Chapter 14 #5
His fangtian ji now moved as gracefully, as lightly, as if it were a perfectly balanced reed in his hands.
Yet no matter how many times Alex mentally replayed the battle, the results were the same.
His foe was dead by his feet before he had any chance to evolve into that hyper-powered monster that Mongoose had become during the latter half of their actual battle, burning away the wick of his own cultivation potential in a desperate, furious bid to take Alex down.
Revealed as well were crucial lessons that Alex was determined to take to heart.
It was only because he had pushed himself, honing his arts in the crucible of battle against fearsome odds, that Alex had been flooded with the revelations and potency he needed to evolve and transcend, as perilous as it was to do so, so soon after his first Silver-tier ascension.
Yet he was also humbly aware of just how close he had come to embracing utter folly once again.
For despite his own bitter struggles and all he had accomplished and endured, a single one of Dongfang Hong’s elite units had come painfully close to killing him.
No matter his latest explosive surge of growth, he’d be a damned fool to try to take on half a dozen, let alone a full score of Silver-tier monsters, if there were multiple speed cultivators who could also channel the elements among them.
So he’d have to come up with an effective plan, divide and conquer, and strike so fast and hard that his enemies would have no idea what precisely had hit them.
Whether or not it worked, it was his best shot at surviving any engagement with those elites, short of fleeing the city altogether.
At that moment he could appreciate what a hotheaded idiot he had been, even if a gloriously heroic one, charging into Dongfang Hong’s hidden base so blithely.
He no longer had access to his Chamber of Doors.
He couldn’t teleport out or divide the field of battle to suit his needs.
So many things could have gone wrong. His saving grace was that his foes had themselves been quite sloppy, easy to divide and conquer, having no reason to expect a homicidal Silver dead set on purging them all.
So, too, he was surprisingly easy to underestimate, seeming to be nothing more than an unusually fit Ruidian, so long as he kept his killing aura in check.
Even if it brought him only a second’s advantage, his race, deceptively powerful frame, and guileless eyes had still proven to be a remarkable advantage.
Yet things could have so easily ended on a tragic note for him, and joyous victory for his enemies.
All it would have taken was for the overconfident Strength cultivator he had fought while rescuing the captives in the chambers below to be a Silver Quickness specialist like Mongoose instead.
Maybe one well used to working with wujen buffing them and hindering their enemies.
And as unlikely as that combination might be, even if there were a dozen or more Rank 1 Silver Strength cultivators for every cultivator focused on deadly speed above all else, if he wasn’t careful, the next time he was facing Dongfang Hong’s elites, that might be exactly the match he would face.
Alex sighed, taking a moment to internally acknowledge both his accomplishments and his follies, before putting all such gloomy thoughts away as he pulled up his character sheet and savored just how far he had come.
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Alex Hammer
Class – Cultivator: Disciple of the Boundless Path
Rank 2 Divine Silver Cultivation Achieved!
Physical Characteristics
Strength – Silver Rank 4 (140)
Vitality – Silver Rank 4 (140)
Quickness – Silver Rank 4 (140)
Finesse – Silver Rank 3 (115)
Spiritual Characteristics
Scholarship – 14
Perception – 19
Willpower – Bronze Rank 2 (25)
Qi Pool – Silver Rank 6 (190)
Health Points: 1710
Perks
Insightful – Rank 2
Charismatic – Rank 3
Lesser Shadow Affinity
Increased chance of cultivation breakthroughs.
Draconic Ancestry
Greater Wind Affinity
Beast Core Mastery
Favored Skills
Golden Realms Kung Fu – Rank 10
Wind Crane Kung Fu (Bronze-tier) – Rank 8
Storm Swan Kung Fu (Silver-tier) – Rank 3
Poison Spitting – Rank 6
Stealth – Rank 4
Lock Picking – Rank 5
Qi Disciplines
Classic Elemental Techniques
Enhanced Water Shield – Rank 10
Enhanced Water Strike – Rank 9
Oak Strike – Rank 5
Thorn Shield – Rank 5
Shield of the Burning Grove – Rank 2
Fire Shield – Rank 4
Flame Fist – Rank 6
Earthen Shield – Rank 4
Stone Fist – Rank 5
Avalanche – Rank 1
Wind Techniques
Barrier of Silence – Rank 9
Enhanced Wind Blade – Rank 9
Enhanced Wind Qi Deflection – Rank 6
Doom Blade – Rank 7
Wind Blast – Rank 3
Storm Techniques
Black Swan (Wind/Water/Steel/Dark Qi) – Rank 9
(Dark) Storm Shield – Rank 8
Doom Strike – Rank 4
Enhanced Storm Strike – Rank 9
Lightning Blast – Rank 3
Unorthodox Techniques
Dark Qi Absorption – Rank 5
Piercing Strike (Spell Cleave) – Rank 10
Movement Techniques
Forest Flight (Bullrush) – Rank 8
Water Walking – Rank 8
Wind Walking – Rank 8
Prismatic Techniques
Note: you are currently unable to use Prismatic techniques until harmony with Greater Wind Affinity has been achieved!
Prismatic Shield – Rank 6
Prismatic Strike – Rank 6
Qi Perception-linked Disciplines
Alchemy – Rank 4
Artificer – Rank 8
Desert Sense – Rank 2
Forest Sense – Rank 8
Find Weakness – Rank 7
Qi Perception – Rank 8
Soul Sight – Rank 7
Spiritual Teacher (Student) – Rank 8
Additional Abilities & Techniques
Biochemical Mastery – Rank 8
Desert Fox Cultivation Technique – Rank 6
Full Regenerative Capacity
Gift of Tongues
Prismatic Fox Restoration Technique – Rank 8
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