Chapter 138: The Art of Combat

Aiden patted the team leader on the shoulder, ordering him to stop the vehicle, then turned his head and coldly said, “I will live well, at least much better than you.”

The demonic being sneered, “But I see your hand was broken! Is that what you call living well? Alright, let’s assume it is. How about your battle achievements this time? How many big shots did you take down?”

Aiden was momentarily speechless. He had a different objective originally but unexpectedly encountered Qian Ye, leading to an intense battle where he nearly lost half his life. But in terms of battle achievements, he indeed had none.

The opposing demonic being knew Aiden must have encountered a powerful human, and asked just to provoke him. Now, he burst into laughter, mercilessly mocking, “It seems our esteemed Aiden’s battle achievement this time was not getting killed by someone else, hahaha!”

Aiden’s face darkened, and he barked, “North! Once I heal my injuries, I’ll wait for you in the arena. I’ll teach you how to avoid getting killed.”

North narrowed his eyes and sneered, “Fine, I look forward to it! I’m more than willing to lose to you in the arena, adding a noble black to the honor of the Deep Dark Abyss. But how long should I wait, ten days or twenty days?”

“Two days will be enough.”

“Alright, two days then.” North no longer provoked, driving away.

After the car had driven some distance, the blood-born youth beside North finally spoke, asking, “There are many variables in the arena, are you sure about this?”

North appeared relaxed, smiling, “Aiden and I have been in the arena more than once, and I’ve won more than I’ve lost. Moreover, I just awakened a new ability of my innate totem. I’ll test it on him and show those old folks that we Mesfield are the number one clan among the demonic race!”

This little episode passed, and Aiden didn’t encounter any other trouble, heading straight for treatment.

He had sensed something unusual about Qian Ye’s attack, activating his magic realm teleportation decisively and using all defensive measures. Although his arm was sliced off halfway, the injury, though frightening, was just a physical wound. His primal force and bloodline suffered no hidden damage, and a day and night in the regeneration chamber would suffice.

In the center of the fortress stood a magnificent completed stronghold, with a hexagonal main building over a hundred meters tall, from which one could overlook the entire fort.

The top floor of the main building was completely open, transformed into a large office, with all sorts of decorations already in place. If an archaeologist proficient in the history of Evernight were here, they would recognize many of the armor and weapons used as decorations, each with its own legendary tale.

An elderly man in a black robe stood by the window, holding a metal plate. The elemental array on the plate projected beams of light, forming a chaotic and constantly changing ball of light.

To ordinary people, the light ball was meaningless, just a gathering of disordered and random light. But to the elder, each beam of light contained rich information. Only the speed at which these information flowed was too fast for ordinary eyes to discern.

The light cluster flickered for a moment, then gradually dimmed. The elder placed the metal plate on the table, lost in thought. In those few minutes, the light cluster had played out the entire battlefield report of the void-floating continent, including the latest major events on the various continents of the Evernight world.

“Come in,” he said in a low voice, and two demonic warriors entered the room, waiting for orders.

The elder paused, then said, “What is Aiden doing? Why hasn’t he achieved anything in these days?”

One of the demonic beings, sensing the elder’s displeasure, immediately reported Aiden’s recent actions and concluded, “Additionally, young master Aiden has scheduled a fight in the arena with North from the Mesfield family tomorrow.”

“Did he encounter a formidable human opponent? That’s good; he needs such a challenge.” The elder’s expression slightly softened, nodding, “Moreover, knowing how to use this method to strike at his opponent and regain his reputation, it’s not too disappointing. Tell him I will also attend the arena the day after tomorrow.”

The two demonic warriors bowed and retreated.

On the third evening, the arena was packed, with several real big shots reportedly present. This duel was not only between Aiden and North but also a direct clash between the two major demonic clans, Mesfield and the Deep Dark Abyss.

North wore armor in purple and black, wielding a double-edged spear. Aiden, without any special equipment, wore the traditional black armor of the Deep Dark Abyss and entered with twin blades.

The moment the bell rang, Aiden shot towards his opponent like a black arrow, adopting a completely aggressive stance. Facing such contempt, anger flashed across North’s face. He struck with the spear, sending a purple-black serpent-like lightning bolt straight at Aiden’s elemental furnace, a killing move right from the start.

However, Aiden remained undeterred, his twin blades clashing and entangling with the spear, causing the double-edged spear to lose control and fly upwards. Aiden, now within a few meters of North, his twin blades moved like phantoms, one moment entangled with the spear, the next unleashing a storm of blows upon North!

The sharp blade intent rushed forward, as if it would tear through the flesh in the next moment.

“How can this be…” North, shocked and furious, a deep purple demonic aura shot up, transforming into a totem beast resembling a giant scorpion.

Yet, before the monstrous creature could display its power, it was swept and shattered by Aiden’s stormy offensive. The demonic aura behind Aiden still lingered, even without transforming into the totem.

The double-edged spear flew high, landing far away on the other side of the arena. Aiden’s twin blades pressed against North’s neck, forcibly pushing him to the ground.

North, startled, quickly realized Aiden’s intention and shouted, pale-faced, “You, don’t think so!”

“Is that so?” Aiden’s smile was cold and cruel, his twin blades pressing down without hesitation, the blades inching into North’s skin. If North refused to kneel, the short blades would eventually decapitate him.

Aiden’s voice echoed over North, each word clear and distinct.

“Don’t forget, this is a fight to the death, and this is the Deep Dark Abyss’s territory. What if I kill you? It would just be an expensive compensation. Also, after you die, I would be more than happy to take care of Ismar. Don’t worry, even if I’m busy, I’ll ensure her bed has a male every day.”

“Ismar will never follow you!” North roared.

Aiden remained icy, replying indifferently, “Is that so? Without you, how long can a girl from a small tribe hold out? In less than a month, she’ll willingly follow me, without any need for coercion. Of course, by then, you’ll be a corpse, unable to make bets with me.”

North’s face changed several times, the blade pressing down relentlessly, blood flowing from his neck, cold as a glacier on a peak. Finally, his knees gave way, and he knelt heavily on the ground.

On the high platform reserved for the important figures, some were satisfied, some sighed, and others were enraged.

Aiden sheathed his twin blades, not even glancing at North, and walked towards the exit. At the exit, a demonic warrior stopped him, “Lord Aiden, Elder Pals wants to see you.”

Aiden remained silent, following him. After a while, he arrived at the main tower of the fort, climbing to the top floor.

The demonic elder stood by the window, gazing at the endless sky.

Aiden opened and closed his mouth a few times, finally calling, “Father.”

The elder turned around, his admiration evident, “I don’t know what happened during that time, nor do I care. But your combat skills have improved tremendously. Purely in terms of the art of battle, you are close to the elder level. This means you have finally touched the edge of the primordial darkness. This is the strength we, the great children of darkness, should possess! Anyone who doesn’t meet this standard is not worthy of the favor of darkness.”

Aiden lowered his eyes, his expression unreadable.

The elder continued as if he didn’t see, “You did well this time. The family will cover all losses. Since the Shadow Hymn is lost, I’ll give you the Abyssal Praise instead.”

Aiden was surprised, hesitating, “The Abyssal Praise might be difficult for me to use.”

“Only now. Soon, it won’t be difficult for you.” The elder put his hands behind his back, walking to Aiden and patting his shoulder, saying, “With your current potential, becoming a marquis is effortless. But my expectations for you are not just that, do you understand?”

Aiden bowed, “I understand.”

The elder nodded, dismissing Aiden.

As he closed the door, Aiden’s mind was still on the details of his confrontation with North. An opponent who was originally evenly matched now easily defeated, and North had recently awakened a new innate totem ability. Aiden suddenly felt a bit unreal, his combat skills had advanced to such a level in just a month?

But Pals’ attitude explained everything. Aiden knew his father well. In the past hundred years, no matter what achievements he had, even passing the one-in-ten-thousand selection of the Evernight Council’s “Black Sun” sword wielder, he had never received such praise.

However, another figure appeared in his mind, the one who had chased him to the point of losing an arm. How powerful was he? In a flash, Aiden’s joy turned to coldness.

On the way back to the base, there was indeed no trouble.

Yet, a small question kept popping into Qian Ye’s mind: why was Aiden in that area of the Misty Forest?

Seeing his equipment, Qian Ye initially thought Aiden was going to assassinate a high-ranking human warrior. But thinking about the habits of the dark races and Aiden’s status, if he were to fight humans, he would likely bring a squad, like the one that had ambushed the Li family’s base.

Qian Ye was familiar with the process of exchanging military merits, being one of the first free strong ones recruited by the Li family. Most of the staff at the registration office recognized him.

While confirming the records, Qian Ye glanced at the task zone distribution map on the wall and paused. He pointed at a spot on the map and asked, “What is the situation at the former Bai fort?”

The quartermaster behind the desk looked at the map, “What do you expect? After the Bai were driven out, it’s said that the black-blooded mongrels built a base there. The forces that attacked us last time supposedly came from that base. The Bai people are really useless…”

Qian Ye ignored the quartermaster’s rant. Recently, the Li family’s efforts to recruit strong ones with money had been quite successful, with military merits rising steadily and several dark race raids repelled, making their performance on the floating continent somewhat notable.

Thus, the Li family became somewhat arrogant, looking down on the four great clans. The Zhang and Zhao clans were somewhat better, but the Bai clan’s loss of the Rocky Desert was too quick and humiliating, often mentioned derisively. As for the Song clan, they had been on the list of ambitious upper-class families seeking to replace them since the previous year’s demotion controversy, and the Li family wasn’t even interested in discussing them.

Qian Ye listened to the quartermaster’s update on the latest situation in the four great clans’ zones, all the while examining the map carefully.