Tension rose as they stared at each other with overwhelming killing intent. Hans tried his best to not let his anger take over his rationality. His right hand was practically disabled, it would take at least three weeks to completely recover from this sort of injury. Although the healing spell worked at full output, it was simply too weak to fully heal him.
The beast tamer on the other hand was seemingly fine. The shallow cuts on his body had completely closed up and he still had plenty of mana to make use of. Then, without any prior warning signs-
-Spurt!
Blood dripped down from the beast tamer's nose and mouth.
It took a moment, but Hans quickly realized what caused this as he released a delightful laugh.
"Say, that jaguar… you tamed him in the middle of our fight, didn't you? You could perfectly control the other beasts because you took your sweet time enslaving them as to not disturb your mana flow. But you tamed the jaguar too suddenly and couldn't fully control your mana because of your cultivation base, causing it to run rampant, right?"
The man's grave expression was more than enough to reveal the answer. His options were very limited at the moment. Even a slight disturbance in his circulation could cause the mana to deal another internal injury. If that happens, he will be crippled, or death. Fearing for the worst, the man completely disregarded his defense.
Noticing this, Hans released another flurry of invisible blades, alerting the beast tamer, who created another layer of mana to prevent fatal injuries. That's when he noticed something off about the incoming mana blades. There was a string made of mana attached to them, leading to Hans.
Having anticipated the enemy's response to his attack, Hans altered the blades' form, making the projectiles a piercing attack instead of a slashing one. The bullet-like projectiles penetrated the layer around the beast tamer, stabbing right into his skin and out his back, leaving bloody holes with a diameter of around 3 cm.
Due to the man's quick reactions, his vitals were spared from the assault.
The beast tamer was growing impatient at this point. The difference in power between him and the opponent should've been enough to deal with Hans, yet he always ended up on the defensive side. This fact infuriated him.
'I heard he is a genius but there should be a limit! No, it's not that he's too strong, my current state is just too weak. But I can't retreat now, else the elder will skin me alive for not completing the mission! I've no choice but to resort to it.'
That's when he was reminded of Luriel who was trying to hide nearby. A vile grin escaped the beast tamer's lips.
"Kuku, I admit that my current self can't possibly win this fight but… who said I was going to play fairly?
A blinding light shot out from the man's arm. His target- the defenseless 4th stage Broken vessel weakling.
Sensing the enormous amount of mana making its way to him, a sense of dread overtook Luriel as he lost strength in his knees and collapsed on the ground. The light was too strong for even a 100 of him to stop, he simply had no hope of surviving it. He couldn't even dodge as it was moving too fast for him to follow. By the time he regained awareness of the situation, the light was just in front of him.
Just as he thought this was the end, he noticed the blurred figure of a man with long, blond hair standing in front of him as he muttered one sentence.
"Ignite, Ancestral spirit!"
-Boom!
An explosion of the same magnitude as Hans' Dragon Breath left its mark on the forest terrain, causing devastating damage to anything in its reach.
Silence descended on the battlefield as a cloud of dust covered the area.
"Gagh"
The beast tamer also fell to his knees. He already anticipated a backlash after using such a technique, so he calmly focused on using a basic healing spell, the same as Hans'.
'As I thought, he jumped in to shield the boy from my attack, so he's most likely dead. In the end, I didn't need to use the elder's talisman.'
Before sending him here, the second elder had bestowed him a talisman containing the strength of a Tranquil Sea realm cultivator in case the seventh elder ordered someone to protect her grandson. He was told to use it and report back if that was the case. Fortunately, he didn't need to use it until the end.
Assured of his victory, he slowly stood up, ready to leave.
"And where do you think you're going? I'm not finished with you yet!"
The beast tamer quickly turned around to the sight of Hans standing in front of the unconscious Luriel.
'Something's different!'
Hans' blonde hair was now longer and his previously brown eyes now had a golden hue to them. Not to mention the otherworldly aura he was passively releasing pressing down on him. Hans had become many times more dangerous, there was only one option left for the beast tamer- the elder's talisman!
"It seems you haven't realized it yet" Hans' cold voice rang in his mind, "The second elder never intended for you to leave this place alive."
"What- what are you talking about!"
"There's no way the second elder didn't know about the ancestral spirit being passed down after the previous owner's death. He knew I'd die if I used it, he most likely gave you that talisman to force me into using it, knowing I'd kill you afterwards."
The ancestral spirit passed down for generations in his clan contained the knowledge and cultivation of the previous clan heads, yet Hans felt that the ancestral spirit's power he was using was incomparably weaker. This was most likely because his grandmother was forced to use in against the second elder's faction, exhausting its power.
What he now had was the remainer of his grandmother's energy before her death, which he estimated was less than 10% of her full power. How fierce that battle must've been… His blood boiled just at the thought of it!
"No! That's impossible! The elder promised to take me in as his disciple! You're lying!"
"Think whatever you like, you can't escape death so might as well delude yourself into a more peaceful one."
Having said that, he extended his hand forward as a dazzling glow illuminated the forest, condensing into the form of a sword.
Luriel was long since been teleported by him outside the forest, so he opted to go all out!
Sky Shattering Sect's sword technique- Torn Heavens!
The beast tamer also activated his talisman, summoning a giant sword manifestation of the second elder's sword containing 5% of the Tranquil Sea realm cultivator's power!
Sky Shattering Sect's sword technique- Azure Dragon Claw!
The two forces clashed, sending ripples throughout the forest, killing countless beasts. Even if it's just a minute fraction of their full power, the clash of Tranquil Sea realm was too much for the weak beasts to handle. The two sword energies fiercely tried to overpower and consume its opposer, neither wielding to the other! Until-
-Crack! Crack!
One of the swords slowly cracked under the immense pressure.