Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 125 part 2! Hope you'll enjoy it!
Small disclaimer(for those of you who didn't read the one in Part 1): The posting schedule will now be a bit more random than previously, but unless there are major problems on my end, I'll still post at least part 1 and 2 of a chapter every week. It's just that that it won't be at the same day and time every week.
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Bright Star City, Bright Star Island, Flowing Stars Archipelago, Earth
Omniscient P.O.V.
Speaking of the Federation having Laws, imagination was beautiful, but the reality could be ruthless at times. After all, there was a saying in the upper class that Laws were made to control the weak. That was the case in Mortal Nations, with two distinct Justices, one for the 'poor' that was completely merciless, especially if one crossed the wrong person, and the second for the 'elite' who had both money and influence, and whose punishment for their crimes was either extremely light or completely nonexistent. That was already the case for Mortal Nations, so what about those Organizations like the Federation, whose whole population possessed some cultivation, but also with such a difference in individual strength between those at the bottom and those at the top? The answer was pretty obvious. At least, it should have been obvious, but apparently, those Foundation Building cultivators in Aleksey's group seemed to have let their greed and arrogance go to their heads. Was Wang Xiong truly angry about their attitude? Irritated, maybe, but he was not angry. Actually, he was even a bit thankful for the opportunity to increase their Mansion's reputation among the general public. King and Lord Rank Forces knew more, with most of the latter fearing them, but those Tier 2 and below cultivators, who comprised most of the Federation's citizens, had not much understanding about their newly advanced King Rank Force. At most, they heard about their Lord and Lady being the most promising geniuses in the Federation, but they would be incapable of telling which Force they were a part of. Thus, having a few eager stepping stones being delivered on a silver platter delighted the middle-aged man. Although wanting to keep the morale high-ground to avoid giving others a handle on them, Xiong hid everything he truly felt and only showed anger outwardly. As he was about to retort, Demian suddenly patted his shoulder and asked calmly, though only he and Seraphine knew how calm he truly was. "Why don't you let me and Bryn deal with it, Mister Wang?" Seeing the other man about to protest, the young man used a Voice Transmission Spell, allowing both Bryn and Xiong to hear his words. ["You're using those morons to establish our authority, right? Why don't you let us deal with it?"] Feeling a mix of surprise at how perceptive the Young Lord was and doubts about the proposition, Xiong sent back. ["Young Lord and Young Lady, the man's cultivation base has reached the Peak of Foundation Building..."] Although he did not finish his sentence, both Demian and Bryn understood immediately his worry, though it was clearly unwarranted. If it were only himself, his fighting prowess would be insufficient, merely slightly stronger than the man, but with Bryn having not only broken through to the Foundation Building Rank but also having reached the Low Second Level thanks to the Tribulation's feedback, dealing with that man would be effortless. And that way, they could not only vent some of their irritation but also announce that the mansion had worthy successors. Thus, Demian replied. ["Cultivation level is not everything, Mister Wang."] Shaking his head slightly, he then added. ["But don't worry, we know our limits. If we need your help, we'll ask for it. That being said, how far can we go with him? I assume we can't cripple him permanently, right?"]
If those people had just insulted him, then they would have, at most, suffered a few broken bones, an injury considered relatively superficial for cultivators. However, they decided to touch his reverse scale by verbally attacking his women. In a more 'civilized' place—understand without cultivation—, he may not have resorted to physical violence, but would have simply thrown back some insults. But in this world where magic existed, if someone became your enemy, the best way to deal with them was either to kill them outright or crush them so thoroughly that they would never be able to or even contemplate retaliating against you or your loved ones. As the saying went: 'A good enemy is a dead enemy'. In their current situation, killing might be a tad too excessive, but crippling would have been perfect. Why did he want to go to such extremes for a few insults? To answer that question, he would have to first talk about a new skill he acquired recently. Since his Soul Energy's Purity reached an unknown Transcendent Grade, what was previously only a vague 'Intuition of Danger' became a sort of 'Intention Sensing Soul Skill' allowing him to perceive other's intentions toward himself and his loved ones, though his perception was much clearer when it came to Seraphine than the other two, probably because of the Bond they shared. The 'clarity' also depended on the cultivation base of the other person, his limit being a full Rank higher. As for those with stronger cultivation bases? Well, unless their thoughts toward the four were extremely malicious, this new Skill would be completely ineffective. Even then, he could only sense a vague direction, nothing more. How did he know that when his breakthrough was so recent? Because as soon as those thugs arrived close to their group, he immediately sensed not only those people's intentions, but also an unknown, malicious gaze focused on their group of four, though its owner's location was impossible to pinpoint exactly. The only thing he knew was that the cultivator should be located in the central plaza, a few hundred meters away. With all of that information taken into account, it was not hard for Demian to understand the ins and outs of the current situation and thus demand to act alongside Bryn. After all, though Xiong was a Half-Step Core Formation and thus should have stronger fighting prowess than that clown clamoring for equality in front, could it compare to the current Brynhild's raw power? After all, not everyone was as talented as the golden-skinned woman or had reality-altering Perks like Demian. Thus, it was clearly much safer for the pair of cousins to act. Seeing how confident the two young monarchs were, Xiong decided to trust them. In any case, he would immediately intervene if things went badly. ["Alright. With the Lord and Lady behind us, as long as he's just crippled, there'll be no consequences. Just be careful."]
Though it seemed like a long time had passed, in reality, the conversation merely took an instant, and thus, after explaining themselves to Sera and Liya, and sharing his plan with the outwardly collected but inwardly excited to act alongside him, Brynhild, the two started walking toward the opponent, whose name nobody cared to learn about. Seeing those two walking toward him menacingly, doubts started surfacing in Aleksey's Mind. 'A Peak Chi Gathering cultivator and one who barely entered the Second Level of the Foundation Building Rank... What are they trying to do?' He wondered, now more alert, though outwardly he simply shook his head and mocked. "Are you two joking around? Or is the Miss interested in me? If that's the case, I wouldn't mind if we became more acquainted with each other in the bedroom. I don't even mind if the young man watches us..." If it were before hearing those words, Demian may have had some scruples about what he was about to do to the man. Now, though? He, instead, had to force himself not to one-hit kill that human filth on the spot. The good news was that, due to overcoming a few inner Demons in the past few months, his Will was strong enough to rein in his Killing Intent. The bad news was that the man's childish taunting attempt was a bit too successful on Brynhild, whose red kryptonite was anything related to him and Romance/Sex. Suggesting that she should have sex with some random middle-aged man with Demian watching? Congratulations! You won a ticket for a trip straight to Hell, with the option 'Being painfully tortured' as a complimentary gift. Well, unfortunately, the man should—not could—not die, not by their hands at least, or the Mikhailovs and the Mansion behind them might suffer some punishment. Even though the latter would probably be relatively mild thanks to their current Young Monarch status, why should they suffer because of some trash? Thus, Demian swiftly sent a warning to Bryn's ears. ["Just don't kill him, Sis. I love you, by the way."] That last sentence, though a bit manipulative, was the only way to soothe her rage enough so she would not pulverize the man with a single punch. Fortunately, his Innate Sensing Soul Skill warned him of a slight shift in the woman's emotional outburst, its intensity decreasing ever so slightly. Well, he did his best. As for stopping her completely? Not only did he not want to, but he also could not do anything to stop her. After all, he may be only a breakthrough away from her current cultivation base, but the difference in power between the two was colossal. Thus, his senses were incapable of perceiving her following actions until she was done moving. As for Aleksey, the man was pretty much average in every aspect of his cultivation, so it would be ridiculous to think he could sense any of Bryn's movement.
Back to Bryn. With a slight push of her legs, the young woman's body seemingly teleported to the opponent's position before she threw a perfectly calculated punch toward the man's lower core, her fist covered by a thin layer of Golden Jade Elemental Energy to keep her hand 'clean', the Lower Core being located right below the navel. In less than the blink of an eye, her fist collided against the man's body, the Intent-filled Energy flooding his Lower Core and Channels, which destroyed them instantly, leaving the man's cultivated Inner Energy no place to reside, which resulted in it dissipating completely. As the man's brain registered the agonizing physical and mental pain, the young woman stated, her tone a merciless as her action. "That was for insulting my mother and my sister." As a scream was about to leave the man's lips, Brynhild began moving again, this time throwing several well-placed Energy-covered kicks at the man's limbs and genitals, strategically smashing the latter, destroying tendons, pulverizing bones, and making it impossible for the man to stay standing. "That was for insulting my man in front of me." At that moment, all arrogance and greed completely vanished from Aleksey's Mind, leaving only pain and regret. Why did he accept that man's task when he knew he would have to face a King Rank Force? Was it worth it just to get a Forming Core Pill? Crippled as he was, unless he found the most rare Heaven and Earth treasure, he would never be able to cultivate or even walk again. Thus, that Pill was the same as having a gold mountain in a desert: completely useless. Another thing was the fact that he was a Loose Cultivator, someone without any affiliation apart from the Federation, which meant there was pretty much no chance of ever recovering. Though after seeing the killing intent in the woman's gaze, he doubted he would be alive long enough for those considerations to matter. Pain, regret, hate, all those emotions traversed his heart while his body began to fall to the ground. "Mercy..." As his body finally touched the ground, a wave of pain washed over his fuzzy brain, which had only one thought afterward: Begging for mercy. Fortunately for him, or unfortunately depending on how one viewed it, Bryn did not plan on killing the man. Instead, she uttered the last words the man would hear for the rest of his life. "This is for insulting me." As soon as those words left her lips, she used the Soul Spike Skill on the man's Soul, which not only shattered his Upper Core but also severely damaged the man's consciousness. To put it simply, Aleksey was now a cultivation, physical, and mental cripple. For the rest of his life, he would be in a coma with no hope of recovering.
Seeing the man's atrocious state, a feeling of fear washed over the audience, their gaze changing from lust to respect and from admiration to fear when they looked toward the beautiful, gold-skinned woman standing proudly over the previously arrogant but now half-dead man lying on the ground. Did he deserve to be punished? Yes. But was it necessary to be so cruel? Well, no matter what they thought, with the perfect example of being too vocal in front of their eyes, none of them said anything, but instead did their best to avoid the woman's piercing gaze. It was especially so for the few people who were clamoring after Aleksey's inciting words. As for those cultivators lying on the ground, they were completely terrified, praying to be forgotten by the female death god standing a few meters away. Unfortunately for them, Bryn and Demian had great memories. Indeed, after having dealt with the main puppets, Demian decided it was time for the rest of the clowns' troop to be dealt with. After all, wasn't it a fact that the bigger the show, the better the effect? With a devilish grin that sent shivers of terror through those prostrating people's bodies, Demian turned toward them and uttered. "Did you think we had forgotten about all of you?"