The Immortal Heir; The Absolute Cheat

Chapter 7

The golden-blue light of Kai's breakthrough slowly faded, leaving the surrounding forest eerily quiet. The scent of the dead Blood-Fanged Panther hung heavy in the air, a silent warning to the lesser beasts of the Whispering Wilds that a new predator had claimed this territory.

Kai clenched and unclenched his fist, feeling the terrifying density of his Tier 4 cultivation. The air around him felt lighter, his perception so sharp he could track the flight paths of nocturnal insects through the thick canopy.

"Kai..." Meiling stepped forward, her voice trembling but filled with a growing sense of hope. "Your strength... it feels different. It doesn't feel like the standard Iron-Blood cultivation technique. It feels old. What power is it?"

"It's a power that doesn't belong to the sect, Meiling," Kai replied, turning to her. "And it's a power they can't stop. But we can't stay here. The death of this panther and the shockwave of my breakthrough will draw attention. Both from beasts and the elder's hounds."

[Ding! Warning: High-frequency acoustic vibrations detected 800 meters to the North-West.]

[Iron-Blood Sect pursuit squad detected. Composed of: Three Tier 4 Inner Disciples, One Tier 5 Deacon. Estimated arrival: 3 minutes.]

A cold smirk played on Kai’s lips. Three minutes. They’re fast.

"Kai? What is it?" Meiling asked, noticing the sudden icy shift in his eyes.

"The trash is sniffing around," Kai said calmly. He reached into the coat of the dead panther and used his hunting knife to quickly harvest its razor-sharp fangs, stowing them away. "Meiling, use the Shadow Veil shroud I’m about to cast on you. Climb into the upper branches of this oak and do not make a sound, no matter what you see."

With a wave of his hand, Kai channeled his shadow attribute, wrapping Meiling in a dense, sound-dampening cloak of darkness that made her practically invisible against the tree's ancient bark. She nodded sharply, scaling the thick branches with the agility of someone who had spent her life surviving on the fringes of a brutal martial world.

Once she was safe, Kai didn't hide. He walked right into the center of the small clearing, standing directly over the carcass of the panther. He deliberately let a wisp of his Tier 4 aura leak out, acting as a beacon in the dark forest.

Less than two minutes later, the brush exploded.

Four figures in blood-red robes bounded into the clearing, their weapons drawn. The three inner disciples instantly fanned out, cutting off Kai's escape routes, while the older, scar-faced Deacon stepped forward, his eyes locking onto Kai with vicious glee.

"Well, well. Look what the hounds found," the Deacon sneered, his Tier 5 cultivation pressure radiating from his body, causing the grass around his boots to wither. "The little cripple who managed to crawl out of the Abyss. You caused a lot of trouble at the banquet, boy. The High Elder wants your limbs broken and your tongue ripped out."

"Is that all?" Kai asked. He didn't draw a weapon. He just stood there, his arms hanging loosely at his sides, his eyes reflecting the dull blue light of the system panel only he could see.

[Target scanned: Deacon Fang.]

[Cultivation Realm: Mortal Cultivator (Tier 5 - Earth Attribute).]

[Combat Strategy: Target relies heavily on defensive earthen armor. Recommended approach: Utilize 'Lightning Root Aptitude' to bypass physical density and strike the inner organs.]

"Arrogant brat!" one of the Tier 4 inner disciples shouted, insulted by Kai's calm demeanor. "You're just a Tier 4 fluke! Die!"

The disciple lunged forward, his saber ablaze with a fierce red fire-attribute mana. He unleashed a horizontal slash aimed directly at Kai's neck.

Kai didn't move until the blade was an inch from his throat.

Swish.

Using his massively buffed Agility, Kai executed a flawless, micro-evasion. The fiery blade cut nothing but a residual shadow. Before the disciple could realize he had missed, Kai’s hand shot out like a lightning bolt, wrapping directly around the disciple’s wrist.

"Too slow," Kai whispered.

Kai twisted his wrist, shattering the disciple's arm bones into splinters. As the man screamed, Kai drove his open palm into the disciple's chest, infusing a concentrated burst of lightning energy directly through his sternum. The electricity bypassed his outer defenses, frying his heart instantly.

The disciple collapsed into the dirt, dead before his body hit the ground.

[Ding! Enemy defeated. Extracting...]

[Extracted: +40 Strength, +20 Agility, Fire Root Aptitude (Low-Tier).]

The remaining two disciples gasped, instinctively taking a step back. The Deacon’s face darkened, the smugness completely evaporating from his eyes.

"Form the Iron-Triad formation!" the Deacon roared, his body instantly coating itself in a thick, rock-like layer of brown spiritual armor. "Don't underestimate him! He's a monster!"

"A monster?" Kai asked, his boots crackling with an dangerous mixture of blue lightning and red fire energy as the system integrated his newest extraction. His eyes glowed with a terrifying, predatory light. "You haven't seen anything yet."