Faction Mission Rewards

(P.S. Two updates, nearly 8,000 words total—more than yesterday. Good, I really am getting back into form. I'll try to write even more tomorrow.)

Wu Pifu finally emerged from his state of total concentration. The moment he looked around, he froze.

The two Heavenly Daos before him had already partially merged, seemingly reaching the critical point of a life-or-death struggle. That was hardly surprising. The two Heavenly Daos could only fight until one perished, and both depended on transcendent great worlds for their existence. Neither could even flee. Reaching this point and settling the matter of life and death was merely a question of time.

What truly stunned Wu Pifu was that only around thirty Ascendant Bodies remained from the two factions, clearly divided on opposite sides. The New Era faction was led by the goblin Aegis; the other second-rank angel birdman had vanished. The Old Era faction was led by a second-rank metallic ancient god. Likewise, the numerous ancient gods, colossal beasts, bizarre creatures, and other Ascendant Bodies Wu Pifu had seen earlier were nowhere to be found.

"What a brutal fight..."

Wu Pifu sighed, swinging the Deathbound Saber in his hand as he considered his next move. Then he saw the thirty-odd surviving Ascendant Bodies all retreat in unison.

"..."

Wu Pifu remained silent and swung his saber again. Sure enough, the thirty-odd Ascendant Bodies each retreated another stretch. Only then did Wu Pifu realize that he was standing between the two factions, precisely where he had severed the Heavenly Dao fragment.

This... isn't right, is it?

For a moment, Wu Pifu could not make heads or tails of it, though a strange guess came to mind.

"Could it be... that strike just now manifested directly outside my body?"

Wu Pifu muttered, unable to guess the truth for