"Yes, Guardian." Haze bowed once more and moved forward.
Mystra and Rio both silently followed Haze. When they reached the door, they saw the plaque above it with "Storm" written on it.
"Mystra, sit down here first. Rio, come with me." Haze ordered.
"Big Bro, are we leaving Mystra behind?" Rio asked.
"Don't be stupid. Now, give me the spirit stones and strip." Haze ordered.
"..." Rio still seemed a bit embarrassed being naked in front of a man he respected and revered, but it couldn't be helped.
Haze took out 1,000 spirit stones and crushed them into dust.
"BIG BRO!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!?" Rio cried as the spirit stones dust slipped through his fingers.
"Shut up and sit down!!" Haze clicked his tongue. He then activated his skill.
Weapon Field.
The wave of lightning went through the dust and started to lift it. Haze started inscribing Rio's body with lightning, then filling the gaps of burnt skin with the dust.
"Haaaah....haaaah...haaah..." Rio breathed as Haze finished.
"Are you ready for hell, Rio?" Haze asked with a smirk.
"Of course!" Rio said as his head spun from the pain.
"The runes I've put on your body will protect you from the lightning. Once you use your own lightning, the protection will partially break. It will allow the lightning to temper your body. The rest of the runes are separated into two sets." Haze raised up two fingers. "The first set will use Qi as a substitute for nutrients and keep you alive as long as you have Qi. The second set will turn lightning into Qi."
"Wait...that means...!" Rio looked up with shock.
"You're smarter than I give you credit for." Haze chuckled. "Yes, you can cul-"
"We can live forever in the Falon Zone's Storm!! We did it, Big Bro!! We've achieved immortality!" Rio roared.
"..." Haze took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. "I take it all back. You're a fucking moron."
"Then what is it?" Rio asked.
Haze walked up to the wall and grabbed one of the jade slips there. He gave it to Rio and kicked him to the teleportation array in the room. "When you get there, go 10 kilometers west. Don't come back before you're at least a Qi Condensation realm."
"I'll make you proud." Rio nodded confidently.
Haze chuckled to himself. "You better."
"Mystra! Come in!" Haze called out when Rio disappeared. "I assume you heard everything?"
"Yes, we can use the lightning to increase our realm without pause which will increase the efficiency of absorbing the Qi by at least a few folds, right?" Mystra asked as she took off her clothes.
Haze crushed another 1,000 sprit stones. Mystra's heart bled as she watched him.
"Bright as ever." Haze smiled and inscribed the runes into her as she grit her teeth in pain.
Mystra stood up when he was done. She grabbed a token and walked onto the array.
"Go east." Haze reminded. It would be disastrous if those two tried to grab each other's lightning.
"I'm not coming back until I'm a Nascent Soul." Mystra declared.
"Calm down there, even I wouldn't proclaim such a thing." Haze chuckled. "How about High Golden Core?"
"..." Mystra fell into thought. "Alright."
She nodded then teleported.
"Alright then." Haze sighed when he was alone. He stripped and inscribed himself too. He added two extra sets of runes. One to turn natural lightning into the Law of Lightning and another to store it in his body.
Although he still had some Law of Lightning from when he tempered his body at the beginning of his cultivation. He wanted more just to be safe.
He grabbed a token and inhaled deeply. He walked onto the array.
"Here we go."
