Chapter 82 – Three Foundation Building Enemies

Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 82! We're getting to the final battle of Book 1 and I hope you've been liking the novel so far.

News of the week: First, I want to wish all of you a Happy New Year! I wish you great happiness, prosperity and fulfillment in your life!

Then, I was (unsurprisingly) a bit busy this week so I only had time to finish chapter 95 and post it on patreon. Since it reached 3200 words, I don't feel too bad about it.

Finally, I can tell you that Book 2 will leave the mundane world behind and embrace the Cultivation World completely. It's honestly much more interesting to write for me, especially because I improved my Cultivation System massively the last few months. I'll post an updated and more detailed Cultivation System Chapter before I publish the first chapter of Book 2. Not that the general concepts are hard to grasp, but the details can be hard to remember if you don't have some kind of reminder on hand.

Anyway, that's it for this week folks! See ya next week!

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Molvograd, Molkovia, Earth.

Demian's P.O.V.

Following his suggestion, the four Mikhailovs went back to the suite's main room and ordered many dishes and some bottles of alcohol to go along with their meal. Naturally, with their current Cultivation base, drinking alcohol had no detrimental effect on them. Actually, it was even the opposite for Demian and Seraphine who had their cultivation grow slightly every time they did drink anything containing alcohol. It did confuse them when it happened for the first time, however, they quickly figured out the ins and outs of the situation. Indeed, his Physiology Perk was triggered by any stimulus, whether positive or negative to a different degree depending on various factors. That being the case and by using simple logic, they understood that alcohol, which had some poisonous properties, would trigger the Perk, not only to remove the substance from their body but also to increase their resistance which in turn would grow every other aspect of their strength.

To sum up, for every glass of beer, wine, or spirit he drank, he grew a little more powerful and the higher the alcohol content the higher the growth. Naturally, with his current strength, the increase was truly negligible. Not only that, but his superhuman sense of taste made it very hard for him to enjoy even high-quality wine and spirit, which was already something he did not appreciate before. He thus ended up drinking water most of the time with the occasional beer when he felt like switching to a different taste. 'Well, the fact that I can grow my Cultivation Base much more efficiently by simply having sex with Sera does play a role in my choice. Otherwise, I'd probably chug bottles after bottles of spirit, just to get stronger faster...' Shoving that thought to the side, Demian then focused his attention back to the three women around him, noting the wide and happy grins plastered on their faces. 'This is life...' He concluded inwardly as he let out a contented sigh.

The small celebration lasted for a few hours before the group split up, with Adeliya and Brynhild going to cultivate while Demian and Seraphine went to 'cultivate'. The following week fleeted past very quickly, with everyone focusing on raising their cultivation. For obvious reasons, Adeliya was the one who experienced the greatest growth in her combat power, both from her rise to the Peak First Level and her practice of Spells and Techniques. Since her Affinities were Wood and Water, she focused on Spells and Techniques with those two Attributes, although they could not find any with the two combined. Thus she could only find clever ways to use them together, but was utterly incapable of fusing the two, unlike Bryn and her Golden Jade Elemental Energy. Fortunately, she was particularly talented in Spellcrafting and thus was able to reach the Intermediate in most of her Spells after working herself to the bone for the whole week.

'I'm sure that if it wasn't for the thin Spiritual Energy around, she'd have reached the Advance Mastery instead.' He thought while gazing at the woman sitting cross-legged a few meters in front of him with her eyes closed. The two were currently located on one of the Training Field's special Rings and the reason why Liya was cultivating was because she was completely spent after having sparred with him for around 20 minutes. 'Although I don't like seeing her that exhausted, I'm also somewhat glad she asked the three of us to help her train in combat.' He contemplated while standing silently in the middle of the platform.

With his mind in a bit of a daze, his gaze subconsciously fell on her. The first thing that attracted his attention was how the handmade clothes she ordered a few days ago highlighted her explosive figure, especially with the amount of her fragrant sweat soaking the light material. His eyes then moved to examine her silky hair gathered in a well-made bun she decided on since it would make it easier for her to fight in close combat. However, that was not something she was particularly talented in, at least compared to Bryn and him. That was why she only practiced her Techniques to Elementary proficiency, unlike her Spells which reached Intermediate proficiency. As he was recalling their previous training session, his train of thought was disturbed by a small movement. Moving his gaze slightly downward, he spotted a drop of perspiration running down along her fair cheek to her chin before falling on her tight-fitted shirt, right between her two shapely breasts. Each time she inhaled and exhaled, those two marvels of nature moved up and down, creating a vision of paradise for any healthy male and those female with particular tastes.

At that moment, he felt very lucky that the two did not share a Soul Bond yet. Otherwise, he might not have been able to stop himself from jumping on her. Closing his eyes for a short while, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself, while briefly thinking. 'I pity those who'll have to fight against her. How can you concentrate on anything with someone who looks like her in front of you.' A few seconds later, he felt his arousal decrease to a manageable level. At that moment, something came to his mind. 'I'd say she's lucky herself that Cultivator's bodies are not like normal humans' though. Otherwise, it'd be impossible to fight for her with the size she's carrying around... Sera and Bryn as well...'

Shaking his head, he then opened his eyes and noticed the serious expression on her face as she continued to absorb the Spiritual Energy around her. 'She's still as hard-working. Honestly, I feel a bit like a fraud with how easily I get more powerful compared to her...' Letting out a discreet sigh, he was about to sit down and start cultivating when he felt Seraphine's emotions going haywire. From the Bond's reaction, she should have been in their suite at the moment, which made her reaction puzzling to the young man. 'Why is she so agitated?' He thought doubtfully.

Before he had time to move his Spiritual Will to check on her, he sensed her moving at high speed in his direction. A fraction of a second later, he heard Bryn's voice resounding throughout the entire Estate. "We're under attack. Everyone should armed themselves and get ready to face the enemy." What turned his mood solemn was not the sudden announcement since he knew perfectly well that it was just a matter of time before it happened. No, what truly bothered him was how worried Sera seemed. 'Could it be that my previous hunch was correct?' He thought while recalling what happened a week ago.

Before he could contemplate any further, he noticed Seraphine and Brynhild dashing in his direction so quickly that it took them a split-second to reach the Ring's exterior. Understanding the urgency of the situation, he immediately deactivated the Protective Formation to let the two women inside. While the Array powered down, he briefly noted Adeliya's eyes fluttering open before standing up and moving to his side.

As soon as the Formation was deactivated, Sera exclaimed solemnly while handing him his fighting gear. "We're in trouble, Babe." While switching his clothes, he questioned with a frown on his face. "What's wrong?" After letting out a sigh, she explained with a wry smile on her face. "Remember your warning from a week ago?" After he nodded his head, she continued. "Well, you were dead on. This time, there isn't just one Danilov at the Foundation Building. I also sensed two others of the same Rank with him. One that should be at the Low Second Level and one at the Peak of the Third Level." She obviously did not mention those in the Chi Gathering Rank since only Peak Chi Gathering Cultivators could barely hurt them if they did not defend themselves. Barely.

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he then looked toward the three women and declared. "Well, I guess we can throw away our previous plan then." Focusing his attention on Bryn's face, he asked. "Can you hold that guy at the Peak Third Level back, Sis?" While the tall redhead was pondering, Sera interjected briefly. "It's a woman, actually." Her intervention seemed to remove some of the tension in the atmosphere, prompting him to retort in a tone laced with amusement. "Right. Can you hold that woman back?" With a grin mirroring his on her face, the young redhead replied. "If it was before I reached the Eighth Level, I'd have said no, but now... If I use my Intrinsic power I think I'll be able to fight her for a while." Nodding his head, he then added. "That's all I ask. As for me, I'll deal with Danilov and the other Foundation Building Cultivator."

Unlike Adeliya who only had a vague idea of how strong a cultivator at that Rank was compared to Demian and co., Seraphine and Brynhild had a much greater understanding of the difference. Thus, their following reaction did not surprise him. The purple-haired woman immediately shook her head vehemently and claimed. "No way! If you want to deal with that other cultivator, I don't mind, but I'll take care of Danilov then." While Bryn suggested. "We can just run away and take a few people like Uncle with us."

He understood their worries, and if it was not necessary, he would rather run as fast as he could from this place. Nonetheless, he knew that he could not unless the fight was truly hopeless. Since they had little time before the arrival of Danilov and his team, he explained as concisely as he could. "No. Sera, you need to protect Liya and take care of those long-range enemies. You're also our trump card in case things go south. As for me, I can feel that if I want to improve my Special Physique quickly I'll need to be put under some heavy pressure, and fighting two cultivators of higher Ranks should perfectly fit the bill. If I can break through, then killing them will be a cinch. If I can't, then I'll just pit my Stamina against theirs and exhaust them to death. The last reason is Sergei's mission. If we can successfully deal with those guys this time, we might receive some unexpected rewards."

Clapping his hand once, he did not let the two utter any other word of objection before he declared. "Now that we're done with that discussion, let's go deal with the current situation, shall we? Love, what direction are those guys coming from?" She stayed silent for a few seconds while pointedly staring at him before she seemed to resign herself as she responded in a defeated manner. "They're about to arrive at the Entr..." Her words were suddenly cut off as some incredibly strong Spell fluctuations erupted from the direction of the Estate's Entrance. Immediately after, Demian sensed the Estate's Protective Array instantly breaking down.

"Fuck!" He cursed under his breath when he sensed the massive difference in raw power between the Cultivator who just attacked and himself. Thankfully, battles were not won by only raw power, or they could just lie down and wait to get slaughtered. Shoving that thought to the side, he instantly moved behind Adeliya and lifted her in a princess carry while saying playfully. "Bear with me for a bit, Liya." The woman instinctively moved her arms behind his neck before her mind realized her current position. Blushing slightly, she protested half-heartedly. "You could have warned me first."

Her adorable reaction made him chuckle briefly before his face regained its previous seriousness. "Let's go to the Main Building to regroup with Roman and the others." After the two sisters agreed the three dashed toward the Main Building's direction while using their respective Movement Techniques. Along the way, they passed many Estate Cultivators who were running in the same direction. What fascinated Demian was the fact that none of them could sense or see them. Indeed, not only was their current speed too high for their mind to process, but the four also naturally emitted an Energy Field around their bodies that mitigated the effect of their movement on the environment.

'No wonder fighting above one's Rank is almost impossible. It's already so hard for cultivators to win in a cross-level fight, let alone a cross-rank one.' He considered while his Divine Sense already spotted Roman, Anna, and Andrei fully geared up in the Main Building Hall. A split-second later, the four arrived in the now crowded room, making the people there jump at their 'ghostly' arrival. Thankfully, as Cultivators, their brain processed information much faster than normal humans. It thus only took them a brief moment to recognize the four's identities and retract their killing intent.

While nodding inwardly at those people's readiness, Demian gently let Adeliya down to her feet. He then turned toward Roman and co's direction. From their expression, he knew what they wanted to know and he thus immediately explained. "Danilov is coming with two other Foundation Building Cultivators. It doesn't change anything for you guys, though. Bryn and I will take care of those three while you're in charge of the rest." Roman, Anna, and Andrei nodded before they started transmitting their orders to their subordinates. Suddenly, Seraphine exclaimed. "They'll be here in less than a minute."

As soon as those words left her mouth, Demian sensed three powerful Spiritual Wills inspecting everyone present there. One of them seemed slightly weaker than his own, while the others were clearly more powerful. What made him feel better was that, despite being much stronger than he was, he was sure that they would not be able to crush him. After glancing around, he noticed that only Seraphine and Brynhild were able to sense those Divine Senses, while the others seemed 'blissfully' unaware. With a playful smile, Demian declared. "Why don't we go welcome our guests, Sis? What do you say?"

Bryn's excited grin mirrored his own. "It'd be impolite not to." Seraphine, whose face sported an amused smile, shook her head and claimed. "Those two battle-junkie." Unlike the two's eagerness, the emotion that appeared on Adeliya's face was mostly determination, bringing a strange pride to the young man's heart and fueling his own courage. "Let's go deal with those unwanted guests, then." As those words left his mouth, a confident grin appeared on his face while fighting intent erupted from his body. Taking a step toward the Entrance door, he immediately sensed a similar Aura emitted by Bryn, the latter walking by his side while Seraphine and Adeliya followed right behind them. The crowd of battle-hardened Cultivators naturally parted to let them through before moving in the same direction under Roman's orders.

Once they were in front of the massive door, Demian pushed them open while muttering. "You really don't know who you're going against, Danilov..."