A dark black and blue mushroom cloud erupted from the second medical site, and shockwaves swarmed throughout the entire space. Julius teleported away and hovered in the air, viewing the clouds of heat occupying below. It was so thick and dark that there was no visibility of anything below it. Imagine thunder clouds around the level of fog, barely feet in altitude.
Empress Cai summoned next to his side empty-handed. “Everyone cleared out,” she said, and multiple cultivators appeared around the vicinity. “They are waiting for your command.”
Julius sent a text message through the Skoltor system. He ordered them to separate the entire village survivors away from the site as safely as possible. Hence, they disappeared, leaving the two alone. As they watched, waiting for a confrontation against Tang Yifei, Julius was mentally saddened by this. Empress Cai heard his breathing sound a little somber, prompting her to ask if he was okay.
“Family conflicts…Here we go again. It’s like my parents. We never get along to have a firm relationship as a parent and child. My mother is there, but no emotions. While my dad, well, you already know. Kind of like your father, too. Both are selfish crap. That put me on the brink, and I’ll never forget that for the rest of my life. Now my aunt makes this even less forgettable.” Julius grunted, shaking his head. He has one job to do. The one thing he said to Xavier. He will go by it until the end. “I think this is it. If this drags further, declare war on my behalf. Every state is not excused by this possibility, and Tang will be the first.”
“Noted,” Empress Cai said with a nod. “You need my help—”
The mushroom cloud vacuumed from the stem, dispersing all the residues. A white aura appeared to be obviously Tang Yifei.
“I wanted to keep this between me and her…never mind…” He was interrupted by more presences that hovered near her. Julius saw his second uncle, the one who was with Tang Yifei at the senate session. He ain’t the one, but five more people came simultaneously. Julius sighed, realizing that it was probably the rest of his six uncles. They played with time because more and more family members showed up within ten seconds. Afterward, typical soldiers formed the exterior defense, encircling around them. Every one of them had an active aura surrounding their bodies, so at one angle, they appeared to be planetary-like rings similar to Saturn.
Julius half turned behind him, looking right at the destroyed village and the villagers evacuating. My family? My ass, for God’s sake. Screw them all. His head grew tense, enough to push his eyebrows downward involuntarily. There was no fixing. The family's fate has been sealed. “…I appreciate your help, whatever I can. If you could end it quickly, even better.”
--
Creating a Message…
“All fellow cultivators, if you have nothing to do or finished your duties, I would appreciate your help in decimating many bastard traitors out here. Thank you.”
Sending a Message…
To: Everyone.
…
Sent.
--
Julius sent the message, and that was it. All he had to do. No more family. They’re all strangers and enemies to him now. The process of forgetting them had already begun. He boosted from his spot, generating shockwaves. Empress Cai followed him as he amped up the speed, directing Tang Yifei.
As he flew down from above, he steered to the right when one from the crowd launched themselves right at him, sword drawn. Empress Cai went to the opposite side of Julius, striking the attacker through. She swiftly performed a diagonal slash, cutting the blade in half. Right at the last millisecond until she finished her motion, the force generated from the edge of her katana’s tip. It exerted a force that appeared like its own attack move. Hence, it generated a colorless wave, pushing the attacker so far away that not even Julius could see him anymore. Then an explosion happened that looked like a speck, which was insane based on how fast she sent him there.
He’s dead. Julius thought, redirecting back right to Tang Yifei. Now everyone began moving to offense, going all out as the closer he reached. As the two were about to clash with Yifei’s allies, a gathering that received Julius’ message was summoned from above, putting them out of misery in various ways. One getting stomped down by a fellow cultivator, where he thrust both of his feet right on the former’s back. It was bloody brutal. Their blood rained after getting destroyed by Julius’ allies.
The space was open, allowing Julius and Empress Cai to speed through. Julius boosted his speed, distancing between him and her. A couple more of his cultivators came along, one on each side. The appearance of a planetary-like ring started to distort. More can’t resist stopping him and the upcoming attacks than staying at their defensive posts to keep the rings intact. Julius’ aura summoned around him, deflecting any aerial attacks from reaching or touching his body by a minimum of 5 inches. He intentionally crashed right at the human ring’s defenses, completely breaking off the defense stance and distorting the entire thing. The planetary-like appearance was gone, obliterated.
That pissed Yifei off because she reacted to the extreme, summoning an ice cannon that swirled around full circle. Julius had already crashed into a pile; hence, he was below the range. His hand instinctively grabbed Empress Cai down with him, saving her from getting hit by the ice cannon. She landed right on the back of his leg, face down. That triggered a jolting pain as her head crashed down, felt like a massive boulder toppled from the sky, and dropped down to the ground. He hung on until her ice cannon dissipated, and his grip let go once they were free to move. Afterward, Empress Cai got up first, slapping Julius’ thigh with qi. His sharp pain ceased and the pile of unconscious bodies he laid on top of still kept him on hold in the air. Before he could tell the former to distract his aunt, she already went on with it.
Looking around again below, he went with a diabolical decision. Subsequently, as Empress Cai and fellow cultivators served as a distraction, Julius stood and raised his right foot high into the air, almost like a full split, 180 degrees. Dark qi swarmed his feet and boosted his feet right back down, stomping on a row of unconscious enemy cultivators. It was very impactful that an accumulation of vibrations clashed right to the heel of his boot, sending right to the surface of his foot. Wow. That went too hard.
He casually watched them plummeting down to the ground as he prepared his weapon of use. Licht, the greatsword, was ready for usage. However, he found the miao dao sword more effective with the ice element, although he used Licht earlier. Hence, he withdrew using Licht and placed it on his back as a backup. With his miao dao in his right hand, he sprinted towards the scene, now a disarray of two sides attacking each other. There was Tang Yifei, standing as if she were a god. Her aura stopped anybody from reaching her. Think of it like a metallic ball that discharges electric currents, reacting to an opposite charge. Exactly what he witnessed. However, he doesn’t know what kind of ice she used because the behavior of it was strange. Unless it was actually electricity that blended successfully with ice, Julius considered it too beyond comprehension.
Either way, he cautiously sprinted towards the scene while more and more allies kept going right at her, sacrificing their battle for him to get closer. As he closed the distance between him and her, Yifei was not moving as much other than anything within her personal space radius, reminding Julius of an epic boss battle in a rpg game. Frankly, it was true. Skoltor System quickly displayed a health percentage bar as if this was in the Merit Universe all over again.
--
Tang Yifei (Ice Infested) HP: 20B
--
Since this is not in the Merit Universe environment, there isn’t a reward for completing the battle other than a test of the supplement's effectiveness to the cultivator’s capabilities.
Julius ran and his miao dao got cold. The crispy coldness of ice grew louder and popped as it surrounded the blade. Empress Cai noticed him arriving at a speedy pace. She headbutted her two opponents, timing it correctly. Both got the same effects and impact from it, disabling them from moving. Subsequently, she threw one right toward Tang Yifei. Julius’s on-point coordination prompted him to dash right above the body. He took one step on the back like he was going up the stairs. The leverage proved effective, as Yifei’s aura charged right at the unconscious cultivator. One strike killed him as he turned frozen and crumbled to pieces the next second. Julius swirled in the air and unleashed an ice slash attack right at Tang Yifei.
The slash was more refiner and less messy compared to his Lunar Tsunami (Yueqiu Haixiao/月球海啸). The latter move, even in a suppressed or altered state, will always leave a residue or a huge leftover evident through damage. While the former gave off a misty, chilly feeling, it evaporated after a second of being exposed to the air. Thanks to the first body Empress Cai threw, it caught her off guard, leaving her open.
Shatter!
--
Tang Yifei (Ice Infested) HP: 97% ↓
--
That did considerable damage, as he could hear her crying, causing an echo around the vicinity. To his surprise, the echoing deterred him. Empress Cai intervened by throwing the second enemy cultivator. Julius did a one-hand tap on the back, returning him to Yifei’s personal space. He then deployed another set of ice slashes, taking her health into a massive dive. His body’s momentum was consistently maintained, causing him to continue swirling in the air. The clockwise direction of his body swirl took him out of the zone, and Empress Cai leaped up into the air, catching him with her two hands in a swift motion.
“Thanks,” Julius said. He focused on Yifei, who was about to go out of control with her powers because of his second time unleashing a swarm of ice slashes.
“You don’t feel heavy,” Empress Cai said.
“I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment or not.”
Julius heard her scowling, forcing him to switch topics away. He knew what that hella fucking means, and now was not the time for it. The pain behind his ear was even triggered by the sound of her scowls. A pain like an ice pick headache. “Anyways, she has gone out of control.”
Boom!
“The only rare times where I would consider you to let go all the restrained strength.”
“Does that mean I can finally go free?” Julius asked, turning to her with a smile. Ironically, he can’t open his mouthplate. Empress Cai recognized his emotions from his eyes, getting her to respond with a confident nod and a fist bump to his chest. “Stop that.”
“No…you’re the second to get my fist…Take it as a sincere gift of gesture,” Empress Cai said, unwilling to stop in the future. “Better be ready for the next one.”
“Are you pushing me?” Julius asked.
“Maybe, but let’s get back on track…I might have a plan.”
Julius nodded, and she whispered into his ear about it. They kept their eyes on Tang Yifei, who started to burst out magnitudes of energy, transforming her. Her aura completely changed, turning into a weight of sinister. It engulfed her whole, where not even a silhouette outline was visible. One sudden burst and her head leaped up into the air along with her upper body, escaping the massive cluster of qi. She grew taller than ever. A higher display than Adalberht the Bright Giant. Julius observed it up and down, finding her to be doubled in size. Probably around twenty feet, enough to tower over a two-story house. His mind was filled with regret for bringing her and the whole family together to the Level of the Merit Universe. The thing about the Merit Universe was that even without the Skoltor System, the benefits of training and being exposed to its environment at any level have a substantial impact on the individual.
I should’ve known after that damn ice nuke. Julius thought, and his regrets grew exponentially. One time in Level One and Level Three was enough for her to gain such power. After growing to a monstrous height, the newly gained qi dressed her to an equivalent of a socialite that wore an ice-white dress. Her boots turned into reflective heels, shining off the bright light from the icy appearance.
Rumble!
The whole area madly shook. A strange phenomenon. Julius didn’t know what it was for a brief second. The next inflicted him almost like a bursting light bulb. It was getting too dangerous for Yifei to continue the rampage as fellow cultivators in the air felt her sinister aura. All then collapsed. She doesn’t have to do anything and people around her are getting the consequences worst.
Celeste flew above him and Empress Cai from behind, riding on Vesper. The platform began to encircle around a few feet above Tang Yifei, putting her bare from the danger zone. What the hell is she doing? Julius, nudging forward, knew this was going sour. Empress Cai grabbed his arm to stop him from being careless.
Suddenly, a bunch of ice projectiles popped around Tang Yifei. The projectiles, shaped spikes, manifested into clone soldiers of hers. Fully ice but with human facial features. It was counted in the hundreds, and Julius nudged back a little, letting Empress Cai’s grip off of him. “Are we three the only ones?” He asked her.
She turned back. “Solomon and the unfazed are coming to our aid.”
“I’m gonna go dark,” Julius said, exerting a dark qi around his neck.
Thunder!
Clouds rapidly formed below Julius and Empress Cai’s feet. The former recognized who it was from, turning around as the latter. “Solomon’s clouds…”
Solomon arrived at the scene with Feng and around two hundred cultivators that tailed along. Julius yelled on command for them to spread out, pointing at Yifei with his miao dao’s blade. All the cultivators broke off into two groups immediately, similar to a road divider. Solomon and Feng descended to the now cloudy air surface and walked right up to him.
“You’re ready?” Feng asked.
“I am…However, I have to let go of my restraints to beat this damn thing,” Julius said after a nod. He was unsure if things would go smoothly once he finally let it go.
“Then you better do it while we handle the rest for you,” she said, gaining the same reaction from Solomon.
The latter went off first, with orange sparkles surrounding his face. A gush of orange aura blew Julius’ hair as he flew off to the battle scene, joining up with the rest of the allies. Feng tied her hair to her head’s rear before summoning her bloody red aura, forcing Julius and Empress Cai to take one step back. “Try not to get cold, but bring the heat of your body.”
“I will. Be careful out there.”
Feng nodded. “Sure, I’ll see you then.” She flashed steps away to the battle site, leaving Empress Cai and Julius outside of the battle zone.
Stolen novel; please report.
Julius turned to Empress Cai with a heavy interest. “I never seen you without restrained strength before.”
“It has been a long while, and I can’t wait to show you,” Empress Cai said, turning her focus to Tang Yifei’s Ice Infested Boss form. “You would be in awe.”
“That sounds very exclusive…as if only I’m around.”
She walked right to the border of the battle scene and stepped on the new thin marks. One head turns right to Julius, both arms up. “Can you take a hint?” she smiled and turned right into the battle zone, exerting her pure red aura. Julius now stood alone outside of the zone while the clouds continued to accumulate around the air, solidifying the surface. He watched the battle scene, analyzing what he was about to do. It was all at a rapid pace because staying still in one spot increases the chances of getting zapped and frozen to death.
Suddenly, one thought came to his mind. It resulted in him entering the battle zone immediately, becoming a target of multiple ice clones. Julius swarmed to his right, thrusting his miao dao at a row of ice clones. The tip was barely a few inches from touching the ice. He exerted at such speed that he caught them off guard, prompting them to stop. “Got you,” he muttered.
Julius did one heavy slash, taking all their necks out. The entire row of ice soldiers collapsed with their decapitated heads first, shattering and releasing shards. Crap, not today. Julius leaped wondrously into the air and went for a repetitive black flip. Tang Yifei’s aura unleashed a behemoth lightning strike right at him. Hence, he exerted his dark qi at the last moment, deflecting it off somewhere else.
That struck a couple of other ice soldiers, disrupting and ending a few of his fellows’ battles. He knew they don’t tend to appreciate that since the culture takes things seriously with battles. Hence, Julius owed them for it. I hope you understand my intentions. For that, all of y’all will get a huge dinner when this shit is over. He muttered in his head before landing right back on his feet, regaining his personal space. Quickly, his miao dao fired an ice beam that was mixed with dark qi, making the potency more unpredictable. When it hits one of the bastards, the first one bursts into bits, hitting their fellow ice clones. Like poison, it spread on the icy “skin”, overlapping the clear whiteness. He watched them crying in pain, much to his surprise, for the clones to even have a sort of personality or sense of awareness. In fact, all of them that were near the clone, who got hit by Julius’ beam first, all tumbled to the cloudy floor.
Julius could hear the sounds of ice cracking as if ice cubes were dropped to the tiled floor. The thought that came from their knees cringed his neck. He watched while his dark qi progressively grew larger and denser, becoming more resistant to outside intrusions. His moment was a magnet for others. More and more ice clones switched gears and came right to him. When Julius realized this, he exerted more heavy darkness. He bent his knees and body a little downward, both fists gripping tight and arms flexed. Tang Yifei’s ice clones turned out to be generative, meaning consistent summoning.
Hence, he kept attracting them until there was enough. Heh. Unlucky, y’all. All of you fell for this. I have a lot of things to try. Afterward, a jolt back up straight and swiftly switched his miao dao to his left grip; Julius’ right hand jerked up, followed by bending his index and middle finger upward, summoning a black wall around the already tumbled and the enemies he attracted. It enclosed them, and they were immediately stunned by his dark aura, forcing a hard tumble on their knees.
Slam!
Julius watched them express despair as the walls closed up. He playfully waved at them before the walls ascended at a rapid pace, shutting them all inside. What resulted was a towering black tower with traces of blue qi spitting from its walls. By this point, he was already above the roof of the towering cube, viewing it in awe.
--
Qi Stability: 35%
--
Not bad. Better than I thought for the first try. Let’s see what I can do with this thirty-five percent. Julius felt satisfaction at his new summoning technique. He went to land on the direct center of the cube’s flat ceiling. His eyes are leveled with Tang Yifei’s Ice Infested form, tempting her. Before she could decide, Julius looked back down at the cube’s surface, knowing all the ice clones he trapped were inside. There was one procedure he developed while going through The Merit Universe Level Two. He already completed the first step, which was the summoning of the black-walled cube. Onto the next step. Julius leaped up a few feet and held both grips on his miao dao’s hilt.
Both of his hands began to swirl as if he was practicing his swordsmanship. He performed multiple slashes of unfamiliar patterns. Standard diagonal a couple times and switched to a perpendicular set up with the left, right, up, and down. Afterwards, Julius let his left grip of the hilt and fired an air blast directly from his palm. Many pieces of the roof broke off, revealing tons of marks. All of that was from sword movement and not unleashing any obvious qi, which demonstrates his enhanced pure strength. The restrained strength was still in effect. Hence, he brought back the double grip on the hilt, and Julius aimed the blade right down to the center before going for a free fall.
Julius’ internals became boiled, and the nauseated feeling amped up. He opened his mouth when he was close to landing on the roof. One pierce from the tip of his miao dao, the cube cracked further inward like a severe dent. His jaw was forced open as a mouthful of qi blasted directly into both of his arms and the sword. He was so close to the target that the Skoltor System sent a heat warning, but Julius didn’t care. A result has to be seen.
While the surrounding battle continued to get more chaotic, Julius finished releasing all the qi from his mouth, and he yanked his miao dao upward, moving away as the cube was about to shatter apart. He went for a backward leap off from the top of the roof, descending at an incline at a rapid speed. While doing so, he saw the cube crumbling from the top down, releasing boiling hot blue qi like a geyser, and the breaking down released the sounds of the clones’ cry at an amped volume that Julius had to clench his teeth in response because it screeched into his inner ear and clashed with his eardrums. A couple of zooms swarmed past him, finding to be two cultivators within his army. They went right behind him before leaping upward to grab Julius down safely. He thanked them while watching the cube finally explode like a balloon filled with water bursting its contents. The qi and the contents of the wall spew everywhere; even Tang Yifei got startled by it and nudged her from the spot. Even got her moving.
Julius then turned to the two cultivators. He didn’t even get the chance to ask them for updates when a loud yell erupted. Solomon? His ears perked up and his head turned to the source of the scream; there he was on the other side looking right at Tang Yifei. Solomon caught Julius’ attention, and in response, he pointed right at her. What the latter saw shook him down to the spine. He flew upwards, straight to the scene, only to find Empress Cai fell from the sky and blood squirting in the air from her chest. Julius dropped his miao dao and had both arms out, reaching for her. He held her from behind and wrapped one around her waist like a firm hug. His senses recognized a strong qi inside of her, easing his worries. “Hey, are you awake?”
Empress Cai’s head nudged. “I’m fine…Get me down. Celeste’s in trouble.” She pointed up. Solomon was beneath Julius, waiting to grasp the two. The latter looked up, and his reaction got more extreme. No…No! Fucking hell! He quickly sent Empress Cai to Solomon, who took her to safety. Afterward, Julius leaped back up, grabbing Celeste. Same as for Empress Cai, he tried calling her, but to no avail. She was weakened. Her qi was faint. Solomon quickly came back, about to take both of them away. Julius viewed Celeste’s chest to find the ice projectile had struck her deep inside. Her purple blood leaked out of the wound’s tight space. He didn’t want to yank it out until it was safe to do so.
Solomon grabbed the two quickly and teleported off to the outside of the battle zone. Empress Cai was with a couple of medical cultivators, coughing with her hand right at her mouth. “A little blood,” she mumbled. “…Check if my lungs are okay.”
After Solomon lifted Celeste off of his grip, Julius rolled to the opposite side. He watched him carrying her to another medical cultivator, who placed her in a special kind of stroller. It was more mechanical and run by a small battery connected to the wheels, allowing extra comfort for the main bed. Julius grew angrier as he watched Celeste and Empress Cai going through their battle injuries, and he wondered if it would’ve been better to have joined the battle right when they were all locked in than experimenting with his new moves. But then he let that thought go, as that was what he was supposed to do. During the end of The Merit Universe’s Level Three, Empress Cai reminded him of experimenting with his new discoveries as soon as he left.
Julius stood up with his attention aimed at Tang Yifei, who was significantly more mobile. Thus, her havoc got more extreme. He turned to look at Empress Cai and Celeste again and back at Yifei. Nothing more needed to prove to him as he launched himself back into the air. Like a space shuttle, his feet exerted heavy loads of combustion, putting his speed at an all-time high. When at the right altitude, the combustion had generated a considerable amount of smokey clouds, blocking most of the battle’s view.
The Skoltor System aided and provided a relative heat signal since Julius’ reading of qi wasn’t efficient at long distances. The thought of Empress Cai and Celeste kept sabotaging his sanity as it rampaged through his mind again. Dark qi got more rampant, wrapping around his body like an overcoat. His mind boiled, pushing him to yell loudly. Both of his fists clenched as his upper body leaned back, continuing to exert his volume and let the dark qi inflate.
----------------------------------------
Everywhere within a couple of miles, the entire village all turned dark. The dark qi became a massive thick blanket in the sky, substituting it for clouds. Thunder and lightning bolts triggered around the area. Cultivators, ice clones, everybody reacted to the change of weather while feeling heavy.
Empress Cai looked up in the darkness, knowing what this belonged to. Another discovery? Julius, you’re a wild bastard. She slightly smiled but faded away when she turned to Celeste, who was in awful shape. Solomon, assisting the assigned medical cultivator, summoned his anvil and crafted something she couldn’t comprehend what it was. Despite her smaller wounds, Empress Cai’s medical cultivators tried to plead with her not to move too much. “Ladies, I’m fine,” she said, pointing at Celeste. “It’s her I’m worried about…cough.”
“My lady…Please rest here,” the medical cultivator lady said.
“Yinhai…when did I even let myself go down this low,” Empress Cai said, in a whiny mutter. The regret was evident in her tone. “Then move me closer to her. I can’t leave her any matter. Do you understand?” She stared at the lady, insisting on doing it.
They immediately moved her stroller much closer to Celeste’s, and Empress Cai watched as Solomon finished creating a device. He clamped it onto her arm and inserted a tube filled with bright purple liquid into it. Immediately, her eyelids opened, revealing the dilated eyes. She coughed violently and spat purple blood, prompting Empress Cai to jump from her bed. “Hey…hey! Not on my watch.”
“My lady!”
“Let me off the hook this time!” Empress Cai said in a loud and firm command, turning back to Celeste. “Come on, stay with me…”
She pressed her right hand to Celeste’s left shoulder, transferring bits of her qi through the touch. It was the first time she prayed; the most ever in her lifetime for someone who never believed in such spiritual aspects. Usually only reserved for loved ones or close ones at heart.
----------------------------------------
Julius descended from the high black clouds made by his dark qi. Licht maintained communication with him as a precaution and kept him sane because this was the first time when Julius was exposed to a transformation made by the dark qi. “It felt good,” he said. “I feel fine and think straight.”
Licht spoke for the first time without telepathy. “I'll keep talking to you to make that stay true until the end of this battle. End this quickly. We don't know how dangerous this form can be if prolonged.” Nothing has changed in his voice.
“Me too. I'm aware of this. I want to end this family history of mine here!” Julius forcefully went on a drop, descending through the clouds and feeling the gust going in the opposite direction of him dropping. His feet instinctively unleashed combustion to slow him down. Once leveled, he was at approximately at least five hundred feet above the battle site. Not wasting time, Julius stared right at Tang Yifei and fired a humongous black beam. It wasn’t a defined shape as the contents were all gas and qi, appearing like plumes of smoke. For one second, he imagined being at a grill cooking steak and ribs, since that was the smell of the beam.
The beam struck Yifei, causing a shockwave that deterred every single ally cultivator and the ice clones. The latter all disintegrated and were destroyed by the effects of Julius’ dark qi that spread from the shockwave. Since everyone was out of the battle zone, the battle all switched to Julius against Tang Yifei, putting all the pressure on him.
Kaboom!
The explosion generated by Tang Yifei knocked Julius’ aim off, steering to the right, which was where everybody rested. The latter used Licht and cut off the qi source from his left palm, saving them by foot. Fucking hell.
“Are you purposely dragging this on for experimentation?” Licht asked, questioning Julius’ actions.
“Uh…Is that a problem?”
“You do know that you can do more experimentations on completed levels of the Merit Universe…Unlimited access, remember? Switch your priorities and focus on ending this battle quickly.” Licht requested and advised.
“Damn it, you really had to give me a reality check…Fine,” Julius said, grunting in disappointment. He then leveled down closer until his eyes only needed to look ahead without having to adjust to see Yifei’s face. Afterwards, the greatsword brightened by his sky-blue qi. But suddenly, a hair-drier-like breeze blew from his fists to the blade where the qi mixed with the darkness, darkening the original color. Subsequently, the breeze grew to his entire body, hair lifted, and not for long Julius let out a massive ignition through his back, arms, and legs. He transformed again, immediately feeling his foot down on the floor. His eyes looked down and figured that he had grown significantly; the one thing he was concerned about.
Tang Yifei flashed right toward Julius, pulling a fist right toward him.
Whoosh! Whiff!
Julius’ spare left hand absorbed the kinetic force from the massive punch. It was only a touch away from striking his chest. Much of the energy that went past him vacuumed right back into him, gaining an upsurge. “Is that really all you can do?”
Multiple ice projectiles fired at him, only to be obliterated after touching his skin. Julius’ left hand gripped hard on her right fist, refusing to let it go. Hence, he went for it.
Silt!
Crack! Shatter!
Julius dropped Tang Yifei’s amputated right arm down to the floor after wrecking her head with it. “That’s unfortunate…Your head hurts?” he sarcastically said.
Somehow, in this giant ice-infested form, she couldn’t speak and only responded with noises. The grunting noise came from her after Julius mocked her and attempted to stab him.
“You already did it twice,” Julius said, raising his bent arm. “There won’t be a third time!”
Shatter!
Julius elbowed the ice spear, first breaking off the blade. And the spear, leaving her unguarded. He then thrust the blade of Licht right onto Tang Yifei’s chest as payback. His wrist twisted to the right, turning the greatsword and creating a burst of dark blue qi. The latter spread through her entire body and even the color overtook the ice. It doesn’t even look like ice anymore, but like paper being painted dark blue and laminated afterwards. The unintentional illusion broke off from a crack. Tang Yifei expressed a surprised noise and looked at the crack that started from her chest. Then she screamed, resulting in Julius flexing his arms. The quantity of qi rapidly increased, boosting the cracks until her entire body was covered.
“Your time is up, and I need to unite humanity…Bye!”
“NoooOOOO!” Her first word.
Shatter!
Her ice form shunned fragments, leaving some of Julius’ qi behind, which ignited an explosion in response. Clouds popped back around the battle zone and Julius waved it out of his way. “Is it done?” He asked Licht while scanning for her qi around.
“I can’t find any trace of her…I think so, but you might need to get back to your original form to be sure since you can’t do a scanning activity too far.”
Julius shrunk down, going through one layer of dark blue clouds, and returned to normal appearance. He returned Licht to his back and let his body blow all the visibility’s disturbances away. One step forward, and he felt a blockage on the boot’s welt. That prompted him to look down, and there she was, lying flat down. Blood showered all overhead, and her clothes were torn apart, leaving only the pants and undershirt remaining. Julius went over to her side, kneeled down, and observed her broken katana. It wasn’t like he couldn’t make use of it, but he threw it as it would only remind him of his now former biological family.
He stood up and walked away, only to hear groans. “You are alive?” Julius asked, turning back to her, and she was weakly twitching.
< Do you think she’ll live? > Julius asked Licht, switching back to telepathy.
<< Her qi is weak. Too weak. She won’t make it for long. >> Licht answered, providing his insight.
Whoosh!
<< Wait, what are you doing? >>
< To finish what should’ve never happened. > Julius said, lifting the greatsword. The blade then burst out of dark blue energy. < I still have some left to let go. >
He went for a vertical downward slash, instantly summoning a pillar-sized beam. Julius watched Tang Yifei phase away and waited until the beam phased out.
“What the?” Julius noticed something off, annoying him. “You’re still alive! Are you immortal?!”
Tang Yifei stood and slumped down to the ground.
--
Tang Yifei (Ice Infested) HP: 90% ↓
Tang Yifei (Ice Infested) HP: 53.5% ↓
Tang Yifei (Ice Infested) HP: 19.65% ↓
Tang Yifei (Ice Infested) HP: 3.45% ↓
Opponent’s Restriction applied: Total HP can’t go below 3.45%
--
The battle was over, much to his shock to find she had some failsafe, acting like a backup immortality. That infuriated him, as she caused much reputation damage through the minutes of this fight. Julius felt underwhelmed by this and was upset. However, he tried to keep cool and only wanted to have some time of peace, even if it was for a few minutes or hours. He sent a brief message through the Skoltor System, and an entire team of what they would call the cleanup crew arrived at the scene, which they are and have a high commitment to dealing with such requests. The team Julius requested had fifteen men. They all had prior experience, and each had personal training in implementing their qi to assist them in disposal assignments.
After giving orders, Julius let them be and departed the scene. Another medical cultivator was also with them to take care of Tang Yifei. He didn’t want to see that, which was why he left. Now he has another thing to worry about. And the situation might be uglier.