Chapter 30: Breakthrough

Chapter 30: Breakthrough

Four cultivators on the diamond path stood in front of the Emperor. Their posture was relaxed, and they all acted like royalty. The first among them, Beanna, was a beautiful woman with hair darker than the night yet eyes brighter than the stars. Her magnificent, red cultivator robes adorned her muscular frame. She looked cheerful and genuinely happy to see Jeevian.

Right behind her stood a skinny man with black hair but not quite as dark as Beanna’s. Even after he dyed it. His hair covered half his face, and he donned a black trench coat. He looked relaxed, but it was noticeable that he wasn’t happy to be here from miles away. It was hard to tell whether he would be glad to be anywhere.

Next to him stood a man with long green hair. He had a moderately bulky build, wore white cultivator clothes, and had a sword sheathed at his hip. While he was gorgeous, his demeanor, facial expression, and relatively youthful looks didn’t do him any favors.

He looked like a romanticized version of the arrogant young master. Except he had every right to be as proud as he wanted.

Further in the back stood another man. Rather than robes or a coat, he wore armor. Full plate armor that looked like polished silver. Not a single inch of his skin was revealed in any way. He spoke next, and his voice sounded like he wasn’t even wearing armor. He wasn't one to beat around the bush, so he immediately got to the heart of the matter.

“Greetings, Emperor. May I inquire as to why we have received an emergency warning?”

The emperor responded in a tone that was not very amused.

“May I first know why you all took so long to arrive?”

Beanna responded to that.

“Oh, come on. We were in the middle of an expedition to the lost continent. Besides, we’ve already heard the news of some demon child or something. Was that why you invited us here? It was, wasn’t it?”

“You have been called because a true monster has left the underground depths. I told you fools ages ago that if I send you an emergency invitation, it is a heavens forsaken emergency!”

Everyone froze at that immediately. Beanna spoke next.

“Okay, so, we evacuate the continent?” The tone was half-joking, but nobody laughed.

That could have been one of their only options, after all.

The emperor scoffed and answered with a hint of longing.

“I wish.”

The man in the black trench coat spoke up at this.

“Are you sure we cannot contact Langen for help?”

The green-haired swordsman spoke next.

“Hmph. As if those cultists cared about us.”

The man in the black trench coat responded.

“Your behavior isn't helping our case.”

The emperor raised his hand.

“Kingean, Zhaore, please.”

The man wearing the black trench coat, Zhaore, scoffed and relented.

The armored man continued.

“What monster is it?”

“It is a myth golem, Carfen.”

Everybody winced at that. Carfen asked again.

“Well... Couldn’t we just evacuate the settlements in its way?”

The emperor thought of that proposition.

“Hmm, yes, that would be a decent solution at first. I was going to put that into action anyway to buy some time. Golems are not known for their speed, after all. Rather, the thing that concerns me is the question of why it left the depths. Few things could appeal to a true monster outside the deep underground environment. I am afraid that whatever had caused it to leave may yet bring another disaster crawling out of the depths...”

Then Kingean added.

“Why don’t we just kill it?”

Beanna beamed at that.

“Really!? You must have gotten powerful while I wasn’t looking!”

“Tsk, spare me your sarcasm, you bitch.”

“Wooooow. Meanie!”

The emperor waved again to get them to stop talking.

And troll muscle was a precious power. The book about spirit ranked it among some of the more valuable ones. Other muscle types were capable of much faster growth regarding size and strength, but troll muscle was exceptional in one regard that made it uniquely valuable.

The speed of muscular recovery. Technically speaking, it didn’t allow for the fastest growth in strength, but it most certainly allowed one to train to their heart's content. If a cultivator had a style that heavily relied on physical strength and spent much of their time training their muscles anyway, this was among the most cost-effective powers they could get.

Neave didn’t even think about it. He just pulled out the wine glass and diluted the monster core.

Neave initiated the spirit trial.

He found himself within his spirit realm. The spirit realm that reflected the very nature of his being.

The spirit realm that reflected his time stuck within the loop.

The slime juggernaut immediately jumped at him. Neave kept cutting at it as he took measured steps away from it. He felt the searing heat threatening to burn his back and teleported to the other side of the slime juggernaut. The fire washed harmlessly over the bulky slime-man

The trial spirits either fundamentally can not, or intentionally do not hurt one another. In the book Neave had read, this was another one of those things everyone seemed to have a theory on but no concrete evidence to support their claims.

Neave took a few more swings, abusing true strikes to slam at the slime juggernaut. His body within the spirit trial started flaking and falling apart, but a rush of his life force immediately reconstructed his manifested spirit. He laughed as he tore the slime juggernaut's body apart with strike after strike, consequences be damned. The slime juggernaut was torn apart and evaporated into ethereal smoke.

Neave saw the shadow and used a movement technique to get out of the path of the tremendous hand-leg-limb thingy that the mega-abominid swung at him. The entire spirit realm shook with the force of the strike. The other abominids surrounded him. Even though it looked like there was no way to slip between the mass of abominid bodies, the troll and steel-lined stone golem managed to slip through the cracks as if the abominids weren’t even there.

A puff of fire blew out of nowhere as the giant lizard crept through the mass of enormous bodies. Neave appeared behind the lizard and severed its head. Neave disappeared again and appeared outside of the writhing mass of bodies. His next target was the mega-abominid. He knew its weak spots, so he didn’t hesitate.

The giant gem golem was shooting tiny crystal shards at him, but Neave dodged those he could and ignored the others. True strike after true strike severed massive veins and bled the abominid dry as it turned to smoke and vanished. Neave flew through the smoke, his vision obscured, but false smoke couldn't obscure his spirit senses within his spirit realm.

He dodged as the poison abominid swung stinger, fang, and venomous claw at him. He flipped and weaved through the air as the steel-lined stone golem pelted him with sharp rock shards. The gem golem was also pelting him with sharp shards of crystal. He couldn’t dodge all of the attacks, but he reveled in the pain as he massacred the creatures.

The venomous abominid was cut to pieces, and it dissolved. The troll was cut up and bled dry, its regeneration overpowered by brute force. The minor abominids were crushed, the stone golem was shattered, and the gem golem was cracked right down the middle.

Neave broke out of the spirit trial, laughing and cackling. His life force was exceptionally low, and he looked like a walking corpse. But he screamed in joy.

“Again! Again!”

“That was just like the old days!”

He chased down a small abominid, grabbed it, and ate it alive. As he regained his life force and healed his spirit, he scoured his spirit powers, desperately looking for something else to evolve.

Something else to start another spirit trial.

He decided on rubber bones.

Neave started yet another spirit trial, the slime juggernaut evolving into a smaller but much faster and stronger version of itself—a slime champion.

Neave swung and dodged, entering a trance that made him feel at home. The slime champion landed a powerful hit on Neave. He didn't have the rubber bones ability here, so that mistake resulted in a horrible injury. Neave flooded his spirit with life force and rebuilt his body in seconds.

His spirit manifestation was in one piece, but his body had visible cracks running all over it. He ignored them and forced more life force into his spirit to remove them. He continued fighting, prioritizing the slime champion. Several solid cuts left it limbless, and he rushed at the other monsters to finish the trial.

He reached even closer to death this time. But he wanted more. His spirit screamed in agony as the spiritual damage piled up. He yelled and cursed at his weak spirit, pleading for it to heal faster so he could keep entering more trials. Then he felt it. The power he had gained from this last trial.

Neave looked at his right arm. Then his right arm elongated. He cackled.

It fucking worked.

And the first thing that came to his mind was his jaw. He stretched his mouth open, jaw opening wider than should be humanly possible. But why stop there? He pushed his entire throat open, spreading it so far that he could eat a small abominid in one piece.

Then he laughed again. He laughed with his mouth stretched wide open. The sound of his laughter was a deep, distant echo as he slipped further and further into ecstasy.

This was power. This was true might. Cultivators weren’t true warriors. No, warriors simply weren't powerful enough.

But he was.

Neave cackled and hollered as he grabbed his head.

What was he waiting around for?

Wasn’t it time to finish this?

That's how it always went, right?

First come agony and pain.

Then he adds a link to the chains...

He grabbed the gigantic iron sword.

And then he started running. Searching.

Looking for the demons of the eighth wave.