Don't Own anything.
'thought'
"Speech"
"Tvs, Radios, and Text via book or newspaper... when those are around..."
"That's him." A voice hisses in the distance.
"Take the shot. A filthy American doesn't deserve such precious resources. Boss can only barely block something like this... there's no way an American is better than him!" A second voice begins.
'ah. I see how it fucking is, you racists.'
I bend forwards, lifting the two containers in my hand slightly.
I had planned to go back to my room, buuuuut it looks like the little ant who ran away brought friends.
Good thing I went out to buy some groceries.
*BANG*
A great weight slams into the back of my head, snapping my head forwards
'Ow! You prick!'
I then collapse, falling face first to the floor where I smash a jar of tomato juice against my forehead, shattering the glass and sending a small spray of red everywhere.
I then fall motionless.
There's a shrill scream as people begin to run in all directions. That's right. These psychopaths just shot me in the middle of the fucking street!
Why am I doing this, you might ask? Pretending to be dead, that is?
Pretty simple.
They are clearly collecting cultivation herbs.
I'm going to let them take mine.
Follow them.
Then I will probably kill them.
No loose ends and all that.
There's a new poison I want to test out.
Fuckers ruined my Tuesday and made me spill tomato juice all over my shirt!
I lay there motionless. Allowing my hearing to echo out.
"That got him... you. Go and collect those herbs. Boss is sure to be happy with us."
I can hear one of the men quickly approach, grab my boxes, then rush away.
I keep track of him with my echo location...
Then, as he and his accomplices leave the area... I stand. Turning towards one of the buildings and leap up to its roof.
I silently trail after the group for around thirty minutes, a bored frown on my face. But, it appears that my patience pays off as they begin their trek up the mountain towards a dilapidated shrine-looking building.
Their boss is most definitely a cultivator... otherwise why would he want this.
Normally, I'd be worried about facing a cultivator in China, but there's some factors that put me at ease.
I begin leaping through the trees, letting out an amused huff.
Clearly not a good cultivator in both strength or morality if he is willing to kill another one to get his hands on some five-year ginger of all things. Like, at that point just fucking put some in the ground yourself! It's fucking ginger. It grows!
It's like one of the only medicinal plants you can actively mass produce!
Honestly, the only thing you could really make out of a five-year ginger without my cheat potion multiplication is like... maybe a fasting pill.
This is fucking sad.
Anyways. If he was some sort of bigshot that for some reason wanted that ginger, he wouldn't send a mook with a rifle at me.
None of those three had any sort of cultivation base either, which makes me believe he is only just getting into awakening his five acupoints. A state that makes him seem like a god among men to a normal person... hell, a state that could allow him to go one or two rounds with Captain
America and maybe not die. But genuinely just a minnow in the ocean of cultivators.
I'm still going to kill him, of course, as leaving any sort of cultivator who has bad blood with you alive is generally just a bad idea.
He might get some sort of power up and hunt me down for 'destroying his sect'.
Or accidentally stumble upon a more powerful cultivator and whine and bitch about how I am an 'evil cultivator who killed his friends for no reason' despite the fact that he literally fucking asked for this.
I stand on the branch of a tree, leaning against the trunk as I strain my ears, listening towards the temple.
"Boss! We got some more herbs!"
"Hn?" A voice hums. "Yeah... I could probably trade some of this for a couple spirit stones... well, not the ginger. That's pretty worthless, but this grass looks mildly impressive... I might even be able to afford some body tempering liquid."
'Trade? Well, well... Leader-kun... I guess I'll be torturing information out of you before I kill you.'
"Really?!" One of the three men gasp.
"I doubt it'd be enough to complete your one hundred days of foundation, but if we get some more."
"We can take over this city!" One of the three grin. "Women as far as the eye can see, protection fees, all the alcohol we can drink."
'Man. These guys are pieces of work. Wanting to become stage ones and take over a town like some cultivator student won't come around, take one look at them, and break every bone in their bodies with a single slap.' I smirk, rolling my eyes before leaping through the trees towards the
shrine. After a moment, I take to the air with Moon Walk.
I land behind the three mooks, my feet sinking into the floor as I drop from a great height. "I believe you are missing a key part in that dream of yours... the part where a traveling cultivator passes through town, you anger him, and then he proceeds to break every bone in your body."
"HE LIVED?!" One of the minions shout.
"More... you missed." I taunt. "I mean, really. Shoot a guy from not even one hundred feet away and you miss. Fucking pathetic."
The cultivator of the four men lunges forwards at incredible speed-
I catch his punch with one hand.
"Oh?" I hum, a small smirk on my face. "You are a stage two? Higher than expected, honestly... that still begs the question of how you are still alive. Fifth stages and higher roam this world casually. Yet you freely desire evil things. To oppress those weaker than you."
The man slams a right hook into my jaw that barely turns my head.
"Ow. that hurt." I boredly roll my eyes.
He coughs blood as my fist slams into his stomach, lifting him from the ground and causing him to flip across the temple.
I lunge forwards, faster than his minions can react.
A quick chop to the back of the neck of each drops them like a sack of potatoes.
Yeah, they won't be getting up any time soon... or ever for that matter as I have promptly knocked one of their spinal column out of socket like I'm playing a demented game of Jenga
A stalk forwards as the man lets out a shout of rage, channeling his ki as he goes to punch-
I deflect the attack upwards, the force from his punch cleanly shooting through the wooden beams and run-down tiled roof up above and creating a large hole.
My other hand comes up, index finger jabbing into his chest.
He gags, falling to the floor as purple lines begin to slowly extend across his chest.
"What did... what did you do to me?!" He snarls.
A small purple needle of ki extends from my index finger. "Poison."
The five-finger death touch.
One of the techniques I was given knowledge of. Not one of my four 'original creations'.
The technique is quite simple. Basically, I have five different poisons stored in my fingers, which I can then project into little ki needles that extend from the tips of my fingers.
What I just stabbed him with would be Diablo's venom.
That means...
I jab my thumb into his chest for a long moment, Counter venom being pumped into his veins the longer I keep my thumb pressed.
I pull back my thumb abruptly with a calm smile, then stand up, slowly walking away.
His eyes widen as I can assume he feels what I've done to him, screams leaving him mouth as I begin to look around the temple. "Tell me the location of this sect, and I'll stop the pain, friend."
"AAAGGGHHHHH!" The man shouts, squirming in abject agony.
"Just tell me what I want to know and I'll be leaving." I scoff
"NEVER!" The man snarls.
"Alright." I shrug. "I believe you. I'll just be forced to look around myself."
I point at him, the needle from my fingertip shooting off like a bullet and administering another dose of the poison.
I quickly step over to him and lock his jaw with a few pokes of his pressure points, as the screams were honestly hurting my ears a little bit.
The muffled agony is much easier on the supernaturally enhanced ears.
'let's see here...'
I slowly sift through the temple, a small frown on my face.
My cultivator 'friend' has long since died. Falling victim to Diablo's second dose of poison.
"Aha!" I grin as I tug a backpack from behind a loose wall panel.
I crack it open to see numerous a little crystal-like stones and a booklet.
'oooh. Spirit stones, huh? He did mention that he was going to sell my Jade Mint Grass for some.'
Spirit stones are a special type of crystal which can store spiritual energy. They come in nine levels like a cultivator, classified by how much- and how pure- the spirit energy within these stones are.
A stage one is typically worth about two hundred dollars. The price changes with inflation, of course... and each stage is worth ten of the previous. So a single stage nine stone is worth about twenty billion dollars.
They are typically found in asteroids or in planets.
I'm fairly certain all of Earth's spirit stones have been exhausted. So now, you need to go to space to find them.
In addition to being used as currency, they can also be used to power and create magical treasures, barrier formations, and some cultivators even absorb the spirit energy within.
Though, I mean, it's probably more efficient to use them to buy a pill to help you.
As for this book.
It's a technique book?
"Earth Rending Fist?" I echo the title as I open it and begin flicking through it.
It...
Is a tilling technique...
As in. Tilling Soil.
A farming technique. Where you can harden your hands and forcefully mix the earth with your punches.
"…"
Should I even seek out the sect? They could be fuckin' evil considering they associate with this ass clown, and there's a not so little chance that they just stole this technique from an actual farming sect.
I let out a small scoff and shake my head. 'I'll make a note that there's a sect around this town, but I've been doing fine on my own... I'll just continue to wander for a little bit longer.'
Power surges areound me as clouds crackle and boom overhead, I take deem calming breaths as I glare up into the forming thunderhead.
'Alright. I've prepared for this... I can do this.'
Energy has flooded my body, my hair being lifted by an invisible force and swaying as if I am standing in a great wind.
Flickering lights stream from my forehead, curving upwards like two horns. My ki leaking from my new- and very temporary- 'horns' and attracting this whole storm in its entirety.
The average second stage ascent heavenly tribulation just shoots lightning at you... the amount of lightning ranges from around five to ten, with each being more powerful than the last.
The amount of lightning you face is dependent on the cultivator's luck. However, those who face more tend to thought as more 'talented' due to the fact that, well, if they survive higher levels, that does technically make them more talented than those who failed to the lightning and died.
My hands twitch in anticipation. A simple steel sword I purchased in the last town sheathed on my back.
I doubt it'll last against this heavenly tribulation... but it should at least help me deflect or soften one strike.
I stiffen, body rooted in place.
Hang... on...
Something is... wrong...
A wisp of chi slowly streaks off my body, looking like a little strand of spider silk, then it grows, rapidly thickening.
I am instantly floored, my breaths coming out in quick pants as another strand appears... then another.
'hand on- what the hell-'
Something is wrong!
This is- too much!
What seems like endless energy is being sucked from my body, I'm forced to eat one of the chi restoration pills I had created earlier from plants I managed to scrounge together over the past year.
My hands twitch as I stare at the seven strands as the lengthen, growing as thick as my arm, the ends split, the space between the split becoming jagged and sharp.
Two little spikes appear on the topside, they slowly curve backwards...
Like...
Horns...
All at once, over a dozen red eyes open, the wispy tendrils of energy coiling in the air around me.
'wh-what?'
Wait... those horns... Orochi... the horns are a dantian which governs the expenditure of chi! I should have realized that adding more would have increased the overall rate my energy is drained. I'm only managing this thanks to one of my cheat perks regenerating two percent of my
'Magika' and 'Stamina' every second for thirty seconds after I drink or consume a beneficial potion or elixir.
One of the two- or both, seem to have been replaced by my chi-
The booms of thunder grow worse, a frown appearing on my face.
'This is like-'
Eight people... breaking through to the third stage all at once...
A cold sweat appears on my body, my eyes darting to the sky in panic.
'FUCK! This is bad. This is so so so bad.'
And suddenly...
It rains lightning.
A roar leaves my lips as I draw my blade, one bolt is swatted away by my new weapon as I am cloaked in chi, my other hand coming up towards the sky.
The air begins to twist and spin as I create a conical barrier of chi, my eyes narrowing as I let out a small shout, knees slightly buckling, cracks cascading across the shield.
A second bolt hits, luckily this one on the other side of the cone, the force of each of these lightning bolts hitting me... it's like I'm being hit by a truck.
Manageable for someone of my strength... but doing it over and over and over again?
The third bolt crashes into the very point of my shield, dissipating, but causing my shield to shatter.
The fourth... is caught by the second barrier I had layered just underneath, as are the fifth and sixth.
For the seventh and final bolt of lightning, I backflip, lashing out with a kick that sends a wave of wind towards the electricity, it disperses with a booming thunderclap.
That...
Was only the first part...
One of at minimum five... and I'm already a little winded.
I take a brief breath- but the next wave is already upon me.
I slash forwards, cutting through the first bolt, the remnants of its energy arcing to my arm and causing me to grit my teeth as I leap up, avoiding the second bolt.
Instead of striking the ground, it curves upwards, beginning to turn around as it makes a second pass.
Bolt three is broken upon a tempest kick, fourth is dodged, fifth is cut, and the second- as it comes back around is finally broken against my shield.
I kick off the air itself, spiraling out of the way of number six, bashing the returning fourth with my barrier hard enough for its damaged state to shatter, but at least it manages to destroy the lightning.
The seventh and eighth requires me to strain my legs to send two wind blades at them.
As the sixth comes around, I hold out another barrier, causing it to break upon it like the rest.
I land with a crouch, letting out a few tired pants as I reach into my bag and grab another pill.
'holy shit... do I have to use it? Already? On just the third wave?!'
I've honestly got no better ideas.
I take a deep breath, glaring up into the sky as I wait for the next wave of lightning.
Eight more bolts streak through the sky, but-
"HRAAAAGH!" I roar as a tremendous stream of purple smoke is shot from my mouth, it collides with the spear-like bolts of lightning and causes the sky to turn briefly purple as the chi-infused breath begins to dissipate.
It appears that the heavenly tribulation is being nice... giving me a moment or respite in its attempts to murder me...
I know fully well. This is no nicety.
It is preparing.
Readying itself.
The only reason it would be taking this long... would be to change something.
Maybe the next wave will be one bolt of lightning with the combined strength of the normal eight... maybe it is making the next wave sixteen, but with the same strength as before?
Regardless... I will be ready for it.
Even by attempting this tribulation... I know my body is getting stronger... like a blacksmith hammering a piece of heated metal before dousing it with water.
My body is being refined. Quenched. Tempered.
Far beyond what I had already done within the first stage.
With another peal of thunder eight more bolts strike down at me, I narrow my eyes and with a loud roar I unleash the power of my lung acupoint yet again.
By channeling chi into my lungs, I take the air which has been saturated with poison, then, as I breathe out, the volume of air and poison begin to increase massively.
This is no vape or smoke cloud...
It is a cone of devastation.
A tornado.
A gale of poisonous haze spews from my mouth, colliding with the lightning with a titanic explosion.
Panic grips my body as a single bolt of lightning parts my attack as if it were a boat cleaving through the ocean's waves.
I raise my sword and with a roar of defiance, I slash down at the lightning, the tendrils of chi around me writhing as the lightning crashes into my blade, reinforced with my ki.
With a low grunt I begin to push it aside, tendrils of lightning lashing out towards my body.
The...
The seven other bolts of lightning were simply bluffs. Not even half as strong as a single one from the first wave... and all of that strength was placed into this one singular bolt here.
Suddenly the tendrils around me snap forwards, biting the bolt of lightning as my sword shatters.
A small scream leaves my mouth as the electricity is transferred from the spectral 'heads' towards my body. The main bolt crashing into my chest.
But... it's less than I would have expected.
The lightning is eventually dissipated-
I twitch, as lightning crackles around me.
Correction.
Contained within my body.
That's bad.
I toss my head back, letting out a scream as lightning wracks my body, arcing across my form as I shudder and shake.
After around thirty seconds, I let out a quiet gasp, managing to wrangle the lightning within me and compressing it. Bottling it up and sitting it aside for now.
I will deal with it later.
I let out a hacking cough, into my hand, red staining my fingertips as my eyes widen.
'huh?'
My skin is unnaturally pale. White lines crisscross my arm.
A quiet breath leaves my lips. "Poison?"
The heavenly tribulation... poisoned me?
It poisoned ME?!
My teeth grit as I glare up into the sky. "OH, I BET YOU THINK YOU'RE FUCKING FUNNY YOU SHITTY CLOUD!"
The seven draconic heads around me let out shrieks and quiet roars of outrage
And suddenly...
It descends.
My words get caught in my throat as with a loud roar a dragon descends.
No... not a dragon. Lightning. In the shape of a dragon.
It coils and darts through the sky, snaking its way in a slightly circular fashion.
I glare pointedly at it... it's as if the heavenly tribulation is mocking me.
Suddenly... an idea comes to mind.
A method to overcome this annoying piece of shit.
I reach into my pouch and grab my final two ki nourishing pills and eat them both, taking a deep breath.
The seven dragon heads floating around me open their mouths as the lightning serpent in the sky seems to have had enough taunting and shoots down towards me in a blink.
"HRAAAAAAAGH!" A gale of poison spews from my mouth... but it isn't alone. It is joined by a second... third... fourth... fifth... sixth... seventh... and finally an eighth.
I can see a visible bubble in the air as my breath crashes against the lightning.
My attacks have barely slowed it. The skies being filled with purple smog by this point.
Plant life begins wilting, my throat aches, being torn to shreds by my scream of outrage.
The dragon finally manages to pierce through my attack, weakened but still quite strong.
It slams into my body, jaws opening wide as I am practically engulfed by it.
An agonized scream leaves my mouth as the lightning washes over my body. My shirt becoming blackened and charred, black lines being charred into my skin to match the white ones.
My skin beings to grow more and more pale, my vision grows blurry. The haze of pain and darkness slowly descending upon me.
Then...
Something clicks.
My lips are cracked and dry, my throat feels as if I had just swallowed razor blades. My mouth clamps shut as more and more of the lightning washes over me.
My cultivation base shifts abruptly.
An unintended brick finding a perfect spot in the floor... sinking into a hole I didn't even know existed.
A quiet whisper leaves my lips. Using practically all of the remaining strength I have.
"Lok."
*BOOOOOM*
A man wish dark skin and ashy white hair lets out a low hum as I looks into the distance. He looks relatively young. Probably not over the age of thirty. A truly massive sword rests on his back as he stares at genuine anarchy in the distance.
A stream of purple smoke crashes into a dragon made of lightning that crawled from the sky.
There's a purple haze upon the land, that seems to be snuffing out all life.
A heavenly tribulation... judging by the sheer force of the attacks, it seems to be a third promotes fourth tribulation... one of the most violent ones he has ever seen, admittedly, not even his own held a candle to it.
But he is mildly confused.
The third to fourth tribulation's last wave is supposed to be a rain of lightning and fire.
Where's the fire?
It's clearly a variant tribulation of some sort.
The lightning dragon manages to crash through the smoke, making contact with the ground.
The man raises an eyebrow, then lets out a low hum. "Damn... it looks like he... failed?"
A wave of energy passes over him as his eyes widen.
The crackling thunder exploding.
The clouds above slowly drift apart. A small hole- which must be hundreds of feet wide, judging from the fact that such a hole is visible from the ground- slowly widens as the heavenly tribulation ends.
"Damn. That was some power... he parted the clouds." The man hums, midly impressed at that action. You'd have to be a hell of a Battle King to do that.
He gazes upon the purple haze as it slowly drifts outwards.
Ah. Yeah. Poison.
He took that divine lightning head on, so it's unlikely that he'll be able to do anything about the poison he spewed out.
He'll do the guy a favor and seal up the surroundings, mainly so that poison doesn't spread any further.
His sealing formations aren't the best, but he knows a few things.
He should be able to do that without straying too close.
It's a bit of a cultivation taboo to seek someone out after their tribulation, when they are at their weakest and most exhausted point. Most don't want to be seen in such a frail state. Understandable, as he wouldn't want to be seen like that as well.
Regardless an impressive show, he can fully admit that.
With that, he takes the sword off his back and steps up onto it, then shoots off towards the mist.
Well, that was messy.
But it looks like he managed to kidnap some of the heavenly tribulation. Surely that won't have any consequences in the future.
Ah well.
Who cares about the future if you might not even survive!
Facing eight tribulations at once. It's like the dude has a death wish!