The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

Want to have a competition?

"Let's compete then, who's afraid of who? It's just... we probably don't have time to decide a winner."

That's why I said you'll stop someday.

After fighting for more than half a year, the two had already gained a deep understanding of each other, so they spoke in a very casual tone.

"Yes, I will stop someday, but so will you."

"No! I, who am about to become a god, will gain eternal life!"

"You can't even kill me, where does your confidence come from?"

"You can only barely survive under my pursuit, so where do you get the confidence to defeat me and become the Shaman King?"

"Hmph, you know nothing about true magic. Only those who survive to the end are the true victors."

"So, even rats can be called victors? In that case, you might as well be a rat and stay in your burrow, gazing up at my glory!"

Ye Wang stopped abruptly as soon as he finished speaking.

Su Qi, who was ahead, also suddenly stopped in mid-air and looked up at the night sky.

"coming."

The next moment, a dazzling light suddenly appeared at the edge of the sky. Then, the light grew brighter and larger, eventually transforming into a magnificent stream of light, trailing a long tail that was tens of millions of meters long, like a fluttering flag, sweeping across the starry sky, passing over the two people's heads, and then quickly disappearing into the horizon.

Looking in the direction the comet had gone, Su Qi said, "Witch Star Rahu, the great battle of spirit mediums is about to begin."

“Yes, the time for me to ascend the throne has come.”

As Ye Wang spoke, he flew over and stood beside him in mid-air, but did not make a move.

Since he sensed no murderous intent and the divination did not predict any danger, Su Qi did not flee any further, but simply asked, "Shall we continue?"

"You won't be able to escape during the shaman war, will you?"

"Maybe then, I won't have to run away anymore?"

"Heh, these days of chasing you have been a rare and interesting time."

"Is that all you did to chase after me for half a year?"

"Because everyone else is too insignificant, only you might pose a threat to me."

"Maybe there will be a surprise in the upcoming shaman battle?"

"Who knows, you might encounter some surprises in the upcoming psychic battle?"

"Then I'll look forward to it."

"You won't be disappointed."

At this point, the two fell silent, standing side by side high in the sky, quietly looking down at the snow-covered, majestic world's highest peak, without saying a word for a long time.

As dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight fell upon the frozen summit, casting a sacred golden glow, Ye Wang finally spoke, "One last time, Dao Cheng, become my partner?"

"This is the last time, and I still refuse."

"Then I will resurrect you after the new world is established."

"In return, I'll try to make sure you suffer as little as possible when I kill you."

"Ah……"

Finally, Ye Wang revealed an enigmatic smile, said nothing more, and soared straight into the sky, quickly disappearing from Su Qi's sight.

"Phew, finally... more than half a year of living a life of hardship and sleeping in the open is finally over."

His arduous life of being hunted was finally over. Exhausted, he let out a long breath, did a quick divination to determine his direction, and then, riding his super spirit, quickly left the quiet mountain area.

……

Several hours later, above the Dao City Martial Arts Arena, before Su Qi had even landed, he saw Dao He and Dao Lian, each wearing a suit of armored super spirit bodies, locked in a fierce battle.

"Hey everyone, your beloved patriarch has finally returned!"

He descended from the sky, shouting his arrival, but what awaited him was...

boom!!

The ground exploded, bricks and stones flew everywhere, and a bolt of lightning ripped through the sky, creating an exaggerated crater more than two zhang in diameter in the training ground.

Having already sensed the danger and used the Super Witchcraft Escape Technique to predict the landing point, Su Qi stood unharmed beside the pit, staring at the instigator, "You, Dao Lian, you suddenly launched a sneak attack as soon as I returned. Are you perhaps a traitor, plotting to usurp the throne? Men, drag him out and punish him!"

"Tsk, it missed."

Dao Lian pouted and pretended to whisper, but her voice was loud enough to be heard throughout the entire training ground.

"Alright, alright, Patriarch, please calm down. Dao Lian just wanted to joke with you since we haven't seen each other for a long time."

Daohe walked over with a smile to smooth things over, but as he got closer, his expression suddenly changed, and he shouted, "You tyrant, die!"

With a furious roar, the spear in his hand shot out like a raging dragon emerging from the sea, thrusting straight towards Su Qi's crotch.

"Outrageous! Are you two trying to rebel today?"

"The heavens are dead, the yellow heavens shall rise! You tyrant, you have acted against the natural order, today we will act on behalf of heaven and kill you right here!"

"Hey, is it that I, Daocheng, can't wield a knife anymore, or have you two beasts gotten too arrogant? Today, I, the patriarch, will make you understand that your boss will always be your boss!"

Afterwards, a brutal one-sided beating occurred on the training ground. Dao Liandao and the two righteous men's uprising had not even begun when it was ruthlessly suppressed by the tyrant Su Qi.

Undoubtedly, after more than half a year of hellish training (not an exaggeration), Dao Lian and Dao He's magical power had increased by leaps and bounds, and they even obtained the Thunder Spirit and Fire Spirit as split souls respectively. However, their strength was still far inferior to Su Qi's.

Putting aside everything else, they simply couldn't crack advanced techniques like the Super Witchcraft Escape Technique, leaving them vulnerable to being unilaterally beaten by Su Qi.

Have you calmed down now?

After the war, Su Qi resurrected the two people who had become corpses.

"Hmph, I've been very calm all along." Dao Lian stood up, stretching his aching body as he said, "I just wanted to see how much of a difference there is between me now and you."

"Hmph, I've been very calm the whole time." Daohe brushed the dust off his clothes and said irritably, "I just wanted to let you, you bastard, experience what it's like to be suddenly betrayed, but unfortunately I didn't succeed."

"Alright, you've vented enough. Now let's get down to business..." Ignoring the resentment in someone's words, Su Qi said seriously, "Judging from your expressions, you should have completed the task I gave you before I left, right?"

"Of course, we're not that useless if we haven't succeeded after all this time." Daohe said, a hint of unease flashing across his face. "But because we're cooperating with that Miss Anna, one of our elemental spirits was taken away by her."

"It's alright, let her take it. The extra one was originally intended for them anyway. But... you wouldn't let her take the Earth Spirit I ordered, would you?"

"Of course not. The Earth Spirit you requested is sealed and stored in the Spirit Treasury of Dao City. I'll get it for you right away."

Not long after, the reserved Earth Spirit was delivered to Su Qi.

Earth Spirit's style is similar to Ye Wang's Fire Spirit, only larger. Because its thighs, forearms, shoulders, and even the top of its head are covered with large, seemingly heavy armor with double concentric hexagonal patterns, and its four fingers are extremely thick, its chest, waist, and thighs appear somewhat slender in comparison. Its calves are two pointed cones, thick at the top and thin at the bottom, and it has no feet.

He used his magical power as a bridge to connect with the Earth Spirit, one of the great soul's fragments. What he felt was a consciousness as heavy yet simple as the earth itself, which he could command with ease without any effort to subdue or adapt to it.

Pure natural spirits not only possess powerful spiritual energy but also have a simple will and are almost completely obedient to their masters. They place minimal burden on the mediums, allowing them to fully unleash their power. No wonder they are considered the strongest spirits besides great souls...

Su Qi sighed inwardly, feeling even more confident about the upcoming decisive battle against Ye Wang.

Chapter 41 I'm sorry, I'm an actor

"In this way, although we are still at a disadvantage in terms of magical power, we can probably compete with Ye Wang in terms of super spirit body."

Overall, Su Qi was very satisfied with the Earth Spirit.

Besides the Fire Spirit that Ye Wang took, the Great Soul has four other parts: the Earth Spirit, the Rain Spirit, the Wind Spirit, and the Thunder Spirit. Why did he specifically choose the Earth Spirit?

Firstly, because the Fire Spirit is the strongest in attack, while the Earth Spirit is the strongest in defense, only the Earth Spirit is the most reliable in order to withstand Ye Wang's "Ghost Fire" attack.

Secondly, it's due to the special abilities of the Earth Spirit. The Fire Spirit's abilities are to ignite and burn, the Rain Spirit's abilities are to control water and freeze, the Wind Spirit's abilities are to manipulate wind and fluids, the Thunder Spirit's abilities are to summon thunder and magnetic fields, and the Earth Spirit's abilities are to control earth and gravity... In comparison, the Earth Spirit has the highest overall score in terms of potential and power.

Finally, there is universality. As the saying goes, the pure rise to become the sky, and the impure descend to become the earth. The essence of the earth is not the soil beneath our feet, which is made up of countless dust particles, but rather the substance that carries all living things and represents the "existence" that comes from nothing.

Although each of the five elemental spirits represents a common natural phenomenon, the most fundamental, essential, and universal one is undoubtedly "earth," which represents matter. Without the existence of basic matter as a foundation, other elements such as fire, rain, wind, and thunder would be impossible to produce.

"What should we do next?" Seeing Su Qi put away the Earth Spirit with satisfaction, Dao He asked somewhat impatiently, "Last night, the Witch Star Rahu appeared. Is the once-in-five-hundred-years battle of spirit mediums finally about to begin?"

Because of the increased confidence brought about by his growing strength, he couldn't help but want to show off his skills.

Dao Lian also looked over at the same time. He was actually more eager to show off his skills than Dao He, but after being trained by Su Qi for so long, he had become much more restrained and rarely spoke arrogantly or rashly anymore.

"You should head to Tokyo in the next few days. The Shaman Battle will be held there. I have other matters to attend to, so I must leave first?"

"So fast? Didn't you just get back?"

"I just came back to pick up something."

Su Qi sighed softly, first pitying his own hard-working life, then narrowed his eyes and said suspiciously, "Ye Wang said he was going to give me a surprise, which is probably something he's planning. I have a guess, and I need to make sure first."

After saying goodbye to the two, he once again manifested his super spirit body and flew away into the sky. Because he did not have the ability to control the wind, the Earth Spirit was not as fast as the White Tiger. He planned to carry both spirits with him and choose which one to use depending on the situation.

……

Several hours later, in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, at Mount Osore.

Deep in the mountains, in a volcanic lake, Anna, dressed in a loose yukata, stood with her arms crossed on the pure white sand, quietly watching Asakura Yoh use the power of the Rain Spirit to create a huge iceberg out of thin air in the lake.

"How did it go this time, Anna?"

Not long after, Asakura Yo, having exhausted most of his magical power, descended from the sky in a suit of armored super-spirit form, panting slightly as he asked.

"Hmph, I'll give you a passing grade. Looks like you haven't been slacking off lately."

“How could I possibly slack off…” A bitter smile appeared on his face. “Losing everyone once is enough; I don’t want to go through that again.”

Over a year ago, his fiancée, whom he thought was dead, suddenly returned, filling him with immense joy. He didn't question her reasons at all. Since then, determined not to lose her again, despite preferring a relaxed life, he has relentlessly pushed himself, training day and night until now, all so that he will be able to protect the person he cares about in the future.

"But that's not enough."

Anna was even stricter than Yoh Asakura. In order to prevent her fiancé from becoming complacent and stagnant, she almost never praised him for his spiritual progress, and this was no different now.

"Regardless of Ye Wang, you can't even beat that guy Dao Cheng right now, you still need to keep working hard." Recalling someone's smug face, her expression turned icy cold, and she said in an unquestionable tone, "Ye, do you still remember your promise to make me the First Lady of the Shaman World? In short, you must become the Shaman King, I will not allow you to lose to those two! So tomorrow's training load will be doubled again!"

"Things will work themselves out," and "There'll always be a way..." If it were me two years ago, I probably would have said that, but...

"I understand." At this moment, Asakura Yoh smiled sweetly. "There's no need to hold back, Anna. I will try my best to meet your expectations."

"Before that, I hope you can meet my expectations, Ye."

Suddenly, another voice rang out in the sky.

That sound!