The Core Disciples of the Radiant Star Sect surged forward. Their speed couldn't be compared to the lower ranked disciples. It only took them but a moment to enter the thick of the battlefield, rushing through the disciples of the Metal Work Sect before they found themselves crashing against a steel wall.
The Core Disciples of the Metal Work Sect that remained also entered the battlefield. Although there were less of them since most had gone away to temper themselves, it still took two to three disciples of the Radiant Star Sect to face off against just a single one of them.
Due to this, despite having the numbers advantage, the battlefield quickly became a case of a steel meeting steel, the resounding crashes causing a tempest of violent winds to surround the battlefield, turning it into a place none even dared to casually step foot in.
Ryu continued a wanton slaughter of Inner Disciples, but there was only so long that the others of the Metal Work Sect would allow this to continue for.
At that moment, the highest ranking Core Disciple of the Metal Work Sect that remained shot forward like a blazing meteor.
"Hey, hey! What do you think you're doing targeting my junior brother? Do you have a death wish, you brute?"
Pibin appeared in the path of the Metal Work Sect Core Disciple.
"Scram! Weak trash has no right to stand before me!"
Pibin's face paled. He was known for his speed, but his power was actually quite lacking. This made him probably the worst choice for protecting someone.
Still, his palm flipped over and a flexible sword appeared. He stabbed out with all the might he could muster, his wings slapped and seeming to fuse his body into a streak of sword light.
The attack looked quite beautiful, but the power behind it was still far too lacking. A hammer came crashing down, shattering the sword light before it even made contact with it. It was as though the wind pressure alone could destroy everything in its path without the slightest effort.
"Son of a bitch…" Pibin's expression darkened, his qi surging.
His sword gained a pair of wings of its own, his piercing strike recovering and increasing in speed.
BANG!
Pibin coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body being sent flying backward like a shooting meteor.
The highest ranking Core Disciple that remained was only 37th in the Metal Work Sect and could be considered to be in the mid-ranges of the Dao Pedestal Realm. Pibin was already in the higher ranges and was ranked 17th. And yet, the gap was still so large.
"Trash."
Gan snorted in disdain, raising his hammer once again to chase after Pibin. However, at that moment, his hair stood up as three arrows converged on him from all sides.
Gan's expression changed and he released a mighty roar.
At that moment, Ryu palm reached out and stopped Pibin's backward moment, dispersing all his momentum into the wind.
Pibin coughed up another mouthful of blood, his head raising up with a solemn expression before he looked toward Ryu.
"Thanks," he nodded lightly.
He was a bit embarrassed. He had stepped out to save Ryu but had ended up being saved instead. He had pretty much lost all face as a senior brother. But he got over it pretty quickly and laughed.
"This battle, it's yours," Ryu said lightly.
Pibin blinked before looking toward Gan who had shattered Ryu's arrows with a roar, his expression turning solemn.
However, a moment later, he grinned, a second sword appearing in his hand. This scene caused Ryu to be a bit shocked because he could see that Pibin wasn't familiar with dual wielding. It even looked like he was doing it on a whim.
It had to be remembered that to most, even for weapons that made sense like the sword, dual wielding was simply impossible. It wasn't a matter of controlling two weapons at all, but rather the logistical issues around doing so.
For example, one would always have a dominant hand, even as a cultivator. One hand would always have large and more robust meridians. And, even if you could control both hands equally as well, the qi would always favor circulation to one side.
In addition, even though the circulation patterns of the True Martial World were far easier and simpler, they still needed to be modified in the case of dual wielding.
For example, if Ryu wanted to cast a technique with one hand, he would circulate it in a certain way, but if he wanted to circulate the same technique for the other, he would need to mirror it within his Meridians. If, however, he wanted to use both hands at the same time, he would have to run these qis counter to each other within his body.
The only way to accomplish such a thing was to either have a lot of practice or to have Meridians as indestructible as Ryu's own.
Obviously, Pibin had neither of these things but still made such a choice. And even more obviously, he didn't have the Ice Jade Crystal Body that Ryu and his mother had to make his Meridians perfectly balanced and distributed across his body as well.
Ryu understood Pibin's choice. Speed was his greatest asset, and if he wanted to make use of it, he could only lean into it more and more. There were many ways to do this, but Pibin chose one of the most difficult paths.
Pibin laughed into the skies, brandishing his two swords.
"Watching junior brother's valiance in controlling two weapons helped me make this decision I've been hesitating about for a long time now. If I don't make this choice now, it will already be too late later.
"Hold tight, junior brother. This senior brother of yours will bring you back the head of this ugly brute."
Pibin shot forward, brandishing his two blades with blood still leaking from his lips.
Ryu watched one with the same placid expression before his gaze turned back to the Radiant Star Sect.
However, he could tell that none of the elders planned to interfere in this. He understood what their purpose was, they wanted to use this trial by fire to temper their disciples. Most would die, and they already expected that. That was the plan to begin with.
There might not be even a single Core Disciple left after this, but those that survived would undergo a great change and might even potentially be worthy of learning the true techniques of the Radiant Star Sect.
Seeing everyone fighting with their lives on the line, and seeing just how many of them were falling with every passing moment, Ryu felt an odd feeling in his heart.
He wasn't the type of person to care about the deaths of others, especially in the case that they were strangers. But watching these people, who were clearly less lucky than himself talent wise, fight and claw for every inch made him wonder…
Would there come a day where he was stuck in such a place as well?
Ryu slowly put his bow away. He could use it to support his fellow disciples, but he wouldn't. He would allow them to fight their own battles. Even if he protected them now, it would just mean that they would die faster in the future.
While he couldn't do this for them, he could do something else.
BOOM!
Ryu's gaze locked onto the final arrival of the Metal Work Sect. There were three of them, all of them with towering auras at the Cosmic Seed Realm.
At that moment, the four Inheritor Disciples of the Radiant Star Sect landed as well, their expressions solemn as they looked toward these three. They knew immediately that they were simply outmatched.
"I'll take one of them," Ryu said lightly.
The four looked toward Ryu, with a surprised expressions on their faces.
Could it be that he could really climb three Realms to battle?
The reality was that Ryu was embarrassed that he could only climb so far.
Back in Sacrum, just being an existence at the Cosmic Seed Realm in the first place meant that your talent was extremely high. A talent with a mere single Earth Grade talent would be lucky to enter the Path Extinction Realm, let alone transcending two Realms above it.
Due to this, back in Sacrum, the fact Ryu could climb three cultivation Realms to fight was highly impressive, because even if his enemies didn't have a Great Ancestral Circle like he did, they still had astounding talents of their own.
Here, though, these talents only had one or two Earth Grade pillars at best. Even these three Inheritor Disciples of the Metal Work Sect were only Earth Class Talents. Ryu was embarrassed by the fact that this was truly his limit even after forging his Great Swordstaffs.
However, this was good as well. At least this meant that he would finally have a good fight.
The four could only watch as Ryu stomped his feet and shot forward.
He held his arms out, causing his great swordstaffs to shoot out from the ground, whistling through the air and landing with a BOOM! in his palms.
He swung down, aiming for an Inheritor Disciple that looked no different from a Greek God.
BANG!