The idea of the bearded explorer was simple. The only reason why the newly found group was convinced that they deserved to receive reparation for their losses, was due to the wrong assumption that the explorers were the strongest individuals that the universal government had to offer.
On the other hand, from the point of view of the universal government, for the beings that had been sent through the wormhole to explore the unknown space on the other side.. to be the strongest amongst the warriors of their own dominion.. It made sense.
Both groups had sent strong individuals, and yet not their top warriors.. And that, paired with the assumption that there was nothing more to see of each other's repertoire, made them certain of the fact that they were the strongest.
The negotiation that took place during the past eight months, were basically a game of arm wrestle.
Naturally, they were both sorely mistaken. There were thousands of explorers within the universal government, and those who had made their appearance during the first encounter, were only the ones that were currently free. The others were all focused on their many tasks, and exploring the various sectors of space far away from home.
The bearded explorer was more than aware of how dangerous the situation currently was. With both groups slamming their fists on their own chests, and trying to gain dominance over the other, the negotiation could soon fail, and turn into an all out conflict.
The only solution to this, was to determine which group was the strongest.
Despite of the scale of the conflict, within a universe which evolved within the laws of cultivation, there was an unspoken rule that was above all others. That rule said that the holder of the power, was the group that was lead by the most powerful individuals, and that was the same no matter if one talked about a battle between low level cultivators, or between groups whose members numbered in the trillions.
Taking this notion into consideration, the bearded explorer had suggested a friendly competition between the two groups.
Theoretically, neither would have ha a reason to refuse, as the outcome would not only ascertain which group was the strongest once and for all.. But also prevent both parties from having to suffer a massive amount of losses in an all out conflict.
The grand judge, which was in charge of handling the entire matter that revolved around the xeno protocol, was still forced to discuss this proposal with the other grand judges. After all, this was a matter that regarded the entire universal government.
In the end, his proposal was met with little opposition, and during the next meeting with the ambassadors of the other nation, the idea had been pushed forward. The plan consisted in the creation of a friendly competition, where the population of the two territories could witness the power and uses of one another. Naturally, the implicit meaning of this proposal, was to settle the matter by combat.
Ultimately, the date was set for ten years later.
—–
Galaxy S41, territory of the Garden of Death.
"Sir! We are being attacked!" said a man covered in tattered black robes, to a thirty years old, good looking man in loose green clothes. He was covered in injuries, but none of them were lethal, which made it odd not to think about the fact that if someone was able to leave so many shallow wounds on his body, he should have been able to kill him as well.
The green-clothed man was enjoying the company of two women, but it didn't look like the women were in their right mind. Their eyes were dead, and it seemed that they were in some sort of trans. On the table next to them, were two half empty glasses with oddly colored wine.
"Who is it?" responded the green clothed man with an irritated tone. The interruption of his subordinate had clearly spoiled his fun. "It better be urgent."
After a quick explanation, the two left the city and flew towards the atmosphere. There, they found an old man facing a young man, and a masked man. The first of these three individuals was the keeper of key of the planet, while the other two were, of course, Daniel and Aeron.
There was no trace of Xargy.
"Why are you causing a ruckus? Don't you know who resides here?" Aske the keeper of key in anger, before turning around, and noticing the presence of the green-clothed man. He then bowed with politeness, and simply said "My lord.." He felt an extremely large amount of respect for this individual, as he was an elite of the Garden of Death.
While the other groups did not require one of the elites to suffer in order to gain the status of elite, and obtain a gift, the same was not for the Garden of Death. In the Garden of Death, the cultivators needed the courage to gamble their life in an attempt to gain more power, and that made them extremely respected through their faction.
These individuals were the women and men that each person that came from their faction wished to be, and their courage was sung in ballads, and told in tales. The keeper of key was extremely honored to have been chosen to protect the territory where one of these individuals resided.
"What is the matter?" Asked the green-clothed cultivator with irritation. By his sides, the two women were still present.
"My lord, I am not sure. They simply approached an-" The keeper of key wanted to respond to his lord, but he was interrupted by the voice of an individual that, until now, had refused to answer to his questions.
"You are the matter. We have come here for you." Said Daniel while looking at the man's negative karma, and the two drugged women next to him.
The green-robed man looked at Daniel for a few moments, then, and instead of responding to his threat, he allowed a faint purple-black colored mist to come out of his eyes.. It almost looked as if the moisture in his eyes was evaporating.
This vapor then expanded, and turned into a nearly unnoticeable cloud in the surrounding space.
The moment the black-robed cultivator and the keeper of key noticed this mist, they immediately moved away, but the two women were not as lucky. The poison washed over them, and immediately caused their skin to bubble, and their body to swell as if they were in the middle of a severe anaphylactic shock.
Daniel had the impulse to jump in an attempt to save the two women, but seeing how fast the poison had acted, it was clear that the number of seconds they had left to live, cold be counted in the fingers of one hand.
The two of them did not move of even one centimeter, and instead let the poisonous mist cover their bodies completely. To the surprise of the elite warrior of the garden of death, the two hadn't activated any sort of shield of barrier to protect themselves against the poison, and instead, inhaled it freely.
"Idiots.." muttered the green-clothed cultivator with contempt. His poison had never failed, and it was capable of taking down individuals much more powerful than him. When compared to most other gifts, the power granted by the leader of the Garden of Death, was one of those which had the biggest trade off. When their numbers were bigger, the garden of death was one of the most feared factions.. It was only due to tens of thousands of years of battle, that its power dimmed along with the increasingly lower number of cultivators.
For the elite members of the garden of death, their poison was part of their body. They could feel it enter the nostrils of his enemies, and come in contact with their skin.
Almost sure that the two individuals were on the verge of dying, he let the mist of poison dissipate.. But what he saw after, left him deeply shocked.
Daniel and Aeron were floating in space next to each other, as if nothing had happened.
"What a powerful stench.. I thi-" *BURP* "..excuse me, I think I've swallowed a bit of it.. Oh.. gross.. I can taste it now.." Daniel said while looking back at the green-clothed cultivator.
The eyes of the green-robed cultivator opened wide in shock, and he said "Who the hell are you.." In this response was the essence of the negative side of being an elite member of the Garden of Death. The power of their poison was at the very peak of the level of poison they were resistant to, and meeting someone with an immunity to their poison, was their worst nightmare.
The two did not respond, and instead, dashed towards the green-robed cultivator with clear ill intentions.
The keeper of key and the black-robed cultivator tried to help the elite warrior, but their actions were often interrupted by the multiple attempts of the green-clothed cultivator to use his poison.
After a minute of clashing and battling, the keeper of key and the black robed cultivator were floating in space lifelessly, killed by the gradual intake of small portion of poison over and over again.. At the same time, the green-clothed cultivator was being held by the neck by Daniel's hand.
"Do you want to kill him?" Asked Aeron while looking at the struggling elite. His hands were wrapped around Daniel's wrist, and he was trying to free himself. Unfortunately, 'Time is Precious' allowed Daniel to maintain his grip regardless of how much time passed, thanks to the increased speed of recovery of his stamina and immortal essence.
Daniel turned to look at Aeron, and responded by saying "That was the plan. I thought we agreed on this."
"I'm just saying, we could just rob him, and let him go."
An argument quickly started between the two companions, and the elite member of the garden of death, left with no other choice, take the chance to call for help. So, while the two argued about his fate, he lowered his arms, and waited for the right moment.
"You know we were going to kill him. Why are you bothering me about it now that we are here?!" Said Daniel with a sheer annoyance which caused his hand to tighten even more.
The argument became more and more animated, to a point where Daniel and Aeron pointed their fingers at each other, and their voices became louder in intensity.
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO ALWAYS KILL EVERYBODY!" Shouted Aeron angrily from behind his mask. The topic of the discussion had turned from this specific occasion, to their past.
"WHY ARE YOU BRI-" *SPAH* Said Daniel before being interrupted by the noise of the bead in the elite's hand being shattered, and the appearance of cluster of poisonous mud in the space not too far away from them. ".. look at that. It worked. Told you this guy was an idiot."
Their plan had worked. To leave no hopes of survival to the lower level elite warrior, but to ask for the support of someone more powerful than him. They had given him the chance by pretending to argue about whether they should kill him, or not.
From the mud-like portal, an old woman walked out. Her face was covered in wrinkles, and her nose and chin were marked by two impressively big and hairy moles. The rest of her body was covered by a simple brown robe.
Despite the fact that Daniel was smiling, neither he or Aeron dared to underestimate this old woman, as she exuded the same power that Xargy himself possessed.
The old lady had come prepared to battle, but after seeing Daniel's face, she immediately recognized him. "So you are the one that has been attacking our faction.. To think that we wanted to take you in, and offer shelter from Iewah's faction.. So ungrateful."
After hearing the words spoken by the old lady, Daniel's smile widened, and said with confidence "Grandma, a poison master capable of killing me with their poison has yet to be born. You are no exception."
"Is that so.. Let's put this confidence to the test."
