"Don't kill the brat. Just hold him down for a moment. I have an idea."
The First Elder's voice rang in his mind.
Gojo paused. His gaze flickered to MeiYing. She looked pale, gripping her seat tightly. He smiled, winked at her, then turned back to the devil, his grin widening.
"Everyone's watching. Especially her. I have to look cool…"
He pointed to MeiYing and then to the audience, as he wiped the blood trickling down his nose.
The devil glared at Gojo's figure, its dark green slits for eyes gleaming with intense wrath and darkness. The moment its wound healed, round two began immediately. Its wings flapped, tearing through the air at speeds imperceptible to the naked eye. Gojo was about to fire one of his dimensional attacks when he was grabbed forcefully. Claws ripped into his skin, blood spurting out madly.
In the air, a fierce battle ensued. Shockwaves erupted from each hit, and the air itself rippled outward, bringing with it a pressure that made the weaker cultivators uncomfortable.
"Is Chen Zhen human?"
"No wonder he was brave enough to challenge Senior Brother Luo Ping. He does have some ability!"
The discussions continued. Meanwhile, the two forces of nature brutalized each other in the skies. Gojo's smirk was feral. Massive wings of shattered spatial shards flapped behind him as he stabilized himself.
'I do love these types of Dragon Ball-like battles!' he laughed inwardly and zoomed towards the devil.
BANG!
Punches clashed, space tore and mended itself. Gojo dodged a claw swipe to the neck again and then forcefully grabbed the devil by the head, unleashing an avalanche of punches right into its face.
Despite the devil's tough skin, its defense was no match for Gojo's raw physical might and the sheer cutting power of his spatial fractures. It didn't take long until its face was almost disfigured from Gojo's endless assault.
After enjoying the beatdown to his heart's content, Gojo grabbed it and flung it with all his strength. The devil catapulted through the air, somersaulting at incredible speeds.
But… contrary to expectations, it stabilized itself with a flap of its wings and stood firmly in midair, slowly beginning to heal. Canceling the wings on his back, Gojo formed a platform of shattered space beneath his feet and then propelled himself towards the devil with Yuan Power.
His smile never faded and was even mixed with bits of contempt and disappointment.
"I can do this all day…"
He cracked his fists and readied himself to attack once more.
But the devil locked eyes with him for a split second, and for a moment, its eyes regained a profound clarity.
"Spatial… Master… You… you're alive?!" it uttered with a little stutter.
The words shocked Gojo himself. He stood there blankly for a moment, frowning and processing things quickly.
"Why are they just standing there?!"
"What's going on?"
They were far above in the atmosphere, but cultivators weren't ordinary humans. Their eyesight was empowered to see distances that far, so it wasn't difficult for them to spectate the battle.
'Spatial Master?!' Gojo uttered inwardly. The new set of memories from the silver-haired fella had come with certain secrets that even he had yet to explore. One of those secrets was his own identity as one of the most powerful cultivators to ever walk this world, the Spatial Master himself, one of the Eight Great Masters.
"Who are you?" Gojo's brows furrowed. He could smell the danger. The main reason why he hadn't officially introduced himself as the reincarnation of the Spatial Master was because he knew of the existence of the remaining Yi Mo tribe members who were still hiding within this world. If his identity were ever to be exposed, without sufficient strength, things might get a little troublesome, even for him.
He wasn't ready to face that level of enmity. At least, not yet.
The devil's lips cracked into a small grin.
"We know… who you are. When the time is right… you'll die…"
The devil's words resounded in Gojo's ears, and he clenched his fists, erupting with immense strength as he zoomed towards it.
In the process of the assault, Gojo noticed something. Time seemed to slow down. He began to process things. Intense devilish Yuan Power was gathering within the hollow circle in the devil's chest.
And right on cue, the hollow point lit up with a dark green glow that illuminated the landscape. Gojo gasped in surprise. It was already too late to turn back now. Out of impulse, he had thrown himself into a trap. The only thing he could do now was try not to die.
Crossing his arms before his body, he braced for impact.
BOOOOM!
A dark green beam of Yuan Power tore through the air itself and swallowed him whole. The aftermath of the attack wreaked havoc on the surroundings. A massive crater was formed in the ground.
"Holy shit!"
"Did you guys see that?!"
"Is Chen Zhen okay? I don't think even the Elders with their strength could've survived that attack point blank!"
MeiYing gripped her armrest so hard it began to creak. She bit her lips, her eyes teary. Du Yun trembled, the hand holding his sword shaking unconsciously.
The dust settled, and the devil stood tall in the sky, like the angel of death, its dark wings spreading outwards and flapping gently. Its eyes scanned the crowd nonchalantly as it made a move, wanting to escape.
However, right at that moment, a loud sigh resounded.
"Was that a cero? Or a Kamehameha? In both cases, you should be sued for copyright…"
Gojo crawled out of the crater in the ground, his body torn and burnt in multiple places, but his regeneration kicked in, and he was back to normal almost instantly.
"What sort of divine ability is that?"
"How can he heal so fast? I didn't see him use any potions or pills!"
The crowd buzzed. Gojo, however, exhaled once more and then sat on the ground, exhausted.
"You should've escaped, but now you can't."
The moment the devil heard him, its wings flapped as it tried escaping, but Gojo merely cast a gaze towards the First Elder and then waved his hand leisurely.
"Spatial Lock…
Riftstorm Barrage…"
The space in which the devil was trapped shattered continuously, bringing with it an avalanche of cutting dimensional shards that tore through its body. For a whole minute, it was subjected to the endless torture. Its wings were shredded, its strong body gutted and torn apart in several places.
The moment the technique was released, a mixture of blood and gore exploded outward before its body began to fall slowly to the ground.
Before anyone could react, the First Elder, the old man smoking the pipe who had been calmly seated and spectating the battle, moved. He was so fast, Gojo's Six Eyes barely reacted to him, as if he had teleported.
"It's Elder Wu."
"Is he going to kill the devil?"
"I suppose that'd be for the best. I think Chen Zhen is exhausted…"
In a split second, Elder Wu stood at the destroyed arena, in front of the crater where the devil's body had collapsed. Looking at the state the devil was in, he turned a curious gaze towards Gojo, studying him for a moment.
Gojo, seated relaxingly on a small rock, lifted a nonchalant gaze to the old man and shrugged.
"What? It was your idea not to kill him…"
The old man facepalmed.
"I said not to kill him, yes, but I didn't say leave him looking like that!" he gritted his teeth in annoyance.
Gojo rolled his eyes.
"You have to be specific on what you want, old man. You can't say one thing and expect me to supernaturally understand the entire scope of your wishes…" He didn't hold back.
"You!!!" The old man raged.
The crowd revealed strange faces for a moment. Nobody, nobody, not even the Sect Master, could talk to the First Elder in this manner. Atop the podiums, the Sect Master held back a laugh. Feng Jianhong, who looked like he could collapse from drowsiness, couldn't help but shake his head. His master was truly as Gojo had described.
Meanwhile, MeiYing flew out towards the arena, rushing to Gojo with a worried face.
"Are you hurt?!"
Her arms roamed his upper body, checking to see if he was hurt in any way.
Gojo looked toward the old man, who revealed an uncomfortable expression, and smiled evilly.
"I'm fine, darling. It's just the wound from earlier."
He intentionally raised his voice so everyone could hear, including the First Elder. MeiYing blushed furiously and smacked him in the chest.
"Oi, get a room already!" a bored figure muttered, facepalming and rolling his eyes at their antics. The crowd laughed at his unintentional joke, only to be shocked at the source. It was none other than Xiao Wusheng, who looked like he could die of boredom from watching the two.
"That fucking Mo Xie. If I was at my peak, this battle wouldn't have lasted so long…" Gojo muttered in a low tone that only MeiYing and the First Elder could hear, before he slowly propped himself up and walked to his handiwork beside the old man.
The First Elder looked into those brilliant sapphire-blue eyes and then asked,
"Notice anything unnatural?"
Gojo raised a brow, as if the guy hadn't just transformed into a more handsome Ulquiorra Cifer from Bleach. What was more unnatural than that? This world really needed to chill.
Gojo exhaled. He sure as hell couldn't talk about the devilish Yuan Power that bore resemblance to the Yi Mo.
"His Yuan Power is unlike anything I've ever seen. On top of being naturally attuned to the concept of darkness to an extreme degree, it possesses a powerful corrosive power. The only reason why I could even fight toe-to-toe with him is probably because my Yuan Power is attuned to the concept of Dimensions, which is a bit higher on the food chain compared to his Dao of Darkness…"
Gojo paused and looked toward the old man, who gave a nod of approval. Then he went on to ask,
"Just what exactly is he?"
As if he didn't know what he was…
The old man summoned his pipe once more, smoking and exhaling a puff before he began to speak, his voice projected specially only for the Sect Master and the Elders to hear, apart from Gojo and MeiYing.
"To be honest, I never thought I'd ever see an abomination like him in real life… In ancient times, during the Great World War, records show that the ancient race of devils that had infiltrated our world combined exotic, rare, and profound bloodlines from their race to produce the perfect vessel for their Emperor.
They called him the Fallen Immortal Devil."
The old man smoked and, for the first time, revealed a grave expression. The Sect Master and Elders rose from their seats in shock. Gojo, on the other hand, was shaken. Of course, from the moment the devil had referred to him as Spatial Master, he knew what exactly he had gotten himself into, he just didn't know the details.
"Fallen Immortal Devil?" Gojo placed a hand on his chin. If he could find a way to unlock the Library within his pocket dimension, he could perhaps find out more information about this abomination.
"The ritual to create that bloodline had failed so many times, but the first time it ever worked, they managed to implant the bloodline into a mortal woman as a fetus and made her give birth to the abomination, which killed her in the process…
From what I saw in the records, I firmly believe that this boy bears the bloodline of the Fallen Immortal Devil!"
The Elders shook. The First Elder almost never revealed any seriousness, but when he did, it was a matter that called for serious attention.
"We need to eliminate this threat completely! Kill the boy before he can get the chance to grow any further!!"
"Yes! His birth could very well be the spark to a second world war! God knows what will happen to our sect if that happens!"
Gojo shook his head. Information and records about the world war weren't really a well-kept secret. Only specific details were hidden, hence it wasn't shocking that most of the Elders knew. But he thought for a moment and shook his head.
History was repeating itself, wasn't it? A sense of déjà vu struck him. The universe just loved testing him, didn't it? He exhaled and then turned towards the First Elder and the Elders. There was nothing he could even do. He had a penchant for saving demon possessed youths from execution.
"Aren't you lot jumping to conclusions there?"
"What?!"
"How dare you?!"
The Elders squinted their eyes in annoyance. If it wasn't because he was the current golden genius of the sect and had the First Elder's personal favor, they would've already put him in his place.
Gojo, however, stood firm, folding his arms. His lips curled into a lazy grin, his blue eyes gleaming sharply.
"You're all thinking like scared old men. Did you forget? I'm still here."
The Elders froze. The Sect Master let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head, while MeiYing anxiously reached for Gojo's sleeve, whispering,
"Chen Zhen… maybe you shouldn't provoke them…"
But Gojo gently patted her head.
"It's fine. I know what I'm doing."
Facing the group, his expression grew uncharacteristically cold.
"You think killing this devil boy will stop the problem? You're wrong. If you kill him without understanding why he appeared or who sent him, you're just cutting weeds at the surface. The real roots are still buried deep underground, waiting to sprout again."
The First Elder's pipe paused midair. His eyes narrowed slightly, a glimmer of approval flashing across his ancient gaze.
"So, what do you propose, brat?"
Gojo turned, staring down at the broken and battered devil boy lying in the crater. His body was twitching faintly, the once fearsome dark wings now reduced to shredded remains.
"I say… we keep him alive."
The Elders exploded in protest.
"Are you mad?!"
"Do you want to doom the sect?!"
"Even the Great Luo Sage wouldn't dare make such a reckless gamble!"
Gojo raised a brow, amused.
"Didn't you call me a genius? Then let me handle this like one."
For a brief moment, the square fell into tense silence. MeiYing clutched her fists anxiously, eyes darting between the Elders and Gojo. Du Yun, watching from the stands, shook his head with a wry smile.
"Chen Zhen… you really don't know how to back down, do you?"
At last, the First Elder exhaled deeply, releasing a long stream of smoke.
"Fine, brat. You win. But you take full responsibility. If anything goes wrong, I'll personally smack your head into the dirt."
Gojo grinned brightly.
"Deal."
The Elders groaned, but none dared openly defy the First Elder's decision.
Gojo stepped closer to the devil boy, crouching slightly. His fingers crackled faintly with Yuan Power as he poked at the boy's forehead.
"You hear that, devil boy? You're not dying today. I'm going to peel back your secrets, layer by layer. So, you better stay alive."
The devil's eyelids fluttered faintly, its dark green pupils trembling. A strange, almost human flicker of emotion passed through its broken expression, was it… confusion?
With a couple of intricate hand seals, incredible power tore through the surroundings. Gojo gasped in shock. This was pure mental energy. Even his six eyes couldn't guage which level.
A round golden seal of energy formed atop the old man's finger tips and then he slowly pushed it into Han Yan's devil body. In a split second, his devil features began to slowly recede, turning him back to human again essentially, but he was still in unconscious.
"I'll take it from here.." The old man then wrapped his naked body in a robe, made him levitate with a wave of his hand and then vanished completely.
Gojo straightened, exhaling. He looked to MeiYing and flashed a tired smile.
"I need a long nap after this."
MeiYing nodded softly, relief washing over her pale features. She stepped beside him, quietly supporting his arm as the crowd began to murmur and buzz in excitement again.
From the stands, the Sect Master leaned back on his chair, his sharp eyes watching Gojo's retreating figure.
"He's more troublesome than I expected," he murmured, smirking faintly. Feng Jianhong, seated beside him, gave a small laugh.
"And that's why he's interesting, Sect Master."
"He's too unpredictable," one Elder muttered.
"Unpredictable… but perhaps exactly what we need," one Elder murmured under his breath, his gaze lingering on the ruined battle arena and Gojo's injured figure. "The winds are changing. If the bloodline of the Fallen Immortal Devil has truly reawakened… this world is heading for another storm."
High above, the clouds churned faintly, and the wind stirred through the sect grounds. Gojo, MeiYing, and Du Yun slowly made their way off the stage.
"How strong is the old man?" He gently tapped MeiYing on the shoulder and asked. She shook her head and exhaled. "Even I don't know. But Grandpa Wu isn't a combat based cultivator.
He is a Diviner, a formation Master and an alchemist. But, he is the reason, the neighbouring sects haven't swallowed us up already. They're all terrified of him, the Great Luo Sage..." MeiYing puffed out her chest proudly when she spoke of her Grandpa. Gojo placed his hand on his chin in amazement. Turns out he was right about MeiYing and her backer afterall.
And somewhere far away, in the hidden corners of the world, eyes were already watching.
Waiting.
Smiling.
____
A/N: Wanted to post this tomorrow, but with some free time on my hands why not? Have it.