The challenge hung in the air, a silent vow of war. Rylan's words, "Come and take me," had been a gauntlet thrown directly at the feet of the Jade Empire. The jade-bearded Foundation Establishment cultivator, his name lost to Rylan's mind in the rush of battle-focus, met his gaze with a look of cold, murderous contempt. The two Qi Condensation (Peak Stage) cultivators behind him sneered, their hands already moving to form complex spiritual seals.
"Such arrogance," the leader boomed, his voice rumbling with power. "A mere Qi Condensation worm dares to challenge the might of the Jade Empire." He didn't move from his position, but simply raised a hand. "I will not even grace you with a physical assault. Be crushed by the weight of your own foolishness."
His spiritual energy surged, pulling the very air from around them. The ground at his feet cracked, and the surrounding trees swayed violently. He wasn't preparing a flashy technique; he was unleashing the raw, oppressive force of his realm. The pressure was immense, a heavy, suffocating blanket of spiritual energy meant to cripple Rylan's Dantian and force him to his knees. It was a humiliating, dominant display of power, a common tactic used by higher-realm cultivators to end battles before they even began.
But Rylan was not a common cultivator. His spirit, forged in betrayal and tempered by the System, was unbreakable. He felt the crushing pressure, but his own spiritual energy, dense and potent from the absorption of the Jade Coin, pulsed outward in a defiant wave. He didn't just resist; he pushed back.
A low, resonant hum filled the space between them. The air shimmered as the two forces collided. The Jade cultivator's eyes widened slightly, a flicker of genuine surprise finally cracking his veneer of arrogance. This was not the struggle of a Foundation Establishment cultivator against a Qi Condensation weakling. This was a clash of equals.
"What is this?" the jade-bearded man muttered, his face contorted in disbelief.
Before he could process his surprise, the two Qi Condensation cultivators moved. They had witnessed their leader's momentary lapse and seized the opportunity. One, a man with a scarred face, blurred forward with an inhuman speed, his spiritual blade a silver streak aimed for Rylan's throat. The other, a woman with a braid as thick as her arm, unleashed a storm of shimmering needles from her arcane gauntlets, each needle carrying a lethal dose of poisonous spiritual energy.
Rylan's mind, honed by countless hours of cultivation and the System's passive guidance, processed the dual assault instantly. He didn't just see the attacks; he saw the spiritual energy flowing within them, the flaws in their techniques.
"Twin Serpent Strikes," he muttered, his body moving with a fluid grace that defied his muscled frame.
He didn't dodge the blade. He met it head-on, his open palm deflecting the sword's spiritual core with a precise flick. The blade, momentarily disrupted, flew past him harmlessly. At the same time, his other hand moved to intercept the storm of needles. Instead of blocking them, he used the Stone Serpent Grapple, his fingers a blur as they snatched the deadly projectiles from the air, his spiritual energy neutralizing their poison.
The scarred cultivator, his attack deflected with such casual ease, staggered back in shock. The woman with the gauntlets stood frozen, unable to comprehend that her attack had been not just blocked, but captured.
Rylan didn't give them a moment to recover. He closed the distance between them, a cold, focused fury in his eyes. He was a cultivator who had come from the absolute bottom, clawed his way back from death, and now had an entire Empire to prove wrong. He would not just defeat these insects; he would humiliate them.
He raised his foot and slammed it into the ground with the force of his Earth-Shattering Hammer. The ground trembled, a shockwave of spiritual energy rippling outwards. The two Qi Condensation cultivators, caught completely off guard, lost their balance. As they stumbled, Rylan was already upon them.
He moved too fast for the eye to follow, a phantom of power. His fist connected with the scarred cultivator's stomach, but it was more than just a punch. It was a precise strike imbued with his refined spiritual energy, aimed directly at the cultivator's Dantian. A wet, sickening crack echoed through the air. The man's eyes bulged, a scream of agony caught in his throat before he crumpled to the ground, his cultivation shattered.
The woman with the gauntlets watched, horrified, as her partner was neutralized in a single move. She had been sent to fight a "rogue cultivator," not a ruthless predator. She felt a shiver of pure, unadulterated terror.
Rylan turned his cold gaze on her, a chilling smirk on his face. This was not a battle for him anymore. It was a spectacle. A message.
"One down," he said softly, his voice carrying the calm finality of a predator to its prey. "Who's next?"
The two remaining Jade Empire cultivators, the terrified woman and the furious Foundation Establishment leader, now saw him for what he truly was: not a defiant upstart, but a looming threat. The battle for Oakhaven had just begun.
End of chapter 25