His eyes go bloodshot. He gathers every last drop of power and winds up his strongest move. A tidal wave of spirit energy crashes toward me. Almost as dramatic as the atomic bomb shock wave from earlier. Almost. Compared to an actual atomic bomb, this is just noise.
Every cultivator has the same fatal weakness. Big moves drain spirit energy fast. Throw out a few of those and you're running on empty. Recharging means sitting still and letting your spirit roots slowly refill. By the time it's full again, the moment has long passed.
This time, six of my twelve shield layers shatter.
I pull my particle handgun from storage. The moment it's out, I activate transformation mode and it reshapes itself into a long sword that fits right into this world. I raise it high above my head and call down lightning from the sky.
In the cultivation realm, summoning heavenly lightning is a technique reserved for soul transformation stage masters. I sneak a glance at the invisible thunder device hovering overhead. Back in the interstellar realm, you could buy this thing from a street vendor. Nine ninety-nine with free shipping, and they throw in a free scrubbing cloth. Leave a five star review and get three coins back. Cheap? Sure. Effective? Absolutely.
An ultra high voltage surge drops from the sky in an instant, channeling straight down through the particle sword and into the master. The boom shakes the ground beneath our feet. The master goes flying like a kite with a snapped string, hurled hundreds of meters through the air. His spirit root is reduced to ash. He hits the ground, vomiting blood.
The crowd stares with even wider, more terrified eyes. All except Vera. This Gold Core waste is burning with envy. But beneath it, I catch a flicker of something else. Genuine awe.
I roll my eyes at her. In my eyes, Vera will always be a total lost cause. Back in the interstellar realm, teenagers pilot mech suits into battle against the insect horde. Vera is well past thirty, pushing middle age, and barely pulling her weight. She'd even get rejected as a woodcutter at a major sect. A waste through and through.
I poke the system. "Want to see what a real beloved script looks like?"
The system trembles. "What are you planning now?"
I slowly pull out a single stalk of jade Buddha branch. If the jade spirit mushroom can repair a spirit root, then the jade Buddha branch is in another league entirely. It can bring a destroyed spirit root back from the dead.
I dangle it in front of a crowd of starving wolf stares and put on a show of hesitation. "I happen to grab a stalk of jade Buddha branch back in the trial realm. Only the one, though. Who should get it?"
The beloved script collapses completely. Right now, Eli could have ten halos stacked on him and nobody would spare him a glance. Everyone is scrambling for this one lifeline.
In the cultivation realm, where only the strong survive, cultivation is everything. Lose it and you become an ant crushed underfoot by anyone who feels like it. A life of humiliation used as cannon fodder, and not even knowing how it ends.
Vera is the fastest to react. She crawls over and immediately hits the emotional angle. "Ash, we've been engaged since childhood. I'm your future wife. That jade Buddha branch belongs to me."
"Nonsense. I raised Ash. That medicine belongs to your master. And Vera already called off the engagement. What betrothal are you talking about?"
"Ash, when I first joined the sect, you said I was your favorite. I've wanted to be a potion cultivator my whole life. Without my spirit root, how am I supposed to live?"
For just a moment, I almost feel like I'm the one holding the beloved script. Eli gets shoved clean into the corner. Nobody even glances at him, let alone thinks about giving him the medicine.
I toss the jade Buddha branch into the air. The crowd throws themselves at it like a pack of rabid dogs.
The old fox always wins. The master snatches it and swallows it whole in one gulp.
Only after it's down his throat do I slap my hands to my face, eyes wide with horror. "Oh no. That cultivation pill Eli gave me earlier. I think I accidentally mixed it into the jade Buddha branch juice."
The words are barely out of my mouth before the master lets out a retching sound and vomits a massive mouthful of black blood. The arsenic is kicking in.
I put on my most innocent face. "Master, are you all right? What's happening?"
A Nascent Soul stage cultivator isn't going to die from a little arsenic. But the jade Buddha branch, contaminated by the poison, has destroyed his spirit root completely. No coming back from that. There's no fixing it.
The master is so overcome with rage that he spins around and slaps Eli clean off his feet. The group's darling goes flying like a rag doll and hits the ground, barely breathing. The master doesn't even glance at him. He lunges straight at me, wraps himself around my leg, and starts weeping.
"Ash, your master's spirit root is almost gone. Please, just one more stalk. I'm begging you."
I ignore every word and look up at the sky.
Dark demon energy is churning overhead, thicker and heavier by the second. My entire arsenal of star grade weapons can't produce an effect like that.
The system is screaming inside my head. "Player, we are done for. That's the demon lord of this world. His combat power is on par with Transcendence stage."