Two other Miasma Beasts came out of the shadows of Miasma. They varied in size, but it looked to be the same species as the first beast.
Since Zoran was the first to discover these beasts, he had the honor to name them. From now on and forever, these creatures are called Miasma Panthers.
All three, as if it had coordinated with each other, slowly surrounded their prey. Their red eyes glowed with confidence and intent; this new prey was theirs to feast.
Zoran smiled and welcomed the challenge. The Miasma Cultivation Technique turning out to be a Physique type made his journey to mastering it easier.
Out of all five types, the Physique type was the easiest to master the artskills.
That was because most beginner Physique artskills only needed a basic control of Yi energy.
A Physique type cultivator didn't have to memorize a formula like the Mage type, they didn't have to create complex windings of Yi circles like the Anima type, they just needed their bodies and Yi energy.
Of course, some advanced Physique techniques required complex Yi veins, variable blood flow and other stuff, but it was not a requirement for the start.
Sometimes, it was as simple as pouring Yi energy into their fists.
And that's what Zoran did. He poured a tremendous amount of Yi energy to his fists.
He kept adding more and more. Even after his fist had filled up, Zoran squeezed it and condensed it to create more space for more Yi energy.
This was beyond dangerous. The Yi energy started to go rampant. They were agitated from being compressed into a tiny amount of space.
His fist started to glow white. His arm was heating up to the point of his hand almost melting.
But Zoran didn't stop there. He kept increasing the concentration of Yi energy into his hands.
Keep in mind, this was no ordinary Yi energy. This was mythical energy of the purest form, made from the dew of the universe just as the mythical dragon was born.
Now, it was in the hands of Zoran—literally.
His fist started to crack. It was finally at its limits. But Zoran did not accept failure, not even from himself.
He commanded the Miasma tendrils to fill the cracks. This allowed his fist to exceed its physical limits to compact a tremendous amount of Yi energy in such a small area.
And when he was finally satisfied, the result was something to behold.
The Miasma Panthers screeched at the blinding light. They had never seen brightness ever before since they were born from the pits of the underworld where no light can escape or enter.
What they saw was Zoran's right hand glowing intensely white at the tip of his fingers and slowly dimming towards the middle of his forearm.
It was coupled with the extreme darkness of the Miasma tendrils as it took root at the cracks. It spread from the tips of his fingers down to the forearm.
Instincts told these creatures that this was dangerous. But that would be an understatement. What they didn't know was that they had just witnessed the birth of one of the artskills that would one day oppress the whole world.
Zoran decided to name it,
Tyrannical Miasma Strike
The Miasma Panthers decided Zoran was too dangerous to attack, even with all three of them coordinating with each other.
Their bodies quickly turned back and pounced away from death itself. Each hoped that they would be able to survive by sacrificing the other two.
They were each about 10 meters away from Zoran, thinking that would be enough to accelerate away to safety. But they were missing one crucial fact: they were still in the realm of Miasma.
Giant threads of Miasma wrapped around their heels, prohibiting them from saving their lives.
They squealed, kicking and turning as they tried to escape from the grasp of the Miasma.
But no matter how hard they tried, some other force would drag them from salvation.
They tried to survive. Alas, they could not. Especially when Zoran was using the Law of Attraction to assure that he would catch his prey.
They ended up facing Zoran as he raised his tyrannical right hand.
He did not have to use a tremendously fast speed and just let gravity do the work. Just as his fist hit the snake-like head of the Miasma panther, a large explosion occurred.
BUGGGHH
With a single punch, Zoran disintegrated the three Miasma Panthers into nothingness accompanied by a blinding white light.
When the light subsided, all that's left was Zoran standing still, with his right hand slowly dimming.
He looked at his hands. The Tyrannical Miasma Strike was much stronger than he anticipated.
He estimated that the Miasma Panthers were equivalent to 1st Stage cultivators. He destroyed three of them with one punch, turning them back into the pure Miasma form.
It was already impressive for a cultivator to defeat an enemy of the same stage, but it was another thing to completely demolish their opponents with one strike—especially three at the same time.
It was all due to the pure Yi energy and the tyrannical Miasma inside his SSS-class core hidden inside his dantian.
They worked together in harmony to create a powerful enough force that could disturb the natural laws of the universe.
What's more, there was a lot of room left to improve. This artskill was in its infancy. The way Zoran used his Yi energy was barbaric and crude without any semblance of structure.
If he made it more complex by making systematic Yi veins in his fist, the energy consumption would be lower.
If he altered the blood flow to pump a thousand times faster, he would be able to increase the amount of Yi energy he could take, therefore increasing its firepower.
The only reason he hadn't done it when conceiving the artskill was because he was in the middle of a battle.
It's not that Zoran couldn't do it. After all, being crowned the master of cultivation was not just an arbitrary title given to him in his previous life for nothing.
He didn't do it because he had no need to. If the need ever arose, he would have found more time to formulate a better artskill.
Now that he was free, he could slowly improve upon the artskill. Of course, it would take a lot of time.
Fortunately, time was all he had. He was still in the Miasma where he didn't know left from right. He had no map or previous knowledge to reference when escaping this underground pit.
He planned to slowly survey the area and try to find a way out.
But before that, Zoran looked down and saw three black-colored beads. His senses told him that this was made out of Miasma, but with a very high concentration.
He picked one up and observed it. The shape of the bead was very reminiscent of an object back in the overworld. Was this the same?
There was only one way to find out. Zoran took the Miasma bead and put it in his mouth.
Immediately, the bead melted in his tongue and became a liquid that slowly entered his body. It did not go through his digestive system and was directly absorbed into the depths of his cultivation core.
His body reeled with strength. He felt the Miasma in his cultivation core shake with intensity, as if the energy it received was insufficient. It was hungry for more.
He was right. The spherical object made out of condensed Miasma was a cultivation bead.
Cultivators consumed cultivation beads and used it to further their progress in attaining godhood.