Earth Realm Phenomenon (3)

Thanks to his illusions, those trapped inside the fog had lost their minds for the most part, so Shui had no worries about pulling back as Reinhart suggested. He was honestly impressed by Reinhart's technique and wondered if he could incorporate it somehow. He had already discovered a similarity between it and his martial arts practice, but applying it in battle would take some time to work out.

"Oh? Looks like she's entered the final stage."

While he was watching Reinhart's performance, Shui detected a change in the environment, and the source of that change was coming from behind him. The area was already rather windy due to Reinhart, but soon it was as if a storm was being created with Kate as the eye. Natural phenomena could occur during the ascension to the Earth Realm, but in such cases the phenomenon would manifest from the person rather than be attracted to them. Therefore, Shui was sure that this was the scenario he had prepared for. What they were witnessing was a phenomenon brought about by Kate's Focused Heaven Physique.

Shui's arrays were capable of blocking all forms of perception, but they were still helpless before the natural laws. Nonetheless, as Kate would leave no traces, the phenomenon wouldn't be connected to her as long as no powerhouse came to take a look before she was finished. However, that didn't mean he could allow any of these eyewitnesses to leave with their memories intact. 

"Senior Brother, I'll take care of the ones here so could you handle the rest? I'll point them out to you."

Reinhart could tell that the sudden change in the air was due to Kate, so he also had no intention of letting any of their assailants go for the same reason as Shui though he lacked knowledge of the cause.

"Very well. I don't think I need to warn you, but be careful."

"Same to you."

With his overwhelming mental control, Shui forced the half-step Earth Realm cultivators who had been hiding underground up to the surface. They were scattered around the area, but still close enough to be in plain sight. While Reinhart went after these moles, Shui focused on those left standing after Reinhart's assault and his illusions. Although Reinhart hadn't said anything, the phenomenon that Kate had attracted made it harder for anyone to use wind-attribute spells, Shui included. While he had enough brute force to defeat them, Shui didn't want to move carelessly.

While seated, Shui summoned Sui and had it float above his head. The enemy saw Reinhart ignore them and were charging in Shui's direction, but he watched them with indifference. He changed Sui into a long, thin needle and using both mental control and martial intent, shot it at the leading cultivator. Sui seemed to experience no resistance as it pierced through him and then aimed at the next target.

With ordinary spells, it would be impossible for Shui to destroy their defences, and even with both mental control and martial intent it would be very difficult. However, Shui and Sui shared a vessel and with the experience he gained from Calus' trial, it was easy for him to attach a spiritual attack which the spells and items couldn't block, to Sui. Although it seemed like the needle pierced through the barrier and then the person without pause, the spiritual attack had caused them to unconsciously relax their defense, and it was then that Sui took the opportunity to strike. 

Unfortunately, the cultivators only realized this mere moments before their deaths. As their lives were mercilessly reaped by the needle, some of them tried to flee, but that instantly made them a higher priority for execution. None of them could outrun the needle, and even automatic defences, which activated regardless of their will, couldn't last more than a few hits due to their general fragility.

Reinhart also felt a slight chill when he saw how easily Shui dispatched them. By the time he had finished off the moles pointed out by Shui, there were only a few with especially strong turtle shells left so he helped Shui take care of them. When he thought of the losses that Kate's enemies had incurred due to this battle, he couldn't hold back a smile.

Soon after the last foe fell to their knees, the storm around Kate reached its peak intensity. Both Reinhart and Shui could feel that they would be whisked into the sky if they weren't careful, but naturally they had no intention of leaving. As he observed the scale of this storm, Reinhart was relieved that Kate decided to make her breakthrough here instead of inside the manor. Even if she wouldn't be attacked thanks to his master's protection, this phenomenon would still attract a lot of unwanted attention. 

Despite the complete concealment array Shui set up, if this storm continued for too long, it would be difficult to hide Kate's involvement, but fortunately the storm began to die down before an hour had passed. After the storm died down, the two waited for a few more hours before Kate eventually left the array and revealed herself. Without saying a word, she boldly exposed her new cultivation and she had surprisingly managed to jump to the second level of the Earth Realm with no instability in her foundation. 

"Impressive, Junior Sister. You've done exceptionally well."

"I agree. Considering you've reached the Earth Realm, I suppose it's time I give you this."

As he was certain of Kate's success, while waiting for her to leave the array, Shui extracted the parts related to wind from the Four Elements Technique and recorded them in a jade slip. She wouldn't be able to reach the combine stage, but this complete version of the Heavenly Wind Spell was still comparable to a corna. 

When Kate checked the jade slip that Shui gave her, her shock was too immense to conceal. Although he didn't send his spiritual sense into the slip, Reinhart could understand her feelings because as a corna, this Heavenly Wind Spell could attract the natural law of wind so he could tell that it was above advanced spells in profundity. While the complete version of the Dancing Storm technique was also a corna, he was surprised that Shui could give Kate something like that so casually. 

Kate had learnt about the Heavenly Wind Spell before, but she thought she wouldn't have the chance to learn it due to the incident in the ancestral land. 

"How did you-? No, I can't accept this."

"Why not? I have the main copy and it's something that belongs to our clan. Besides, you deserve to have it more than anyone else, maybe even me."

When Shui reminded her that this was passed down in their clan, Kate felt less reluctant about taking it, but it still bothered her so Shui made another push.

"Are you sure you should be hesitating? You're still much weaker than I am, and I want to experience fighting an equal opponent too, you know."

As he expected, this comment irked Kate enough to make her forget her indecision.

"Hmph, fine. I'll definitely make sure to beat you with this one day."

"I look forward to it then."