Chapter 153: Pushing Oneself

Chapter 153: Pushing Oneself

He burst with power. His frustration became a deep roar, echoing through the stone walls of the cavern. Suddenly, the previously spacious battlefield seemed cramped, not leaving him much room to dodge. There were sixty-four enemies. Even if all of them were weaker than him, how was he supposed to handle them!?

But even as the doubts were forming in his mind, Jack lashed out with attacks. A lattice of explosions surrounded him, borne of his own Meteor Punches, filling the air with torn limbs. He was going all-out now, striking with little concern for conserving power. Brutalizing Aura was wreaking havoc through their numbers.

He didnt stay there long. He ghost-stepped away right as ranged attacks burst through the explosion, piercing the air where he stood. Missing him, the attacks flew to the other side of the encirclement, claiming the lives of their allies.

Jack ghost-stepped once more to appear outside the mass of enemies, who were so spread out they almost reached the walls. Luckily, he appeared behind a group of mages. Brutalizing Aura erupted from his body again, stunning all the creatures as he set to work on the mages, brutalizing them himself.

Nine mages fell. He ghost-stepped twice in rapid succession to reach the other side, where archers lay in wait, and tore into them as well, like a wild beast, like a raging lion. His every punch claimed a life. He was covered in blood and gore by now, some his own, but most blue and rapidly disintegrating.

The creatures snapped out of the auras effects, but Jack had dealt with most of the ranged attackers by now. Without Brutalizing Aura, he would have been a goner. Only the melee fighters were left now, a whole crowd of them, with a few Will wielders barraging his mind with attacks.

But those couldnt hurt him, only disturb him, and his fused Dao Root of Indomitable Will allowed him to brute force his way through. He ducked low and oriented himself on the crowd of melee fighters who were coming at him like a tide, a flood of metal.

His fists clenched tighter, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Brutalizing Aura swept out again, but its effects were greatly reduced the second time. He met the melee head-on.

Weapons flew everywhere. His fists shot out rapidly, not bothering with aiming, just dodging and striking as fast as possible. He was surrounded by metal. He weaved on instinct, letting his experience guide him through the net. Weapons raked weakly against his skin, leaving shallow gashes. His fists struck out with such intensity that the creatures had no time to charge up strong attacks, blown apart the moment they approached.

His arms were heavy now, the Meteor Punches coming with strain. He was running out of stamina. Gritting his teeth, Jack changed tactics. He stopped Meteor Punching. The Dao of Power filled him, fueling his attacks with the domination of superior power.

His knuckles met torsos, sending the creatures flying back into their own. He kept his back to a wall and worked to disrupt their formation, so that only a few of them could attack him at a time. The drawback was that his punches were weaker now. Not all of them maimed the enemy. Some creatures returned, weak and battered, but alive still.

Jack didnt feel it mattered. They were a never-ending stream of enemies. For every creature he destroyed, another was there to take its place. His injuries were light, but they piled up. Scratches and bruises covered his body. A few, like the hole through his thigh or a persistent pain in his left shoulder, were more serious.

He sank into a red battle haze, equal parts ferocity, exhaustion, and pain.

The enemies kept coming, unending, until they werent. The final creature fell, revealing an empty room filled with blue motes of light, all struggling to disappear but taking time. Only the five Will wielders were left, and Jack quickly took care of them, breaking them apart more brutally than strictly necessary.

He was alone again. Some part of him expected more enemies to appear, a hundred and twenty-eight of them. If that happened, he would die. He couldnt handle them.

Jack gritted his teeth. He estimated each of them to be close to a middle E-Grade cultivatorperhaps level 70? He was lower than that. Moreover, these robots possessed excellent coordination. How exactly was this adjusting to his level? Just what did the trial creators take him to be?

The enemies were already upon him. One pale blade glinted in the mushroom light, a razor-sharp edge that could bisect him if it hit head-on.

But there was only one. After he killed a robot, their formation weakened. The two at the back remained as strong as they used to be, but the front one

Jack ducked and sidestepped, letting the blade sail over his shoulder, then stepped in to deliver a straight Meteor Punch into the robots head. Unfortunately, its reach was long, giving it time to respond as Jack approached, and it was fast. It managed to duck in time, dodging his attack and turning the curved sword to smash its butt into Jacks ribs from below.

He gasped, taking a step back and fighting the urge to double over, as the other two robots swung at him, their sword tips arcing quickly. He took another step back, dodging the attacks, wondering how he could approach.

Brutalizing Aura erupted again, but it was the second time they faced it, so it had no effect. The robots stepped back, creating distance, and the front one swiped its blade at him. Jack charged in to meet it with his chest

and ghost-stepped behind them, shooting out a Meteor Punch at one of the back robots. It swung to meet him faster than he thought possible. It blocked his fist with the flat of its blade, the explosion lifting it off its feet and into the front robot.

For a precious second, the two robots were flying, unable to control themselves in the air. Gravity was slow. Jack was alone with one robot, which faced him squarely and backpedaled to approach the safety of its teammates. Their tactical awareness was annoying. These robots were no fodder.

But neither was Jack. He chased after the robot, closing in with Ghost Step. He appeared in front of its chest. Expecting it, the robot raised a leg to meet him, but Jack endured the attack. A spike of pain burned though his calf, which took the blow.

The other two robots were still mid-air, but they didnt just wait for gravity to do its job. As one, they stuck their swords into the stone, piercing it like cheese, then pushed against the side of the ground with the flat parts of their blades, reversing their momentum and shooting back toward Jack.

It was a maneuver he never even thought possible. He was momentarily awed by the level he had reached, where he fought multiple enemies with such capabilities, but also irritated that these robots were so adept in battle.

Unfortunately, even with mid-air maneuvers, they just werent fast enough. Jack had stepped into the guard of the retreating robot and took its hit. He had a fraction of a second to attack.

He smashed out a Meteor Punch, imbuing it with the Dao of Power. It exploded as an uppercut into the robots waist, storming into it with such power that its entire body flew off in a straight line, crashing into the cavern ceiling and getting embedded in the stone. Its midsection was broken. Its sword flew away, spinning through the air, to slide into the stone like it was nothing. Both sword and robot burst into blue light.

The other two robots reached him. In an act of unspoken communication, they broke their previous formation and faced him as two individuals instead of a team. They rushed to flank him, but Jack wouldnt let them. He used Meteor Shower as they approached, enduring the increasing weight of his arms, forcing one of them to stop and defend.

The other screeched to a halt, but Jack was already upon it. He rained blows. The robots blade flashed, blocking everything, but Jack persisted, keeping it on the back foot. Even as the second robot joined in, he didnt stop his attacks, understanding that he couldnt afford to waste this opportunity.