Extra's Strategy: Cultivate Protagonists, Become Invincible-Chapter 128: Aftermath

"Eh? Somebody is breaking through? At this time?"

An old man walked toward the sounds of clashing spells and furious shouts inside the woods. His attire didn’t fit in with the surroundings. With a form-fitting black robe adorned with gleaming medals and a bowl-shaped hat on his head, his silhouette flickered across the densely packed trees chaotically, speed beyond human vision.

Like a sentient bolt of lightning, he approached the massive, roiling mass of qi ahead in the depths of the woods.

Strangely enough, nobody noticed his appearance amidst the battlefield. If anyone had seen his approach toward the center of the storm of spells, they’d only perceive a completely uninterrupted and unhurried gait whenever he was visible.

Yet, not a single one of the Mystic Arts seemed to have any effect on him.

Reaching the center of the battle, the old man finally saw a gravely injured young man constantly blinking in and out of ordinary sight to avoid the spells and martial attacks being flung at him. Occasionally, he tried to fight back. But it was clear that his stamina was at its limit.

What attracted the old man’s attention was the burst of martial qi pulsing around the youth’s body periodically. Even though his body sported dozens of deep wounds and his meridians appeared nearly empty, he could still execute his martial techniques somehow.

But that also came with a heavy price. With each technique he executed, his condition worsened and his meridians took some damage. If this went on, many of his meridians were going to be destroyed, creating a permanent state of qi deviation.

There was a twinkling light of curiosity in the eyes of the old man who patiently observed him fight. He finally let out a sigh after seeing the young fellow suffer another serious wound from trying to avoid a spell.

"Oh well, I’ll give your sect master some face and help you out, youngster."

He turned to look at the group of cultivators attacking the young man incessantly.

"Minds affected by the corrupt parts of the abomination... What a pity! All of these children are pretty talented for a territory so barren."

The old man shook the sleeves of his robe and walked toward the nearest frenzied cultivator. The youth didn’t seem to have any idea that someone was standing right in front of him.

Even when the old man clenched both of his fists, took a martial stance, and jabbed at his torso, the young cultivator was busy trying to cast spells at Shen Kai.

There were no fluctuations of martial qi fuelling his punches. The strength behind the fists was negligible for even a regular mortal. But the moment the fists made contact with the youth’s torso, his body crumpled and fell down on the grass, unconscious.

The other cultivators noticed his sudden fall, but they didn’t seem to care about him in the slightest as they continued to attack their target like a set of automated, mindless weapons.

The old man shook his head regretfully and repeated his actions. One by one, the six other cultivators fell unconscious, much to the confusion of the young fellow they had been fighting.

Seven bodies lay on the spell-razed ground. The old man gave them one final look of pity before walking toward the huffing young man. This time, a thread of mystic qi finally appeared around his fingers as he stood over him and poked his chest.

The thread of qi drilled into his meridians and sped up the healing process of the damaged parts on its way. Blinking his eyes in a daze, the young man looked at the empty air in front of him and let out a yelp.

As soon as he managed to stand back up, he staggered away with a terrified look on his face, running as fast as he could.

"Mhmm, that should make the breakthrough successful for now. If nothing untoward happens, he will be able to avoid the temporary qi deviation too, after a period of professional care. It’s none of my business anymore."

The old man muttered to himself as he turned around and walked in the direction of the portal, where the Abomination was still putting up a spectacular struggle against its doomed fate.

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....... ........... .......

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Han Xuhan opened his eyes. For a few seconds, his thoughts were full of nonsensical chaos. Slowly moving his neck around and blinking rapidly to adjust his eyesight in the dark, he sat up and looked around, which took a surprising amount of effort.

There was a small fire beside him, and its glow lit up unfamiliar surroundings. Two other familiar faces were sitting around the fire, Mu Ran and Xuanyuan Zhou, whose gaze had concentrated on him upon noticing his movements.

"Looking at the sky, seems like I must have been unconscious for more than ten hours. How far did I get before collapsing?"

"You got out of the woods and ran for a mile or so before your power sources ran out. Then your law fragment started feeding off your own body and... you can see what that led to," Xuanyuan Zhou answered, gesturing at him to look down at himself.

Han Xuhan had already noticed the unnatural weakness laced with the movement of his limbs. Prompted by her gesture, he opened his robe and looked down.

His ribs were sticking out and his stomach sported a concave shape. His heartbeat also seemed slower than usual. Most of the prominent muscles in his arms and legs seemed to have shrunk.

He looked like someone from a famine-afflicted region.

"Where are we right now?"

"Near the Pine town area. How do you feel by the way? Are you sure you can handle the walk back?" She replied while her hands fiddled with a sack. After a few seconds, she took out a crispy piece of meat and handed it to him.

"I’m fine. The affected muscles feel a bit weak, but that’s it for now." Han Xuhan took a bite of the half-burnt meat and hid the grimace that followed the taste.

Food was food. He wasn’t going to complain about the taste in his current condition.

As he forcefully wolfed it down, the subtle, tense atmosphere among them got more and more pronounced. Finally, Mu Ran decided to break the ice.

"Exactly what did you do back then, Xuhan? How did things...come to this?" freёwebnoѵel.com

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