Sage’s Cultivation: Mage in Cultivation World - Chapter 181

Lucas escaped the death he saw coming from the lady he had encountered. He was panting as if breathless, and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. His eyes were heavy, and his eyebags were dark.

He looked at his surroundings, greenery as usual, and the soothing air was still there, but he couldn’t calm down.

When he checked his condition, he knew that he had used plenty of mana out there. Even if he got the body, he still needed to get used to the feeling of mana in his body, or else he would unintentionally drain himself from overusing it.

At first, magic spells needed equivalent mana to create, but if he overused the mana and didn’t utilize it well, resulting in an average spell but draining mana usage, by any time, he would be dead.

He should be serious by now. As he realized that that was what he needed, he performed a spell to coat himself. He used it to soothe himself and clear his mind, preparing his brain for planning.

He observed his surroundings once again and just when he was sure that no other presence was around, even monsters, he took a rest under a tree and created walls to complete his shelter.

“Who was that lady?” he asked himself as he remembered Lia’s face.

Her face rang in his head as he cursed her in his heart. He couldn’t forget the aura that Lia emitted; the strong urge to escape as well as the energy that was backing her. Apart from Qi, he felt that there was something else behind her that he couldn’t discern.

His attacks on her were useless as he couldn’t even manage to hurt her. And just as his mana started draining, he still didn’t manage to give her a bruise.

The impact of that encounter was huge on Lucas, which made him have a hard time imagining his possible encounter with Lia. And just as he browsed through his memories, he then realized that Lia was Ruby Sun.

“Fuck! That lady knew me! Ruby Sun… That is why she was hesitant to attack me at first,” he swore, as he found a reason why Lia attacked him.

“It is possible that she noticed something different in me. That is why she attacked me for any possibility she had thought.”

“It was dangerous.” He added, then tried to think properly about what he should do.

He inhaled deeply and had a long exhale afterward.

“I am still weak at managing my mana usage. That was the reason why I was almost defeated by that lady. But, what I have noticed is that average humans have the most mana in their essence. I should focus on that as well.”

“Making the cultivators under me will be my next goal. It is easy to replenish my mana with human bodies. But it is hard to control cultivators.”

“I could think of using mind-bending magic. Brainwashing will be easy, but if that lady bothers me, it will be a problem that I should encounter.”

Lucas could only tilt his head as, in between his thoughts, he was bothered by Lia’s identity.

“Why was she so strong? Was she the strongest cultivator in this realm?” Lucas pondered.

***

In the Northern Region, specifically at the headquarters of the Northern Alliance, Lia rushed to Jeric’s living quarters with the shocking news she had. Her heavy stomps could be heard in the hallway as they also reflected her enraged emotions raging from within.

When she arrived at Jeric’s living quarters, she immediately went inside and faced Jeric.

“Brother Jeric, I think we should talk.” She got up and saw Jeric sitting on his bed.

Jeric raised an eyebrow and slowly stood up and greeted her.

“Enough with it, this is urgent.”

“Why are you breathless, Sister Lia?”

“Stop. You should hear this. I saw Lucas.”

Jeric’s eyes widened with excitement as he heard Lucas’s name. His excitement rushed through his veins, and he couldn’t even manage to hide it. Lia noticed it and immediately hushed him, as she didn’t want to break his anticipation.

“Lucas killed normal people and cultivators in the northern part of the Southern Region.”

When those words were pronounced by Lia, Jeric stopped and his face started to become gloomy.

His eyes began to return to their calm state and he tilted his head in confusion.

“What did you just say? Brother Lucas killed who?”

“Normal people. When I saw him, his whole presence was different, and I couldn’t even dare to check it myself. As if his whole mind was clouded by some mysterious intent.”

Jeric sighed and tried to assess what Lia had just said. Clearly, he couldn’t understand it as he knew Lucas was reasonable, and killing normal people wasn’t in his style.

“Brother Lucas killed normal people. But, he might have a reason behind it, right?”

Lia exhaled a deep disappointment and shook her head.

“He couldn’t even explain it to me. Also, it seemed that he didn’t know me.” Lia said.

Jeric was still in his thoughts, thinking of a possible logic behind what Lia said. He was a fan of Lucas, en though it was just a year and a half since he knew Lucas, it was hard for him.

He deemed Lucas a respectable person. Yet, he would just hear this news from Lia, who was also a respectable person.

“I want to clarify it. Not that I don’t trust you, but I want to fix my thoughts.” Jeric stated, and Lia just nodded at him.

“Did you see that he killed those people?”

“I didn’t see him kill those people, but I saw him absorb half of their essence. I was sure of it as it was my specialty to see energies with my naked eyes.”

Jeric took a pause and then raised his finger. “That’s it. That is the reason he killed those people. He absorbed their essence to replenish himself.”

“What do you mean about that, Jeric?” Lia asked in confusion as Jeric suggested a topic to be tackled.

“A year ago, when we were having a wine party, drinking just the two of us, he told me that he had some ability to absorb energies. But, I was not sure what kind of energy. It could be just a unique Qi since it is common knowledge that unique Qi has different properties.”

Lia raised a statement. “That is possible. I haven’t heard that he has some ability to absorb, but that could be the reason behind it. However, the motivation was still in question. What pushed him to do it?”

“You know, let me see the site as well. I think I wouldn’t be able to discern things and help you if I didn’t see the site where the killing happened.”

“That is plausible. We should call Thomas over to help us.” Lia suggested, that Jeric agreed.

***

“I am really weak. How did I become weak? With that lady, I think being the owner of this world is impossible.” Lucas mumbled as he was still sitting, recovering from his encounter with Lia.

Even though he had decided to forget it and just go with the flow, he still couldn’t ignore the threat Lia was imposing. He should be wary of her while he gets used to his body.

The body and the personality he had were from the Immortal Sage, who didn’t care about wasting his mana as every second was a recovery for him. And even though sometimes he would take a rest to replenish his mana, he still had an advantage, and that was knowledge.

But, the current Lucas didn’t have enough knowledge about everything. He was just a God of Magic, which meant he was good at magic. He didn’t know anything about the customs and things of replacing mana, which he was lacking.

It was the backslash, as what he only knew was about getting mana from other sources. He didn’t know the alternative ways of getting mana, like eating healthy foods, which were outside of the knowledge a mage should know.

It was a discovery made by the Immortal Sage Lucas on his own, not by the masses.

And just like that, Lucas felt that he had a huge obstacle ahead of him.

He let out a sigh and stood up after feeling his body slowly change back to its state. He had been resting for about an hour, and it was enough for him to perform grandiose magic spells for once.

But he was not urged to create that kind of magic spell. He at least needed to use his mana to change his appearance.

“The best plausible way to learn about how to take over this world is by studying it. I will give myself a year to study it like what Immortal Sage usually does. And with that, I will successfully take over this world.”

Even though he rejected cultivation and his knowledge of it from the previous Lucas, he couldn’t still ignore the usefulness of it as the world revolved around it.

He then started to destroy his shelter and flew, searching for a settlement where he could stay for a few days.