Travellers - An Isekai, Cultivation Fantasy

"Windblade!"

"Thunderstrike!"

"Ice beetle!"

"Mountain fist!"

All manner of martial techniques and spirits were being used in the inheritance grounds. The scene before the final tower had split into a chaotic battlefield between sixteen pseudo-commander class puppets, each wielding a rank three artifact, against the hundreds of cultivators who had made it this far.

But despite their numbers, the cultivators weren't used to working together and often got in each other's way. Furthermore, when a puppet died, the nearest cultivators would start fighting each other over its artifact. The puppets themselves were incredibly formidable, both due to their cultivation realm and the use of their artifacts.

All this meant the battle raged on for almost an hour, leaving more than a hundred cultivators dead, many being slain by each other. Eventually, only one puppet was left, battered and immobile, surrounded by a horde of cultivators.

A barrage of attacks flew towards the puppet, filling its vision with a myriad of colours. However, there was no fear in its eyes. No hesitation. The only reason it wasn't fighting back was because it was physically too damaged to move. But it did not care, did not have any thoughts or emotions. As the attacks arrived and its body began to disintegrate, it did not feel any pain. A few seconds later, it disappeared, leaving behind its rank three artifact.

Cultivators who were closest to the puppet jumped at the artifact, followed by others nearby, who fell into a skirmish. However, they were interrupted by the echoes of a large door. A dense wave of mana brushed over the brawling cultivators, bringing their attention to the surroundings.

The tower was opening!

Some distance away, smaller groups were sitting together, silently observing the battle while conserving their mana. The largest was a group of fifteen - Drake, Kurt, Elwin, and Corvus' parties.

Drake had now awoken and had recovered to an extent, although he was still far from his peak. The others had also spent this time resting, healing their injuries and recovering their mana. Rank three artifacts weren't as important to them, so they focused on recouping and conserving their strength for the bigger treasures that were bound to be inside.

"It's about time," Farisa spoke slowly.

"Let's move," Drake agreed, opening his eyes. Everyone immediately disappeared. They were followed by the other groups of shadowy figures who were resting nearby.

Drake's party quickly appeared before the tower entrance. Numerous figures of armoured knights and cultivators were carved into the archaic doors, which were opening loudly. As it did so, intense waves of mana burst from within.

'This is… as dense as the mana in the underground chamber!" thought Drake, remembering the secret area where he had discovered the rank four artifacts.

The doors opened to reveal a majestic hall. In contrast to its dark exterior, the hall was pearl-white. Large, humanoid statues adorned the sides of the hallway, stretching to the end where a golden staircase rose to the next floor. However, everyone's attention was focused on the statues.

They were made entirely out of mana stones! Not to mention, from the armour to the weapons, the statues were dressed in rank three artifacts!

"So.. So… so many!"

Most lone cultivators had barely seen one or two rank three artifacts in their lives, and very few mana stones. Even among the cultivators from larger families and sects, they didn't routinely come across such wealth.

This was incredible!

Chaos resumed immediately. Overwhelmed by greed, the cultivators charged towards the statues. As soon as someone arrived, they would be quickly followed by ten more who would all begin fighting. More sharp cultivators ran deeper into the hall where there were fewer cultivators to fight over the treasures; but the moment people saw a few attempting this, everyone quickly followed suit.

In an instant, the fights many times more intense than the outside, began.

Drake hesitated, glancing between the staircase and the statues. If this was just the first floor, the higher floors were bound to have better treasures - rank four, and even rank five artifacts potentially. Everyone fighting over these rank three artifacts could give him the perfect head start to grab the rarer treasures. However, rank three artifacts were not easy to come by either.

At this point, Drake noticed one of the cultivators dash towards the stairs. Seeing this, he made up his mind.

'Shadow steps!'

Drake poured mana into his boots, increased his speed to the limit, and arrived before the stairs in a second. Using the momentum, he placed his foot on the first step, intending to race up. However, he immediately felt a huge pressure, forcing him to a halt.

'What the hell!?' thought Drake.

Turning his head, he spotted the other cultivator slowly walking up the stairs, struggling increasingly with each step.

'I can't lose to him!' he thought to himself. Drake took a deep breath and calmed down, allowing his body to adjust to the pressure. At this point, several other cultivators also arrived, including Blaze, Sylvia, Corvus, Farisa, and Kurt, with the rest of their group being close behind.

After getting used to it, Drake took another step and felt the pressure increase further. However, he expected this and continued climbing forward. Next to him, Corvus was walking up the stairs, keeping pace, but appeared much less bothered by the pressure. He was followed closely by Blaze and then Sylvia.

Seeing this motivated Drake further. He stopped focusing on others and brought his attention entirely to his own body. Summoning his strength and controlling the flow of mana through his body, he focused on climbing one step at a time.

After step thirty-six, the first cultivator came to a halt, and he could no longer move. As he paused to catch his breath, he watched Drake open-mouthed, walk past him without slowing down. Trailing behind were Corvus and the others.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Even though the pressure began to increase significantly, Drake ignored the change and focused only on himself.

'One more… one more… another one… one step at a time…'

Thinking so, Drake kept moving up and up. The pressure was now over ten times what it was at the start, but Drake knew he could do it.

'95… 96… 98… 99…'

Drake was sweating buckets. Every muscle in his body was telling him to stop, to turn back. But he couldn't. He was only one step away. He had to make it!

Inch by inch, his foot rose closer to the top.

"AaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Drake screamed as he poured every ounce of his strength into moving his foot., until…

Poof!

The moment his foot landed on the 100th step, the pressure immediately disappeared. Drake fell to his knees and began gasping for breath. A few seconds later, Corvus arrived in a similar condition, followed by Blaze, then Sylvia. Farisa and Kurt were several steps behind, and Elwin was even further. The others who had started later were still quite far away.

Down below, many cultivators attempted to climb the stairs and failed. Giving up, they returned to fighting over the treasures, while some who had already obtained a few rank three artifacts, decided it wasn't worth fighting for more and began cultivating, using the dense mana to boost their cultivation speed.

Drake consumed a few pills to recover his stamina before standing up. The first thing he noticed was the mana. It was at least ten times as dense as the first floor! Drake thought that if he cultivated here, he could break through to the middle stage steel body realm and late stage true mage realm within a few days!

'But there are more important things right now,' Drake thought, shaking his head and bringing his attention back to his surroundings. Unlike the first floor, this one was smaller, with another staircase at the end. It was also emptier, without any statues or decorations. However, numerous orbs of light were floating in the air, radiating powerful auras.

'Rare pill recipes, martial techniques, cultivation techniques, and… rank four artifacts!'

Two of the orbs each contained a rank four artifact!

Drake disappeared, using all his mana to rush towards the closest orb. The instant he arrived, he came face to face with Corvus. For a moment, they both eyed each other, the orb containing the rank four artifact floating between them.

"Leave it, Drake," spoke Corvus in a low tone.

"Why should I?" Drake retorted, pouring mana into his gloves, making them buzz with fire and lightning.

"You already have a rank four artifact. It's not fair for you to fight me over this."

Drake hesitated momentarily. At that instant, the orb flashed past both of them. Immediately, Corvus gave chase. On the other side, Blaze was chasing the orb containing the other rank four artifact. As more cultivators came, the rest of the orbs also began shooting around the floor, escaping from anyone attempting to catch them.

Drake knew that he was no match for Corvus and decided to let it go. Instead, he focused on a few orbs which contained pill recipes and martial techniques. The light around one of the orbs was especially bright, drawing his attention.

A rank four pill recipe!

Pouring mana into his boots, Drake activated shadow steps and pushed his speed to the limit. The rarer the treasure, the faster the orbs moved. Soon, additional cultivators arrived at the second floor and began competing for the orbs, increasing the chaos.

"Chain lightning!" Drake yelled, shooting multiple lightning bolts at the orb. However, it easily evaded them all and continued flying.

Drake cursed and came to a stop. 'This is useless!' He had to be smarter about this.

Thinking so, Drake closed his eyes and focused on his inner realm. Drops of mana formed around his mana core and pooled into a spring. He willed, and the mana moved, flowing through his arms and gathering into his palms.

A large, rectangular net, more than ten metres wide, appeared before him. It was a simple rank one artifact, but its large appearance caught everyone's attention.

Ignoring them, Drake willed. "Go!"

Immediately, the rune activated, making it glow a bright green as it dashed forward with an unbelievable speed. In an instant, it appeared in front of the orb and began curling around it.

Sensing its presence, the orb came to an instantaneous halt before dashing back, attempting to escape. However, just as it began moving, Drake appeared. The orb came to a stop once again and flashed to the side. However, the net had already curled around, preventing its escape. It wanted to go to the other side now, but it was too late. The net had almost finished closing, and the orb was trapped.

Changing tactics, the orb crashed into the net, causing it to shake violently.

'Oh no!' Drake became worried. A few more of those and his net would be destroyed.

Drake acted immediately and poured mana into his gloves.

"Chaaaainnnn lightnniinnggggg!!" Drake yelled, pouring all his mana into his gloves and releasing numerous bolts of lightning into his net. The orb sensed their presence and froze, as if it were turning around to see them.

Boom!

Lightning filled the net, which began shrinking. The orb felt its power wane, eroded by the lightning. It kept resisting, bashing against the net over and over, but each attempt was weaker than the last, until eventually, its light dimmed and it came to a stop.

The net had shrunk to the size of a football as it floated into Drake's palm. He willed, and the net disappeared, leaving behind a scroll emitting a pristine aura. Drake quickly poured mana into the scroll to study its contents, and his face lit up with excitement. A few seconds later, he moved the scroll to his storage pouch and turned around.

Due to the large size of the net, everyone had noticed the spectacle and were surprised that Drake had learnt to summon such an object which would be useless in most situations. However, they were now wary of him as they knew he could effectively snatch a lot of the treasures here.

Drake briefly glanced at Corvus and Blaze, who were still chasing the rank four artifacts. As the most precious items here, they were the fastest, making it almost impossible for even them to catch. Sylvia, like Drake, was picking up the other treasures. On the other hand, Kurt was chasing the rank four artifact orb with Blaze. The two of them, along with Corvus, had no intention of giving up.

'Such a shame,' thought Drake. If there were more rank four artifacts, he would undoubtedly compete for them. But since he already had one, it was not worth fighting Corvus over it, and definitely not Blaze. But rare martial techniques and pill recipes were also very useful for him couldn't complain.

Drake focused on the other treasures. 'There!' he noticed a rank three pill recipe and dashed towards it. Four cultivators were chasing it, but Drake ignored them and summoned his net again.

Seeing this, one of them yelled. "Stop him! We can't let him take away everything!" Saying so, the guy took out a shell-shaped artifact. Pouring mana into the shell, he opened it, revealing a pearl which immediately shot towards Drake. The man closed and opened the shell again, revealing several more pearls, which all shot towards him. The other three cultivators followed suit and threw all manner of attacks at him.

Drake casually poured mana into his robes, summoning a light barrier. As a rank three artifact, it was able to easily fend off the attacks. Some small cracks appeared on the shield, but it was not going to break any time soon.

Relieved, Drake focused on the orb and his net again. This one was slightly slower than the previous orb, so it was much easier for Drake. Using a similar tactic, he appeared on one side and sandwiched the orb with the net on the other. As the net closed, he released several chain lightning bolts into the net to weaken and destroy the orb.

"You!" The cultivators were furious at being ignored. Even though they were lone cultivators, they had managed to make it this far, so they were not ordinary individuals. They had never felt so disrespected before!

"Take this!" the first one yelled, shooting a rank three dagger at the net.

"Noo!" Drake cried, shooting a solar barrage at the dagger. Just as the dagger was about to strike the net, the first fireball crashed into the dagger, knocking it off course.

The man willed and the dagger returned to his palm before it could suffer too much damage, but by this time, the net had shrunk and returned to Drake's palm as well. After briefly glancing at its contents, Drake stared daggers at the man but decided it wasn't worth the time to fight him now. The other cultivators came to the same conclusion. Since Drake had already got the treasure, there was no point fighting him when there were still many on the loose.

Ten minutes passed. As Drake gathered several more pill recipes and a few martial techniques, Blaze finally caught the orb with the rank four artifact.