Upon absorbing the fallen Eternal's essence, the other four's prowess strengthened drastically, even gaining slightly more than what they'd absorbed. Although the four of them together were slightly stronger than Saaruk at 10 percent of his prowess, individually, they were still relatively weak.
"To think a mere mortal would be able to defy us!" The remaining four Eternals were struck with unimaginable shock as they watched one of their own fall to Yuan. None of them had ever considered such a thing possible, so in their eyes, it was like watching a pig learning math.
"One down, four more to go!" Yuan laughed wildly as he immediately charged at their next Eternal.
"You merely got lucky because he underestimated you! Don't think it will happen again!"
The four Eternals fought in unison, each one covering the others' weaknesses as they pressed Yuan from all sides.
Sure enough, facing all four Eternals at once proved difficult. Yuan wasn't being overwhelmed, nor was he struggling, but he also couldn't instantly kill them the way he had the first. As a result, the battle dragged on.
Days turned into weeks, and after a full month of relentless clashes, Yuan finally found an opening.
Upon defeating one of the Eternals, its Eternal Essence was immediately drawn toward the remaining three. This time, however, Yuan didn't stand by and watch. Noticing that the absorption process was taking much longer than before, he seized the moment and absorbed a portion of the essence for himself.
"How dare a mortal covet our power!"
The remaining three Eternals erupted in fury as they watched Yuan absorb the Eternal Essence. To them, it was like witnessing a pig feast at a banquet reserved for gods.
"You mad? Then do something about it!" Yuan laughed in their faces as he continued to absorb the Eternal Essence.
"Kill him!"
Without pausing their absorption, the Eternals attacked Yuan, desperate to disrupt him. However, just like them, Yuan was fully capable of fighting and refining at the same time.
"How is it possible for a mortal to have such capabilities?!"
"He must've received help from another Eternal! That would explain everything!"
"Who! Which bastard is backing you?!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Yuan calmly responded to their speculation.
"Bullshit! There is definitely an Eternal or two helping you! Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to use our powers!" "To think an Eternal would stoop as low as helping a human! Shame on them!"
Yuan raised his eyebrows in a puzzled manner before speaking, "Aren't you lot also helping the Celestial Emperor?"
"Hahaha! We're not helping him! We're using him!"
"The Celestial Emperor is nothing more than a slave—merely a tool for realizing our ambitions!" the Eternal declared.
"Although the second Celestial Emperor is still lacking, he's much better than the first one. That ant was utterly useless. He tried to take advantage of the power we gave him to achieve his own ambitions, which led to his own death, even exposing our existence!"
"Hah!" Yuan let out a mocking snort. "Power? What power? The reason he was still weak even after receiving your so-called 'power' is because you barely have any to give."
Suddenly, the void shuddered violently as the Eternals completed their absorption, their auras erupting upward like a storm unleashed.
Although Yuan had taken a portion of the Eternal Essence, the remaining Eternals grew even stronger than before. It was as if absorbing one of their own didn't simply transfer power, but magnified it beyond its original limit.
Now, the three Eternals possessed a combined strength that surpassed Saaruk at ten percent of his power, reaching roughly fifteen percent—only five percent short of the point where Yuan had once been completely powerless.
However, Yuan's own strength had also risen sharply after absorbing the Eternal Essence. He would likely still lose to Saaruk at twenty percent of his true power, but he would no longer be as utterly helpless as before.
"You will die now!" The remaining three Eternals made their arrogant declaration as they bombarded Yuan with overwhelming Eternal Essence.
At this point, Yuan could still match their combined might, but only barely.
Because of the Eternals' massive size, it looked as though they were clashing at close range, but in reality, they were tens of thousands of miles apart.
Their attacks were fairly simple as well. They either condensed Eternal Essence into weapons and struck with those, or they directly fired their Eternal Essence like a cultivator attacking with spiritual energy.
Their strength was so absolute that the Eternals had no need for things like martial techniques. Such methods existed only for mortals, who relied on them to overcome their own shortcomings.
Of course, some Eternals specialized in certain elements, such as Shiva. However, in truth, any Eternal could do the same if they were willing to invest the time and effort. Yet most of them consider such things pointless—mere showmanship—and instead devote themselves to strengthening their raw power.
After all, every element or power in the universe was, at its core, Eternal Essence. Fire, water, lightning, poison… even basic Qi, Immortal Qi, and Celestial Qi—all of them, when broken down to their purest form, were simply essence.
Time flowed on as Yuan clashed with the Eternals, and in the blink of an eye, three more months passed. While the Eternals' strength remained unchanged, Yuan's own prowess continued to rise steadily as he familiarized himself with Eternal Essence.
After all, the Eternals he was fighting were, in the end, nothing more than creations of the Stairway to Heaven.
After another two months, Yuan finally managed to defeat another Eternal.
Now, there were just two remaining, and they wasted no time absorbing what the previous Eternal left behind.
"What's wrong? Now that there are only two of you left, you've become awfully quiet." Yuan suddenly remarked.
"..."
The Eternals did not respond, but their auras continued to swell. By the time they finished absorbing the essence, each one possessed nearly ten percent of Saaruk's prowess.