My body constantly endured destruction and recreation, while my soul and body underwent continuous reforging and perfection at a molecular level.

Adding to that, I practice a standalone body cultivation method, The Way of the Speedy Tortoise. A complete defense and movement method. Something that everyone here has learned in some capacity, but only one person has absorbed in its entirety.

Me.

And I've customized it to fit me with the vast amount of knowledge gained from the library. Considering that the benefits of body cultivation methods scale with, but are only loosely limited by your regular cultivation… I can push the bounds of what's possible.

With massive amounts of doping.

That’s right.

I’m doped up on qi, circulating the massive amounts of qi into my body, while this massive aura around me has a secondary purpose than looking cool. It operates like a ‘mage skin’, preventing attacks against me, while dealing damage to anyone who hits me.

It’s similar to a character from Bleach, whose sheer density of aura prevented him from being hurt by ordinary attacks.

Sofia, after seeing my counter attack, realizes this in an instant. In a way that I'm sure no one here has ever seen her do, she screams out commands.

“EVERYONE RETREAT AND FORM A DEFENSIVE FORMATION!”

The ground cracks as she back steps away from me, the plant tentacles in her chest erupting from her body, forming a massive shield covering from one end of the arena to the other. Ceiling to floor, hundreds of meters thick.

A testament to her Core Formation realm and her skill, especially as she is brand new to the realm and can’t fully control her strength.

It won’t hold me back.

I throw myself forward, my hands formed into the shape of a claw.

And I rip into it.

No technique. No skill. Just ripping and tearing. The sound of which terrifies everyone on the other side. Almost as if casually walking, I move through it, step-by-step. Since I can’t use my cultivation base for offensive measures, I can only use the most basic usage of it. As dense material to dig into whatever I can.

On the other side of this wall is the entire group, desperately creating a solid shield and attack formation. Some have run to grab Jin Chin, and have dragged her back over into the formation, to heal her before I arrive.

Minutes pass.

Precious time in the fight for them. And rare in actual battles.

However, they can’t hold me back forever, as I shred the last layer of plant material left between us.

To which I encounter my first true threat of the fight.

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A sword to the face. My eyes dilate, with me extending my scan to the highest extent I ever have for combat, seeing all pathways and possibilities.

It’s only just enough.

My hand flickers out again, but this time, to barely punch it away. In the fraction of a second, it moves off path, glancing the wall of plant life.

A hundred meters in the direction of the strike disintegrates.

As it returns in another swing, I have mere microseconds to dodge and knock it out of the way again, only for it to zero back in toward my body as if tracking. Over and over and over.

Jin Chin. Sharpened and enraged.

I’m now combating an experienced and prepared enemy, who has been fighting for longer than I’ve been alive. And she now has no reservations about attempting to kill me.

Though I have a few tricks of my own.

My feet tap the ground, and a distance away, I appear. The Speedy Tortoise escape method, allowing me to move at ultra-high speeds to instantly gain distance. Not quite teleportation, but fast enough at short distances to be comparable. Quick step.

But she’s not the only threat my scan picks up.

I pick up high energy signals to my left and all my hairs raise.

I activate my quick step, shooting farther back. Which is when a laser beam of energy tears through the space I was just in, not only ripping through the plant wall but also impacts the shield wall at the edge of the arena.

A glance in that direction shows me something to be proud of.

A shining dome, tens of meters thick and with everyone inside, all muttering and performing hand signs in unison. In the center of the formation is Sofia, her eyes locked on me and arm outstretched. An attack equal to an empowered Core Formation strike.

When my eyes lock onto hers, I hear the chanting increase in loudness, before her hand shines brightly again. The hairs on my neck rise and I not only quick step the normal distance, but pour my qi into moving hundreds of meters away to the side.

Which is when a shotgun blast of those same lasers fire out in that direction. Covering the air in a bullet hell's worth of death in that general direction. I barely escaped, my heart pounding in my chest.

That’s when Jin Chin struck.

Almost in slow motion, I could sense the blade coming from behind me. Straight toward my neck.

However, instead of fear or disappointment, now I could only feel pride and relief.

They’ve learned from what I been teaching them.

Which was the last conscious thought I had, from when my head was still connected to my body.

There’s a half second of silence before my head rolls and my body falls to the ground.

I can hear many in the formation gasp, their concentration faltering from the sight of someone they like, admire, and who saved them from being killed, having been beheaded by their actions.

And there’s a lot of blood. Everywhere.

Just as the formation shield is about to drop from this mental bomb, a firework goes off. Centered from Sister Nuan.

The first stage has ended.

Making many remember that this is a planned action. With each of them hardening their wills. And a good thing too.

Through my disembodied senses, I can see Sister Nuan sigh before raising her hand, using her qi to activate something that I had set up for just this moment.

https://youtu.be/ttL3jmLBSGY?si=J_xVymFCyc0RvaVv

Across the field, a sound resembling the playing of an organ resounds.

That’s right. Boss music.

As soon as it does, I control my body to rise up without the head and release something from my space bracelet.

Even Jin Chin is shocked by my headless body moving and hesitates for just long enough for me to activate a talisman that will protect me from core formation and below attacks. My body and head rises in the air, independent of each other.

In the bubble, I release countless poisons and talismans that shiver and float around my head, ready to be released.

And right when the bubble’s timer is about to expire, the ground begins to shake. Cracks form in the ground and both Jin Chin and Sofia’s eyes widen in horror.

I raise my hands slowly and point at the formation.

There’s a moment of complete silence and pause.

And in the middle of the formation, Shi Ji, who was contributing to the attack formation, freezes in place.

In that half-second of time, she looks down.

And sees countless eyes and shifting carapaces. All staring at her.

…

Which is when the guitar kicks in.

Screaming ensues.