Cultivation Online

”Why are there two Void Guardians here?! That shouldn’t be possible in the Purple Zone!” Captain Chen cried out loud.

”Who cares about that?! We need to get out of here before they attack!” Captain Dung shouted as he immediately flew back up the hole.

The others did not hesitate and quickly followed after him, abandoning the chamber without a second thought.

Captain Chen gritted his teeth and prepared to retreat as well. Before leaving, however, he glanced back at Yuan, who was still falling and showed no intention of turning back.

’What a fool. It’s a shame we won’t be able to uncover his secrets before he dies, but at least our mission is finally complete,’ Captain Chen mocked inwardly before leaving the chamber.

Meanwhile, Yuan merely shook his head inwardly at the Scorpion Squad. He didn’t even bother looking back at them, keeping his attention fixed on the two Void Guardians before him instead.

An excited smile slowly appeared on Yuan’s face. In his eyes, two Void Guardians only meant double the reward!

Shortly after the Scorpion Squad began making their way back up the tunnel, an immensely powerful and unfathomable aura suddenly erupted from the chamber below, catching their attention.

”W-What the hell is that energy?!” Captain Dung exclaimed in shock.

”Did that guy really stay behind to fight two Void Guardians at once?! Suicidal!”

”That works in our favor, anyway. There’s no way he’s getting out of this one alive.”

Captain Chen said nothing and merely glanced back down the tunnel, an ominous feeling stirring in the pit of his stomach.

’Will that really be enough to kill him?’ he wondered inwardly.

The energy surging from the chamber continued to rise, eventually reaching a level that felt almost surreal.

Not only were the Void Guardians in the Purple Zone vastly stronger than those in the Red Zone, but there were also two of them. Even for someone like Yuan, this was not a situation he could resolve in the blink of an eye.

That being said, Yuan wasn’t exactly struggling, either. Although the Void Guardians were stronger, that merely meant they were faster and far more aggressive. With Yuan’s mastery of Void Manipulation, however, neither posed any real threat to him.

In other words, defeating them simply required a little more time than usual.

A few minutes later, just as the Scorpion Squad reached the top of the hole and returned to the tunnel, the energy suddenly stopped.

”Hm? Did he finally die? That took longer than I expected.”

”Should we go back down and check?”

”And risk our lives? Don’t be stupid. There’s no way he could defeat two Void Guardians by himself. He’s definitely dead.”

”Chen? What are you thinking about, staring down that hole so intensely?” Captain Dung suddenly asked after noticing his unusual behavior.

After another moment of silence, Captain Chen finally spoke.

”Call me crazy, but I don’t think he’s dead.”

”Huh? That’s definitely crazy, all right. Did you hit your head on the way out or something?” One of the members mocked him openly.

”I’m going to take a look. You can stay here if you want.”

Before the others could respond, Captain Chen jumped back down the hole.

”C-Chen?!”

Captain Chen could hear Captain Dung’s shocked voice echoing from above but ignored it and continued falling.

A few minutes later, Captain Chen returned to the chamber.

”I-Impossible...” he muttered in a daze when he realized that the two Void Guardians were nowhere to be seen.

His gaze instinctively shifted toward the center of the chamber, where Yuan sat quietly absorbing the Eternal Essence they had left behind.

If a Void Guardian from the Red Zone contained roughly a billion years’ worth of Eternal Essence, then each one in the Purple Zone possessed more than ten billion years’ worth.

Since Yuan had defeated two of them, he had gained over twenty billion years’ worth of Eternal Essence in a single battle.

Captain Chen silently stared at Yuan from a distance for a full minute before calling out to him.

”C-Corporal Yuan...?”

However, there was no response from Yuan.

”Corporal Yuan!” he called out again, this time in a much louder voice.

”I heard you the first time,” Yuan responded without moving.

”What are you doing? What happened to the Void Guardians?” Captain Chen asked.

”I’m a little busy right now, so let’s talk later.”

”...”

A few minutes later, Captain Chen turned around after sensing Captain Dung and the others entering the chamber behind him.

Sure enough, every single one of them wore a bewildered expression, as though they were struggling to comprehend the scene before them.

”W-What is going on here...? Where are the Void Guardians?” Captain Dung asked in a dazed voice.

”He’s actually still alive...” another member mumbled as she stared at Yuan, who was still cultivating in silence.

”What is he doing?” a third member asked.

”I don’t know, but he’s been in that position since I arrived.”

”Is he sleeping?”

”Hey, wake up!” Captain Dung suddenly yelled at Yuan.

When Yuan ignored him, Captain Dung began walking toward him with a deep frown.

Just as he reached Yuan and extended a hand toward his shoulder, Yuan suddenly turned and fixed him with a calm yet piercing gaze.

”You’re still here? I thought you would’ve run all the way back to the tunnel entrance by now.”

”W-What did you just say...?” Captain Dung muttered, his eyebrows twitching with anger. ”I dare you to say that again!”

”Why are you getting so angry? It’s true that you ran away the moment you saw two Void Guardians. Or are you going to deny it and call me a liar?” Yuan said, shaking his head.

He then stood up to face Captain Dung and the others.

”Why did you come back? To collect the Unknown Crystals or... to confirm my death?”

”?!”

The members of the Scorpion Squad widened their eyes in shock at Yuan’s words.

”W-What are you talking about, Corporal Yuan?” Captain Chen spoke a moment later, trying his best to sound confused. ”There must be some kind of misunderstanding.”

Yuan looked at him and sneered, ”You can drop the act. I know that you brought me out here with the intention of killing me.”