Chapter 231 I Am Just Getting Started
BOOM!
A large cloud of smoke and shockwaves spread through the region as Duncan emerged from the aftermath with a sneer on his face. Three cultivators stood on the opposite side with aghast expression on their faces.
Their faces had unwillingness and shock written clearly. It was clear to Duncan that these people didn't think he would be able to take them on with nothing but the strength of his physical body.
Duncan felt the advantages of having a strong physique for the first time. It was immensely gratifying to see these cultivators stand there in shock and gape at him with their mouths open.
As Duncan predicted, their collective egos couldn't take his dismissive attitude for a long time. They may have been cautious about traps or other things at first. But, the more he acted as if they were beneath him, these so-called young talents couldn't take it for long.
Duncan felt that their mentality was really lacking. They never even thought about what to do if he was stronger than them. They all had arrogance bred into their bones and were used to looking down on people.
Now that the situation had changed, they couldn't maintain their calm for long.
After he had told them to come at him together, these so-called talents from various sects were obviously displeased. They had tried to belittle him and intimidate him by telling him how powerful they were and how awesome their cultivation techniques were.
Duncan hadn't cared about it and had told them to shut up and get ready to be beaten into a pulp. That statement had triggered yet another round of posturing from these people. This almost made Duncan lose his temper.
However, he kept a lid on it because he could sense a group of people watching from a distance. It was clear to him that these people were using the crowd in front of him as a test for him. Duncan felt a little insulted looking at their attitude. But, he threw away his displeasure to the back and continued riling up these so-called young talents more and more.
After the usual exchange of barbs, where they all pretty much said that Duncan was arrogant and needed to be taught a lesson in varying words and he countered them by saying they weren't worth his time, the situation between Duncan and this group of people escalated just like Duncan wanted.
Unable to hold onto their tempers anymore, a cultivator from the group had tried to attack him. Duncan figured that there would always be a hothead in any group. By riling up the opponents, he could cause the hotheads present in the group to take action first. In the end, the events transpired exactly as he wanted.
But, there was a small hitch in his plans.
These so-called young talents were weaker than he imagined. It looked like none of them even had a basic understanding of a martial dao concept. He didn't know if it was a common thing. But, he knew that these people wouldn't even be able to hurt him even if he didn't turn serious.
This was such a big letdown for Duncan who had been suppressing his desire to kill to his heart's content. Seeing the weak attack that came at him, Duncan had sneered in response and swatted away the attack without much effort.
His actions didn't mean much to him. He was merely irritated by their thinking that he would be inconvenienced by such a weak attack. However, in the eyes of these young talents, Duncan's actions were obviously because he was looking down on them.
This caused two more people to join hands with the first one to suppress him. They shot at him with three simultaneous attacks causing the surroundings to become abuzz with discussion.
Unfortunately for them, Duncan didn't even think that those attacks as something threatening to him. He received the three attacks with his bare body with the intention of seeing how far he could use his physical body in fights.
The result was naturally satisfying to him.
"That's it? You all came to hunt me with such little power!?" Duncan sneered derisively and looked at the group in a mocking manner.
"You, don't be too cocky. Just because they couldn't hurt you, it doesn't mean we are as weak as them as well," an angry voice came from the crowd causing Duncan to look over.
"Heh, then why don't you all give it a try? I already said that taking you all one by one is a waste of my time. Don't waste my time. Come! Let's see if your fists can back up the spiel your mouths spew!!!"
Duncan roared and threw a punch towards the group without even a pause.
The sheer disregard Duncan showed the assembled young talents rankled them a lot. If they were angry at him earlier, now that Duncan had indiscriminately attacked everyone, they were all pissed off.
Duncan wasn't a blockhead either. He didn't reveal his sword yet because he knew if he did, then it would be a one-sided slaughter. He didn't want to commit to that too soon and have others running away. His main priority was to collect enough slaughter qi to advance to the next level.
That's why he decided to use his physical body to tank the attacks that were sent towards him. He hoped that by taking the damage directly, these attacks would hurt him a little and create a false image for the assembled cultivators.
If any cultivator knew that the fight was hopeless, their first instinct would be to flee. Duncan wanted to lull them into hoping that they could take him on by allowing them to injure him slightly. But, the reality was different. These bastards were too weak to actually hurt him even if he stood by idly.
In that case, let's take things up by a notch. Since three of them couldn't hurt him, how about he drag more people into the fight? Duncan's mind was working at the most basic level at this moment. And yet, he retained his sanity and didn't use his sword.
The fist attack he threw was something that he had learned from one of the manuals that he had pilfered from his slain foes. Among the martial arts manuals that he went through to pick out a suitable one for Leia, only this one interested him a little bit.
The fist art was called <Primal Bull Fist>. The name wasn't much to comment on. However, the uniqueness of the <Primal Bull Fist> stemmed from the fact that it was used by body cultivators to mobilize their physical energy into a domineering attack.
Duncan had never tried out any fist art before this. He didn't really understand the profundity that was involved in executing the fist. However, Duncan's physical body had been strengthened far above ordinary cultivators. Currently, his body was on par with a body cultivator in the second realm.
Duncan knew this very well. The benefits provided by dual cultivating with Leia for the past week had been accumulated in his body. Now, he needed to digest these benefits. <Primal Bull Fist> does exactly that. By practicing this fist art, one can digest the power accumulated in one's body and mobilize them to attack easily.
To others, <Primal Bull Fist> may not be of much use. But, to Duncan, it fit his requirements perfectly. He had been ruminating about this fist art for the past week. He had tried out its posture and had even practiced it without actually putting in full effort to mobilize his physical energy.
But, when he attacked this time, he mobilized his physical energy to the greatest extent and sent it forward along his fist. The resulting attack took the shape of a rampaging bull that was reddish in color.
Seeing the red, bull-shaped attack approaching them, the shocked group of cultivators hastily put up their defense. With more than fifteen cultivators at the peak of the Spirit Sea realm defending together, the attack was nullified easily.
Still, the aftermath sent the group staggering back a few steps.
Duncan smiled seeing that.
"Only this," Duncan sneered. "You all better go back and suckle your mother's teats! Don't come out and start spewing nonsense like hunting me down!"
"You!!!"
Several cultivators shouted angrily. Duncan smirked at them and beckoned them to attack him by spreading his arms wide and showing a non-threatening posture. This only further aggravated those cultivators.
Enraged by Duncan's antics, the group of cultivators angrily started attacking Duncan in pairs. Duncan's eyes narrowed slightly and a look of seriousness appeared on his face. Even though their attacks couldn't hurt him, the sheer number of consecutive attacks would be a pain to deal with.
Duncan wasn't careless. He took a deep breath and used his body to tank the first two attacks. He punched out another fist attack to eliminate three more incoming attacks. By then, his entire body had been encased with the lights from all the attacks.
The group of cultivators watched anxiously as their attacks swallowed Duncan completely. In the distance, the faces of Wu Dongmin, Lu Tianxin, and Jiang Chen also turned serious. Even they weren't confident enough in dealing with all these attacks that were delivered together. Even if it was them, they would feel miserable after being targeted by such a large number of attacks.
Just as everyone began to think that Duncan wouldn't be able to take the attacks on, the smoke cleared and Duncan emerged from the smoke with his clothes in tatters. There was blood on his lips and he looked as if he had been wrung out.
However, his eyes were shining brightly. He was looking at the group of cultivators with hunger in his eyes. It was as if some beast had woken up within Duncan. Everyone could feel that the Duncan they faced before and the one who emerged was different.
Duncan smirked at the stunned crowd and said in a hoarse voice.
"That almost hurt me," Duncan spat out some blood and locked his eyes on the group of cultivators. "I hope you all can do better than that. Because... I am just getting started."
With a diabolical laugh, Duncan rushed towards the group like a tiger coming down the mountain. The next moment, the group of cultivators scattered to surround Duncan in the middle.
Duncan didn't care about the kind of tactics they used. Even with their combined power, they could barely hurt him. So, he wasn't worried about being overwhelmed by them.
On the contrary, he wanted them to suppress him as much as possible.
*****
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