"This is why I hate the oceans!"

  "Bloody hell mate"

  "Let the others know we are running into a storm"

  "Secure the cargo, I don't want anything to happen to the cargo"

  The Core Formation guards on the upper deck talked to each other while staring at the brewing storm on the horizon. Among the six guards on the upper deck, two were standing on the ship's front, one was standing on the crow's nest, one on each side of the ship tending the sail masts, the sixth one was the guy steering the rudder. Luckily they were all staring at the storm as none kept an eye on the rudder steering guard.

  Unfortunately, the source point of the formation on the rudder stage was beside the rudder steering guard. Even if she fired an ice arrow, the noise would alert the guard.

  "Full Lucifer mode" the moment he ordered the system, his eyes began to shine in crimson red while the cloud of darkness, a cloud of black smoke enveloped Michael around.

  "That's the point. Wait for my signal before firing"

  Michael cast the Lightning Dash spell right when a lightning flash appeared to reach the guard. Just a second before reaching the guard, he also cast the Death Range making the rudder stage completely dark.

  "Huh?" The guard was startled by the sudden darkness around him. But before he could do anything, Michael grabbed him from behind, taking off to the sky immediately.

  Crack!

  Michael snapped the guard's neck mid-way in the air. Breaking a neck was not as simple as they show in movies. It required technique, strength, and training. He had everything. The strength enhancement he got from Death range made breaking the guard's neck as easy as breaking an egg.

  [Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a Core Formation stage, level 8 Cultivator. The reward is 210,000 Experience points and 1000 Badass points]

  The moment he killed the guard, Gaya fired the ice arrow, breaking the last defensive formation.

  "Take care of the two in the front, I'll take the other two" Gaya nodded as she flew towards the ship's front from the back. The guards' focus was on the storm so they didn't notice Gaya above them through the dark night. Plus, they were carefree because of the defensive formations as they depended on the formations to alert them if there was an intruder on the ship.

  Michael was hovering directly above his two targets while Gaya stayed a few meters away from her targets so she could kill the two of them as quickly as possible.

  "Go"

  The moment Michael gave the signal, she fired two arrows within a second. Each of them pierced the head of its target. On the other hand, Michael landed right between his targets before sending two lightning bolts from each hand at each target. Just like Gaya's arrows, Michael's lightning bolts also pierced its target's head. The guards didn't even have a moment to react.

  [Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a Core Formation stage, level 8 Cultivator. The reward is 210,000 Experience points and 1000 Badass points]

  [Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a Core Formation stage, level 8 Cultivator. The reward is 210,000 Experience points and 1000 Badass points]

  [Ding! Subordinate Gaya killed a Core Formation stage, level 8 Cultivator. The reward is 210,000 Experience points]

  [Ding! Subordinate Gaya killed a Core Formation stage, level 8 Cultivator. The reward is 210,000 Experience points]

  [Congratulations to the host for leveling up. The current level is Core Formation stage Level 9!]

  [Congratulations to the host for leveling up. The current level is Core Formation stage Level 10!]

  "Hey!"

  Whoosh!

  Zzhhhhh!

  The arrow and the bolt of lightning hit the guard standing on the crow nest before he could even close his mouth.

  [Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a Core Formation stage, level 8 Cultivator. The reward is 210,000 Experience points and 1000 Badass points]

  [The system has stockpiled the excess experience points for the host to breakthrough later]

  He almost forgot about the points needed to break through to the Core Strengthening stage. Hearing the system notification in his mind put a grin on his face.

  Since he reached the Core Formation stage 10, his overall power increased significantly than before. Therefore, killing the two Core Strengthening stage cultivators would be much easier.

  "Wait a sec," Michael said to Gaya when she landed on the deck. Under her gaze, he cast the lightning dash to reach one of the guards he just killed. He quickly picked up the body, tossing it into the ocean. As he disposed of the body, he didn't dare to steal their space rings for safety precautions.

  She continued to watch him throw the bodies one by one into the raging ocean. The howling sound created by the storm became louder and louder. Since there was no one at the rudder steering the ship away from the tornado, the ship was getting pulled in like iron towards a magnet. The raging sea violently hit the ship, shaking it to the point both Michael and Gaya had a hard time standing still.

  "We need to finish this before that finishes everything" Gaya pointed at the giant tornado swirling in the distance.

  "Don't fret it" Michael calmly said before opening up the latch beneath him to go down to the lower decks where they were keeping the girls.

  Through the creaky stairs, Michael and Gaya reached the lower decks. The howling sound of the wind became silent after closing the hatch. They were welcomed by a dark corridor with a couple of lanterns hanging on the wall to give just barely enough light to see what's in front of them.

  Using the X-ray vision, Michael located the remaining guards in the lower deck. The two Core Formation guards seemed to be playing a card game in one of the rooms ten meters away from Michael. The two Core Strengthening stage cultivators were sitting in a meditative position in front of the girls. The girls seemed to be in a wooden container. All the girls were tied but some of them were trying to move. The others however remained still.

  Michale and Gaya slowly sneaked towards the Core Formation guards.

  "Go kill the Core Strengthening guards, I'll handle these two," said Gaya.

  He knew she could kill them without a problem yet he needed to do one little thing before leaving her.

  Michael squatted on the floor, looking at the space between the door and the floor. He then willed the system to give him the fear toxin vials in the storage. As he poured down the fear toxin, it evaporated into the room through the space.

  "With this amount of fear toxin, it won't freak them out as usual but it will mess with their mind"

  "Be careful" After nodding, Gaya whispered.

  Giving a little nod, Michael left Gaya to reach the room where the girls and the last two guards are. The wooden door to the room was shut closed. From the other side, Michael could sense the Arch energy circulation. The two guards were obviously cultivating despite the shakiness of the ship. They were oblivious to the fact the ship is heading towards a storm.

  Michael scanned the room for any formations. Luckily he found no formations. Just like before, Michael squatted down to send fear toxin into the room through the space between the door and the floor. He was careful not to make any sound. In a few seconds, he poured four vials of fear toxin into the room. If there were no girls inside, he would have poured four more to completely mess with the guards' minds. Since that was not the case, he had to be careful with the amount of fear toxin he should pour or the girls would die inhaling the toxin.

  After pouring enough fear toxin, he slowly turned the doorknob to open. The door creaked open to reveal two bald men in their early forties cultivating in front of a wooden cargo container. The moment Michael closed the door behind, the two cultivators abruptly opened their eyes.

  "So much for stealth," he thought.

  The old door creaked more than Michael wanted. Hence, the creaking sound made the cultivators open their eyes.

  "Who are you?" one of the bald men asked as they stood up.

  "Lucifer"? the other one quickly recognized Michael.

  The two of them suddenly shook their heads as the fear toxin started to take effect. Their pupils began to dilate. Although the fear toxin would make them hallucinate and kindle the darkest fear in their hearts, it wouldn't last long. The stronger the cultivator, the less the fear toxin's effect on them. That was why Michael couldn't go kill all the stronger cultivators using the fear toxin.

  "Death Range"? Michael immediately cast the Death Range spell as the fear toxin's effect would fade away in a couple of minutes max.

  The room was completely darkened by the spell.

  "Lightning Dash"? while they were stunned by the fear toxin and the Death Range spell, he used the Lightning dash to close the gap between them.

  Pulch!

  Pulch!

  "Ah"

  Michael stabbed the both of them in their throats with needles dosed in his paralyzing poison.? The paralyzing poison prevented the cultivators from casting spells.

  The two guards stumbled backward. Michael didn't stop as he used the Lightning dash yet again. This time, he stabbed them with a dagger repeatedly.? Since they were Core Strengthening cultivators, he needed to use all of his strength to send the dagger into their bodies.

  Pulch!

  Pulch!

  Pulch!

  The blood kept splashing on Michael's suit of armor every time he stabbed them. He focused on their throats because throats were soft as well as stabbing them in the throat would stop them from casting spells.

  It took Michael twenty stabs to make them fall down. In addition to paralyzing poison and fear toxin, Michael needed to cast Death Range as well as use the maximum speed of Lightning dash to make the two Core Strengthening stage cultivators fall down. Even after getting stabbed twenty times in the throat and chest, they were still alive.

  [Ding! Subordinate Gaya killed a Core Formation stage, level 8 Cultivator. The reward is 210,000 Experience points]

  [Ding! Subordinate Gaya killed a Core Formation stage, level 8 Cultivator. The reward is 210,000 Experience points]