CHAPTER 751: SPIRE ASCENSION (XXI)

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The enemies on the 92nd floor had an additional trick that made them more special than the previous ones.

Bloodlines.

Not the bloodlines of the previous enemies that Cedric faced in the floors below. Well, at least not yet. Though it wouldn’t be surprising if they end up with those too.

The addition of bloodlines made things a little more exciting and hectic for Cedric. After all, he had to consider what kind of abilities they can use with those bloodlines of theirs.

Yet despite the hectic battle he’s in, Cedric was genuinely having a good time here.

Currently, he was surrounded by a large body of water. Hell, that’s actually an understatement. In truth, he just rode a tsunami capable of sinking an entire solar system like it was just another big wave crashing to the shore.

The waters were charged with lightning, filled with all sorts of monstrosities lurking in their depths, eager to devour every single inch of his flesh. He also has to watch out for underwater volcanic eruptions, earthquakes that make the waters more turbulent, winds that are so sharp they could shred civilizations apart, and all other world-ending calamities brought forth by his enemies.

There were 20 of them on this floor, by the way.

Still, Cedric found this fun. He had this wide smile on his face as he sliced through all opposition.

The tsunami? Sliced in half. The lightning strikes? Parried. The monsters lurking at the bottom of the ocean? Slain mercilessly. The volcanic eruptions? Nothing more than a warm breeze for someone like him who’s incredibly familiar with fire. Earthquakes? Forget about it. And the other world-ending calamities? Ignored.

Cedric was like a cockroach that just refused to die. It didn’t matter what was thrown at him; he would deal with them the same way he dealt with others.

He never backed down. He remained steady and was even advancing.

If these people were ever real, they’d be intimidated by him right now, even though they’re Universe Masters and all.

And that’s what makes this so strange.

Cedric, an Immortal Warrior (again, debatable), was standing his ground against Universe Masters.

What are Universe Masters? It’s not an empty title, of course. They’re called Universe Masters because they qualify as one.

Every Universe Master knew more than a single law, and they could use them efficiently. They might pursue the extremities of a single concept law, but they’re not ignorant of the rest. In fact, it’s pretty common for Universe Masters to know how to wield the power of five basic elemental laws.

And with the five basic elemental laws, they can create and govern universes. Additionally, they can integrate this universe into their inner worlds and draw strength from it.

This universe is a real and material one. It’s unlike the conceptual creations manifested upon the emergence and improvement of their inner world. Integrating a real universe within one’s inner world has immense benefits because it could also help them enrich their understanding of conceptual laws.

And most importantly, as Universe Masters, they decide everything about their universe. Whether it lives or dies is completely up to their whims.

Universe Masters were strong individuals and are pretty rare even in chaos realms. It usually takes ages for an individual to become one, and the road leading to it is filled with thorns and dangers. Which is why every Universe Master is respected and strong.

And though what Cedric faces now are mere simulations of humans, it doesn’t change the fact that they were Universe Masters. Yet not even they could slow him down, which speaks volumes of how pervertedly strong and durable Cedric was.

What made him survive until now, and the true reason why he’s able to keep up with these Universe Masters, was his mastery over the Great Law of Sword and Fire.

He wields and has mastered the power of two great laws, something that the majority of the Universe Masters, both real and simulated, couldn’t do. Laws have been, and will always be, elusive and finicky. The more one chases after them, the further they flee. Even to this day, it’s rare for Universe Masters to have more than a single concept law trained and mastered to the Great Law level.

The Sword and Fire Laws are both incredibly volatile, elusive, and aggressive laws to decipher. Beyond talent and comprehension, it takes guts and indomitable willpower to tame these two. And it’s oh so very rare to see someone use them both, even more so, merge them.

Yet here Cedric was, doing just that.

In terms of offensive output, even Universe Masters were speechless towards him as he just slices off everything thrown his way. It’s for this very reason that he’s able to remain standing against people who were way stronger than him.

They also couldn’t defeat him in terms of endurance and toughness. Cedric remained standing tall in opposition of them despite everything that was thrown his way.

He’s even provoking them to show them more.

To others, it seems that he’s courting his own death by doing so. But in reality, Cedric did this because he wanted to learn.

How could they possibly know that his true power was beyond everything he had shown them thus far? How could they guess that his eyes were simply a divine tool that allowed him to stare at the structure of concept laws without facing any backlash?

They don’t know just how much he’s actually hiding. They don’t know that he wasn’t just limited to sword and fire laws. He knows more than that, and that at this point, his five basic elemental laws are also at the Great Law level, and the rest are catching up.

Cedric was learning while having fun. He never neglected his goal. He never forgot his aspirations. He wanted to know everything. Whether he’d be able to in the end or not doesn’t really matter. What he cares about is the journey, not the end.

And since an opportunity was ever so generously presented right in front of him, how could anybody expect him to not partake in it? Wouldn’t that be a waste of his cheap—ahem! gifts?

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As such, Cedric continued his climb.

At the 93rd floor, he faced peak initial-stage Universe Masters with even more profound bloodlines.

At the 94th floor, they became mid-stage Universe Masters with more laws and even richer bloodlines.

The shift started at the 95th floor when he felt the familiar presence of his previous enemies integrated with his current enemies. The bloodline of Fierce Beasts and Demons appeared on this floor, and it has corrupted the humans he faced, making them more dangerous.

At the 96th floor, in addition to the bloodline of fierce beasts and demons, the enemies somehow hacked Mechanoids and used them to fight him.

At the 97th floor, the True Dragon Bloodline was added to the mix.

At the 98th floor, these humans conquered and assimilated the abilities of the horde within themselves, blurring the line between two opposing races, turning them into abominations themselves.

The 99th floor was just chaos because there, Cedric didn’t just fight humans anymore; all of the previous enemies he encountered on the previous floors appeared too, and they worked together, with a surprising degree of teamwork, against him.

It was hectic, stressful, vexing, and oh so very fun. Cedric had the time of his life on that floor.

The 99th floor was the most difficult challenge he ever faced after arriving at the Primitive Universe. He was injured in there, which was his first actual injury ever since this entire tournament started.

Everything was so overwhelming that even he, who was raised to deal with hordes, thought it was too much.

Still, at the end of the day, he won. He stood by his lonesome on top of a hill of corpses and a burning world, roaring to the skies in exhilaration.

His clothes were tattered, and his body was riddled with wounds; some were shallow, and most were fatal, yet all were healing. He had lost count of how many bones he shattered and dislocated. He was burned, bitten, sliced, chewed, eaten, punched, stabbed, etc.

Yet through it all, he survived. He truly was like a cockroach that just refused to die. And now, he stood alone in this broken world as the sole victor of this one-man war. His heart beating so loud that it could be heard throughout the world, proving that he’s alive and that he’s a survivor.

He dragged his body out and back to the platform of cubes. Because despite all of this, he knew that the fight wasn’t over yet.

As soon as he returned, he immediately sat down and began feasting on his remaining supply. He couldn’t care less about his image right now. All he wanted was to recover as soon as he could so that he could start what should be the final battle of this spire.

However, something made him pause.

Without stopping himself from feasting on his food, he looked around with a frown on his face because the golden portal leading to the 100th floor was missing.