Mabe Asphel charged Jack, determined to reclaim her honor. Her coppery skin was set on fire. Thin lines of blood erged from her pores, wrapping around the claymore like silken death.
Her aura climbed to new heights, dying the world a crimson red. Every low-ranker watching felt their heart skip a beat.
Die! Mabe shouted, bringing her weapon down.
Jack simply stepped back. The claymore t the ground, creating a hundred-foot-long fissure, but the weapon itself was only part of her attackit was the energy shockwave that was the most dangerous. Currents of blood stread out, crashing into Jack from almost point-blank. The crimson world collapsed on his chest. His robes fluttered wildly, and the spectators couldnt believe their eyeshad he really forgotten about the energy shockwaves?
Yet, these shockwaves only broke against Jacks chest. They were like fierce winds eting a cliffsidecompletely harmless.
Jack t Mabes eyes. He grinned. Power pumped into his arms, ready to strike.
Mabe was no amateur. Though surprised, she continued her attack, swiftly transitioning into a poml strike. When Jack stepped away again, she swung her sword back around and cleaved at his head. The remaining blood threads on the claymore combusted, filling the blade with power. A new curtain of blood rose to the heavens, collapsing on Jack.
Out of her three-strike combination, this was the true killer move.
Facing this collapsing sky of blood, Jack remained calm. He did not form a fistinstead, he raised his hand. His speed skyrocketed to the point where Mabe could barely register it. His palm touched the side of the sword and gently pushed it aside, forcing it to veer off and strike the ground to his right.
The claymore t the ground in an eruption of blood, but Jack weathered the shockwave like it was nothing. His robes flutteredhe was completely unhard.
What!? the audience exclaid.
The weakest people present had no idea what happened. However, the stronger ones did, and they were shell-shocked. It was impossible to use a hand to deflect a cultivators sword mid-swing. Your speed and dexterity would need to completely overwhelm your opponents. And even then, you would have to instantly overpower them.
It was just not possible without a massive difference in strength.
The Head Envoy grinned. Nice.
Out of everyone present, Mabe herself was the most shocked. She was no mortal, whose strength disappeared the mont they begun their swing. As her sword traveled, she remained in full control. In the instant when Jack pushed her sword away, she had tried to resist, but it was futileshe felt like a child trying to resist an adult. The difference between their strengths was nothing short of extre.
How is this possible!? she scread in her mind. Im a pure Physical cultivator! He Just how strong is his body!?
She knew he practiced so form of body tempering. Shed expected to be outdone when it ca to physical strength. But in this situation, she had used her body and Dao to deliver a strike at her maximum powerand Jack had easily countered it through sheer physicality.
Whether it was speed or strength, she was outclassed.
Her sword remained stuck in the ground. There was no point pulling it out. Her eyes t Jacks, who shook his head. Sorry, he said calmly, but you are not my opponent.
His fist struck out. Mabe didnt even see it landing, but she felt her ribcage shatter, her entire body bending like a bow and flung backward at trendous speed. She thought she was a goner.
Thankfully, a man appeared, catching her easily and neutralizing her montum. He then let her drop like a sack of potatoes, not caring any longer. His hard silver eyes were glued to Jack, carrying great killing intent.
Whats the problem, Baron? Jack asked him directly. I told youall those Dao stones you spent were wasted. I am right here. If you have any other lackeys under the ranking of 150, bring them out, and let see the glory of your connections.
Baron Longform did not respond. The audience was frozen silent. Suddenly, as one, they erupted, clamoring to the high heavens.
What power is that!? soone asked. Just his physical body is that powerful Is he a space monster!?
Space monsters were the species known for their limited understanding of the Dao and extre physical strength. They could use their formidable bodies to match soone at the C- or even the B-Grade. In the spectators eyes, Jacks current feat was no less impressive.
If just his body was so terrifying, what if he used his Dao!?
Its not that simple, the Head Envoy muttered, his eyes half-closed as he inspected Jack. His body is superb, but his Dao is only that of a two-fruit C-Grade. It cannot increase his power by too much.
Still, achieving such a body is nothing short of incredible. If it was easy, everyone would do it, said the Space Eye Sovereign sitting next to himshe was the kindly old woman who served as the Cathedrals head diviner.
The Head Envoy chuckled. Lets look at his Dao first before drawing any conclusions. This little girl was only ranked in the two-hundredsof the next twenty-five opponents, most are ranked significantly higher than her, and so are even hiding their strength. They will be able to bring out his full force.
Back in the crowd of C-Grades, Min Ling was carefully observing Jack.
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Told you, Esralda said from the side, winking. Isnt he handso?
Min rolled her eyes. Im trying to perceive his hidden strength.
Sure. The strength between his
Es. Stop. Youre embarrassing .
Esralda laughed. Sorry, sorry. Of course, they had only been transmitting their voices to each other, so nobody could overhear.
As for the bros After a few monts of silence, Brock coughed. One, two, three, four, he said, and the bros started beating on their drums and gongs and blowing their trumpets, raising hell on the Cathedral. Sohow, those sounds persisted through the lack of air. Two people unfurled a huge banner which spelled, Go Big Bro or Go Ho! with dark letters on a purple background.
Esralda burst out laughing. Jack shook his head, sowhat embarrassed, but he was happy as well. Having the support of your friends was always nice. Whos next? he asked.
That would be ! A petite woman stepped out of the crowd. She had blue skin, dark hair, pointy shoes, and a yellow turban over her headshe was a djinn. Jack found her cultivation to be an eight-fruit C-Gradeone fruit over the Mabe Asphel hed just defeated.
Sure, he said, nodding. Co.
Haha, dont mind if I do!
She instantly burst into battle. As she raised her blue arms, bubbles erged. When they popped, their surface didnt shrink but instead widened, instantly encapsulating the whole world. Jack found himself floating in a multi-colored void. Everything else, including the crowd and his opponent, had disappeared. All his senses were useless.
He snorted.
This place was clearly an illusion. The djinn had sohow obfuscated all his senses and even his Dao perception, cutting him off from the world. However, every illusion had a weakness.
His perception spread out, becoming one with the Dao of Space. After experiencing the Space Chamber for five months and developing a Space Dao Fruit, his compatibility with this Dao had risen trendously. He wasnt a master, but he was good enough to use it against illusions.
An illusory world was a construct laid out around its victim. Forging fake sensations and hiding the Dao was easy, but perfectly masking spatial ripples was far more difficult. To achieve it, this djinn should have a space comprehension many tis deeper than Jacks, and he did not believe that was the case.
As his Dao perception spread out, feeling for ripples in the fabric of space, he quickly captured so. They werent enough to reconstruct the real world outside of its illusions, but he only needed to sense the little body hurtling his way.
He turned and punched out in a seemingly random direction. A shriek entered his ears. The world of the illusion shattered, revealing a dagger-wielding djinn flying away. She quickly left the confines of the Cathedral Square, where soone caught her.
The entire battle hadnt taken more than two seconds.
Next! Jack shouted.
His next opponent was a lanky man with gray skin. He wasnt a feshkur, but sothing similar. His orange eyes flared with fire, and Jack instantly felt an alien force invade his mindlike iron pliers grabbing his heart and twisting it. The pain was staggering. All resistance seed futile.
Jacks Dao roared out. Wave after wave of the Fist broke out of his soul, flooding his body and colliding against the other mans attack. The two Daos tussled around like wild beasts fighting for their lives.
When it ca to resisting Will attacks, the most important aspect wasnt the victims Will attributethat just had to be decent. The real deciding factor was the power of ones comprehensive Dao, as well as their willpowerand how could Jack lack willpower?
He resisted enough to maintain clarity. The world was swimming in colors and pain, but he could make out his surroundings. His fist flew outthe other man tried to defend by driving a spike of pain into Jacks mind, but Jack simply endured it. His fist smashed into the other cultivators abdon and sent him flying. The Will attack quickly abated, and Jack easily suppressed it. The only lasting effect was a small but persistent headache.
The crowd roared. The bros banged on their instrunts harder. They had witnessed everything clearly.
Three cultivators, three different specialties, three fists, three people sent flying. Each of these battles had finished in a single move!
Heavens! Does he have no weaknesses? a cultivator shouted in the crowd, causing a dance of whispers to erupt.
As for Jack Well, all he had to do was look at his status screen. How could he possibly lose?
Na: Jack Rust
Species: Human, Earth-387
Faction: Bare Fist Brotherhood (C)
Grade: C
Class: Gladiator Titan (King)
Level: 260
Strength: 3800 ( )
Dexterity: 3800 ( )
Constitution: 3800 ( )
ntal: 409
Will: 409
Free sub-points: 1
Dao Skills: teor Punch IV, Iron Fist Style III, Brutalizing Aura III, Neutron Star Body III, Space Mastery II, Titan Taunt I, Fist of Mortality I
Dao Roots: Indomitable Will, Life, Power, Weakness
Dao Fruits: Fist, Space
Titles: Planetary Frontrunner (10), Planetary Torchbearer (1), Ninth Ring Conqueror, Planetary Leader (1), Grade Defier
The System had been streamlined a bit after his last breakthrough, clearly displaying his Dao Roots and Fruits.
In the C-Grade, the System awarded levels based on a cultivator growing their fruits. In raising his first fruit to maturity, Jack had gone from Level 250 to 259. Then, developing the second fruit had pushed him to 260.
The first three fruits accounted for ten levels each, while the other six were twenty each. When a cultivator reached the peak of nine fruits, they would be at Level 399only one away from the B-Grade.
From rising ten levels in the C-Grade, Jack had gotten two hundred stat points, which he equally distributed between his ntal and Will attributes. Thanks to his Physical substats rising by body tempering, he was free to invest heavily in ntal and Will, shoring up his weaknesses. That was part of the reason why he so easily defeated the ntal and Will cultivators who fought him just now.
Of course, these two stats of his didnt even approach a real ntal or Will cultivators, but defending against them was much easier than attacking, and the three stats were balanced anyway. Since he possessed far higher ntal and Will stats than other Physical cultivators, it was natural that he had an advantage against ntal and Will cultivators.
As for his Physical statsbody tempering did not disappoint. Through his five months of grueling practice, he had raised his stats from 2800 to 3800. That was an entire thousand! It was the equivalent of fifty levels in the C-Grade, or around three fruits. Combined with his previous tempering, along with his great titles and the Neutron Star Body skill, his actual physical prowess approached that of a nine-fruit C-Gradehow could the seven-fruit Mabe Asphel possibly hope to match him?
The progress of body tempering was still slowing down, but that only ant most of the benefits were already reaped. Jack was at his peak.
A physical body that surpassed most eight-fruit Physical cultivators.
A ntal stat that gave him an advantage against ntal cultivators, alongside a physical body that resisted magical attacks and the Dao of Space which countered illusions.
A willpower that had endured six months of silent torture in the form of body tempering.
At this point, Jacks weaknesses were already eliminated. He only had strong points and even stronger points. This was the only reason why he dared challenge everyonejust who could counter him?
The crowd cheered. The bros roared. The opponents kept coming.
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