"Grandmas, I have already told Grandpa Devis about it. I even saw him call Grandpa Magnus to discuss this matter. But when I asked him to also inform both grandmas, he told me not to drag unnecessary people into it and that they are enough to handle it," Aldric said helplessly as he observed the reaction of the two women before him.
Both women appeared to be around thirty years of age. One had golden eyes and long golden hair that cascaded down her back, while the other had deep black eyes and hair as dark as night. They wore luxurious gowns and exquisite jewelry, their beauty transcending mortal standards.
Seraphina frowned as she scrutinized Aldric, who was continuously sighing in front of her. In the few sentences he had spoken, he had already sighed more than ten times. She turned to the other woman and asked seriously, "Sister Elara, did Brother Magnus contact you?"
Elara shook her head and said softly, "No one told me anything."
"Sigh," Aldric sighed dramatically once again with a face full of pity.
"Sigh one more time and I will break your legs," the gentle-looking Elara said softly, a serene smile still gracing her lips.
Aldric's expression stiffened. He closed his mouth and stood there obediently.
"Since we have news about little Draven and little Sia, we must go to the 36th Stronghold to personally bring them back. Let us also bring his cousins with us so the younger generation can mingle more with each other," Seraphina said after a moment of silence.
"Grandma, I am his biological brother! What about me?" Aldric asked anxiously.
"The Nether Phoenix Cave will be opening soon. Stay here and practice more. You can meet them once we bring them back," Seraphina said firmly. She took out a formation plate from her storage ring and tossed it before her. Suddenly, a teleportation gate appeared, and both women stepped inside, vanishing from Aldric's view.
"Damn it," Aldric muttered angrily as he stomped his foot in frustration and helplessness.
....
Back in the Asura God Mansion,
Draven slowly opened his eyes. His state of mind was back to normal, and the confusion between reality and dream had vanished.
"Asura Blade Intent! You really managed to acquire it," the old man said with deep emotion in his tone. But soon he steadied himself and returned to his crafty attitude. "Now the test is to see how much of its power you can call upon. This time you will face a hundred enemies, all at the very top of the mortal realm. The rules are the same, but you can only use the Asura Blade Intent."
Draven nodded and stood up. "I am ready. You can start the trial."
The old man waved his hand once more, and a hundred praying mantises with sword-like arms forged out of copper appeared on the grass field. Each was the size of a full-grown human.
"Chi... chi..." As if awakened from a slumber, they started chirping nonstop, creating an uncomfortable noise that made one's skin crawl.
"Wind Blade Mantises, and a swarm of them! Senior, are you sure Brother Draven will survive this?" Alexandria asked the old man worriedly.
The old man whipped his head around and stared at her blankly. "What does that have to do with me?"
Under his unnerving gaze, Alexandria shuddered and shrank back, diverting her attention to the battlefield.
"Swoosh!" Suddenly, one of the Wind Blade Mantises waved its sword arm, and a wind blade flew towards Draven at an incredible speed.
Seeing the attack, Draven didn't try to dodge. He simply walked forward. But the moment the wind blade was about to touch him, without him doing anything, the vital chi in his body transformed into an illusionary figure holding a sickle. It charged towards the wind blade.
"Boom!" With a casual strike of the sickle, the wind blade was neutralized. Before the mantis that attacked could understand anything, its body was cut into three pieces by the illusionary shadow.
"Perfection of Asura Blade Intent! Intent transforming into an Asura Avatar. Did this kid really achieve it in such a short time?" the old man stared at the scene in shock.
Alexandria also had a stupefied look on her face. She had seen Asura Avatars before, they could only fight enemies with weaker cultivation levels than them.
But now, before her, Draven's Asura Avatar had just cut down a beast at the same realm as if it were a vegetable on a chopping board. Even more astonishingly, the Asura Avatar, which should have dissipated after the strike, was still standing on the battlefield, surveying the beasts around it with an intelligent gleam in its eyes.
Draven's mouth curled into a smile when he saw this. With his abundant vital chi, condensing a few more avatars was not difficult. What delighted him even more was that his Asura Avatar seemed to have intelligence of its own and could fight just like him according to his mental instructions.
As long as the Asura Avatars remained within the range of his spiritual perception, he could continuously feed them vital chi, rendering them nearly unkillable.
"Chi... chi..." The Blade Mantises suddenly rushed towards Draven when they saw their comrade killed.
With a curious look on his face, Draven stood there like a mountain.
"Swoosh... swoosh..." Hundreds of wind blades shot towards Draven like a storm of blades.
Yet before they could reach him, five more Asura Avatars materialized in front of him and charged towards the attacks with a ruthless gleam in their eyes.
Each of the newly appeared avatars held different weapons. One held a large axe, another held two short daggers, one had a saber, another had a sword, and the last one held a two-meter-long whip sword.
"Hmm, that's the limit. Even though my vital chi is quickly replenished thanks to the Ultimate Demon Body Forging Art, my spirit won't be able to tolerate the creation of any more Asura Avatars," Draven muttered to himself in disappointment.
With a sigh, he thought of two swords in his mind, and the Asura God Mansion materialized two ancient-looking swords in his hands. Although he could also condense weapons using his vital chi, just like the weapons in the hands of his Asura Avatars, Draven still preferred the sensation of a real weapon in his hands during a fight.
Crouching low like a predator, Draven launched himself toward the beasts. The two swords in his hands moved like a pair of silver butterflies, there speed far beyond the perception of a normal human being.
"His swords... they are moving at a speed far surpassing the mortal realm," Alexandria muttered to herself as she saw Draven moving like a ghost among the Wind Blade Mantises, neutralizing the wind blades as if they were mere gusts of wind.
"Forget about the kid, look at his Asura Avatars! Even at my peak, the Asura Avatars I condensed were only capable of killing beasts of weaker cultivation than me. But his avatars are killing beasts at the same realm with the same ease as his main body. To make people envious, this guy even produced a total of six Asura Avatars, all with the same level of strength," the old man chimed in like a jealous little boy who saw his best friend score better than him on an exam.
Alexandria looked at the old man strangely. Noticing her look, the old man coughed lightly and pretended he hadn't said anything.
Back on the battlefield, already more than fifty of the Wind Blade Mantises had been killed, making the wind blade attacks on Draven and his six avatars much less frequent.
So far, the whip sword avatar was the one who scored the most kills after Draven, while the dagger-wielding avatar scored the least. It was not because their expertise was lacking or superior to one another, but because the two weapons had different uses.
While the daggers were primarily for close combat, the whip sword was more suitable for open space battles.
Another discovery Draven made was that, even though these avatars were not much weaker than him, they were still not as powerful as his main body. Even if all six attacked him together, it would not be enough to take him down.
But this estimation was purely based on Draven's own standards. To any normal person, each of his avatars was an unkillable divine demon at the same realm. After all, the vital chi they were made of was condensed from the Ultimate Demon Body Forging Art, a technique considered the most powerful forbidden body forging technique in the world.