Chapter 145 - Open Season (Part III) (Patreon)

Watching Wang Chen from the shadows, Lucian noticed more people moving behind him after checking the twenty mummified bodies he had left behind.

In the past, I would be too full to eat you all, he thought, feeling his Blood Essence reach its limit. But now I have another way to deal with this.

Switching to the inverted cultivation and using the Rune of Lust to command Qi to gather within him, Lucian accelerated his Qi flow, rapidly consuming his Blood Essence as he tried to advance to the next stage.

He wanted to take everything that he could from the current opportunity.

At any moment, he might need to leave the Broken Maze. Another bloodbath out of this location would be difficult to explain to the city's forces, so the best time to cultivate was right now!

To be more precise, Lucian intended to kill the people he encountered here, help Wang Chen gain battle experience and harden his resolve, probe the forces commanding the thugs in the Broken Maze, and cultivate at the same time.

I’m getting better at cultivating, Lucian thought, his muscles straining and his mind working overtime as he pumped Qi through his meridians, commanding it to crash against the third chakra point.

His Blood Essence reserves diminished as the Rune of Lust consumed them to spread intent and control more environmental Qi, forcing it into his body. The speed at which he consumed Qi and Blood Essence was way higher than normal, to the point that his body began to heat up and his vision darkened.

Despite potential side effects, he continued. He couldn't waste an opportunity because of discomfort.

The Sacral Chakra will be opened tonight, he thought, mapping the locations of people nearby. I'll make sure of it.

At first, he could not believe he had recovered enough strength that slaughtering cultivators had become effortless. However, reality had proven otherwise, and he did not wish to hold back.

In his mind, killing a dozen people or a hundred would hardly affect the schemes of the forces manipulating events from the shadows, as long as he remained in the Broken Maze. Lucian was sure they planned to use these unruly thugs against the Bo Merchant Chamber.

Feeling his reserves rapidly depleting, Lucian lunged into a nearby shack occupied by five people.

They were remnants of the beggar groups that had lost their leader, the Head Beggar, before the Shadow Alliance was devoured. Most of them had been absorbed by the City Council, while others had joined minor factions.

The rest, like these five, were trying to survive by doing odd jobs and begging for food.

Not caring to enter through the door, Lucian burst through wood, stone, and crumbling cement, his long black hair and crimson eyes giving him an unsettling appearance.

The beggars scrambled away, desperately trying to flee. The wall had slowed Lucian enough that they could see him. Nonetheless, seconds later and after five swift movements, Lucian shattered their heads.

Turning his gaze toward the north side, he conjured the Rune of Greed, allowing the crimson eye to drain the beggars' blood as he moved away. He was going to an open space where two Qi Gathering cultivators were fighting Wang Chen.

Their moves were crude, showing little formal training, but they were strong enough to defend themselves. Both also wielded blunt weapons and struck with coordinated attacks, proving a bit troublesome for Wang Chen to deal with.

They struck at Wang Chen’s legs and arms while looking for opportunities to target his neck. Neither was hiding their killing intent.

For his part, Wang Chen focused entirely on defense.

His eyes trembled as he searched for openings to counterattack, only to hesitate each time.

A few seconds later, when Lucian arrived, the two cultivators had just turned around to flee. They felt Lucian's Qi flow and the weird Qi deviation.

“Strike without fear. Your body is stronger than theirs,” Lucian said to Wang Chen before immediately rushing elsewhere.

Confused, the two cultivators shared a bewildered glance. Before they could decide whether to flee or continue fighting, the one on the right was struck by Wang Chen’s palm.

He reacted quickly enough to block with his forearm, but screamed as his bones shattered.

And Wang Chen, feeling his strike connect despite the block, was relieved. Remembering his training, he pressed forward, delivering another palm strike while restraining himself from becoming reckless.

More than once, Lucian had shown him that striking without thought was no different from striking himself.

While Wang Chen fought the two cultivators, Lucian drained four more mortals and two cultivators, leaving behind only mummified corpses. Because of his speed, no one could do anything to him. Anytime a cultivator tried to protect themselves, Lucian flipped his cultivation, conjured a crystal ice sword, and slashed at them.

During this killing spree, Lucian's muscles in his arms, chest, and legs contracted visibly, his face locked in a permanent scowl as he focused on gathering Qi through the Rune of Lust, circulating it through his meridians, nourishing his two opened chakra points, and slamming the remaining Qi against the unopened Solar Plexus Chakra.

At the same time, he refined Blood Essence, moved through the Broken Maze, and killed whoever crossed his path. Whenever he changed to natural cultivation, he did it for seconds before reverting to the inverted one to continue his progress.

Lucian was advancing so fast that he could feel it affecting him more than it should.

This is addictive, he thought, feeling a rush through his body. I wonder how it will feel when both my natural and inverted cultivation reach greater heights. If I can reach the Beyond the Supreme tier again and make my cultivation grow alongside it... It will be incredible. Cultivation is incredible!

Even while thinking, Lucian never stopped moving. He broke into houses, rushed through alleys, and constantly monitored Wang Chen, killing anyone who attempted to approach the plump young man's battlefield.

As he did so, Lucian suddenly felt something break within him. Then, his Qi perception expanded, and his inverted cultivation surged.

Without hesitation, he directed more Qi into his Solar Plexus Chakra in his upper abdomen, and his perception range doubled.

Exhaling in satisfaction at the breakthrough, he thought, Middle-stage of the Qi Refining Realm, at last.

Not understanding exactly why his cultivation had advanced, since he had estimated that he would need dozens more cycles before opening the chakra point, Lucian decided the answer could wait.

Now was the time to push forward. There were a bunch of people to kill!

Connecting his meridians to a new chakra point at the center of his chest, Lucian felt his heart freeze for an instant as Qi flooded the fourth of the seven chakra points, called Heart Chakra.

Lucian immediately noticed that controlling Qi within his body became easier, as the fourth chakra seemed to improve his awareness of his internal state even while locked.

I can’t let this opportunity slip away, he thought, already lunging toward a screaming teenager. I don’t know why cultivating suddenly became easier, but I need to extract every possible benefit from it.

While Lucian’s prey died beneath his hands, and Wang Chen stood above two corpses, laughing and crying in the darkness at what he had done, four people neared the threshold of the Broken Maze.

Each of them radiated the aura of the Qi Condensation realm, ranging from the high stage to the peak stage. They also came here to hunt.