The 3rd stage guards laughed wholeheartedly with Zoran's threat. They believed it to be too far-fetched that they didn't consider it as something serious. They were two stages above Zoran; how could he defeat someone in the 3rd stage?
"How bold! If we weren't going to capture you, we could have kept you as our personal clown." The guard got closer to Zoran and tapped his shoulders. There was no tension in the guard at all.
The leader, on the other hand, didn't appreciate Zoran's unfounded confidence. His anger was bubbling under the surface. He had enough with Zoran's spineless tricks that he wanted to rip Zoran's spine into two.
He believed that Zoran only wanted to get under his nerves; it worked.
"You bastard. You think your words will save you?" The leader pushed Zoran by his shoulders. "I can kill you a thousand times over." He kept pushing Zoran. "You are a worthless scum that I let live because it is our mission. But that doesn't mean I can't hurt you."
Zoran didn't mind the worthless words of a dead man. He only replied, "I warned you."
He raised his fist and it started to glow a bright white light. It lit up the dark room, making the shadow leader's slightly surprised eyes visible to everyone. The leader faced it head on and only he could feel the magnitude of reality-warping force that Zoran's Yi energy emitted.
But even with this impressive show of skill, the shadows and the guards weren't worried. They might be surprised, but they were not alarmed. They knew the limits of strength that a Physique cultivator could muster, and it was not something that could be fatal to a 2nd stage cultivator like them.
Even the most talented Physique cultivator they knew could only have firepower equivalent to a bullet from an ordinary handgun. They could only imagine Zoran's punch to be as strong as a rock from a slingshot.
"You think that mediocre skill could even land on me?" the leader ridiculed. He even went so far as to show his cheeks a defenseless shot that Zoran could take. He didn't feel threatened.
"Kekeke, leader. You don't want your cheeks to feel sore tomorrow. We still have work to do."
"Tch. Don't worry. You think our leader will let that small fry's puny punch to even land? It will be too slow in his eyes."
The other shadows chimed in with their complete confidence in Zoran's inability to even land a free shot to the face. A Physique cultivator was a meathead who only focused on brute strength, unlike them who practiced their skill that enhanced their agility and reflexes under the clear moon sky.
"You guys don't even have to worry. He's just putting all of his Yi energy onto his fist. His hand will explode at this rate." The guards were more experienced and knew that Zoran's way of utilizing his Yi energy was more than reckless; it was idiotic.
The Primordial Sun Dynasty taught them that an intricate use of Yi energy using Yi circles was infinitely much stronger and safer than the barbaric ways of the Physique cultivator.
Mage cultivators were better than Physique cultivators; everyone knew that.
Conjuring Yi circles took more than just willpower and brute force. It needed knowledge, finesse, and talent to excel at this art. Although it was hard, the strengths a mage could achieve was miles stronger than a Physique cultivator in the same stage.
It was why many considered the Primordial Sun Dynasty the best Dynasty.
But despite their mockery and ridicule, Zoran kept his flow of Yi energy pooling into his fist. His skin and bones cracked, but Miasma tendrils wrapped around like roots and repaired the damage.
If they were paying attention to Zoran, they would know that this was no ordinary artskill. They would even find that Zoran's Yi energy was absurdly strong and plentiful for someone in the 1st stage.
If they didn't know, then Zoran would show it to them. The Tyrannical Miasma Strike was nothing to laugh about.
"That's enough," said the leader. He used his finger and pushed Zoran's forehead. "I will let you know what pain—"
DUM
The leader's words went silent. He didn't know what happened as he felt a weak sensation around his chest. It was weirdly light, as if a huge weight was lifted from his torso. It felt so relieving that he wanted to close his eyes and go to sleep right at this very instant.
"Leader!"
But the shouts of his comrades shook him up from the slumber that would last forever. He sobered up. A chill encompassed his body, cold sweat poured off his skin. His brain knew exactly what happened, his body knew where it landed, but his mind was still catching up on this inconceivable moment in time. It didn't want to find out.
But he steeled his thoughts and commanded his eyes to look down. What he saw was a blaring large hole in his chest the size of a fist. The ends of his skin around the hole glowed a bright orange afterglow as it still burned from the excess energy off Zoran's punch.
'What' were his last words as he fell to the floor knees first. With the discovery of this fatal injury, his body gave up all hope and abandoned him.
With the last of his strength, he looked up at Zoran and saw his fist still glowing a bright white light. His eyes looked down at the leader.
The leader died—with one strike that no one even saw coming.
The first to react was the two 3rd stage cultivators. Hairs stood on end. They only realized the true danger that the kid possessed when Zoran bore a hole in the leader's chest.
They were powerless to stop it. Their enhanced eyes only saw a blur as Zoran moved.
Immediately, the two of them conjured a Yi circle made of flames right in front of them, acting as a barrier between them and Zoran. Their quick thinking allowed them to assess Zoran's punch as more than a threat—it was a danger.
But he was still a 1st stage cultivator, the 3rd stage guards thought. If they attacked Zoran before he got too close, then his abnormally strong punches were useless.
Mages excelled in long to medium ranges, while Physique cultivators were only effective in melee range. Zoran was at a disadvantage, they thought.
But then they saw something that defied the laws of physics and common sense. It was a crime against the very Universe itself.
Zoran jumped into an invisible window and disappeared!