Rachel exhaled and climbed to her feet. Her body wasn’t at peak condition, but did that matter? Life threw unexpected curveballs all the time. She believed those who waited for optimal conditions before acting were wasting their time. It wasn’t that she was impatient, but she was confident in crushing whatever came her way regardless of her state. Out of respect for her hosts, she opened the window and jumped out, her wings of ice spreading behind her as she fell. She flew up towards the oncoming energy source, a shirtless man with golden hair. He was standing in the sky, looking down on the world with the same expression a human would wear when looking down on a line of ants walking in his way.

Rachel’s chest pounded, and her eyes widened, her pupils narrowing as she concentrated all her attention on the man. What did it take to stand in the sky without external aid? Was he constantly emitting spiritual energy from the soles of his feet, similar to the way Grandpa Vremya’s battlesuit golems flew? Perhaps it was through a different method that she couldn’t grasp. Either way, just by standing in the sky, the man was giving a show of unparalleled strength. As Rachel flew closer, the pressure coming off the man grew stronger. The distance she usually traveled with one flap of her wings now required three. The man’s spiritual energy was so thick it was tangible, physically affecting his surroundings. Was this the result of a sprouted spirit seed?

The man, Maximillius, crossed his arms, waiting for Rachel to approach. How long had it been since someone challenged him? Although he wasn’t directly challenged by her, by going on a rampage in his territory, wasn’t that the same as questioning his authority? In the end, what result did she expect? Of the soul-seed cultivators within the federation, there weren’t that many who could reach the peak. Only those with unwavering drive and focus could reach that point. Out of respect for his opponent, Maximillius wasn’t going to hold back. When his opponent was three meters away, he concentrated his energy into his fist and lunged forward. The air was set ablaze from the friction between his body and the wind, and his fist made contact with Rachel’s face. Like a comet, she flew towards the ground in a straight line, smashing against a car parked on the side of the street. It exploded in a heap of metal scrap and bits of fire, the oil inside having caught ablaze from her burning hair. A frown appeared on Maximillius’ face. It wasn’t possible for a soul-seed cultivator to react to his movements, not from such a close range; however, a sword and a thin layer of ice had blocked his fist from destroying her head. She must’ve predicted his actions and moved to block at the same time he moved to attack. As suspected, anyone who could reach his opponent’s level wouldn’t be a pushover.

Rachel climbed to her feet and coughed out a mouthful of blood. It froze in the air before hitting the ground. She grimaced and stared up at her opponent. His speed was unbelievable. There wasn’t any technique involved in that punch; the damage she sustained was due to the man’s raw, physical strength. There were two bloody parallel lines on her face where her sword had cut into her skin when it was forced back by the man’s fist. However, the blood didn’t flow; instead, it solidified, turning into ice. Rachel narrowed her eyes and summoned her wings once more, the first pair having shattered from the collision with the ground. There wasn’t a hint of fear on her face as she flew upwards, charging at the false immortal again.

Maximillius nodded to himself. If a soul-seed cultivator’s will could be broken in a single hit, then they were worthless. Cultivation was inherently tackling impossible. Surpassing the limit of one’s longevity was an act going against the heavens. If this soul-seed cultivator were to give up now, how could she ever expect to become an immortal? Once again, Maximillius readied his stance. The instant his opponent entered the range where her reflexes were too slow to react to his attacks, he’d strike. Five meters. Four meters. Three meters. Two! Maximillius stepped forward and punched, aiming for his opponent’s torso this time. Once again, she was launched into the ground like a meteor, but the frown on Maximillius’ face deepened. Once again, his strike was blocked. He had even waited for her to get closer than last time. Was it her reflexes that were abnormal, or was it her ability to read her opponent’s attacks? Either way, it didn’t matter.

Maximillius curled up into a ball, his head facing the ground. He kicked the air, launching himself towards the earth. His opponent was tenacious and resilient, but she didn’t have the ability to inflict any damage on him. Since that was the case, dragging the fight out any longer was pointless. The road shattered and flew up into the air upon impact. Maximillius dusted himself off and walked towards the crater that Rachel had created when she fell. Since his opponent was a criminal, he didn’t have to soften his blows. He was told to capture her alive, but since when did a false immortal have to listen to orders? Those politicians should’ve been thanking him for even exiting seclusion. With that thought in mind, Maximillius concentrated his spiritual energy into his fists and approached the edge of the crater. To his surprise, it was empty. There was a hole at the bottom. A sigh escaped from Maximillius’ mouth. In the end, he broke his opponent’s spirit, and she fled rather than confronting him again. His face darkened as he stared at the bottom of the crater. Did he really have to go down there himself? A false immortal crawling through the earth like a worm, how embarrassing.

A slight tremor ran through the earth, and Maximillius froze. The corner of his lips perked upwards. It seemed like his opponent hadn’t chosen to escape. The ground beneath him burst apart as a sword rose out of the ground, slicing towards his ankle. Even if he was a false immortal, he saw no reason to pit his ankle against a blade. He shifted ahead, dodging the sword strike. Surprisingly, that wasn’t the only strike! A second sword rose out of the ground, slashing at his ankle again. The process repeated itself ten more times before finally ending. Maximillius’ brow furrowed. He was told there was only one soul-seed expert, yet those strikes all were capable of harming him. Either the woman had twelve swords to spare, or there were another eleven cultivators here to ambush him.

Maximillius roared and stomped on the ground, sending his spiritual energy into the earth. No matter what the case was, he’d flush everything out with brute strength! His spiritual energy rippled and surged, cracking and shattering the ground before launching the broken pieces into the air. It was like a giant had scooped a bit of the earth out with an invisible spoon. Twelve battlesuits were revealed, and all of their visors snapped towards the false immortal, glaring at him. At once, they flew forward, their bodies propelled by fire coming out of their heels and elbows.

“Cheap tricks!” Maximillius shouted. His body turned into a blur, and fire illuminated the air, following the traces of his movements. He punched a battlesuit, his fist going straight through its breastplate and coming out its back. To his surprise, there was no one inside the suit! The suit cackled, its laughter coming out of the speakers embedded near its neck. It grabbed Maximillius’ arm, holding him as tightly as it could. The remaining battlesuits stabbed their swords towards the false immortal, but his body turned into a blur once more. The first battlesuit was flung off of his arm, and he freed himself from the encirclement, pushing aside two golems that were in his path. At the moment his momentum came to a halt, a small beam of light shot out of the ground, flying towards his lower belly. He tried to slow it down with his spiritual energy, but it seemed to be completely unaffected. He couldn’t avoid the beam; all he could do was twist his waist. The beam of light shot through his body, narrowly missing his dantian. After the object passed through his body, he was able to identify what it was, but he wasn’t sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him or not. The item that injured him seemed to be a … sharpened piece of chalk. Not wasting any time, Maximillius forced his spiritual energy into his fist and punched the ground, aiming for the direction the chalk had come from.

A bloody figure flew out of the ground, five feet away from Maximillius. It was Rachel. One of her arms hung limply against her side, and her legs were bending the wrong way at the knees. When Maximillius reached out to grab her, three battlesuits got in the way and grabbed his arm. Frozen droplets of blood fell from Rachel’s body, and the wings on her back were stained red from her blood. However, despite her condition, there was a smile plastered on her face. “I understand now,” she said and cackled. “Fighting you has been enlightening.”

Maximillius frowned and waved his arm, sending the battlesuits flying. “Is that so?” He didn’t know what she understood, but it didn’t matter. “I suppose you can die happy then!” How long had it been since an opponent injured him? At first, he thought her struggles were cute, but after nearly having his cultivation crippled by a sneak attack, he was furious! His body set the air ablaze as he rushed forward, but more battlesuits got in his way, buying enough time for Rachel to pull out a talisman.

A puzzled expression appeared on Maximillius’ face. In this day and age, who the hell still used talismans? However, that expression quickly disappeared when his opponent shattered the talisman. Motes of light engulfed her body, and she disappeared from view. Through his spiritual energy, he could sense fluctuations in space. Had she just randomly teleported herself? Out of anger, Maximillius smashed the golems, breaking them into bits. It took three minutes to dispose of all of them, and when he was done, he spat on the ground. Did she really think she could escape just because of a talisman? Well, she was right. Luckily for her, his cultivation was attuned towards fire, not space. However, it wouldn’t be long before her location was discovered. She might have had a talisman, but he had satellites!