Sovereign of the Ashes

There was nothing more frustrating than failing to land even a single hit on your opponent.

That was exactly how Sein felt right now.

To him, it almost seemed like Gongsun Wudi was playing with him.

In truth, however, Gongsun Wudi had remained completely serious from start to finish.

As the battle continued, she often appeared lost in thought.

“Ashen Demon True Form, activate!”

Unable to gain any advantage against Gongsun Wudi, Sein finally unleashed his full combat form.

The enormous and overwhelmingly powerful Ashen Demon Lawful Body caused a faint gleam of admiration to flash through Gongsun Wudi’s eyes.

Sein’s original mage form was already quite handsome, but Wudi found his Ashen Demon form even more pleasing to look at.

Perhaps it was because Sein gave off an even more powerful aura and overwhelming pressure after activating his lawful form.

Despite Gongsun Wudi’s delicate appearance, Sein attacked without hesitation. A ball of Ashen energy quickly condensed in his palm before he charged ahead.

He knew that even going all out might not be enough to injure Gongsun Wudi, so from the very start, he had no intention of holding back.

The clash between the two erupted near the back garden of the princess’ residence in a series of explosions and metallic clangs.

The special energy field surrounding the residence prevented the combat shockwaves from the Rank Five and Six battle from spreading beyond the area.

After spending some time in the Dawn Empire, Sein had already learned that this was the effect of the Dragon Qi permeating the Residence of the Princess Guardian.

In terms of qi density, the Residence of the Princess Guardian ranked second only to the Imperial Palace itself.

Gongsun Wudi alone possessed more Dragon Qi than the Crown Prince and the Grand Chancellor combined!

This was likely a reflection of the First Emperor’s favor toward Gongsun Wudi.

While Sein and Gongsun Wudi sparred, Mel—who was also staying within the Residence of the Princess Guardian—pushed open the window of her magic tower and looked down below.

With the residence shrouded in Dragon Qi and Sein’s erupting Ashen Flames obscuring much of the battlefield, Mel could not clearly make out the fight between the Rank Five and Rank Six powerhouses.

Even so, the law power fluctuations and overflowing energy waves that reached her still made her let out a weary sigh.

“How energetic.”

Mel was about the same size as Tourmaline.

She had most likely turned out this way because the awakening of her ancient Dragon Warlock bloodline outpaced her body’s development.

It was not like Leena’s condition back then, which had been caused by an experimental accident during her early years.

Hearing that kind of elderly, exhausted sigh come from such a petite body was honestly pretty funny.

The battle between Sein and Gongsun Wudi was nothing like the elegant, picturesque scene outsiders might have imagined.

The peach blossom grove within the Princess Guardian’s residence exploded into a storm of pink petals under the pressure of their colliding auras.

To Sein’s surprise, Gongsun Wudi was actually able to use those seemingly delicate petals to strike heavy blows against his demonic lawful body.

Sein began shifting in and out of his Ashen Demon True Form, freely alternating between his pyro elemental lawful body and his lumen elemental lawful body. This once again drew Gongsun Wudi’s attention.

Even Gongsun Wudi had to admit that the mages of the Magus Civilization were exceptionally skilled when it came to controlling elemental energy and constructing intricate spell models.

But in close-quarters combat, mages like Sein were indeed far inferior to martial practitioners...

Perhaps out of goodwill, Gongsun Wudi frequently pointed out flaws in Sein’s techniques during their sparring sessions, correcting mistakes in both his use of power and defensive movements.

Whenever she used her technique of redirecting force, especially when she caught the explosive elemental orbs Sein hurled at her with only two slender fingers, even Sein could not help but feel impressed.

Gongsun Wudi had only just begun understanding the Magus Civilization’s magic, yet during their sparring session, she could already accurately identify the critical power nodes within Sein’s spells.

Catching magic barehanded was no simple feat.

Despite his deep understanding of spell models, even Sein was not confident he could handle it as naturally or as effortlessly as Gongsun Wudi did.

Faced with this, Sein could only conclude that this was what people called true natural talent.

Or perhaps Gongsun Wudi’s combat instincts had already reached a level so high that even he found it astonishing.

Huff... Huff...

After the sparring session ended, Sein reverted to his human form and breathed heavily.

Not far away, Gongsun Wudi stood silently with her eyes closed, seemingly still replaying their battle in her mind.

Pink petals drifted across the sky around them, forming a vast sea of flowers.

It was undeniably a beautiful scene.

Yet the fact that even his Ashen Flames had failed to break through Gongsun Wudi’s defenses or cause any meaningful damage to the princess’ residence left Sein feeling somewhat bitter.

At that moment, he could not help but think back to the Destruction Spring Overlord he had encountered in the Myriad Springs Worlds.

Although Destruction Spring was a unique existence whose origin power was primarily aligned with water, Sein still seemed to glimpse something resembling a strange flame above the Destruction Lotus Throne where the overlord sat.

In his mind, Sein named it the “Destruction Flame”.

If he could absorb that flame, the essence of his Ashen Flame would undoubtedly undergo a tremendous transformation.

But Sein knew it was an impossible wish.

With his current level of strength and understanding of law power, he was still far from capable of controlling such a violent overlord-level flame.

Trying to bite off more than he could chew would only bring disaster upon himself.

For now, it was better for him to focus on absorbing lawful flames that he could actually control... like the deep crimson lotus flame between Gongsun Wudi’s fingers.

The special lawful flame, known as the “Pure Lotus Flame”, slowly drifted toward Sein.

Gongsun Wudi was indeed a woman who kept her word.

Although Sein had failed to land a single strike on her during their sparring match, some of his magic had clearly managed to graze her.

After taking the special lotus flame into his hand, Sein studied the unique law structure within it.

“In the Magus World, not many mages actually fight head-on. They usually stay behind knights and enslaved creatures, bombarding the battlefield with elemental magic.”

“I think it’d be much fairer if you sparred with one of our knights instead. Or you could find a Rank Five martial practitioner from the Dawn Empire to fight me,” he added.

Gongsun Wudi was not offended by Sein defending his own combat abilities. A faint smile instead appeared on her face.

“But I’m not particularly interested in the knights of your world. I heard that mages are still the true driving force behind your civilization’s development, aren’t they?” she replied.

“As for your combat strength, it’s indeed already among the top tier for Rank Five beings,” Gongsun Wudi continued.

“Setting aside how strange your Ashen Flame is, an ordinary Rank Five creature would most likely stand no chance against someone like you, especially with two world-class secret treasures in your possession. Not to mention, you also have a Rank Six robot servant.”

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