With the surrounding stones around them trembling with each exchange they had, both Azrael and Zhang Tian smiles as they start enjoying the battle between the two of them, no longer are they treating each other like a teacher and a student, but rather both as a worthy adversary that will help them in achieving what they want.

Wind blows as hard as it can through every clash of the weapon the two of them are wielding, the towering man that is the Twisted Principality wielding a weighty spear barely parrying each blow that Azrael's sword delivers, the weight of his attack making the man smile in pride as he is well aware that this drastic increase in strength is the result of the grueling training that he practically forced this young man to do.

"You're getting stronger now, kid, just a little bit more…" feeling like the strength his opponent possesses is already way beyond what even the most talented existence in the tower can handle should they still be on the second floor of the tower, Zhang Tian still continues to feign disinterest all while he is smiling widely in his mind, for he not only bears witness to the growth of a new monstrous ascender that could possibly shake the entirety of the tower, but he also serves as one of the catalyst for this growth of his.

Meanwhile, hearing the mocking words of the man in front of him, Azrael merely smiles as if he completely believes the words uttered to him by the monster, his emotion not discouragement or despair but rather excitement, along with the determination to subjugate this monster that is the last wall that prevents him from ascending to the third floor of the Ethereal Tower.

"Don't regret it, old geezer…" despite the middle-aged appearance of this short-time, yet dedicated teacher of his, Azrael mocks as he starts gritting his teeth, the golden glow of his pupil making Zhang Tian feel like he is being scrutinized by a divine being waiting to pounce on him, a feeling that he never had even when he is standing right in front of the greatest powers of the Ethereal Tower.

[Golden Divine Eyes (S-Rank Growth-type Passive Skill)]

[Grants the ascender the ability to see through the true nature of everything that their eyes laid upon, revealing a hidden thing about their target, weaknesses not only in their material body, but also their soul, along with the technique they are using as well.]

[Effects: Reveal a certain amount of 'weakness' in the form of the opponent that the ascender is seeing, the 'weakness' being seen is not limited to individuals, useable against techniques and skills as well, the mental prowess required to utilize this skill being higher the larger the gap between the ascender and the designated target is.]

While he is feeling quite uncomfortable with his student's golden gaze, he also notices that the stable strength that his temporary student has starts increasing once more, skyrocketing to further heights seemingly reaching his level of power within just a moment.

Despite being a long-lived, often travelling individual that allows him to see the color, the very shape of the world and letting him see a lot of amazing things some of them even bordering the terrifying territory, this ancient monster still couldn't stop himself from feeling a shiver running down his spine as he witnesses a young man, not even a thousand years of age, an age that can be considered as a young infant by people of the same era as himself, starts reaching a strength that is well beyond the limit of the floor he is currently ascending on.

'Come to think of it, if he has this kind of strength, he should've conquered that weakling already, why is it that he still refuses to ascend to the next floor?' looking into the strength that this student of his possesses from when the two of them just met each other, Zhang Tian couldn't help but wonder as he felt like such strength from the young man is already more than enough for him to triumph over the Island Orca and ascend to the next floor without effort.

And that is even with him considering the fact that he could've grown stronger due to him felling the Island Orca, more than likely all by himself.

Knowing that it isn't anything that he could just ask the young man, as after all, each ascender do have secrets to keep for themselves and it is a sort of unspoken rule to respect that, the man then focuses more on the combat itself, the smile on his face getting wider and wider as he watches this student for a week of his beginning to push his old body further and further into the corner.

It has to be known that doing so is such a terrifyingly impressive feat that no one, literally none within the tower's lower floor reaches levels of strength and power similar to such.

'Heck, even fourth or fifth floor ascenders might get fucked up by him…' the monster thought to itself, having his eyes widen in quite the disbelief as he felt like this junior ascender had start rubbing his mannerism off him.

What amazes him even more is the fact that while this student of his is continuously putting pressure on him showcasing his absurd battle instincts, as well as his great control over his body to perform such precise and accurate attacks, he is also simultaneously keeping his Demonic Energy's destructive property on his body at bay as he focuses some of his attention to accelerating his flesh's regeneration, all in an attempt to prolong his safe exposure to the petrifying ability that his teacher possesses, said ability seemingly working on overclock now as never had he felt his body turning into stone with such speed and intensity before.

With this thought in his mind though, he becomes well aware that the only way for himself to get out of this situation is to finish this battle in one fell swoop, something that he had initially planned to do, given that his current state, along with all the strength and power that grows along it, is something that he can only maintain for a short minute.

"What the hell is this? We traded training the strength of your Demonic Transformation just so that you can last longer in that state… and now, you seem to be returning to that state again… so, how should I say this… was it uncivilized? Barbarous?"

Keeping his mocking tone for as long as possible, Zhang Tian asks again with a joking tone that goes over the young man' head along with the teasing that he is throwing.

"Hahaha, teacher, this might return to the same concept as that crude Demonic Transformation that I had previously, however, the result this time will be different from what happened back then"

The young man merely replies with a smile on his face as once again, he disappears into thin air, leaving not a single trace of his existence as he approaches the location of his target, his teacher, clearly wanting to fight doing all his best.

"This only last for a single minute before I start getting drained, teacher, please enjoy yourself with this!!" appearing right behind the towering middle-aged man, Azrael still felt like he had truly grown a massive amount after fighting and training against him, the fact alone that he can now sneak and surprise the person in front of him telling a ton of things of how efficient and effective his stealth and ambush skill is.

"Hahaha!!! Fine!! Great!! I shall treat it as a payment for my training!!" as he saw his student pointing the edge of his sword towards him, prompting him to lift up his heavy spear as well, his movements in quite the refined fashion/ Zhang Tian replied before he disappears from anyone's vision now.

With the only one in the surrounding being his opponent, the sole student he had ever taken, it is also this student of his that manages to detect his moves, along with his location, the young man, with quite the acute senses immediately moving his sword towards his sides as he heard a fast, piercing motion that seemingly tear apart even the air itself.

"Tsk, what a sharp sense…" seeing that his ambush fails, the Twisted Principality couldn't help but click his tongue, both in pleasant surprise and disappointment.

"You're just getting slower, Old geezer…" the young man said with a monotone, seemingly uncaring, borderline mocking tone, almost as if he is trying to get back at all the mockery that the Twisted Principality had sent towards his way previously.

As he said those words, the Evil Fang Sword in his hand starts letting out a loud, seemingly joyful shriek that sends shivers down to the spine of everyone who has the privilege, or rather, misfortune of hearing such disturbing sound.