023: Foundation Building battle
"Many thanks, Fellow Daoist for saving me." Verona went to Zemirah and solemnly spoke.
Zemirah was stunned at her seriousness then smiled, "Hmm, let's go. there are more enemies to kill on the other parts of the flying ship."
Verona saw that she was quite excited to go and nodded as she called her remaining subordinates. Aside from the burly man, there are other two women and one man.
Zemirah saw that they were mostly at Mid-Stage and the burly man at Late-Stage while their captain was at the Peak-Stage of the Energy Refinement realm.
Zemirah surprisingly cooperated tacitly with their team, especially with Verona, the captain.
She was at the Peak-Stage of the Energy Refinement realm where only the burly man could barely keep up with her fighting capacity.
Zemirah who is also at the Late-Stage managed to assist Verona in her battle, in fact, Zemirah can keep up with the battle that complemented Verona.
Verona is an elemental cultivator, a type of cultivator who doesn't use weapons but uses gestures to make spell seals.
It was the first time Zemirah saw one, she was reminded of the fantasy movies on modern earth. It was so magical seeing the way Verona fights.
The burly man will fight the enemy head-on while Verona will stand behind and prepare her seals, finding a chance to kill the enemy in one move.
Zemirah fought beside the burly man with her sword, using sword techniques like [Twelve Constellations Sword Moves Technique] and [Starlight Wrath Sword Skill].
Verona saw Zemirah cutting off a man's arm using a sword move that has the power of the stars. The demonic cultivator shouted in pain, momentarily losing focus when Verona released her seal spell.
A large fire blade was aimed at the demonic cultivator's head, burning it to ashes. The headless body stopped and then fell forward with a thump.
Zemirah was used to Verona's way of attack and didn't think much after all this battle.
"Another Peak-Stage demonic cultivator." The burly man murmured as he kicked the enemy's body to check his breath.
They already killed three other peak-stage demonic cultivators and this is the fourth. The burly man was -in disbelief at how seemingly easy to kill enemies at Peak-Stage when they were just struggling to fight one earlier.
After confirming that the enemy was really dead, the burly man searched the corpse for his space storage and found a space ring and bracelet.
"Captain, this guy is loaded." The burly man was excited after finding two rare space storage and handed it to Verona.
Verona swept her consciousness and nodded, "See if you want any, Zemirah." She handed the two items to Zemirah who also swept her spiritual consciousness, "Let's divide the loots later."
Verona noticed before that Zemirah was rich and didn't have much greed for the loot. It confirmed her conjecture that this lady was from a prominent family. Even with that, Verona has no intention of being unfair in the loot distribution.
She nodded and kept the loot on her body first.
"Let's go. Let's help the others." Verona said after seeing Zemirah looking around. Probably finding enemies to fight.
Zemirah nodded happily. She was intoxicated with fighting as she felt herself getting more used to life-and-death battles like this. Slowly transforming the strength she accumulated into a real power that she can easily control now.
She was enjoying her fight when she started to forget about the fact that there were cultivators at the Foundation Building realm fighting outside the ship. Anyone who reaches the Foundation Building realm can rely on their own energy to let themselves fly.
This is one of the reasons the Foundation Building realm is the start of immortality.
A blood-red energy ball escaped the battle and landed on the flying ship. The booming sound startled everyone on the ship.
Zemirah took this chance to kill her enemy, a Late-Stage Energy Refinement realm demonic beast.
"Careful!" Zemirah shouted to other companions and looked worriedly at the situation outside the flying ship where the Foundation Building realm fights.
She saw the young master confronting four Foundation Building realm enemies. The additional enemy is not from the ones earlier.
Zemirah gritted her teeth when she saw the young master avoid a sneak attack when another attack awaited on the side.
His subordinates who are fighting are also anxious. They were in disguise on the trip this time, how could their enemies ambush them with such careful preparations?
When the young master was stabbed in his shoulder, his movements stagnated. The enemy took this chance to attack with more ferocity.
Zemirah knew that if the young man was defeated, the enemies would then clean up everyone on this flying ship.
With a determined look in her eyes, she made up her mind to help.
Searching for any Grade 2 talisman, she took out the [Ice Sword Hail Talisman], a Supreme-Quality Late-Stage Grade 2 offensive type talisman.
Finding the perfect timing, Zemirah waited for a chance to use the talisman and deal a heavy blow to the enemy.
She was quite worried that the young master would not be able to hold on, only sighing in relief when she saw him using defensive-type artifacts to barely defend himself.
The young man was holding a yellow jade bead, a Supreme-Quality Peak-Stage Grade 2 artifact that can defend against constant attack of Peak-Stage of Foundation Building realm called [Yellow Tiger Protection Jade Bead].
It was a precious defensive-type artifact that the emperor rewarded to his subjects. He managed to get one when he made a poem with his calligraphy that satisfied the reigning emperor.
Of course, Zemirah didn't know that. She was just focused on the battle while tightly holding the talisman.
When she saw the young man make a sword attack while his artifact bore the enemy's counter, Zemirah activated the talisman and directed it to the unknowing enemy who just suffered the young man's strike.
**
The demonic cultivators saw him using the well-known [Yellow Tiger Protection Jade Bead], instantly confirming their suspicions.
"It's really young master of Whitelock House!" They shouted excitedly.
The young man sneered and attacked, no longer holding back since the situation was becoming more dangerous. Besides, he already knew the traitor so acting has to end.
He attacks the strongest, a demonic cultivator who holds a fan artifact. The demonic cultivator's expression changed and quickly tried to defend.
The sword's energy managed to slash his stomach, injuring the woman she groaned in pain. Just as she thought to teach the young man a lesson for daring to injure her, a sudden danger alerted her to the flying ship.
It was so sudden everyone only saw a blue cold light different from the young man's sword attack. The sneak attack pierced the demonic cultivator with a fan, instantly taking away her life.
The other ice sword attacks the other enemies before dissipating.
The young man watched the events unfold before killing two enemies who were the most injured after seeing a chance.
The two enemies left, a demonic cultivator and a demonic beast, saw the dire situation and turned around.
The young man saw them escaping and gave chase, another light shot from the flying ship, and then an illusory phantom of a Bloodlust Flower appeared, trapping the two for a short time.
Yet that was enough for him to kill them.
After that, he turned to help his subordinates kill their enemies before everything calmed down.
Only then did the young man turn to look at the person who helped him.
It was the talisman master, the lady who always wears a white veil that covers the lower half of her face. Her fox eyes stared back at him and he could see the excitement and pride in them.
A smile formed on his thin red lips. Who would've thought…
**
Zemirah used two Grade 2 talismans, a Supreme-Quality Late-Stage Grade 2 [Ice Sword Hail Talisman] and a Supreme-Quality Low-Stage Grade 2 [Bloodlust Flower Trap Talisman].
But she thought it was worth it. Especially after the enemies were killed and everyone was finally saved.
It was just that another worry appeared, she's just an Energy Refinement realm cultivator but she possesses items beyond her realm.
She stared at the young man who also stared back. His usual gentlemanly temperament changed to a sharp but refined one. His white robe was stained with blood, his blood, and his enemies.
She watched him walk towards her without breaking their gaze. Zemirah felt her heart beat raced in her chest, she didn't know if it was from the adrenaline or nervousness or something else.
There is an urge to run and hide, maybe she will be silenced by the man and be looted.
But there is a proud impulse in her heart, telling her she has enough cards on her to protect herself. Since she can help him kill his enemies, she has something to do on her to do it again, this time the attack would be directed to him.
She met his gaze head-on until he stopped a few steps away from her.
She didn't speak and waited for his words.
The young man noticed it and smiled, "Lady Zemirah really gave this young master a surprise."
Zemirah hesitated whether to play dumb or just be frank about it. In the end, concluded that lying won't lead to a good end.
"Young master is praising me."
The young man laughed, "I owe Lady Zemirah a favor for your help."
With a curious expression, Zemirah asked, "But I think young master didn't need my help at all in killing those demonic cultivator and demonic beasts."
The young man smiled and didn't answer but said, "Here's the loot, take whatever you want."
Zemirah was quite curious about the properties of the Foundation Building realm cultivators, and Demonic Cultivators and Demonic Beasts at that.
There are six Foundation Building realms who died at the battle today. Four demonic cultivators and 2 demonic beasts.
One is a [Dark Clawed Wolf] and a [Blood Spotted Snake].
The equivalent of the Foundation Building realm to a beast cultivator is Body Refining, which is why they are in their beast form since the next realm is the Transformation realm where they can transform into humanoid form.
The young man held out a space ring, "I transferred all of the loot here to not be troublesome." He explained.
Zemirah nodded, "Oh." Then she swept her spiritual consciousness inside.
There are quite a lot of properties inside, more than her properties, though the quality is vastly different.
There is not one Supreme-Quality at all. At most, Rare-Quality.
The young man watched Zemirah choose what she wanted with a smile in his eyes. He was observing the lady who was hidden behind a veil. The mystery around her thickened after this battle.
The one that made her pay more attention besides the Grade 2 talisman she had was the quality of her items. He felt the talisman she used earlier at the Supreme-Quality, otherwise, it would have been difficult to kill and trap the enemies earlier.
And now as he observed her more up close, he noticed that the jade pendant hanging on her waist was an artifact.
Most importantly, it's Celestial-Quality.
Something that even his family treasured.