Divine Emperor of Death

'It has a spirit already?'

Davis's pupils were constricted.

He had already came to the conclusion that he wasn't facing against the Space-Time Quintessence Ring but its replica.

Otherwise, he knew he would not be able to survive unless he used Fallen Heaven. Even then, he did not think he could win against a complete and true apex treasure. After all, Fallen Heaven was still growing alongside him.

It hadn't reached its peak yet.

Regardless, he recognized that what this spirit fey possessed was undoubtedly a replica of the Space-Time Quintessence Ring that was at the Peak-Level Empyrean Grade.

He had his doubts about why a Peak-Level Empyrean Grade Treasure would be able to enter the Shard World despite the restriction. He later guessed that if it wasn't an apex treasure, then it should be a treasure forged here. However, if it were forged here, then it should be impossible for it to give birth to a spirit.

Hence, he slashed that thought. He went with his initial thought that it was the Space-Time Quintessence Ring, and since it wasn't at that level, he felt confident that it was mostly definitely a replica.

Its limitations on range and only able to use space externally confirmed this theory of it being a replica. Otherwise, it would've been much more destructive, easily restricting, killing, or sealing him, even if the user was a lowly Immortal Emperor. After all, he had heard that using apex treasures did not conform to one's cultivation. Only, the price they may have to pay could be significant.

Still, this replica's abilities and energy were extremely strong and pure like the black-white stone, a forged treasure of the Tablet of Life and Death.

Davis knew he couldn't afford to underestimate it. He had no idea what happened to the people who were most likely absorbed into the ring. Were they crushed or were they held prisoners?

The spirit fey did mention something about a 'haul', so he was inclined to think he had prisoners.

However, he didn't think that the galaxy behind this spirit fey had any reason to collect prisoners, for they were not participating in the current war.

To confirm his speculation, he opened his mouth and asked, "Are you from the True Void Galaxy?"

Despite his previous question left unanswered, Davis asked him again.

The spirit fey regained a bit of clarity after retrieving the ring that shimmered with a black-silver luster. Even though it looked quite ordinary, he traced its surface with fondness and trepidation before wearing it over his remaining arm's index finger.

He glanced at the Divine Emperor of Death with increased wariness- no, he was so tense that he was trembling slightly. He had the illusion that the man standing in front of him turned into an indescribable, hungry monster, salivating over his treasure.

He was starting to lose confidence that he could escape, especially as he saw the other party's arm recover at a rapid pace even after being crushed by the ring's energy. It was insane, making his eyes quiver.

"Yes, what of it?" He answered to buy some time, his mental fortitude barely defending as he began to think of a plan to escape.

His answer confirmed Davis's speculation.

It was truly the True Void Galaxy that possessed the Space-Time Quintessence Ring. It was the only galaxy that prided themselves on using the space-attribute more than anyone else. He recalled the unverifiable surface information that they were ruled by the Empyrean Voidstep Monarch Spirit Race, the first-ranked spirit in the Empyrean Grade Space-Attributed Heaven-Tier Charts!

At the same time, he recognized this spirit fey before him was a fey with the Empyrean Voidstep Monarch's bloodline.

"Finally scared?" The spirit fey sneered as he saw the hesitation and shock in Davis's eyes.

He waved his hand, erecting spatial walls across the terrain. The vertical sheets aligned and formed thick walls that restricted entry or exit.

"Since you want to die so badly, I, Almer Spacewill of the Empyrean Voidstep Monarch Spirit Race, will grant your wish!"

Almer Spacewill roared and pointed at Davis, causing the thick layers of spatial walls to crash towards him.

Davis quickly shot up as his figure blurred into a black-golden vortex. His incredible speed allowed him to dodge the incoming spatial walls by simply going up, but another stacked layer of spatial walls was already waiting above him.

He quickly shot down in a diagonal dash towards Almer Spacewill, only to be obstructed by a congregation of thick walls of space again. The spatial walls that have gone beyond also returned, trying to crush him.

"…" At this point, Davis felt like he was playing against a Tetris maniac who wanted to block his path.

However, he already found out one more of the replica's limitations. It seemed like the spatial energy that was used could only be used in one way, either a horizontal attack or a vertical attack.

These spatial walls only moved front and back, not up and down like before when it crushed his arm.

He wondered if it was limited by Almer Spacewill's own strength to manipulate space through the replica.

Regardless, Davis didn't underestimate this technique. The more he dodged, the more spatial walls were popping up. Eventually, he knew he would be cornered and crushed, and if he left or closed the distance, the other party would either escape or attempt to drag him into the ring like he did to everyone before.

It was nearly impossible to counter it unless he started using chaos-destruction, but he didn't want to spook his enemy into disappearing once and for all.

Right now, the other party was still pissed and refused to flee in miserable circumstances.

Otherwise, Davis could only give chase until Almer Spacewill ran out of energy, but that might take days. He figured the other party was already out of energy or had significantly expended his energy, considering he had fought two people with incredible strength before, the ones who sent the help signal.

He didn't think they were in cahoots with Almer Spacewill because their energy was vastly different, and spirits aren't usually friendly to spirits of other attributes. The nobler their spiritline, the less they acknowledged other spirits, much less other spirits of their own attribute.

*Bzzz!~*

Davis raised his hand above when a rippling black sword appeared in his grasp, appearing like a manifestation of deathly sharpness.

The black sword's thickness was probably no longer than a few centimeters, while its length was as long as a spear.

He gathered a tremendous amount of death energy and unleashed it.

"Heaven Cleaving Abyss."

Davis spat a few words and unceremoniously struck down with the black sword in his hand when the world suddenly lost its light. It was as though the black sword absorbed all light in the surroundings within a flash.

Space was lacerated in its wake, creating a terrifying gash in reality.

But as it met the spatial walls, it was only able to crack them and was stopped in its tracks.

'What a terrifying spatial density behind the energy…'

Davis's gaze shook, but he didn't stop. He pounced towards the incoming black-silver spatial wall and conjured a scythe.

"Haunting Teardrop."

His gaze turned pitch-black in an attempt to unleash another technique as he spun vertically and swung the black-gray scythe in an arc-shaped motion, cutting through the cracked spatial wall as his intent in Scythe Laws exploded.

He dashed to the front as his figure blurred into a frighteningly fast silhouette of a black-golden vortex, breaking the spatial wall and heading towards Almer Spacewill.

Almer Spacewill grinned as he saw Davis come closer.

He raised his hand, appearing ready to unleash the spatial dome.

But at this moment, he saw Davis's pitch-black eyes turning into spiraling vortexes and shuddered ever so lightly. His heart sank, and cold sweat poured down his face.

*Crack~*

Something broke, and Davis closed his eyes in pain.

His Soul-Devouring Doom Eyes were actually blocked by the ring's ability. It defended against his instant kill technique, causing the backlash to hit and his eyes to bleed.