"Hurm…" Necro angled his head off to the side. "I don't know about any of that, but the Technique was created out of necessity. Perhaps that's why it ca to be."
"...Out of necessity…? What do you an??"
"Simple, really: I was cultivating too fast. It was a problem that would affect my foundations, so I compensated with my created Divine Lotus Tempering Sutra."
Silence…
Su Yu and Shao Yao had no more words.
Was this the epito of shalessness?
Had they witnessed the absolute summit of what this world had to offer?
"You were 'cultivating too fast'?" Shao Yao asked, with the expression she was making being one of soone who had shut off her brain. "If anyone else heard you say that, you'd get pumled on the spot. Even I have the itching urge to punch you."
"I agree with the big-breasted bimbo," Su Yu bobbed her head. "I want to hit you so badly right now."
Question marks fluttered all around Necro.
He was lost. What were they even talking about again?
"Well, no matter. Just take my words with a grain of salt," he said while devouring another handful of small glowing Low-grade Spirit Stones. "For now, I'll be entering seclusion at an empty location sowhere outside the city. I'll return in 1-2 days for more Quests, Big Sister Shao."
"Huh? Oh, okay." Shao Yao responded on instinct.
Su Yu pouted. Was she being overlooked? How rude!
'What a jerk!' she thought while watching Necro leave the Monster Chasers Family Estate. 'Did he take my words for a joke when I said I'd go with him wherever he went!?'
Su Yu was fuming.
"Hmm?" Shao Yao felt a large amount of tension in the air, bringing her focus to the cute young girl. 'She's still oblivious to her own budding feelings, isn't she?'
Shao Yao found this too precious, urging her to take Su Yu into a tight hug.
"W-What are you doing!? Let go of right this instant, you bimbo!" Su Yu scread, flailing in between the Heavenly chasm that was Shao Yao's bosom. "Your cow-saggers are suffocating !!"
"Fufu~, you'll just have to endure," Shao Yao giggled. "You better get used to enduring. After all, you'll have to do a lot of it if you continue pursuing your relationship with that cutie."
An asterisk erged on Su Yu's forehead. "What do you an by that, you fatty cow!? You trying to pick a fight??"
"Fufu~"
"That's not a response, bimbo!"
"Fufufu~"
"Aghh!"
— anwhile, in an isolated cave so distance outside River Mountain City —
WAAA!
7th Orange-tier Petal - Achieved!
Due to the consumption of so many Low-grade Spirit Stones made possible by his Yggdrasil qualities, Necro's cultivation was ascending without stopping. In fact, his progression was only becoming faster and faster.
From the Skin Refinent Realm to the Flesh and Bone Refinent Realms all the way up to the Half-step Qi Condensation Realm, Necro was breezing through them ti and ti again. Breakthroughs had beco commonplace.
A few hours later, over 100 of the Low-grade Spirit Stones had been completely devoured and absorbed.
Necro was now halfway through the 8th Petal of the Orange Lotus, with his aura over a dozen tis more powerful than what it was at the 5th Petal!
"Advancent is getting slower and slower, and the Low-grade Spirit Stones are becoming less effective the higher my Petal rank," said Necro, his lips slightly parted.
A day and a half later.
Necro's original 650 Low-grade Spirit Stones had been reduced to a re 30. Even so, he was working hard in getting that number all the way down to zero.
RUMBLE—!
The rumbling of countless individual sources aboveground forced Necro to open his eyes. A razor-sharp intent containing the Aura of the Moon was instantly unleashed, carving a wide, several-hundred-ter-long gash in the cave wall closest to him.
"What is happening up there?" Necro frowned, while at the sa ti reigning in his |Moon Aura|. "Who is making all that noise?"
Using his extrely effective |Nature Sight|, he viewed everything for hundreds of miles with an almost omniscient point of view.
After understanding the truth, his frown deepened.
"It's a…"
"...Beast Tide!!!" ca the terrified screams of tens of thousands of citizens of River Mountain City. They were frantically running around, fruitlessly trying to escape the demonic sight of the aerial and land-type Monsters rampaging through the outer parts of the city.
"Damnit!" The Mayor of River Mountain City shouted as he fended off a group of Peak Qi Condensation Realm Monsters alongside the Captain of the City Guard. "Why is there suddenly a Beast Tide!? This doesn't make any sense!!"
SHA! SHA!
The Mayor's sword clashed with the hard razor-sharp claws of several |Dark Panthers|, which were extrely dangerous 11th Layer Qi Condensation Realm Monsters. However, after a brief exchange, it quickly beca clear that the Mayor was going to win.
The difference between the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishnt Realm was akin to the difference between Heaven and Earth. Dozens of 12th Layer Qi Condensation Realm beings could fight a single Early Foundation Establishnt Realm Cultivator and still lose.
The Dark Panthers roared as a distraction before leaping away.
But the Mayor was quicker. He abruptly appeared behind them, grabbed their long tails, and then swung them down to the ground.
BOOM!
Four Dark Panthers died on the spot. One was left alive, but only barely so.
"You dare invade my city with such paltry strength?" The Mayor's cold voice bled the last Dark Panther's ears. "Why seek your own death!?"
His sword slashed out, prepared to take another life.
FWOOOSH!
"!!!"
The Mayor stopped just inches away from lopping off the giant Panther's head. If he had followed through with his attack—even if only by the smallest amount—he'd have… died…
"H…uman…" The distorted voice of a lion monster with the arms of a praying mantis snapped the Mayor out of his thoughts, forcing him to jump back.
The lion-mantis hybrid retracted its right serrated blade arm from the ground, allowing the Mayor to get a better view of the hundred-ter-long chasm left in the wake of a single attack. The Mayor's face dropped, as he could sense it:
A threat to his life.
"3rd Layer of Foundation Establishnt," the Mayor muttered, his heart palpitations accelerating. "Why is sothing like you attacking this small city??"
The Lion-Mantis hybrid Monster blinked sideways. It didn't respond.
The Mayor's expression turned grave. He looked over at the City Guard Captain, who had just been intercepted by a number of Late and Peak Qi Condensation Realm Monsters, forcing him into a corner.
"Damn!" The Mayor cursed under his breath.
He was only of the 2nd Layer of Foundation Establishnt, yet that still made him the strongest in River Mountain City. Second to him was Shao Yao, the current Head of the Monster Chasers Family. However, this Lion-Mantis Hybrid Monster definitely wasn't the only Foundation Establishnt Realm Monster, aning that it was highly likely Shao Yao was preoccupied right now.
No assistance would be coming.
The Mayor would have to put his life on the line here. But before he fully committed, there was sothing he wanted to know:
"Are you the strongest among the Monsters in this Beast Tide?"
This ti, rather than stay silent, the Lion-Mantis Hybrid shook its head.
Dread washed through the Mayor. He couldn't understand why so many powerful Monsters had attacked his city. Was there sothing he was missing here??
Suddenly, the Lion-Mantis Hybrid blurred.
"!?!?"
The Mayor was slow to react. All of his protective barriers were shattered instantly, with the Lion-Mantis Hybrid's left blade-arm cutting straight into his stomach.
"Kuk!" The Mayor coughed up blood.
His complexion greyed as he grabbed hold of the blade-arm piercing his stomach. He then… pulled it out.
More blood sprayed the surroundings. The Mayor put pressure on the injury, secretly healing it with a special elixir ointnt.
"Hu…man… You are we—ak." The Lion-Mantis flung the blood off its blade-arm, its freaky eyes emitting a deadly killing intent. "Gi…ve… up…"
"Haha! If I do, will you spare my life!?" The Mayor asked in a rhetorical tone.
Receiving no response from the eerie Hybrid Monster was all he needed to know that he'd be dying this day no matter what he did.
FWIP!
The Lion-Mantis Monster blurred once more. This ti, it was going all out, with death for the opposing party a certainty in its mind.
"Fine then..." Shadows pulled down on the Mayor's ruggedly handso face as he comnced the burning of his Lifespan. "Let us fight to the death! I have no regrets—..."
SHING!
In the blink of an eye, a spear of white light descended from the heavens. The spear locked onto the speeding Lion-Mantis, and before it could dodge or defend, the spear's tip tore through the outermost layer of the monster's skin.
A second later, the Lion-Mantis's head exploded like a waterlon.
The Mayor was stunned silent. He watched robotically as the headless corpse of the ridiculously powerful Hybrid Monster slid to a stop right before hitting his shoes.
Gliding down from the skies, Necro landed beside the Mayor. He gave a nod of acknowledgent before walking up to the Lion-Mantis's corpse. He dug out the Monster Core in a single fluid movent, then rose and ascended back to the skies with the help of a pair of wings acquired from a flight-type Bloodline.
"...What just happened…?" One second, the City Lord was readying himself for one last suicide run, and the next, his overwhelmingly powerful opponent was reduced to a bloody carcass.
And to make matters more incomprehensible, the one that saved his life—and probably countless more in the city—was none other than Necro!
A couple of days ago, the young boy was soone he saw as no more than a potential talent. Now, however…
The Mayor's brain shut off for a while. It only rebooted when the screams of the City Guard Captain and his citizens rang out.
"I'll just have to ask him about it later," the Mayor focused. "For now, I have to defend my city! Haaa!!"
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