Enlightenment (3)

Surrounded by white fog, Cain's mind melded in the condensed dew. Only when the fog tried to root too deep into his soul did a flash of red sprout out and absorb the fog in turn.

Knowing this, the fog stopped trying to root itself in Cain's soul begrudgingly. It continued to help him form a structure of a grand symbol in his mind, this symbol would enhance his Innate Spell, allowing it to reach completion.

'I'm technically following the Sword Dao, cutting is easy, stabbing is easy. But when you try to surpass the norms of cutting or stabbing it becomes harder.'

'To break the norms you must know the rules, and the rules are the Dao. Once I understand the Dao I understand the rules and can move with or against them, but only by going against the rules will I gain more strength. Only by going against the will of heaven does a cultivator maximize their strength.'

'This is strange considering heaven helps cultivators along the way. Does it want cultivators to get stronger, this makes sense from the viewpoint of a Territory. Yet this is also the opposite of what the heavens stand for, but that is before you consider the fact heaven roots itself into the cultivator, tightening its grip on them.'

Cultivators didn't stop heaven from blessing them with the likes of innate spells or compressing their cores. This was a mistake that allowed heaven to invade the body and soul to encroach on the will of the cultivator.

'But why? It's not like people will betray heaven when their power comes from it, or is it that the power doesn't come from heaven but the core? That would make more sense in that case.'

Slowly, Cain opened his eyes, he would soon leave the world of fog. The wall was happy to see him go.

'I don't need to learn everything. I'm pretty sure my speculation is spot on, I'll know once I get the core. Or maybe not, this isn't a secret that needs to be known, it's not important or fun, the heavens are rigid, no fun at all.' 

...

When Cain opened his eyes, he saw an ugly old man in front of him. He then noticed Francis's body a little ways behind the Elder.

'So things are going smoothly here. I suppose it's time to hold up my end of the deal, even if everyone's dead.'

The Elder looked at him with a grin, "Well look who it is, what good timing to wake up. I was just about to kill you too! Well, at least now I can see the power of a newly Enlightened! Come!"

Cain began to stretch. "Oh, the skin and bones with flabby flesh wishes to fight me? Are you sure? My Innate spell is quite the sight. I'm confident the heavens feel scammed, they didn't pay much attention to what I was being enlightened by after all." As he talked, Cain took something out from his forehead and placed it in his leg.

The Elder's eyes narrowed, he couldn't see what was inside the cage of webs but he knew it was a soul.

Sigils on Cain's legs lit up before turning transparent.

The Demon Sealing Elder sighed, "The youth these days don't know how to act. Come!"

Cain obliged, moving his finger.

Originally, his world cutter attacked using reinforced sword energy, but with the Flame butterfly, he could send out invisible embers that would spark with sword energy, allowing for a ranged attack.

Now, however, even space itself was cut. This was an attack at the peak, this was an apex Innate Spell! Only a few hundred geniuses get such treatment every generation!

From the tip of his finger, an invisible force moved, parting space and creating the image of a crescent in its absence.

The Demon Sealing Elder noticed and made a defense of gold and silver, using gold and silver spirits.

It was no use, the barriers were all cut and his body split in two in one move. The Elder wasn't prepared, he thought too little of a newly advanced Enlightenment Stage cultivator!

But his death wasn't because of the spell but the Spirit used in it. It was because of the power of chaos lingering in the Space spirit.

Cain laughed and didn't stop, he moved his finger like a brush, each stroke taking the lives of tens of men. And so the battle continued, but it was one-sided as Cain danced like a madman.

Culling hundreds, he killed Deacons and two more Demon Suppressing Elders. Their attacks were ineffective against him, for he didn't have any demons harnessed.

Almost everyone in the Demon Sealing Sect focused on hunting Demons, if they didn't, the Demonic Sect would have long ruled the world. 

Eventually, a voice echoed from the sky, "Stop this, let's finish this between us two. I will meet you in the void."

Cain smiled, 'Bingo'.

Moving his hand, he cut space, leading to the void. He walked through, silently snickering.

...

There was nothing in the void, perfect for a duel between two powerhouses.

The white-haired Demon Slaughtering Celestial stared at Cain, his thoughts hidden. "I'm taking quite the disadvantage here, there's not much light in the void after all."

Strangely enough, the Sect Leader of the Demon Sealing Sect wasn't known much for using the sect's manmade spirits or captured demons, he instead was a light cultivator, his staple being an 8th Tier light spirit, which would lessen his disadvantage in the void.

"It's an honor Demon Slaughtering Celestial, I've heard many things." Cain too didn't show any emotion on his face other than giving a courteous smile.

The two were like frozen statues, neither making a move. This went on for a time before the Sect Leader decided to strike.

His white hair began to float up, like static. The young man's eyes glowed bright as he transformed into a mighty presence.

But there was no light in the void, he could only move and attack within a set field around him which was being illuminated due to his Light Spirit.

But the void was a popular arena for Enlightenment Stage experts to fight each other, the Sect Leader had long made up for the weaknesses his fighting style brought. 

'Light Blade Spirit, go.' Swiping his hand, a crescent of light moved faster than the eye could see. Boosted by the light spirit, even entering the unlit void it moved fast, hitting Cain in the chest before he could dodge.

Light Blade Spirits were a man-made creation using light and blade spirits. They could only reach the 6th Tier and were quite weak with fast speeds. The wound on Cain's chest was shallow, breaking only a layer of skin.

Boosted by the 8th Tier Light Spirit, the Light Blade Spirit could reach a state of Semi Tier 7 Spirit, but that only helped with speed, it was a weak long-range attack that needed to be used on weak points.

Seeing the wound, Cain reevaluated his opponent. 'I know he deals with light, and that he's a close-range to mid-range fighter, but I am as well. If I get close I'll be at a disadvantage and my attacks are too slow for long distances, they can all be easily dodged...I have to be careful for now, I only have 4 Souls compared to his 6...' He was wary, in the future, although the Demon Slaughtering Celestial was still recovering, his deeds still kept his name among the top spoken cultivators. 

Cain knew his situation well, light was fast and deadly, and he had no way to sense it until it was too late. He now realized how big the weakness of his Cultivation Technique was.

'I might need to use my cores, but I would rather not. Who knows if the heavens can watch here. Plus, I want to see just how strong I am in this Territory.' His crimson eyes glowed, and from his fingertips, blue wires sprouted out.

With the sword energy layered on the steel webs, they were more powerful than most 7th Tier Unparalleled treasures. Yet in their strength was a major weakness, one Cain realized quickly.

Moving forward, Cain's every step made him disappear and reappear hundreds of feet in front of the last. This was the perk of the space spirit, trumping even the speed of light given proper timing.

Cain tensed his forearms as he swiped his hands, the wires wrapping together like two giant swords.

'Magnetic Spirit, Light Spirit.' The Demon Slaughtering Celestial willed his two spirits as light warped into a barrier around him. The tangled blades of web sliced through the barrier easily but the Sect Leader already had time to execute his next move.

'Light Blade.' He swiped his hands hundreds of times at once, all at the speed of light. 

In a few seconds, thousands of light blades clashed against the wires. The sound of snapping filled the void as Cain's attack was destroyed in the face of light.

Cain already expected this, he long detached the wires from himself and teleported back to his original position using a great deal of Spiritual Qi.

All his actions were just to gauge his opponent, 'To use so many Light Blades means his expenditure of Spiritual Qi is very small. Compared to me, each attack takes a great deal...another weakness of using incompatible souls. In addition, in the Void, there's no Spiritual Qi which means I can't regenerate what I'm losing....'

Souls could work with one another, but it didn't mean they were compatible. Take two friendly people, they could work together but if they couldn't relate to each other personally, their teamwork would only be at a superficial level.

You cannot force two things to work if they aren't similar in one way or another, Mystical Creatures were like this too.

'This is going to be hard.' Cain watched as the Sect Leader of the Demon Sealing Sect patted his clothes, getting rid of some of the webs that fell on him.