Not someone relying on tricks, cultivation suppression, or borrowed Artifacts or Talismans.
But someone who stood on a terrifying foundation of flesh and blood alone.
At that moment, the Tyrant Heaven Dragon Convergence Canon within Rheydan’s body resonated faintly, as though responding to the pressure it had just encountered.
A flicker of enlightenment brushed past his mind, incomplete, yet enough to make his heart pound.
He lifted his gaze once more, eyes burning with a restrained intensity.
“So that’s how it is,” Rheydan muttered softly.
“The world really is larger than I thought.”
Across from him, the tattooed man cracked his neck and smiled faintly, no longer feral, no longer mocking.
“For someone at Golden Core,” he said, “you’re not bad at all.”
But that did not mean Rheydan could simply accept defeat so easily.
His cultivation was not ordinary.
It was an accumulation born of Perfect Cultivation.
He did not cultivate Qi alone.
His body was refined to the extreme, his essence tempered without flaw, and his soul sharpened through relentless trials.
Body.
Essence.
Soul.
The three worked in perfect tandem.
That harmony was precisely why his combat power had reached such an astonishing level, allowing him to challenge realms far beyond his own.
It was also why the Technique he had derived through his System was so terrifying.
Every movement he made was refined.
Every strike carried layered intent, structure, and power far surpassing conventional cultivation.
Which meant one thing.
Losing so decisively could not be explained by physique alone.
Rheydan slowly lifted his gaze, locking onto the tattooed man standing before him.
His thoughts churned, clarity dawning.
This opponent did not just possess the Nine Extremities Physique.
There was something else.
Something equally extraordinary, hidden beneath the surface.
Even though this chain of thoughts seemed long and complex, it took no more than two seconds in reality.
Two seconds for Rheydan to come to terms with his first genuine defeat at the hands of a peer.
His breathing steadied.
The shock in his eyes faded, replaced by a sharp, dangerous clarity.
The hesitation vanished as well, crushed beneath a rising intent that felt savage and relentless.
This was not fear.
This was excitement.
Rheydan’s stance shifted, his feet grinding into the frozen earth beneath him.
It was as if something ferocious had been unchained within his body.
He swung his fist.
A deep, ancient dragon’s roar echoed through the night, shaking the surrounding snow loose from the trees.
Black Qi exploded outward, condensing violently at the moment of impact.
This was his Essence perfected, allowing his Qi to have astounding density and quantity.
From his fist, a massive Black Dragon burst forth, its scales glistening with tyrannical might as it surged through the air.
This was his Soul perfected, allowing his Qi to have an external manifestation.
The dragon twisted and coiled as it charged straight toward the Warkarian, carrying with it Rheydan’s intent.
As the dragon travelled, it tore apart anything that came in front of it, showing real strength of a dragon.
This was his Body perfected, allowing the external incarnation to posses actual strength for it to wield.
The Barbarian did not retreat.
With a wild swing of his arm, terrifying physical force erupted outward.
His fist slammed directly into the charging Black Dragon phantom, and the impact shook the ground.
The dragon howled as it was smashed downward, its massive body crashing into the frozen earth and carving a deep crater.
But that was not the end.
In the next instant, black Qi surged violently through the surroundings.
One dragon was not enough.
More shadows twisted into form as numerous Black Dragons coiled and spiraled around the Barbarian, their massive bodies overlapping as they closed in from every direction, sealing his space completely.
Rheydan’s presence seemed to blur.
He no longer stood apart from the Technique.
His consciousness fused with it.
His will flowed through the dragons themselves, and for a fleeting moment, it was as though Rheydan existed inside every draconic form, striking as one entity rather than many.
Yet the Barbarian was far from finished.
With a roar that carried raw savagery, he launched a storm of punches.
His fists blurred, tearing through the air with brutal precision.
Every dragon head that lunged toward him was met head-on, smashed aside by overwhelming physical strength.
Cracks spread across several draconic heads upon impact, black scales fracturing under the repeated blows.
The phantom bodies trembled, their forms destabilizing as the Barbarian forced his way through the encirclement purely through sheer bodily might.
‘For him to disregard everything that I have built up with sheer physical power…
Damn it!’
‘For him to not die when I have already activated my Divine Physique…
Am I really that useless?’
The clash of Dragon Qi and barbaric flesh sent shockwaves rippling outward, the frozen ground shuddering beneath them as two monstrous paths collided head-on.
The clash settled into a brutal stalemate.
The Barbarian stood his ground, defending with relentless ferocity, while Rheydan pressed the assault without pause.
Black dragons surged one after another, their massive forms tearing through the frozen air, jaws snapping with tyrannical intent.
Suddenly, an opening appeared.
The Barbarian reacted instantly, throwing a punch to intercept it, but the remaining dragon heads moved in perfect coordination, suppressing his movements and disrupting his balance.
For the first time, his defense faltered.
The dragon’s fangs sank into his body with a resounding impact.
Its coils wrapped tightly around him, lifting him off the ground as the frozen earth cracked beneath the strain.
Rheydan’s eyes sharpened.
He poured his will into the Technique, the dragon tightening its grip as it rose higher.
Then the Barbarian laughed.
It was wild and unrestrained, echoing like a beast unchained.
With nothing more than a violent twitch of his body, an overwhelming surge of pure physical force erupted outward.
The Black Dragon shattered instantly, its form collapsing into ash that scattered across the battlefield.
Innate Power of Penetration
From within the dissipating remains, Rheydan staggered back.
His expression twisted as pain shot through his body, his right hand recoiling violently from the backlash of the impact.
A grin spread across both of their faces.
The Barbarian moved first.
His fist tore through the air and smashed into Rheydan’s face, the impact exploding outward like a thunderclap.
Rheydan’s body twisted with the force, his form blurring as Dragon Qi surged, transforming him into a phantom dragon mid-motion.
His tail lashed out in response, slamming brutally into the Barbarian’s torso.
The ground shattered beneath them.
What followed was no longer a duel of techniques or calculated exchanges.
It became raw, bestial combat.
Fists clashed against scales.
Dragon roars mixed with savage laughter.
Every collision sent shockwaves rippling across the frozen land, trees splintering and rocks pulverizing as the battlefield expanded outward with each exchange.
Snow was blown into the air, instantly vaporized by heat and force.
Rheydan struck relentlessly, Dragon phantoms erupting from every movement, his body flowing seamlessly between human and draconic forms.
The Warkarian answered with pure physical dominance, each punch carrying overwhelming weight, tearing apart Qi manifestations through sheer force alone.
Neither retreated.
Neither yielded.
Blood splattered across the snow, quickly freezing as it touched the ground.
Bones creaked.
Muscles screamed.
Yet both combatants only grew more ferocious, their eyes burning brighter with every exchange.
The battle turned increasingly brutal, every strike aimed not to wound, but to crush.
At some point, it ceased to matter who struck first or who struck harder.
What remained was only instinct, bloodlust, and the unyielding will to stand above the other.
Fists collided again and again, dull impacts echoing across the frozen land.
Blood sprayed as wounds accumulated on both of their bodies, each strike heavier than the last.