One Wish to Own the World

"HAHAHA DEVIL'S HEIR, I'M COMING FOR YOU!"

A crazed laughter echoed through the empty plain. The group of five heard it loud and clear from the net of burrows and tunnels they had dug for themselves.

"Oh, it has been a while since someone called me that," Ken glanced at Vivienne as he recalled the name everyone used to refer to him in the secret realm of the Bloodthirst sect. She ignored him, pretending she did not have anything to do with it.

"Team Leader, are you going to reveal our position to him?" Alaric tried to understand the plan.

"I do, more or less. You guys support me from behind, it would be hard for you to move without triggering any traps."

"Alright."

Ken climbed out of his burrow, facing the man standing in the sky 30 meters away.

"Hello, simple nomad, you have traveled far away from the desert," Ken cupped his fist in a pretense of respect.

"Tsk," Atum clicked his tongue in annoyance, remembering he first introduced himself as a simple nomad in the desert. He descended to the ground easily, stepping on the grass barefoot. "Your expertise in annoying those you shouldn't has not diminished in the seventeen years we haven't met."

"Thank you. Will you give me your name this time?" Ken asked.

"Of course, I want you to know who killed you. I am Atum. Just Atum, I discarded my last name two centuries ago." The green-eyed man said. He held himself back. On the one hand, he wanted nothing more than to tear this youth in front of him apart, but on the other hand, he wanted to make Ken regret his past choices. He wanted to see him kneel and beg for mercy, then kill him anyway.

"Atum… Your luck cultivation is a fascinating concept. It had saved my life once and offered me many opportunities in other chances. For that, I thank you," Ken gave him the credit he deserved. If he lost his mind to madness back then when Jane and Diana died with his original luck value, he'd be dead for sure now.

Only the luck he had borrowed from Henry indirectly saved him by guiding him to set the challenge against the Four Seasons Sect where the entrance to the secret realm was, and then also made Elmer help him survive until he was sucked into the realm.

"Since I saved your life once, it's my right to take it now," Atum's smile revealed his white teeth. His face seemed enraged despite the happy gesture, making one wonder if he was insane.

"Oh, but I doubt that. Why are you coming to fight me, anyway? You have been collecting luck for at least a century, meaning you are close to your limit. Do you really want to spend your last bit of luck on escaping me with your life?" Ken asked.

"How- how do you know about the limit?" The older man's smile vanished instantly. It was his greatest secret, one he had not told any of his proxies.

"Because only an idiot would blindly follow a manual given to him by an evil man. Since I'm not an idiot, I researched your manual first. I wonder how much luck was spent during your last attack on me, will you tell me?"

Atum moved uncomfortably in his place, trying to calculate the implications of Ken's knowledge. Does it mean that the Serene Lotus Sect knows all about his luck manual? Does it mean that there are select others who know it and the secret still has hope to be kept?

"Your mental state is unstable, old friend. How about listening to some music?" Ken suggested as Atum kept radiating fluctuations of killing intent.

*Ting* *Ting* *Ting*

'Symphony of Peace.'

"Music?" The man frowned. His senses did not pick anyone else other than Ken, so who was playing the calming melody?

"May all beings have happy minds," A deep voice rang in his ears. He tried to scan the area more carefully to recognize the source of this voice but found nothing. Strangely enough, he only relaxed instead of tensing up from the unknown.

"See? Everything is better when there's music in the background."

"Hm, right… Since you know about the limit, are you trying to find a way to bypass it?"

With the calming effect on his mind, Atum's expression slowly eased, and he was able to engage in a conversation. It was more important to find out whether someone else had progressed where he had failed.

"I'm not, one should accept their fate," Ken lied.

Enticing him with the knowledge of conquering his problem might break the combined technique that affected him. No matter how strong Henry and Alaric were, and how amazing a combined technique consisting of two heaven-grade techniques was, there was a huge chasm between the sixth stage and the seventh.

"Accept it, huh? I have done a lot… maybe…" Atum mumbled to himself, thinking that it might be a good time to stop the endless pursuit of luck.

*Tu-um*

A strong off-key sound ruined the melody, accompanying Ken's attack.

'Flash Unwind.'

Ken unsheathed his sword, and the world split around him. His intent mixed in his attack, and his strike hit everything in a huge circular dome with him as the center. The space itself seemed to crackle.

Atum, who was already on the verge of negotiating peace became aware of the situation thanks to the scream of his danger sense. He opened his eyes in surprise and did his best to defend, but the sword seemed to be aimed at every single inch of his body.

Unable to expand his domain due to the limited time, the evil cultivator could only channel the Demonic Qi throughout his body, hardening his limbs and skin to the maximum degree.

*Cling!*

A loud metallic rang in the area when the sword met with the hardened body.

"Argh!" Atum groaned, his body filled with shallow cuts. He was naturally one of the hardest cultivators to ambush thanks to his Demonic cultivation. His body was refined to an unimaginable level, making him insanely durable. As long as he noticed the sneak attack, it was impossible to stop him from channeling his Qi on time and saving himself.

"Hmm, this is the second time you impressed me today," Ken remarked as he squeezed something between his fingers. Atum looked carefully before raising his left hand, inspecting it with visible fury.

"You managed to take off my finger. Good, very good, let's see if you can stop me from tearing your toes, fingers, and limbs one by one for this humiliation!"

Atum's domain encompassed the whole area, and Ken could feel a weird sensation washing over him as he was included in it.

The implications of a domain were huge. Inside one's domain, the owners could use the Qi in the air to execute their techniques from a distance. First, they would never run out of Qi, second, even close-range attacks acquired a long range.

Inside one's domain, there was no concept of long-ranged attacks and close-ranged attacks. Long-ranged attacks could be launched a meter away from the target and close-ranged attacks could be launched from a long distance as though the cultivator was one meter away from their target.

The man swung his fist at Ken as though they stood in front of one another, and Ken vanished from his spot, appearing a hundred meters away. Where he stood earlier, a blow so heavy happened that the air compressed into itself before being released, resulting in an explosion.

"Ugh!" Atum groaned once more. He flew a hundred meters away as though a mountain rammed him, saliva flying out of his mouth. "What did you do?" he looked at Ken warily.

"You destroyed your own finger," Ken sighed, ignoring his enemy's question. Now that it was destroyed, Amun would have to regrow it.

The evil cultivator grimaced at the realization his enemy did not tend to share his battle tactics with the other side. "Doesn't matter, I am a seventh-rank alchemist. Let's see how long you can keep up with me."

Amun was surprised enough by the fact that Ken's attack could deal any damage to him, but it was just as shocking that the youth could dodge one of his strikes. Only Supremacy Phase cultivators should be able to keep up with him. Now that Ken managed to reflect his attacks back at him, he turned serious, seeing the youth as an equal.

Meanwhile, the music seemed to continue being off-key, giving it a rough and nerve-wracking nature. It moved fast, the notes unpleasant, making any listener wish for nothing other than for it to stop while scratching a wooden board with their fingers to relieve the shivers down their spine.

'Mind-Poisoning Domain – Paralyze Mode.'

'Symphonie of Nightmares.'

'One's biggest fear is within one's mind.'

Three techniques. Bloodlust Qi, Sound Qi, and Demonic Qi intertwined with each other as their performers released a combined attack.

Atum's eyes opened widely at fear, his lips parted in a mix of shock, horror, and confusion. A huge dragon towered above him, a remainder from a traumatic past. Its shiny blue scales seemed more real than the real ones in his memory.

'I'm helpless' he thought.

To complete his thoughts of despair, another technique was added to the pile.

'Hell Landscape.'

The plain that was once beautiful and filled with blooming flowers now turned into a battlefield. Everything was black, charred, destroyed. Fire from a dragon's breath turned the area into waste, his mind filling the missing details with the destroyed houses out of his memory from so many years ago.