Crystal Core 4: A Litrpg Cultivation Adventure, page 39
Naro took a deep breath. “Then what is it that you advise, Hero? Are we to ignore the orcs?”
“Of course, not.” I frowned. “We’ll kill all the green bastards. I’m still new to this realm and this struggle, but the things I’ve seen some of them do are, in a word… vile. I simply need to be allowed to continue to grow—"
Kupa cut me off. “Which you would do best with the guidance of the greatest cultivators in history. My sect head has spared no expense finding you the most masterful instructors. All you need do is to return and follow the guidance of the council.”
“If you would let me finish,” I snapped, “I was going to say I need to be allowed to continue to grow without the council peering over my shoulder and questioning every action I take.”
He rolled his eyes. “You must return to Regev and will be trained by us.”
“That’s not going to happen. Look, let’s keep this simple. I have three terms that must be met if you expect me to return to Regev. First, the council will agree to recognize the sect I am forming, and will allow any cultivators who wish to take the oath to leave their sects and join me—assuming, of course, that they agree and are compatible with my clan’s ethos. Second, you and your entire contingent will leave my fiancée’s estate with the understanding that I will leave and arrive in Regev 30 days from now, taking a direct route there. Finally, when I arrive, I will agree to meet with the council regularly, but they will not attempt to control me. I expect to be appointed the military leader of all human forces, both cultivator and People of the Land.”
I could feel the anger oozing out of Kupa, while Kelvin seemed mostly amused, and Naro was clearly frustrated. Maybe I was finally getting the hang of reading auras.
Kupa was the one who answered, which immediately told me I wasn’t going to like what they had to say. “The council will reluctantly agree to accept the formation of your sect. No position on the council will be given this new sect, both because your new sect will be too weak, and because you will already have a voice in the council chamber. As for thirty days… the needs of the realm will not allow for that. We can have you in Regev tomorrow by airship. That part is non-negotiable.”
He held up a hand when I opened my mouth to respond.
“As for you becoming the commander of the military, you will be the tip of the spear—but that will mean you can’t possibly act as a general. You’ll be too caught up in the fighting, and will need to be directed by a more seasoned cultivator. The council will appoint a commander once you have bowed before them.”
I rolled my eyes. “Is that all?”
“While we are making demands, you will immediately impregnate your wives, creating additional anchors. You will likewise accept a concubine or wife—at your discretion—from each of the remaining sects with a seat upon the council. I am certain the council will graciously permit you thirty days to make that happen.” He sneered at me. “Not that a real man would need that long.”
We locked eyes.
At this moment, it was just Kupa and me in the room. Everyone else faded away. Our auras washed over the other’s. I could easily have popped his, but underneath the Baku cultivator’s aura I felt a strength I hadn’t expected. It dawned on me then that Kupa had a domain.
That was part of what I was missing. The air around me began to vibrate as I intensified my aura. The three men across from me all leaped to their feet.
Kupa blurted out, “What is that?”
I felt the power rolling out of me. My core pulsed. There was something eagerly waiting to be born, but I didn’t want to rush it. I needed to think this through carefully. An inner voice told me that this wasn’t the time and that I couldn’t be hasty.
I pulled my forming domain back in.
Kelvin spoke in a whisper. “He was on the verge of forming a domain.”
Naro looked at me with a new expression. “Hero, please, I implore you. Accept our terms. We will bring you with all honor to Regev. I understand that the last term may be repugnant to you. I have spoken to Dara Yandao a bit about you, and she explained some of your reticence.”
He shook his head. “Your world sounds truly bizarre, but this realm is your home now. And this realm needs the seed of the Hero to grow stronger. You have my word and the pledge of Bas-Tuon Yandao that you will not be controlled, only guided.”
I felt the weight of compulsion with his words. My initial reaction was to slam my aura against them. I considered responding with the Voice of the Law, but after a moment, I realized that this wasn’t Naro trying to force me. It was him making a genuine plea.
The passion and intensity in his voice, was simply the result of an A-ranker who strongly believed in what he was saying.
For a moment, I faltered. Was I being arrogant? I still knew so little of this realm.
I was a child of Earth, but also of the peaks. There were too many nuances that I could miss, but then I thought about my wives. They all supported me, and they knew much more about this realm. An image of the torture fields in Avernus filled my mind, and I knew I couldn’t allow myself to be shackled by the council.
I was He Who Binds Together.
I shook my head. “I can’t accept those terms.”
As if on cue, half the cultivators milling around behind the three A-rankers all sprang forward at once. Each had techniques prepared and multiple elements were suddenly shot off at me. At the same time, Kupa moved forward, shredding the table between us. He went straight for Lian.
Naro’s eyes went wide in what I took to be surprise.
Kelvin didn’t move to attack me, but he spun around and caught a dagger out of the air. “Now, now, little spider. Let us see if the Hero can stand on his own.”
I only had a fraction of a second to register all of this before Kelvin and Kumo were locked in battle and Kupa was almost on top of Lian, who flew backwards out of her chair to escape him.
I shouted to Elu, “Help Lian.” Then, I couldn’t afford to focus on them. There were eleven techniques all headed for me in a staggered form. Fire, water, light, shadow, air… they all shot forward.
As the barrage of techniques rushed towards me, I sprang into action. As the first wave—a mixture of fire and light attacks—blazed across the room, I twisted around them. My body moved with inhuman speed as I narrowly avoided a beam of concentrated light. A searing fireball followed it, forcing me to duck and roll so that it scorched the wall behind me.
It was impossible to dodge the next beam of light, but my Perception and Agility had grown so much recently that I was responding to the movement of the attacker’s arm as they lined up their follow-up attack.
A second wave of attacks came at me, and I activated Embrace of the Mother. A silvery sheen of mana armor covered me with the concept of the Earth’s nurturing nature. Blasts of flame broke over it and beams of light failed to pierce it. That didn’t stop those cultivators from continuing their onslaught, though.
I crossed the distance between us while also activating Silver Fire Skin. If any of them dared to grab me, they’d find out just how well my silver flames could burn through anything. A wave of fire blasted out with enough concussive forced that I was nearly knocked off my feet. I say ‘nearly’, because my movements and reactions had improved so much that, with the aid of Body Equilibrium, I caught myself instantly.
The moment I regained my footing, I felt the air around me thin. The air cultivator was making his move, trying to suffocate me. I had to admit it was a good technique if they were truly hoping to keep this fight non-lethal.
Even I needed oxygen.
What he likely hadn’t accounted for, was how quickly I could absorb the Sky Mana around me. It took almost no effort for me to break his hold on the air flow.
Shadow cultivators struck next, their tendrils of darkness lashing out to bind my limbs. I leaped upwards, using the momentum to break free of their grasp—but not before one tendril wrapped around my ankle. I channeled mana into my leg, burning through the shadow with pure Neutral Mana.
When I landed, I felt the temperature around me plummet. Ice began to form around my feet and began creeping up my legs. Water cultivators were working in tandem with the others, trying to lock me in one place. Ice, darkness, and a lack of oxygen all combined to create a void around me.
I pulsed my core and sent out a raw wave of Neutral Mana, shattering the ice and leaping away just as more shadow bindings attempted to ensnare me. The constant barrage, however, was taking a toll. While my defenses held against most attacks, some still broke through. A particularly vicious burst of fire singed the hairs on my arm before stopping at my flame-tempered skin, and a shadow tendril managed to slice a line across my cheek. But I refused to falter.
Holding back was difficult. Each minor wound made it harder to restrain the battle maniac within, but I knew that the moment I let those bonds slip, the room would be full of dead cultivators. And these were men and women who humanity would need to fight what was coming.
Realizing I needed to turn the tide, I gathered my power and pushed out my aura in a powerful cone. This wave of energy slammed into my attackers, raw power overwhelming their defenses. Several dropped to their knees, stunned by the sheer force of my will.
In that moment of respite, I saw Kelsie, her eyes glazed over with the effects of my domination. She moved with mechanical precision, striking the downed cultivators. Her fists connected with brutal efficiency, knocking three of them unconscious before one of the remaining attackers noticed. I hoped she hadn’t killed any of them, since I’d failed to specify in my instructions that I wanted them disabled but alive. Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford to worry about that now.
A second later, a bolt of lightning struck Kelsie. Her body convulsed, then she stumbled to the ground. Her attacker pressed his advantage. She was likely the weakest of the council cultivators, and stood no chance now that they saw her as a foe.
With the odds now more in my favor, I went on the offensive. Only six of my original attackers remained standing and I intended to end this quickly. I dashed forward, faster than any of them could track.
My open palm struck the chest of the nearest cultivator, a fire user. The impact, enhanced by my vastly superior strength, sent him flying across the room. He crashed into a pillar and slumped to the ground, out cold.
Spinning on my heel, I delivered a roundhouse kick to a shadow cultivator trying to flank me. The snap of my foot cracked like a whip when it connected with his jaw. The crack as his jawbone broke was audible even amidst the chaos. He dropped like a stone.
The remaining four tried to regroup, forming a defensive circle, but their coordination was no match for my speed and power. I exulted in the power that my stat growth had given me. These weren’t the foes that I’d have to beat, but they were still an obstacle.
I weaved between them, moving like a whirlwind. An elbow to the solar plexus doubled over the water cultivator, while a knee to the face took the air out of the air user before he could attempt to suffocate me again.
The last two, both light cultivators, attempted to blind me with a brilliant flash. I closed my eyes, relying on my other senses as I absorbed the Light Mana, allowing it to resonate with my body tempering. I heard the whisper of fabric as one cultivator moved to my left, and felt a shift in the air as the other prepared an attack from behind me.
In one fluid motion, I dropped low, sweeping my leg in a wide arc. I caught both of them at the ankles, toppling them to the ground. Before they could recover, I was on them, delivering precise strikes to sides of their heads. Both fell back, instantly unconscious.
The entire exchange had taken less than ten seconds. That was simply the reality of battles at these speeds. As the dust settled around me, I became aware of the larger battle raging around us.
Kupa had unleashed his domain, a swirling vortex of wind that had punched a hole through one of the manor's walls. Lian and Elu were being pushed back, struggling against the overwhelming pressure of an A-rank cultivator's power.
Nearby, other cultivators were frantically trying to contain the damage, erecting barriers of earth and energy to prevent the entire structure from collapsing. Their efforts were only partially successful; cracks spider-webbed across the ceiling and chunks of masonry rained down around us.
I knew I had to end this quickly before the entire manor came down on our heads. With my immediate attackers neutralized, I focused on Kupa. His domain was impressive—a swirling maelstrom of wind that seemed to bend reality itself—but I had faced worse in Avernus.
I raced forward to engage him, but then his domain snapped down in a way that I could sense but didn’t really understand. The air around Lian and Elu locked in place, and both their bodies went rigid.
Kupa gaze turned to me, and I froze in place as he said, “Not one more step or I snap the Earth cultivator’s neck. You will still have two anchors, Hero, so you’ll be safe. Do not test me in this, I could care less what happens to a Yandao bitch who does not know her place.”
Chapter 40 - A Bridge Too Far
A deadly calm settled over me. The world slowed down as my eyes locked with Kupa’s. “Take great care with what you say next,” I hissed. “Attack me… fine. Lie about me… okay. But lay a hand on any of my wives and there is nowhere in all the realms that you can hide from me.”
The Voice of the Law was active, even though I hadn’t consciously thought about using it. The air around me vibrated.
Kupa sneered. “You are all talk. I will admit you have some skills, but cutting your way through a dozen weaker cultivators is not the same as fighting a master of his domain. You have no choice in this matter. Even that movement technique of yours will not be fast enough to save her. On your knees, now. I will not say it again.”
Inside my head, I grabbed my bond to Agimae and pushed my intent through it to him. A fraction of a second later, Kupa grasped his head between his hands, screaming in pain as a spike of psionic power tore through his mind.
I streaked forward and grabbed both Lian and Elu as a pulse of Neutral Mana ripped apart the solid air holding them in place. I deposited them back in the room before returning to the edge of the courtyard to face my opponent.
Kupa was back upright and glared at me.
In my head, I heard Agimae said, “I’m sorry that I couldn’t hold him longer than that. I’m just not strong enough to incapacitate an A-ranker—not yet.”
I sent Agimae my gratitude through our bond, but all my focus was on Kupa. When our eyes locked, I shouted, “I challenge you to a duel of honor and blood. Let all who hear know that this is between this man and me. Let none interfere.”
The courtyard filled up with cultivators who had sworn to me. They became a barrier to keep any of the council cultivators from acting, not that Kelvin or Naro seemed inclined to intervene. That didn’t keep Valdoc and Dryden from taking up positions near them, though.
“You think you can scare me?” Kupa sneered. “Fine, I accept your duel on the condition that this battle is between you and me alone. Don’t think that we didn’t realize you cheated in your last duel by having your spirit beast aid you.”
“We are soul bonded, fool. He is a part of me. But fine, Agimae won’t interfere any further. It will be my hand that does more than just kill you—I will unmake you.”
He snorted. “Maybe I’ll be the new Hero after I kill you. Don’t worry, I’ll be glad to claim your women for myself, and I won’t hear any of this nonsense about them staying on the martial path. I’ll put them away with bare feet and rounded bellies till they’re no longer desirable. They’ll probably even thank me for it… no doubt they crave a real man.”
I didn’t let him get to me. He was trying to provoke me, but in this moment, I felt a deadly rage while being detached from it all. “You have sown your fate, now reap the whirlwind.”
The moment the words left my mouth, I reached into my spatial storage and drew forth my axe. Its weight felt reassuring in my hand, a promise of the violence to come. Without hesitation, I activated Shadow Glide, crossing the distance between us in the blink of an eye.
Kupa, however, was no novice. His A-rank Agility allowed him to twist away at the last second, my axe whistling through the air where his head had been a heartbeat before. Body Equilibrium enabled me to turn on a dime, but he countered with blinding speed, his sword materializing in his hand as he struck at my exposed flank.
I pivoted, bringing my axe up to parry the blow. The clash of metal on metal rang out across the courtyard, sparks flying from the point of impact. We broke apart, each reassessing the other.
Kupa's eyes narrowed as we circled each other. I could see the moment he realized I was matching his speed, movement for movement. When we clashed again, his surprise was evident when I not only met his strength, but exceeded it. I forced him back a step.
His weapon was better for swift, slashing attacks that left minor wounds. If my axe connected solidly with him, on the other hand, he’d be done for. Our weapons moved faster and faster as we exchanged a flurry of strikes.
Kupa's sword nicked my arm, drawing first blood, but I barely felt it. My Vitality was so great now, that before his eyes, the wound closed and left unmarred skin behind. In contrast, when my axe sliced across his thigh, the wound remained open, bleeding freely. I’d activated Vitality Suppression, which meant that his own regeneration was impaired.
After a few exchanges like this and more than one vicious wound gouged from his flesh, it was obvious that he noticed the difference. “Impossible,” Kupa growled.
“Not impossible.” I grinned, taunting him. “It’s a technique called Vitality Suppression. I’m glad you like it.”
Fury blazed in Kupa's eyes, and he redoubled his efforts. His sword became a silver whirlwind, slashing at me from all angles. I met each blow, my axe singing as it deflected and countered. We were evenly matched in speed, but my superior strength and durability were beginning to tell. Sweat beaded on Kupa's brow, while I remained fresh, my enhanced Endurance keeping fatigue at bay.
