Lord of the Truth

Chapter 1042: The flawed fourth path



SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH

"What's with that damn tree? Why won't it just fall?!" one of the imperial guards shouted angrily, blood streaming from his nose and mouth after being slammed into the ground like a missile by one of the branches.

"Attack! Attack! There's no way the summoner's soul units have unlimited reserves. That soul creature belongs to the planetary emperor, Robin Burton. If we can wear him down, we'll win this war. Don't hold back your attacks!" the Eleventh Prince commanded from a safe distance behind the fray, pointing once again at the spirit creature, Hovenheim. His brothers and allies promptly followed his orders.

Hovenheim's sheer size was monstrous- its trunk literally reached the clouds, and its

branches descended like bolts of lightning, striking anyone nearby before retreating. However, this made Hovenheim a perfect target; it was nearly impossible to miss its colossal trunk, even if one tried not to hit it.

The number of times its trunk had been destroyed and reconstructed was beyond counting. Likewise, the number of strikes it had delivered to the over one hundred martial emperors surrounding it had reached an astonishing figure. Each of them bore signs of blood or bruises across their bodies, and some of their ancient, epic armors - already cracked — shattered from the repeated blows.

Yet, Hovenheim's strikes were purely physical and didn't cause deep wounds, so they continued their assault anyway. Most attacks were tit-for-tat: someone destroyed a branch, and Hovenheim swatted them, shattering a tooth in the process, and so on.

"Hoof... Hoof... Again!" one of the elite marshals rose from the ground, where Hovenheim had flattened him, and rushed back into the fight. Nearly half an hour into the battle, many of them began treating it as training!

"...." Standing beside Hovenheim, Sakaar observed the situation closely, lost in thought. "Do you have time to let your mind wander?" one of the princes shouted at Sakaar, noticing his distant gaze. "Haha, given the number of your flowers, your arrogance won't last much longer!"

"....." Sakaar simply ignored him.

It was true he had already lost over ten thousand normal Underworld daisies since the fight began, turned to dust by the minor heavenly law of corrosion. However, the initial frenzy had subsided, and the combatants stopped relying as heavily on the law of corrosion, focusing instead on their legendary weapons and armors to try to advance.

But SWOOSH SWOOSH "ARGHH!!" the prince who had taunted Sakaar was easily forced to retreat by sixty daisies. Anyone attempting to approach met the same fate.

While it was true that Sakaar hadn't managed to kill a single opponent yet, the battle was progressing much better now than at the start.

After a while of observing Hovenheim's fight, Sakaar shifted his gaze toward the main battlefield of the armies. His expression darkened at what he saw.

He immediately retrieved a sound-transmission ring from his blue pouch and infused it with his spirit. "Shadow Sword Charles, what exactly is happening in the North? More than half of the Great Serpent Empire's army has already arrived, and more ships are still landing!"

"... Because of the unrefined body, the cultivator of the fourth path becomes nothing more than a mere mortal who can be broken with a single slap if not constantly protected by energy. But who can maintain an energy shield day and night? This is simply impossible. As soon as they fall asleep or simply lower their guard, they're at the mercy of any infant carrying a fork," Pythor shook his head.

Robin nodded in agreement. Pythor didn't need to elaborate on the disadvantages of the body's transformation- Robin had experienced them firsthand!

The Master Law of Truth hadn't granted Robin any physical transformation except for the change in his eye. When he first broke into the Knighthood Realm, he immediately realized he would be the weakest person in Level 11 to ever exist because of this. And due to this fact, he spent years trying to compensate for this weakness in every possible way until he finally acquired the Body Strengthening Divine Tattoo.

This is precisely why Robin could forbid the use of tattoos in the True Beginning Empire's lands because of the destruction they cause to the planet. However, he himself could not do without them. Without the tattoo, Robin's body would have been a lifelong weakness and a hindrance. He would never have achieved the strength he possesses today nor sat before Pythor with such confidence.

Still, if given a choice between retaining his current tattoo-enhanced body or having a unique body completely attuned to the Master Law of Truth, he would unhesitatingly choose the latter.

Pythor raised another finger, "The third problem is the way they use that energy. They truly can use energy freely and transform it into any law they desire. However, their bodies, which lack affinity toward any law, suffer from any attack they try to execute. For example, if one of them attempts to use the Fire Law, they would burn themselves as well. If they attempt to use an Ice Shield, they freeze themselves first!" Pythor laughed loudly. "Can you imagine such a thing happening during a duel? It becomes a competition over who harms themselves more, haha!"

Robin chuckled softly, but his eyes showed he was lost in thought. This was another serious problem and resembled the issue faced by users of divine offensive tattoos, where they harm themselves before others. The difference here is that Fourth Path users do not have strong bodies to withstand the backlash.

Additionally, this means they can only use elemental paths they can physically endure. If someone attempts to use something like Space, Time, or even Poison Laws, they WILL kill

themselves in the process.

"The fourth and final problem is their affinity for laws..." Pythor raised his fourth finger. "All humans are born with an affinity for a certain law. Some may even have an affinity for more than one law. If someone attempts to cultivate in a law they lack affinity for, their cultivation will be slow, and their strength mediocre at best- or they will simply fail altogether. So even humans who follow the Fourth Path still have to use the laws they naturally have an affinity for. Otherwise, their techniques will be weak or won't work at all."

Pythor leaned forward slightly and began laughing again, "And do you know the funniest part? Their bodies haven't adapted to harmonize with the laws they have a natural affinity for. So, even if someone has an 80% natural affinity for, say, the Minor Corrosion Law, they won't be able to use it because it will kill them, hehe! Thus, the best feature you could think of in the Fourth Path using multiple laws- has been completely tossed aside, hahaha! Would you like to hear more problems?"

Robin sighed upon hearing about this issue and leaned back on his throne. From his perspective, this was the end of the discussion. "Why do some humans in the middle belt still use the Fourth Path if it's this flawed?"

"Because of martial arts, of course!" Pythor's laughter subsided, and he looked Robin in the eyes. "Finally, we've arrived at the point I wanted to make."