Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 525: My Territory

Chapter 525: My Territory

A hole was created in the Great Wall and the giant that was supposed to protect it was gone. Killed for a period of time that was unnatural. There were some figures in the Black Tower that were capable of killing the . That did not mean the hole was peaceful. People didn’t just walk through like it was a walk in the park.

Dasha mounted himself as the carriage on a rooftop. The Great Wall stood equal to the Dark Tower in importance to keeping the peace and for the past few weeks, there was an opening. A breach.

Gyges the Long-Limbed’s corpse was being used as a bridge.

’I get it. The inside of the Great Wall is dense with magic and mana, to the point that touching it burns the flesh. They need the corpse of the giant to walk.’

"Hm."

From inside the carriage, he heard Dr. Thornton muttering, "What’s wrong? Why did we stop?"

Dasha had sensed figures atop the corpse of a bridge. They did not move, however. They were preventing people from coming to and fro. They were trying to penetrate the corpse’s flesh.

’Scavengers. Attempting to harvest Gyges’ organs. Seems they have found limited success with their tools. However, sooner or later...’

He was going to need to keep an eye out.

"Aya, pull the lever," Dasha ordered. "Hold your breaths too. We’ll need to sneak through."

Creaak! Thud! The lever pull was tough and took some seconds to take into effect. An invisibility cloak, which had been bunched up from on the roof of the carriage, rolled out and covered the carriage. Both Dasha and his compatriots were unseen from the world.

Dasha could immediately feel the Qi sap from him. In order to hide their heart beats, additional extraction of Qi was necessary. Exhale the dirty Qi, inhale the pure Qi.

He dashed.

"One more step! One more god damn step and I’ll kill every single one of you!" the leader of the scavengers screamed at the people of the Slums attempting to come through. "You see this!? This sword!? It’s a Gram!"

Dasha slowed down. The carriage was aerodynamic to the point that he could smoothly go down.

The sword in the scavenger leader’s grip was dripping with blood and power. The sheer malice radiating off that weapon...Gram was a blade said to have been wielded by Sigurd and slayed the great dragon Fafnir. Dasha’s invisibility cloak resonated. ’It’s not the real thing. He’s lying. But...Tarnkappe, my cloak, is reacting to it. To Sigurd.’

The people of the Slums were powerful. They did not cower and charged right at him.

The world went black.

One strike and a hundred demons and humans were incinerated.

The leader of the scavengers panted, exhausted from the effort and grinning. Dasha landed on the foot of the giant Gyges.

In total, there were over fifty scavengers. Far more than what might expect from a typical, small-time gang. The giant was a giant and so the numbers were stretched thin.

Electro-step.

Dasha did a single leap and soared over the scavenger leader wielding Gram and through the hole—

"I feel you bastard! Gram, annihilate whoever is out there!!"

Dasha did not panic. ’Burst Lv. 6—!’

He blasted away. The great replica of Gram and the giant blast failed to reach him. Dasha and the carriage escaped.

The danger was not yet gone, however. This was the Slums. Conflict was everywhere. Dasha had to be careful.

***

Dasha had to travel west. At some point, the slums transitioned in the dark, swarthy fields. The westend was here. This was where reason and kindness went to hell and those of the Slums attacked carelessly.

Assuming they could be seen.

The Slums were ever changing and ever territorial. One wrong step and Dasha and the carriage would wind up in the hands of a forgotten god or an evil god or a cruel god. The rural wasteland in front of him was an illusion.

He found a path, the same path he and Sun-young took. It was a loop-around so that he could avoid the mighty that lived here. Dasha did not hesitate in his movement, surprisingly. Where others would not remember, he did. Every bloated little tree, every blackened blade of grass, it was seared into his mind.

They entered a forest. Whirrr! Dasha activated his Qi Blade in order to make space for the carriage behind him. The forest possessed more colour and life. Giant worms underground and creatures that could not be described as demon or human.

Last time, he had the Anti-Magic Swordsman—

A horrid shriek rank out. A colossal armoured black centipede whose tore through the ground, its tiny human hands rushing and breaking.

Dasha did not release the reigns of the carriage. He jumped, Qi Blade crackling with lightning: Lightning Qi Blade (Middle Stage). The combination of unseeable rotation and an element stabbing right through the open mouth of the centipede.

Sheeeath! Crriiickkk! Shing, shing, shining!

He burst through the other side, not even lathered in blood. With Burst, he was speed was far greater than before.

That centipede thing had incredible healing abilities. Rather than go back and attack it, he touched the ground dashed to his destination. Without anti-magic, battles were thrice as difficult.

"Tch."

A humanoid beast with rotating teeth. Shit, his Qi Sense was a step too slow and he was forced to slice it in half. That led to others joining in, a whole tribe of them. They knew where he was. Alone and having to carry a carriage, his movements were limited. He couldn’t jump back as efficiently nor did he have someone else to back him up.

Dual Qi Blades.

’Hng.’

The carriage was invisible and passively draining him. So at the same time, he activated Tu Na Breathing. Bursting and killing and meditating and navigating all at the same time.

The greatest Cultivation genius would struggle to do it. Dasha did not. Completely focused, he managed the impossible and killed—

[ Receive:

78,000 XP ]

[ Receive:

68,000 XP ]

And killed—

[ Receive:

58,000 XP ]

[ Receive:

48,000 XP ]

Until there nobody left in his path.

’As expected, after a certain point, likely when Class 4 or above, killing the same type of monsters decreases the amount of XP you earn. The System is a method of feeding one’s soul for two years by killing and absorbing bits of another’s soul and Qi. Therefore, the same kind becomes less and less valuable.’

This wasn’t new, Dasha had already tested it out. He was hoping, however, that due to the nature of the Slums, this wouldn’t be the case and that he could kill a hundred of these blood-thirsty creatures and level up—and because of the chaotic nature of the forest, it would give him what he wanted. It didn’t, alas.

It was like the creators of the System only wanted humanity to be strong but not so strong that they could defy them.

’Later,’ he told himself. ’I will come up with a method to be able to farm effectively.’

So far, nobody else had discovered the method. Someday, he would.

"There it is."

The tree he and Sun-young rested at arrived.

Mehen’s shack and the Territory it housed was nearby.

Running at full speed, he found it in no time. The square of ruin which housed a shack of the former Serpent Cult. He stopped, released the reins at long last, and knocked at the doors.

"We’re here."

The carriage doors opened. Aya stepped out first. Dasha held out a hand and she took it. Aya winced when her sandals touched the mushy ground of the forest.

"Remember, breathe in and out."

The boxes the children stored in the carriage were not for show. They were potions for Dr. Thornton and Aya so that he could walk and breathe in the Slums. Even if they were just planning to stand around for a couple minutes, it was a couple minutes too long for women of their constitution.

Dr. Thornton walked out next and she coughed the moment she took in the air.

"Ack! W-what in the bloody—" Racked with a throat that was failing to gulp the air, Dasha pulled out a second potion from his inventory. The doctor of runes drank it down fast.

"Your body is weaker than I anticipated," Dasha stated.

"Apologies if it’s not meant to withstand the atmosphere of literal shit," Dr. Thornton remarked once the effects kicked in. She was panting, a hand on her knee and an eye glaring up at him. "I still cannot believe you dragged me here. The Slums—the bloody Slums...!"

"No harm has come to you, has it?"

"...."

"Then trust in me. You will enjoy this."

"...?"

Aya was already inside the shack. Dr. Thornton followed Daha inside.

"Just what is this...?"

Forgotten pillows and tables of the Serpent Cult were left inside. It was like a group of people had ghosted this place, suddenly getting up and leaving. More importantly, there were board games. A brown spiral-shaped board that was carved and made of a special rock. Marbles were placed at every side for each player.

"This is what you wanted to show me? This is..." Dr. Thornton stopped. "Wait a minute...underneath the floor, I sense..."

Dasha was already seated at a board game and gestured for Dr. Thornton and Aya to join him. The board was a spiral with pieces. Two players or four players, it did not matter.

"The cult that lived here played these games in order to choose who was worthy of meeting their god. They did this everyday. Those that won were gifted food. Those that lost had to hunt outside. They did this twice a day."

Dr. Thornton squinted. "Their god...? Which god?"

"It doesn’t matter. I killed him. So now..."

He rolled the marble and it fell into the center of the spiral. The marble glowed and spread until it became a portal.

Dr. Thornton’s eyes went wide. "T-this is...it can’t be..."

The board, the board game, the marbles, all of it was swallowed by this portal.

"Everything will be as it was once we go through. Nobody will know we were here. Now...join me."

The portal swallowed Dasha Pang, Elise Thornton, and Aya Nakamura, leaving behind no trace of their existence.

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