The arena for the "Black Ring Fiend" to challenge the "Crimson Star Fiend" was set up at Moonwheel Cliff, which is considered the traditional arena for challenging the city lord of Moonwheel City.
Crimson Star Fiend is the title Monica gave Jason. Over the years, Jason has sparred with some powerful opponents, and his Death Clone has developed several moves. When fighting, he wields the Blood Blade "Weeping Blood" and is surrounded by blood-red light. Relying on his Lightning Element speed, he looks like a blood-red meteor from a distance.
Jason didn't really care about the title. After complaining about his daughter's poor naming skills, he just stuck with it.
"I thought you were going to take a hundred years to come out," the Black Ring Fiend said defiantly.
He only wanted to provoke them. The city lord's challenge usually gives a hundred-year preparation period. Jason only waited five years after the challenge was issued before accepting the challenge, which is perfectly normal.
Jason drew his Weeping Blood, which was dripping with blood, and said calmly, "I don't know what the Eight Great Clans told you that makes you so confident, but I advise you to be careful."
"Hmph, a brat who hasn't even cultivated for ten thousand years is truly arrogant." The Black Ring Fiend, holding a flail in one hand and a small shield in the other, began to slowly circle around Jason.
"They've reached the strength of Seven Star Fiend and they still believe in cultivation time?" Jason thought to himself, though of course he wouldn't say it aloud.
Jason observed for a while. The Black Ring Fiend did not rush to fight Jason, but moved slowly in an arc within the marked arena area. The path behind it was covered with dense and persistent Earth Element Divine Power, which looked like a giant serpent made of dust from a distance.
Jason had previously gathered information on his opponent. This was his signature technique: leaving Earth Element Divine Power along the path, allowing him to create a "domain-like" effect during battle to comprehensively enhance his combat power. Its principle was similar to Linley's "Blackstone Space."
However, compared to the Blackstone Space, this spreading Earth Element Divine Power is even more difficult to dispel and sever. It is said that the Black Ring Fiend once used this move to escape from the hands of Asura- level powerhouse; of course, the downside is that it is very troublesome to control.
The Black Ring Fiend has never revealed the name of this technique, nor how long it can be maintained. Perhaps powerful individuals who have fought against him know, but clearly no one has made such a thing public.
The Black Ring Fiend's deployment of its domain was slow, so Jason didn't use Arc Flash. Instead, he enveloped himself in lightning and bypassed the demon, slashing at the middle of the nearly formed "Dust Serpent."
The Black Ring Fiend, which was originally in the "snake's head" position, appeared in front of Jason in an instant with almost teleportation speed, raising its small shield diagonally and swinging its flail.
Jason cleaved the shield with his blade, but was forced back by the ensuing flail; several black spikes shot out from the tip of the flail, but their trajectory was distorted by the Edicts of Fate, and they missed their mark.
The Arc Flash spread out like a giant purple-gold net. The Black Ring Fiend swiftly severed more than a dozen of them, while Jason appeared at the tip of the arc in the distance, his Lightning Flash exploding and severing the path of yellow sand beside him.
The Black Ring Fiend followed closely behind, but Jason ignored it, flashing along the arc of electricity to his second location and using lightning to sever the opponent's formation.
He had already tested it out; relying on his setup, this Black Ring Fiend was almost as fast as Jason using Arc Flash. As long as Jason moved at full speed, the demon wouldn't be able to stop him.
In a series of flashes, Jason cleaved the "Sandstorm Serpent" into more than a dozen pieces. He then distanced himself again and found that the Black Ring Fiend made no move, returning to its original head position to continue setting up its "Sandstorm Serpent."
Jason frowned deeply. "As expected of the Seven Star Fiend's ultimate technique."
The part that Jason had severed had "healed," and Jason's remaining Divine Power had been devoured and assimilated by the Earth Element Divine Power, becoming part of the giant serpent, looking like a "tumor" on the serpent's body.
"Is the ability to devour and assimilate other Divine Power the ' Vitality ' of the Earth Element, which evolved from its fusion with several other Profound Mysteries of the Earth Element?"
Fortunately, setting up such a domain-like ability is very time-consuming. If it could be as flexible as Linley's Blackstone Space, this Black Ring Fiend would already possess the strength of Asura.
Jason couldn't wait any longer. In such a short time, the Black Ring Fiend's "Sand Serpent" had already occupied a significant portion of the area. In another hour, it would probably be completely filled.
In any other situation, Jason could simply run away, but this is a ring battle, where the Black Ring Fiend's special skills have the advantage.
"Perfect timing to test out the new tricks of the Edicts of Death."
Jason's Weeping Blood, dripping with blood, gleamed crimson as he charged towards the enemy without flinching.
The Black Ring Fiend was prepared for Jason's attack, a move he named "Black Ring Domain."
Although the setup process may seem rustic, this technique of slowly advancing and constantly compressing the enemy's movement space is actually the most effective counter to enemies who excel in speed. Especially in arena battles, it forces the opponent to abandon their speed advantage and switch to a frontal attack.
This is equivalent to expanding and strengthening one's own domain, and because of his Profound Mysteries understanding, it also possesses a certain degree of self-healing ability.
The two made contact and exchanged blows briefly.
Jason was surprised to find that the Black Ring Fiend wasn't as physically strong as described in the data; it was only slightly stronger than Jason. On the contrary, the demon seemed to be very good at short-range movement, especially skilled in the Darkness Element Profound Mysteries of Shadow. It could create more than three hundred phantoms at once, covering a hundred meters in shadow. Without Arc Flash, Jason's speed was comparable to the demon's.
However, as the battle continued, Jason felt the strain, because the opponent's "domain" had already enveloped the area with lightning.
Originally, the two were evenly matched in speed, but with the enhancement of this domain, the Black Ring Fiend's speed doubled and its attack power increased by nearly half, completely overwhelming Jason.
Of course, Jason could temporarily leave this area, but in that case, his opponent would continue to extend his "Black Ring Domain" until it completely filled the entire arena area, forcing Jason out.
Jason showed no intention of disengaging from the battle, continuing the intense fighting while saying, "Is this the origin of the title 'Black Ring Fiend '? Those information brokers were watching from afar, so they couldn't clearly see the situation within your territory. They could only infer from your attributes that you have strong physical attacks, but in reality, you're fast at close range but your attack power is average."
"It's not too late for you to know now. Hand over the Soul Defense Divine Artifact, and I can give up the challenge. I don't really care about the position of lord of a barren city."
The Black Ring Fiend sensed that Jason might not be willing to give up, and continued to persuade him, "Your strength is barely enough to be the city lord of Moonwheel City, but that Soul Defense Divine Artifact is not something you can defend. I can let you go, but if it were someone else, I might not be so easy to talk to."
Jason laughed and said, "If you could really win so easily, why are you trying to persuade me like this? Is it because my moves worked?"
Jason has tried to develop many moves for Death Clone over the years, but overall they are not ideal. He doesn't have a move like Arc Flash that he relies on, but one of them is very effective against this situation.
It was the same technique used by the three servants of the eight Eight Great Clans that Jason encountered in the Netherworld. It was a technique that polluted the sea of divine consciousness during battle, slowing down the absorption of Divine Power.
Jason collected their remains years ago, and after years of research, Jason easily incorporated them into his soul attacks.
This move doesn't significantly enhance soul attack power; Jason spent time researching it mainly because he was interested in its unique ability to evade and defend, which directly impacts the sea of consciousness.
Jason envisions that this ability will allow him to develop even stronger techniques once he has grasped the Edicts of Death to a certain extent.
But that doesn't prevent this move from being effective against the Black Ring Fiend in front of them.
"A petty trick, it'll only work on Deity-level like you who haven't cultivated for long and don't have enough Divine Power stored up," the Black Ring Fiend said coldly.
"It's also effective against Deity-level who have expended a great deal of Divine Power in battle," Jason scoffed.
The Black Ring Fiend's combat power has not weakened, but just looking at this enormous domain, one can tell that the setup process must have been extremely costly, and the fierce battle currently underway requires a large amount of Divine Power to maintain.
"So what?" The Black Ring Fiend stopped fighting and disappeared into the domain he had set up. His figure quickly disengaged from the battle and flashed to the other side of the domain.
"The black mist in your sea of consciousness is not insurmountable; I just need to spend more time. Within this domain, I hold the dominant position, and you can come and go as you please. On the other hand, how much Divine Power do you have left?"
Jason revealed his Thunderwing Angel form and said, "You probably already know I have Divine Beast Bloodline, right? It's not exactly a secret. The talent of my bloodline is accelerated recovery."
The Black Ring Fiend seemed unwilling to engage in a verbal exchange with Jason, focusing instead on dispelling the black mist in his sea of consciousness. However, he was actually unsure of himself, as Jason's combat prowess had just been demonstrated to be no weaker than his own, especially since his attacks had not been able to inflict fatal damage on Jason.
If they were to leave this realm, the Black Ring Fiend would admit that he was no match for Jason.
The black mist in his sea of consciousness was mostly dispelled, and the Black Ring Fiend continued its attack. It wasn't that he was overconfident, but rather that Jason was destroying this domain and had already achieved some success—although this domain was stable, it was not invincible.
Jason was wreaking havoc when, after several attempts, he discovered that his Life Law had a strong restraining effect on the Black Ring Fiend's domain. His Life Divine Power transformed into nearly a hundred vines, which extended into the domain and, as if nourished, multiplied continuously and rapidly consumed the Earth Element Divine Power within.
Facing the Black Ring Fiend, Jason was now much more confident.
While countering each move, he used the Death Divine Power to invade the opponent's sea of consciousness and block the opponent's absorption of Divine Power; at the same time, he used his Fate Clone to continuously destroy the Black Ring Fiend's "domain".
The Black Ring Fiend's face turned ashen. Because his domain had been destroyed, part of the small area where the two were fighting had already broken free from its protection. Without the domain's support, he would even be at a disadvantage against Jason.
Seeing Jason's growing strength in battle, the Black Ring Fiend weighed the pros and cons and steeled his resolve. "Crimson Star Fiend, die!"
A terrifying aura of death spread out, and the Black Ring Fiend's power surged. The flail's speed prevented Jason from returning to help, shattering Jason's black armor, "Dark Cloud," and piercing through his chest.
Jason's Life Clone, which was already in a standby state, quickly replaced it and used the recoil to fall towards the sea below.
"The Sovereign’s Might!" A gasp of amazement rippled through the crowd.
The Black Ring Fiend relentlessly pursued Jason, chasing him as he submerged to the surface.
Without the blessing of the Sovereign’s Might, Jason was slightly slower and was quickly struck by the flail behind him, which carried the Death Sovereign’s Might. However, he did not use the Sovereign’s Might to retaliate, but instead used the Sovereign Artifact "Frost Chill" on his body to withstand the blow.
The Black Ring Fiend startled to see that Jason had blocked his intended killing blow, and that he felt a strong shock coming from the flail.
Now that Jason had used the Sovereign Artifact, he no longer concealed his intentions and turned back to try and lock down his opponent.
The Black Ring Fiend realized something and quickly fled before Jason could entangle him.
Jason hurled his longsword with all his might, the tip of which flew toward his opponent with a slight spatial rift; this was Jason's strongest physical attack to date.
However, this move was far from enough against the Seven Star Fiend who wielded the Sovereign’s Might. The Black Ring Fiend turned around and used his small shield to block Jason's Weeping Blood Saber.
"They're really vigilant." Jason wouldn't want to waste a single drop of the Sovereign’s Might if he could, but given the current situation, he couldn't catch up without using it. After weighing the options carefully, he made a tough decision. "It's best not to expose the secret of the Sovereign Artifact."
The Light Element Sovereign’s Might erupted, and his speed increased dramatically.
The overall increase in Sovereign’s Might is the same, but there will be a slight bias towards a particular attribute.
Both Jason and the Black Ring Fiend used Sovereign’s Might that were incompatible with their own abilities, but the speed boost from the Light Element Sovereign’s Might was ultimately Death-attribute Sovereign’s Might.
Before the Black Ring Fiend could leap out of the sea, it sensed a powerful energy fluctuation behind it. It hastily turned around and raised its shield, but instead of a longsword, it was met with Jason's fists and feet.
With his right hand, he pried open the opponent's shield, and with his left hand, he threw a straight punch; the Black Ring Fiend, still unaware of the Sovereign Artifact, attempted to force Jason back with a flail attack.
However, Jason neither dodged nor avoided the blows, allowing the flail to strike his head. The power of the Sovereign Artifact manifested itself, and the immense force transmitted through the Sovereign Artifact caused blood to seep from Jason's scalp. Meanwhile, Jason's left fist struck the opponent's right shoulder, piercing through the opponent's black scales. The Black Ring Fiend's entire right arm, along with the flail, drooped down.
The Black Ring Fiend has confirmed that Jason possesses a physical defense Sovereign Artifact; and his attack just now also carried his strongest soul attack, which, despite being imbued with the Sovereign’s Might, failed to affect Jason, who possesses Soul Defense Divine Artifact.
The Black Ring Fiend, in despair, turned and fled towards the seabed. He hadn't known the immense power of the Sovereign Artifact and had even tried to escape to the surface to forfeit the challenge—the city lord's challenge, once the battle ends, the victor is forbidden from attacking for a year, otherwise he will be severely punished by the Sovereign. This is a guarantee given by the Sovereign to all challengers.
Now he understands that only by diving into the seabed can he have a chance of survival.
Jason threw another punch, and a figure suddenly appeared between the two, only to be smashed to pieces by Jason's fist.
That was the opponent's Darkness Element Clone.
With the blessing of the Sovereign’s Might, the Earth Element Clone transformed into a black shadow and fled towards the seabed.
Jason has no Earth Element Clone; he can escape as long as the Black Ring Fiend goes underground.
However, Jason's Arc Flash still works underwater.
A flash of Lightning Flash, Jason appeared in front of him.
"I still have my true form outside. Let me go, and I'll give you all my wealth!"
Jason punched out the opponent's Divine Spark.
He took the Interspatial Ring and tried it out. "There really is a clone outside."
Jason was about to crush it, but then thought better of it and put it away; he turned around and collected all the relics that the Black Ring Fiend had scattered before, and then flew back to the sea.