Growth

"Ding!"

The sound of a phone echoed as Lester reached for it and picked it up.

He was currently sitting on the sofa as the view of the island was behind him. The lights from the other buildings could be seen outside as the lamps that followed the walking roads were also currently on after the sun had set.

From his phone, there was a message from the Sunlight Holy man he had met almost a month ago when he had first joined the island. There was a group created between him, Patrick, the Sunlight Holy Man, and the Hair Witch.

It was currently four in the morning and Lester wasn't too surprised at the message. Cultivation can cause people to be awake and fully functional at odd times, there were no normal times anymore. For example, if Lester were to stand up and look at the ground from his window, he would see a good amount of cultivators walking around like it was daytime.

"In three days me and Hair Witch will pick a mission, anyone interested?" sent the Sunlight Holy Man on the chat.

Lester pondered for a second and replied, " I am."

He had been practicing plenty in the last month. His cultivation progressed slowly, however, he stew made improvements regardless. He was farther into the Beginning Stage of filling up his core. He had also learned two new manipulations that could assist him in combat. He was seriously concerned about his attacking prowess, hence, one of the first things he did was scour his memories for attacking manipulations that could aid him. There were plenty, however, most were complicated as the amount he could possibly grasp at the moment could be counted in one hand.

Regardless, with these two new manipulations, he had covered a hole in his arsenal for the moment.

In addition to his combat prowess, Lester also became accustomed to the information he was allowed to have on the island, as he had discovered many things he did not know of previously. The phone he was given by the association had a plethora of information regarding missions, rankings, updates, stores, auctions, and a map of the world.

There was also a section to request backup as the world outside the island was getting more chaotic and humanity's shape was worse than initially thought. Beasts were evolving and improving at an alarming rate, and humanity with scraps of cultivation resources was trying their hardest to catch up.

There were as many beasts in this world as there were humans, and on the same level, beasts had the upper hand as their tough bodies made it extremely difficult to pierce through.

The number of casualties not only with the cultivators of the Cultivating Island but around the world is also rising by the day as those who would choose to go alone into missions of exterminating an evolved beast they would never return.

People who joined the Cultivating Island were now more likely to form groups as they felt safer together than not.

The top five hundred rankings of the Cultivation Island would have changed constantly as many were dying out in missions or from cultivation failure. This was pathetic and concerning as Lester felt like he had a responsibility to assist the human race with his vast knowledge.

He had a plan, however, he was currently too weak to execute it, therefore, he needed to improve his strength as fast as possible, because each day that there were no improvements to humanity, was another day that they could be eradicated by the real crouching tigers and sleeping dragons.

He knew that once it was public knowledge that he possessed all of this knowledge then there would be many troubles coming his way. Although humanity was one against beasts, greed could cause humans to turn into terrifying monsters worse than the evolved beasts themselves.

He planned on using the shop or auction to gather items that he might need, and which could have possibly been in the alien ship that had crashed into Earth. With these two features not only would he be making the world stronger but he would be making some benefits as well. The world needed heroes to stand as the pillar of humanity, as the beasts were getting too rampant.

In addition, if you weren't a world superpower already, most of the world's countries' cities were completely destroyed. Some countries didn't even survive the assault that some of these beasts had done. Many areas around the world were now danger zones and the territory of powerful beasts.

After replying, Lester stood up from the couch and walked towards the room with the white walls. He pulled out of his phone as he centered himself into the room, and began to press some icons on it.

He wanted to consolidate his power and get a hang of his new manipulations before he has to leave to do a mission.

Suddenly the scenery around him began to change, as he was on a long arena inside of a colosseum-looking structure. The only lacking thing about this extremely realistic technology was the fact that it didn't create a crowd to cheer him on.

"Crannnnk!"

Suddenly a rusty gate on the far side of the wall of the colosseum began to raise as the darkness within the room it was opening to didn't seem to falter.

Suddenly from within came a towering figure which possessed one eye. The monster's skin was blue as it possessed four arms and one eye. There was a rag covering his waist and thigh, as well as some jewelry on his body.

Lester smiled as he murmured, "Let's try this one out first… Sword of World Qi."

On his hand the qi from the surrounding world began to form and grow, slowly changing into the figure of a long sword as he gripped it with two hands. The long sword was completely made out of World Qi as its transparent blue form gave a deceiving harmless look.

"Roar!"

The monster roared with its mouth fully open as its huge blocky teeth were exposed throwing saliva all around it. Then the monster began to run towards Lester who held the sword in a certain stance with composure and focus.

Lester had chosen this manipulation simply because out of all the others, it was the simplest to create and master. In addition, he would be able to use his memories to learn a sword style so that he is better a wielding the sword made out of qi.

The [Sword of Endless Patience] was an interesting style of sword arts that Lester decided to learn as it would help calm the mind and allow him to make sound and proper decisions. This sword style was also quite strong when it came to attacking, however, where it excelled the most was counter-attacking. Being patient was a virtue as there would always be an opening.

The monster swung at Lester, who quickly stepped to the side and dodged it.

"Swish!"

"Slash!"

Lester was quick to counterattack as he slashed towards the monster's arm cutting through a sizable chunk of flesh.

With that attack, Lester moved back to access the situation, as he was unsure of the prowess of this monster.

"Roar!"

The monster roared to the sky once more but this time with displeasure as it raised the arm that Lester had just cut. Making red blood splash everywhere.

"Swoosh!"

"Bang!"

The raised arms of the monster quickly struck down as it moved towards Lester with a quick speed, but Lester was quicker as he once again avoided the beast.

"Extreme Cutting," Lester murmured as he focused on the sword on his hand which glowed a little more.

"Slash!"

Once more Lester slashed, however, this time the head of the monster was sent flying as it had been easily decapitated. Learning attacking skills was extremely important, and he now understood how much he was missing one. With the manipulations he currently possessed, although he hasn't reached the Middle Stage of Cultivation, he would be able to fight almost on par with one, and if he was overwhelmed he could definitely escape.

Suddenly the gate made rusty noises once more as it began to rise.

"Hisssss…"

Suddenly a huge python came out of the darkroom, the thickness of this python was almost that of a minivan, and the length was almost too hard to formulate.

Lester smiled again as he had just tried his close combat manipulation, and was about to execute the one for a ranged battle. Although this was one of the hardest manipulations that Lester would be able to grasp at the moment, it was the only one of all that could attack from far away. Although he had slightly grasped it, he was still unable to unleash the full prowess, and using it even once would place a huge toll on his body and core.

Lester raised his arm towards the huge python as the long sword dissipated into thin air. However, the dissipated world qi did not go away as it began to move above Lester, forming into thin lines that faced the python.

"World Qi Sharp Strikes!" He said as the needle-like world qi manipulations moved at tremendous speed. In fact, the speed was so much that the python didn't even have time to react.

"Pluck!"

"Pluck!"

"Pluck!"

Each needle pierced the head of the python surprisingly easily, making this battle seem extremely anticlimactic and boring. Lester was currently gasping fr air as using that power really did require the utmost concentration and commitment. Forming those needles was extremely difficult, and at the moment four was all he could make.

"Crannnnk!"

The gate once more opened as Lester looked towards it saying, " Bring it on."