Aztec Tribesman

Yaan's current opponent had been in seclusion for 150 days straight, before emerging specifically to fight him. To many people in the audience who had seen this person fight previously, it was obvious that he had improved during his time spent in seclusion. At this point, he was clearly no weaker than those in the lower 4th level!

As soon as Yaan appeared in the arena, his opponent grinned at him with a savage gaze.

Yaan stared forwards silently. In this 4th Trial Realm, he often felt like the people were not really human. There were so many men with enormous bodies, or different types of animalistic features. Somehow though, with the exception of the demonic races, they were all considered 'human'. At the very least, they had all been born as humans before embarking on the path of cultivation.

He had looked into this matter briefly, but he was yet to properly understand it.

The person before him was dark skinned man who stood at 12 feet in height. He towered over Yaan, dwarfing him both in terms of his height and muscular build. A powerful arrogance was ingrained into his eyes, it was clear that he flaunted a level of confidence that would not be shaken by anything in this world.

But in Yaan's eyes, rather than the man's height and muscularity, his tattoos were more eye-catching than anything else. These tattoos covered his body from head to toe and made him look extremely intimidating. As Yaan examined the closest tattoo on the back of the man's left hand, his eyes lit up and he closely examined the strange runic picture.

The large burly man stared back at Yaan, who was clearly not feeling the least bit intimidated as he curiously examined his opponent's tattoos.

"Pahaha! Such arrogance, child! From your reaction, I take it that this is your first time seeing Astral Tattoos?"

"Right, this is a first for me." Yaan nodded. He didn't mind admitting to this, because if possible, he wanted this man to talk some more about his Astral Tattoos before their battle began.

Fortunately, the burly man was a very prideful. He didn't think that telling Yaan about his abilities would be an issue, and since his opponent had shown his curiosity, he was all too willing to talk.

"Very few people dare to attempt the subjugation of astral spirits. However, should you emerge victorious in the battle against an astral spirit, you will absorb it into your flesh and gain an Astral Tattoo. This is a unique path of cultivation, a body tempering path that very few can excel in."

"I see, so it really is a type of body tempering." 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 I am not an ordinary human - I am a member of the glorious Aztec Tribe, and I possess the strength of 72 astral spirits! Us Aztecs are superior humans, born with innate strength beyond lower humans, and with the potential to surpass all others as body tempering warriors!"

"Aztecs? What makes this 'Aztec Tribe' so special? 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!"

Yaan became silent, but eventually he nodded. It was already quite good that the Aztec man had answered as much as he did, most people wouldn't bother speaking to their opponents much.

However, despite him acting this way, Yaan didn't look down on his opponent. In fact, right now, his senses were heightened to the acme.

The Aztec man stepped forwards, but at this moment, Yaan also vanished from his position. When he reappeared, he was in front of the large man, but the man's fist was hurtling towards his face at a seemingly inescapable speed.

The fist phased through Yaan's head like a mirage, causing Yaan's illusory afterimage to dissipate. The man growled out loud and the black tattoos across his arms suddenly glowed and emanated a deep aura of power.

Whoosh!

Yaan was startled, this large guy moved so fast! However, with his Agile Sword Arts, Yaan's own movements did not lose out to those of his opponent.

Yaan dodged twice, before he was forced to take an attack head on. The sight of Yaan facing the Aztec man directly was truly shocking. Be it the size different, or those 72 Astral Tattoos which had lit up across his body, 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 at the same time, his sword 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 had turned into a blur of wind, propelled forth by a highly compressed pillar of pressurised water.

Yaan executed the first stage of the Synchronised Pierced Art five times, attacking five different points on his foe's body. His attacks forced the Aztec man to raise his arm in order to block. After forcing him to move, Yaan took a single step forwards, and he was now staring up at the man with a sharp gaze.

The man tried to react, but it was far too late. Yaan activated the Cutting Typhoon Art even before he stepped into range, and by now, the torrential storm of water and air had already engulfed the pair, obscuring them from the audience's view.

The Aztec man instinctively activated his full Astral Power by urging the strength contained within his Astral Tattoos to surge. As he did this, blades stabbed into tens of points across his abdomen, all of which appeared to be formed by illusions of water and wind.

Bang!

The large Aztec man was blown back and his eyes went wide in shock. Yaan also staggered backwards by a few steps. His face was pale, but he was clearly in much better condition compared to his opponent.

The Aztec man panted for breath and stared at Yaan with an exhausted, yet fierce gaze. His body was ridden with bloody wounds, whilst Yaan was almost unharmed.

Narrowing his gaze, Yaan rushed up to him once again.

Yaan had a faint premonition of danger. This feeling was very vague, but this instinct of his was never wrong…he knew that if he didn't cut down his opponent right this instant, then he could very well lose his life!

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

Right now, he was still too far from his opponent. He grit his teeth and stepped forwards with such an extreme intent, caused by the feeling of a life and death crisis descending upon him and growing stronger by the second, that somehow, he achieved his goal.

This distance between Yaan and his opponent was closed in an instant. In fact, it happened so fast, that even Yaan was left feeling dazed.

Yaan stood there with a blank expression, his sword sticking into the Aztec man's throat.

Bang!

He didn't even move, and yet the man's throat exploded into bloody chunks which scattered in every direction. The giant man's head was torn far away from his body, before a destructive force tore apart every internal structure within his body and left the man as a decimated mass of flesh.

"Huh?"

Yaan was stunned.

How…did he do that?

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

Tssss…

Like the hissing of snakes, black gas seeped out from the man's mutilated body. It was slow at first, but the expulsion rapidly accelerated, until the gas suddenly solidified, forming countless demonic forms which charged directly at Yaan.

These were astral spirits, they had been released from their shackles after their previous master was slain, and now, they intended to take Yaan over as their new host!

Yaan was forced to forget about his previous move against the Aztec man, because this was far more pressing. The astral spirits appeared far too quickly, there was nothing that he could do to defend himself. By the time Yaan was transported out of the arena, there were already 18 astral spirits mid-way through their assault against his body.

With a flash, Yaan reappeared in his 3rd level abode. He immediately fell to the floor and started gasping for breath beside a startled Zue Yin.

When she saw his awful state, she dropped her book and rolled Yaan over onto his back. After pulling back his robe, and looking at the squirming black tattoos plaguing his body, she groaned deeply, now understanding what had happened.

"Yaan, listen, this is important!" 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 would be able to defeat them. Even facing a single astral spirit was considered a life and death ordeal for most. It was extremely likely that Yaan would fail, and his body would be taken over as a vessel for the astral spirits!

As the thought of being left alone in this foreign land flashed through her mind, Zue Yin trembled slightly. This was a fear that she had tried to avoid facing, ever since she entered this place.

"Huh?" Zue Yin looked up in surprise as Yaan slowly and painfully sat up.

"These things…want to take my body…or my mind?" Yaan's voice was gruff and he barely managed to utter these words in a low, beastial growl. Zue Yin was confused by his question, but she knew that he wouldn't say anything without reason right now, so she gave him an answer.

"They enter you body, taking control over your motor functions, 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 growled, gritting his teeth and staring at nothing in particular with his bloodshot eyes. "I will do this on my own…because this is…perfect psyche training!"

Psyche cultivation was the cultivation of the mind. Even stepping onto this path was borderline impossible, especially for someone with Yaan's limited age and power. Regardless, he understood that the best way to begin psyche cultivation 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 out and cursed at him until she gave up, finally collapsing onto a chair nearby.

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 themselves into his heart, his bones, his organs, his skin, his everything.

The astral spirits overtook his everything, yet Yaan ignored them, 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 with each passing minute. At the same time though, they were beginning too tire; astral spirits were living organisms, they didn't have endless energy. After battling against Yaan for control over his body, they were beginning to lose their ability to go on.

Three hours following his absorption of the 18 astral spirits, Yaan had regained his sound mind, but the spirits continued to resist. Even though it was now a hopeless fight, they continued to wear him down, forcing him to endure this ceaseless mental and physical pain.

And then…

"No!" Zue Yin leapt to her feet and cried out. She stared at the empty spot where Yaan had just been.

He had been transported to his first battle against an opponent on the 4th level!