章節 45: Presumption

It was midnight, and a full moon filled the starry and well-lit sky. Inside the forest, at a point that offered a close view of the entrance gates of the Divinestone clan, three elders dressed in white robes with a subtly glowing mark in three colors awaited as if expecting something.

"It's surprising that this mediocre clan manages to survive near this dangerous forest," commented one of them slowly, stroking his long white beard.

"They always manage every generation to produce three reasonable cultivators who can enter the sect. It's all very strange, really," said another, who, unlike the others, looked like a middle-aged man; he was a newly appointed elder.

The third elder, listening to everything, rested his hand on his chin. "The forest hides many secrets. They must have some. The surprise is that no advisor or major clan has managed to find them and extract everything from this clan yet."

They only made occasional remarks while waiting until they saw a shadow emerge, jumping over the gate and walls of the clan ahead.

The shadow reached them, and it was the oldest of the four, the fourth elder of the group. "I used a complete petal practically. But he should fully recover in a few days. We should wait and escort him safely."

They all sighed, not hiding their irritation. "We have to wait here in this forest... this clan should at least send us some girls," said the youngest elder.

The oldest and newly arrived responded calmly. "The order was to maintain secrecy. Exercise some control when outside the sect; elders must uphold everyone's honor."

He smiled a little awkwardly, but soon everyone noticed a different fluctuation. A shadow was seen silently sneaking from the clan. All four felt that shadow, and then a strange expression appeared on their faces.

He was a low-level cultivator like everyone in the clan, but... this man... he was tall... and very fat. He was a giant, round whale.

A few seconds passed as the shadow approached calmly and politely in front of the elders. Everyone looked at him incredulously with that unusual figure.

"Hello, esteemed advisors. I apologize for this junior coming without notice to disturb you." The round man spoke, bowing politely and staying there, waiting. The eldest looked at him and sighed slowly, giving a signal for him to speak.

"This junior's name is Denil. I was born in this humble Divinestone clan. I came here today because I judged that this was a great opportunity for me. But I could also be of value to you." The figure spoke, still with his head bowed.

The younger elder seemed to lose patience and snapped his mouth. "Piff... you? How could you be of value? Just say what you came to do, or I'll kick you back into the clan."

Denil lifted his gaze, shining in the moonlight, and spoke confidently. "Sorry for the delay, but it will be difficult to prove what I came to propose if it's not tested in practice."

The elders saw that confident and greedy look and nodded. That was the will of a cultivator eager for an opportunity, something they had once but lost over hundreds of years.

The elder with the long beard commented, "What do you want to prove and how? Just speak."

Denil nodded in satisfaction as his youthful face filled with expectation. "Forgive my presumption, sir, but your cultivation is in the first level of the Foundation Establishment Realm, correct?" He spoke, looking at the younger elder who was impatient.

"So what?"

"Please attack me with all your strength." He quickly replied, and all four were immediately surprised. 'Does he want to die?' they all thought almost synchronously.

"Uh... without the use of techniques, of course. Don't worry, this will prove my point," the fat whale concluded, raising his spine firmly, and his eyes were full of confidence. They weren't the eyes of a suicidal person, the eldest elder concluded.

With the lack of response from the elders, the youngest of them smiled and took a step forward, satisfied. "You've got courage, great. Receive my fist." Clenching his fist tightly, Qi flowed into it immediately.

Denil then nodded slightly, and suddenly, a powerful crack echoed through the environment. The air became dense and almost suffocating for the youngest elder, who felt an inexplicable pressure. All three others were shocked and began to search for the source of this disturbance.

The obese man closed and opened his eyes, and a brown light, like earth, appeared in them, seeming to eclipse the moonlight. Everyone then turned their frightened gaze to him, and only later did they realize that the ground beneath the young man's feet was full of fractures, like spider webs about to break.

"What the hell..." An elder let slip from his lips, shocked to the extreme. The atmosphere was charged with intense energy, making the hairs on everyone's neck stand on end.

Denil nodded and spoke calmly, his voice cutting through the tense silence. "Please, attack with everything, sir."

The elder, who had even withdrawn Qi from his fist because of how strange all this was, was brought back from his stupor. He then smiled, satisfied, and a frenetic laugh escaped his mouth.

The other three elders also recovered, and a message from the eldest was transmitted to the other two. They then took long strides, and the three closed a triangle around Denil and the other young elder.

Denil stood there, calmly looking at the elder. The elder, in turn, held nothing back this time. Before, he didn't want to kill the young, idiotic, and obese man. Just breaking all his bones would be good. But now, he would go all out in this punch without reservations.

A massive gust of air was violently displaced all of a sudden. Waves of dense Qi followed along with the elder's movement. The environment seemed to vibrate with a furious intensity.

The three elders, agile in their response, erected a defensive barrier around them even before the attack was delivered.

BOOM!!!

Everything happened in a fraction of a second, and the thunderous sound of a colossal blow echoed like thunder colliding with a mountain.

An explosion of dust and Qi shrouded the battlefield, obscuring everyone's view. The ensuing silence was unsettling as no sound or fluctuation escaped the barrier.

As the dust began to settle, the three elders, with intense looks, stared at the epicenter of the impact. The power unleashed in the young man's body indeed seemed terrifying, but the disparity in cultivation levels was an insurmountable barrier. A full-on attack from the elder should have, at the very least, left the young man on the brink of death. The eldest elder was ready to save the young man's life if necessary.

Suddenly, as the dust dispersed, two figures emerged before them all. The elder remained still, with his fist still extended forward.

And there, standing like an imposing, immovable mountain, was the massive whale, now frighteningly powerful. His eyes were steadfast as ever, and a slight defiant smile played on his lips.

Suddenly, everyone saw a bit of blood lightly trickling from both corners of his lips. "This... impossible," said the elder with the long beard.

Immediately, the experienced minds of all of them worked frantically. That power wasn't normal; it was a physical level so extreme that it could shatter the concepts of realms. Of course, the elder hadn't used any technique or weapon. It was only the physical power and Qi gained through his cultivation. In a real fight, this young man wouldn't stand a chance, but surviving without serious injuries was enough to scare all the elders to death.