Chapter 93 Clash <TOC> Chapter 95 Brain in the Vat
Translator: SumTLMan
Among awakened of the same level, the range of power varies greatly. The sacred texts, techniques of energy manipulation, innate genes, and acquired nutrition all affect one’s strength and constitution.
The biggest difference between the fourth and fifth levels lies in the quality and quantity of psychic energy, as well as mastery over secret techniques.
It is not uncommon for some exceptionally talented individuals at the fifth level to have a strength advantage over those at the fourth level.
For massive psychic beings like Dao Li, having a strength advantage over someone like Cedric, who is a level higher, is an ordinary occurrence.
Cedric held his curved blade horizontally in front of him, not daring to let the hooves of the horse strike him.
Li Mu urged his horse to increase the distance, dismounted, and grasped the Blade of Annihilation reflecting the firelight.
“Get up,” he said to Cedric.
Cedric, looking somewhat disheveled, wiped the sweat from his face and stood up from the muddy ground.
“What do you mean?” he asked darkly.
“Initially, I didn’t have a clear concept of how strong a fourth-level awakener could be. After all, the strength of the awakened I’ve encountered has fluctuated greatly. But after our recent exchange, I’m confident that I have a 70% chance of killing you, so I want to test my own judgment.”
Li Mu gently caressed the hilt of his blade with his thumb and spoke flatly to Cedric:
“In my assessment, it’s utterly impossible for you to kill me. This risk is worth taking.”
Cedric’s veins bulged on his face, and his anger, combined with the swelling from his burn, turned his face beet-red, making him look like an evil spirit.
“Never before, never before has a fifth-level waste dared to insult me like this,” he said through gritted teeth.
“In that case, you must have been humiliated by a fourth-level awakener before, which would strengthen the position of reinforcement awakened among the Soul Cult,” said Li Mu, holding his blade with one hand.
“Chewba was like that, and so are you. You possess powerful psychic energy but are always plagued by an air of decadence. As an enhancer awakened, you have no pride, bowing down to those stronger than yourselves and only daring to wield your blades against those weaker.”
The essence of psychic energy originates from the soul and is a derivative of individual will. If one’s will is weak, it will manifest in their psychic energy.
“So, I dare say, I have a seventy percent chance of slaying you!”
“You must be from the Eastern Xia! Only the arrogant awakened enhancers from the Eastern Xia would act like this! I’ll kill you!”
Cedric let out a beast-like howl, and a pale psychic energy enveloped his curved blade.
In the next instant, he lunged at Li Mu, his curved blade transformed into a venomous snake’s fangs, tearing through the air.
Li Mu parried the attack, their blades clashed, and amidst the ear-piercing sound of metal friction, sparks flew.
As the two locked gazes, their psychic energies collided intensely.
“Your bestiality is worthless in my presence.”
They withdrew their blades and struck again; the unparalleled sharp weapons collided more than a dozen times within a second.
With his accelerated neural state, Li Mu easily captured Cedric’s blade trajectory. His power hadn’t yet grown to the peak of the fifth energy level, but relying on his footwork, he continuously diverted the force from Cedric’s blade and channeled all his strength into a thunderous strike.
He not only refrained from using the devastating flames of the Blade of Annihilation but also didn’t employ Electrokinesis or Dragon Roar.
“Tsk!”
Li Mu’s strike left a long, narrow wound on Cedric’s right rib.
The Hidden Bone Energy wasn’t well-suited for defense; even though Cedric had trained his upper body to the point where his energy was visibly external, he was still unable to defend against the strike.
Cedric could feel the needle-like Hidden Bone Energy penetrating the wound, causing half his body to go numb instantly.
He coughed up blood, wiped the wound with his hand to stop the blood mist from spraying out, but it wasn’t as easy to deal with the Hidden Bone Energy that had entered his body.
Any movement caused excruciating, tearing pain in his rib area.
Li Mu’s psychic energy was of exceptionally high quality, making it impossible for Cedric to dispel it during the battle.
Cedric let out a strange cry, swinging his blade wildly, and was struck once more on his arm.
However, he also took advantage of the situation to put some distance between himself and Li Mu.
His facial muscles trembled as he stared at the wound on his arm, deep enough to expose the bone.
“What kind of monster are you?!”
Cedric had never seen a fifth-level awakened enhancer possessing such terrifying strength.
The opponent had effortlessly suppressed him without even using the special abilities of his long blade.
Ordinary fifth-level awakened individuals would be defeated directly by his Hidden Bone Energy upon weapon collision, and most of the time, they wouldn’t even need to use the Hidden Bone Energy, as they could be slain with a single strike.
“Don’t think about running away. Today, either I kill you, or you kill me. With the presence of Dao Li, you cannot escape,” Li Mu said as he flicked the blood droplets off his blade.
He could sense that Cedric’s psychic energy was beginning to waver, rapidly weakening and on the verge of exiting his berserk state.
“You’re afraid, Cedric. Your energy manipulation is pathetic!”
A cold sweat trickled down his cheek and hung from his chin, Cedric finally understood why the heretic in front of him could so brazenly roam around the territory of the Soul Cult.
“Damn it! You worthless people, do you think you’ll survive after I’m dead?”
He yelled directly at the disorganized armed cultists.
“He has that psychic mutated horse; no one can escape!”
As Li Mu and Cedric clashed, the panicked cultists gradually calmed down.
Upon hearing Cedric, several armed cultists attempted to shoot at Li Mu, but their bullets only produced sparks on his ceramic armor, akin to mosquito bites.
Li Mu consciously dodged bullets aimed at his head.
“Boom!”
He leaped into the midst of several armed cultists, and with a horizontal slash, bodies were strewn everywhere.
An armed cultist, fortunate enough to be alive, clutched his severed arm, gushing blood, and let out a mournful scream.
Li Mu vibrated his blade, changed his posture, and successively slew several more armed cultists. Those cultists seemed to offer up their vital points to the Blade of Annihilation, utterly powerless to resist.
With a single thrust, he impaled a struggling cultist on the ground and pulled out the Blade of Annihilation.
“Cedric, no one can help you now. If you want to survive, the only way is to defeat me,” Li Mu said.
His movements were too fast; Cedric couldn’t even coordinate an attack with the armed cultists. With a desperate, beastly roar, he charged and swung his blade at Li Mu’s neck.
Li Mu’s strike landed on the previous notch in the curved blade, severing it. In a backhanded drag and slash, he disemboweled Cedric.
The foul-smelling entrails spilled across the ground.