Zoran walked inside the tunnel, with his attention fixed at the edge of the cliff. Beyond this chasm was the most dangerous element in this world, yet excitement filled his mind.
He looked down at the cliffs and saw the tendrils of death. It seemed to tempt Zoran to jump in, welcoming its prey with a morbid curiosity.
Helio and the others looked at Zoran standing just a few inches away from the cliff.
Just a look from Helio was enough for Drew to understand what he wanted. Zoran needed a wake-up call because of his attitude; a brief brush with death may do the trick.
But for some reason, Drew could not move his feet. His beating heart thumped with a deafening echo in his body. It did not want to move.
Was this fear? Was he afraid of Zoran?
It didn't make sense. There was no reason for him to fear Zoran; it was supposed to be the other way around.
He didn't know this, but his instinct was trying to save his fate from death. Alas, Helio's forceful nudge clouded him from better judgment.
He walked closer to Zoran, planning to push him off the cliff. Of course, he was going to catch him before he truly fell. Helio just wanted Zoran to remember who to fear. The dead do not know it.
"I warned you."
Zoran's chilling words made his heart stop. Drew subconsciously took a step back and bowed his head to Zoran in a sign of apology and respect.
Helio saw all of this unfold. For a second, he saw his control on Drew loosen and taken by a person he considered as a weakling.
"What are you doing?!" Helio quickly pulled Drew back, causing him to tumble.
Helio didn't care. His burning eyes stared at Zoran.
His patience had grown thin. He thought Zoran was merely acting up like a spoiled puppy. But this had gone too far. Zoran was now a pest that had bitten the hand that fed him.
"Where did you get your arrogance, Zoran?!"
Helio's voice boomed in the closed space. It was enough to intimidate his lackeys, but apparently, Zoran was not one of them.
"Where did yours?" Zoran replied.
"Haah?!"
"Is it the giant sun in your chest or is it your naive confidence at your meager cultivation?"
The tips of Helio's golden hair burned with a quiet intensity.
"Careful with your words, Zoran. You are an imbecile. You do not want to anger someone like me."
Zoran faced Helio.
"You do not know what anger is."
Helio's entire body burst into a fiery hot reddish flame. The ground beneath him glowed yellow as it melted from the intense heat.
"Kill him," Helio uttered with a cold apathy.
His four lackeys looked at each other.
"Whoever brings me his head will get a 10 year cultivation pill."
The hesitation in their eyes quickly turned into greed. A 10 year cultivation pill would boost their strength up directly to the third stage of Body Strengthening.
This was a treasure they cannot pass up. They eyed Zoran like game, a helpless deer in the dead of winter–and they were really, really, hungry.
"Hehehe, Zoran. You're much more useful than I thought."
"A 10 year pill! I don't think you're worth that much, but I won't reject this free prize."
"Surrender now, Zoran. Then maybe I'll kill you peacefully."
Zoran shook his head as he faced them. They were willing to kill for a mere 10 year cultivation pill. This pill was treated as worthless as stone back in his time, not even considered as cultivation. Greed truly does dirty one's soul.
"This is your last warning," Zoran uttered.
Despite this, the four of them rushed at Zoran. They thought he was bluffing. They would soon know, he was not.
All four exhibited the inhuman strength of a first stage of Body Strengthening cultivator. Their muscles summoned tension a hundred times more powerful than a normal human.
Their explosive speed only left a blur in a mortal's eyes. Their skin toughened to the point of being comparable to an iron armor.
There was a reason why people called cultivators no longer human.
Zoran was a mortal teen with no muscle mass in his body. Bones showed on his skin. The difference in strength was like a punch versus a gunshot, but that would be an understatement.
Not only that, he was facing four of them at the same time. Any other person would have just wished for a peaceful death, but not Zoran.
He mastered all 10 of the Supreme Being's cultivations and their techniques. He fought gods among men, battled monsters of gigantic proportions, and clashed against an army with each individual much stronger than him.
Fighting a few cultivators barely out of their mortality was nothing hard. He couldn't lose even if he tried.
His battle-hardened instincts sharpened from overcoming insurmountable odds moved automatically.
Zoran turned his body to the side just as a fist was about to hit his torso. The man attached to the fist didn't think his attack would miss.
"What?!"
What's more, he felt a sharp sensation in his right rib. It wasn't painful and it wasn't strong, but this seemed to have wrecked the coordination in his entire body.
The man fell to his knees, unable to understand what happened.
Zoran's immense knowledge of cultivation allowed him to sense the faults in a cultivator's techniques. He simply broke the weak point in the man's pathetic stance, which was plentiful and easy to see.
One was down, but there were three more attacks coming right at him.
Despite Zoran's apathy and indifference to the situation, the dangers they possessed were nothing but facts.
Just one hit, and Zoran's frail body would launch to the other side, with his bones broken to dust and his insides turned into mush.
And Zoran couldn't deal damage himself. There was no power in his punches or kicks despite how perfect his stance was.
But that wasn't a problem for Zoran.
Just as Drew's fist was about to land a hit, Zoran moved to the side and punched Drew's elbow.
This punch perfectly landed at the exact spot that led to Drew's punch redirected at the other lackey.
Drew accidentally landed a critical hit at the other guy's head. It was a headshot that took him out instantly.
Two men were down; Zoran achieved the impossible. But he didn't come out unscathed: he had to sacrifice the knuckles in his right hand.
That didn't stop him. It didn't even faze him. The pain was nothing compared to taking a direct hit from the descent of a Supreme Being.
He was focused on the fight, fortunately for Zoran, the other guy was not. The lackey was too stunned from witnessing two 1st stage cultivators taken down with just a few moves.
"What the ^*#%! Zoran you bastard!"
Zoran took this opportunity to kick the guy's leg and perform an over-handed throw.
His technique was perfect—he used gravity and the lackey's own weight to slam him on the ground. He didn't even use the Law of Attraction.
Three down. The only one left was Drew.
Was Drew seeing things correctly? Zoran single-handedly brought three first-stage cultivators down on the ground.
This was impossible. They were cultivators, masters of Yi energy. They were reality-breaking beings above mortality yet Zoran, a normal human, defeated them with nothing but his mortal body.
It was four versus one!
"Get up guys! It's just Zoran. He's a wimp!"
But there was no response. Drew looked back and saw the three men on the ground, holding their necks in desperation.
Blood spluttered through their necks, creating a pool of blood beneath them.
They struggled, but all three would succumb to the eternal slumber.
Then, he heard Zoran's voice.
"Death comes to those who seek it."