“Beryl Emperor's Radiant Fist!” Fang Rong exclaimed as he attacked with his fist, clad in a myriad of colors. The leader of the Great Fang Family didn't actually wield a weapon, quite similar to Su Li , whom she had defeated earlier.

The difference was in the surroundings. She found all the golems in the surrounding had kneeled on the ground, as if struck with a heavy burden. A system notification that popped up at roughly the same time gave an explanation.

<Ding! You have been struck by the skill <Emperor's Radiant Aura>. Athena's Retribution has blocked the effects.>

Blocking the fist with the Aegis, she felt a sizable impact. He was several times stronger than Su Li, but his fist actually didn't shatter. Again and again, he pounded his hands, legs, feet, and elbow against the shield. Well, he didn't deliberately aim for it; Monique simply blocked his martial arts.

The exchange was incredibly fast, and despite suffering at least 40% of his own damage, Fang Rong didn't seem bothered as he kept attacking. With every strike, terrifying winds billowed around the Chosen of Athena and brought devastation to whatever was left standing behind her and the surroundings.

The estate was marred by deep gorges with every technique Fang Rong performed, while Monique continued blocking. It was definitely impressive. The strongest cultivator she had faced so far. But that was not the reason she refused to counterattack.

Her eyes glanced around the battlefield, finding that even his own allies were currently suppressed by the aura his techniques exuded with every move and step. Suddenly, she realized what bothered her.

Fang Rong turned into a streak of light, appearing beside her, to circumvent her shield and sink his fist into her side. However, he suddenly faced the tip of Tatzel's Sacrifice pointing right between his eyes. He managed to avoid the stab of the spear with a very inelegant set of stumbles and steps.

“You know, I was befuddled because you, honestly, felt a little weak. I mean, your punches and endurance are impressive, but I faced monsters that were stronger. Took me a moment to realize that you rely on mental effects to overpower your opponent,” Monique couldn't help but voice out.

Fang Rong was similar to Faenys, who made up for her lack of combat proficiency with her fear effects. That allowed her to deal with a great number of enemies, or even stronger ones, as long as they lacked resistance. Although the root was clearly different, the effect was similar in this case.

Apparently, this guy was relying on this <Emperor's Radiant Aura> to weaken stronger opponents. Too bad he met her today. Immortal or not, his main weapon was useless against her, mostly thanks to Athena's Retribution effect on her Helmet.

She didn't know how the cultivator's skill worked, but Fang Rong was lucky that it didn't activate her defenses constantly. Otherwise, he would have been struck by Athena's curse a while ago. With a 50% chance of triggering, it would have been just a question of time.

Fang Rong grimaced when she called him weak. Following that, his attacks intensified in speed and strength. She was already convinced, but his reaction to her revelation really told her that she was right.

With every attack, the surrounding landscape changed, as more and more pressure seemed to pile up. Golems and cultivators were pressed on the floor, statues and ruins disintegrated to fine sand, as gravity and fist wind eroded them at visible speeds.

“Master Mountain really hyped up the power of Immortals, but you really don't live up to it. Or maybe you are simply one of the weak ones?” Monique taunted him, ignoring the fact that she was only able to talk smack because she received the blessing of a greater goddess and was covered from head to toe in holy equipment of said goddess.

“Come on, put some oomph into it,” she said in derision, still unaffected by the changes to the surroundings. On the contrary, she decided to benefit from Fang Rong's rampage. The surroundings that had turned into a desert of ruins were shaken.

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“Earth-shaking, bone-breaking”, Monique unleashed <Thunderclad>. The storm that constantly roiled around her as a protective shield exploded outward with a terrifying roar, stunning Fang Rong in the middle of his attack.

Following the thunder, she unleashed the storm. <Cloak of Notos> filled what was left of the inner estate with a thick mist of thunder clouds. Random lighting hit Fang Rong and the surrounding elders, who were unable to move under the pressure of their leader's technique.

Monique's barely touched mana quickly filled up from the skills' mana drain. With her presence now hidden in the cloud, she activated the third skill of the combo.

“Let there be light-ning!”

The activation of <Daughter of Zeus> caused lightning spears to descend from the sky. Fang Rong was pierced by a supercharged lightning spear, ramming straight through his chest. Another elder shared his fate. Other elders were out of the range of the skill, but there were quite a few golem soldiers that were disintegrated by the fury from the sky.

A calculated sacrifice, as Monique wanted the spears. Fang Rong tanked the hole in his chest, and the supercharged divine lightning spear's damage like a champ, but the elder was nothing more than a charred corpse.

Monique grabbed one of the lighting spears that disintegrated a golem. With a powerful motion, she sent the spear on its way.

Charred Corpses +1.

This was the whole point of this exercise. While Fang Rong was stumbling through the cloud, Monique used the supercharged lightning spears to pick off the downed Dao Seeking experts.

...

Fang Rong pulled the energy spear from his chest, disintegrating it in his hands. He stared into the mist the wretch had summoned, but he couldn't see anything. Not even his divine sense was able to detect the presence of the armored witch in this mist.

He was exasperated. It was the first time the heaven grade technique of his family was unable to crush an opponent. This was a technique inherited from their founder, who originally came from one of the core regions, and only the family leader was allowed to learn the original version.

Fang Rong had flawlessly severed Mercy and Hesitation, the Equality of Souls, and Balance, creating a Dao Seeking Domain perfectly supporting the Beryl Emperor's technique, to completely crush the vermin in his presence.

He didn't claim to be the most powerful immortal out there, but he was sure he could compete with the 5 emperors and 10 masters of the province! Even they couldn't simply shrug off the Beryl Emperor's Martial Stride!

His thoughts constantly spiraled, searching for a way to destroy her, as he charged through the cloud to find his opponent. It was then that he heard a muffled cry of pain from the misty depths. Another one. This time, a cry of pain. Another death scream followed. It took him a moment to clear his thoughts and recognize what was happening.

The Dao Seeking elders of the family were dying somewhere in this mist! This was his fault. They had learned derivative versions of the Beryl Emperor's Martial Stride and could resist ordinary pressure. But he had gone too far in his attempt to defeat the armored wretch. He had actually committed the same mistake as his subordinates...

Ignoring the lightning that would strike him, he stumbled through the mist, but he could only listen to their cries of death. When he reached them, they were already gone. He couldn't tell how much time went by until the mist finally fell silent.

Fang Rong suddenly felt a terrible pain in his chest, right where his heart would have been when he was a mortal. His body was shaking from this strange lightning that was laced with a foreign power. Was it his turn now?

In the mist, he finally made out a figure. The fairy in silver armor was surrounded by a halo of floating energy spears, glowing brightly in the misty air. One of them shot forth. He tried to deflect the hit, but it actually managed to penetrate his energy barrier and burrow into his right arm.

“You really did a great job tilling the ground for me,” she commented, playing at the fact that most of his family's ancestral estate had turned to rubble and sand.

“It will make a great, fertile soil for the guardian tree, thanks for that,” she ended, and all spears attacked him at once. He tried to resist and fend off the spears. He was bloody and battered, but managed to preserve his life.

He gave her a defiant grin, as the wounds she had just caused were closing and healing at a visible rate. Beryl Emperor's Martial Stride was also a body cultivation technique that granted him incredible resilience and self-healing powers. Even if she resisted the burden of the Emperor's presence, he would outlast her in a battle of attrition!

And then, he would go and take revenge. He would destroy anything she loves and cares about. He would trample this Minas Mar and then... he would rebuild. The Fang Family would flourish again, and the Fang Clan would rise from the ashes! He would-

As thoughts of glory filled his clouded mind, he was suddenly caught by tendrils of mist! No, not tendrils of mist, but tendrils that emerged from the mist! Vines from above and from below caught his wrists and ankles, pinning him to the ground with overwhelming force and draining his power.

“What is this?!” he exclaimed inadvertently.

“Oh, sorry. I meant, YOU will make fertile soil for the Guardian Tree,” the armored figure said, showing a derisive smile. She left him with those words as she vanished in the mist. Meanwhile, he was pulled into the ground, his words and screams drowned out by the sands made of his ancestral home and family.