Clash of Sovereign Power

"No!"

Seeing his blue lightning vortex attack completely dismantled, the expression on Alfred's face changed drastically. However, Ren did not give him much time to think, as the cyan spear tip was already right before his eyes.

"If it has to be this way, then I have no choice but to take this step. You forced my hand."

Alfred hesitated for a brief moment in his heart before instantly making up his mind. Gritting his teeth, he triggered a drop of purple liquid within his soul sea. Energy immediately flooded his entire body, erupting outward, and his speed skyrocketed in the blink of an eye.

"Boom!"

A terrifying aura erupted from Alfred's body. Purple energy diffused through the void, and the healing speed of his previously severed arm accelerated instantly; the bones began to mend visibly to the naked eye. His aura surged, spreading nearly a thousand miles away in an instant.

"Lightning-type Sovereign's Might. As expected, an Asura who has lived for countless years will always have a few trump cards."

Ren raised an eyebrow. His previously high-speed movement came to a sudden halt, and his figure shifted, retreating hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye. He was not the least bit surprised that Alfred possessed Sovereign's Might.

For a veteran Asura who had lived for countless years and had been to the Planar Battlefield, it would be strange if he didn't have any Sovereign's Might. Even if he wasn't as wealthy as the Four Divine Beasts Clan or the Augusta Clan, and certainly couldn't squander it like Resjing, it was no problem to pull out a single drop in a life-or-death situation.

"Ren, you forced me to waste a drop of Sovereign's Might! Pay for it with your life!"

Alfred's voice became incredibly gloomy. Behind him, the phantom of a Purple Thunder War Eagle over twenty meters long appeared once more. His eyes flashed with a cold, stern light, and he charged toward Ren at several times his previous speed. In the blink of an eye, his long whip descended upon Ren's head.

"Chi~"

Ren's thoughts stirred, but his body's movements were not slow. Within his soul sea, his true body immediately triggered a cyan water droplet, and a cyan halo instantly erupted from his body.

"Bang!"

As the Sovereign's Might dispersed, the cyan long spear was instantly enveloped in cyan-blue energy. Ren raised his arm slightly, blocking the spear across his chest. It collided with the blue light of the whip, and the explosive force sent both Ren and Alfred retreating a hundred meters.

"You, you actually have Sovereign's Might too?"

Alfred's expression was filled with shock, and for a moment, he was filled with suspicion and uncertainty. He had not expected a young man who had only cultivated for tens of millions of years to possess Sovereign's Might.

"Facing a veteran Asura who has participated in the Planar Wars, how could I dare to challenge you without a few trump cards!"

Ren was radiating cyan-blue Sovereign's Might, and the long spear in his hand hummed incessantly. Although he spoke without pressure, his eyes never left Alfred, and he remained constantly vigilant.

While Sovereign's Might meant little to Sovereigns and their children, it was extremely precious to ordinary Asuras. Generally speaking, an emerging Seven-Star Demon like Ren who had never been to the Planar Battlefield should not have had any Sovereign's Might.

Ren had obtained the Sovereign's Might by chance. Before arriving at Liang'an Prefecture, he had taken it from a Seven-Star Demon he had killed. At that time, his water-type divine clone was not yet this strong, so he had used his wind-type divine clone to instantly kill that Seven-Star Demon with a single move. Only afterward did he discover two drops of water-type Sovereign's Might in the spatial ring.

Clearly, that had been a Seven-Star Demon who had been to the Planar Battlefield and had been lucky enough to accumulate two hundred Soldier Badges, only to run into Ren, who already possessed the strength of an Asura, and was finished off before he could even use them.

"Damn it!"

Alfred cursed inwardly while beginning to think rapidly, feeling hesitant for a moment.

Now, he faced two choices. One was to take this opportunity to go all out; Ren's Sovereign's Might was water-type, which did not perfectly match his wind-type divine clone, whereas he was using lightning-type Sovereign's Might, which was a perfect attribute match. Perhaps he could seize this chance to kill Ren.

However, this carried risks; after all, he could not fathom Ren's true strength. The other choice was to admit defeat now and turn to leave. His Sovereign's Might was attribute-matched, making him faster than Ren. If he left now, he would have enough time to put significant distance between them before the Sovereign's Might ran out, and Ren would be unable to catch up.

"If I just leave like this, I will become a complete disgrace among the Asuras!"

After thinking for a moment, Alfred made up his mind. If he fled from a Prefect challenge, his face, built up over countless years, would be completely wiped away. He was unwilling to accept that. Moreover, he didn't feel that Ren's strength was so much greater than his own. He could try to see if there was an opportunity to kill Ren first; even if he couldn't, he would likely still have time to run later.

"Purple Thunder—World Destruction!"

A low roar escaped Alfred's throat. A purple battle blade appeared in his hand once more, and a boiling sea of golden lightning erupted from above his head, instantly merging into the blade. A black-purple edge burst forth from the blade's tip.

"Swish!"

Alfred's figure flashed rapidly, charging forward at several times his speed. Terrifying power slashed toward Ren from the battle blade. Under the reinforcement of the Sovereign's Might, the power of the attack was more than a grade higher than before.

"Gale Dimension—Explode!"

Ren had no intention of dodging. The long spear in his hand surged with cyan-blue Sovereign's Might. Over a thousand divine power clones appeared at his sides, and the airflow on his body condensed to form a Möbius strip, which then merged into the spear, charging forward to meet the pressure of the purple Sovereign's Might.

"Boom!"

During the second collision of their ultimate moves, Ren retreated a hundred meters, while Alfred retreated fifty. Under the reinforcement of the attribute-matched Sovereign's Might, Alfred had gained a slight upper hand. However, there was no joy on his face; instead, it was filled with gloom.

During that last collision, Alfred had already realized that he could not kill Ren. Based on the duel just now, his attacks were only marginally stronger than Ren's. He could not kill Ren in a short time, and the duration of the Sovereign's Might was limited.

"Hoo! Ha!"

Alfred took a deep, forceful breath, forcing himself to calm down. He gave Ren a deep look, then gritted his teeth, turned, and flew toward the horizon. Even if he didn't say he was admitting defeat, as long as he escaped before the battle ended, it would be defaulted as a loss; not saying it out loud just made him feel slightly better.

"Preparing to admit defeat and leave?" Ren narrowed his eyes. He wasn't particularly surprised; Alfred's Sovereign's Might would eventually run out, and leaving now was a rational decision.

However, Ren did not intend to let him go. Since they had already formed a grudge, cutting the weeds and digging up the roots was the best choice. Even if a powerful Asura's strength was inferior to his own, they might still target those around him. Even though Ren didn't have anyone particularly close to him at the moment, he didn't want to leave any hidden dangers for himself.

"Don't even think about escaping!"

Ren's figure instantly became illusory, and in the blink of an eye, he was in pursuit behind Alfred, while gripping his cyan long spear and accelerating the flow of Sovereign's Might into it.

"Hum~"

The cyan long spear suddenly became illusory and transparent, then transformed into an arc and was thrown toward the distance. Its speed was even faster than Alfred, who was flying using Sovereign's Might.

"What?"

Feeling the sound of the spear piercing the air behind him, Alfred's expression changed instantly, but it was too late. He could only desperately place his battle blade in front of him.