Chapter 214: Raising Interest
=== Godly Cultivator System ===
Name: Yi Chen
Age: 18 years
Strength: 180
Spiritual Sea: 11.93 / 48.67 [Recovery: 8 hrs of Sleep]
Qi Pool: 224 / 350 [Recovery: 24 days]
Cultivation: Fifth Level of [Meridian Refinement Stage]
Qi Nature: Fire
Innate Ability: Eye of Truth Lv2 (Active) [Progress: 0 / 1,000,000,000 EXP]
EXP: 22,245
[Cultivation Arsenal]
=========== End ===========
"!!!"
A chill ran down Yi Chen’s back when his gaze fell on his spiritual sea.
Not even five minutes had elapsed since he started engaging with these ghostly heads, and in just that short period of time, more than three-fourths of his spiritual sea had already been drained.
’If not for that voice, wouldn’t my spiritual sea have been completely exhausted?’
Although he had never waited for his spiritual sea to run dry, he knew that the most likely scenario would be him losing his consciousness.
And to lose consciousness while being constantly latched upon by Qi-sucking monsters, only one fate awaited him, death.
’That also explains the exhaustion I’ve been feeling all along,’ Yi Chen mused to himself.
In the last few hours, he had traversed several miles, dealt with thousands of black skeletons and rushed his way all the way to the black temple, so with all that in mind, he felt that his fatigue was natural now that he was facing another crisis.
However, it was only now that he realised the miscalculations on his side.
Tightening the grip over his sword, he immediately chopped off dozens of toothless heads all around and saw a significant reduction in the rate at which his spiritual energy was being depleted.
The next instant, he started dealing with the dozens of latchers that were latched onto his body, draining him of his Qi.
"Dirty Bastards!"
He roared in frustration and kept slashing them off. By the time he was finished, dozens of toothless ones had already surrounded him and were screeching at the top of their voices, making his spiritual energy drop to 10 the very next instant.
’This won’t do!’ Yi Chen exclaimed in his mind, realising there was no way for him to hold his ground against such large numbers.
He instantly utilised the Bursting Fire Steps and started rushing towards the square key several kilometres away.
The ghostly heads that lunged at him from ahead were all cut in half. However, many of the ones that were chasing after him or attacked from the sides also succeeded in latching onto his body.
’...they are much faster than I thought,’ he gritted his teeth and kept running, knowing that stopping here would only make things more precarious for him.
His status panel remained open beside him, and in it, he could see his rapidly draining Qi and spiritual energy.
In frustration, he took out a pot from his storage ring and gulped it down.
His Qi and spiritual energy were immediately replenished, but to his frustration, the rate at which they were being consumed kept increasing.
He immediately utilised the Bursting Fire Steps with even more vigour as his gaze remained firm on the edge of the cliff.
’Just a few kilometres more...’
Yi Chen gritted his teeth while resisting the pain from several razor-sharp teeth that were latched onto his body.
Traversing his way through zigzag pathways filled with stones, trees and shrubs, he was gaining ground towards the cliff’s edge on top of which the square key was shining with an inviting glimmer.
...
Seeing that his Qi pool and spiritual energy were once again on the verge of depleting, Yi Chen took out the thirteenth pot from his storage ring and drank it all down with an aching heart while running.
However, just then, he felt something pull on his foot, and the next instant, he fell face-first on the rocky ground.
"NO!"
The eye which had been closely observing everything from above with a satisfied expression widened in surprise when it witnessed this scene.
Not even a second later, Yi Chen was engulfed by a tide of ghostly heads just like an army of ants engulfing their prey.
Unable to help him in the trial, the eye could only watch the swarm of ghostly heads from above with a regretful glint.
"What a pity...what a pity..."
It muttered and started to fade away in disappointment.
However, just then, a tower of flame engulfed the swarm on top of Yi Chen as pain-filled screeches echoed all around. The thousands of ghostly heads immediately pulled away from him as a result.
"This...how?!"
Seeing this scene, disbelief became evident in the eye above as its focus immediately fell on Yi Chen’s haggard figure.
Breathing heavily, he pushed himself off the ground. His robe was in tatters, and several bloodied bite marks had riddled his body.
The next instant, his eyes went to the charred twig that was still latching on his legs, making him kick it out in frustration.
HAWWWWWW!
Not even ten seconds had passed, and the ghostly heads bolted towards him again.
"Fucking shit heads!"
Yi Chen roared in anger and immediately gulped down a pot of water, sending another wave of flame hurtling towards them.
However, the flames only made them shriek in pain. It didn’t turn the ghostly heads to char as one would expect, and Yi Chen would need to rely on his sword if he wanted to deal with one permanently.
A few moments later, when the flame died out, with the same vigour, the hundreds of ghostly heads lunged towards him.
’I was already expecting something like this after dealing with those black skeletons...’
He snorted in frustration and once again covered them all in a sea of fire. While it didn’t kill them, it did manage to buy him some time, using which he rushed towards the cliff’s edge.
Utilising the Bursting Fire Steps, he kept navigating through the sharp, hilly passages, but this time with added care, not wanting to stumble into anything else.
Not even a minute had passed, and all the ghostly heads had already caught up to him.
Repeatedly using the Crimson Fire Arts like earlier would drain his spiritual energy, and though he could repeatedly replenish them using the pond’s water, he didn’t want to take the risk.
Compared to his Qi pool, the amount of spiritual energy he possessed was very meagre.
In a situation like this, where his spiritual energy was also being drained by several toothless monsters, he wanted to conserve it as much as possible just to be ready for unforeseen circumstances.
Tightening his grip on his sword, he planned to follow the same tactic of attacking the ones hurtling towards him from ahead while simultaneously replenishing his reserves.
However, before he could do so, a sudden idea popped into his mind.
’Wait...Aren’t they scared of fire?’
He clearly remembered a batch of them trying hard to avoid the incoming flame, but still getting swallowed by it.
’It’s worth a try...’
The very next instant, he formed a thin layer of fire around his body.
HAWWWW!
Several shrieks echoed simultaneously as the Ghostly heads that were about to latch onto him stopped abruptly to create some distance.
As for the ones bolting towards him from ahead, they immediately diverted to the sides, screeching towards him in anger but not daring to pass through the layer of fire.
"It works!" Yi Chen exclaimed in jubilation while glancing towards the toothless. They seemed completely fine and weren’t affected by his move.
HYAAAAAHHH!
Already being at a distance, they maintained it and continued to drain his mental energy by their screeches, which seemed to have a suction effect.
’From what I have observed, they need to be at least a meter away from me to be able to drain my spiritual energy...’
With this in mind, he immediately expanded the diameter of the wall of fire around him to a little more than a meter.
The toothless were scared away, and the rate at which his spiritual sea was draining drastically reduced.
"HAHAHA!"
Yi Chen laughed hysterically, seeing his plan work.
Although a wall of fire consumed a portion of his spiritual energy, when compared to being drained continuously by hundreds of toothless, this short amount was nothing!
Gulping down another mouthful of pond water, he filled his reserves and a few moments later rushed towards the cliff while making sure to enjoy the cold raindrops splattering on his skin.
Meanwhile, hundreds of feet above, the eye was finding it hard to believe what it had just witnessed.
"This...! Just how is this possible..." it muttered while glancing at the hordes of ghostly heads that were still following closely behind Yi Chen.
Its interest in Yi Chen had greatly increased.
Not only did he have a very large reserve of spiritual energy for his cultivation stage, but his attacks had also managed to deter the ghostly heads.
"To think a human would possess such means...."
A chuckle sounded the next second as it saw Yi Chen below, almost on the verge of completing the trial.