Chapter 492
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Chapter 492
Down, down, down Anton dug, moving dirt and stone from below him to on top of him. It took some serious effort to loosen things up, enough that he was barely recovering any energy after his wild run around Kuchion. He could feel pursuers even through the ground. He intentionally avoided approaching any tunnels that they could find an easier path to him, but some cultivators had burrowing techniques. As predicted, they were catching up.
The surface of Kuchion was terribly cold, but as Anton burrowed kilometers deeper it began to warm up. Whatever heat was inside of it found few routes out. So far Anton hadnt found anything exceptionally hot- no pockets of magma or anything like that. But things were moving in the right direction.
Judging his speed with those of his pursuers, Anton didnt have long before they caught up. But he kept moving, not because he was actually trying to get away but to draw them ever further from the rest of their allies. Even if they could bring some people with them, it was nowhere near the hordes of cultivators that had sought him out on the surface.
When they were about a minute behind, Anton found a nice pocket of stone and began his next step of the plan. He stopped in place, reaching deep inside of himself and drawing upon it. He opened himself up to the power of the sun as it coursed through him and out. When hed first connected to Ceretos sun, the power within him had gone wild, almost consuming his body. Fortunately, he had recovered. His control was much better now, especially with connecting to more stars. The energy he had now was a little bit heavy as Weos star had slightly different properties, but producing extreme heat was still simple.
The world began to melt and burn around Anton. Molten rock dripped around him, the space around him full except for tiny pockets that gave little room to maneuver. However, the heat of molten rock was nothing to Anton- and the fact that it was done by his own power made it barely unpleasant. The greater concern was the pressure of the earth around him, but as an Assimilation cultivator he could handle it.
By the time his pursuers caught up to him an area a hundred meters in diameter was molten. Even so, none of them hesitated to dive into the heat after him. Anton couldnt even blame them, because while the One Hundred Stars allowed cultivators to practice fire techniques with proficiency, Anton wasnt proficient in what he was doing. It was just improvised, and not terribly dangerous to Life Transformation cultivators.
But he didnt do it to kill people. Instead, he did it to alter everyones mobility. Burrowing through solid rock and moving through molten rock were quite different, and while one seemed like it should be easier, the change in nature would alter the efficiency of techniques. For Antons sake, it provided just a bit more mobility than he would have had.
Firing a bow underground was just as difficult as Anton had imagined. Forcing apart an area around his bow so that he could draw it back and let the string snap forward was difficult, reducing his power by at least half with standard Spirit Arrows. He wasnt able to instantly kill his target, taking a whole handful of shots before his first opponent was incapacitated. By that point the gap between him and the first wave of a dozen was halved.
He changed up his tactics. Ascension energy might push through the earth with greater power, but spectral energy shouldnt care about it at all. His next arrow ignored the material, finding its way into the careless belly of an earth cultivator. The results were decent enough for the moment, though Anton knew he needed to increase his proficiency in that area.
Three opponents were down swiftly, but the remaining ones had the opportunity to encircle him, all around including above and below. He could feel their energy reaching towards him, attempting to infiltrate his mind. It wasnt quite like the illusion techniques he recalled from before, but either way they were insufficient to affect him. This was his domain, and nobody could wrest control of it from him.
Everyone was quite surprised when bows appeared behind them, firing shots inward. The earth greatly hindered Antons distance, but twenty or thirty meters was easy enough. Using purely energy bows weakened his attacks once more, but he was still able to desynchronize the enemy attacks. Only two at a time reached him, the first being spear and hammer wielders. The molten earth practically swam along with the hammer, augmenting its motion. The spear slipped through it like water, striking for Antons heart.
He caught them both, and there was where ascension energy came into play. His legs kicked out, augmented with the heat of the sun- or at least a portion of it. Defenses and armor were shattered, then the two were tossed aside to make way for the next enemies.
In the end, Anton found hed gone a bit overboard with the heat. He avoided harming himself, but when the cultivators had no more energy their bodies were instantly consumed- and their weapons and armor began to melt. More importantly, their storage bags were more vulnerable than the rest and several were lost in gouts of flame, broken formations spilling valuable scrolls into the world. They burst into flame before Anton could do much more, and he wished hed thought to control what it burned besides himself. Anish had taught him the techniques, but he didnt do such things without thinking.
He was ultimately able to save more than half of what he wanted, and that included burrowing techniques which he greedily read through. It only took a few moments each, and his mind was already processing them. By the time the following group was getting close, Anton slowly began to practice them. The One Hundred Stars wasnt particularly affiliated with earth, but it didnt make the practice more difficult either. Over a hundred years of experience coupled with a significant advantage in power allowed Anton to begin a pace that kept the others from catching up.
With the barrier destabilized, it would be easier for them to retreat if necessary, and for additional forces to join them. For the moment, the ships were staying out of things- but there were people ready in case they were required.
The first obstacle was, of course, a barrier formation protecting the entrance. Anton looked between Oluchi and the barrier. Are we ready?
As much as well ever get. Well charge the barrier to break through as quickly as possible.
I admire your courage, he said. But I feel like this is the sort that explodes when destroyed.
How would you know?
Just a hunch. And I can sense a massive pressure of natural energy behind it.
Having picked up a couple new techniques, Anton almost thought about breaking into the tunnels from the side but he could feel the barrier stretching deep into the area. It wouldnt be weaker anywhere else, only his attacks would be affected.
Id like to request your help along with my third volley, Anton said. Unless I manage to break through before then, of course.
Gladly, Oluchi nodded, clutching her spear tightly.
The first volley of arrows was just a little test. He wanted to see if anywhere was particularly weaker than anywhere else. Sometimes the edges were worse, corners and sometimes, a formation had glaring holes in its midsection away from the formation runes surrounding it. Whatever formations masters set up this one in particular managed to minimize flaws, so Anton found little with his probing attacks.
Then he got more serious, focusing his attacks together. The barrier trembled, but held. For the third volley, he drew upon ascension energy, the dense power that didnt fit into the lower realms screaming forward, tearing through the world while at the same time Oluchis spear flew forward with ever-increasing momentum.
Antons arrow struck first, piercing a hole in the barrier- but Oluchis spear widened it, and punctured through a few guards sheltering behind it and attempting to bolster it with their own energy. The rest of the army was already charging forward, anticipating the barriers opening.
The resulting explosion of energy sent Oluchis spear flying back at her in a manner that was almost too quick for her to catch- though she still had the control to direct it, so at worst she could have flung it over her.
The sudden release of pressure and the barrier allowed Anton to feel deep inside the tunnels, where he saw not only many members of the Twin Soul Sect, but hundreds of people in cages- and many more currently being distributed around various formations, slaughtered in whatever manner the Twin Soul Sect found most efficient.
Antons next shot would be finding its way deep inside, reminding them that they were not safe anymore. Hopefully, it would throw off their ritual as well.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.
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Chapter 492
Down, down, down Anton dug, moving dirt and stone from below him to on top of him. It took some serious effort to loosen things up, enough that he was barely recovering any energy after his wild run around Kuchion. He could feel pursuers even through the ground. He intentionally avoided approaching any tunnels that they could find an easier path to him, but some cultivators had burrowing techniques. As predicted, they were catching up.
The surface of Kuchion was terribly cold, but as Anton burrowed kilometers deeper it began to warm up. Whatever heat was inside of it found few routes out. So far Anton hadnt found anything exceptionally hot- no pockets of magma or anything like that. But things were moving in the right direction.
Judging his speed with those of his pursuers, Anton didnt have long before they caught up. But he kept moving, not because he was actually trying to get away but to draw them ever further from the rest of their allies. Even if they could bring some people with them, it was nowhere near the hordes of cultivators that had sought him out on the surface.
When they were about a minute behind, Anton found a nice pocket of stone and began his next step of the plan. He stopped in place, reaching deep inside of himself and drawing upon it. He opened himself up to the power of the sun as it coursed through him and out. When hed first connected to Ceretos sun, the power within him had gone wild, almost consuming his body. Fortunately, he had recovered. His control was much better now, especially with connecting to more stars. The energy he had now was a little bit heavy as Weos star had slightly different properties, but producing extreme heat was still simple.
The world began to melt and burn around Anton. Molten rock dripped around him, the space around him full except for tiny pockets that gave little room to maneuver. However, the heat of molten rock was nothing to Anton- and the fact that it was done by his own power made it barely unpleasant. The greater concern was the pressure of the earth around him, but as an Assimilation cultivator he could handle it.
By the time his pursuers caught up to him an area a hundred meters in diameter was molten. Even so, none of them hesitated to dive into the heat after him. Anton couldnt even blame them, because while the One Hundred Stars allowed cultivators to practice fire techniques with proficiency, Anton wasnt proficient in what he was doing. It was just improvised, and not terribly dangerous to Life Transformation cultivators.
But he didnt do it to kill people. Instead, he did it to alter everyones mobility. Burrowing through solid rock and moving through molten rock were quite different, and while one seemed like it should be easier, the change in nature would alter the efficiency of techniques. For Antons sake, it provided just a bit more mobility than he would have had.
Firing a bow underground was just as difficult as Anton had imagined. Forcing apart an area around his bow so that he could draw it back and let the string snap forward was difficult, reducing his power by at least half with standard Spirit Arrows. He wasnt able to instantly kill his target, taking a whole handful of shots before his first opponent was incapacitated. By that point the gap between him and the first wave of a dozen was halved.
He changed up his tactics. Ascension energy might push through the earth with greater power, but spectral energy shouldnt care about it at all. His next arrow ignored the material, finding its way into the careless belly of an earth cultivator. The results were decent enough for the moment, though Anton knew he needed to increase his proficiency in that area.
Three opponents were down swiftly, but the remaining ones had the opportunity to encircle him, all around including above and below. He could feel their energy reaching towards him, attempting to infiltrate his mind. It wasnt quite like the illusion techniques he recalled from before, but either way they were insufficient to affect him. This was his domain, and nobody could wrest control of it from him.
Everyone was quite surprised when bows appeared behind them, firing shots inward. The earth greatly hindered Antons distance, but twenty or thirty meters was easy enough. Using purely energy bows weakened his attacks once more, but he was still able to desynchronize the enemy attacks. Only two at a time reached him, the first being spear and hammer wielders. The molten earth practically swam along with the hammer, augmenting its motion. The spear slipped through it like water, striking for Antons heart.
He caught them both, and there was where ascension energy came into play. His legs kicked out, augmented with the heat of the sun- or at least a portion of it. Defenses and armor were shattered, then the two were tossed aside to make way for the next enemies.
In the end, Anton found hed gone a bit overboard with the heat. He avoided harming himself, but when the cultivators had no more energy their bodies were instantly consumed- and their weapons and armor began to melt. More importantly, their storage bags were more vulnerable than the rest and several were lost in gouts of flame, broken formations spilling valuable scrolls into the world. They burst into flame before Anton could do much more, and he wished hed thought to control what it burned besides himself. Anish had taught him the techniques, but he didnt do such things without thinking.
He was ultimately able to save more than half of what he wanted, and that included burrowing techniques which he greedily read through. It only took a few moments each, and his mind was already processing them. By the time the following group was getting close, Anton slowly began to practice them. The One Hundred Stars wasnt particularly affiliated with earth, but it didnt make the practice more difficult either. Over a hundred years of experience coupled with a significant advantage in power allowed Anton to begin a pace that kept the others from catching up.
With the barrier destabilized, it would be easier for them to retreat if necessary, and for additional forces to join them. For the moment, the ships were staying out of things- but there were people ready in case they were required.
The first obstacle was, of course, a barrier formation protecting the entrance. Anton looked between Oluchi and the barrier. Are we ready?
As much as well ever get. Well charge the barrier to break through as quickly as possible.
I admire your courage, he said. But I feel like this is the sort that explodes when destroyed.
How would you know?
Just a hunch. And I can sense a massive pressure of natural energy behind it.
Having picked up a couple new techniques, Anton almost thought about breaking into the tunnels from the side but he could feel the barrier stretching deep into the area. It wouldnt be weaker anywhere else, only his attacks would be affected.
Id like to request your help along with my third volley, Anton said. Unless I manage to break through before then, of course.
Gladly, Oluchi nodded, clutching her spear tightly.
The first volley of arrows was just a little test. He wanted to see if anywhere was particularly weaker than anywhere else. Sometimes the edges were worse, corners and sometimes, a formation had glaring holes in its midsection away from the formation runes surrounding it. Whatever formations masters set up this one in particular managed to minimize flaws, so Anton found little with his probing attacks.
Then he got more serious, focusing his attacks together. The barrier trembled, but held. For the third volley, he drew upon ascension energy, the dense power that didnt fit into the lower realms screaming forward, tearing through the world while at the same time Oluchis spear flew forward with ever-increasing momentum.
Antons arrow struck first, piercing a hole in the barrier- but Oluchis spear widened it, and punctured through a few guards sheltering behind it and attempting to bolster it with their own energy. The rest of the army was already charging forward, anticipating the barriers opening.
The resulting explosion of energy sent Oluchis spear flying back at her in a manner that was almost too quick for her to catch- though she still had the control to direct it, so at worst she could have flung it over her.
The sudden release of pressure and the barrier allowed Anton to feel deep inside the tunnels, where he saw not only many members of the Twin Soul Sect, but hundreds of people in cages- and many more currently being distributed around various formations, slaughtered in whatever manner the Twin Soul Sect found most efficient.
Antons next shot would be finding its way deep inside, reminding them that they were not safe anymore. Hopefully, it would throw off their ritual as well.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.
Chapter 492Down, down, down Anton dug, moving dirt and stone from below him to on top of him. It took some serious effort to loosen things up, enough that he was barely recovering any energy after his wild run around Kuchion. He could feel pursuers even through the ground. He intentionally avoided approaching any tunnels that they could find an easier path to him, but some cultivators had burrowing techniques. As predicted, they were catching up. The surface of Kuchion was terribly cold, but as Anton burrowed kilometers deeper it began to warm up. Whatever heat was inside of it found few routes out. So far Anton hadnt found anything exceptionally hot- no pockets of magma or anything like that. But things were moving in the right direction.Judging his speed with those of his pursuers, Anton didnt have long before they caught up. But he kept moving, not because he was actually trying to get away but to draw them ever further from the rest of their allies. Even if they could bring some people with them, it was nowhere near the hordes of cultivators that had sought him out on the surface. When they were about a minute behind, Anton found a nice pocket of stone and began his next step of the plan. He stopped in place, reaching deep inside of himself and drawing upon it. He opened himself up to the power of the sun as it coursed through him and out. When hed first connected to Ceretos sun, the power within him had gone wild, almost consuming his body. Fortunately, he had recovered. His control was much better now, especially with connecting to more stars. The energy he had now was a little bit heavy as Weos star had slightly different properties, but producing extreme heat was still simple.The world began to melt and burn around Anton. Molten rock dripped around him, the space around him full except for tiny pockets that gave little room to maneuver. However, the heat of molten rock was nothing to Anton- and the fact that it was done by his own power made it barely unpleasant. The greater concern was the pressure of the earth around him, but as an Assimilation cultivator he could handle it. By the time his pursuers caught up to him an area a hundred meters in diameter was molten. Even so, none of them hesitated to dive into the heat after him. Anton couldnt even blame them, because while the One Hundred Stars allowed cultivators to practice fire techniques with proficiency, Anton wasnt proficient in what he was doing. It was just improvised, and not terribly dangerous to Life Transformation cultivators. But he didnt do it to kill people. Instead, he did it to alter everyones mobility. Burrowing through solid rock and moving through molten rock were quite different, and while one seemed like it should be easier, the change in nature would alter the efficiency of techniques. For Antons sake, it provided just a bit more mobility than he would have had.Firing a bow underground was just as difficult as Anton had imagined. Forcing apart an area around his bow so that he could draw it back and let the string snap forward was difficult, reducing his power by at least half with standard Spirit Arrows. He wasnt able to instantly kill his target, taking a whole handful of shots before his first opponent was incapacitated. By that point the gap between him and the first wave of a dozen was halved. He changed up his tactics. Ascension energy might push through the earth with greater power, but spectral energy shouldnt care about it at all. His next arrow ignored the material, finding its way into the careless belly of an earth cultivator. The results were decent enough for the moment, though Anton knew he needed to increase his proficiency in that area.Three opponents were down swiftly, but the remaining ones had the opportunity to encircle him, all around including above and below. He could feel their energy reaching towards him, attempting to infiltrate his mind. It wasnt quite like the illusion techniques he recalled from before, but either way they were insufficient to affect him. This was his domain, and nobody could wrest control of it from him. Everyone was quite surprised when bows appeared behind them, firing shots inward. The earth greatly hindered Antons distance, but twenty or thirty meters was easy enough. Using purely energy bows weakened his attacks once more, but he was still able to desynchronize the enemy attacks. Only two at a time reached him, the first being spear and hammer wielders. The molten earth practically swam along with the hammer, augmenting its motion. The spear slipped through it like water, striking for Antons heart.He caught them both, and there was where ascension energy came into play. His legs kicked out, augmented with the heat of the sun- or at least a portion of it. Defenses and armor were shattered, then the two were tossed aside to make way for the next enemies.In the end, Anton found hed gone a bit overboard with the heat. He avoided harming himself, but when the cultivators had no more energy their bodies were instantly consumed- and their weapons and armor began to melt. More importantly, their storage bags were more vulnerable than the rest and several were lost in gouts of flame, broken formations spilling valuable scrolls into the world. They burst into flame before Anton could do much more, and he wished hed thought to control what it burned besides himself. Anish had taught him the techniques, but he didnt do such things without thinking.He was ultimately able to save more than half of what he wanted, and that included burrowing techniques which he greedily read through. It only took a few moments each, and his mind was already processing them. By the time the following group was getting close, Anton slowly began to practice them. The One Hundred Stars wasnt particularly affiliated with earth, but it didnt make the practice more difficult either. Over a hundred years of experience coupled with a significant advantage in power allowed Anton to begin a pace that kept the others from catching up.With the barrier destabilized, it would be easier for them to retreat if necessary, and for additional forces to join them. For the moment, the ships were staying out of things- but there were people ready in case they were required. The first obstacle was, of course, a barrier formation protecting the entrance. Anton looked between Oluchi and the barrier. Are we ready?As much as well ever get. Well charge the barrier to break through as quickly as possible.I admire your courage, he said. But I feel like this is the sort that explodes when destroyed.How would you know?Just a hunch. And I can sense a massive pressure of natural energy behind it.Having picked up a couple new techniques, Anton almost thought about breaking into the tunnels from the side but he could feel the barrier stretching deep into the area. It wouldnt be weaker anywhere else, only his attacks would be affected.Id like to request your help along with my third volley, Anton said. Unless I manage to break through before then, of course.Gladly, Oluchi nodded, clutching her spear tightly.The first volley of arrows was just a little test. He wanted to see if anywhere was particularly weaker than anywhere else. Sometimes the edges were worse, corners and sometimes, a formation had glaring holes in its midsection away from the formation runes surrounding it. Whatever formations masters set up this one in particular managed to minimize flaws, so Anton found little with his probing attacks.Then he got more serious, focusing his attacks together. The barrier trembled, but held. For the third volley, he drew upon ascension energy, the dense power that didnt fit into the lower realms screaming forward, tearing through the world while at the same time Oluchis spear flew forward with ever-increasing momentum.Antons arrow struck first, piercing a hole in the barrier- but Oluchis spear widened it, and punctured through a few guards sheltering behind it and attempting to bolster it with their own energy. The rest of the army was already charging forward, anticipating the barriers opening.The resulting explosion of energy sent Oluchis spear flying back at her in a manner that was almost too quick for her to catch- though she still had the control to direct it, so at worst she could have flung it over her. The sudden release of pressure and the barrier allowed Anton to feel deep inside the tunnels, where he saw not only many members of the Twin Soul Sect, but hundreds of people in cages- and many more currently being distributed around various formations, slaughtered in whatever manner the Twin Soul Sect found most efficient. Antons next shot would be finding its way deep inside, reminding them that they were not safe anymore. Hopefully, it would throw off their ritual as well.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.
