Five million? He was shocked to learn that they even had that many members to begin with. Something told him that there was far more to that shady sect than met the eye.
“Still. Anyone still alive on their end will be a lot stronger than they were when the war began.”
Their core cultivation method nearly rivalled his own in efficiency, though his was superior in that he could use it at any time while theirs relied on external cultivation resources—human lives—to operate. Without resources it was effectively useless, but if there were enough victims available to those that practiced it then its effects would be unbelievable. After all, stealing an entire person’s cultivation was far more efficient than slowly building up your own by relying on the energies that filled your environment.
“Whatever the case, that’s the least of our worries.” Putting on a sombre expression, she said, “What do you know of the Nightshadow Sect?”
He recalled the life-and-death battle that he’d had with the man named Keplin outside of the kingdom of Ridgerock. He had been a low-ranking elder within said sect, and after killing him a massive face of devious grey energy had appeared in the air above them like a cumulonimbus at the onset of a sudden storm. This face had condemned them for going against their organization, promising retribution for the results of the altercation. Thinking back on it, this must have been the energy manifestation of a master at the Soul Strengthening stage, and a very accomplished individual at that. To project one’s energy hundreds of thousands of kilometres to the eastern side of the continent all the way from the Western Isles where the most powerful sects of the known world were located…just what sort of person could be capable of such a thing?
“Uh, me and Ian might have killed one of their elders and his disciples. Well, he actually killed one of his disciples during one of his attacks—his weasel levels were over 9000.” Giving a light shrug, he added, “But yeah, me and my friends are wanted by them. Apparently they put out a killing order on us a while back.”
The corner of Katerina’s glistening, balm-covered mouth twitched in frustration. “Then it makes sense that Tems found the aid of some of their elders.”
“I already knew that,” he yawned, recalling the shrieking screams of the Falling Rain Sect elder that he’d tortured for information after the auction earlier in the week. “How many are we talking here, and how strong?”
“A hundred Genesis-staged cultivators.”
A hundred?
He spat out a mouthful of ale on purpose, letting out a light laugh afterword. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”
“I know you lot are powerful, but shouldn’t you be more vigilant? Combined with Kalvin’s people and those from the Falling Rain Sect, theirs is a force that could threaten anyone on this continent. Even people like the emperor of Thebes and Merchant King Markham would approach such a situation as delicately as possible.”
“I mean, it’s not ideal. But ol’ Nolan still has a few tricks up his sleeves, so don’t worry too much.”
Katerina seemed to regret jumping ship into the same boat as Welson and his new acquaintances. Hearing a large splash off in the distance, she focused on the huge mass of water that rose up from the altered pool, having ignored it up until now in order to convey the urgency of the news that she had just received. Her sharp, alluring features twisted into a mixed expression of surprise and exasperation.
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Her gaze trailed from Esteban and Aine who were in the midst of swimming back up to the surface of the towering pool, to Sean, Lyra, Ian and May who were still delving deep into their cups at their table, before turning to Nyla, Alicia and Melissa who were lazing around on the tanning beds while talking about this and that.
“Can’t you guys take this more seriously? A force that the Northern Wilderness hasn’t seen in centuries is currently on its way here to kill you. In case you’ve forgotten, that now includes me and the girl that you’ve taken such a liking to.”
“Hey, hey, quiet down. I never said I liked her like that.”
The last thing he needed was for Nyla or May to view the girl as some sort of rival, sort of like how they currently viewed each other.
Katerina kept quiet, though she gave him a knowing look.
He waved her off and summoned a barrel of ale that floated alongside him as he refilled his cup. Producing another, he filled it and handed it to Katerina before stowing away the barrel. She accepted it with absentminded hands, though refrained from taking a sip.
“How can you be so calm? You guys… Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“I said I had some tricks up my sleeve, didn’t I?” he chuckled. “You think we’re just going to sit around here and wait to die?”
In truth, he had already formulated a plan that he and his friends would rely on to defeat their enemies. Although Uncle Grey was currently incapable of contacting him, he had already imparted upon Nolan and Nyla the schematics and instructions for how to create a very specific attack formation. Relying on this formation—one that would be considered of very high quality to modern-day residents of the continent—he would put an end to Tems’s little tantrum once and for all, and in a most spectacular fashion.
He’d initially dismissed the technique as something to look into in the future, but after witnessing the awe-inspiring effects of the Falling Rain Sect’s formation that had created a vast cloud of cultivation-sealing fog, Nolan had decided to pay more attention to the obvious potential that formations presented when it came to swaying the tides of battle.
Maintaining a slow pace, they arrived at the pool area a few minutes later where Katerina was quickly fascinated by the strange bathing suits that everyone was wearing. On Venara, most people seemed to wear short, thin robes whenever they wanted to take a leisurely dip, clothes that were far more conservative than the simple trunks that the guys wore and the one-piece bathing suits that the girls had taken a liking to.
“Want me to make you one?” he offered, low-key hoping to catch a glimpse of the curvaceous young woman in such an outfit.
Without warning, Nyla flung him into the air with a lazy exertion of iridescent energy, causing him to draw a skyward parabola before cresting the surface of the pool and landing in the water with a loud splash. He laughed all the while, summersaulting over and over along the way to make it more enjoyable for his drunken self. Clearing his throat once he’d leveled off in the water, he reminded himself to dial it back a bit lest Nyla find more reasons to find fault with him.
I should probably drink less in the future. Thinking of the mental baggage that life on Venara brought with it, he laughed away the thought.
After cultivating for nearly a hundred hours straight, Nolan relished at the idea of kicking back and enjoying a relaxing afternoon of drinking high-quality booze and goofing off with his friends. Now that it was generally known that he was involved with both Nyla and May—and that the two of them seemed to have accepted this fact, albeit with some reluctance—Nolan had been a bit bolder in his interactions with the two.
As someone who’d been raised in a country with completely different societal norms than the cultures he’d encountered on Venara, he’d been hesitant at first to dip his feet into the waters of polygamy. After all, what would his mother say if she knew that this was the direction his ideals were leaning toward? Nothing, of course, for she was dead, along with all of his family and friends from Earth. At the end of the day, he’d personally taken the lives of thousands of people since he’d been forcibly removed from his home world, and considering the fact that his life expectancy had risen to well over a thousand years, it could only be imagined how many more people would die at his hands. With that in mind, he’d come to the eventual conclusion that becoming involved with multiple women that held genuine affections for him was the last thing that anyone’s moral compass would point to in criticism. Hell, most of the people he’d killed were disciples of some sect or other, and thus teenagers that hadn’t even lived to experience a full lifetime due to his merciless actions.