Hearing Cain's mocking words and harsh tone, the Leader honestly didn't know how to respond to this. His brain almost shut down just from their earlier collision.
Just what kind of monstrous body does this boy have?!
To clash with a weapon filled with Spirit Qi energy was a ridiculous concept to him. That kind of attack can slice through boulders or weak metals!
Realistically this terrifying boy should've had his hand sliced right off. But, instead, only a very slight bruise was on Cain's knuckles.
The Leader desperately tried to suppress the waves of fear and anxiety bubbling in his heart. Although, no matter how hard he tried, his voice still became shaky as he said,
"H-how?! Just what are you?! I'm at the late stage and you….I can't even sense your level?!"
Cain simply looked at the frantic Leader with a calm smile. It was at this moment he finally knew why people love to be arrogant in these universes.
This feeling of absolute superiority, controlling one's life in the palms of his hand was incredible!
Cain never felt so alive in his life!
Perhaps it was cruel that he derives enjoyment from another one's suffering and fear. But Cain didn't care a single bit whether this was morally right or wrong.
In any case, this Leader and his squad were crueler than him. If he was a simple naive and weak cultivator, he would've been subjected to slavery or death.
Cain already deduced that people like this can only be taught through extreme acts of violence.
And after taking only a moment to enjoy this superiority feeling, Cain decided to end this.
Without saying anything more, Cain burst from his spot, soaring towards the Leader at incredible speeds!
"Yo-you!! Ahh!! Die!!"
The Leader finally became fully crazed against Cain. His eyes turned scarlet as he came to a dangerous decision.
If he's going to die, he will at least bring this abnormally powerful boy with him!
In an instant, the Leader stimulated his blood essence and ferociously bit down on his tongue!
'Puff~!'
Bright crimson blood sprayed all over his sword. And at that moment, the Leader's power crazily soared! A tremendous pressure burst from his body and whipped around his general area.
Wanting to desperately kill Cain, the Leader had just combusted his blood essence!
In exchange for permanently damaging his cultivation, his prowess grew to an unprecedented level.
Right then, the Spirit Qi on his sword shimmered an even brighter glow. The air seemed to wrap around his sword like a storm as he held it up high and then violently swung it down, plunging it straight towards Cain!
'This power!' Even though Cain was still confident, he was just a bit shocked at how much power the Leader was currently emitting.
Combusting one's blood essence really shouldn't be ignored. It's a move that will let anyone temporarily break their limits, pushing them far beyond anything they could achieve before.
However, this didn't deter Cain in the slightest. In fact, his smile only grew more battle-hungry.
To meet the Leader's newfound power head-on, Cain pushed forth all the Spirit Qi in his body to its absolute limit!
'Hua!'
In an instant, a boundless aura whipped out of Cain as he used all of his energy at once. His powerful aura directly clashed with the Leader, causing an even strong air storm to swirl around them.
At the same time, Cain's right fist got covered in a dim blue glow.
And without any hesitation or fear, Cain swung his fist straight at the Leader's brightly glowing sword.
A maddening smile split across the Leader's face seeing Cain's action. This time, he truly believed that Cain's fist, no, his entire arm will burst into a gory mess!
However, Cain's following action stunned the Leader to his core.
At the very last second, before Cain struck his sword, he suddenly snapped his palm wide open.
'Bang!'
The sound of two metals clashing against each other reverberated in the woods.
Relying on just his bodily physique and pure Spirit Qi energy, Cain had actually caught the Leader's blood essence fueled sword!
The Leader and even Kali stilted, their gazes unable to leave Cain's palm.
"Holy hell, brother! Talk about flashy!"
Kali couldn't keep her mouth shut, blurting out praise as her eyes widened in awe. Even though she knows Cain has Dragon God's blood flowing in his veins, this kind of power is just too overwhelming!
As for the Leader, he was in a similar state as Kali but for entirely opposite reasons.
Right when Cain caught his sword, all of his energy dispersed in an instant! Following up on that, an overwhelming flow of tyrannical Spirit Qi drilled into him, causing his whole body to bleed out.
The pain was unbearable, but the Leader couldn't even focus on that. He felt like his world shattered when Cain bare handedly caught his blade.
"Nice attack. But, it's over." Cain's words were like an executioner.
Without waiting any longer, he swung out his other fist, crashing it into the Leader's face. Blood burst out like a fountain as Cain smashed the Leader's head, causing it to become mutilated flesh.
Once the Leader was dead, his sword lost all power, reverting back to its original state.
Cain had then released his grip, letting the Leader's corpse and sword crash to the ground.
When Cain's hand was freed, a fresh trail of blood leaked from the center of his palm. Quickly looking towards his hand, Cain saw there was now a considerably long wound splitting the center of his palm wide open.
Typically, for any other Spirit Opening cultivator, this kind of wound would be minor. At the very least, Spirit Qi would be able to eventually stop the bleeding until properly healing items were used.
But for Cain, his wound stopped bleeding near instantaneously. Furthermore, he did feel pain, but it wasn't anything he hadn't experienced before.
Without the full context of the scene, anybody would think this was a minor injury in battle.
However, if people were to know Cain stopped a late Spirit Opening cultivator combusted blood essence attack with his bare handings, jaws would drop through the floor.
Even more shocking is the fact Cain was barely injured at all from such an insane move.
Right then, as Cain inspected his palm, becoming shocked over his own body's regenerative abilities, a gust of wind brushed past him.
He blinked his eyes only to see Kali standing right in front of him. Her expression was a mix of awe and concern.
Immediately then, the worry won over Kali as she said in a concerning tone, "Truly, that was amazing, Cain! But really, that was kind of a huge risk to meet his attack head-on like that, even for us. Still, you are ok, right?"
Immediately when Kali saw blood leaking from Cain's hand, it was like a jolt rushed through her entire being. She may have a thirst for battle, but Cain's safety took priority over everything.
Cain could only let loose a warm smile over his dear sister's concerns. It truly felt nice to have somebody care so intently for him.
"I'm alright. Just a little bit bruised, but it seems like my bloodline is taking care of it. By the way, Kali, just what was that guy level? He mentioned something about being at the Late-stage, and you have more experience identifying these levels."
Cain asked, intently remembering that throwaway line the Leader said in his horror shock. Depending on Kali's answer, he believed they have another valuable asset for their journey.
"Oh that? Well, just the simple fact he could send out Qi attacks puts him at the seventh level. Plus, I've also confirmed it. He was indeed a seventh-level Spirit Opening cultivator."
Kali explained after taking a moment to recall their fight.
At that moment, Cain began to remember critical details about the Spirito Opening realm.
At the seventh level, a cultivator would refine 40% of their Main Qi Veins with Spirit Qi. Once this process was done, an entirely new change would be granted.
Within the lower part of their stomach, their dantian and Qi Sea will form at the same time.
Forming the dantian is a cultivator critical step into completing transforming their bodies. The dantian would be essential for a cultivator's entire lifespan no matter what level they achieve.
And forming the Qi Sea is a representation of one's innate Martial Talent and a gateway to the more profound abilities of the Spirit Opening realm.
Depending on how wide and deep one's Qi Sea is would showcase how great their Martial Talent is. This would also serve as the way for one to directly pull Spirit Qi from their Qi Sea, transfer it through their Main Qi Veins, and send out devastating Qi attacks!
Another ability that is gained at the seventh level is developing Qi Sense.
A cultivator's brain would similarly experience a tremendous transformation, allowing them to gain access to Spiritual Sensory ability.
The Spiritual Sensory ability is one's Qi Sense. This will allow any cultivator to perceive life signatures far away from them, detect cultivation levels and give them an easy time comprehending the world's form of energies.
Realistically, with such overwhelming advantages, a fifth-level Spirit Opening cultivator like Cain shouldn't stand a chance against the Leader.
However, despite all odds stacked against him, Cain stood victorious.
Right then, Cain was interrupted from his thoughts when Kali began to speak again, telling him, "Not only was the Leader at a higher level, his goons were too. Three were at the sixth level, and one other was at the fifth level. Yet, despite their great odds, who won in the end? So, you know what this means, Cain?"
"Our combat prowess….we have level skipping talent!"
Cain immediately connected the dots. His eyes brightly lit up in shock at this news.
Because he couldn't correctly identify levels with his Soul Sense, Cain simply had no idea to tell if he was fighting above his realm.
But with Kali's confirmation, it seems his and her Martial Talents were more profound than Cain could have realized.. And this excited him like there was no tomorrow.