Ch. 3251..3260

Chapter 3251 My Punch

“What do you mean by that? That’s impossible!” the Three Sages blurted out in unison.

If Levi was stronger than them, they wouldn’t have come all the way here.

They would be asking to be Levi’s disciples if he was indeed stronger than them instead of the other way around.

That thought had never crossed their minds, so they refused to believe it.

“Look. I shall throw a punch!” Levi declared.

Without hesitation, Levi threw a punch.

To him, the Three Sages were fools, so it was useless to try to persuade them to change their minds.

Levi was at the verge of exploding with rage if they continued being fools.

Thus, he decided to show them how strong he was.

I’m stronger than you! My punch is stronger than your attacks! Do you want to take me as your disciple? Dream on! You aren’t even qualified!

Boom!

Levi’s punch was like a nuclear explosion that could destroy mountains and rivers.

A terrifying force promptly enveloped the area.

Sensing his extraordinary power, the Three Sages finally realized what was going on.

Despite being fools, they were still powerful beings.

In the face of eminent threat, they grew serious.

It had been ages since they last felt this threatened.

Only a few in the Ecclesiastic Order were on par with them.

The devastatingly powerful punch bore so much strength that it split the earth and created a huge crack.

Horrifying waves spread outward and formed a mushroom cloud.

It was going to crack the planet like an egg and tore a hole in the sky.

However, that wasn’t the most terrifying part.

The power that the punch contained was the scariest part.

The power could be even more destructive if it weren’t gathered in Levi’s punch.

The punch didn’t seem as powerful as the one that Levi threw out to kill two hundred thousand Deities back then.

In reality, it was much stronger than that previous punch.

Levi had actually condensed his power so it would unleash its maximum potential at the very end.

Boom! Boom!

At the sight of a wave of energy so cosmical in magnitude, the Three Sages blanched in horror.

They weren’t prepared to fend themselves against Levi and could get hurt anytime.

“Move away!”

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The horrible airwave ran amok, threatening to tear the space apart.

The Three Sages ended up using the Art of Consumption to dodge it.

After giving their all, they barely managed to avoid the punch.

Forced to spread apart, they landed on the ground. The force of their landing formed cracks on the ground.

It was obvious that they were injured.

That was enough for Levi’s lips to curl up into a smile.

Before this, no one could survive his punch.

He found it fascinating that the three elderly men could avoid his punch.

Indeed, the Ecclesiastic Order should never be underestimated.

The whole world assumed Levi was undefeatable after he defeated the Deities in Xyperia.

However, that feat was nothing to the Ecclesiastic Order and the Esoteric Guild.

Their members could achieve the feat.

Not many of them could do it, but Levi was sure someone was capable of doing it.

For example, the three elders standing before him.

After avoiding the punch, the Three Sages were shocked beyond words.

They could barely believe their eyes.

Is Levi that formidable? That shouldn’t be it. He might’ve astonished us with his strength in Xyperia, but that doesn’t mean he’s undefeatable. We were sure that certain individuals in the Ecclesiastic Order could defeat him. Someone else can attain his feat! He was, at most, as capable as the prodigies from the other factions. For example, the two prodigies that East Pavilion took from us.

The Three Sages wanted Levi to be their disciple so he could crush the prodigies from other factions.

Chapter 3252 Recruitment On Behalf Of Their Master

But the ones who Levi was currently pitting himself against were those old buggers themselves.

So, Levi belongs to the same class as us!

How were they to know that they were the lesser before Levi?

How on earth do these geniuses figure that they could consider themselves to be in the same league when a single punch from him could at once pose a threat to all of them, almost to the point of injuring them, at that?

This is a feat that almost directly rivals the capabilities of the elders from all the major factions! It’s just ridiculous!

Nonetheless, that compounded upon the bafflement of the Three Sages.

“H-Haven’t you already demonstrate your full strength just now? How are you able to become stronger still?”

“That’s right! Shouldn’t your abilities already be at their peak when you took out those two-hundred thousand Deities with a single blow?”

“How could you muster up such power without even having to call upon the Ancient Divine Sword?”

Mystified by questions too numerous to contend with at this moment, the trio regarded Levi in abject disbelief.

While they acknowledged that Levi was indeed quite formidable, they had, through their concerted observations, also assumed to have already attained a good grasp of where his limits were.

But now, it occurred to them that he could very well be invincible.

Could it be that he might have been holding back during that last engagement? This…

Boom!

The very thought of that possibility absolutely blew their minds.

There was no telling how powerful Levi could be, for he was, at the very least, more than capable of going toe to toe with them.

The punch that was last dealt by Levi, though delivered with an element of sneakiness, was sufficiently immense in its potency.

In view of that, the prospect of successfully recruiting him as their disciple no longer seemed viable.

Though Levi proved to be nearly on equal footing with them thus far, they continued to operate on the supposition that he may not necessarily be stronger than they were.

At this point, Levi started laughing, “All that these people can establish is that I am powerful, but they could not determine how powerful I actually am. Not now, and perhaps, not ever!”

It was obvious what he meant. With only that many Deities at their beck and call, they could only put together a force of that size, one that is simply no match for my combat prowess! Being able to kill two hundred thousand with a single punch does not mean that I could only rack up that body count. It only means that they had only two hundred thousand for me to target. Get it? These are two wholly separate matters!

In layman terms, it was almost like it was with some top students who thought others were capable only of scoring full marks.

The only reason why they could only attain a full score of a hundred was that that was the maximum possible score within the scope of the paper. It was, by no means, a representation of what they were truly capable of accomplishing.

It was only until now that the Three Sages grasped this rationale.

I see!

Unspeakably humbled, the three grizzled faces blushed red.

Fancy us enthusiastically making a trip down for a recruitment drive, only to realize that our targeted candidate is at the same level as we ourselves? How embarrassing!

They had almost made a fool of themselves for their troubles.

However, they liked it even more upon learning how much stronger Levi was, as it meant that North Pavilion would be in a position to gain themselves a thorough-bred killing machine with little need for nurturing on their part.

Against the prodigies from the other major factions, Levi would easily crush the competition.

What would make that even better was that he also came with a daughter who was supremely gifted!

“Our bad, Levi, for not thoroughly ascertaining this situation!”

“We are sorry for making such a mistake! Truly, we’re in no way qualified to take you on as our disciple!”

The Three Sages offered quickly in apology.

“That’s better! It’s good that you understand!” Levi snorted.

Then came the twist from the trio. “North Pavilion, however, remains in need of one like yourself. Hence, we are still hoping to have you become one of us!”

“Huh? Do you still wish for me to join up? I wonder in what sort of capacity would my involvement be?” Levi asked.

“The three of us could accept you as a disciple on behalf of our master! Henceforth, you shall be our junior and a young lord to all of North Pavilion in equal standing to ourselves!

“You shall have access to all of North Pavilion’s resources! Though we recognize your might, we still think it to be some ways from where we stand right now! Nevertheless, we’re willing to help you reach our level sooner rather than later!”

“That’s right. The various major factions of the Ecclesiastic Order aren’t going to be easy to go up against since invincibility is still out of reach for you! As such, there could be many upsides to you becoming part of North Pavilion!”

Levi was left flabbergasted, as he had not expected that they would attempt to recruit a disciple on behalf of their own master.

“It looks like we haven’t done enough fighting yet! Why don’t I now show you whether I am invincible or not?” he laughed.

Chapter 3253 Even Your Master Is Unfit

Baring a major whopping, they’d likely continue to persist with such shenanigans! That settles it! I’ll beat them up badly enough just so that they understand that their master isn’t fit to have me as a disciple either!

Wasting no further time indulging them with idle banter, Levi decidedly let his fists do the talking.

Boom!

Once more, an earth-shattering fist was unleashed to the tandem of an ear-splitting explosion.

An all-encompassing tempest shrouded the air above them while a petrifying tremoring, akin to the wrath of the nine heavens unleashed upon the earth, ripped across through the horizon.

Regardless of speed or strength, this punch exceeded that of the previous a dozen-fold.

Hiss!

The Three Sages of North Pavilion, too, immediately sensed danger abound; that punch was terrifying beyond their wildest expectations, and perhaps, more immense than anything they could have ever anticipated.

Before, they were under the impression that he might be some way from being their equal, but now, it would seem that that might not definitely be the case.

This punch is horrendeous!

Their expressions were grim to the extreme.

This punch is too fast!

They found themselves unable to rely on their paciness to evade it as they did just now, and there was no doubt that they would come away from this with grievous injuries even if they tried to force the issue.

Having all of their escape options cut off, they had no choice but to meet that attack head-on.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

No longer willing to underestimate Levi, the trio variously brought their own best moves to the fore, unleashing their terrifying Art of Consumptions simultaneously.

Not only did they form up a protective shield with their focused auras in front of them against that punch, but they also used the same means to meet the latter with a vigorous counterattack of their own.

Bang!

When the two sides clashed violently, the Three Sages were taken aback by the speed and power of that punch that transcended the confines of their imaginings and into the realm of the unfathomable.

Unbeknownst to them was a secret; concealed within this punch was the Annihilation Blast, with each subsequent layer more potent than the proceeding one.

That which got had them panicky was the first wave of energy, which was followed shortly after by the second wave.

Bam!

It took nearly everything they had to block the first wave of energy, but the second wave that came after instantly dissipated their own Art of Consumption.

Crack!

Then came the third which went on to shatter the shield formed by their focused Art of Consumption.

Bam!

Pfft!

Without further means of resistance at their disposal, the Three Sages were sent flying by the arrival of the fourth.

But before they could react, the fifth wave of energy had already burst through to deal them all a thoroughly devastating blow.

Their exceptional physical disposition allowed them to withstand it, though barely.

Albeit seriously wounded, they would survive yet.

However, the sixth wave erupted again, and this was also the strongest by far.

It was a wave of energy so cosmical in magnitude that they could neither defend against nor escape from it, and one from which even their remarkable physical constitution could not save them.

The sixth wave of energy, an amalgamation of Levi’s most astonishing and terrifying prowess, was the ultimate expression of this punch’s most pernicious potency.

The only thing that awaited them upon contact was certain death.

The eyes of the Three Sages were gripped in sheer horror.

It was unimaginable and completely inconceivable for them that Levi should possess such staggering prowess, for that degree of ability was potent enough to cull all three of them outright in an instant.

Never mind that they themselves were unfit to take him on as their disciple, they also reckoned that even their master was not either, for that was on the level of their master himself.

Powerful! He’s simply too powerful!

Never had they expected that it would be how their attempts at recruitment would end, and more so than that, they were not expecting to be taken out by Levi with a single punch.

No! We cannot accept this outcome!

Even if they could not contend with having to die here, they had no alternatives, considering that there was nothing they could do in response to the sixth wave of this attack.

They could already imagine the state of the North Pavilion after their own passing.

She would surely be devoured by the other factions, with her members doomed to either die tragically or be condemned to slavery. Their fates would be utter misery in the cruel dog-eat-dog world in which the Ecclesiastic Order existed!

Chapter 3254 The Astonishment Of The Master of North Pavilion

Yet, they were hapless against it.

Getting killed was to be expected, as they should not have sought to cross Levi.

Before the arrival of the sixth wave itself, the aura that it exuded had seemingly begun to tear at their bodies, and the scorching pain that assailed them left them wishing for death.

Very soon, the sixth wave of the attack came roaring in, and like the searing sun itself, it threatened to scour them to ashes.

Already convinced of the certainty of their own demise, the Three Sages had snapped their eyes shut in despair, but the attack halted before it could blast them to smithereens—Levi had surprisingly absorbed it back in its entirety.

“Huh?”

Swiftly sensing something amiss, the trio opened their eyes in time to catch a glimpse of Levi pulling back the final wave of his own attack.

Astonishing! Simply astonishing!

Naturally, they understood the difficulty of drawing back an attack compared to unleashing it, especially when it came to powers that were that immense.

Therein, it was clear that Levi’s true might was beyond the limits of their own comprehension.

“Y-You’re not going to kill us?” The Three Sages regarded Levi questioningly.

“I would have done so had you been covetous of my spiritual bone or weapon. But since you’re merely looking to recruit a disciple, I won’t! Now begone, and trouble me no more, or you shall not find yourself in such luck again next time!” said Levi coldly.

Momentarily dumbstruck, the Three Sages held their own tongues while they stumbled off.

They would certainly not be coming round to bother Levi again as they were, firstly and foremost, genuinely afraid that Levi might take their lives.

Secondly, they were all hurt and needed to return to recuperate.

However, they were all sniggering after their departure.

“This time, the Ecclesiastic Order and the Esoteric Guild would be in for a riot!” the trio chortled.

Obviously, Levi’s abilities had far surpassed their own projections.

Of all people, the Ecclesiastic Order had to go tangle with him. They’re inviting trouble into their backyard and setting themselves up for utter mayhem!

Levi, too, was a little miffed.

Having thought that he might get to slaughter a couple of fighters from the Ecclesiastic Order, he did not foresee that they would be here to recruit disciples, and without ill intent.

It was also in consideration of Sonja and the others from North Pavilion who had somewhat helped him before that he opted not to kill them off.

“But woe be to whoever who comes next!” Levi declared with a sneer.

The Three Sages of North Pavilion are not interested in my God Crusher and spiritual bone because they are too strong and in too privileged a position to be in need of these. It would be hard to say the same of others. In all of the Ecclesiastic Order, there are not too many like this trio, so most of them would still be likely to covet what I have.

Elsewhere.

Entering into the depths of the mountains, one would come upon a magnificent building.

That was where the North Pavilion was based.

The Three Sages held themselves together by sheer force of will as they dragged themselves back there, and that was when Doran Xenos, head of North Pavilion, encountered them.

“Whatever happened to you, my Three Sages?” Doran was taken aback at the sight of the trio.

The Three Sages of North Pavilion, injured? This is truly unthinkable!

It had been a long time since the last occurrence of something like that. Who was there who could match up against the Three Sages, to begin with, and then leave them injured to this extent? Simply impossible! It would be hard enough to find someone capable of this within the Ecclesiastic Order itself, surely? Unless… it was one of those legendary figures who had gone missing? With not one, but all three of the Sages wounded, and all at the same time? That would surely take the combined efforts of the elites from the major factions of the Ecclesiastic Order to accomplish? But why would they do such a thing?

Doran promptly approached to seek answers from the Three Sages, whose faces were wrought with shame.

Going forward to recruit a disciple only to get beaten up to this extent? It was a good thing that we did not mention the purpose of our trip prior, as we would have been unable to show our faces back here otherwise.

“Stop asking already! From today onwards, the three of us shall be recuperating in retreat! You shall oversee the management of North Pavilion’s affairs in our stead!”

The Three Sages left him with that before they went off to their retreat in a hurry.

Doran remained confused.

Who was it who did this to them?

To make things worse, there was a pair of prying eyes fixated upon them from the shadows without their knowledge…

Chapter 3255 Difficulty In Investigating The Ecclesiastic Order

The current greatest fear of the Three Sages of North Pavilion was for someone to find out that they were injured.

After all, that would mean an immense underlying danger to North Pavilion.

Being the backbone of North Pavilion, people losing faith in them could mean the extermination of North Pavilion.

If North Pavilion were to be under attack, them being severely injured, albeit temporary, would mean that they would be completely powerless.

Alas, it was as they say: you attract what you fear.

At the moment, the Three Sages had thought that the only one who knew about their injuries was Doran Xenos, the head of North Pavilion.

Never would they have imagined someone else to have witnessed the whole ordeal.

Naturally, the person would also have known about their injuries.

Unfortunately, that shall bring catastrophe onto North Pavilion.

Meanwhile, Levi had Sonja and the rest focused on finding the Bonemasters while he himself investigated the Ecclesiastic Order in hopes of uncovering the culprit.

In fact, due to the lack of manpower, Levi had even asked Black Hawk and Elterton Star for help.

He even prepared many advance devices and facilities as tools to aid the investigation.

Investigating the Ecclesiastic Order proved to be too difficult of a task.

When it came to Erudia, there were not many he could mobilize.

They was simply too inept and too weak for the task!

Although the Heavenly League could be considered as competent, they had pretty much been completely controlled by the Ecclesiastic Order since a long while ago.

If Levi were to ask them for help, chances are they would secretly interfere with the investigation, resulting in a waste of time and resources.

The biggest hurdle in the investigation was everyone’s unfamiliarity regarding the Ecclesiastic Order. The order was foreign to Levi himself.

There was not a single lead for him to start with. It was all a great unknown, including where they operated, who they were, who was involved, what power they held, and many more other details.

Every single information had to be obtain as they went along. Because of that, the investigation would be far more challenging.

Secondly, the Ecclesiastic Order truly was extremely powerful. Everyone within the order could be on par with a Super Deity.

After all, according to the standards of the Ecclesiastic Order, being a Deity was merely a fundamental level, and having a strong spiritual bone was the threshold.

As for a Super Deity, they were incredible fighters who had mastered many various arts and spent their days honing their skills.

All those part of the Ecclesiastic Order had relentlessly been practicing the Art of Consumption every day for years, or possibly decades.

It would be impossible for any of them to be anything less than powerful.

As of right then, all the information they had regarding the Ecclesiastic Order were obtained from rumors. The true strength of the order must be more impressive than what was being said in the rumors.

How was Levi supposed to carry on the investigation?

Even with the help of Black Hawk and Elterton Star by his side, it was still no easy feat.

It was still an immensely challenging task!

In fact, it was a tremendously dangerous task! Many lives could be lost in the process.

To make matters worse, it was possible for them to return empty-handed.

If they could not even find out anything about the Ecclesiastic Order, finding the culprit would be near impossible.

Unless whoever did it made themselves public.

However, that was a long shot. The culprit had maintained an incredibly low profile ever since undergoing the spiritual bone transplant.

Not even a single word got out.

Furthermore, according to Sonja, even if a spiritual bone transplant was successful, the recipient could not use it immediately.

The recipient must first get used to the new spiritual bone before he or she could put it to use.

And that takes time. A long time.

Hence, Sonja had predicted that the culprit would disappear for a while so that they could completely familiarize themselves with the new spiritual bone and make it theirs.

After that, they would proceed to cultivate their skills till they reach a certain level of mastery. Only when they were satisfied with themselves would they reveal themselves.

Otherwise, it would defeat the purpose of having a spiritual bone transplantation.

However, that made the entire search much more difficult.

Regarding the investigation, Levi felt melancholic.

Days had passed.

Yet not a single person sent could bring back useful information, nor were they getting any closer to having a breakthrough.

There was not a single clue.

There was only one other path they could take: finding the Bonemasters.

From there, they could investigate further.

Other than that, there were no other methods.

Even Levi was starting to get anxious.

“How about this? Starting from now, instead of trying to find the culprit, we might as well try to find out all of the more powerful ones within the Ecclesiastic Order!”

Without any other choice, Levi could only attempt to gather information regarding the Ecclesiastic Order first.

He began delegating tasks once again.

If the plan still would not work, his last card would be to enter the Ecclesiastic Order himself.

Either way, the culprit must be uncovered. Levi would do anything in his power to ensure that.

He would not just let the person get away with it.

Vengefulness coursed through Levi’s veins as he balled his hands into fists. Even if it’s the Master of the Ecclesiastic Order, I would not let him off the hook after what he’s done to my dear friend!

That’s all there is to it.

Even if it takes me a long time, that’s fine with me. I can wait!

Chapter 3256 The Frightening Control Of Gloria

Sonja and the rest helped Levi full-heartedly.

Before long, they had gotten their hands on a list of thirteen Bonemasters.

However, those were far from all the existing Bonemasters. They still had to continue searching.

Following the search, Levi had another mission to accomplish. He would start finding those Bonemasters one by one and getting them under his influence.

The results yielded by Sonja and her team served as a small piece of relief to Levi.

It would be best if they could uncover who the culprit was.

They could not possibly be expecting Levi to fight the entire Ecclesiastic Order.

Nevertheless, that would be the last resort.

A plan that would only be carried out if the investigation was truly unfruitful.

If that were the case, Levi would not hesitate to fight the whole Ecclesiastic Order and demanded them to hand over the culprit.

I don’t care how many factions there will be, nor would I care if they had nothing to do with it.

As long as you claim yourselves as part of the Ecclesiastic Order, I would assume you are one.

And I will force you to hand the culprit over. By hook or by crook.

I would enter the Ecclesiastic Order with my iron fists, demanding you to hand the culprit over. Otherwise, I would make so much blood flow that even rivers can’t compare.

It doesn’t matter if you’re not involved in it. It doesn’t matter if it’s none of your business. If you don’t know who it was, find them. Otherwise, I will show no mercy!

I would destroy everything and everyone, until you can’t recognize what things used to be!

Nonetheless, Levi was aware that the plan was cruel. Many innocent lives would be affected.

Therefore, Levi would not proceed with that plan unless it was the last straw.

However, he would not discard the plan to demand the Ecclesiastic Order for the culprit.

In the meantime, Gloria from West Pavilion also yielded some results.

Whatever method she had used proved to be surprisingly effective. She had managed to gather the names of all forty-three Bonemasters of the Ecclesiastic Order in one go.

She called out to Floyd and handed him the name list.

“I had a devil of a job getting these names! But I’m far from done! These are only thirteen of them. Hope they can be of use! I will continue laboring hard so that we can atone for our past mistakes!” said Gloria.

Instead of handing Floyd the entire list of names, she only gave him a portion of it.

That was her strategy.

If she had given Floyd everything at once, Levi and his forces might get suspicious of her.

Moreover, with that tactic, she could show Floyd that she was working hard, and that would make him trust her even more.

It was only a matter of time before she had a complete influence on Floyd.

Not to mention that Gloria had purposefully made herself look disheveled and exhausted.

Anyone who laid eyes on her would immediately think she had put in a lot of effort for the task.

The sight not only moved Floyd, it even evoked a hint of heartache.

What had I done to deserve this, allowing Gloria to risk so much for me?

Floyd’s hands trembled as he held the name list.

“Gloria, I…”

The words got caught in Floyd’s throat. No matter how hard he tried, he could not voice them out.

To Floyd, the woman standing in front of him had been the kindest to him.

At that key moment, not only did she stay by his side, she even helped him wholeheartedly so that he could fix his mistakes.

If it weren’t for Gloria, Floyd could not imagine the consequences that would befall him.

It was Gloria who allowed him to lift his chin in confidence.

He had got his mind set on Gloria for the rest of his life!

Whether or not I end up with Gloria in the end, I will dedicate my entire life to Gloria.

With his hands still holding tightly to the name list, Floyd had made the decision.

From that moment onwards, if Gloria had asked him to kill himself, he would have done so with zero hesitation.

He would not even ask why…

Just because she was Gloria, he would give up his life for no rhyme and reason. He would not question her at all!

With that, Gloria had completely gained control.

That was a demonstration of the frightening power of manipulation that she had!

With just a snap of her fingers, she could have one’s heart, soul, and mind within the palm of her hands.

If Floyd ever found out it was Gloria who set him up, he would no longer think it was Gloria’s fault.

In fact, he would blame himself!

“Go now, quickly! I imagine your Master would need the name list immediately!” urged Gloria.

“Alright!” Floyd nodded fervently in response as a wave of emotions washed over him.

“Ah… wait a second!” A thought flashed through Gloria’s mind as she hurriedly called after Floyd.

Even though Floyd had made his way, he instantly stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Gloria. “What’s wrong?”