Cultivation Nerd-Chapter 251: A Warrior’s Arm

After the cultivators flew past us, their figures vanished into the horizon like streaks of light, with some flying higher looked like falling meteors.

Then, it began.

The monstrous beasts I had sensed earlier began to vanish one by one. Their presences, once pressing at the edge of my perception like something moving in the corner of my vision, flickered out. Some faded slowly. Others vanished all at once, as if swallowed by the void.

Huh. It really did seem like Molten Sky Island had just sent people to wipe out the beasts they'd previously let live around here.

That confirmed my earlier suspicion.

Well… these people had a short fuse. Good to know. There really wouldn't be any second chance if I failed the first time.

More and more Qi signatures disappeared. Even a few human presences blinked out, likely killed by beasts who were stronger than their cultivation level might have suggested. Fighting monsters in their home territory was always risky.

We made it past the perimeter Molten Sky Island had set up, slipping out before they could notice. Meanwhile, the beasts inside that area were being systematically wiped out.

"What's happening?" Fu Yating asked, picking up on something in my expression.

"Nothing," I said at first. But just as I opened my mouth to say more, I felt it; two entire elimination teams vanished in an instant.

"Actually," I corrected, "Molten Sky Island might've kicked a hornet's nest."

There were always cultivators and monsters who preferred to live in isolation, hidden from the world. Sometimes they were powerful, the kind of people who didn't need sect resources to grow. People who thrived in solitude because their talent made up for everything else.

"We better pick up the pace," I said.

Until now, I'd been keeping a steady speed. Conserving Qi and stamina in case of a fight. But this wasn't the time for caution anymore.

Then another three teams went dark. That was fifteen Qi Gathering cultivators, eliminated almost instantly.

I couldn't pinpoint who or what was responsible. Only a flicker of Qi, barely noticeable, before each group vanished. Whoever this was, they were moving fast through different biomes of forests, fields, and dense terrain. But beasts couldn't camouflage their Qi in environments they hadn't grown up in or formed a natural connection with.

That ruled them out.

I spread my Qi senses wide, like a sonar wave pulsing outward, focusing on the remaining teams. Just as another squad's life signs began to flicker, I caught it...

A flicker of Qi.

Oh.

The attacker wasn’t a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

That was… surprising.

And not good news.

That meant whoever this was had the techniques, the experience, and the raw fighting talent to kill Qi Gathering cultivators like they were nothing. He hadn’t run into the Foundation Establishment cultivator leading the sweep yet. But I doubted he’d lose to him either.

Then my thoughts slammed to a halt.

My heart thudded violently in my chest as the attacker suddenly shifted direction.

He was heading toward us.

Did he sense me? Sense that I sensed him? How?

There was no time to think. I grabbed the edge of Speedy’s shell and yanked the big guy in front of us like a shield.

A split second later, a searing pain tore through my shoulder, followed by a deafening sonic boom as something slammed into Speedy with insane force. I redirected the tension through my core and whipped Speedy to the side, trying to absorb and deflect the impact.

The leftover shockwave still knocked me back several feet.

Despite his ridiculous defense, Speedy bounced off trees and slammed into the ground, creating craters with each hit. He finally stopped after colliding with a massive tree trunk, cracking it nearly in half.

My heart clenched.

Even with his absurd durability, I was still worried. That strike had ridiculous pressure behind it.

The entire exchange had happened in less than a second.

But it was enough.

I already had a read on just how dangerous this guy was.

The attacker stood before us now. Long, loose hair framed his face, and a scraggly beard covered his chin. His clothes looked torn in places, like a beggar’s, but they were oddly pristine. No dust. No grime. Not a single speck of dirt on him.

“Curse the Molten Sky Island,” he rasped, his voice dry and hoarse like it hadn’t been used in years. “After decades, they finally come for me. They send little rabbits to do their hunting! Banished or not, I haven’t lost my talents!”

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” I said quickly. “We’re not from Molten Sky Island. We’re from the Blazing Sun Sect.”

“Ah, our ever-present overlords,” he sneered. “What now? Did they finally decide to come down from their glorious mountain to mingle with us peasants?”

“Not exactly. Molten Sky Island and the Blazing Sun Sect have been… less than friendly lately,” I explained.

“Oh? Really?” He tilted his head. “Please. Enlighten me.”

I opened my mouth, starting to think through how to phrase it.

That was my mistake.

He charged.

In the instant I hesitated, he took the opening. No warning. No posture shift. Just movement.

Well… so much for diplomacy.

His Qi signature flared. He wasn’t hiding anything now. Foundation Establishment. About three-star level. And he was using an Earth Grade technique. A bright, translucent yellow gauntlet formed around his fist, pulsing with power.

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This was going to be bad.

His fingers curled into fists, and his chest puffed up as he took a deep breath. He was about to throw a punch. One that would no doubt be devastating.

I hadn't seen the first attack. Speedy had blocked my line of sight, but judging by the power behind that hit, it must have looked something like this.

His gauntlets reminded me of my Dancing Jade Armor Technique.

My heart clenched.

But my body moved on its own, hands going through the motions I'd practiced a thousand times.

Still, I was too slow.

He'd baited me with conversation. Just a split-second pause and just enough of a mental distraction. When someone moved at supersonic speeds, that was more than enough of an opening.

Even though I hadn't let my guard down, it hadn't mattered.

Before I could blink, he was already in front of me. His right fist was pulled back, crackling with force, glowing faintly beneath the translucent yellow gauntlet.

I didn't have time to brace for the sound. A sonic boom was inevitable. But the noise wasn't the problem.

In an instant, my jade armor formed. A mecha-like plating wrapped around me in layers of green light. But I had no time to admire it.

A loud crack split the air as his punch landed.

I jumped back, trying to soften the blow, but even with the armor, it wasn't enough. I felt my ribs break. Not bruised, just shattered.

I hit the ground hard, skidding backward.

His eyes flicked to Wu Yan and Fu Yating.

My stomach dropped.

If he went after them, I wouldn't be able to stop him. Not in this condition! Not fast enough!

Neither of them had reacted yet. They hadn't even processed what was happening.

He looked back at me. Maybe he decided it wasn't worth giving me a breather. Maybe he figured they weren't worth the time.

Thank God he didn't know.

If he'd gone after Wu Yan, I might've lost my composure. And once she was gone, I wouldn't be fighting smart.

But now I had to be careful. If he picked up on that connection, he might use it later.

By the time he met my gaze again, he had already drawn in another deep breath. His next step cracked the earth beneath him. A footprint was left behind, surrounded by spiderweb fissures.

An Earth Grade movement technique. Great.

But I wasn't as vulnerable as I had been at the start.

A crimson array pulsed out from beneath my feet, expanding in a broad ripple. It swept outward and surrounded both me and the attacker in its glow.

Wu Yan, Fu Yating, and the egg were gently pushed away by the force. That was part of the design.

The array recognized a rule: only myself and someone stronger were allowed inside. Wu Yan technically had a higher stage of cultivation. However, with her lousy Qi control, there was no way the array would recognize her as stronger.

Instead of forming it like a cage, I made it a pulse that spread from my body.

And now… it was just us.

Then, out of nowhere, a wave of blazing heat surged through the air, slamming into us like a tidal wave. It was sudden, fierce, and all-consuming, so intense that it knocked the breath from my lungs. The temperature spiked instantly. The ground beneath my feet pulsed like the floor of a furnace.

Even I was caught off guard despite it being my own array.

I held my breath as a fireball formed at the roof of the barrier, then shot downward at blinding speed, a concentrated red beam of death.

The cultivator noticed it immediately and surged forward, closing the distance between us in an instant.

My mecha-like Dancing Jade Armor had already recovered from the first hit. But his fist, shot forward like a cannon, was faster than my next reaction. Before I could even twitch, it crashed into my chest.

The twenty layers of soft, energy-absorbing jade, designed to compress and spread the impact, collapsed one after another.

Still, the blow pushed through every defense.

Even weakened, the hit sent a shockwave through my entire skeleton. My chest caved slightly inward, even more ribs shattering beneath the blow. Hopefully, nothing vital was punctured.

But I didn’t fall.

Despite the burning pain, I grabbed onto his right arm with both of my armored hands.

The fireball, which had originally targeted the space he’d occupied moments ago, suddenly shifted mid-flight, redirected by the array’s logic. It angled toward his back like a guided missile.

One second. That was all I needed.

He met my gaze. For a breath, we locked eyes.

And I could see the thought pass through him. He was calculating whether he could tear free.

He could.

But not fast enough.

This array was an idea I’d formed during the winter, a Level 4 formation designed to synergize with the surrounding Fire Qi. Technically, I had already stepped into the realm of Level 4 array conjurers. I hadn’t realized it until I first saw the Sea of Flames. That moment gave me the spark of inspiration I needed.

And now, it was bearing fruit.

But then, without warning, he moved again.

He swung his left hand toward his right arm and severed it clean.

I staggered back, clutching a severed limb.

What?!

He’d actually cut off his own arm… in a fight against a Qi Gathering cultivator?

Blood burst from the wound in a violent spray, splattering across the smooth jade surface of my mask with a hot, metallic hiss. It dripped down the armor in thin red trails, stark against the pale green sheen.

But even with his arm dangling from my grip, he didn’t flinch.

No scream. No wince. Not even a breath.

His eyes locked onto mine with eerie stillness. Not rage. Not hate. Just focus. Cold and hollow.

Like pain wasn’t even a factor.

It wasn’t just unsettling. It was wrong.

Unnatural.

No… inhuman.

Cutting off his arm was one of the best plays he could've made.

But… fuck me. Some people were just built different.

That move told me everything I needed to know; this guy was going to be a nightmare to bring down. I never thought someone like him would fight this hard against someone weaker.

He moved left, fast, putting distance between us. The fireball that had been tracking toward his back was now headed straight for me instead. As it closed in, I could feel the heat licking at my skin.

Still, I didn't move.

I trusted the array's calculations. The geometry, the Qi flow, and the predictive trajectory seethed into the formation itself.

I held my breath, slowed my pulse, and locked my body in place like a deer in headlights.

But I wasn't focused on the fireball.

I concentrated on repairing the jade armor he'd cracked open and tossed the severed arm aside like garbage.

I also activated a quick diagnostic technique to assess the damage.

The results weren't pretty, but not catastrophic either.

A few ribs shattered. One had likely nicked a lung, which explained the tightness in my chest. Thankfully, it wasn't deep enough to collapse it. Most of my internal organs were bruised, not punctured. Bleeding? Yes. But stable. I could fight like this. For now.

Good enough.

By the time I was done patching the armor, the fireball was already at my face. The heat was unbearable, wrapping around me like a burning shroud.

Okay, I was beginning to doubt my calculations a bit.

But right before impact, the fireball swerved and curved away from me, angling toward the cultivator again.

He narrowed his eyes.

I could tell he'd figured it out. The array wasn't reacting to me but to inputs independently. It was autonomous.

Smart arrays like this operated faster than the conjurer. They could keep firing even if I was knocked out, distracted, or dead.

We didn't exchange a single word.

But the way we stared at each other across the field, it felt like we were talking anyway.

C'mon, what is your next move?