Beggar Cultivation System

"North-East, Wadis? Correct?" Apollo clarified.

"Are… you… deaf?" the Translucent Thunder Rat asked in a mocking voice.

"Are you asking for death?" Apollo asked, eyes turning cold.

"No! No!" The rat instantly realized his words as he hurriedly shook his head.

But the Beggar is not the one the rat should mess with at the moment. "You are asking for this," Apollo said, smirking with killing intent radiating. With a snap of his finger, the small Fire Blasts surrounding the lightning-covered Translucent Thunder Rat created a chain of explosions.

The explosions are small, but because of the elemental reaction, the Translucent Thunder Rat experienced great pain and damage. Furthermore, as the explosion made contact with its lightning, the air twisted violently—a blinding white flash burst out with the rat as the center.

At first, no sound came—no roar of pain, no cackling of lightning—

But then the intense shockwave came.

The light made up of lightning and fire sends charred dirt flying everywhere, with some occasional lightning and fiery embers tearing into nearby stones and bark alike.

As the desert ground flattened and chunks of air flew everywhere, Apollo took a few steps back so as not to get caught up with the explosion.

He didn't use the full-strength Fire Blast and only used miniature versions of them, but the effect on the Translucent Thunder Rat is akin to a full-blown attack from him. The lightning surrounding the rat makes its body over-saturated by Lightning Attribute, and because this beast doesn't know how to calm it down, it becomes unstable even if the rat can use it however it wants. And when met with the explosions from the Fire Blasts, the lightning supercharged, causing this blinding explosion.

Usual fire would have been destroyed by this rat's lightning, but small explosions and air distortion will produce this intense explosion.

As the chaotic wind ruffled the Beggar's hair and clothes, the light continued to shine until it suddenly went out, as if someone hit the switch of a light bulb.

Then the sound of crashing followed, with dust clouds rushing to cover what happened.

Seeing this, Apollo's figure became a blur, reappearing in front of the dust cloud. With a wave from his hand, wind was summoned, pushing the dust cloud away.

In the middle of the destroyed and charred desert ground lay the Translucent Thunder Rat.

The once translucent body has turned black from head to toe—it resembles more like a black sewer rat rather than its majestic translucent form.

Lightning flashed from time to time around its body, but it's only a final show—the last struggle for life.

The rat's eyes slowly opened, and with slow and hard breathing, it opened its mouth.

"Kill… me…" the rat said, voice begging.

"I will," Apollo said as water blades materialized around the head of the monster.

"Others… like me… are out… you are not… going to… stop them…" Even at his final seconds, the Translucent Thunder Rat is still not afraid, even trying to terrify the small human.

"It's obvious," Apollo smirked. "I will kill some of them along the way, and those who slip my hands—I think Belthias is enough to handle them. I don't know where you guys are running, but I know you won't let this chance get away from destroying the nearest city. That's your nature—destruction."

"You know… us well…" the rat said while slowly closing its eyes.

"Goodbye," Apollo muttered. Then the water blades struck the head of the rat—translucent blood and meat flew out, followed by the head of the beast falling to the ground.

Apollo stared at the beast for a moment before his body started floating into the sky.

"I wonder what his situation is," Apollo muttered, mind wandering to his disciple.

…

"Ah! Take this!" Don shouted as his body propelled toward a nearby monster.

He pulled his hand back before sending it to the chest of a beast resembling both a snake and a scorpion. His fist collided with the shell of the monster, and with a banging sound, black blood erupted along with some parts of the beast.

The combination of snake and scorpion was then sent flying, crashing into other monsters who were about to lunge at Don.

If this was before, Don would have celebrated his successful attack, but after doing this over and over, he had become numb. His body moved on its own without Don even thinking about it.

His mind and body fought automatically, following the Essence of Fighting to its very core, not missing one movement as Don used the Fighting Technique to its full capabilities.

By now, dozens of monsters lay dead around him, but the number of enemies was still coming in.

One monster—a snake with legs like a centipede—sneaked up behind him. Opening its mouth, the snake chomped down on the small human, but Don disappeared from his spot before reappearing above the snake.

Then Don sent his feet down on the snake-centipede's head. With a loud cracking sound, the head of the monster split, with blood erupting from the impact.

The body then fell to the ground, raising a small dust cloud, followed by a rain of its own blood.

Covered in this venomous blood, smoke rose from Don's body, and pain covered him whole. But the current Don didn't even utter a sound, as if he couldn't feel pain.

The beasts around him all have the equivalent strength of Foundation Building Stage, with some occasional 1st-Step Qi Condensation Stage. But even if Don was surrounded, he could still manage on his own, even killing dozens of them—though at the expense of some wounds.

Still, even with venomous blood raining on him and his wounds bleeding profusely, Don continued to fight.

The only thing in his mind was to fight and kill, to end this madness. Don kept repeating this in his head, even as his vision began to darken.

As Don killed a few more, his senses—honed by these experiences—suddenly alerted him of incoming danger.

Without even looking where the danger was coming from, Don jumped into the air, and when he looked down, he saw a blazing fire hitting his previous spot.

A shockwave of fire erupted from the impact, sending Don flying into the air.

Somersaulting a few times, Don managed to steady his body before landing on his feet. But as he tried to stand up straight, he suddenly fell to his knees.

Like waking up from a dream, clarity came back to Don Blanc's face.

He blinked a few times—then he was hit with intense pain.

"Argh!!" Don shouted, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth while his hands clutched the dirt tight. "ARGH! IT HURTS!"