Chapter 17: 17

The Flame Lions didn’t stop their advance as one of them jumped onto the guards. The guards tried to hold it down and used their might to defend against the flame lion.

However, 3 of them died as the flame lion used its claw to rip their bodies into pieces.

“John! Brian! Jacob! ” One of the guards screamed in wrath as his closest friends died, and in hatred, he charged toward the flame lion responsible for his comrade’s death.

“Clint don’t!” Zuke tried warning his man, however, he didn’t listen and was consumed by his hatred, and as a result, his death was set in stone.

“Ah…” Clint realized how useless it was as it saw the flame lion looking at him as though it was looking at an ant, and seconds later, his head was eaten by the flame lion as it chewed his head.

4 guards were dead, 8 were still alive and there were still 12 flame lions.

“Ahhh! I-It burns!”

“Lord Z-Zuke help me!”

A second later, another 2 of them died as they were burned alive as the flame lions roared some fireballs.

Now, the situation was getting hopeless for them, but despite the chances of them getting out alive being nearly 0, the remaining guards never lose their temptation in abandoning their duties.

They were filled with pride and honor where they would rather die proudly knowing they never surrendered rather than live in shame where they have abandoned what they had been throughout their life.

“Lord Zuke…if I lose my life here…would my wife and daughter suffer because of me?” One of the guards named Jester questioned.

“I promised and swear upon my name to heaven’s decreed that I, Zuke Tristan would fulfill my promise to all of you who have given up your life”

Zuke was aware of his intentions and he knows that all of them and perhaps, even himself, wouldn’t be able to escape alive, and the reason why they are trying to buy time was the reinforcement to come.

And if they arrived, the situation would take a turn.

“Then I’m glad. Do you hear that brothers? If we die here, we don’t have to worry about our families. So rather die plainly, how about we make it grand?” Jester suggested to the remaining surviving guards.

“Oh? Are you talking about ‘that’?”

“Hahaha. I agree. How about we make it as grand as it can?”

“I never thought that one day, we have to use this method. But it’s still better than losing”

“So, we’re putting our lives to a single person huh? I guess that’s better”

“We have no time. So let’s hurry before the lions’ notice”

All of the remaining guards express their opinions and there wasn’t fear and it’s because they know that their loved ones wouldn’t have to suffer just because they died.

As such, all of them were willing to lay down for their lord.

“Quickly channel your ‘Qi’ and give it all to the lord, and with that, he can enter and break through to the Origin Realm!” Clint declared.

This was what they meant and what their goals were.

“On it!” All of them began channeling their Qi to Zuke without holding back.

They were not simply giving their capacity of Qi, but rather their Cultivation Qi to Zuke, and the consequence of channeling your cultivation Qi to someone is death.

This method was called Cultivation Sacrificial where a cultivator would sacrifice all of his hard work cultivation and life for another person.

It has similarities to Cultivation Sharing, but the effects between the 2 are like Heaven and Earth.𝚍ｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕.𝚝

And as they sacrificed their Cultivation, their bodies began drying up and their lifespan was decreasing rapidly, yet, they remained standing with a smile on their face.

“I’ll remember this honor and for what you have done for me…which is why…all of you flame lions will have to die to ease their souls!”

There was a saying that the only times Zuke cried were when his parents passed away, when his child was born, and when his wife had left the world, and today marks the fourth time he ever cried.

And because of his men’s sacrifices, their cultivations allowed him to break through to the Origin Realm where there was a vastness of difference between Origin and Foundation.

His aura became denser and his killing intent was stronger and the Flame Lions’ souls were shaken to the core this was due to the benefits of attaining Origin Realm where cultivators could incorporate spiritual energy into their souls, hence, increasing the strength of their souls.

As such, the flame lion’s souls were overwhelmed as Zuke took steps toward them.

“Because of you, my men had to die! And because of you, they had to sacrifice for me!” Rage could be seen within his expression as his body was clasped with lightning.

He disappeared into wasps of lightning before punching one of them with his fist that holds the force of thunder.

* Boom *

It felt like lightning had struck the world and sure enough, one of the flame lions was dead as it had a hole in its body.

The flame lions were stunt and baffled by the sudden change, and they realized how the situation had become dangerous all of the sudden.

But as 2 of them had taken an opportunity to bite his neck, they were electrocuted to death with their charcoal bodies.

“Hmpf!” Zuke simply shrugged their bodies off as he stared at the remaining lions with wrath, and the flame lions had felt fear and they tried escaping.

“After all that, you’re trying to escape now? How funny” He laughs at the irony and chases the closest one to him and grabs it by the neck before sending waves of lighting all over its body.

Once it was dead, he threw the body to the ground before using one of his cultivation manuals called, Lightning Spear of Wrath where he created 1 Spear made of lightning and threw it towards the one that was furthest from him.

* Boom *

As the spear came into contact with the flame lion, it exploded and caused a chain of lightning that caused the nearby lions to be paralyzed.

With the paralyzed lion, Zuke created Plasma Ball by relying on his cultivation manual and shot toward all of the Flame Lions.

* Boom *

Sounds of thunder could be heard and flashes of lightning could be heard and seen by the nearby people who fled in fear.

And the city was alarmed by the great disaster happening in the forest where part of it was destroyed due to the lightning.

* Heavily Breathing *

“Finally…it’s over” Zuke was having a hard time controlling his breath as he had consumed a large amount of Qi, and due to how unstable his cultivation is, his Origin Realm wasn’t in harmony.

He will need more time to stabilize the bridges before his Origin Realm could be stabilized, and only then, would he be a true Origin Realm.

“I have to see my daughter…” Zuke walked towards the carriage and as he opened the door, he found Elizabeth hiding in the corner as she covered her ears.