Kill The Old Ones!

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Ren used the White Haven Art.

More specifically, Seraphina’s version of it is the one where she summons a construct of white lotus chakra, which then explodes into petals containing the purifying attribute of the art.

She only used this once in front of him, but it doesn’t matter; Ren still copied it anyway. It wasn’t the first time he saw the White Haven Art in action, but Seraphina’s version was indeed better compared to how her martial brothers used it.

While Ren mocked the reputation of the White Haven Clan and exposed their true face, he admits that their main inheritance, the White Haven Art, was good.

This art was created before the White Haven Clan’s betrayal of the Banished Arms Clan—during the time when the two clans were still in a strong alliance and the clan heads still recognized each other as brothers.

Ren would never use the White Haven art in public. It’s too conspicuous and too recognizable, especially within Central City. The White Haven Clan already wants to do unspeakable things to him because of what he did; if he used their martial art on top of that, he’s just giving them a free pass to legally assault him.

The White Haven Art was fatal against the ’corrupted’ attribute—which was the main weapon of the vengeful spirits around him.

As the large white lotus bulb rose, the Vengeful Spirits shrieked in panic and fear. They could feel their most hated nemesis appearing right before them, and the mere presence of it sickens them to their core.

Ren stood within the protection of the bulb, and when he opened his eyes, the white lotus bloomed with him at the center. It released a strong and radiant purity that caused a stark contrast to appear within the graveyard.

Corruption around him reeled at the presence of purity. It dissolved from its approach. The vengeful spirits clawed, shrieked, and fought it, but all it did was hurt them, not Ren.

Then, the lotus dissipated around him, scattering into pure white petals that rode the breeze and roamed the graveyard, purifying everything it touched.

The corruption that could decay anything it touched was rendered completely powerless against it. Matter of fact, it has been used as a fuel for the petals to continue their work and propagate even further.

If Seraphina were here to witness this, she would have felt an existential crisis.

First and foremost, she would feel shocked and outraged because Ren stole her clan’s main martial art. But after seeing him use it, it will be when she truly feels the world collapsing around her.

She never taught him how to use her version. And she never would have thought that he could use it better than her.

Yes, Ren was using her version better than her. The amount of white lotus petals he released easily doubled, maybe even tripled, what Seraphina could produce.

If she could bury a whole person with them, Ren could blanket the whole arena with them.

Mind you, this version was very demanding when it comes to chakra control. Even Seraphina finds it impossible to control every single petal she releases. She controls them in clumps to make it easier.

Ren also couldn’t accomplish that level of control. It’s impossible even for him...for now, at least. He also controls them in clumps, but he could control more, and he’s more skilled compared to her.

The clumps of white lotus petals swarmed the whole graveyard like groups of white fireflies. They dissolved every corrupted thing they touched. Their presence, to the corrupted, was akin to being within the presence of the sun.

Some of the vengeful spirits couldn’t even release a shriek before they disappeared to nothingness. They simply couldn’t resist the attribute that completely trumps their whole existence.

They were like snow under the direct glare of sunlight.

Ren watched as his kill counter rose. He also discovered that he didn’t have to micromanage the petal clumps either. They actively chased corruption as if they knew that the main purpose of their existence was to eliminate it.

Not long after that, Ren essentially cleared this dungeon level. And somehow, it felt a little too unbelievable to him.

This stage was meant to be hard, especially for a solo explorer like him. A lot of explorers die here on a regular basis. To others, this was a wall they simply just couldn’t pass.

But with the methods he used, Ren basically had no reason to fail. He didn’t even break a sweat while doing this.

’Not bad,’ Ren muttered to himself as he watched the countdown of his expulsion from this space after he cleared the mission.

’But I bet I can do better.’

Ren could continue using Seraphina’s version of the White Haven Art. So long as it’s within this dungeon and nobody else sees him use it, he’ll be fine. But Ren, who’s a cheater, didn’t want to be content with that.

He knows that he could make something better, especially now that he basically understands the White Haven art from inside out.

As good as this technique was, this costs too much chakra. Ren used half of his reserves just now to clear that. Which meant that others would be completely drained if they did the same thing as he did.

That simply won’t do. Besides, it’s too excessive.

Ren was kicked out of the dungeon while in deep thought. He had his disguise on, fortunately, so he wasn’t mobbed as soon as he got out. He made his way to his temporary room while thinking.

After around 30 minutes or so, Ren tapped a finger on the table, which released a pulse of chakra. It was faint, almost imperceptible, but it did contain the ’purifying’ attribute.

The strength of the attribute was just as strong as the one that the White Haven art contained, but it’s much easier and quicker to use. It also barely costs any chakra. The downside is that it fades too quickly. It doesn’t resonate or ripple when it touches something solid; it just penetrates.

’Let’s call this ’White Pulse’ for now,’ Ren decided casually. ’It’s simple to use, quick to cast, and doesn’t cost much chakra. Highly effective against corrupted foes.’

’It doesn’t need special actions or complicated chakra circulations to use. So long as one understands the intent to purify and could produce that chakra, they could use this.’

’I’ll add it to the martial hall later.’

Ren stood up after this. He went to the archstones and entered stage 81 again for the 2nd time today.

Just like before, he looted first without alerting the vengeful spirits. Once he was done with that, he announced his presence and attracted the attention of the spirits.

Ren went into a stance and released a strong pulse that swept across 250 meters around him. Every spirit who was charging towards him melted like snow when the pulse touched them. They didn’t even have the time to let out a final shriek before they disappeared.

Of course, the first pulse dissipated quick, and it only eliminated the first wave of spirits. But Ren didn’t care.

That first pulse essentially didn’t cost him any chakra. By the time it dissipated, he already recovered what he spent.

While the distance it covered wasn’t as large as Ren would like, he didn’t mind. Instead, he began limited testing of this new technique.

He began going through stances; each stance he did released a white pulse that purified spirits and the environment around him.

Slowly but surely, he moved. He began covering ground as he shifted from one stance to the next. His performance resembled a dance that purified the world. The white pulses around him were visible, and over time, the distance they covered was slowly growing.

It started at 250 meters, then it grew to 300, 350, 400...

Eventually, a single pulse traveled for a mile before disappearing. By the time he reached that, Ren had basically cleared this stage again. The whole graveyard had been purified and was collapsing beneath him.

While the corruption poisoned it, it’s also the only thing that’s keeping it together. It’s normal that, once the corruption is gone, everything will collapse. This graveyard, this land, could no longer be saved.

But Ren didn’t care about that. This dungeon was just a generated field by the archstones. It’s just realistic, not real.

Ren mastered the White Pulse. And although it wasn’t as deadly and as sharp as Seraphina’s white lotus petals, it was just as fatal to the corrupted attribute. In fact, it’s much more dangerous because it comes out fast.

The white pulse could also help the user resist negative outside influence or crowd controls. The purity chakra melts those, but its effects might be limited depending on the strength gap between the user and the enemy.

Still, it’s useful enough, and Ren declared that it has a place in the clan’s martial hall.

He’ll make a copy later and leave it there; for now, he still has to clear stage 81 three more times today to use up his daily quota and sell his earnings before returning home.