A Cultivation Tale: The Godly Punisher

Chapter 289: The exchange

Seeing the massive soul-attack that was shooting towards him, Alex quickly released the attributed-lightning power of his soul.

As soon as he drew the most fierce and chaotic power from one of his numerous soul-entities to unleash it as an attack, the jet-black and violet-golden soul-tribulation lightning that moved round the surfaces of the corporeal bodies of his soul-beings, and struck about in their colossal eyes like a thunderstorm was occurring in there, suddenly erupted from his body in great amount.

Terrifying peals of thunder that only soul cultivators could hear began to ring out from the hundreds of bolts of soul-tribulation lightning that furiously struck out of his body. And since the power of Corporeality had blended with all the attributed-powers of his soul, likewise this, the hundreds of bolts of soul-tribulation lightning that frenziedly discharged from his body was physical to all eyes, except that the loud thunderous booms coming from each of them as they struck out ragingly was only perceivable by soul cultivators. Therefore, this made the bolts coming from his body and shooting off in a disorderly fashion into the distance, soundless lightning bolts to people who were non-soul cultivators.

Then before the soul-attack would get to him, the soul-tribulation lightning power that he drew from a single soul-existence in his soul-dwelling region quickly converged between his palms and rapidly shaped into a ball that produced frightening booms.

Then aiming his hands out, the solid ball of compacted, soul-tribulation lightning that had formed between his hands shot out of it at an extreme speed towards the massive sword-shaped soul-attack shooting towards him.

Boom!

Once the two opposing attacks struck each other, a wave of tyrannical power that could seemingly reduce all souls to bits erupted from the point of their collision. And since Alex's attack was composed of soul-based lightning, a powerful wave formed from large amount of electrical discharges which would affect the soul, immediately appeared after the collision and rushed into the distance in all directions. If this wave of soul-tribulation lightning successfully impacted a soul pillar, that soul pillar would instantly shatter due to the tremendous destructive force that the wave struck it with, and would instantly burn into a crisp because of the physical properties of electricity that the wave possessed. 

Rebuke's men who couldn't protect themselves from the two tyrannical waves that erupted from the collision of Alex's attack and that of their boss had their Soulcores instantly disintegrate. While the wave with the electrical properties caused the fragments of their soul pillars to immediately burn into cinders.

When the flames of life that was previously burning in their eyes instantly snuffed out because of the great degree of destruction done to their souls, they fell to the ground like heavy logs of wood. Their bodies had stiffened in an instant because of their souls that had been wiped out.

While Alex, although was powerfully hit by the tyrannical waves, didn't experience any damage to his resilient Soul-Beings. Towering in form and emitting the air of grandness and peerlessness, they looked like the soul-copies of actual, primordial gigantic gods.

The soul-tribulation lightning attack that Alex sent out which was in the form of a ball couldn't completely stop the massive, sword-shaped soul attack shooting towards him.

Seeing how only a few cracks appeared on the surface of the large, sword-shaped soul-attack that Rebuke sent out using the power of the Trinity Darkstar soul-slaying formation, Alex quickly unleashed more lightning from his majestic and terrific Soul-Beings. So this time, he rapidly drew more power of soul-tribulation lightning from many of the Soul-Beings floating within his soul-inhabiting region. Then when the excessive soul-tribulation lightning power that was pulled from many of his Soul-Entities to his hands, it shot out of it to about nine feet before him and instantly condensed into a towering and astonishingly thick wall.

Bang!!

A loud bang sound that could only be perceived by soul-cultivators rang out when Rebuke's attack struck the wall of soul-tribulation lightning that Alex generated. And once the attack collided with the thick wall of attributed-soul power that Alex put out, a rippling wave of devastating power that would only affect the soul as it would crush it into pieces appeared and raged into the distance in all directions.

However, this time, since Alex had pumped more power into his defense, the attack that Rebuke sent out at him cracked in hundreds of places at once and then shattered into pieces the next instant. Same with the wall that Alex produced but which instantly shattered into fragments upon being collided into by Rebuke's attack. Then the pieces of their attacks which was composed from soul-power and soul-energy turned back into slivers that flowed back into the realmverse.

Rebuke who had thought that Alex would die from his formation-powered soul-attack was intensely surprised, and then slightly terrified in the next moment when Alex suddenly erupted a greater power.

'How exactly was he able to do that?' Rebuke questioned inwardly as his mind continually spun in shock and horror.

Then he suddenly felt in the next moment that Alex was able to erupt more power because he was using a treasure that was perhaps within his soul-dwelling region.

He arrived at this because, apart from the attack being a soul-attack, it possessed two powers. And this were the power of Illusion and Enchantment.

If Alex had only a Soul-Being, he would have been badly affected by the illusion-power radiating off the incoming soul-attack. But due to the large numbers of Soul-Existences in his soul-dwelling region which invoked the feeling of mightiness, the illusion-power couldn't affect his sixty soul-pillars all at once. Therefore, due to their numbers and powerful soul-presences which indicated strong, soul-power emissions, the power of the illusion acting on his many souls at once was drastically reduced. So, because of this reason, Alex was able to maintain a slightly clear head. And as for the power of Enchantment coming from the dual-attributed, soul-based attack which generated a beautiful persuading voice in Alex's head, Alex abruptly released the power of Ominousness that was also etched into his soul when he unceasingly absorbed the tribulation-attacks that he was faced with. Also called the power of Balefulness, the power of Ominousness which appeared as mists of blood and revolved round the colossal figures of his majestic Soul-Entities, produced numerous booming voices and cackles of seemingly devilish and demonical entities. So, the persuading voice that he heard talking to him couldn't penetrate into his mind. Therefore, in this manner too, he was able to resist the compelling, fairy-like voice sounding in his soul-inhabiting region.

Then seeing how Rebuke looked at him, Alex who was at the distance was able to comprehend something from the way Rebuke gazed at him.

"Shocked by my power, right?" Alex asked with a fake smile in his face.

Then he continued as he said further with a false smile still in his face "I know that look in your eyes. It means something which I know."

"What stupid look is that?!" Rebuke asked angrily.

"The look that I am using a treasure to enhance my soul abilities. See, I have been involved with some people who thought I had treasures in me. Therefore, through the experiences that I have gathered, I am able to exactly place what your look is" Alex replied.

"Oh! " Rebuke exclaimed.

"So from your look, I can also deduce that it is the same thing that you are thinking, that I am using some kind of treasure" Alex replied.

"And why are you telling me this?" Rebuke asked.

"No reason, man. Can you tell me how you and your men could become soul cultivators? There would surely be a method on how you fiends were able to achieve that astounding feat. Therefore, before one of us eventually kills the other after we resume our battle, I would like to know how you guys were able to achieve that surprising feat. Look, I am an enlightened, intelligent and fervent reader. So I know a lot of things that, what you would ever know till the day that you would die would only be a tiny bit of mist when compared to mine which is an enormous sea that grows by impossible leaps everyday. But despite my vast knowledge that could stretch across the starry sky of this world, and for your information, I am not boasting, I have not come across in any book how a Planeverse, a tiny backwater world of mortals would have numerous soul cultivators in a part of a city in a state that is in it. So, how were you guys able to attain soul cultivator roles?" Alex asked with unbridled curiousness in his tone.

Hahaha!

Rebuke laughed.

"I see that you are still exceedingly curious about this topic. Anyways, since one would eventually kill the other when we re-initiate our duel to the death, I would like to know how you were able to emit those powers from your soul, since you aren't using treasures like you said" Rebuke said.

"Lightning and corrosion?" Alex asked.

"Yes, lightning... So the other one was corrosion? Good! Now, tell me how you were able to achieve those strange feats too, since you say it wasn't by utilization of some treasures" Rebuke said with a smirk in his face, as he didn't believe Alex.

"Well, there's no cultivation method for that. I only absorbed the powers coming from a soul tribulation." Alex said.

Hahaha!!

Rebuke laughed raucously.

"And you expect me to believe that bullshit? Haha. I see that you are trying to outsmart and play me your daddy. If you won't give a logical answer for my question, then let's resume our battle. I don't have time to waste on you frigging bastard" He said in an impatient tone.

Alex looked at him with furrowed brows. Then with seriousness in his tone, he said "Hmm. Alright. I would tell you. It's a methodology that combines both soul cultivation and elemental realm-energy cultivation into one. So, with an elemental-soul conversion technique from the cultivation methodology, I was able to convert realm-energies that I had harmonized with into soul-bound energies. With the method mentioned in the cultivation manual, they were able to gain the ethereality that the soul possessed. And since they had become ethereal in form, I was able to continually infuse them into my soul when it passed the Soulmist Thickening stage, the Soulpool Nascency stage, and finally into the Soulcore Establishment stage. That was how I was able to do it"

"Oh. That's sweet!" Rebuke said with gladness in his tone.

Since he was a soul cultivator, he was going to try and comprehend realm-energies so that he would attune to their frequency. And when he does that, he would convert them using that technique into soul-based energies and then infuse them into the Firmament Soul-rank Soul-Entity in his soul-dwelling region.

Hahahahaha!

Rebuke laughed hard upon thinking how glorious his future would be as a peerless soul cultivator.

"Hey man. You haven't told me yours" Alex said, knocking him out of his fantasy world.

"Is there a need for that? You yourself should know that I would surely kill you. Or do you think that you can kill me? You can only struggle against me for sometime before I eventually kill you, boy" Rebuke said with a light of viciousness radiating off his eyes.

"Haha. Well, since you would kill me eventually, why don't you take pity on this boy and tell him how you and your folks were able to do it, you know, just so that he can die happily as he has added a drop of knowledge to the massive sea of knowledge that he already possesses" Alex said. He already knew that this was what Rebuke was going to say.

"Oh. I don't have time to add to your wasted knowledge" Rebuke said with unbridled evilness in his eyes.

"Alright. Then look at my fingers, do you see anything like a spatial ring on them? I guess you can't. So when you kill me, where would you get the methodology to practice the element-soul conversion technique that I told you about, eh? Nowhere I guess. Then my death would have regrettably been for nothing, as you terrible fool wouldn't gain anything substantial out of it." Alex questioned and cursed at the end of his speech.

Rebuke looked at Alex's fingers and couldn't see any spatial ring there. Then he thought that if he killed Alex, how would he be able to get the methodology to utilize that technique mentioned in it.

"So, if I tell you, you would tell me where the methodology is?" Rebuke asked as he gazed into Alex's eyes. He wasn't sure if Alex was fooling him.

"Yes. It's in my spatial ring which I hid somewhere in this valley before showing myself to you guys. It contains my wealth and tremendous accumulations, and of course the cultivation book that I mentioned. So?" Alex said, then he questioned.