Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse
Chapter 380: Needless Cruelty

The two cultivators stopped one mile away from the banquet. They bowed at each other, then engaged in a brutal melee. One was a wizard and the other a swordsman—flames filled the void, apocalyptic blizzards crashed. A single blade swam through them like a sparrow, enduring the elements for a chance to strike. The battle was showy and intense, though it remained fought by six-fruits—in the expedition teams, this was the lowest level.

Eventually, the Hand of God wizard prevailed, freezing his opponent into an ice column before gently thawing him awake. The swordsman seemed unwilling, but there was nothing he could do. Biting back his bitterness, he said, “Thank you,” and flew back to his seat.

The wizard laughed. He shouldn’t have spent too much strength because he loudly proclaimed, “Who’s next!?”

Jack looked towards the cultivators around him. According to Shi Mo, this went from weakest to strongest, so it wasn’t his time yet. Below the nine-fruits, he was the strongest person present.

A green-skinned woman rose next. Even her hair was green, and Jack’s inspection classified her as a dryad. She flew to the battle site a mile away and bowed lightly. “Please give me guidance,” she said, then flashed into battle.

This spar remained low-level in Jack’s eyes, but the green woman’s battle style had him intrigued. She wielded the power of Life—yet, she was no Physical cultivator, but a wizard. Her Dao of Life was so vibrant and lively that it flooded the space around her, stretching out for miles. It formed tendrils which lashed at the Hand of God wizard. The tendrils swallowed the elements, taking them as nutrition. When the wizard summoned elementals, the tendrils directly flooded them with life energy, bloating their bodies until they exploded.

Finally, the wizard grew weary. The scales were tipped against him, and the tendrils lashed out to grab him. His entire body shone green. His own magic defended him, pushing back the rampant life energy, but they couldn’t shut it out completely. New limbs speared out of his flesh, which then began to grow asymmetrically in various ways. He bent over as his back grew bubble-like tumors. His hair grew wildly until it covered his eyes. Sharp screams left his mouth as who-knows-what occurred inside his body.

“I admit defeat!” he managed to scream. The life invasion instantly withdrew, returning his body to normal but leaving his mind shaken. Without saying anything, he flew back to his seat and plopped down heavily.

Jack’s gaze remained on those tendrils. He was intrigued. The Dao of Life can be used in such a way?

Perhaps he should look into it. After all, he possessed a veritable ocean of life energy inside him, infinitely larger than what the dryad had exhibited. If he could weaponize it, his power would rise yet again!

Jack was happy about this battle; the Hand of God, not so much. It was a bit too grotesque. Many cultivators had disgust in their eyes, but nobody spoke. Yet, on the great table of the Elders, someone did. A woman whose entire body radiated untouchable holiness frowned. “What a disgusting power,” she said directly.

That was Elder Purity, the greatest powerhouse present. Only Elder Boatman could match her.

Facing her words, the dryad was embarrassed, and the Black Hole Church cultivators were unhappy. She had just publicly mocked one of them. Were the Elders going to say nothing?

On the Elders’ table, Heavenstar shot a glance at Boatman, who was disinclined to bother. Therefore, the burden fell on Heavenstar himself, whose status was normally insufficient to argue with Purity.

“Life and death are the natural states of the world,” he said. “For cultivators, power is the most important thing. Beauty can only come second.”

Elder Ocean laughed. “Well-spoken, Heavenstar. Only those with power can pursue beauty. For the weak, even freaks are prizes.”

These words sounded nice on the surface, but they were actually vicious insults. In just three sentences, Ocean had called the Black Hole Church weak and its disciple a freak.

Heavenstar frowned. His kindly old man image dropped a little. “Who is weak and who is strong, let our disciples find out.”

“Exactly my point!” Ocean replied, still laughing. He seemed extremely confident in their lineup. “Carry on, my disciples. Who here has a strong enough stomach to endure defeating that witch?”

“It would be my honor, Elder,” a cultivator said, standing and flying over to the dryad. He was a broad-shouldered young man bursting with vitality. Jack even felt some hints of body tempering on him.

The dryad said nothing, directly attacking. Her tendrils covered the stars, swarming the youth from every direction. He laughed heroically. Space shattered under him, leading into a crazy dance of teleportation. He was everywhere and nowhere, dodging all tendrils. They couldn’t even touch the hem of his robes.

At the C-Grade, most people possessed at least some control over space. The dryad couldn’t lock it down everywhere to prevent him from moving, but she could stabilize her immediate surroundings—otherwise, he would teleport beside her and directly end the battle.

However, that wasn’t enough. The young man appeared a mile away from her, then charged. The broadsword in his hand tore through the vines, and his Dao defended against the few that touched him. Finally, he reached the dryad and slapped the flat of his blade against her shoulder, sending her flying away.

The vines disappeared, the tension evaporated. The battle was over.

However, the tension between the Elders remained potent, and the youth was too smart to waste it. After slapping away the dryad, he frowned at his blade and wiped it against his sleeve, making a show of how dirty she was. That was provocation. It fanned the flames in the heart of every Church cultivator, including the Elders.

Boatman, however, remained completely unmoved. As for Heavenstar, he could only say so much by himself.

Nobody was laughing anymore. This was a battle concerning the honor of the two factions. And, even more, it concerned the confidence of each expedition team. This would have an impact inside the hidden realm.

A lightning cultivator stepped up for the Church. Her hair was wildly fluttering, and her eyes rained sparks. She tussled against the broad-shouldered young man for a minute before barely winning and regaining some honor for the Church. However, she was mostly spent. This was the third cultivator of the Church to fight, but the third cultivator of the Hand was only just stepping up, full of energy. In the battles so far, the Hand of God held a small but clear advantage.

Moreover, the remaining low-level cultivators for the Church were Brock and Jack. One was too weak to fight at this level, and the other had to save his strength for later. If Jack stood up now, he would easily persist until the eight-fruits of the Hand went up, and the battles could only rise in level. All the seven and eight-fruits of the Church would have lost their chance to compete.

“Oh, you actually sent out someone decent!” Elder Ocean exclaimed, gazing at the lightning woman. “I expected Von to win a couple more times… In that case, Sassa, how about you step up?”

“Yes, Master,” a girl replied respectfully. She looked young and innocent, barely nineteen or twenty years old. Of course, her actual age was up to anyone’s guess; her youthful appearance just indicated that she’d reached the D-Grade very early in her life.

As she flew to the stage, everyone’s gaze was on her. She had addressed Elder Ocean as master—was she his direct disciple? That was an extremely great position for a C-Grade! Her strength could be imagined.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Moreover…she was only at the five-fruit boundary.

In expeditions like these, it wasn’t uncommon for low-level but promising cultivators to join along. That didn’t mean they could jump multiple realms to fight—most of the times, they were just there for the experience. The Hand of God cultivators assumed Jack and Brock were such people, and the Church had assumed that this girl, Sassa, was one of those as well. Nobody took them seriously or expected them to fight. To everyone’s eyes, they were just children dragged along.

Of course, the Church knew that Jack was an exception.

If this girl now rose to the stage, and she was even specifically introduced by an Elder…could she possess extreme battle power?

“My name is Sassa. Please advise!” the girl said as she stood against the lightning woman. She was short and graceful, with dark hair done in a ponytail and fitting dark clothes covering her body. Her eyes sparked with a playful gaze, but for some reason, Jack felt uncomfortable as he observed them.

The lightning woman attacked. Space cracked all around them and thunder rumbled out, along with lightning bolts of extreme power. This wasn’t the normal lightning of a storm; it was of far, far higher quality, and the power it contained was highly oppressive.

Since these were Dao skills and guided by the woman, they couldn’t actually move to the speed of the light. But they remained ungodly fast. They zapped at the girl near-instantly.

She dodged them.

Her body danced through the lightning, bending and curving with unnatural flexibility as if she had no bones. She laughed. “Is that all? I thought lightning was fast!”

She flew towards the lightning woman, still dodging everything like a snake wading through grass. Just before she arrived, she slithered through space and reappeared behind the woman. Her hand shot out. Two fingers struck under the woman’s ribs, directing an insidious shockwave into her body.

The lightning woman was not sent flying. However, her eyes went blank, she spat out blood, and then fainted on the spot. Her lightning disappeared with her.

“Whoops,” said Sassa, feigning surprise. “I thought she would be stronger… My bad!”

The Church cultivators seethed with anger. They didn’t even wait for the Elders before shouting at the girl. She could say whatever she wanted, but this was clearly done on purpose. She had been heavy-handed and seriously injured someone. Depending on the degree of injuries, this could influence the lightning woman’s fate in the hidden realm.

What a cruel move!

“What are you all blabbering about?” Elder Ocean thundered, his aura instantly suppressing all the Church cultivators. “Sassa saw an opponent one fruit above her and didn’t dare hold back. Isn’t that common practice in the cultivation world? If your disciple was injured by the first move of a lower-level opponent, she can only blame her own weakness!”

The Church cultivators seethed, but what could they say? They couldn’t argue against an Elder, and even if they could, their tongues were tied. Ocean’s words were not incorrect. All that mattered was strength. Even though everyone knew this was done on purpose, refuting Ocean was difficult!

At the Elders’ table, Boatman remained nonplussed, but Heavenstar’s expression turned ugly. His aura spread out and shielded his cultivators from Ocean’s pressure, then he said, “Accidents can happen in a spar. However, once is an accident, but twice is on purpose. Don’t let that happen again.”

Ocean snorted. “I am not my disciples, Heavenstar. If an accident happens in a battle between opponents of similar strength, nobody can be blamed. Of course, we will be careful; did you hear that, Sassa? If your opponents can’t even take a casual strike, you should try not to injure them.”

“Yes, Master,” Sassa replied obediently. Ocean’s words were once again an insult aimed at the Black Hole Church, but they could only stomach it. Their disciples were being suppressed in battle; unless that changed, anything they said would only be the excuses of the weak.

On stage, Sassa revealed an innocent look as she gazed at the Church side of the banquet. “Who’s next?” she asked. Her eyes scanned over the seven-fruits and even the eight-fruits—her arrogance was off the charts!

Of course, she didn’t even glance at Jack and Brock. In her eyes, they were barely even present. As for Jack, he also didn’t stare too much, because he was afraid that his intentions would seep through. He yearned to go up and fight; however, doing so now would be improper. This girl’s strength was at the seven-fruit boundary, so it was clearly the seven-fruits’ turn.

The seven-fruits of the Church hesitated, glancing at each other. Nobody wanted to go up first. If they won against this girl, that would be fine; however, if they lost to someone two fruits below them, the humiliation would be hard to endure. After all, these weren’t normal seven-fruits; they were the best elites the Cathedral had to offer. They were usually the ones jumping realms to fight, not the opposite!

“What are you waiting for?” Heavenstar shouted, his mood ruined. In hesitating to go up, they were making it seem as if they were afraid. “Step up!”

One seven-fruit bit the bullet. He rose and flew to the space that served as the battle stage. He did not bow or show respect; instead, he drew a spear from his space ring and directly charged. Every second of fighting this girl was humiliation; he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

“Fierce!” Sassa exclaimed, her laughter cheerful. “Let’s see what you can do!”

Suddenly, her eyes changed. The irises elongated, becoming slimmer and vertical. They now resembled the eyes of a snake. At the same time, her aura shot up.

“This girl is what’s known as a prime genius,” Shi Mo explained, leaning closer to Jack and Brock. “The two of you belong to that category too, as does Min Ling. It signifies people who can jump multiple ranks to fight other world-class elites. They don’t appear often… Four of them being at the C-Grade at the same time is almost unheard of.”

Jack nodded, but his attention was on the battle.

The spear came down, but Sassa bent her body in a completely unnatural fashion, just like a snake. She then coiled around the spear shaft with extreme speed, reaching her opponent’s hands.

This was an elite seven-fruit cultivator. He was not weak. With a shout, his aura flared, and his spear erupted with flames. Sassa chuckled as she disappeared, teleporting behind him, but the man teleported as well. They exchanged a few moves, one spear fighting a snake as they danced around the void. However, no matter how the man tried, he could not touch Sassa. Ten moves later, her hand swiped by his thigh. She used no weapon, only two fingers extended in the shape of snake fangs. As she passed by his leg, blood and flesh erupted, while the back half of his thigh disappeared.

The man’s eyes widened. Sassa reappeared in the distance, covering her mouth as she laughed. At the same time, everyone saw her lick her blood-stained fingers. Coming from an innocent-looking young girl, that move was at least disturbing, but everyone was too shocked to say anything, and Elder Purity—who usually disliked anything ugly—naturally wouldn’t speak against her own people.

The spear-wielder was unwilling. His face turned purple in anger as he clenched his spear, then fell still. That stillness continued for a suspiciously long amount of time. It was only then that an eight-fruit healer from the Church realized what was going on and rushed over.

Sassa’s strike wasn’t just bloody. It was also venomous.

After the healer treated the spear-wielder for a few seconds, he finally moved again, screaming out in pain. Whatever this poison had done to his body, it was not pleasant.

“Sorry!” Sassa exclaimed, the same look of innocence on her face. “I thought he was going to resist it.”

The Church cultivators had eyes that almost bulged out in anger. This Sassa seemed like a little girl, but she was actually a vicious snake! She was heavy-handed and injured others on purpose!

But what could they say? The man she fought had been two fruits higher than her. Any words to defend him would just paint him in an even more pathetic light than his current one.

Moreover, this was all part of Sassa’s plan. She had made one thing clear; anyone who stood against her would not escape lightly. She smiled coyly, then said, “Who’s next?”

The seven-fruits stirred in their seats, none standing up. They were not idiots. Whoever rose would be injured and humiliated; if that was the case, they might as well remain seated and suffer just the humiliation. As for defeating her, none of the seven-fruits present had any hopes. Their battle powers weren’t too far apart. If the spear-wielder had lost so casually, they would lose as well.

For a time, nobody moved. Elder Heavenstar didn’t speak either.

It wasn’t that the Church had nobody who could beat this girl. The eight-fruits could fight her equally, and the nine-fruits could easily defeat her. However, skipping all the seven-fruits to send up an eight-fruit would be a tacit admittance of defeat; no matter what happened later on, nothing would wash away this humiliation. At the same time, sending up a seven-fruit was hopeless. Even if Elder Heavenstar forced someone to go, they would just make a fool out of themselves.

As for Min Ling, even though she was a seven-fruit cultivator, she was just far too strong; she was the Church’s greatest C-Grade, and that was known to everyone. Sending her out to deal with a mere five-fruit girl would be even worse than sending out the eight-fruits.

And Jack was in a similar situation. Sending him out would imply that even their eight-fruits couldn’t handle this girl.

“Hahaha!” Elder Ocean laughed. “What are your disciples doing, Heavenstar? Are they deaf?”

Heavenstar gritted his teeth. He was about to ask an eight-fruit cultivator to take the stage, but right as he opened his mouth, he paused. He sensed movement beside him. Elder Boatman, who had not moved an inch so far, finally spoke three words: “Jack Rust, go.”