Applied Immortality

Directing all the demons within a few miles was already pushing it for Su Junyu. Discovering an error in his calculations, he could only stop the deer herd and not kill the now-mad Stag King. All he could do was shout at the four, “Look out! The Accretion Thunder Clap Stag is coming right at you! Hold on!”

With Su Junyu shooting his magical arts close by, the four toned the chatter down and focused in Lake 41’s direction. They watched as a huge figure wrapped in blue, arching lightning charged right for them.

Wu Shiqin reacted on the spot, “Climb the trees!”

Wood was a good insulator, dampening the power of the deer demon’s innate talent. Mao Zimiao and Wu Fan jumped on the closest tree at her urging, leaving Wang Qi all alone as he laughed, “Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Every time I’m about to advance, there’s always some suicidal guy showing up to challenge me! Damn beast, it’s on now!”

His three teammates went slackjawed. [What are you doing, playing the protagonist, you fool?]

Wang Qi stormed right at the Stag King, his right hand held high. The light golden glow it emitted hardly looked intimidating to the stampeding herd.

The Stag King still jerked to a stop. This weird creature before it was beyond weak; it was certain a lightning strike would finish him, but the spiritual power from his hand was beyond an early Awakening Stage demon. It was weary.

“I’m not scared of you, big guy! The hymn of mankind is one of courage! The greatness of humanity is its courage. Have a taste of my enlightenment-colored waveforms!”

Wang Qi’s quirk kicked in, saying some weird crap before hitting the ground with his right hand, using Waveform Essence’s power on it.

Waveform Essence turned into golden arches of light as it bounced on the ground, right for the Stag King. The spiritual power hovered on the edge of reality and illusion, filling it with a mystical air. 

It was one of the strongest modern mental art for a reason.

The baffled Stag King raised its forelegs in alarm as the Waveform Essence focused before hitting the demon straight on. Wu Shiqin gasped, and Mao Zimiao was excited. Having cultivators for fathers, the girls knew it to be focusing attacks into one blow.

The antlers of the Stag King shone blue, flooding its surroundings with lightning, but against this mystical attack beyond measure, it lacked the confidence to stop it.

At the moment of impact, the golden glow twisted and vanished.

“Eh?!” Everyone was stumped.

Wu Shiqin gave the other two a dumb look. “What did the fool just do?”

Wu Fan gave a reflexive reply, “Jumped in. He spouted baffling words to an Accretion demon as the baffled demon waited for him to finish and unleash a baffling attack.”

Mao Zimiao asked the real question here, “What’s the color of enlightenment, nya?”

Wang Qi was sweating buckets as he faced the Foundation Establishment equivalent demon.

Waveform Essence was a probability wave, unlike the Grand Ripple Enigma, which could strike directly. 

[The phenomenon was a probability wave collapse. But to collapse it into a tangible attack…]  

[Wait a sec, isn’t the probability wave collapse attack the Ethereal Cloud Sword? Isn’t that a sword art of value 10?]

[Then what was that just now? Had the observer effect act on the wave function-based Waveform Essence?] 

[Was my attack completely wrong?]

A thousand ideas raced through Wang Qi’s head, just as the Stag King approached. It felt like this little punk fooled it and was enraged.

Wang Qi was slower than the demon, so he unleashed all the ripples he had around his body into a shield. At the kick of the Stag King, he flew.

Zhen Chanzi roared in his mind in midair, “You moron! When Ripple Heavenly Lord created this mystical Waveform Essence, he didn’t pair it with ‘sprinting!'”  

Mao Zimiao tensed upon seeing Wang Qi fly. The demonborn girl roared and jumped, her claws swiping at the deer demon’s eyes.

Stag King shook its head, and lighting flared into the girl. Mao Zimiao went numb as the spiritual power went through her and into the ground. Wu Shiqin cursed under her breath and jumped in front of Mao Zimiao, using the only defensive magical art she knew, Thunder Shield.

An electric arc struck Wu Shiqin’s barrier, unable to pierce it. The magical art was average against physical attacks; its only advantage lay in repelling lighting. In Earth terms, it had heightened electrical resistance.

Wu Shiqin eased her breath. Insulators with high resistance would produce destructive discharges when the voltage exceeded its threshold; they would breakdown. When that happened with the Thunder Shield, the user would receive increased damage, which was why the Thunderous Pavilion suggested using Thunder Shield only when up against an opponent at the same level. Wu Shiqin wasn’t sure she could’ve taken it.

She was lucky the deer demon wasn’t too outrageously strong.

The girl jumped while shouting at the dazed Mao Zimiao, “Jump!”

Wu Shiqin saw the trees as the only haven for them. But the numbness had yet to leave Mao Zimiao, and the girl’s jump was in another direction, right for the Stag King.

Mao Zimiao was only ten meters from the demon, and it took her action as a sign of aggression. Its antlers flickered blue, ready for another attack.

Wu Shiqin closed her eyes in despair. A Qi Refining cultivator had no way of maneuvering in midair. Mao Zimiao was done for.

Up in the air, Su Junyu held his strongest card in his right hand, ready to kill the Stag King.

Just then, a figure jumped at Mao Zimiao, the previously flying Wang Qi. Grand Ripple Enigma was one special art, after all, and the deer demon had no way of breaking it. Seeing Mao Zimiao in danger, he jumped in to take the brunt of the attack. 

[Dying together?] It was the only thought going through Mao Zimiao’s mind.

Wang Qi held her hand, and she felt her skin tingle as lightning engulfed them.