“Have a taste of Heavenly Tribulation!” Slifer roared.

A blinding pillar of white lightning tore through the clouds, hitting the beast in the chest. The impact sent the chimera tumbling away with a pained screech, but the beast righted itself quickly, shaking off the daze with a vengeful glare.

The Heavenly Tribulation Strike Card had failed to do any real damage.

Of course it wasn’t the Ascendant level bolt I needed - just my crap luck at work as usual, Slifer grimaced.

That had been a measly Origin Realm strike at best. Still, it had stalled the beast for the moment.

Time to put the real plan into motion.

Slifer scrambled into the hold of the Ark, nearly tripping over his robes. He slid into the control seat of the main cannon, glancing at the mess of levers and buttons that controlled the ancient weapon.

Now where was that blasted firing manual? Ah never mind, no time to figure this thing out properly.

Slifer closed his eyes, channelling his qi into the cannon. With a lurch, a building hum filled the chamber as energy gathered within the enormous barrel.

Come on, it just needs enough power to roast the overgrown pigeon...there!

BOOM!

The deafening blast nearly burst Slifer's eardrums, but he grinned as the cannon fired an orb of condensed qi out into the open sky. His smile quickly disappeared though as the blast sailed clean over the chimera, continuing towards the gathering of Ascendants.

"Whoops..." Slifer muttered, wincing as the blast closed in on the female elder.

To her credit, Zofia reacted quickly to the surprise attack. With an elegant spin, she swung her broadsword in a wide arc, deflecting the cannon blast skyward where it burst harmlessly amongst the clouds.

"My apologies for the friendly fire!" Slifer called out as he returned to the Ark's deck, but Zofia's only response was an icy glare. Clearly he owed her one now - wonderful.

Well, no time to worry about that at the moment.

The chimera had recovered and now dove towards the Ark with renewed fury, jaws crackling with electricity. Two of its heads snapped at the ship's hull, tearing off large chunks of metal plating as if paper. The other head targeted him.

Slifer again channelled his qi, steadying his aim before launching another cannon blast towards the chimera. The chimera tried to twist out of the path of the beam, but it was too late! The orb exploded against it, blasting off one of the heads into a cloud of gore. Direct hit!

"Ha! Not so confident now, eh?"

But despite the missing head, the chimera refused to give up. With an enraged howl it lunged towards Slifer once more.

"Just die already!" Slifer yelled, infusing the cannon with all the power he could muster.

Too slow - the chimera was nearly on him!

At the last possible second the cannon discharged, catching the chimera mid-roar with a massive orb of qi directly down its throat.

This time the damage was beyond recovery. The chimera seized up as electricity discharged randomly from its spasming body. Then all at once the light left its eyes and the massive beast began to plummet from the sky.

Ding! You Have Gained 1500 Karmic Credits

“You’re mine!”

Slifer flew the limping Ark beneath the falling chimera, he wouldn’t let anyone take his hard-earned spoils. With a heavy thud, the metal deck dented under the weight of the beast.

“There we go, all in a day’s work,” Slifer grinned, quickly storing the corpse into his spatial ring.

The materials harvested from a Heavenly Beast would fetch a hefty profit, not to mention the beast core. This lucky break almost made up for his unlucky encounter with the chimera in the first place. Almost.

Now to deal with the peanut gallery watching his display. Slifer turned to face the Supreme Elders, noticing the looks of approval. Power spoke loudly in the cultivation world after all.

Leontius smiled, clearly impressed that Slifer had eliminated such a dangerous threat on his own.

Astrid gave a thoughtful nod, she acknowledged that she had underestimated Slifer and his damaged ship.

Kaelius' expression remained neutral, but a hint of greed crept into his dark eyes. That ship, as broken as it was, seemed interesting…though it would probably be more useful in my hands.

But Zofia...Slifer noted nervously that her beautiful face had twisted into a scowl. He swallowed hard. That did not bode well.

"Hmph! So you got in a lucky shot while hiding away on your junk pile," Zofia snapped, crossing her arms. "If I had an Ascendant weapon like that, I could have roasted that beast just as easily!”

The other Ascendant cultivators looked at each other awkwardly, then Leontius spoke up, trying to steer past the hot-headed girl’s comment.

“Come, let us get the meeting started,” Leontius gestured to an open cloud where Slifer could join the others.

But Slifer shook his head, remaining aboard the battered Ark. “I appreciate the offer, but I need to stay on the ship to maintain its functions.”

A half-truth at best, since he lacked the protective qi to withstand the Seventh Heaven's pressure, if he even took one step off the ship, he would be flattened to a pulp.

But the elders didn’t need to know that little detail.

“…”

“I wasn’t finished talking!” Zofia rose swiftly into the air, landing gracefully upon the deck across from him. Up close, the intensity of her presence was even more apparent. This woman was not one to let grievances go unaddressed.

“What do you want?” Slifer’s eyes narrowed, not pleased that she had entered his personal space.

“Humph, let us get to the point then. Your handling of the beast was adequate, I’ll grant you that much.” Zofia's razor tone left no room for argument. “Yet something puzzles me. For a supposed Ascendant cultivator, your aura seems awfully...limited.”

She tilted her head as if puzzling over a complex problem. “An esteemed Supreme Elder such as yourself should have no trouble proving your cultivation. So…let us see it.”

The challenge was clear - prove that you’re an Ascendant cultivator or get the hell out of here.

Leontius interjected gently. "Now, let's not fight among ourselves. I'm sure Supreme Elder Slifer has his reasons." But Zofia ignored him, continuing her tirade as she levelled her sword at the ark.

"You hide behind your ships and treasures like a coward. I say you have no right to be here unless you can prove your cultivation level, fight me!"

Slifer shrugged, keeping his carefree mask in place while silently cursing. Zofia clearly suspected him of hiding his low cultivation. He would have to handle this carefully to avoid exposing himself.

"Bold words," he replied lightly. "But I'm not one for pointless fights. Our sects are here to cooperate, after all."

Astrid found herself agreeing with Zofia. If Slifer was in fact not an Ascendant cultivator, then that would free up another spot for the Sealed Realm, a spot that the White Tiger sect disciples would happily take.

"Enough talk," Astrid interrupted the duo. "If you both believe so strongly, then let us settle this simply. An exchange of three strikes to test your skills should suffice."

“I won’t even need three strikes to expose this fool!” Zofia scoffed.

"I'll try not to embarrass you too badly," Slifer yawned.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

If this arrogant woman wished to be humiliated, who was he to deny her the privilege?

Zofia bristled at the dismissal, cheeks flaming.

"Hmph, since you're so confident, let's make this interesting," she retorted, eying the Ark's cannon. "When I win, I'll be taking this scrap heap off your hands!"

Slifer raised an eyebrow at the bold wager. "And what do I receive when you lose?"

Zofia let out a derisive laugh. "As if that would happen! But sure, if by some miracle you win, you can have this." She retrieved a glowing red cube from her robe - an Essence of Fire!

The other Elders stared in disbelief. Essence Cubes were exceptionally rare, containing the very mysteries of a specific element. They proved invaluable when comprehending an element, which was crucial for Immortal Ascension. And this arrogant woman gambled one so casually?

Though Slifer kept his face an impassive mask, inwardly he trembled with excitement. His comprehension of fire was only at 5%, using an essence cube so early in his cultivation would give him a chance to comprehend a fire domain before even reaching the Origin Realm!

"Ladies first," Slifer said with a mock bow.

Zofia's eyes narrowed, storing away the cube. She channelled her qi into the sword, causing crimson flames to cover the blade. In a blur, she appeared before Slifer, slashing directly at his head with unbelievable speed.

Yet Slifer didn't even twitch, standing calmly as death whirled towards him.

When the strike was a mere inch from his face, a translucent barrier materialized and blocked the blow.

Ding! Critical Block Card Activated

The backlash knocked Zofia backwards several steps.

“You...you're a Space cultivator!" she spat accusingly. If she had known his affinity, Zofia would never have challenged him, space cultivators were known to be tricky to deal with. Damn those slippery rogues!

Kaelius and Astrid gave each other looks of astonishment. Leontius merely nodded, having already suspected there was more to the new Ascendant. Controlling Space itself was no meagre feat.

"One strike down, two to go," Slifer reminded her cheekily.

Face still burning with embarrassment and rage, Zofia took a deep breath to calm herself. She would need absolute focus now - this opponent was far trickier than she anticipated.

Activating Sword Heart increased her perception. Now his tricks would prove useless before her foresight.

Her qi came off her in waves, trapping Slifer in her Sword Domain. A thousand gleaming swords materialized around her, ready to attack.

With a decisive slash of her blade, the endless sword rain descended upon Slifer from all directions. But before they found their mark, his spherical barrier flashed into existence once more. The wild tempest of blades glanced off harmlessly.

Ding! Critical Block Card Activated

"One strike left. Make it count," Slifer said, examining his nails in feigned boredom.

Gripping her sword with white knuckles, Zofia uttered an invocation. The blade ignited into a massive conflagration, scorching the very air. "Burn all things...Zelihima!"

She slashed with all her might, unleashing the enormous firestorm point-blank toward Slifer, vaporizing metal and cooking the clouds beneath their feet. If he wished to play with fire, she would grant his wish!

But instead of incinerating Slifer, the raging inferno simply vanished, absorbed into his barrier. Zofia's eyes widened in disbelief. How had he nullified her ultimate technique?

Ding! Reflection Barrier Card Activated

Slifer dusted off his robe casually. "Now then, I believe that concludes your three strikes. Allow me to demonstrate how it's done…in one strike."

Zofia shook her head in denial. "Impossible! No one except the Sect Master could..."

Her objection died on her lips as Slifer waved his hand, splitting open reality itself. From the yawning rift emerged Zofia's own firestorm, redirected right back at her!

“N-no…how is this possible?”

Raising her sword defensively, Zofia poured every ounce of power she had into resisting the hellish flames. But her defence paled before her most powerful technique, the raging firestorm easily overpowered it, slamming into the woman with the force of a collapsing mountain.

By the time the blaze cleared, Zofia remained standing through sheer force of will alone, swaying and half-naked amidst the ruins of cloth and armour. Her flawless skin now appeared cracked and blackened. Through the haze of pain, one thought dominated her mind: How? How could she have lost to this nobody?

“Hmm, I expected…more.”

Silence descended on the Seventh Heaven as Slifer’s words sunk in. This unknown newcomer had just casually trounced one of the most powerful women alive. With her own attack, no less.

Ding! Task Complete: Awe The Ascendant Cultivators! Reward: 1000 Karmic Credit For Each Ascendant Cultivator Awed Credits Gained: 4000 Karmic Credits

"I'll be taking the cube now," Slifer declared, extending his hand towards Zofia.

Despite the agony, Zofia lifted her head and glared at Slifer with eyes burning nearly as hot as the flames. With a pained grunt, she retrieved the promised essence cube from her storage ring and tossed it towards Slifer's outstretched hand.

Catching the pulsing cube, the Black Rose Supreme Elder graced Zofia with a small nod. "You have my thanks for the generous gift."

In response, Zofia spat a glob of red phlegm to the deck before limping back to her cloud. Only once settled upon its surface did she retrieve a medicinal pill and consume it. Slowly, muscle and skin began to regrow across her ruined body as the medicine worked its magic.

Ignoring her seething glare, Slifer addressed the remaining Ascendants. "Now then, are we done here?" His tone carried an unspoken warning - no more games. Any other challengers would face similar consequences.

But inwardly, Slifer was praying that they fell for his bluff, he had no more cards that could save him, the two Critical Block cards and the one Barrier Reflection card were all he had!

Seeing the Ascendant cultivators refuse to meet his eyes, Slifer held back a sigh of relief, the bluff had paid off.

“In that case, let the meeting begin.”