Master Gu released his full pressure on Patrick, reputation in jeopardy, leaving him no room to spare the boy or go easy, because what matters most to a cultivator in this world is reputation, especially if you are strong, the stronger you are the more you must secure it, people evaluating a cultivator by the demeanor they portrayed and how they valued their words. One of his subordinates dying in front of him meant he could not protect his people, and what was worse was it happening in front of thousands, a Late Sage who represented a sect, and if he allowed such disrespect the reputation of the Devil Sect's masters would dwindle, which for a house that ranked itself by numbers was a kind of death that did not need a corpse.
"If you think the mere pressure of a Late Sage realm can restrain me, you are wrong."
Patrick smirked as he watched the pressure, speaking as if he were not under it, and the comment made Master Gu even angrier, eyes turning red, qi swirling into dark qi gathering above him, going full power, eliminating the boy as fast as possible.
"Kid, you may be from a powerful family based on the armor you are wearing, but not even an Immortal can save you from me today."
He raised his right hand to the sky, the dark qi centering on it, forming a dark monstrous arm that cracked space as it made its entrance, the atmosphere trembling the way a drum trembles when the beater is a god who has never been told no.
"Devil God Arm!"
The arm descended, and the other Devil Sect members who had arrived with him did not react or move, Patrick having killed the only person that made a move, and even when they lost a member they took no action because of Master Gu's presence, all in dark robes, powerful dark qi swirling, organized in rows from most powerful in the front to least at the back, a funeral that had not yet admitted it was a funeral. Among the leading ten another man in dark robes spoke in a deep cold tone, watching the fight without expression.
"Little Mo, if this kid is not as powerful as you reported, you will be stripped of your rank and sentenced to three hundred years on Devil Island."
Elder Mo panicked when Devil Island was mentioned, that being where the Devil Sect sent its fugitives for punishment, a place that ate years the way other places ate rice. The gigantic arm descended with Late Sage pressure, and Patrick watched it from twenty-six perspectives, having calculated everything two hundred hours ago, raising his right hand, pointing two fingers, using the bracelets' universal vector manipulation to shift the attack from him to the people floating above from the Devil Sect, which was a kind of manners the arm had not requested.
Above the fight one of the black-robed men suddenly felt threatened, speaking in an authoritative tone.
"Return to the Devil Sect NOW!"
From a distance where Lou Min and the Moonflower Sect elder watched, the transported people were panicked, some already fainted, and the Moonflower elder spoke to Lou Min calmly, not worrying about a Late Sage fighting a Qi Condensation boy, as if the sky were a play they had paid for.
"Matriarch Lou, it seems the sect selection competition ends here, and I think everything will change after this battle."
"Elder doesn't have to worry, nothing will happen to us, I have already seen what happened generally but am unable to tell who will endure such brutality, I think this boy will be the cause of change in the Broken World, regardless of whether it's good or bad."
The elder nodded, agreeing, thinking about the last part when suddenly the two hundred Devil Sect cultivators began vanishing from their spots, leaving as if escaping, and she noticed the Devil God Arm technique but why they were disappearing left her baffled, Heavenly Eyes catching a retreat that looked like prophecy with its shoes on backward.
In the air the Devil group heard the command from a master and obeyed without question, one of the leading masters questioning the reason.
"Master 42, why are you ordering a retreat?"
"Master 31, I used the Devil Prediction technique and saw that Master 45 would not be able to win this battle, and even if we help, it will change nothing."
Master 42 to Master 31, the masters of the Devil Sect ranked by numbers and rarely using their names, the lower the number the more powerful and respected, each with their techniques and methods, some sharing the same, Master Gu usually visiting the mortal world more often than other masters, which was why his name was known, Master 45 wearing a name the mortal domain could pronounce. Master 42 watched the weaker members vanish, he and the other nine masters staying to observe, knowing that if a master could not handle a fight even as Late Sage then that enemy needed special attention.
Patrick saw them vanishing, raised his fingers, swapped to the left, the ginormous Devil arm meters from hitting him disappearing and appearing where the weaker members were vanishing, tearing the space of their escape, some in the process of using shadows unlucky enough to meet the arm's destructive ability. The floating masters were left in shock, because when Master Gu unleashed it the arm had been going at a slow pace, but when the attack vanished and appeared above them it increased to lightning, targeting the weaker members and killing them all, and the most shocked was Master Gu himself, knowing the amount of energy he had used, his most powerful attack, the realization bringing instant despair as he shouted.
"Soul Explosion!"
"...."
The remaining Devil masters heard it and took chills, some fleeing from sight, Soul Explosion being the Devil Sect's ultimate when facing a stronger enemy, enabling them to use half their soul in an attack that could even kill a Half Immortal. From Master Gu came a black ball slowly detaching from his soul, the man who had looked young now resembling an older man with a white beard and hunched back, the technique requiring half the soul and half the lifespan, and the other masters did not bother to help, fleeing thousands of miles from the explosion, numbers deciding they liked being numbers more than being paste.
The Ju Emperor and the family powerhouses witnessed all of it, Patrick going against a Late Sage and still causing the latter to use full power baffling the whole crowd, the two guardians of the Ju Empire the only ones remaining calm, not slightly bothered by the fight. The elder guardian raised his wrist as the Emperor and the other powerhouses were shielded from the explosion, a Half Immortal treasure blocking Soul Explosion, and a member of the Kang family turned to look where Athena and Anna sat drinking, about to shoot a hidden weapon at them when a message from one of the guardians sounded in his head.
"There's no need to waste your energy, they will die from such an explosion."
The detached soul swirled and gathered surrounding qi, three seconds, then launched at Patrick at speed, and Patrick smirked, opened his arms as if hugging, and allowed the attack to smite him, which was a kind of welcome the Broken World did not have a manual for.
BOOM!
TREMBLE!
The attack caused space to tremble and earth to crack, a deep wound in the air where Patrick stood, and although thousands of miles away the transported crowd still got hit by mere pressure from a Late Sage, Lou Min and the Moonflower elder able to resist because of their realms, understanding if they were any mile closer they would be in a severe state or even dead. Where the guardians stood, the second, the one who had told the Kang patriarch to stop, looked at Athena and Anna, and to his surprise the attack they had used a Half Immortal treasure to block did not cause any damage where those two sat, not even the surrounding dust disturbed, sofas still sofas, wine still wine.
This fact caused the guardian who had been unfazed by Late Sage to gain instant caution, sending a message to the elder.
"Elder brother, these two girls seem more powerful than they appear, to be completely fine even when such an explosion required us to use treasures, not even the dust around them rippled, they must be at least Half Immortals."
The elder guardian also saw the relaxed Athena and Anna, Anastasia's cup still full beside them, his reaction more alarming than the last, causing the people protected by the shield to turn and look, seeing two girls wearing dark things like eye covers, sunglasses, leaning on high-quality seats, sofas, drinking a red liquid from shining glass, red wine, a picnic that had not asked the explosion for permission.
"HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE."
The elder from the Puppet Sect was first to break character, screaming in disbelief, the other sect elders and family powerhouses wearing the same faces, and Jiang Shi of Heavenly Rain was first to realize something, speaking in a calculating tone.
"If the two women who accompanied the boy are unworried and fine from an attack such as that, then what must have happened to the boy himself?"
The theory caused chills, ultimate despair especially for the future of the Ju Empire, if their guesses were correct they had offended a powerful enemy capable of wiping out empires, and as if their minds thought the same they all turned simultaneously to where Patrick was. The cracked space began mending, explosion dust slowly settling, Master Gu floating a hundred meters from the attacked location with a smiling face, expecting his target mushed to paste, confused when he heard a scream below, Sage ears catching Jiang Shi, and like the group below he also turned as the dust settled slowly.
Patrick's figure was seen, completely fine as at the beginning of the fight, arms spread open, still holding his smirk, looking at Master Gu like prey.
"Are you done?"
He asked it to mock how weak the attack was, using the helmet's 26-dimensional vision to spot the remaining Devil masters, using the bracelets' vector manipulation, grabbing the air, pulling those who were miles away back to where Master Gu stood. They were in complete shock, caught off-guard, unable to react in the least, and as if that were not enough they felt extreme pressure, bodies extremely heavy, smashing to the ground the next moment, heads like paste, numbers becoming a stain. When the Soul Explosion had come he had not used the shield, as it would completely cancel all attacks and their effects, only the bracelets and the sandals' gravitational pull, and that pull affected the group below, causing even the guardians to fall heavily, injuries because they were stronger, the family powerhouses already planted on the ground dying in an instant, Jiang Shi holding a few seconds before passing out from the pressure.
The guardians who had been calm and domineering were gone, all that remained two older men planted face down, feeling what they had not felt in a long time, despair, not just from being weak but ultimate despair because of a helpless situation, Ju Han's greed still counting armor from the dirt. Patrick stretched his right hand as the wooden sword flew to it, raised it in the air, and spoke while slashing it forwards, imagination already loading in the grain.