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Immortal Freeloader 169
🕑 Added 2024-10-26 03:50:01 +0000 UTCEven as the ship started to gather the power for an intense blow, I took a deep breath, preparing to build several formations if needed if they chose to attack with too much power. The power gathered for merely a second before being released.
It was an intense ray of light, almost pure Qi. It was also not as strong as I expected, merely double the strength of the one that they used to attack me when I had first come across them in misty mountains.
It was still a formidable attack, but the difference between the two attacks was nothing compared to the changes I had developed in the process. My body was brimming with power, enough that I was confident that I could resist the attack with my physical body and survive.
Not that I did that, of course. Just because I was stronger didn’t mean that I turned stupid. Trying to resist the attack was not only ridiculous, but also it would go a long way to ruin the sense of invincibility I was trying to build.
If I wanted to resist, I had a much better option in terms of the defensive formation. The attack had been scary when I was in a personalized flying boat — which, despite its Black rank quality, was still a Qi Gathering level artifact — but not when I was protected by a formation that was supported by a spirit vein.
But, I didn’t rely on that defense passively either. Instead, I responded with a gentle palm attack, one that resonated with the formation in a subtle way to enhance the attack. The intense light had circled around me, only to smash against the ship, targeting the barely fixed damaged section.
The defenses didn’t hold up, and a great gap shattered.
As the crew froze in shock, the flying boat sent five more attacks, every single one sent back with equal ease. I stayed floating, not following up with an attack, like I was amused by their attempts. “How quaint,” I declared with amusement.
The attack was impressive, but I just needed to interact with it a few times to catch its weaknesses, the biggest being the lack of control. It wasn’t an easy thing to reverse the attack of a cultivator, as the subdued Qi had followed their commands even outside their body.
The Qi cannon the ship was using didn’t have that, allowing me to manipulate it with ease.
My attitude made the Nascent Soul cultivator inside even angrier. “Attack,” he shouted, his voice twisting in fury.
However, he stayed on the ship, confirming my earlier guess about the Nascent Soul cultivators not being able to act with ease. I wanted to ponder about it more, but that decision was taken away from me in the form of several rays of light jumping outside the ship, turning into Golden Core cultivators.
The attacking cultivators came in two forms. One group was collected from the various sects as indicated by their robes, joining the initial twenty attackers, and raising their numbers to fifty. The second group was clad in ornate armor showing the sign of Treasure Pavilion, each one exuding a formidable presence that surpassed the others.
No wonder they were able to intimidate the other sects if they could employ cultivators of such strength.
The armored cultivators spread between the others, Qi gathering around them as they turned into a battle formation. I prepared myself to be rushed, but they did not.
Instead, another figure floated forward, an old man who was wearing an even fancier robe signaling that he was a part of the Treasure Pavilion. But, a glance at him was enough to show Providence dancing around him far more intensely.
No, dancing was not the right word. Prowling was a better idea. It was a complicated, messy battle, where Providence of his own was fighting hard to keep him concealed from the heavens.
He also looked exhausted, showing that whatever he did earlier took an intense toll on him. No wonder he was that angry. “I’ll make you regret standing in front of me,” he growled in fury.
“Really, little merchant,” I responded in a way that would make him truly furious. Everything I had seen about the cultivators showed that they truly disdained merchants, to the point that calling them truly angered him. “You think the pathetic pawns you have here would allow you to stand against your betters,” I added.
My taunting was not without a reason. At this point, a battle was inevitable, but the Nascent Soul cultivator seemed to be still confident of his victory. Angry and confident was a good way to get some ideas.
“You think your meager power makes you invincible in this pathetic lower world,” he shouted even as the Golden Core cultivators formed around him to turn into a devastating weapon of battle. “You will regret it if you don’t kneel down and apologize.”
I laughed at his words, hoping that it would prompt him to reveal more. His calling this place a lower world was alone valuable information, one that I theorized but lacked confirmation.
My understanding of the conflict between the two Providence twisted into a new understanding, but not just due to his words. Earlier, during my breakthrough, the burst of power had distinctly come from the depths of the earth, while his attempt to punish me had come from the sky. Combined with the way he dismissed this ‘world’ and the old information about the cultivators suddenly appearing, it made sense.
The old martial artists' records didn’t have any record of cultivators, because they hadn’t existed in this world beforehand.
Then, I made another connection. Cultivators didn’t belong to just one other world, but many worlds. Admittedly, it was more of a wild connection, but that assumption was based on the way the System worked. Everything it provided to me, including the martial arts, it was based on the perspective of the cultivators.
Meanwhile, the ancient martial arts didn’t even register.
Of course, that raised many questions about the real source of the System, which could be some kind of weapon that was developed by high-ranking cultivators, or a weapon by another world, targeting cultivators. But, that question, I left the wayside and focused on my enemy.
“Why, because your little pathetic battle formation is too threatening?” I said, looking dismissive. “I can shatter it with a mere breath. I can see every single weakness that the pathetic structure has.”
However, I was bluffing. Battle formations were different than actual formations despite the name. It was better to call them collaborative cultivation techniques more than anything else, using the coordination of many elements to create impenetrable defense and overwhelming attacks.
“What a terrible attempt to lie. To think that you can see through the ever-changing nature of the Treasured Golden Army formation? Preposterous.”
I paused for a moment, hoping for a trigger from the System. There was none, meaning that the explanation was too short to trigger a response from the System. It was bad. But, I decided to take another risk. “You think I can’t see it? What a sad misconception of a man who had never met a true genius,” I responded, feeling absurd. I had seen the other cultivators posturing from time to time, but I hadn’t been planning to be done. “How about a bet?”
“What bet?” he said.
“That I can point every little weakness in your pathetic battle formation, of course,” I said.
“And, if you can’t?”
“I’ll cut my own head. I swear on my ancestors,” I replied proudly. It meant nothing to me, of course, but the nascent soul cultivator flinched. They seemed to care a lot about their family reputation … that, or they were afraid that one of them was actually alive and return to punish them.
Either way, it seemed to be enough to trigger him. “You think you can see the ever-changing nature of its surface, allowing me to combine the power of every single cultivator to a single point in perfect elemental harmony!” he added, dismissive. “What a pathetic statement for a Nascent Soul cultivator.”
He was right. Unfortunately, in his anger, he let control of his cultivation. The explanation he had was equally short, but his loosened control meant that his words conveyed a rough impression of the technique, not unlike a jade slip.
It was a small mistake. Unfortunately for him, I had the System to compound that mistake several times.
[Cultivation Difference Bonus - 360; Insult Bonus - 460 (Capped)]
[820x Return - Treasured Golden Army Battle Formation - Beginner, Perfection]
I just needed to decide whether triggering it was worth the risk of alerting him, or it was better to taunt him further.
Comments
Joe
168?
Loki666
What happens to chapter 168?
Asuran Fun
Where is chapter 168?
