Chapter 282: One V Seven

Kael climbed out of the tunnel, brushing dirt from his combat attire. He stretched his neck—crack—and exhaled.

Hhhh.

Seven people stood in a loose semicircle around the tunnel entrance.

Kael stopped.

Kael’s Spirit Eyes activated, scanning each one instantly.

The woman with plantinum hair at the center was the strongest. Mana Heart Rank 8.

Beside her, two Mana Heart Rank 7 cultivators. One was a woman with blue-tinged skin and frost mana radiating from her body—Ice manipulation. The other was a broad-shouldered man whose body glowed faintly with a golden sheen. Body cultivation. Tier 4 Peak.

Behind them: a Mana Heart Rank 6 man with water mana, a Mana Heart Rank 6 man with earth mana, a Mana Heart Rank 5 woman with wind abilities, and at the back—a young Mana Heart Rank 4 man who looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.

Mixed sector origins. A group formed by circumstance, not allegiance. Bound by one thing: greed.

The platinum-haired woman stepped forward.

"What did you find underground?" she asked with a calm voice.

Kael shrugged. "Maybe it was a god-slaying weapon. Or a cannon that can destroy a planet." He paused, tilting his head. "Or maybe it’s a shooting star."

Silence.

The woman’s eye twitched.

"It seems he doesn’t value his life," she said to her group.

Kael shrugged again. "I could say the same for you guys."

The ice woman moved first. Mana Heart Rank 7. Her hands shot forward—crackle—and a blast of concentrated ice screamed toward Kael’s chest. Fwoooosh!

Kael activated Shadow Step.

Whoosh.

He vanished. The ice blast passed through empty air and struck the tunnel entrance behind him—CRASH—freezing the stone solid.

Kael reappeared between the group. Both Shadow Slayer blades were drawn—shing-shing—and already swinging.

"DARK SLASH."

SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!

Three arcs of condensed darkness shot outward in different directions. The Mana Heart Rank 6 water user reacted instantly—raising a barrier of compressed water. Vvvvm.

The Dark Slash tore through it like paper.

SLASH.

His right arm separated from his shoulder.

"AHHHNH—FUCKING BASTARD!" he screamed, clutching the wound. Blood spurted across the ruined ground.

The platinum-haired woman attacked without hesitation. A powerful fire blast erupted from her palm—FWOOOOSH—concentrated, intense, enhanced by Light manipulation into something that burned white-gold.

Kael activated Lightning Body.

CRACKLE!

His form dissolved into white electricity. ZIP. The fire blast passed through his afterimage and detonated against the ruins—BOOM—sending stone fragments flying.

Kael materialized in the air above them.

SLAM.

The golden-bodied man appeared behind him—moving faster than someone his size should. His fist connected with Kael’s back. The impact was enhanced by his golden body technique layered with mana reinforcement.

Kael plummeted. WHOOSH. His face hit the ruined stone below—CRASH—and rubble exploded upward.

Hhhh...

He pushed himself up from the debris. Dust fell from his shoulders. His back ached—but the Void Body Refinement Tier 4 Peak had absorbed most of the impact.

His Spirit Eyes analyzed the golden-bodied man.

A body cultivator. Tier 4 Peak. Same as me.

Kael’s lips curved.

This is going to be fun.

The golden-bodied man frowned. He’d hit Kael with everything and yet, Kael was barely affected.

He turned to plantinum haired woman. "Hey, Sarah. This guy is dangerous. He’s probably from one of those powerful families in the Eastern or Western universe."

Sarah’s gold eyes narrowed. She studied Kael without a trace of fear.

"Drop whatever you got from underground," she said. "And you can go."

The man holding his severed arm staggered forward.

"That bastard took my arm! We can’t just let him—"

"Shut up," Sarah said flatly. The man went silent.

Kael smirked. "Come on. I was just starting to have fun." He rolled his shoulders. "But I’ll be honest with you—there’s nothing in that structure that will be valuable to any of you here."

Sarah’s expression didn’t change. "Give me the treasure first. I’ll determine if it’s useful to us or not."

Kael sighed.

Hhhh.

These people weren’t going to give up. And fighting them properly would take time—time he didn’t want to waste. Even if he went all out, he wasn’t certain he could win cleanly. The people who entered the Inheritance Ground were either very powerful or came from very powerful families. That meant treasures, techniques, and trump cards he couldn’t predict.

Not worth the risk. Not worth the time.

He needed to hunt powerful souls for the Netherworld Soul Locking Flag. That was the priority. Not a brawl with seven strangers over a structure that held nothing for them.

He sheathed both Shadow Slayer blades and stored them in his system storage. Lightning Body activated.

CRACKLE.

He turned to run.

WHOOSH—

Sarah appeared in front of him with blinding speed. Light-based movement technique—faster than anything Kael had encountered outside of Spirit Soul cultivators. She materialized in a flash of white radiance, her pale gold eyes cold.

"Where do you think you’re going?"

Her palm shot forward. A concentrated blast of light energy—FWOOOOSH—hit Kael point-blank in the chest.

SLAM!

He crashed into a ruined structure behind him—CRASH—stone walls crumbling. He hit the ground hard. Thud.

Hhhh...

He stood up slowly. His arms were burnt—the skin blackened from where he’d raised them to block at the last second. Pain lanced through his forearms.

But the burns were already healing. Void Body Refinement Tier 4 Peak regenerated tissue at an accelerated rate. New skin formed over the charred flesh.

He swallowed a healing pill from his system storage. The healing accelerated—burns vanishing completely within seconds.

Light and Fire ability. Guess she’s a dual abilty user. And she’s fast. Faster than me with Lightning Body.

Sarah stood twenty meters away, watching him. Her group reformed behind her—the golden-bodied man, the ice woman, the remaining fighters. The man with the severed arm was being healed by the wind woman, his face contorted in agony.

Kael looked at Sarah as he sighed.

Hhhh.

"I’m tired," Kael said.

Darkness gathered around his chest.

Vvvvm.

The air changed. The ambient mana in the vicinity shifted—drawn toward Kael, pulled inward. A dense dark orb formed before his chest, swallowing the light around him. The mana fluctuation was enormous. The ground beneath his feet cracked—crack—and the ruined stones around him trembled.

Sarah’s gold eyes widened.

What is that?