I was wrong...
Yes, horribly wrong... Everything that I had done up to this moment didn't matter anymore. My mind was locked, and my vision had become nothing but a blur.
It was true that the man had lowered his cultivation to my level, but he was different. His power and understanding of the earth element exceeded anything beyond my scope of comprehension.
My superior understanding was something to scoff at in front of this man. A man who could probably kill Blanca with a wave of his hand even after reducing his power to the same level as mine. Hours felt like days, and days felt like weeks. Before I knew it, I had forgotten how long I had been in this world as the only thing that plagued my mind was the intention to land it.
Land at least one hit.
One hit that could at least threaten the man slightly. That was all I desired.
'One hit...' Those words echoed within my mind every time I would be hammered into the side of a mountain and beat half to death. While the pain was nothing compared to the amount I had to endure during my death, the amount I was feeling currently was something no other person my age would have been able to withstand.
My mind had almost gone into a trance where everything the man did, from his mana circulation to his movements, was slowly being taken in and noted down.
Without realizing it, my battle prowess had increased several times, while my mastery over the earth element only increased as I continued to be battered again and again without remorse.
The man, on the other hand, was utterly shocked. He had never seen someone improve so quickly in his life and had expected me to at least take a few weeks to get used to the pain, yet here I was standing before him, improving further and further after hits continued to land on me one by one.
"One hit..." I muttered out loud, causing the man to widen his eyes in surprise at what happened next. The earth around my feet warped and became something completely different. Immediately after, I began circulating earth energy the same way the man did. While I might not have had any mana circuits within my body, the seemingly empty mana area seemed to have another purpose rather than simply exist alongside my mana core.
The energy circulated in a way that mirrored the man's circulation, almost creating ethereal mana veins of their own to enhance the body by leaps and bounds.
The earth under me gave me even more momentum as it pivoted me forward. After doing so, I finally pumped mana into every muscle that was exerting some kind of force right now, allowing them to become even stronger while also increasing the amount of explosive energy I could release in one single moment.
My glazed eyes looked into his and made him shudder to his core. While it was true that he hadn't been using even a quarter of his strength even with his suppressed cultivation, at that moment, he felt as if something that would threaten his very life was about to explode out at him, and the only way to counter it would be to use 100% of his power.
Of course, this feeling only meant that it would have threatened his life if he had been in the cultivation stage to which he had suppressed himself. Because of his power beyond that level, his natural body defense was also at that level, meaning my attack wouldn't have scratched him.
"The feeling immediately disappeared, and the man relaxed and allowed me to stretch my arm back before punching forward with a might beyond anything I had been capable of mustering before.
The man watched my fist grow closer by the second with an amused smile before finally, he felt my fist touch his skin.
*BOOM*
The man slid back several dozen meters while surprise filled his face.
"How?" He muttered under his breath but quickly shook his head. While the attack did not leave a single scratch on his skin due to the durability of his body that the earth element had refined, he had still limited his cultivation to my level. Therefore, an attack of such a might would have at least pushed him back.
Before he could look up again, he felt several attacks coming in his direction.
Countless swords and spears created from earth rained down from the sky. The man subtly smirked before waving his hand and making the weapons turn into sand that he collected in the palm of his hand and began to point in my direction.
His brows quickly furrowed when he saw that I was no longer in front of him before he released his mana sense and scanned the area around him to find me.
One of his brows finally rose when he found me before his head turned toward me. Yet before turning his head, he felt hundreds of energies light up on the grounds, stunning him silent.
"Battle runes?" He asked no one in particular, but his eyes were visibly glimmering when he saw this.
The entire canyon seemed to light up as the ambient mana seemingly disappeared for a split second. However, in the next instance, the man felt hundreds, if not thousands, of attacks coming toward him ranging from earth spikes, spears, swords, boulders, and much more.
'This... This boy!' The man inwardly shouted, his excited cry drowned out by the excited smile as he opened his arms wide and welcomed the attacks head-on.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
An explosion sent shockwaves in every direction, turning almost everything into the sand while kicking up an enormous dust cloud that held the energy and speed of a sandstorm.
The sand storm eventually subsided before the man finally stepped down with enough force to separate and dissipate the dust cloud.
"Hahahahahahaha!" His laughter boomed throughout the canyon and only served to further dissipate the dust that still lingered in the air.
The man stood there without a shirt, his skin without a scratch, and his body that still radiated enough power to suppress anything in the mortal realm that might fight against him.
"You are beyond impressive-" The man's words died out in his throat before a warm smile shone onto his face as he looked at me. I lay on the ground with my limbs sprawled out after having collapsed. My final attack had taken a toll on my mind, and after finally accomplishing my goal of hitting him once, the rest of my mental energy drained out of my mind and immediately forced me into slumber.
"You did well..." He smiled once again before a book appeared in his hand, placing it on my chest.
The book immediately vanished and entered my inventory as the man slowly walked away.
"Come back here when you have mastered the body refining technique I gave you. If you come back any earlier, I'll pummel you half to death." The man spoke his parting words and also vanished alongside the rest of this world, leaving to float idly in the dark abyss once again.
--------------------Rewards--------------------
Golden Tickets (Per month):
-Top 200 = 1 Extra Chapter
-Top 100 = 5 Extra Chapters
-Top 50 = 10 Extra Chapters
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Gifts:
-Castle = 5 Extra Chapter
-Spacecraft = 10 Extra Chapters
-Golden Gachapon = 15 Extra Chapters
[Do take note that if you do give me a spacecraft or a golden gachapon, I might not be capable of giving you the chapters on the same day. However, a castle should be doable]
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