Heavin allowed Fura to come together with them basically because she gave up too quickly. She didn't try to insist or anything like that. That's why he thought it was worth a shot. Although they would keep their guards up against the old woman, they were willing to trust her to some extent as well. Besides, it's not like extra help was a bad thing.
While Heavin and Krune's groups made their way to the Core Region, Lani was in a heated battle against Taxin.
*Boom!*
Another wave of energy came between the two as weaponized energy came out of their weapons. Since there was Sword Intent and Sword Heart, then there was surely Staff Intent and Heart. Of course, Taxin had already surpassed the Sword Heart level and entered a new realm where it wasn't recognizable in the Mortal Realm. Nevertheless, Lani's Staff Heart helped a lot even though it was weaker by one realm.
"Great stuff! Now, let's see how you will deal with this, Lani!"
As soon as Taxin said that, Lani felt a chill on his back. The world around him didn't change at all. However, he could tell with his Mental Energy that a powerful threat had just appeared.
"Myriad Swords Domain!"
Sure enough, it was a sword-related domain. Because it also used the Sword Assimilation Level, the domain seemed to be invisible to both eye and Divine Sense.
Lani wasn't any slower, though.
Different from Taxin, his Laws were still within the Realm of this plane. That being said, it immediately turned visible to everyone—the world alone Lani became colorful, pretty similar to Krune's domain. As an Element Divine Soul Owner, Lani obviously specialized in the five primary elements.
However, the colorful domain only stayed like that for a second. Not long after, the colors began to mix until they turned pitch black!
"Elements Regulation Domain!"
Sure enough, Lani reached a level where he could also fuse his Elemental Domains together. Lani had comprehended all the five primary elements and laws a long time ago. Merging them was no problem either. Naturally, his domain benefited from that.
Both Taxin and Lani's domain clashed against each other. Several severing slashes appeared in Lani's domain nonstop. At the same time, Lani could tell that his domain was weakening Tixan's at a similar level with his Mental Energy.
As the two domains clashed, the fabric of space shattered everywhere. The Mortal Realm space couldn't withstand the power of common Divinity Realm cultivators and demon beasts, let alone Lani and Tixan's powers. It looked like even the space laws themselves were being affected by their domains.
"The All Sword!"
Taxin flashed in Lani's direction as his body shone with Spiritual Energy. Every movement of his hands and legs, even his fingers and toes, were followed by peak level Sword Laws.
"Myriad Staff Refractions!"
Lani also didn't stay still and headed directly for Taxin. Taxin was far above Lani in weapon realm comprehension, but Lani had all the perks from Krune, Heavin, and his own Elements Regulation Technique to make up for it.
*Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!*
All of a sudden, Lani's body was slashed in half. However, it disappeared right after as Taxin's head was smashed by a staff. Unfortunately, that was also an afterimage.
"Real World Severing!"
Taxin's body burst with the power of Sword Assimilation as even space itself became part of his swords.
Lani was taken aback by that attack, forcing him to stop his attack. His staff left thousands of afterimages as his body rotated several times. Black energy came out of it, which increased the countering potential of his attack. All of that happened in just a fraction of a second, but it was still a little bit slow as several cuts appeared on Lani's body.
Lani immediately controlled his Spiritual, Elemental, and Mental Energies to head towards those places. They then immediately destroyed the rampaging Sword Assimilation energy that tried to enter his body. However, it wasn't over. Taxin used that moment to attack Lani, not giving him time to prepare.
"Extreme Piercing!"
Although it sounded like an attack made for a spear, it was true that swords can also pierce. Piercing was a very sword-like law.
Taxin's hand moved at incredible speeds, aiming for an unprotected area on Lani's body.
However, Lani wasn't an idiot. He knew that his opponents definitely wouldn't let the opportunity slip.
Out of nowhere, the Fused Elements on Lani's staff intensified as his staff speed increased even more! Just as Taxin's Extreme Piercing was about to hit Lani's body, Lani's staff appeared right in front of it. It didn't only defend but aimed to counterattack as well.
"Mountain's Descent!"
Earth Element took priority in Lani's Fused Five Elements as his staff increased several times in power. Lani was literally trying to make Taxin lose his arm in this attack.
*Bang!*
Soon, hand and staff hit each other. However, things didn't go as both sides had expected. Lani's staff failed to injure Taxin's hand while Taxin's attack was unable to leave even a mark on Lani's Staff.
Both Taxin and Lani's bodies were then pushed away by the massive shockwave from their Spiritual Energy and Laws. Space several kilometers around them broke apart as spatial storms appeared everywhere. However, both Lani and Taxin didn't care about the environment. The two didn't believe that their attacks failed to cause any change.
Taxin then looked at Lani's staff before asking.
"What kind of weapon is that? Even a Peak Divinity Realm Equipment wouldn't be unscathed after receiving my Extreme Piercing attack."
Obviously, that was Krune's Purple Flame Staff. Although Krune had made it to be at the Peak Divinity Stars level, he had used a few of the Godly Path Realm materials to forge it. Naturally, it was several times more resistant when compared to weapons made with materials of the Mortal Realm. Not to mention that the Purple Flame Effect increased its power even more.
Lani looked at the staff on his hand before smiling.
"This was a gift from my grand disciple. It seems like he put a lot of effort in forging this."
Lani then looked back at Taxin's Hand that didn't have any damage.
"Still, how come your hand is fine? I swear I used enough power to blast it apart."
Tixan also answered Lani's question.
"I focused the entire power of Sword Assimilation in my hand during that attack. If you had aimed for some other part of my body, I would have been severely injured. Well, if you really did that, then you would have no heart anymore."
Lani knew that Taxin wasn't kidding. That attack really aimed directly at his heart, and his Spiritual Energy Barrier definitely wouldn't have been able to block it. Fortunately, he had Krune's new staff.
After saying that, Taxin began to ponder a bit.
"Hmm... I didn't want to use that in the Mortal Realm anymore. Still, I didn't expect to find someone like you here. What to do, what to do..."
Lani narrowed his eyes.
"It seems like I'm not worth enough for you to show it. Well, why don't you leave then? You are not from here, right? Just leave this trade route that has nothing to do with you for our Luvile Universe."
Taxin then looked at Lani and shook his head.
"No. You are definitely worthy of it. Sorry, it seems like I've said something stupid. It's just that I also didn't want to finish it this quickly. However, we are not going anywhere now that even my Extreme Piercing has failed to break through your defense."
Suddenly, Taxin touched his Spatial Ring. Not long after, an old sword appeared in his hand.
However, Lani narrowed his eyes when he saw that. His Divine Sense and Mental Energy told him that that thing was nothing more than a simple ordinary sword. Let alone rare materials, it looked more like it was made with low-quality iron and nothing else.
However, at the very moment that sword was grasped by Taxin, his aura had completely changed! Tixan was already the most dangerous person Lani had ever met, but his level of threat had just increased several times.
"What is this sword? How can it make you change this much."
Taxin then gently stroked that sword as a sincere smile appeared on his face.
"There is nothing worth paying attention to it. This is a simple sword used by a nameless kid from a rural area off a planet that almost no one knows. That kid's father had quite some difficulty paying for it. Still, it was the kid's birthday, so he wanted to give him a surprise. Since then, this Sword has never left that kid's side. See? It's pretty useless, isn't it? The quality is poor, the handle is terrible, the sharpness is a laughingstock. To be honest, I believe that that father was fooled to pay way more than it was worth. Truly, a piece of scrap metal."
Lani didn't need to think too much to understand that the kid in the story was Taxin himself.
"Although you say that, it doesn't seem like your heart agrees with it."
Taxin laughed.
"Hahaha! Indeed. In the eyes of anyone else, this is nothing more than trash. However, this is my most precious treasure. Something as important as my life."
Tixan raised his sword. As he did that, it looked as if the whole universe was at the mercy of his blade. What looked like scrap metal a moment ago now looked like a divine existence.
"Lani, it was fun."
Lani bitterly smiled as he dropped his staff.
"I'm not like you. I prefer a calm life and only do battle if truly necessary. However, it seems like this is one of those necessary moments.
*Kabrummm!*
Suddenly, arcs of Purple Lightning began to run around Lani's body. Together with that, his combat power also increased. That's the reason Luvile told Krune that he didn't need to worry. That's because Lani was just like Ula, someone who had acquired his Purple Lightning Source in the past as well.