As everyone waited to see him fall, the expected outcome never arrived.

The aura blade that had cut him in half was dissipated the moment it began to cut him.

It wasn’t that he was slashed so cleanly, but the blade’s energy was dismantled at the very core by the Purity!

And so, Ozul stood with a burning sensation at his waist. Wisps of the black matter churned around the wound to heal it quickly, but an attack from a Heavenly Virtue wasn’t going to go away so easily.

Raven and the Blaze settled in their positions again, noticing that Ozul was still alive. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Jidu’s expression turned grim.

At the same time, something burned in him. A need to put that kid in his place, to show him who was the superior entity.

And so, the fight resumed with a new fervor.

This time, Ozul defended each attack cautiously, tens of layers of the Purity ensured each blow was cushioned enough to almost dissipate before reaching him if he wasn’t dodging it.

The momentum seemed in favor of Jidu, as he gritted his teeth to unleash all of his attacks.

Yet, somehow, Ozul managed to stay standing.

His figure never once faltered.

The Dragon had already flown away back to his cave, uncaring of Jidu or the bad blood between them. Even though each clash of Ozul and Jidu shook the heavens and the earth, the strongest being on the Realm was too busy with his ’mother’ to care about it.

Although it didn’t seem like it, small injuries were starting to pile up on Ozul’s body.

Meanwhile, Jidu could continue the barrage of his relentless attacks for days.

While Ember held off her side of the enemies, she couldn’t help but doubt whether she had made the wrong choice.

After all, Ozul appeared to hold out his own barely.

"With that puny strength, you dare to challenge a Heavenly Virtue? How dare you!" Jidu’s voice boomed with his deafening attacks.

With yet another push, Jidu attempted to close the gap, confident that his real saber could cut him.

But yet another blinding storm of black alluded his senses.

It would appear out of nowhere, blocking his attempts and remaining beyond his ability to disperse.

The storm, which seemed fluid, was harder than any steel his saber had clanked against. The entire thing was new to him, despite his monstrously old life.

"Stop hiding, you backwater scum!" he taunted, hoping to get him out of hiding. Unable to sense his presence, that was his only choice.

Unbeknownst to him, each time he was trapped in one of these storms, trying to push through, he was effectively inhaling minuscule amounts of the Purity.

Knowing it would immediately alert him if his Spiritual Essence was even slightly disrupted, Ozul only continued to accumulate it in his body.

But just as the pressure was mounting, someone shouted,

"Ozul!"

That was it. That was the only words spoken, and no one knew what it meant but the person in question.

It was Zier’s voice. Only he was told what he was about to do since his help was required.

When others worried about Ozul’s safety, he was silent and concentrating.

His only task was to use his blood essence to power one of his most potent poisons, one which targeted the source of strength of all cultivators; the Spiritual Essence.

Soon, a bowl-shaped black matter floated near him, prompting him to make a cut on his thumb and let a few drops of his blood gather into it. The drops of blood had a tint of silver and gold mixed within.

"That should be enough..." he muttered, feeling a weakness wash over his entire being.

There was no poison master like him in all of the Realms, that much he was assured of. After all, he had never once read a book which detailed how one could concoct the most powerful of poisons in their own body, in their very bloodstream!

But it wasn’t the inability of the poison masters, but instead the uniqueness of his own blood and his mastery over it.

He was not just a master of poisons, but also a master of Blood Arts.

Still, a poison which could disrupt the flow of Spiritual Essence of powerhouses like the Heavenly Virtues stripped away most of his strength.

But he held on; the hard part had yet to come. To make it actually work, he had to direct the flow of blood drops in Jidu’s body himself!

’Just get it to touch his skin...’

That was Ozul’s job.

And it didn’t take long because, surrounded by yet another storm of the Purity, Jidu slashed away at the never-ending layers of the Purity, with more expertise now.

Only this time, his pupils dilated as suddenly, behind one such layer, he felt something approaching.

Holding in his hand was a pure-black saber, slings of withering wisps continuously emerged and faded away from its blunt edge.

"Huh?" Although he was a little suspicious, Jidu had an inflated sense of pride, which prevented him from backing down now since he was chasing a close battle of sabers in the first place.

And so, both of them met right in the middle, blades of all sizes rained down on Jidu, meanwhile, his aura struggled to hold each of them off.

As Jidu’s saber collided with the one made from the Purity, a deafening sound sent an uprooting earth wave that spanned hundreds of miles in each direction!

*stchHoooOOM!*

A few seconds of silence followed before the results became clear.

A flicker of surprise flashed past Jidu’s eyes as neither saber fell from the force of the other!

Lightning crackled around their swords, space twisting and turning until bits of it collapsed into themselves.

The pressure was even altering the spacetime fabric of the Realm.

While Jidu applied his technique on the wrists to output the most power, Ozul’s strength came solely from his mental commands.

He held the saber merely to give an illusion of familiarity, one that made Jidu comfortable in his estimations against a ’saber user.’

Right then, when Jidu thought to side-step and use the momentum to wedge the saber from his side, something unexpected happened.

Ozul took a step back!

Meanwhile, the black blade contending against his saber remained standing in the air, with the same force as before!

Before realization dawned upon him that he may have fallen into a trap, his surroundings began to turn dark as the Purity pushed from all sides, threatening to break into his aura.

The moment of distraction was enough.

Ozul smirked, pity it went unnoticed from such a distance.

As if leaking, a small streak of the Purity detached from the blade and slithered down Jidu’s jade green saber.

When Jidu noticed it, however, it was too late as he felt a prick on his finger.

"What did you do!?" He used all of his force to push himself away from everything. Heaving as he had to muster up all of his strength to get away.

"How dare you use tricks against me! Hah..." He breathed heavily, knowing something was wrong, if the victorious smile on Ozul’s face was anything to go by.

"Killing you would have been easier," Ozul finally spoke.

Activating the residual streaks of the Purity inside Jidu’s body, he began to seep away at his strength.

Alarm bells rang in Jidu’s head, and as he rattled, he internally began to force the residuals out.

"You think this is enough to take me down?" Jidu smirked. He had seen and survived worse in his lifetime.

"As I was saying," Ozul ignored his question and continued, "It would have been easier to kill you. I almost thought I would have to in the end, but your pride... It was helpful."

The calm confidence in his voice put Jidu on edge.

He was weakened by those residuals, but it was dealt with now. What gave him so much confidence then?

*BadUm!*

The answer to his questions came in a flash.

He saw white for a split second before pain assaulted his body.

The aura around him flickered. It rose and then it slowly receded back into his body!

He hastily tried to find the source of the problem, but his Spiritual Essence was plugged before he found anything.

"Wh-"

He tried to speak, but Ozul zoomed in, closing the gap. Four spikes floated around him, aiming at Jidu’s limbs.

As blood streaked from his lips, Jidu felt something he hadn’t for eons... fear.

He quickly rattled his brain to throw all of his priceless artifacts, pushing himself away with their help. A spatial rift opened at a distance as a pagoda forced Ozul in his place.

Turning around, he ran at full speed, trying to escape.

Unfortunately for him, Raven and Blaze were there to prevent exactly that.

A frozen slash of winter disrupted the space, cutting off the spatial rift while shadows clutched at Jidu’s limbs, momentarily keeping him in place.

"Unhand me right now! You pathetic bastards! Do you realize what you are doing right now?" Jidu shouted, unable to think of anything.

’A few minutes... huh,’ Ozul thought confidently, containing the pagoda without any scratch. His eyes landed on Jidu’s pathetic figure as he muttered, "Only half a minute was enough."

With that thought, he sped toward Jidu, and the four spikes were effortlessly thrust into his limbs.

Screams of agony came out of his lungs, "ARHH!"

The Empyreans supporting Jidu were shocked to witness the scene of the Heavenly Virtue of Pride hanging like a wild animal, screaming in pain.

Even the physical strength that Jidu had left after losing his Spiritual Essence began to dissipate as the spikes ate away at his very life essence.

A short while ago, the Realm felt shockwaves of his battle, trembling at his might.

Yet, now he hung helplessly, completely at Ozul’s mercy.

A Heavenly Virtue was captured alive!