Sect Leader’s Rise to the top! - Chapter 115

Thanks to this tactic, the group delayed the fog by a few hours as it was now moving up at a snail’s pace. The group had not split into two groups and were alternating their attacks.

The first group centered around Wu Xianhai who would cause continuous and unrelenting damage with her sword Qi, while everyone around her used their strongest attacks to assist.

The second group was centered around Kai, who would occasionally throw his Qi-enhanced gems. His attacks were slow, but the destructive power was undeniable. The reason why Kai was using the gemstones rather than regular rocks was that Kai had discovered that the gems were decent Qi conductors.

The gems could store a small portion of his Qi which they would then release on impact, creating a grenade-like effect. Kai had collected hundreds of these gems and figured they would be of no use to him if he was dead, so he decided to put them to good use here.

After almost six hours of continuous attacks. Some of the weaker cultivators were also starting to feel the fatigue set in. Their attacks slowed down in both speed and intensity. This only made the fog rise even faster, making everyone panic.

“Don’t relent, keep attacking!”. Hou Zhou yelled from his pillar as he threw a small throwing dagger with all his might. The fog was now starting to cover the surface of some of the smaller pillars.

“It’s too late, move onto plan B!. Kai yelled as he threw another red gem, then jumped to grab a hold of one of the ropes on the ceiling. The others followed his lead, but the slower ones were caught in the fog and got instantly impaled by black spikes. Those unlucky few were dragged kicking screaming into the depths as the spikes retreated into the fog.

Everyone fortunate enough to jump onto a rope climbed as high as they could and all swung towards the corner of the enclosure. Once everyone was there, Wu Xianhai as well as the four Twin Lions Sect disciples pulled out their swords and started launching shock-waves towards the fog, forcibly moving it down. Wu Xianhai’s was by far the most effective as she forced the fog down by about a meter each time.

Those who had similar abilities also assisted. Some released muffled shouts enhanced with Qi while others pulled out giant fans and blew the fog away. Kai had speculated that they would be safe as long as the fog stayed at least a meter away. They kept this up for about an hour when Kai suddenly noticed the spire in the distance shaking violently as if angered.

After the spire calmed down, it started to slowly retreat into the ground. As it did, the fog also started to slowly descend back down to the surface.

“The fog is moving back!”. Yelled an excited cultivator.

Kai seemed skeptical and just back onto one of the pillars, quickly followed by Wu Xianhai. She closed her eyes and placed her hands on the pillar, but quickly reopened them and shouted in horror.

“It’s coming back!”, Wu Xianhai yelled as she looked towards Kai. She had been calculating and realized that they only needed to survive 12 more hours until the portal opened. They would succeed if they could keep this up, however, Wu Xianhai knew that it wouldn’t be this easy. The one flaw she had mentioned about Kai’s plan was that it did not take into account, the spire’s remarkable intelligence. On average, illusion demons were mindless creatures, however, this one was completely different, seemingly capable of complex thought.

Kai had also understood this which was why he had come up with a contingency plan for such a scenario. Kai looked over to Wu Xianhai and nodded his head. He jumped off the pillar and fell into the fog.

“What’s he doing?!”. Yelled one of the cultivators when he noticed Kai jumping off the pillar deliberately.

“The crazy bastard is trying to kill himself!”.

Hou Zhou and Song Wei were also quite shocked but couldn’t take their attention off the fog that was now starting to rise again.

Wu Xianhai looked at the disappearing Kai for a brief moment then jumped back onto the ropes to help keep the fog at bay. Kai who was now falling within the fog quickly pulled out the veil elixir. He landed hard on the ground and immediately leaped back into the air, just as a black spike pierced the spot he had landed on.

While he was in the air again, Kai poured the veil elixir over his body. A faint green glow covered his body for a few seconds, but it disappeared immediately after.

When Kai landed again, no spikes appeared. Kai carefully picked up a rock from the ground and threw it a few meters away. Instantly, multiple spikes pierced the spot where the rock landed, making his heart rate drop a little.

‘I’m kind of glad this worked. Getting out of here would have been a problem if it didn’t…’. Kai thought in relief while remembering the upgraded veil elixir he had just used. Kai had received the regular veil elixirs from old man Song. Normally, these wouldn’t be able to hide him from a [Grade-4] illusion demon, but Kai had used his special Qi-rotation technique to increase its grade to superior, making it a lot more potent.

Kai took a deep breath and noticed that the fog still had breathable air. The only difference was that it was laced with strange particles that were slowly absorbing his Qi. However, the absorption process was extremely slow and Kai assumed he could survive in here for days if he had to.

Kai quietly moved within the fog and saw all the lifeless husks of cultivators defeated by the illusion beast. Kai did not stand on ceremony and immediately started looting the bodies. The original plan was for Kai to jump into the fog to determine if his veil elixirs could indeed hide him from the illusion demon as he claimed. Once it was proven, Kai would then send a signal to Wu Xianhai who would, in turn, abandon the others and join him in the fog where they would hide until the portal opened.

Kai instead chose to explore for a bit while the illusion beast was distracted. Kai found the body of a cultivator who had a spatial bag similar to his. He picked it up and found that it was similar to his in size. Apart from a few days worth of rations and some miscellaneous weapons and armors, there was nothing of real value.

‘For someone who had a spatial bag, he was pretty poor…’ Kai thought as he took the man’s sword off the ground and placed it into the bag.

Like this, Kai moved around the battlefield while quietly praying for the souls of the recently departed and assuring them that he would use their items well.

‘He’s late!. Don’t tell me he died…’ Wu Xianhai thought when an hour passed without Kai reappearing. The thought of him betraying her had popped into her mind, but he had already given her a veil elixir so it’s not like she needed him anymore. Her main issue was whether or not it worked.

At that moment, the earth shook again and the black spire suddenly reappeared right beneath the group who were hanging on the ceiling.

“Move!”, Wu Xianhai yelled in horror as she released another shock-wave to clear a path for herself. She jumped over to another rope and swung away. The four disciples followed quickly behind her but the spire was a step ahead.

Holes opened up on its cone-shaped top and fog started to flow out in all directions, quickly filling the air pocket that the group had created.

Once the fog reached the survivors, it was almost as if the spire could now see them. Spikes appeared from the spire and accurately impaled everyone who could not follow Wu Xianhai in time.

At that moment of despair, the spire shook violently while flashes of red lightning could be seen flickering at the bottom of the fog. The spikes immediately retreated into the spire’s main body, ignoring the people within the fog.

Down on the ground, Kai had dawned his [Primordial Dragon’s Scale Armament] and enhanced it with his latest Internal cultivation manual that he affectionately named; [Daemonic Tempest Law]. Kai thought about the manual while throwing a relentless bombardment of Qi-Enhanced violence onto the spire’s surface.

>[Internal Cultivation Manual] [D-Rank]

[Daemonic Tempest Law]

Limit: Peak of Foundation Establishment

[Qi Gather Rate]: 0 [+5 per hour] (Passive Qi cannot be absorbed by demons as mandated by the heavens. However, the blessings of the Elemental Deities has overridden this restriction)

[Passive 1]: Elemental-kin: Gain the blessings of the Wind and Water Elemental Deities, allowing you to absorb Wind and Water-Qi to create Thunder-Qi.

[Passive 2]: Daemonic influence: Elemental Qi takes the characteristics of the demon clan. Qi-based attack and defense are increased by 35%, but Qi cost is doubled.

[Additional Trait (Outcast)]: Those who practice this manual will not receive guidance from either the Heavens or the Abyss, and must carve out their own path. This can either be a blessing or a curse.. Gain an additional 20% boost to Qi absorption rate when using ‘unorthodox’ methods.