Lowly Ascent

In the backdrop, massive red titans sent the world asunder, dyeing a once white and clean city into a bloody color of crimson.

Entire generations were used as the material and even with its size, the city gained a crimson river, at the deepest reaches of its interworking. Sticky blood dripped from stone to stone, collecting at the bottom along with rotting corpses.

There was such a massive amount of blood, and red mist, even the light reflected from the sun was red, turning the sky the same color. Somehow, an Ancient Holy Land became a hellscape in such a short amount of time.

Cultivators ran, disciples watched their masters die before their eyes, and powerhouses cowered as the glint of giant red eyes reflected in their hiding spots.

In the foreground, three people made a triangle, two ends facing one.

Fang Yuan and Thomas lost a bit of their fighting intent. Cain's actions were inhuman and his madness long extinguished theirs.

"Come! Fight me, you are heroes are you not?! Am I not a villain? Look, I kill your friends, I drink the blood of your disciples! I devour the souls of your elders! Come stop me, are you two not famous in your generation? Or are you scared?" Cain ridiculed and mocked them. 

The fire burning in their hearts flared. Their rage kindled into a bonfire that could melt all hesitation.

"You Demon! I'll stop you and then get my Disciple back. No matter what!" Fang Yuan didn't give up, hope was still in his heart.

"Cain, although I once knew you, I can't say it now. You are a terror that must be removed, this is now my home, I cannot let you destroy it like you did the last!" Thomas's nostrils let out smoke.

Cain smirked, "Then come!"

The two jointly attacked together, sword strikes and beastly roars echoing throughout the battlefield.

Those who were not in the eyes of death looked on, seeing two heroes as they ascended into the sky, charging at the red-eyed man in rags, mist cycling around him, creating a sphere.

"You are not qualified to kill me!"

Mist boiled and churned, sweeping towards the two cultivators.

"Heavenly Judgment!"

"Dragon's Roar!"

The sky parted, and a majestic image of a sword and dragon rained down from the sky, parting the rolling tide of mist and giving way to Cain.

"To create such massive and complete projections. They have completed their Dao...." Lady Moon's face was pale as she coughed out blood.

"Master, are you okay? What are you talking about?!" Zoe was beside her, helping her only ticket out of this place, her savior from certain death.

Lady Moon brushed her disciple's hands off her shoulders.

"I'm fine, that last attack from that red titian used too much of my energy is all.

"As for what I'm talking about, it's a dream for all cultivators, to complete their Dao. Think of it as a road that was once pitch black becomes lit up. Both those people have reached the completion stage, they have their Dao, and now they just have to continue walking that path until they reach Immortality."

She sighed, "But alas, ascending to Immortality is nigh impossible, the Sect records state in the final battle of the Three Thousand Great Worlds, the Immortal Cultivators lost to a great being. After that battle, ascension was gone." Her voice was fragile, like a priest realizing their god was a fake.

Zoe lowered her head and contemplated some things.

'This place is completely different than the Compound. I don't know how many places that monster has visited but he must know some things, he's infatuated with learning. But what can I do to help, I know next to nothing...'

She was useless, too useless! Even traveling with Cain for a long time, he was like a Rubix cube using hundreds of colors, solving him was impossible!

All Zoe could do was console her master, her eyes drifting over to the battle happening along the horizon.

Bam Bam Bam!

Thomas thrashed Cain's body, bones cracking and skin rupturing to bits. Meanwhile, Fang Yuan held off the mist, leaving Cain defenseless to the Beast Lord's onslaught.

"You...blam!...really....splat!....don't know....squelch!... the situation you're in!" Cain smiled while his mangled corpse bloated.

Kaboom!

Chunks of flesh flew everywhere, across the city, across the sky. Some pieces landed on clouds, others landed on people, and a few on the marble creatures roaming the city.

The Dream Core's crack widened.

Everywhere Cain's flesh landed, mist boiled from the scraps. In the clouds, the color of red seeped and transformed into the figure of a man. On the ground, people were devoured en masse, their bodies invaded by Cain. Even the marble creatures and buildings weren't spared, degrading and eroding, widdling down into the same form as the rest, Cain.

Thomas and Fang Yuan's jaws dropped—all that work, for nothing.

"To be pushed to a point, well done! I must congratulate you, the prize is me taking your life!"

There were about 130 Cains give or take. Each one had the same battle strength as the original.

'All of us can only last around thirty minutes, any more, and the Dream Core will take irreversible damage. I should kill these two within that time and then go get my prize!'

The Cains were coordinated and their thoughts were one of the same. They all descended on the two unprepared cultivators like Valkyries, the skies parting as they rode red mist to reap the souls of the living.

"It matters not how many of you there are! I'll make a throne out of your skulls!" Thomas's muscles bulged. Projections of an endless number of beasts filled the sky.

Some projections were big, others small. This was Thomas's Killer move, "Myriad Savagery".

There were not only carnivores but herbivores and omnivores. All types of animals were charging against Cain.

A portrait of carnage etched itself into everyone's hearts. Hundreds of red-eyed youths fought against tens of thousands of lifeforms made of Spiritual Qi.

Phoenixs and chickens fended off a Cain while a massive white jade elephant with some desolate rainbow foxes dealt with another. The animal kingdom rose to fight off the evil that was before them, the demon that sought to ruin their home.

Thomas's move was based on his Innate spell, harnessing the spirit of something, in this case, animals. Before fusion, Thomas had many souls that were kings of their different species, reptiles, mammals, fish, birds, amphibians, and invertebrates. He had one from each category of animal. When he reached the fusion stage he gained the power of the Beast Dao, gaining the power he has now.

Yet, even so, Cain still had a trick up his sleeve he was waiting to use. A move that assured him victory.

"Oi Thomas! Let's see how you survive this, you foul-mouthed drunkard!"

The Cains that weren't held down gathered, they all reached out and spread their hands, gathering red mist. The mist condensed into liquid before becoming a crystalized mass. Very quickly, the crystalized mass of mist reached the size of tens of buildings.

"What was before is never forgotten, what is now is only from what was before! Even if I lost the ability to control disease, I am a living one! Even if I lost my control over pathogens, I still remember having such strength in the palms of my hands!"

The crystal cracked, fracturing into pieces much like the light attacks of the Demon Slaughtering Celestial. Like meteors, these fragments flew, piecing the animals and charging towards Thomas.

Roars spread, they were evaporating into thin air. The crack on the dream core inched closer to destroying it.

'Qi is energy, although it can be affected by Animum, the process is too slow, I had to distort the properties of the attack to end this quickly....'

To lessen the pressure on himself, Cain became one person again, the other manifestations fusing back into him.

"You have an attack that can counter my projections?!" Thomas was wide-eyed, he never used this move nor told anyone. Even if the animals were made of Spiritual Qi, they shouldn't have been deconstructed so easily.

Thomas thought Cain's attack was meant only for his killer move, he lightheartedly defended against the shards once they reached him but they would crack and break, a few slivers puncturing his skin. At first, he felt nothing, but he soon noticed something was wrong.

'Idiot, although Thomas has gained strength, he was lucky. From what I know, the Beast Master is only skilled in politics and fighting beasts, he's had little interaction with human cultivators other than a few spars.' Cain snickered in his head. 

"This..." Fang Yuan was beside Thomas, he was more on guard, using sword energy to layer himself like a thick wall.

"Beast Master, you said you had it. I hope you will handle it now." Fang Yuan was upset, to him, time was of the essence.

He wished to capture Cain and escape, if he didn't, the others would try to kill his disciple before he could save him. Not only that, Thomas seems to have a deep hatred of Cain, Fang Yuan wanted to see such a person overexert themselves before he made his move.

"Fine, I'll use my trump card." Thomas cursed internally, he felt weak but he needed to act under the pressure of the Sword Saint.

His mind was used to political infighting and keeping his image, he forgot this place was a battlefield and easily moved to Cain's strings.