Corrupt Creations

A day has passed by and today, it would be an important date for both Higher Grounds. 

Seth walked through the passageway and entered in a spacious hall, where there was a throne in a higher position. The Demon Lord was already sitting there, waiting for the announcement of the arrival of the guests. But today, the strongest practitioners from the Demonic Shadow Royal Clan, gathered inside this hall. 

There were twelve people aligned in two rows of six people each, making a bit of contrast with the other people. Their aura was frigid and overbearing, showing that they were kind of a lofty individuals, compared with the normal servants. 

There was a famous saying on the Demon Territory: "The Demon Lord and his Twelve Shadows." These people were his right and left hand, those who directly executed all his orders, be it good or evil, rational or not. 

The Mana around them were not weaker than the aura around Seth at all, since the weakest among them was stronger than him. Their realms ranged from the Mana Control middle-stage realm to the Profound Mana late-stage, and they were ranked according to their powers. 

When Seth entered the hall, he recognized some of them, since he was taught by them on how to handle the darkness attribute according to the Shadow Demon bloodline. 

The bloodline from the Shadow Demon, was something his master passed on him, since the inheritance of this Clan was something left behind by that creature. Seth could still remember the sinister ritual he had been put trough in order to inherit that bloodline. He would rather not take part on something like that ever again. 

Seth silently walked past them and stood beside his master, the Demon Emperor. There were some other important figures around the huge hall, like Petunia and other servants. They were ready to serve their masters whenever it was necessary. 

Petunia was holding an object inside her hands. She made sure to conceal it well and no one seemed to notice it. 

After some time, a loud voice echoed from the entrance of the castle, announcing the arrival of the guests. 

"The guests from the Lion's Pride Golden Palace have arrived!" 

ROAR! ROAR! 

Right in front of the castle, there was a golden war chariot, conducted by two huge and mighty Golden Lions. A beast that was not only fierce but loyal and prideful. They were both at the Mana Control initial-stage realm, showing that the Lion's Pride Golden Palace, had a really strong and deep foundation. 

Five people left the war chariot, with their heads high as the heavens. They were all overly muscular and took pride on that burly figure. Different from what it would be expected, they walked towards the castle with slow and calm steps, showing that they didn't even feel apprehension on a place that people were not at all weaker than them. 

After being led to the throne room by a servant, they met with the demonic formation of the Twelve Shadows and the Demon Emperor, that was sitting comfortably on his throne. 

"Welcome to my humble castle, "Lion King", Qiao Xuan." 

"Oh? There is no need for you to be humble, Demon Emperor Velgor." A muscular old man replied.

He stood in the head of the group of five and his figure seemed imposing. The people behind, followed him with respect and his aura was as strong as the aura the Demon Emperor exuded. 

"Hehe, there aren't a lot of people who actually remember this old man name. Come, let's discuss about our alliance." 

Qiao Xuan and the Demon Emperor Velgor, were people from the same generation. Now they stood atop the food chain, looking down on anything and anyone. 

"Wait. Aren't we going too hasty on that matter?" A cunning light passed through Qiao Xuan's eyes as he wanted to get some advantage over his counterpart. 

"Hm? Is there anything you want, brother Qiao Xuan?" 

"My son has been pestering me these days, on how difficult it is to come across a worthy opponent of his age group, so I was wondering if your illustrious disciple, the infamous "Eternal Shadow", would be his opponent in a little spar?" 

"Oh? Is that all? Seth what do you think?" 

"I would gladly spar with the Lion Knight." Seth replied while starting to walk forwards. 

"Wait a little. Don't you think that a spar between two of the strongest youths from the younger generation, should be a bigger event?" 

"Hm? What are you trying to say, brother Velgor?" Qiao Xuan narrowed his eyes while asking. 

"How about we bet some purple Skystones on our disciples fight?" He said with a smile. 

'Purple Skystones?' Everyone had the same expression of amazement on their faces. 

Purple Skystones are a tier higher than red Skystones. The blue Skystones are able to store a good quantity of energy inside, while the red ones are able to store thousand times more energy. The energy inside them is not able to be converted into cultivation, but it can be used while building formations and casting stronger spells. 

However, when a red Skystone is fully saturated, it will then evolve into the purple Skystone. The energy inside them is already on par with the energy a Mana Sovereign initial-stage cultivator is able to produce. The quantity and quality are so high, that they are able to maintain a formation running for years. 

Those Skystones didn't even have a market price, since the few of them that were available on the entire continent, are already on the hands of the Higher Grounds. 

The people present, thought that Qiao Xuan would back down after hearing that proposition, but his pride wouldn't allow him to do that and the Demon Emperor Velgor knew it. 

"Alright, let's bet a purple Skystone on the fight." It wasn't a price that he couldn't afford to pay, so he was acting calm, even though they were about to bet a fortune. 

"Ahaha, are you being humble brother Qiao? I will bet ten purple Skystones on my disciple, do you dare to accompany me?" 

The practitioners hearing their conversation sucked a mouthful of air. Ten purple Skystones were akin to ten Mana Sovereign cultivators powering up a formation. The quantity of energy would be astronomical. 

Qiao Xuan gritted his teeth, but he didn't know how to back down at all. Since it was a gamble, there was a feeling that he could leave here today, with ten more purple Skystones on his pocket. If there was something serving as reliability to him, it would be that it was his son who would be fighting, and he knew how strong he was, since he was the one that trained him. 

"Then be it. Ten purple Skystones." Qiao Xuan said. 

"That is good. Seth, on you." Velgor didn't try to push it further, because he knew that must be Qiao Xuan's bottom line. 

Seth didn't say anything. He just Shadow Walked towards Qiao Bao, waiting for him to make the first move. 

Qiao Bao didn't want to make his father lose face, so he didn't underestimate Seth. Even though he wouldn't be taking Seth lightly, his prideful nature made him disdain from making the first move. 

Seth knew that things wouldn't go anywhere if he didn't attack that prideful idiot. He chose to pressure his opponent a little in order for him to expose some weakness. A wave of darkness expanded from him, blocking Qiao Bao's vision. 

Seth was wearing his bracelet, so his aura was restrained to the Mana Perception-initial stage realm, the same as the Lion Knight Qiao Bao, however, the quality of his darkness element was on a totally different ground. 

Qiao Bao felt that he was thrown into an endless abyss, where there was no light. 

"HAAAA!" He shouted and a golden light surged around him, trying to dispel the darkness, however, he found out that it wasn't easy at all, to clear that dark fog. 

Seth appeared like a ghost behind Qiao Bao, as his dark energy was coating his palms. Luckly for Qiao Bao, he felt the fluctuations of energy behind him and turned back to defend against the incoming attack. His arm muscles bulged with the Mana he infused on them, making his veins pop up. 

Seth's palm met his right arm, and the dark energy around it tried to penetrate the enemy's defense, but failed. From that, Seth knew that his physical body must be really though. 

He didn't get despondent though. He infused a bit more Mana on his darkness palm making it pressure Qiao Bao. 

The Lion Knight Qiao Bao suddenly felt that a several tones pressure was applied against his arm, making his body move backwards some meters. He was the first one to end up in the losing side, and that made him take a blow on his prideful ego. 

Qiao Bao's eyes sparkled with a golden glow as his Mana started to surge with a violent force, however, it was concentrated around his own body. 

A golden light entered Seth's sight, as a golden armor started to form around Qiao Bao. It was an armor made of his own Mana, one of the powerful skills from the Lion's Pride Golden Palace. After it finished forming, a golden hue spread from his body, dispersing the darkness energy surrounding him. 

Qiao Bao felt the strength coursing through his veins and opened up a smile. There has never been someone able to defeat him after he used that ability before other than his father. His defenses were ten times stronger than before, so he thought Seth would probably not even be able to scratch him now. 

What he didn't take into account, was that he was fighting against a never seen before oddity.