Unfathomable Senior
Chapter 81
Matt was close to Spirit Spring city, bringing up his status screen, his brows were furrowed and his face was showing a frown.
Name :Zhang DongAffiliation :Zhang ClanSpirit Points : 223267Cultivation Base Qi :Core Formation [Late Stage 2 %] (Empowered Lightning Core)Cultivation Base Body :Core Formation [Late Stage 7 %] (Golden Body)Techniques :Empowered Lightning Qi cultivation art, Golden Body Arts, Thunderlight Sword, Thunder Movement Art...Dao : Dao of Heavenly Lightning, Dao of Smithing and CraftingOther : Senior Aura, Impartation of Knowledge, Mentor's Eyes, Apprisal...
There was a big problem there, three weeks had passed and he had gained a small number of points. The plan was to find a breeding ground of some demonic beasts or insect-like beasts. He was aiming for creatures like ants, that multiplied rapidly, aiming for quantity instead of quality after failing to find anything at the core formation level. He did find a burrow of some termite looking monsters after a while, there were many of them but soon a problem arose. He wasn't getting any points, he stopped getting points for creatures below the 12th Qi condensation level and for those he got 1 point.
All the spirit points for foundation establishment beings also dropped by half or more, so killing monsters or anything for points became a hassle. This all happened after he reached the late stage, if he knew this he would just remain at 99% and wipe out some insect monster nests for quick points.
*God fucking dammit, I screwed myself over...*
He scoured the surroundings for more monsters to hunt, but due to his increased level, the mobs just kept running away. He couldn't hide that much due to the fact that his aura was radiating out as he flew on his sword. If he didn't fly around, he wouldn't get anything done as the world was vast and the distances between places were ridiculous. In the end, he managed to get some cores and demonic beasts at the foundation level, but not nearly enough to get to one million points.
There were some points though, he could get some battle skills to up his powers. He found one that would work nicely in tandem with his avatar form and his golden body.
Spiritual Condensing [Earth Perfect Grade ] This skill lets the cultivator compress his spiritual energy into his body, works well with techniques that exude aura or enlarge the user via energy constructs. It compresses the energies to bring out a dramatic increase in both power and speed. It can't be sustained for a long period of time, or the cultivator might suffer a backlash.
This looked like a skill that would work well with his avatar form. So he bought it and immediately tested it out. His body ballooned up past what he was able to achieve in his avatar form while being in the mid-stage of core formation. After reaching his maximum height he activated the condensing skill, his avatar form started shrinking and shrinking giving out strange crumpling sounds in the process. After reaching about two meters it stopped, he looked like a miniature version of his avatar form but he could already feel a difference.
He did some side dashes, utilizing his movement technique. But due to his now increased stats, he misjudged where he would end up as he did the sidestep. He promptly ended up hitting the side of a big boulder, pulverizing the stationary object in the process. You could see a deep blue glowing energy being walking out from the crushed boulder, lightning energy crackling with each step he made.
*Okay, this will take some time getting used too.*
He did a couple more tests, utilizing various attacking skills and defensive ones as he tried to feel out his new form. But after a couple of minutes he felt drained, his new form started flickering as he had trouble of keeping the two techniques stacked together, finally going down to one knee and panting.
*Damn, the power increase is there but I can't keep it up for long.*
His hands felt twitchy and he could see his veins pulsating on his forearm, he felt that if he kept the form up for too long that his veins would start bursting from inside. The power and speed increase was immense, this was a trump card that could be used scarcely. He tried using the technique without the avatar form, it made his frame flicker with energy. The drain on his stamina was lessened but the increase in power and speed was lowered as well.
Just as the explanation said, the skill forcefully stopped his energies from leaving his body. Condensing them together for a short term power explosion. Matt also felt that the backlash was milder than it should be, this was probably due to his body refining skill that made him quite sturdy. Probably without it, he would be covered in his own blood by now.
*Damn, buying these skills without proper training isn't that smart. If I got this thing in the middle of the battle, I could burst like a tomato.*
He wanted to get more skills to get more powerful, he also wanted to save the points for his advancement. He thought he was covered in most places, he wished he could get some healing skills but without the holy element, he couldn't use them that well. He even tried using the Zhang clan healing arts but he found another problem. Besides his lightning affinity that was in the S grade, all the other elemental affinities were of the F grade. He would need to study up on the other elemental daos if he wished to use them.
*Guess this is the downside with a specialized build...*
Heavenly Lightning Terrain [Earth Grade Perfect ]This technique creates a limited field around the user, passively discharging lightning energies that damage the opponents without affecting the user. The field fills the area with lightning qi thus lowering the battle power of enemies that aren't versed in the lightning dao.
This skill worked well with the new one he got and with all of his other skills. It was more or less an active buff to all of his skills, all of his attacks would be empowered in this field while the people that he fought would get a debuff and even receive damage over time effects.
He was back at the Zhang Clan compound, his edgy army had just left the pocket dimension and was packing up. Luckily due to the spatial ring technology, there wasn't really much to carry around, so they just needed to say their goodbyes before heading out. The trip to the secret ground would take about a week so they had to leave now.
He had all of his things in his ring as well, he looked at the people that were hugging their family members. Some were crying, some were cheering their elder brothers and sisters on. Some looked angry, some looked dejected there were various expressions plastered on their faces.
Zhang Jin was standing next to him, not saying much as the two looked on. After some time, Zhang Kuo came to report that everything was ready and they could depart at any moment.
"It's time to leave..."
Matt said with a solemn tone, then nodded at Zhang Kuo the man just bowed before leaving. Matt looked to his elderly grandpa, this time it was he who placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Well, I'll leave the place to you, don't stay up all night bothering the ladies old man."
"Hah, leave it to this Zhang Jin I'll protect the city while you are away!"
Zhang Jin just smirked, giving his grandson a nod as the two parted. The defensive formation has been upgraded slightly as well during Matt's upgrading spree, so it could work for months at maximum output. The clan would be safe for some time, but how long they would be gone was still a mystery.
Zhang Dong hopped up onto the large dragon head on the front part of the ship, while Zhang Zhi and some other clan members remained at the helm. He could see the citizens from the city along with the other clan members sending them off, they were bowing and waving while also cheering. The junior members were doing the same, they toughened up during the training a bit but still, you could see some tears in their eyes during the departure.
"Okay everyone, I want you all to reinforce your cultivation further, the trip will take about a week."
His tranquil mind technique had spread through the clan, so even though everyone was nervous they could keep a sharp mind. The days passed and the surroundings started changing, the trip was quite uneventful most of the creatures that wanted to try their luck were quickly dispatched by the Patriarch that seamed more than willing to deliver a killing blow to anything that came close to striking distance. His officers offered their services as they didn't want their clan leader to do all the dirty work, but their offer was refused. They only heard something about having to get more points while the lightning bolts rained down from within the ship. The junior members looking on in awe as they felt the strong energy fluctuations from those lightning strikes.
The other people didn't want to bother their Patriarch, so they just cultivated in peace. There wasn't much talking on the way there as everyone concentrated on getting stronger, each second counted. Soon enough they arrived at their destination and could already see some other flying ships stationed in the area.
The entrance to the secret area was close to a mountain range. The thing was shaped like a huge cylinder and it stretched right into the heavens going past the clouds. It was huge as a mountain, how it looked reminded Matt of tower dungeons that had levels to them. Maybe you climbed it as you passed the trial?
They weren't the first to arrive, but they weren't the last. They came to a stop, the people that were already there looked at them but everyone was still sitting on their own flying ships not descending down. Matt could see some people down below though, they were wearing the dark palm insignia on their back. They were probably waiting for everyone to arrive first before ordering them to move, they needed all ten groups to take part in the expedition.
While they were waiting, Matt took his time to look at the other core formation participants from the group. The closest group to them had a red-haired man sitting in a throne, he was drinking wine and some beauties were serving him food. You could see his muscular chest as it was only covered by a vest that was open and had fur at the collar area. He didn't even react when he was getting stared at and was enjoying himself, he didn't look like someone that was forced to come here.
There were two ships with the same insignias, they looked like firebirds making Matt think about a phoenix. More than likely this clan was a fire-based one, when he looked to the other side he just saw more regular old uncle looking cultivators with more ships as well. There were multiple core formation cultivators there, there probably weren't many downtrodden clans like the Zhang clan that came with just one flimsy core formation Patriarch.
The other clans gave them some attention, mostly because everyone on their ship was wearing a strange looking battle robe that gave them a ferocious look. The time started passing as everyone waited, the dark palm sect people looked a bit annoyed as they waited. With his increased hearing Matt could hear what they were talking about, apparently, everyone was here besides one clan that was taking their sweet time.
"Well that clan Matriarch is a bit... but she will be here, if she didn't turn down the young master, she wouldn't be here. Such a shame, she is quite the looker."
One of the dark palm elders said while chuckling to another member of his clan. Speaking of the devil, the moment the sect members started talking a large flying ship appeared. It was very long and had many white sails all around it, light green energy was radiating off it and you could feel the dao of the wind coming off it. Matt craned his neck to take a peek, he noticed that most of the people on the large ship were females. He tried focusing on the strongest person there, looking for core formation members he managed to spot two.
The weaker signal was coming from an older looking lady, she looked quite docile and was wearing a modest robe. The only thing out of the ordinary was that she looked like a baked potato. Matt opened his eyes wide, quickly looking through the people on that ship his eyebrows twitching. He looked at the woman next to the baked potato elder, she had a healthy tan to her and she was wearing a short light green robe with ample cleavage showing and she had quite a lot to show there. The female was quite curvacious but that wasn't the interesting part, her nails were long her hair was light pink and she had a lot of makeup on.
*Is... is that a Gyaru...?*
Matt looked through the females on the flying ship, they all had bleached hair and tanned bodies. The makeup looked funny on some while fitting on some others. They all were showing some amount of skin and looked like typical 'gals' with the strange-looking hairdos. The girls had facial accessories like shiny things plastered close to their eyes that didn't go well with the overused mascara and eye-shadow. He went back to staring at the Matriarch, she wasn't as overdone as the rest of them having the makeup fit her face giving her a more mature look.
Before he could examine the woman further he felt an oppressive force wash over the whole area. He never felt something like this before, he got goosebumps and started feeling weak. He felt like someone stuck underwater, trying to breathe but not being able to. This was the first time Matt experienced an aura superior to his own, this was indeed someone in the nascent soul!
"Feng Clan, you are late!"
For people not knowing what a Gyaru is, it's kind of a subculture in Japan where the girls get really tanned, put on large amounts of makeup and bleach their hair. Probably best to google it for pictures, its a prominent look in manga and anime there too.
Also made a discord https://discord.gg/QZ5rpuC Though not sure what I'm doing there xD
Unfathomable Senior
Chapter 82
This was truly an uncomfortable feeling, Matt felt like puking as the suppressive force crushed into him. His clan members were worse off than him as they started collapsing onto the ground, not being able to hold on. The oppressive force vanished soon after and a floating person appeared. He was floating right in front of them, his hands behind his back while his back was straight up.
"Our sincere apologies Grand Elder Guo, we were attacked by some beasts on our way here."
The older woman said while cupping her fists and bowing before the dark palm sect elder. The woman next to her just turned her head to the side, seemingly annoyed by the whole thing which made the older one sweat bullets not wanting to offend a nascent soul expert. Elder Guo just floated in the air, he was a baldy with a long goatee and a really wrinkled up face.
"I see that your Matriarch hasn't learned her lesson yet, you're lucky that time is of the essence."
The woman was quite lovely looking and had a high cultivation level while being fairly young just having turned thirty-nine, though she looked like she was in her early twenties. A woman like this would have many suitors from strong clans going after her, even though her complexion was a less desired one than the pale one. She mostly found the old masters disgusting and the younger ones kept giving her perverted looks, so she always turned them down.
One day she caught the eye of a young dark palm sect master, this wasn't any regular member but the son of the sects Patriarch. She, of course, didn't want to have anything to do with him, finding his character not up to par with her standards. Her clan members couldn't force her to marry the man even if they wanted to as she was their Matriarch. The sect started blackmailing the whole clan after a while, culminating in the matriarchal clan being recruited for this expedition that had a very low chance of succeeding. This was seen as a way of getting rid of the person that didn't give them face, without having to get their own hands dirty in the process.
Matt didn't know any of this though, he was just staring at the people that clearly had some bad history. Soon the nascent soul elder went deeper into the mountain, ordering the clans to disembark. He had scanned the nascent soul cultivator, finding out that he was only in the early stage. The area was littered with tents and hastily constructed buildings, the dark palm Sect cultivators were all over the place. There were many core formation cultivators around, even more, foundation establishment ones making Matt wonder why they even had the clans do their dirty work for them if they had so many resources.
He was a bit surprised after seeing the gyaru ship, even the old elder lady looked peculiar with a lot of makeup and glitter on. Due to him staring so much, the leader of that ship finally noticed him. He kind of froze at the moment their eyes met, the woman took a look at him and then moved her index finger right below her right eye. She then stuck her tongue out at him, while closing her left eye and pulling down her the lower eyelid under her right eye. Matt didn't know how to react so he just remained in place, the woman moved away after a while after having stuck her tongue out at him.
*Well... that was a bit strange...*
After the strange reaction the woman gave him, Zhang Dong waved his hand forward, giving the signal to disembark. They all jumped down from the airship, only a couple of Zhang Clan members would remain on it, waiting for their people to return later. Their clan did turn a lot of heads though, the peculiar-looking robes that they were using were quite unusual in the eyes of the other cultivators. The youths inside the robes puffed out their chests and took long strides forward as they followed their Patriarch, fear wasn't something that they felt now. They just wanted to bring honor to their families and return safely.
It didn't take that long to arrive in front of the humongous tower, they all looked up but couldn't see the end, clouds were just blocking off the view. There was a large gate in front with some cryptic writings above it, it was mostly faded away and unreadable. From what Matt could decipher it had something written about chains and unity, but couldn't really decipher it further.
Inside the 'tower' there were more people, there was a wide corridor and on the walls, you could see many murals depicting some fighting between beasts and people. Torches lined the passage, only the footsteps of people could be heard as everyone walked forward without saying much. Not like they didn't want to talk, but they were getting escorted by the core formation sect members with the nascent soul grand elder in the front, so they didn't really want to say anything that could offend the man.
After a while they came up to another large door, this one had more ancient writing on it. To the side were some stairs, they lead to the 'testing' area that would teleport them somewhere. Matt looked around the place, it looked really old but the large door did indeed give of immortal grade fluctuations. It looked more like a giant castle gate than a door, this was probably the one that had the immortal grade treasures behind it.
"Listen up, soon we will arrive. You all will be handsomely rewarded for your participation, as agreed you can keep anything up to the heaven grade from the secret ground. If you find anything in the immortal grade you are to relinquish it, you will get payed in spirit stones instead."
The people in the room rolled their eyes at the mention of the immortal grade items. They knew that if they tried to take something like that out of here, they would get eradicated by this overbearing sect. The number of spirit stones that they would offer would probably also be a scam. But not like they could do much about it, might made right in this world. At most they could hope for some immortal grade pills that they could swallow before leaving.
You could cut the tension in the air with a knife, the dark palm sect continued with their self-righteous mumbo jumbo. Some clans were here on their own volition, but there were also clans like the Zhang and Feng that were forced to participate. Matt sure hoped that the clans with various agendas wouldn't start fighting against each other in there. He was thinking about a couple of possible outcomes after the initial teleportation but wasn't sure which one it would be. He sure hoped that it wouldn't be one of those battle royale settings.
*Well, I did all I could and this system is even denying me more points now...*
He looked at his Chūnibyō corps, he was the only one wearing a white robe which made him stick out like a sore thumb amongst them. He wanted to give them a pep talk, but couldn't really interrupt the sect elders monologue. Soon they were led up to the platform room, there were ten of them. The platforms were circular in shape and had many runic patterns scraped into them, making it look like something magical.
"Remember your training everyone, don't forget that we are all with you."
Matt said after they finally had some time to talk, the other clan members exchanged some small talk. You could see people patting each other on the shoulders, some girls holding their hands while preparing for the unknown. They all could very well die in there, get teleported to different places and never see each other again. Matt walked over to his two disciples, trying to get some weight off their shoulders.
"Listen to your superiors when we are inside, don't worry I'll be with you as well."
The two nodded, they were wearing the masks already so he couldn't really see their facial expressions but thanks to his tranquil mind skill, he was sure that they were keeping their cool. These siblings were quite tough even though they were so young, he felt that if they made it through this in one piece they would probably soar to new heights. Matt was trying to play it cool, but he also felt butterflies in his belly. This was it, everyone was ready and the dark palm sect elder was slowly walking up to activate the teleportation mechanism.
"Remember, this is a test created by the immortal Senior that design this secret ground. Any forms of contact with the outside will be blocked so you will be on your own once inside. You will get rewarded accordingly when you return."
*Guess this is it, I should be able to take down anything up to the great circle level, there shouldn't be anything above that level in there, right?*
He thought that the enemies inside shouldn't be above a certain level due to only allowing people of the core formation to go inside. It would be quite unfair if they made ten core formation cultivators fight a nascent soul one inside, they would just get squashed like bugs. He looked at the dark palm sect member walk to the center, there was a strange-looking console there. The man placed his hand on it and then closed his eyes.
The console started glowing, slowly illuminating the room with it as rune-like patterns started appearing on the platforms everyone was standing in. The floor slowly lit up, going from one platform to another as the contraption got activated. The people started hearing a buzzing sound each time a platform got fully lit up, the ground looked like some kind of magical circle. After each podium got activated Matt felt a strange sensation wash over his body, more light covered all of the people around him and the scenery around started getting blurry. Finally, everything went dark as the people vanished from the spots they were standing in, the sect members just looked at the vacant platforms and snorted.
"Are the new communication treasures responding?"
A couple of people walked out from the shadows and approached the console the grand elder was standing in. Truth be told the sect didn't expect much from these backwater clan members, the plan was to let them go inside the testing grounds just so that they could test out some measuring equipment they had some of the clan members carry inside. They wanted to get some information about what was happening inside before sending their own people in to actually complete the whole task.
The sect members brought out some communication jade slips, trying to connect to the ones that were inside the secret ground. Then they brought out some other magical items, their brows wiggling a bit as they shook their head to the elder.
"No response for now grand elder, we will need to wait and see if a signal comes through later."
"I see..."
Elder Guo rubbed his chin, not really expecting anything from this test run. They were poking inside an old immortal's secret ground, it was reasonable to assume that if they wanted to communicate they would probably need items in the immortal grade. They used some high-grade items this time around, but it seemed that it wasn't working either. Now they had to think if it would be wise to send their own people without knowing what was inside.
"Very well, keep sending the signals maybe one will go through."
He didn't think that the idiots that were stuck inside would amount to anything. They were either ones guided by greed or weaklings that couldn't defend themselves like the Zhang clan. This was survival of the fittest, the sect was trying to protect their own assets first. They didn't see a problem in sending some treasure hungry cultivators to their doom if it furthered their own agenda.
At this time Matt felt like he was riding a rollercoaster, the teleportation was a lot different than what he expected. It wasn't instantaneous and he felt like he was getting tossed around like a ragdoll. His feet suddenly landed on the ground, he had to muster up all his strength just not to fall down to his knees, cold sweat covering his back.
"Where did we end up?"
He looked around, the area he was in was a forest, not something that he was expecting. There was one problem though, there was no 'we' here. He looked left and right, he even jumped up high to see if he could spot someone from his clan or from another one. There was no one here though, he spread his spiritual sense outwards trying to scan for life forms but could feel it getting blocked by something he couldn't really see past a kilometer from where he was standing.
"Damn, if everyone got split up the team training and the formation training was pointless..."
He facepalmed and then got ready to take his flying sword out to see if he could find someone. There was another problem though, the blasted spatial ring wasn't opening the same thing that blocked his spiritual sense was cutting off the access to his items. He had everything in there along with provisions, weapons, change of underwear. Luckily he was at least wearing his longsword at his waist and he had ordered everyone to take out their weapons before arriving, just wanting to be ready if a fight broke out. But other than that, he had nothing. All his healing pills, magical items that he saved up for this expedition were in his ring.
"I've made a huge mistake..."
Come join the discord, we have uncomfortable silence https://discord.gg/GDTwD4P
Unfathomable Senior
Chapter 83
Matt took out his sword, ready for a fight not knowing if anything would jump out at him from the bushes. This reminded him of the forest area where he was transported to this world in the beginning. He wasn't in an open field now though, but deep in the forest which looked more like a rain forest than a regular one. The trees were quite high and thick, blocking the sunlight with their large leaves.
*Where am I anyway, why is there a sky in here, am I in that big tower?*
He tried scanning the surroundings with his senses again and picked up some life signs, but something was messing with his abilities so he couldn't really tell if it was a human being or not. He brought up his system map to check, but after pulling it up he just got an error message.
Error Error System map is being blocked by an outside source Error Error
*Wasn't this supposed to be some kind of super system, why isn't it working in here?*
He wanted to give his system window a smack but he would just be slapping the air. He also tried using his crafting abode but was constantly getting the nearby enemy prompt. It never went away though, making him think that the system might be considering this whole secret ground an enemy of some kind. The second option would be, that it was getting blocked like all the other system functions by the unknown force.
He decided to check the nearest life signal in the area, hoping that it was some of his clan members. He wouldn't take any chances though, he was ready for a fight. He hid his aura as much as possible and started sneaking with the sword in his hand already drawn and ready to slice and dice. There were some nice footwork manuals that his clan had, not everything required water elemental affinity so he could use some of the neutral ones.
His feet shuffled in a pattern as he moved closer, even if he stepped on some twigs they wouldn't snap alerting any enemies to his location. He came up to a big tree and could feel that the thing that he felt was on the other side, he could even sense some movement from it. He slowly wiggled next to the tree, trying to not get spotted by the potential enemy and peeked out to check.
*Wait... is that a... Goblin?*
Yes, it was something that Matt knew well, it was a creature that was a popular mob in a lot of games and novels alike. The goblin came up to his waist and was quite thin, it had a protruding belly and was wearing only a moist loincloth to cover its nether regions. It had no boots as you could see the calluses on its feet, the nails looked more like claws. It was carrying a short sword that was rusty and probably would break the moment it hit something hard. The other interesting thing besides that it was a goblin, was the system indication above its head.
Common Goblin (Formation Establishment Late stage) [ Summoned creature ]
*Why is a trash goblin mob in the formation establishment stage, even in the late one...and what is that summoned part?*
It was still weak, he could take it on without any problems but how would his clan members fair when the strongest person was at the great circle of foundation establishment. He really hoped that his clan members were sent to some other spot with weaker enemies if they run into a big group of these goblins they would get wiped out. While thinking about that he scanned the area, there were no other life signals close by so he decided to test things out.
He came out of his hiding spot, letting the Goblin spot him wondering what the creature would do. Would the thing gauge his superior battle aura and run away? Or would it blindly attack him instead? It did the latter part, it's beady eyes going red and it just charged at the larger man that was holding a sword. Matt didn't falter while just waiting, the monster charged jumping upwards and grasping its weapon with both hands as it brought it down with an overhead swing. The goblin was flying through the air, focused on its enemy but suddenly the man in front of it vanished. Appearing right next to it, the thing was mid-jump so it couldn't really stop itself now.
Matt slashed upward with his sword in a lazy fashion, cutting off the weaker goblins head. The creature's momentum sent it crashing into a tree, its head went flying upwards and landed a couple of meters away from the fallen lower-body.
Common Goblin Slain ( Formation Establishment Late stage ) Earned 5 Spirit Points.
"What? How was that only 5 points?"
He wasn't sure if the system was just lowering his point count due to his cultivation level, or if he was getting fewer points because of the monsters having that 'Summoned' part in the name.
"This thing acted like a game monster, the moment I got into its line of sight it got aggroed."
He rubbed his chin and then poked the dead body with his sword, wondering if this thing would have a beast core in it. But after a few moments the body started vanishing into light bubbles, nothing remained beside the used up loincloth and the sword that the creature was welding. Matt looked at the chipped weapon, getting surprised that it was a mortal graded item and even at the middle level. It looked like trash but was apparently deadly.
"This is bad if my clan members get jumped by these things..."
He started to worry, this goblin looked weak but was carrying good gear and could hold its own against a foundation establishment cultivator his Qi condensation juniors were in trouble if they were scattered around this palace as well. Time was of the essence so he decided to search for his team members, he wanted to take the rusted weapon that could be used as resources but couldn't put it into his storage ring.
He started running into more goblins, taking care of them with his sword skills. There was a problem though, the further he went into the forest and killed more of these trash mobs, the less he knew where he was. The area was covered with bushes and greenery so he had no way of telling where he was, his system map didn't work and his aura detection technique was getting blocked as well.
*Damn, I should have learned some regular tracking skills...am I running around in circles?*
He brought up his system window, but he couldn't use the cash shop either getting the same error message as before. This showed him how reliant on the system he really was. Before coming here he thought that if he ran into some trouble, he would just spend some points on some skills or items and that would be it. But now, he was left with only a sword in hand and couldn't even use his storage ring to get anything out.
*Guess next time I'll get a backpack...*
He thought while slicing the thick bushes with his sword using it like a machete to get through. The further he went in, the more goblins he came across, they were variations of the creatures. There were warrior variants, scouts and archers making him feel like he had changed genres and was now in an RPG world and not in a xianxia one. The goblins weren't the only things in here though, there were your typical slime monsters that spit acid at you, snake monsters that looked like vines. Luckily his detection skill still worked it just had limited range, so he could tell when something was trying to hide and pounce on him.
*Still, the monsters aren't giving me many points...*
He didn't get much more from even the warrior gobbos that were in the great circle stage, just between 6-10 points for them. He would need to kill hundreds of thousands of those things to get his upgrade at this rate, but he had other things to worry about. Where were his people? Was there something to eat around here? He had no water or food, though being a core formation expert he would last a couple of months without that by just meditating. Still, he would feel hungry and parched, he needed to at least find some water. This was a rain forest area so there shouldn't be a problem, it was even raining already.
He finally saw some light as he was walking out of the forest, he could see a narrow river and some rocks that lead into a hill. In that hill, he spotted a cave, something he could use as he didn't want to be stuck in this rain all day. It was also getting dark, so he headed inside. He was sure that there would be some kind of monster living in there, though he hoped that there wasn't goblin poop all over the floor.
Large Fang Bear ( Core formation early stage ) [ Summoned creature ]
He got startled a bit, this was a core formation creature but he could still handle it. The monster growled at him and tried charging as it used its huge body to attack him. The cultivator just gathered his spiritual energy into his longsword and held it in a somewhat fencing position, he then thrust it forward releasing a condensed shockwave from the tip that punctured a hole in the monster's head.
*These things sure like to charge at you with no plan eh? and only 500 points for that thing?*
The bear dropped dead instantly, the glowy lights forming from it as it vanished into the ether. Matt wondered if everything in this dungeon area was a summoned creature, maybe he would have to find himself some fruits or berries to sustain himself. Also, he needed water, though that problem was solved by the clear spring that was close to this cave that he was in. It was still raining and was getting cold, the inside of the cave didn't lead anywhere, the only things he found inside were bones from some animals which made him think that some of them could be eaten and hunted.
He had been trekking for two days now, there was a day and night cycle and some strange creatures came out at night. He was concerned about his people, but even after spending the entire previous day and night, he still couldn't find anyone. This place was huge and he couldn't use his flying sword so he had to move on foot, there was also another problem.
When he tried to use his range javelin skill, throwing it high into the air. It started flickering and dissipating after about 100 meters. He wanted to see if this palace had a ceiling or if perhaps someone would notice his attack from afar. But due to this, he noticed that ranged attacks would fizzle up prematurely. Cultivators that were dependant on long-range skills would probably be severely weakened. The spiritual energy seamed to weaken the moment it left the cultivator, he was lucky that he always could go back to his body refining skill which left him unscathed from most attacks.
*Guess I'll stay here for the night.*
He wasn't sure how long he was in here, but it had been at least a day. He spotted some bamboo and having the knowledge of survival videos on his side, he knew exactly what to do. He found himself a sturdy looking bamboo pole and sliced it up so that the segmented parts weren't damaged. He then poked a hole on one side, which would be used for drinking while the bottom was left untouched. He was surprised at how sturdy the bamboo was, guess it was some special spirit bamboo. He also used the bamboo narrow top part as a cork to the bottle so that the water wouldn't spill outside and ended the whole construction with wrapping vines around it so that he could even carry it over his shoulder.
He filled it up, but before drinking, he examined the water wondering if he'd catch some parasites if he drunk it. Luckily for him, it looked clean and this bamboo was quite special as well, as it could resist his lightning energy somehow and was partly heat resistant. He could heat it up like an electric tea kettle, which meant that he could even make some tea if he found some good leaves. For now, he just drunk the boiled water and meditated, he didn't want to stay here for longer than he needed as he still was lost. He couldn't find anyone and he was even meeting core formation monsters from this point on.
The night went by without much happening, so he filled up his water bottle and went further in. He started running into stronger and stronger monsters the more he traveled, there was quite an abundance of core formation monsters now. They weren't giving him many points though, but not like he could spend it on much at the moment with the cash shop closed. After three more days of travel, he felt something. There was a large gathering of life signals in a spot about a kilometer away from his position, from the type of the signal he reasoned that it were probably goblins but there was one that was a lot stronger than the others.
"Is it a boss? Maybe a goblin king?"
He couldn't really tell as he was still far away, so he slowed his pace and hid his aura sneaking up at the goblin encampment. He shuffled up getting closer and closer while almost falling to his doom as there was a large river below him while the goblins were on the other side, separated by a deep chasm. He could see their dwellings built into the side of the chasm, there were stairs leading up where he could see more of the green skins. They were gathering in a spot and they looked like there were preparing a feast with a large cauldron in the middle.
But then he noticed something, there was a different life signal coming from there, it felt like a human. He used his enhanced vision to zoom in on the area, spotting a person there. This person was getting carried by two larger looking goblins, though they looked more like a hobgoblin. The person had their hands and feet bound to a large log and the monsters were carrying them out like a hunted deer. He could see the person's status, so he knew that they were alive, so he would help them. This was the first human that he came across after almost a week of traveling alone, maybe they had some answers. Also, he wouldn't just let the monsters eat someone if he could stop it.
Unfathomable Senior
Chapter 84
The chasm was about five hundred meters wide, Matt reasoned that he should be able to jump this distance if he took a good running start. Before engaging the enemies he took his time to examine the situation, he could still see the levels and names of the monsters thanks to his system and analyzing skill.
*Okay, there are a lot of the small goblins everywhere... don't really have to worry about those...*
Besides a large number of regular goblins, he could see some hobgoblin warriors they ranged from the early to middle stages of core formation. There were also a couple of goblin shamans around also in that power range, probably those were the long-range caster types perhaps they could heal their monster allies as well. There was also a really fat looking hobgoblin with a stained apron by that large cauldron, looking like a green lunch lady. The strongest goblin from the bunch was a chieftain class and was in the late stage, he was sitting in a large throne-like chair not doing much besides looking at the human that was getting carried and about to get cooked.
*Don't see anyone in the great circle, so it should be okay... But I was wrong about them acting like game mobs. They are somewhat organized and even brought in a living human to eat. *
The goblin encampment was large, they had buildings and towers placed in front of the wide chasm. The area from the other side was walled off by a simple wooden log wall, sharpened spiked logs were shoved into the ground so that other monsters couldn't just charge into it. They had some shacks acting as buildings past that wall but by the way that gorge was looking, they had burrowed into the landscape as Matt saw openings and lights coming out of the side of that fissure. There were logs inserted into the rocky side, allowing the goblins to move along but it didn't look safe at all.
*Can't even use my range attacks to snipe them, guess this is going to be close and personal.*
He didn't really have much time to prepare a throughout plan, the person on the log was about to get boiled alive. Thanks to his system, he could actually see who it was, name included.
Feng Liena core formation late stage [ Poisoned ] [ Weak ] [ Bleeding ]
Matt didn't know when he started seeing status effects, but the woman in question looked like she was about to die. There was no more time to lose, he took a running start and started charging in the direction that the goblins were preparing their feast, hoping that he could vault this wide chasm. His feet produced thudding noises, breaking the ground and leaving cracked footprints in the hard soil.
The woman in question was close to passing out, just like Zhang Dong she had been split up from her clan members and found herself alone in this place. She was a pampered princess so she relied on others for things like shelter and food, so she didn't really have many survival skills. The only thing that she had on herself were her two fans that produced wind attacks when swung around. She found it difficult to use her techniques here as the wind blades weren't as effective in this strange place, still, the weak foundation establishment monsters didn't pose a problem so she moved along.
After two days of walking in high heels, she was getting annoyed, there were mosquitoes everywhere the monsters constantly attacked her so she couldn't even take a break. Her skills were getting hindered by some outside force, so the encounters with the more evolved monsters were exhausting her spiritual energy fast.
About an hour ago she had an unfortunate encounter with an evolved Vine-Snake. This creature as the name stated, liked to take the form of a vine just hiding and waiting for some prey to come. While Liena was sitting by a tree, trying to rest after defeating some monsters the snake pounced. Her sluggish reaction cost her dearly as two puncture wounds appeared on her thigh. She managed to cut the snakes head off afterward but the paralyzing venom was already working. She felt feverish, all of her detoxification pills were in her storage ring that she couldn't use.
The goblins came soon after, probably alerted by the high pitched screams after she got bitten. She tried to use her cultivation to halt the poisoning process to a minor degree of success. Liena got overwhelmed by the combine goblin attacks, cut wounds soon appeared all over her body. After she fell, the monsters took her away to their chieftain, who had ordered to gather up any non-monster intruders that they came upon.
The goblins didn't need food that much, the energies in this strange place kept them alive. But they still felt hunger, so any being that didn't turn into ethereal energy would be taken back to the encampment to get eaten.
Feng Liena was battered and bruised, but still alive. She was barely awake, still squirming while tied on a long log and carried by some disgusting looking monsters. She thought about the dark palm sect, cursing their name. She promised to herself that if she somehow survived she would do everything in her power to destroy that blasted sect along with its pig of a young master that forced her into this position. She was placed over the boiling cauldron, she would slowly get steamed by the boiling liquid and then maybe lowered into it. While she was about to pass out, she thought back to her clan members hoping that they would forgive her for pulling them into this mess along with her.
Her sight was getting blurry, she couldn't distinguish the faces of the drooling goblins anymore. But on the cusp of giving in to sleep, she heard a loud noise, it sounded like something heavy crashing into hard rock. This was Zhang Dong, that didn't quite make it past the half kilometer jump and crashed into the side of it. The goblins looked to the noise, grabbing their weapons as they prepared for battle. After the initial sound, they heard another one, a loud thumping noise followed by additional banging that continued and got closer.
Matt's head burst out from the ground, right in the middle of the festivities. He held back the urge to shout out 'Here's Matty' as he jumped out and delivered a devastating right hook to the closest hobgoblin, punching his head right off, his fist shining with a golden metallic luster. The wind pressure created from his fist strike made some of the lesser goblins fly backward, kicking up a storm.
*First things first...*
He thought while kicking the boiling cauldron to the side, right onto the fat goblin cook that screamed out in agony. He quickly grasped the log that the female cultivator was on and tossed her over his shoulder. He wanted to jump back over the chasm at first but due to his previous blunder, he feared that he might hurt the woman. He ran in the opposite direction, wanting to get the girl to safety first before facing off against the monsters.
The goblins weren't having it though as they all started chasing him, with murder in their eyes. The girl felt that something was happening as she was now moving in another direction and someone was carrying her. The trip was quite uncomfortable as the person was zig-zagging all over the place dodging arrows and some fire bolts that the shaman goblins were firing of.
Matt vaulted over the wooden wall and pulled out his sword. The girl got tossed into the air even further, she couldn't see much but could feel that the rope bindings were cleaved by something. Then she found herself in someone's arms, the person carried her like a princess and she could feel herself getting snuggled into a wide manly chest. Strength was leaving her body, but she could see the outline of the man's face that was saving her followed by some calming words.
"I've got you, everything is going to be okay"
She passed out after that, her body going limp as Zhang Dong escaped from the goblin encampment. It was more important to get this woman to safety, he didn't know how bad the poisoning was he needed to treat her wounds fast. The goblins wouldn't let their breakfast just up and run, so they started chasing after him. But Matt was a lot faster, the small goblins had short legs and wouldn't be able to catch up as he bolted into the thick bushes taking long strides, cracking the ground with each step he took.
After running for about twenty minutes he stopped by a waterfall, he could see that there was a cave hidden behind all that water. This looked like a good place to lay low till he treated the woman, the falling water would also probably block the smell of blood that was coming off her. Though not like he was afraid of fighting the monsters, just first aid came first.
He moved inside the cave, there were some strange green mushrooms that illuminated the inside. Luckily there was nothing strange living in the cave, so he placed the woman down on the ground. He started tearing up his white robe, making white bandage strips out of it as he still had no access to his storage ring and his clothes would just replace themselves anyway.
The first thing he did was striping her down, he felt apprehensive about it but he just had to bandage up all of her wounds. The woman was quite stacked, she could give his previous love encounter a run for her money. The most glaring thing he saw was a wound on the woman's thigh, he could see two puncture holes right there and puss leaking out.
*This looks like a snake bite... but the venom has already spread through her body at this point.*
He was no doctor and the people in this world mostly used pills for treating everything. He knew that sucking out snake venom from a wound was more or less bs and didn't work as the venom spread through the body quite fast. There were some people that claimed that you could neutralize venom by electrocuting a person, but it was never really proven to work.
*Well, not like this is the old world though.*
Matt had gone through the whole Zhang clan library, so he had a lot of knowledge in his brain. There was one method he could try because he didn't think he could produce antivenom, or make pills with a similar effect. Firstly, he used the purified water from his water bottle to soak in some torn up robe parts. He started washing the female cultivator from all the dirt, blood and grime that she got over time. He bandaged all the cuts, slowly turning the woman into a cute looking mummy. Then came the second part, there was a technique where you could share your vital energies with others.
The technique in question required skin on skin contact, so Matt sat down with the woman taking up the spot in his lap. He was bare chasted due to having ripped up his robe. He brought his arms around her, her soft body was now pressing into making him quite excited. He would nourish Feng Liena's body with his inner energy. The technique was slow working and you didn't need much practice to use it, it was also the only healing skill that he could use due to his low elemental affinities.
Time passed as he leaned back against the cold stone wall, the calming waterfall could be heard from inside the cave. After an hour, Matt was more or less sure that the goblins had lost their trail or just given up on the chase. He looked down at the curled up female in his arms, she looked quite cute if you got past the copious amount of make-up that had washed off by now. She was shivering and quite warm, probably having a high fever due to the snake bite.
*Well, at least the bleeding status vanished.*
His healing technique had managed to close off most of the wounds, but it was quite slow working she would probably need a lot of rest before everything healed up. More time had passed and Matt sighed, he couldn't move from this spot. The only thing he could do was look at the glowing mushrooms and whistle to himself as staring at the naked body of the woman in his arms was a bit too stimulating.
*Ah, I hope everyone is doing well...*
Around this time, a group of two hundred twenty cultivators was marching through some rocky terrain. There wasn't much besides rocks and debris around, but there was something in the distance. There stood a large fortress, it had gigantic walls that connected into watchtowers. There were four gates coming from each side of the structure that was cubical in shape. The placement of this fortress was strange, it was as if someone took it and dropped it in a deserted area. The structure looked sturdy and all, but it could be surrounded from all sides easily with no natural defenses in place whatsoever.
"So, is this the place that voice told us to gather up?"
Zhang Zhi asked while standing with his clan members, all of the officers were together and fine. The youths behind them had all of their weapons out and looked like they had battled something previously.
"It said that after clearing the first stage, we were to move to the fortress defense stage."
One of the officers replied while wondering what that meant, but that castle-like structure looked like a fortress. There was no one in the surrounding area besides the Zhang Clan, they might have been the first ones clearing the first stage.
"Mmm... very well, everyone get into formation we will approach slowly, keep your guard up."
Chapter 85
Two days prior:
Zhang Liu collapsed to his knees while holding onto his belly with one hand, the other was used to push himself off the cold floor as he tried not to vomit. The teleportation had twisted his insides making him feel like he had just finished riding some over the top rollercoaster. Some of his friends weren't as lucky as he could hear Zhang Hong barfing right next to him, though he was still wearing his mask.
He quickly gathered himself, moving off the floor wondering where they ended up in. He glanced about and could see the clan elders assessing the situation while the juniors were picking themselves off the ground.
"Quickly, everyone gather up, The General is missing!"
Everyone quickly jumped up to their feet, getting into formation as they all practiced. They did a headcount and everyone was there, but their Patriarch was missing. The elders used their detection skills to scan the area, but couldn't find their leaders aura signature anywhere in the vicinity.
They were in a circular cavern, the ceiling was about ten meters high and filled with stalactites. The place behind them was blocked and there were five corridors in front of them, leading to the unknown. Every corridor had a number above them and was lit by some torches and similar glowing fungus that Zhang Dong had come across.
"Everyone, check your equipment and gather with your lieutenants."
Said Zhang Zhi who was the second in command after the Patriarch, taking up the mantle in his absence. The Zhang Clan had designated a chain of command for situations where people got killed or split up. Matt didn't want to have clan members arguing on what to do, splitting up or infighting when one of the leaders was missing. The chain of command was quite rudimentary, starting with the first platoon and the twentieth was the last one going in order.
Zhang Hong had his helmet down now, rinsing it with some water that he took out of his spatial ring. No one really thought there was something wrong with that, as they didn't know that their patriarch was having problems with those at this moment. The twenty lieutenants gathered up at the five passages, they had a choice to make. Should they split up or move into one passage and hope for the best.
"The Patriarch said that we shouldn't split up, or at most split the teams in half if we had to."
Matt warned his people about the splitting up trope, which frequently weakened the whole group. Most of the time the smaller groups would encounter some overpowered monsters and get wiped out, due to having less manpower. Other times they would set off traps which ended in a similar fashion. Luckily, the Zhang clan members had their patriarch's detection skill so they decided to look into the aura around the entrances.
There were a lot of demonic and death energies around four of the corridors, with one of them having significantly less of them. This was the fourth corridor and after some deliberation, everyone agreed that they wouldn't split up and try to follow this path together. The passage was surprisingly wide and the ceiling left a lot of room to maneuver as well. The first three platoons were in the front with Zhang Zhi's team at the front, Zhang Jie's team was in the middle with the rear end guarded by the last platoon.
The sounds of their boots on the hard rocky floor could be heard, they walked for hours without anything happening the long corridor just continuing without end. Everyone was vigilant, but after trekking for so long they were wondering if this blasted corridor would ever end. Suddenly you could hear a strange crackling sound, everyone stopped in their tracks. They looked around but couldn't see anything in front or behind them, but then they looked up. There were many holes in the ceiling, those openings were giving off the strange noises.
They spotted the holes just in time as a greenish liquid was discharged from one of those openings, the people jumping to the sides as they couldn't activate their defensive formation in time. The moment the strange liquid came in contact with the floor it sizzled and started to dissolve the bedrock. The Zhang clan members then saw many centipede-like creatures slithering out from those holes. They were all about two or three meters long and started pouring out of the openings like a tide.
The cultivators managed to remain calm while getting into the defensive formation, quickly activating the water shield with about half the people in the large group. The rest that were the designated long-range attackers pulled out their weapons and trinkets. Some of them had bows, others had staff like weapons that aided with their Qi management. They started firing off their long-range attacks, blasting the creatures with pressurized water that mostly took the form of water serpents.
The insect monsters spit their venom on the shield but couldn't get through it. The creatures got whittled down quite fast by the organized defensive and offense combination, the monsters weren't that strong either just somewhere at the Qi condensation levels. There were quite a lot of them, falling down from the roof gnawing on the watery shield to no avail. The officers didn't have to act, so they just remained vigilant only acting if something stronger showed up.
The creatures kept coming for quite some time, the large hall quickly filled up with the creature carcasses which started dissipating into bubbles not so long after. In the end, a stronger version of the centipede monster arrived, it was about ten meters long and in the foundation establishment stage. It was taken out without any problems though, while the Qi condensation members did their thing Zhang Zhi pulled out his katana and bisected the creature in one go, showing off his swordsmanship in the process.
The monster attack wasn't anything dangerous, but without this shield, they might have been done in by the venom that the creatures used. They suffered no casualties this time around, showing off their teamwork in the process.
"Strange, these creatures are just vanishing... no beast cores either..."
The people were bewildered by this but they moved on, not wanting to wait here afraid that there might be more of these beasts. They continued walking for hours, getting attacked by the insect monsters on occasions. The further they went in, the more intense the fighting got, the creature's levels and numbers had also increased.
At the end everyone had their hands full, the officers had to chip in as they fought the larger monster centipedes that thrashed around, causing rocks to fall on their heads. Soon enough they could see the light at the end of the tunnel, prompting them to increase their pace. They ended in a room that looked similar to the first one, it was circular and had more tunnels leading out of it. But there was also a spring to the side, this spring had Qi recovering properties. If Matt saw this room, he would probably describe it as a safe zone.
More than half a day had passed since they set out, the juniors were feeling slightly tired so this would be a good spot to rest up. There was enough space to set up their tents, people took turns in guarding while everyone got to rest for a couple of hours. They were still in a closed-off dungeon with limited light, so they had no idea if it was day or night time.
"Where do you think Master is? Hope he is alright..."
Zhang Xue asked her brother while munching on some bread.
"I'm sure he is fine, Master is the strongest!"
The boy replied while shaking his fist at the ceiling, then just bit into his own piece of bread.
"I wonder if the other clans are also stuck in a place like this..."
Zhang Bao chimed in, as all of the 9th platoon members were sitting by a makeshift fire, eating. Everyone was in deep thought, the place looked gloomy and they wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.
"Stop overthinking things, just focus on the mission."
Zhang Tai replied as he stood up, getting ready for more marching through new corridors. The clan elders were examining them with the same method, it seemed to work out the first time as the monsters weren't overly powerful. Soon everyone packed up and they headed into the corridor that was the safest, what waited for them was more monsters. This time around it were skeletons, but the Zhang clan members made quick work of those. Without the need of keeping the defensive formation up, they could just unleash their wrath on the braindead monsters.
This pattern continued, they passed into another save zone, rested up and then moved on to fight a different type of enemy. They were lucky enough to never run into a corridor filled with traps or a dead end, probably all thanks to their detection technique which was the MVP of this expedition. After close to two days they ended up in a similar circular room, but this time around there was only one corridor leading out.
This seemed a little fishy, but not like they could turn back now as they felt that this might be the last one. Everyone got ready, with weapons drawn they all went in. The moment they entered the passageway unlit torches started lighting up, the passage went up and they all saw the large number of torches getting lit. It looked like something was inviting them to go there, this corridor was a lot shorter than the other one only taking five minutes of time to get to the end.
They didn't get attacked by anything on the way up, this was the first red flag. At the end, there was a large room, bigger than the rooms with the springs in them. There was a big closed gate right opposite where they came out, but there wasn't anything in this room. They looked up and to the sides but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary, some people stayed in the corridor while others went to check out that gate. It was quite sturdy, it didn't look like much but they could tell that damaging this thing would be impossible for them.
They decided to gather everyone in the room, trying to brainstorm the next move. But just at the moment when the last person entered the room, they heard a rumble. The passageway that they came from quickly closed itself as a giant rock wall slammed the thing shut. Everyone was at high alert as they got into their defensive formation. Quickly putting it up, not even waiting to see if it would be necessary.
They could hear strange clicking sounds and gears working as the whole room was rumbling. At first, they thought that perhaps the gate was about to open, but then some members looked up and could see that the ceiling was splitting apart.
"Above us!"
Everyone reacted, the defensive formation running at full capacity as some kind of creature descended from above them and slammed into their shield. The monster was really ugly, looking like a fusion of man and a scorpion. The lower half was a scorpion while the top part was humanoid. It had a hideous head with many sharp teeth protruding from its mouth, its tail flailing around and slamming into the defensive formation that shook from the impact. The creature was holding a weapon in its humanoid hand, that looked like a torn off pillar, it also possessed two claw-like appendages below the human torso. The monster's size was immense, it would be able to easily hold a person in one of its claw-like hands. Though the bigger problem was, that the creature was giving early stage core formation energy fluctuations.
"Don't falter, switch to the attacking formation!"
The lieutenants knew that the only way to defeat this monster was their large Spirit Serpent Formation, with everyone taking part. The monster kept pounding on their defensive formation, but they had trained to quickly shift between the two as well. The shield rippled, pushing the monster back for a couple of seconds before it started compressing back towards the Zhang clan cultivators. The monster flew back slightly, its large claw-like legs forming a skid mark as it got pushed back. The water-energy started taking the shape of a water serpent that towered over the boss monster.
The two large entities roared at each other, before charging out. The biggest problem for the Zhang members was that even though the room was large, there wasn't that much space to maneuver for this large battle formation of theirs. The water serpent slammed its head into the other creature's body while it tried to dig its crab-like claws into it. The formation was quite stable now and it would take more than that to take it down, also the way to get rid of battle formations was going for the cultivators inside and not for the energy construct itself. The creature was a bit too dumb for that, as it kept slashing at the watery body that just mended itself back.
It was looking good for the Zhang clan members, all their training came into fruition as the large serpent tail sent the creature flying into a wall. They slithered away, while the monster was momentarily stunned through the impact. The water serpent opened its mouth, gathering up energy as it charged its finishing move up. The boss monster didn't recover in time as when it looked at the enemy with its many eyes, it only to saw a blue beam coming its way. It raised those large claws to defend its upper body but to no avail, as the beam attack possessed an attacking power over the early stage of core formation quickly dissolving the monster into fine particles. To the Zhang member's surprise, the wall behind the monster didn't suffer any damage from their most powerful attack. The monster was slain and the cultivators rejoiced, but then they heard a strange robotic voice.
"Area 7 Girtablilu has been defeated, the first stage has been cleared. Please continue to the tower defense stage."
The members looked at the dissipating monster, the closed gate opening soon after the strange voice delivered the message. The people had no other place to go but forward, so after eating some Qi recovering pills the headed to the second stage.
Unfathomable Senior
Chapter 86
A monsters head rolled off its shoulders and plopped down to the ground. A silver-haired man was standing to the side with a sword over his shoulder. The night had passed and the female's fever had gone down, he had moved out to gather up some larger leaves. He managed to make a makeshift bed for the girl so that she didn't need to sleep on the cold rocky floor and placed a large boulder at the entrance of the cave so that no strange creature would wonder in. He ripped up his self regenerating robe to make a blanket, but that left him bare-chested yet again.
*I'm going to catch a cold like this...*
He came across a scouting party composed of some goblins and hobgoblins which he promptly sliced apart. He decided to pay them a visit, maybe there would be something that would explain the situation at that goblin encampment. He was a bit apprehensive about leaving the woman back in the cave, but she should be okay for the time being. The monsters didn't really show any good tracking abilities, they didn't even find them after a whole night had passed.
"I guess it's time to slay some goblins."
He vanished from the spot and appeared up on one of the tall trees. He started jumping onto the thick branches, heading towards the enemy headquarters. He noticed a pattern in how the monsters operated in this 'training ground', they tended to react to noises and started attacking you the moment you got into their line of sight. Well, at least the more stupid ones did the ones above the core formation and with special classes had some intelligence to them. The goblin chieftain, for instance, didn't chase after him and the girl leaving it up to his followers instead.
*Well, maybe its a boss monster and needs a special trigger to aggro?*
He started thinking about the monsters as MMORPG mobs, that had a limited range and wouldn't chase you after you got out of it. Maybe someone from earth was reincarnated here and he made this place to work as a game? This would probably be something that he would do if he got bored enough with time.
Matt came to a stop, he was back at the front gate of the goblin encampment. The small green skins were leaning up against their makeshift gate, sleeping on the job with some rusty looking spears. He scanned the area again, wondering if something stronger than a goblin chieftain would be in here.
*Well, I guess I can let loose here...*
He formed a fist and raised it up, delivering a blow to his peck looking as it turned to golden metal at the moment of the impact. The enemies he would be facing shouldn't be able to pierce his metal-like skin so he could test out his techniques without worrying. He nodded to himself and took out his sword, forming a thin layer of lightning energy around the bladed part for added sharpness. He jumped up, causing the large wooden branch to snap in the process. Lightning energies gathered around his frame and expanded as he activated his newest Heavenly Lightning Terrain technique.
The sleeping sentry didn't even react before he got bisected by the energy sword, the downward slice forming a fissure on the ground as the wind pressure and lightning energies continued on, crashing into the large wooden gate. The makeshift doorway burst open, many large splinters raining down and delivering some residual damage to the unsuspecting goblins inside.
Matt heard some kind of horn being sounded, large amounts of green midgets poured out of holes in the ground and from the large wooden shacks in the surrounding area. They were greeted by electrical discharges the moment they entered Zhang Dong's lightning terrain. The technique was less powerful due to the Qi dissipating properties of this area but it still worked as intended passively delivering damage to the invaders while Matt delivered the finishing strikes with his sword.
He was constantly aiming for their necks or hearts, each strike meant death for one of the green attackers even the more powerful hobgoblins couldn't do anything against this human intruder. It was more or less a one-sided massacre, blood spraying everywhere but soon dissipating into nothingness along with the summoned monsters. The goblin chieftain was sitting in his makeshift throne, looking at the human attacker while gnawing on some kind of bone.
Soon enough though, he roared out in fury the scream causing Matt to halt his actions momentarily. He had taken out most of the hobgoblins and shaman goblins in the vicinity, maybe this was enough to trigger this mini-boss to action?
"Oh, are you approaching me?"
The monster's small beady eyes went red and it snorted something in an unknown language at the human, Matt kind of imagined what his reply was. The goblin chieftain was about the same height as Zhang Dong, he had some strange tribal tattoos all over its green skin. There was a big gash from his left eyebrow going up to his lip, letting you see some of his teeth as it hadn't healed fully. The monster was carrying a huge bladed weapon, it looked like a slightly elongated cleaver with a hooked part on the tip.
The monster kicked itself off the ground, quickly closing the distance between itself and the attacker. Some smaller goblins that were in the way got trampled and turned into meat paste instantly. Matt didn't feel like evading as he took the attack head-on, the ground trembling under his feet as the monster's cleaver collided with his sword. Matt didn't budge a muscle as his feet remained firmly planted on the rocky ground, the monster gnashing his teeth at the human in front and then giving out another outcry.
"Ugh, your breath stinks."
The goblin chief tried using a bite attack but it was unsuccessful as he received a punch to his face instead, the monster's nose was now indented as he flew backward and crashed into a wooden shack. More goblins appeared to back up their leader, but they weren't much use after getting sliced up by the enemy's blade.
*I feel like I could keel these trash mobs faster if I had a second sword...*
He picked up a goblin sword from the ground, it used to belong to one of the hobgoblin warriors so it was a bit better than the rest. He went into a stance, holding one of the swords higher and the other one lower. This felt a bit awkward, the monsters dashed at him but he just started dancing around them quickly slicing the weaker monsters apart. This did indeed make him kill the monsters faster, but he felt that he lost some measure of control and his defense suffered as he had to pay attention to his second sword as well now.
*Maybe it will be better if I put a third one into my mouth...*
He looked at another sword that was on the ground, the handle was just wrapped up with something and didn't look sanitary at all.
*Ehh... think I'll pass...*
He threw the borrowed sword at one of the goblins impaling it to a wall and then heard a monster roaring. This was the Chief that burst out, swinging his blade at Matt. He looked slightly different, he was now a head taller and all red. Muscles bulging and an angry face as he tried to overpower his attacker once more.
*Is this the second phase?*
Matt glanced at the monster, but it was still in the late stage, it had the berserker prefix added though. He was slightly more powerful and faster, but not nearly enough to bring this cultivator down. He sparred with the goblin Chief for a while, using the creature as a training dummy. He didn't have anyone to spar with back in the Zhang Clan, so this would be a good training session. But after a while, he found the monster's attacks to be quite sluggish and easy to evade or parry. It was more brawn than brains so the pattern was quite easy to get used to, so soon enough he delivered the finisher sending the beast's head up into the air.
There were still some monsters left though, so he used this chance to test his another attack out. He placed his palms together making it look like he was praying, his Heavenly Lightning Terrain technique started closing up decreasing in size and gathering around him. The lightning energies inside the terrain started acting up though, becoming more random and chaotic. The Qi started getting compressed more and more while the enemy goblins charged at him. The moment they closed in on him, he separated his palms making a 'T' like pose with his palms pointing upwards.
The energies burst out with an explosion of lightning energy, everything outside where he was standing lit up like a Christmas tree and was surrounded by bright blue energy. The goblin silhouettes vanished within the energy dome that was formed, quickly dissolving into fine particles as he delivered a wide-area attack. After the energies dissipated, he was standing on a little podium of ground, everything within a wide radius was blasted into nothingness. There was a large hole around him now, some burnt up hatchets and other broken items. Anything past that was blown back as well, he destroyed the upper encampment of the goblins in one attack not leaving much behind in the process.
"Wait..."
In his battle excitement he forgot that he wanted to search this place for clues, he scratched his cheek while looking around the desolated area wondering if anything of value was left behind.
"Well... luckily no one saw that..."
He started going around the place, managing to find the boss monsters hatchet weapon that was of a high earth grade. He also managed to find a fan type weapon suited for wind elemental users, this made him think back to the lady that he saved, this probably belonged to her. He was glad that it survived his explosion. He didn't find much more of note besides that, the goblins were all dead now. He even went into one of their burrows, but most of the tunnels had collapsed after his qi explosion. He didn't really want to dig through the debris, and the fan weapon made him think about the sleeping woman that he didn't want to leave there for more than he had to.
*Time to go back, there were some fruits on the way here, I'll get them for that girl, she might be hungry.*
After being here for a week, he started thinking that his clan members were probably in another area altogether. This was probably a place to test the party leaders, making them fight without having an army to back them up.
*Though, still wonder what those guys are up to... nothing left but to move forward.*
He thought to himself while going back to his temporary state of residence.
Back in the cave, Feng Liena was dreaming about her childhood, she was running around with a ball in her hand tossing it at her father who did the same in return. She was smiling wide, hugging on her daddy while enjoying her day to day life. But then things changed, she was taken away the scenery changing. She was now ten years old, a woman was screaming at her making her do various exercises, shouting that she had to get strong for the clan.
The Feng Clan was a Matriarchal one, this meant that the ones on top were all women and they didn't allow men into the upper echelon. After a woman from the Feng clan got married to someone outside a deal was made, every female offspring was to be sent back to the clan after they reached the age of five. This was a favorable agreement for both parties as regular patriarchal clans preferred offsprings of the male gender, so they were okay with sending the females back while receiving the boys in return.
The girls were trained hard, causing them to be rough and rigid. The Feng clan didn't really care about having their cultivators be very womanly, as power was the driving force. This was also the cause of their appearance, most of the girls didn't want to be treated like jade-like beauties. Thus they produced the more tanned gyaru look, to mixed reactions of other people around them. They also tended to be quite tomboyish and aggressive.
Feng Liena opened up her eyes slowly, she felt quite refreshed for some reason. She remembered that she was captured by some monsters, but the rest was a blur. When she opened up her eyes she saw a large man above her, he was bare-chested and reaching out with his hand to do something. She reached out to him, placing her hands on the man's cheeks. The silver-haired man had a strange expression, that quickly turned to shock as the female cultivator gripped those cheeks with all her strength and delivered a headbutt straight to his face.
"The hell do you think you're doing!"