Time within the secret realm moved seven times faster than in the real world, so Tang Ze and Elder He Xuan were able to get to the Asura Emperor before he could fly away, even with the amount of time it had taken for Tang Ze to break free of his heart demon.
"You!" the Asura Emperor growled, readying its fist. He had hoped to find his army first and then deal with these insects, but it looked like this problem needed to be remedied immediately.
"Can you beat him?" Elder He Xuan asked. It was one thing while they were in that pocket dimension, but another thing entirely to fight this creature out here.
"I don't think I have a choice," Tang Ze said. He had seen how strong this thing was just after trading blows with it just once, and it was likely even stronger out here where it could harness its supernatural abilities. It could easily destroy massive areas of the Raswatian Empire, and Tang Ze didn't think anyone currently existed who could challenge it if its other powers were as fearsome as its strength.
What was he going to do? Let it run off and possible kill millions?
Of course not!
He launched himself at the Asura Emperor, who had not been expecting a sudden full-frontal assault like that.
BAM!
One of the asura emperor's arms broke - the bones shattering into pieces and tearing through the skin of its own arm.
It howled in rage, and then struck at Tang Ze, who was able to tolerate the massive blow but was still pushed back somewhat. And then, its body began to burst into flames, growing hotter and hotter until it was coated in a massive inferno. This was one of his proudest techniques - [Infernal Armor]!
Tang Ze backed away quickly - the heat was something he could put up with, but his costume couldn't. And the moment that his costume burned away, he would lose the extra powers it granted as well, meaning that he too, would end up burnt to a crisp.
Elder He Xuan attempted a technique to sever the creature's soul from its body, but it failed miserably. The Asura Emperor was not like Tang Ze who mostly just had physical strength.
It had faced many humans with strange powers and techniques before, and had triumphed over nearly all of them. It had faced foes that made Elder He Xuan look like less than an ant in comparison - and Elder He Xuan's attempted attack only served to enrage it further.
Elder He Xuan launched another barrage of different skills in rapid succession, some that targeted karma, others that targeted Qi, but they all failed miserably. He even used several extremely rare and expensive consumable items from his storage ring to augment his strength - he had been saving them for a rainy day; and this was a hurricane if there ever was one!
The Golden Elixir, which could boost the strength of a Golden Core cultivator by a minor realm for an hour.
The Ouroboros Talisman, which when placed on one's body, tripled the rate of Qi recovery for ten minutes.
The Nectar of Heaven, which allowed one to use multiple techniques simultaneously without any fear of backlash for half an hour.
The Blessing of Dragons, a powder, which when ingested, increased the power of one's strikes for a hundred breaths' time.
A vial of Phoenix Blood, which allowed one to bridge the gap between a single major realm to some extent at the cost of ten years of lifespan.
A Will to Refine Heaven, which protected one from the karmic backlash of certain techniques.
The Potion of Paper Armor, which dropped one's defenses by thirty percent in exchange for boosting one's offenses by fifty percent for five minutes.
In addition, he took several high-quality Golden Core level pills to ensure he had the necessary resources to strike.
All of the above items were treasures so valuable most of them could not normally be bought on the market and had been accumulated by him over a century of drudgery; though Elder He Xuan used all of them one after the other without the slightest hesitation, because if he didn't succeed here there would not be a time in the future where he would have a chance to use them!
"[Sever Karma]! [Bind Soul]! [Rain of a Thousand Swords]! [Heaven's Wrath]! [Void Slash]! [Draconic Assault]! [Karmic Retribution]! [Earth Shaker]! [Qi Prison]! [Qi Binding Field]! [Call of the Grave]! [Nine Heaven's Myriad Tribulation Lightning]! [Shield-Piercing Lance]! [Profound Heavenly Dragon's Fangs]! [Karmic Fruit Assault]! [Endless Sorrow]! [Soul Dissolution]! [Cosmic Fury]!" Elder He Xuan unleashed these moves from different paths in quick succession one after the other as he did not know the asura's weakness, but every single one of them had absolutely no effect, even with his augmented powers.
The Asura Emperor launched a ball of flame at Elder He Xuan in retaliation, who just barely managed to avoid it.
"This thing is definitely at the very least, at the peak of Eternal Soul level in strength!" Elder He Xuan said to Tang Ze. The fact that his moves had not delayed it for even a single breath's time was testament to this. Perhaps it was even stronger - at the Hinayana realm, maybe? In that case, the Raswatian Empire was likely doomed as it did not have anyone who could stand against this thing.
Elder He Xuan, despite using his consumables with reckless abandon, felt his power greatly dropping now. He had used too many moves, and so there was only one other trump card that he had left.
He took out a wooden mask from his storage ring. It was an intricately made piece of artwork, worthy of great praise and that which could fetch a high price based on its aesthetics alone. It depicted the head of a roaring dragon, the wood immaculately designed such that it looked ready to burst into life.
There had been some time, back when he was researching more about the Mercury Kingdom, when he went to go see the wandering tribes near the Raswatian Empire's borders.
Many people thought of these wandering tribes as little more than barbarians, though Elder He Xuan knew better. He had originally approached them wondering if he could find any more clues about the Mercury Kingdom, though he had been unsuccessful in that regard, he was not without gains. It was using these battle masks that the wandering tribes were able to repel threats, and they had many curious properties that he had yet to unravel fully.
He put on the mask, and his aura immediately turned into that of a dragon! Even if he didn't fully understand what this was capable of, there was a slight chance that it might be effective against the Asura Emperor.
'Just like Tang Ze can cosplay and gain power, I can put on this mask and gain the strength of a dragon,' - he thought to himself. He launched himself at the Asura Emperor, only to get swatted aside like a flea.
His body cratered into the ground, and the mask broke into countless pieces. It was good that such a thing happened, because that meant that the mask had taken the brunt of the blow before shattering. If it hadn't, his body would've splattered like an egg tossed on the pavement.
Even then, Elder He Xuan knew that several of his bones had shattered. His strength had been completely drained, and he had no more cards to play. He gave Tang Ze a look that communicated all of this in an instant.
'No time to think about it!'- Tang Ze realized. His mind had been racing up till now, but had not produced anything of value, much like a hamster in a wheel that was going nowhere despite how fast it tried to run. That couldn't be helped - he had very little combat experience unlike Elder He Xuan and had been unable to think of anything that could turn this situation around. As it was his knowledge of this world was rather shallow, how could it be any deeper given he had barely been here for over a year? Even if he had spent more time though, it was unlikely that he would have ever come across something that would've helped in this fight.
It looked like astonishingly, this asura's physical strength was not its greatest attribute. If he didn't act fast, Elder He Xuan would quickly die, and it was very likely that Tang Ze would soon follow him to the grave thereafter.
After all, Tang Ze had multiple weaknesses to attacks that didn't rely on strength alone, and when the Asura Emperor realized that, he would be cooked, both figuratively and literally.
In that case, there was only one thing to do.
After all, if it was highly likely that Tang Ze was going to die anyway, he had to do his best to try to take this asura down with him.
He didn't have the Thundercloud to escape with anymore, and even if he did, how could he let this asura rampage freely while he saved his own hide? Chen Yu, Yin Tiang, Jin Zhen, and Zhang Long would all be crushed into meat paste under its blows, or incinerated so thoroughly that not even their ashes would remain.
Putting thoughts of his friends aside, who knows how many other people it would kill before they could find someone who could kill it - if such a person even existed in the Raswatian Empire. Given what he had seen of this asura's strength, Tang Ze doubted it. Perhaps the creature he had seen at the bottom of the mermen lake could contest with it, but that was just wishful thinking now.
Tang Ze took a deep breath. 'Tang Jun... I really wished that I'd acted sooner.' Those were his thoughts as he prepared to launch himself at the asura.
Because he wouldn't make that same mistake this time!
He was not going to stand by while someone he cared about danced with death.
He put every fiber of his being into this blow - there was no holding back at all now! He may have become cultivator, but deep down, he was still a man from Earth.
He had been afraid of wielding so much power, and was often unnecessarily restraining himself, especially after that time he had damaged the martial arts dojo. He had not acted with true killing intent before, not even against Ling Kuang.
There would be no more holding back now!
The Asura Emperor readied another attack to throw at Elder He Xuan as Tang Ze used that opportunity to launch himself at it.
It was like the Asura Emperor had been pierced by a meteor - there was nothing that the Asura Emperor could do at all as Tang Ze burst through its chest with the speed of a lightning bolt, leaving a massive hole in its heart before coming out the other end. Its regenerative powers could do nothing for a wound as large and severe as that, and it only had a few breaths of time left before it would join its brethren in the afterlife.
The Asura Emperor struck at Tang Ze blindly with one of its arms even as Tang Ze pierced through its body, before it collapsed and could fight no longer.
With its heart completely gone, it had no way of regenerating, and after it spat out blood and cursed the humans and all of their descendants, it died, the flames around it completely extinguished just like its life force.
"Tang Ze!" Elder He Xuan called out, running towards where Tang Ze was.
Tang Ze's clothes had all burnt away, the costume being unable to give him any protection whatsoever from the blow that the Asura Emperor had landed before it died.
The moment that Elder He Xuan saw Tang Ze's wounds, he knew it was hopeless. Tang Ze was hurt beyond what any healer could fix now.
Elder He Xuan grasped onto Tang Ze, weeping. This had all been his fault - his stupid curiosity had caused this entire mess in the first place! And now, Tang Ze, one of the Initiates under his care, was dying because of that mistake! One of their sect's rising stars was snuffed out before it could even begin to show a fraction of its potential radiance!
Elder He Xuan's tears pattered Tang Ze's face like raindrops.
Tang Ze coughed up a mouthful of blood, but was still able to speak a few words. "Elder He Xuan, do not mourn me. I go with... no regrets..."
He smiled gently even in death's cold embrace.
After all, Tang Ze had promised himself that he would turn a new leaf when he had come to this world. He didn't want to be the same person who had been unable to act all the way back then when his brother had died.
Now, he could die knowing he had given it all to protect those whom he cherished.
'Brother... I guess I'm finally going to be able to see you again...'
With that final thought, Tang Ze died.