I Cultivated Too Long and Got Isekai'd Into a Game-Chapter 198: Reason for Prudence

Way ahead of time, the portal connecting the mortal world to the world of the Evil Spirits had been opened. The reason? Nobody knew...

But there’s an anomaly that made Xu Tao frown. Among the figures who traversed through the dark rift, two faces were extremely familiar to him.

One was the Dual-Soul Wraith, whom he met first inside a Full-Dive Game called Heavenly Martial Path and then met again back in Alkryon during the third wave.

The female Evil Spirit, Pharsa!

"..."

However, Xu Tao’s mood wasn’t really caused by her. In his eyes, she’s nothing but a speck of dust, someone he could handle any time he wanted to. But the man beside her... wasn’t.

A man with hair literally made out of flames, thick eyebrows the colour of coal, and a bulky body like the spirit of a mountain personified. He was naked from the waist up and wore simple white pants below, battered from years of abuse.

Xu Tao walked forward, ignoring the cries of panic and orders to get back around him.

"That face, that peculiar Qi..." He whispered, narrowing his eyes. "To think you’d reincarnate as an evil spirit. Really, you got astounding luck, didn’t you?"

"Hmm?"

The man, noticing he was being talked to, turned toward Xu Tao and frowned. "What? This is my first time joining the retrieval team, so I don’t know who you’re fucking..."

Just as he was dismissing Xu Tao, his gaze suddenly locked on. His eyes opened wide as his entire body shivered once. Not from fear, but rather, a mix of anger and delight.

"You...! XU TAO!"

The man, being a Blazing Wrath Fiend, caused the entire courtyard to burn directly just with his excited shout. However, everything behind Xu Tao remained untouched, protected by him in silence.

"Stop shouting; your bad breath is reaching up to here." He taunted, waving a hand as if to chase away a stinky wind. "Rather, I thought I wiped your soul until its last bit? To think you’d survive that... You’re worse than a cockroach, huh?"

"XUUU TAAAAAOOOO!!!"

Without a second thought, the man rushed forward.

No... he jumped.

Using all his strength, he kicked off the ground and flew overhead. His stomp caused the entire venue to shake, as if an earthquake had occurred. Then, he poised his fist toward Xu Tao’s face as he fell down.

"DIEEEEE!"

"Sir Tao!"

"My Emperor!"

But before Xu Tao even moved, two figures rushed to his aid.

Jehanne materialised her holy flag-spear, spinning it around like a majorette as she struck the incoming fist with all her strength. At the same time, Zetian waved her fan, calling upon a bolt of black lightning from the empty sky.

BOOM!

Both attacks landed, but...

"MERE ANTS! DON’T GET IN MY WAY...!!!"

The man’s fist broke Jehanne’s spear, sending her flying backward. On the other hand, Zetian’s lightning bolt landed directly, but... nothing happened. It was as if her attack didn’t even tickle him!

"Ugh!"

Jehanne groaned as she came to a stop, using what remained of her spear to dig a straight line across the ground. "He’s... strong!" She warned.

"Really?"

But Xu Tao’s lips curled up into a faint smile. "Let me check him out, then."

At that moment, the fist came to his face. Xu Tao barely moved, not even intending to dodge in any way. He simply raised his right hand, index finger pointing forward, and...

Tap!

The fist that sent Jehanne flying was halted in mid-air.

"...!"

The man who attacked opened his eyes in shock. After all, compared to when Xu Tao killed him, he should be hundreds of times stronger now. But instead, Xu Tao looked as if he was handing a baby, his finger not even shaking or twitching against his full strength!

Xu Tao shook his head, seemingly disappointed. "Xian Du Jun... Did you get weaker after all the years?"

"Fuck!" The man, Du Jun, cursed as he gritted his teeth. "Who are you calling Mr Salty Belly?! My name’s Xuan Du Jun...!"

But although he wanted to retaliate, Xu Tao’s strength was beyond his. He couldn’t even pull his arm back, much less try to punch him again!

"Xu Tao...!"

"Mmm?"

Just as they were locked in a standstill, another voice called. This time, it was Pharsa, looking chagrined. "To think you’d pick a fight with us evil spirits in the mortal world... You’re seeking death!"

"And why is that?"

Xu Tao asked, but the other party didn’t seem inclined to reply. Instead, Pharsa just ran forward, holding what looked like a purple-black dagger. With just a glance, he could tell it was poisoned. As to what kind, he’d rather not find out.

"Stop right there."

"...!"

But of course, she couldn’t even approach him.

With Xu Tao’s Spirit Word (Yan Ling), Pharsa’s body froze mid-step, causing her to fall down, face against the ground. It must’ve hurt, but she couldn’t even hold her bleeding nose from her crash; she could only grumble as she remained in place.

"Heh!" But right then, Du Jun’s voice rang loud. "Looks like you forgot about my techniques back then too!"

As his words exploded, the people around the venue all began to fall to their knees or straight up faint toward the ground. Xu Tao narrowed his eyes, glancing around, and noticed a black smoke that covered everything before he even noticed.

"I see..." He nodded. "Right, you were a Demonic Cultivator before. And you specialise in draining life force from a large area at once."

Roughly two thousand years ago, he used this very technique and ended up killing two of the Azure Dragon Sect’s cultivators by "mistake". With that as the impetus, Xu Tao began hunting him down and killed him after a year-long cat-and-mouse chase.

The man raised his other hand, collecting the black smoke toward him—the vitality he had stolen. "Back then, I was just at the Body and Soul Fusion stage! But now, I’m beyond that!"

The smoke wrapped around his body, slowly congealing and forming a solid black armour.

"Now, I’m at the Human Immortal Stage! Two stages above what I had been..."

"Oh..."

That was a very high cultivation level, even to Xu Tao’s standards. It was high enough to be an Elder of the Azure Dragon Sect... "But did you think you’re the only one to improve after all that time?"

Xu Tao raised his other hand, forming a sign, and stomped his legs, causing a golden glow to spread throughout the entire venue.

The bodies of those who fell to the ground glowed briefly—recovering their lost vitality instantly. Even Jehanne and Zetian, who had fallen to their knees from their vitality getting robbed, recovered quickly.

"Hah!"

But despite his display, the man’s face didn’t even contain worry. "As an evil spirit, my cultivation speed is way faster than yours! I’m probably higher than you in cultivation right now!"

Another fist came forward, aiming for Xu Tao’s face once more.

With his finger still holding Du Jun’s fist mid-air and his other hand held in a complicated hand sign, he had no other way of blocking the attack.

The fist approached, coming closer toward his face like a speeding bullet, when...

"Enough."

A loud voice, calm and collected, echoed.

As soon as it did, the entire space became void of Qi, causing even Xu Tao to lose control of his techniques for the briefest of moments—long enough for Du Jun and Pharsa to be retrieved safely.

"You’re acting too rash, Xuan Du Jun, Pharsa." The man spoke harshly, as if a father reprimanding his children. "As punishment, the two of you shall live a thousand years of pain for one minute."

"W-Wait, mas—AAAGH!"

"Hnnng~!"

Without much explanation, he tapped both Du Jun’s and Pharsa’s shoulders, causing them to fall to their knees in agony.

Du Jun looked like he was getting crushed between two giant boulders, his head turning red and full of popping veins. But Pharsa, on the other hand, looked like she was "enjoying" the pain she was inflicted with. Rather than being punished, she looked closer to drowning in pleasure instead.

Xu Tao, watching this happen, simply stayed silent.

After all, that man was the main reason he didn’t act too high-handed right away.

"Sorry about my subordinates," the man apologised, bowing lightly. "They have the habit of rushing ahead like idiots, so I’m really thankful you were being lenient with them."

"I wasn’t." Xu Tao crossed his hands behind his back, taking a step forward. "And even if I did, I’m sure you would’ve stepped in to stop me, right?"

"... Well, although I doubt I can stop you, I would’ve done that. Yes."

"An evil spirit knowing how to joke? That’s new..."

As soon as this Evil Spirit group had appeared, Xu Tao had been paying attention only to this man. After all, his cultivation level was so high, it was almost on par with his. Taking various variables into consideration, the chance of Xu Tao losing wasn’t zero, even!

He narrowed his eyes, continuing their chat. "I don’t need to name myself, do I? I think your two subordinates have talked about me before."

The man smiled, nodding shyly. He pushed his white hair back before smiling handsomely.

"Yes, of course. After all, your reputation echoes farther than what you can imagine, you know?"

After a short chuckle, he then took a step back and bowed like a theatre artist towards the audience. "My name is Lodia; it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Great Cultivator... Xu Tao."

Just like that, two powerful beings made acquaintance with each other.

"...What the fuck is happening?"

And the birthday girl, who was finally able to stand up, cursed with confusion.