Long Di remained unmoved in the face of this, even as the ground shook beneath his feet. "I guess I'll call this move… meh, I'll think about it later.'"
****
The dark grey clouds overhead coalesced into a blanket of darkness as they plunged the landscape into a plain of despair. They seemed to follow ever so slightly Long Di's every action, or more accurately, his finger.
"Hm?" He looked above and noticed the anomaly as he mumbled to himself. "Is it another…? No, this doesn't feel like what happened back then. It feels different somehow. Wait, is this because of my attack?"
"Little savage, feel my wrath!" Elder Gang Heng roared as he was almost upon him.
"No time to think, I guess," Long Di decided.
Seeing how Gang Heng was the nearest, followed in proximity by the humans who risked it all to follow up, Long Di let loose his latest attack.
"Finger of Lev… oh crap to that." Long Di cut himself short. 'I never know why Mc's always shout out the name of their attack. If anything, it's stupid when you put it into practice. I mean, you don't hear a policeman shouting 'shoot' when he's gonna shoot someone, or a fighter say 'punch' when he'll punch someone. It's pretty stupid if it isn't for epic reasons. Then again, the logic in this world is different, so there is that. Whatever, I'll do it when the mood hits.'
While Long Di's mind was working at super high-speed thinking about the important things in life, his attack was almost ready.
Krsssh!!
Streaks of grey lightning kept crackling off his finger as it tore up the ground around him!
The dark clouds above churned and twisted before a massive split rent the sky asunder, as if heralding the arrival of something great!
'It seems to be a bit different from what I saw in that scroll,' thought Long Di as he saw the changes taking place above and around him. 'I can only call this a rough sketch, but it should be enough for these cannon fodders.'
Dum!
Nine black cauldrons burst into being behind Long Di as they revolved and pulsated with an ancient and arrogant bearing!
"What the hell kind of cauldrons are those!!?"
"Lightning Qi? No, wait a minute! Tribulation lightning!? What is this!?"
"What's going on in the sky!?"
Panic quickly ensued in the ranks of the incoming horde, especially when they looked above and saw the situation in the sky and in the surrounding environment.
A growing dense cover of clouds thousands of metres wide spread out with Long Di at the centre.
"W-What is this child!?" Shen Dai stared slack-jawed at the proceedings.
He didn't go along with everyone. Above all else, he did value Long Di, as the latter's mannerism and the way he looked at things was refreshing and his talent was far from mediocre.
As a result, he didn't want to kill Long Di, nor was he greedy for his secrets, but at the same time, he didn't think that just he alone could take on everyone else to help as much as he would have wanted to.
However, never in his wildest dreams did he think he could witness such a literally shocking scene!
"What a powerful will!" Weiyuan Yaochuan couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Shen Dai subconsciously nodded, as he had no choice but to agree with the conjecture drawn by his contemporary, who stood some distance away from him, shocked into stillness by what he saw as well.
Long Di currently emanated a will that was unreasonably domineering and arrogant. As if there existed nothing above him and that all that opposed him must die!
This was to be expected. There were many cultivation methods that could affect the air, atmosphere, breath, mind and mannerisms of the person who practised them.
Since Long Di was practising something that allowed him to harness the very power of the Heavens itself, it made sense that a powerful will was required to drive such divine energy.
"Urk!"
"E-Elder, what i-is this?"
Cries of struggle shocked Shen Dai from his stupor as he looked down and saw his disciples suffering from the pressure brought on by the aura Long Di exuded, even though he was so far away from them.
They shivered in fear as they lay immobile on the ground with their faces pallid. It was an insurmountable task just to lift their heads!
Fwish!
Elder Shen Dai waved his hand and erected a barrier to isolate them from the aura and will, giving them a moment's breath.
Looking up, they finally had the chance to see Long Di, who they despised not long ago, facing off against numerous elders and guardians of varying sects. Their gazes grew complicated as a myriad of emotions swam within them.
Shame won in the end when they realised how he looked at them with a disinterested expression. To begin with, he never took them seriously at all, even when they sneered in disdain and scorned him. To an expert like him, they were probably no different from dancing clowns putting on an act, or to put it in Long Di's own words, 'a comatose vulture strung around his neck.'
Long Di had no idea that the disciples from the Soaring Cloud Immortal Sect were regretting the way they acted towards him before, not that he would care if he did.
As of now, he was focusing on making sure this rudimentary move of his didn't backfire on him.
The arcs of grey lightning that danced all over his middle finger grew in intensity, and the light it radiated grew brighter as well.
The elders that were rushing towards him before had stopped, confused by the current turn of events. Even Gang Heng found it unwise to rush in headfirst without knowing what was going on.
Not waiting for them to raise any defences, Long Di pointed his finger at them.
Du-Dum!
The seemingly simple action caused a near cataclysmic chain reaction, as the gateway formed by the split clouds above yielded a sight that everyone here would never forget for the rest of their lives!
A massive finger composed of Heavenly Levyance tribulation energy peeked from beyond the clouds!
Hong!
It released a terrifying pressure that induced dread in the hearts of all the spectators!
Regret now sprouted in the hearts of everyone here. They could feel death coiling around their necks as the pressure alone caused their bones to creak. One could only imagine the result when the finger actually reaches them!
"S-Stop him!"
No one knew who spoke first, but these words snapped everyone from their daze as they prepared to attack Long Di, but it was too late!
The enormous finger was already upon them. Its light highlighted their anxious and fearful visage. They could only switch to their most powerful defences.
"Thirty Rebellious Grooms Tackle of Dancing Cauldrons!"
"Thirteen Unhappy Crosses Shield!"
"Shadowed Smash of the Guardian!"
Shing!
One could see the light from techniques that specialised in defence, along with the numerous defensive treasures illuminating the surroundings for miles around!
As soon as this was completed, the tip of the finger finally arrived and gently tapped on the first of the shields.
Boom!
In front of everyone's shocked gazes, the finger blew through the first few shields without losing momentum!
It was only when it came to the last few defences set up by those on the level of elder Gang Heng that it finally slowed down before coming to a stop.
"Hold it!"
The remaining elders grit their teeth as they struggled to hold on! They poured their energy into whatever treasure or move they were executing without reserve to keep the finger at bay!
The properties of the lightning tribulation energy the finger was composed of were continuously weakening the protection these old men had up.
"Ack!"
"H-He's not able to maintain it!" One of the many elders saw Long Di cough up a mouthful of blood!
Not only that, cracks appeared all over his body making him look no different from a cracked porcelain doll. Long Di's miserable appearance made it look as if the gentlest wind could blow him into pieces.
This sight immediately encouraged the elders to keep at it!
Elder Gang Heng was shocked! He couldn't imagine the level of such a move if it allowed a junior like Long Di to stop them all dead in their tracks! The greed in his eyes increased as he stared at the latter in the distance.
Despite his greed now fuelling him, Gang Heng and the rest of the elders tried their best to hold on.
How could they allow a junior to push them into such dire straits, and with one move!?
Long Di was deathly pale as this attack severely overdrew on his current energy reserves. Blood leaked down the side of his mouth as he expressionlessly forced himself to carry out the move.
"Well, I didn't think it would be easy, but this is just ridiculous. Plus, the finger looks a bit faint," he muttered to himself.
Though Long Di found it hard to concentrate because of his current state, he could still tell that the finger lacked… something. He couldn't tell what it was, but it was incomplete.
He was still satisfied in the end though, because if its unfinished form was this powerful then he could only imagine what it would be like when it was complete.
He drove the remaining energy he had in his body into the finger before him!
However, the finger began to dim, even more than it already was, much to the joy of the elders. As soon as they made it out of this, they would rip Long Di limb from limb!
"Darn it. I guess I really need to make sure that my cultivation technique is able to expand my reserves. It's gonna take a long time to advance through it, but I don't think I can shortchange this." Long Di thought as he struggled to keep his clarity even as his vision began to fail.
The skin of his middle finger was tearing and peeling away. His blood had long stained the ground beneath him, but he didn't care. The pain from this didn't even cause the slightest change in his expression.
The finger he called down was about to vanish into the ether, as Long Di had to admit he could no longer hold it.
The elders in the distance were like a pack of wolves that stared at Long Di like he was the biggest piece of meat they had ever seen.
Long Di finally sighed to himself before saying. "Help me defeat them and I'll find the places."
As soon as he said this, countless peach blossom petals started to flutter seemingly out of nowhere. The elders that were holding on were once again shocked by the strange sight.
Where did the Peach Blossoms come from?
"Sighs…"
"To think, you destroyed my sanctuary of memories and now I have to save you. In addition, why does your finger make me angry?"
…
Faraway from where this was taking place stood two figures. One figure was tall and strapping, with devastating curves that would steal the gaze of any man. Yet these curves were carved of muscles that hid a terrifying force.
She wore no armour, instead, she sported a piece of cloth that wrapped around her plump breasts. The fur from some unknown beast acted as a makeshift skirt. Its length did little to hide her powerful legs, but it was obvious that her revealing attire did not trouble her.
Her shoulder-length hair was a fiery red that danced in the wind with a wild air about it. Scales covered certain parts of her arms and her abdomen. There was also a faint heat that radiated from her.
Her red pupils narrowed as she could still feel the palpitating aura, even where she was. Overall, though she was a beauty that could cause a calamity, there was a wildness and savage nature about her that would deter most people.
She saw that Long Di bottomed out his trump cards, but the latest development piqued her interest even more.
She kept watching when a voice that robbed all joy from her soul sounded out.
"Tch! At least that stupid cat remembered us! Still, that idiot Long Di was here all along!? I can't believe I was actually worried!"