Ten minutes later...
The moment Levi stepped into the Conference Arena, he was slightly surprised to see the stands packed with Daywalkers, staff members, and even citizens of the World Tree... The stands were still being filled rapidly after the news caught fire, spreading everywhere within the city in less than a minute.
A formal battle between the current number one of today's generation and the previously proclaimed number one? Who was going to miss it?
Fortunately, the conference arena was built for exactly such scenarios... the walls were shaped from massive trunks and thick roots, their surfaces smooth in some places and rugged in others.
Wide branches circled the arena, forming natural tiers where the audience sat on clean, modern chairs secured along the wood.
Leaves overhead were connected into a dome, creating a roof of glowing leaves... meanwhile, the arena itself was crafted out of the World Tree's rugged, tough brown bark, smoothened into one giant circular floor.
Many battles were held here, and only fading, tiny scars were left behind... yet, these scars were considered badges of honor to anyone powerful enough to leave them. As for breaking the bark? No Daywalker below Solarbound was capable of achieving such greatness.
The World Tree's bark was chosen for this exact purpose... to show everyone that the arena was meant for training and friendly competitions. Most importantly, for Daywalkers to settle their differences the old-fashioned way.
One battle, whoever won, the decision would help the Daywalkers settle their score and refocus on the real enemy, not their petty problems.
Hence, the mixture of nature maintained the peace.
However, as everyone stared at Yanhuan and Levi, who were standing on opposite ends of the arena, they all could feel it... this battle was more serious than solving a petty issue.
"The rules remain the same... no artifacts, no totems, no ultimate abilities. The battle ends the moment one loses consciousness or admits defeat."
Dominic announced calmly while standing above the highest branch around the arena, giving him a full view of everything going on.
"The winner will become the Raiders Faction's captain in the upcoming event..."
Loud chatter broke across the stands as many spectators started putting bets among their friends for fun on the winner.
The majority put their money on Levi, believing that he would absolutely dominate Yanhuan now that he had evolved... but the Daywalkers with higher perception did pick up on Yanhuan's changes. They didn't know how strong he had gotten, but they could tell... it was foolish to base their bets on the previous battle between these two.
"The day you defeated me is the day you awakened me to reality... the reality that I have yet to conquer my generation."
Yanhuan suddenly uttered as he summoned his signature weapon... the Briar Pipe. Blue mist emitted aggressively around him, forming an agitated cloud that was waiting impatiently to be released.
"Today... I will return the favor." Yanhuan's expression hardened, "You will wake up to a new reality... a reality where I stand above you, and you can do nothing about it."
Before the viewers could react, Yanhuan unleashed his spiritual aura wildly.
Whoosh!
Everyone was left stunned to see the World Tree's floor groan under the immense weight of his bluish aura that had engulfed almost a hundred meters around him, raging chaotically.
One glance was enough for many to realize that Yanhuan's aura matched that of Solarbound Daywalkers!
"This..." Evangeline was left stunned.
"Impossible..." Tyrese frowned, his half-lit joint almost falling from his fingers, 'How can he get this much stronger without another evolution... wait, did he?'
One by one, the knowledgeable Daywalkers' and citizens' expressions turned solemn after reaching the same conclusion as Tyrese.
"Unnatural evolution... what has he done?" Ndlovu covered his face in shame, "He has rejected nature and followed the lead of men... how disappointing."
Yanhuan wasn't deaf... he listened to everyone's doubts, and yet he didn't care. He knew such a reaction awaited him, since unnatural evolutions were considered 'a cheat' and 'a horrible shortcut' that led to a dead end.
It was considered by many as the death of an evolutionary path if the evolution chosen wasn't accepted by the Shadowlife Seed... for such a perfectionist, it was always the case.
Still... Yanhuan remained unfazed, for he wasn't concerned about anyone's judgments or their validation... all he cared about was the acceptance of his father, and he made it clear... if he failed to reclaim his status as number one of today's generation, he was more or less dead to him. Yanhuan would do anything to not live in such a future.
"Good luck, I guess."
Levi sighed, having no idea that defeating Yanhuan once was going to cause their family to have such a meltdown... In his mind, such an extreme reaction was over the top.
But it was different to Wei-Lan and Yanhuan... a mere defeat might sound like nothing for those used to losing and getting back on their feet, but not to them... especially Wei-Lan, who was considered to have built the first Royal Lineage on Earth.
A lineage that everyone was keen to join, even as outsiders, just because of the immensity of its name on Earth... if Yanhuan wasn't number one in his generation, it made the Lineage become nothing more than just any other Lineage.
While others saw this as a battle for captainship, it went much deeper and more personal to those carrying the surname Zhang and the Imperial Sun's bloodline.
"Battle!"
"Immersive Cloud Arts..."
Yanhuan murmured as he took a deep breath of his Briar Pipe... the moment his chest was bloated to the limit, he released an immense, agitated blue cloud around him, spreading across tens of meters in no time and completely vanishing his presence.
"Spatial Distortion!"
The instant Yanhuan's voice resounded in the arena, more than ten clones burst out of the blue clouds and rushed in Levi's direction in one united formation. In the eyes of the watchers without special vision, it was hard to spot the real one from the spatially distorted clones, but such party tricks never worked on Levi, and never would.
Levi summoned his Judgment Chainstaff and unshackled the bottom crown... then, he engulfed it in concentrated aetheric energy, making it gleam in green light. His Harmonic Spine killed off the distraction and noise, leaving only the real Yanhuan in his vision.
He was the one on the far left edge of the formation... Levi acted like he failed to spot him and rushed in to meet the central clone, dragging the chained crown behind him.
He knew that Yanhuan was not fully familiar with his powers since he rarely showed too much in public with his real persona... thus, not many people knew that Levi had a mutation that gave him vision based on frequencies, and frequencies never lie.
No additional technique or ability was needed... Levi tightened his grip on his staff and swung the chained crown, aiming to smash the clone into smithereens!
Poof!!
The clone imploded into a cloud of blue mist, and almost immediately, another clone was reconstructed from within the massive cloud and went to replace him.
Poof! Poof! Poof!...
Unconcerned about their numbers, Levi entered the heart of their formation and kept using his crown like a flail, swinging it left and right, up and down.
Each swing destroyed a clone. At the same time, he was keeping his eyes on any circle formations around him, still familiar with Yanhuan's spatial killing techniques.
Meanwhile, Yanhuan kept adding more clones while simultaneously edging closer to Levi, appearing and disappearing from within the blue clouds.
If it were any other Daywalker, they would have been left utterly confused, seeing nothing but blue mist and his clones around them... but Levi's Harmonic Spine was locked onto the real Yanhuan's movement, awaiting the moment he made his move.
Levi wasn't left waiting for long... immediately after shattering another clone, he left his right side wide open as he was still in mid-swing animation.
Yanhuan was hunting for this opening from the shadows.
A finger snap echoed softly, and then... 'Switch.'