Kael had been assigned two tasks now. The Heiyuan Peak and the Silverspire Peak were both under attack, and as an elder he couldn't refuse no matter how much he wanted to. He stood on the platform looking at the summons that had been delivered, trying to figure out which one to handle first.
"Finally a real fight. It's a duty of an elder so I can't refuse anyway. Perfect timing to test my new powers."
He grabbed his sword and launched himself into the air, flying miles ahead toward the dark clouds gathering over one of the peaks. As he got closer, he could make out the shapes moving beneath the clouds. Lots of them.
"What the hell is that? A whole swarm of beasts?"
On the Heiyuan Peak, the situation was already falling apart.
A man named Remlin Kulm, the Peakmaster, was standing against a tide of chimeras. They kept coming, wave after wave, merging and separating. Behind them stood a figure that looked almost human except for the dark aura surrounding him.
"You animal," Remlin shouted, his voice was steady despite the chaos. "You dare mess with my peak? Who even are you?"
The creature roared, its voice echoing across the mountain.
"Human scum, you didn't think I would survive till today. I will wipe all of you from this world."
One of the disciples suddenly went pale.
"Wait... I remember this one. Seven years ago. He ravaged the capital city."
Another disciple nodded frantically.
"We defeated him back then. We all thought he was dead."
The chimeras below suddenly began moving. They merged together, their bodies combining and reforming into a single massive beast that towered over everything else. The disciples watching gasped in horror.
Remlin's eyes widened slightly.
"No. That's not possible. How did you reach the highest level of Core Formation realm?"
A young disciple whispered to the one next to him.
"Isn't that just one level below Nascent Soul realm?"
"Yeah. We're fucked."
The disciples started backing away, their weapons lowering. They couldn't handle something at that level. Most of them were still at Foundation Establishment, a few at early Core Formation. This creature was completely out of their league.
But Remlin didn't move.
"We can't just roll over and die. Whatever happens, we fight till death to stop him from going further down the mountain."
The battle erupted. Disciples charged forward despite the gap in power, using every technique they had. The Peakmaster fought with everything he had left, his cultivation flaring as he threw himself at the merged beast. But it wasn't enough. One by one, the disciples fell. The Peakmaster was on his last breath, barely standing.
Kael could hear the sounds of the battle from miles away. Explosions of energy, screams, the roar of beasts. He was getting closer but not close enough to engage yet. He had an idea in his head.
"To get stronger, I need the enemy to actually fight me first. Provoking is the best option here."
He slowed down slightly, hovering above the battlefield where the demon creature could see him but not engage, obviously saving his own ass was important.
"Hey! Dumb animal! Yeah, you!"
The creature's head snapped toward him. Its eyes fixed on Kael.
"Who dares speak to me like that?"
"Yeah, you. Dumb fuck. Come here. Try hitting me."
The creature's aura flared, becoming even darker and more violent. It was furious now completely focused on Kael instead of the dying disciples below.
"I've never seen someone this cocky in my entire life."
"Well congrats. You have now."
The disciples on the ground noticed him finally. Their exhausted faces suddenly showed recognition.
"Wait... is that the Fifth Elder?"
"We're saved."
But someone just had to say,"Didn't he just use connections to enter? Why is he here now?"
"Connections or not, he's still decently strong, right?"
"No, wait. He didn't fight for decades. Why show up now?"
I can hear you guys, you know
The demon creature launched itself at him with incredible speed. The air around it distorted from the force of its movement.
"Let's see how strong you really are, Fifth Elder."
"Finally. He's attacking."
[DETECTED HOST BEING ATTACKED BY LATE STAGE CORE FORMATION REALM CULTIVATOR. ACTIVATING PASSIVE SKILL. HOST IS NOW TEMPORARILY EARLY STAGE NASCENT SOUL REALM FOR THE NEXT 1 MINUTE.]
Kael smacked his fists together and felt the power rush through him. His palms began to glow with qi that turned the sky around him a pale color.
"One minute is enough."
Qi flowed across his body like it was alive, surging through his meridians and flooding his limbs.
The demon creature hesitated for just a moment, sensing the sudden shift in power levels."Is this... is this the aura of a Nascent Soul realm cultivator? Only one realm difference but it feels like a completely different world."
The disciples below started whispering to each other.
"Wait, wasn't he in the Void Stage just a few days ago?"
"How did he jump directly to Nascent Soul?"
"Has he been hiding his real power this whole time?"
"He was pretending to be weak?"
"There are only a handful of people on the entire continent at Nascent Soul level. And we have one in our sect too?"
Kael ignored their commentary and focused on the fight. The system chimed in with a notification.
[SYSTEM - ATTACK CARD: HEAVENLY IMPRISONING FINGER]
He raised his hand and began forming a ball of pure qi on his fingertip. The energy compressed down into something small but dense.
"Been a while since I played baseball."
He flicked his finger, sending the compressed qi ball flying at the demon creature like he was throwing a pitch. It traveled through the air in a perfect arc.
"Let's name it... Supreme Thunder God's Blow."
The crappy named attack hit the creature square in the chest and detonated. The explosion created a crater in the mountainside, burning away everything in a half-kilometer radius around the impact point. Dust and ash rose into the sky in a massive column.
When the dust settled, the demon creature was completely gone. Obliterated.
The remaining chimeras below saw what had happened and immediately scattered, running in all directions.
"The demon king is dead! Run! Run for your lives!"
Kael pulled out an artifact he'd acquired —a net made of burning threads that incinerated anything caught inside. He threw it out and it spread across the battlefield, catching the fleeing chimeras. They burned away almost instantly, their screams fading quickly.
He took a breath and floated down toward the peak.
"I was finally having fun. Now you're all running away."
The disciples and the Peakmaster came running toward him, immediately dropping to their knees and bowing their heads.
"Sir Kael, this is all thanks to your perfect timing. We never imagined someone at Nascent Soul stage was in our sect, that too one such as yourself."
What do you mean 'one such as myself'?
A female disciple who'd been watching his entrance got stars in her eyes.
"Stop talking nonsense. Does he look like someone who would stay down? Obviously an elder at his level wouldn't parade around showing off his real power."
Another disciple nodded enthusiastically.
"Exactly. The powerful elders are probably staying low-key, guarding the sect from the shadows. That's why they seem so weak on the surface."
Kael murmured to himself, already knowing the truth about what the elders actually did all day.
"You really don't want to know about their daily routines."
The disciples took it as wisdom and nodded.
Before he could rest though, more disciples came running from a different direction. They were injured, bleeding, barely able to stand.
"Peak Master! While we were busy here, the Oasis Water Clan attacked our spirit mines! The people guarding it are heavily injured!"
Remlin's expression darkened immediately. His hands clenched into fists.
"Those bastards. They were waiting for us to get distracted by the demon attack. Without our spirit mines, our cultivation progression is as good as dead."
He looked at Kael with expectation. The message was obvious.
So my opinion doesn't even matter here. I want to go home.
The system suddenly chimed.
[QUEST: Face-slap Oasis Water Sect. Retrieve unimaginable artifacts as reward.]
Kael drooled slightly at the thought of 'unimaginable artifacts.'
"Of course I'm in. Why wouldn't I save my friends?"
The disciples started thanking him profusely, bowing repeatedly.
He decided to make a dramatic exit. He jumped straight up with all his power, launching himself into the air with a flashy burst of energy.
"Go to the medicinal pavilion. Let me take care of the invaders."
The disciples watched him disappear into the sky.
"When was the last time our sect was this badass?"
"Even the sect leader wasn't this cool."
"That old man? Please. He's on dying bed."
"Maybe with the Fifth Elder here, we can actually climb higher in the rankings. "
But Kael didn't actually go to the spirit mines. Instead, he flew directly toward the Oasis Water Sect itself.
If they'd planned the demon attack perfectly timed with the mine assault, they had to have some kind of coordination. Which meant there was probably someone at the Oasis Water Sect coordinating everything.
He approached their headquarters, the main sect hall where important meetings were held. The protective arrays were strong but not strong enough to stop him. He dove straight through them, his trajectory completely off because he'd misjudged the distance while distracted.
He fell badly and crashed directly into the main hall's wall, landing right in the middle of what appeared to be an important meeting.
* * * *
In the hall, a man named Chen Yun—the sect master of Oasis Water—was in the middle of a conversation with an elder from one of the top sects. The elder had been explaining how Chen Yun's son was doing great at the Nightshade Sect, and how his future was guaranteed thanks to their cooperation in destroying the lower sects.
The sect master had been delighted, even receiving a Rank 3 pill from his son as a gift. He'd just been commenting on how expensive and rare such pills were, how they could buy out his entire sect.
Then Kael crashed through the wall.
The ministers scattered, people screamed about someone breaking through the protection arrays. But Kael was already standing up, looking around at the shocked faces staring at him.
"Aiyaaa."
He got up, shaking dust from his robes.
"So this is the sect of fools."
He pointed at the sect master and the elder.
The elder's face went white. Chen Yun looked like he was about to shit himself, someone had actually broken through their defenses just by being clumsy.