A Waste of Time

Chapter 52: Cursive Night

Still, for a supposed mortal to manage to evade his swift eyes was amazing — but for this young master Daemon to actually vanish from Fu Jian’s senses without leaving the range of his perception was... mind-boggling!

Tap.

The boy reappeared in front of the group after wasting a minute of Asura’s Buff, displaying two-thirds of his movement speed — which was the limit for him to maintain absolute control of his actions in this environment without being forced to break or destroy whatever he touched during his transition from this location to that, and so on and so forth.

"That ought to suffice for speed — no need to push it too hard." Daemon shrugged before walking towards the biggest stone, which Ippo planned to use in the near future when their physiques became strong enough for him to include it during his exercises. “Power is next, so watch closely because I’m not going to repeat this!” Then he simply raised the stone — which weighed at least three tonnes — and brought it all the way above his head. He held it steady with ease, which was obvious when the boy let go with one hand and supported the entire mass with just the other.

By now, it was shock and awe everywhere. The middle-aged man’s mouth fell wide open.

“W-Whoa!” Little Mei gawked.

“He’s that strong!” Xia muttered while watching the boy bend his elbow slightly — his body didn’t even seem tense while performing this action under the immense weight of that huge stone. Then he pushed the stone up into the air, and it traveled more than a meter before falling into his other hand, which caught it firmly while maintaining perfect balance. The huge stone didn’t even wobble on top of his palm or force the kid to move his feet!

The man in the white robe was starting to question the reason for his existence when this young master Daemon — who just said he’d only do it once — started juggling that massive stone between his hands, tossing it higher and higher into the air.

Boom.Crack.Whoosh.Roar.

Finally, it seemed like he’d had enough of that game. The boy used both arms to throw the stone as high as possible before disappearing from the point of impact. The stone reached as high as the crown of the tallest tree in the area before slamming into the earth below with the mighty force of its extreme weight and solid mass, plus the additional force of gravity. It felt like a mountain just crashed down on this piece of land, which began to quake.

The Tigress panicked and jumped on top of its cub, crouching to protect it from whatever caused the ground to vibrate beneath its paws. If it had been in a state to move with its normal speed, it would have bitten its cub by the scruff of its neck and carried it far from this place.

The three Cultivators used their Qi to block the dust cloud, preventing the wave of dirt from reaching the campsite — but everywhere else suffered from this man-made quake, as a thick layer of fine sand covered the trees, grass, and bushes surrounding the campsite.

Protector Jian slowly made his way towards the site — which now looked a lot like a crater!

The soil around the uneven edges of this crater became a two-meter-high mound. Meanwhile, there was a significant depression beyond these edges, running several meters deep and wide in diameter. Deep within lay the remaining chunk of the once huge stone, while parts and pieces were scattered everywhere inside this crater.

The middle-aged man jumped into the crater and landed on top of the stone that had caused this damage. After doing a quick comparison inside his mind, he estimated that it was now barely half its original mass. Feeling bold in his own abilities, he attempted to raise it from the ground without relying on the assistance of his Cultivation.

Certainly, he’d be able to accomplish half the boy’s feat as a grown man.

Even when he wasn’t actively assisted with his Wind Qi, it had been passively supplementing his physique for years — which was a benefit any Cultivator naturally enjoyed the moment they crossed the clear boundary between mortals and immortals.

Of course, that passive advantage was nothing compared to the ridiculous perks Body-Refiners enjoyed — having Qi circulating within their Spirit-Roots plus the special vigorous energy running through the Acupoints of their well-trained physiques.

Hnghhh… The man in the white robe strained his muscles and looked like he was suffering from a severe case of constipation while struggling to free the half-buried stone from the soil.

Ru and Jia stood on top of the mound, watching while inwardly cheering their Fellow Cultivator on — hoping he’d accomplish the task, since it would preserve their image and uphold their pride as immortals!

Finally, the stone moved — albeit slowly — yet it was rising nonetheless.

Fu Jian’s face was flushed deep red as he exerted himself to the absolute limit, raising that stone to his chest.

Feeling like he’d saved face by pushing himself so far, the middle-aged man decided that was enough — he knew going further would mean permanent damage to his poor back.

Bang.

Protector Jian let go and jumped away, sighing in relief once he sensed every muscle in his body finally relaxing — as if they could breathe again after being submerged in burning acid for so long.

“Fellow Cultivator Jian is not so bad — I don’t believe my physique has been soaked in Qi enough for me to accomplish the same feat.” The Swordsman complimented the man with a grin.

“I’ve embarrassed myself. This is nothing compared to young master Daemon — the idea of him juggling this heavy stone in the air with such ease, while it’s more than double its current weight, is just… frightening!” The man straightened his white robe after jumping out of the crater. The gaze he gave the boy — who sat calmly at the table enjoying a plate of fresh fruits which the little girl offered him — was full of respect, fear, and a great amount of disbelief.

Ru shook his head. He understood how it felt when comparisons started to happen with young master Daemon being included in the equation. “There’s always a mountain beyond the mountain. Us small folk need to focus on what lies right in front of us. Looking down on the placement of our next step isn’t so bad when we have the right goal in mind… At least that’s how I see it!” After saying that, he decided to change this depressing topic instead. “I couldn’t help but notice that Fellow Cultivator Jian is blessed with affinity towards the Wind Element — is it your main or secondary Elemental-Compatibility?” The man asked, gesturing for the guest to join his young master Daemon at the table.

Protector Jian gave the man walking next to him a side-glance before saying: “To be exact… it’s my only Elemental-Compatibility, if I’m being completely honest. I struggle massively in manipulating any other Element. I find it hard to even reach primary control with any of the Five-Elements!”

“Please don’t misunderstand my brother’s reasons for asking you about such personal matters — which are quite sensitive to us Cultivators — but there’s a favor we’d like to ask from you, Fellow Cultivator Fu Jian. On behalf of my young master Daemon, I’ll reward you handsomely for your efforts… I’m even willing to personally owe you another favor if you agree to help us with a small matter!” This time, it was Jia who spoke — and the middle-aged man was genuinely surprised since this was the first time this girl had addressed him directly. Now her taking the initiative to talk to him — plus the promise of a favor from her — was quite unexpected, to be honest!

Fu Jian paused for a short while, his feet stopping as he kept looking between the Swordsman and his little sister. “I can’t make any promises until I hear more… I hope you two understand my difficulties since I’m tied to the Seven-Gold Pagoda. I can’t move freely without permission!” He explained, hoping that whatever their request was, it wouldn’t be too hard or dangerous. Not to mention that anything requiring him to move far from the Seven-Gold Pagoda’s branch in Blue-Luan Town would certainly take a lot of time — and he couldn’t be delayed from his obligations for too long, or Fu Jian would risk losing the steady income from his job as a Protector for that Trade-House.

Ru and Jia exchanged a smile before nodding — since there was hope for them to hire the service of this man after all.

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