35 The Meet

Shura did not sleep that night at all, he couldn't risk it. What if his enemy attacked him before he was prepared to welcome them? Because of this, he was going to act right now. He had no time to waste at all.

His cultivation was high enough. He did cultivate painstakingly for some time after all, although he wasn't the strongest, he still had some accomplishment in it. Because of this, not sleeping for a day or two, or three didn't matter at all. He quickly went around the city buying materials for the construction of the defensive formations in his house. He needed to be absolutely prepared for what was going to happen the next day. He couldn't afford to make a mistake. A single mistake might cost him everything. Now that he knew what he was after and there was a clear path toward it, he couldn't allow himself to screw up.

It was very normal for a strong cultivator with sufficient knowledge and means to fortify their residence with all manners of formations and traps and other defensive measures. Although Shura couldn't be considered such a figure, he was able to something like that in his own way. Shura had only gotten his house recently, and it had happened during a period of time that he didn't want to think about anything at all. Because of this, he had neglected to place defensive measures in his house.

He had also never had a fixed residence that he placed importance in either, so he had never thought of fortifying it at all.

But now since he was forced to deal with matters of the cultivating world, and because he had the need for it, he was going to place defensive formations in his house. They would act as an aid to him in case he was attacked, they would also hinder his opponent and could even repel enemies. He would also have the home-field advantage. His enemies would be weakened but he would be strengthened as long as they fought in or near his house-protecting formations.

The formation would be varied, he did have the knowledge after all. It would be a waste not to use them. There would be warning formations to tell him if someone was sneaking up on him, sensing formations to glean all sort of information, illusion formations to deceive and confuse, defensive formations, offensive formations, and even a formation that increased his strength as long as he was inside of it.

Shura went around town selling all the loot he had obtained last night. The sum he had obtained from selling everything valuable turned out to be a small fortune. This small fortune was enough for him to construct all the formations he had wanted, althought he level wouldn't be the strongest or have the highest level, it would still be decent enough for his use.

By the time Shura returned home, the sun had not risen yet. He had been up all night running around the city buying and selling things, but he didn't feel tired or any different at all. A cultivator's body was different from a mortal. If one was strong enough, they wouldn't ever need to sleep either.

The only change that had occurred since he was last here was that the bloody mess on the ground had disappeared. There were no corpses or even a single drop of blood. There were no destructions nor any of the signs earlier that a battle had occurred there.

Whether the authorities did this or if it was the enemies lurking in the shadow, Shura didn't know. Although he had guessed that it was probably the authorities. This was a world dominated by cultivators, and cultivators had their own violent and deadly culture. It would be a common thing for people to kill each other all the time, perhaps all throughout the day, even in a city that looked as peaceful as this city.

There would be surely a system involved to take care of the aftermath.

Shura meticulously set up the formation. The entirety of his house was covered by it. The radius of the formation even slightly extended out from the house and reached the streets.

Even if a saint were to arrive, his chance of survival would increase from zero to a slightly better figure.

Soon everything was finished and the only thing Shura had to do was wait. The Five Star cultivator didn't spoil Shura's plan by turning up earlier, and he didn't detect any signs of suspicious movement nearby either. Perhaps they weren't coming, or if they were they were going to come at the agreed time.

During his waiting time, Shura began to cultivate once more. Pure and profound spiritual energy flooded his body. His body was like that of a starved man who hadn't tasted water for months. As soon as the spiritual energy eneterd him he felt very powerful. HIs cultivation instantly shot from the Two Star Realm and made an instant breakthrough to the Three Star Realm.

With his current cultivation, he was very confident he could take on a Five Star cultivator. It had not been long before he had broken through to the Two Star level. At this pace, it won't take long for him to reach the Six Star level, and even the Saint level.

Shura's body was filled with energy and his mind was alert. What he was doing was very important and he was very prepared for it. If anything was going to go wrong tonight, it would not be because of a mistake or negligence on his part.

…

Time quickly passed as Shura immersed himself in cultivation. His body had been strengthened even more in a short period of time from noon to evening.

While still immersed in how strong he had become from just a short time of cultivating, he heard a loud sound in his mind.

The warning formation told him someone was approaching his house. This must be his expected guest. Shura got up and went out to meet with the guest. He expected that this encounter wouldn't be simple. It would be nice if it was though, Shura wasn't keen on complex and complicated things.

The mighty Five Star cultivator's appearance was surprising. Rather than appearing out in the open without concealing himself as his subordinates had done, he had chosen to conceal himself by wearing a hood and a long robe that covered his entire body.

"Let's make this very simple. I like simple. You'll tell me everything you know about this book and your Spiritual Saint master. To refuse to do so would result in a very bad end for you," Shura said.

"Absolute power is above mere words," the cloaked figure said.

"Oh, of that I agree wholeheartedly. I only said all of that in hope that I wouldn't have to do anything. But I guess I can't convince you like that, can I?" Shura said.

"Hand the book over and kill yourself. That's the most decent way of dying I can give you," the hooded figure said.

"Oh, so now it's your turn to give me an ultimatum. I'm sorry, I don't think I'll do that. I'm not very scared at all. So how about we fight this one out?" Shura said.

Before Shura had spoken his last word, he had already made his move. His sword appeared in his hand instantly and he thrust his sword at the hooded figure.

Even at his current level, everything was still a matter of the body, martial arts, and physics. If he hit his enemy at their vitals, then they would likely die. A few nonfatal wounds would still take a life eventually either way.

Like Shura, a sword suddenly appeared in the hooded figure's hand and he parried Shura's sword with his own.

From the clash of the two swords, Shura felt that his strength was equal to this Five Star cultivator.

Shura wasn't any weaker than his opponent. This was good news. Although he wasn't stronger either and couldn't outright overpower his opponent, there was still a fifty-fifty chance for victory. Whether he defeated his opponent or lose his life here would depend entirely on himself now.

It was in situations like this where he didn't have an absolute advantage that Shura thought it would be nice if he had someone to help him.

The two men continued to exchange blow after blow, neither one of them able to gain the upper hand. Although this made Shura happy, it had begun to annoy the hooded stranger. He had never thought he would meet a match here. At most he thought this cultivator who had ruined his plan and killed his subordinates was at a Four Star level. A Four Star cultivator was nothing to him. Never had the man thought that his level was equal to his own.

What the hooded figure didn't know was that Shura wasn't a Five Star cultivator at all, he was only a Three Star cultivator, but his Three Star cultivation was as strong as a normal Five Star cultivator!

Shura was an anomaly.