Chapter 934 - Prowess
It didn't take long to reach the Soa crystal mine, which was a given.
Only five days had passed, while the following two days were utilized in order to investigate the mine, and its surrounding.
Instead of barging inside the mine, this was a necessary step.
After all, they didn't have to fight against normal wandering souls, but against beings that served the Soul Monarch.
This was not to be taken lightly, and their worries would further increase if one or multiple Guards would be around.
They were unable to exclude this possibility as an informant could have forwarded intel about the Yinar race's planned attacks on the Soul Monarch's claimed mine and the city in which the Soul Monarch had enlarged the portal to the Kianan race.
Yet, even if the Soul Monarch would have been informed about both, this wouldn't be that much of an issue.
The most important thing for them was to protect the enlarged and stabilized portal.
If the portal were to be destroyed, procuring the high number of Soa crystals would lose its meaning and intent.
Though these crystals were highly sought after, right now their aim was to maintain the portal.
The Yinar race's wandering souls could cultivate with the Soa crystals, and increase their strength at a rapid pace, but that was already it.
As such, Jason presumed that the biggest portion of the combat forces would stay in the city, while only a small number of Guards would be sent out to the mine.
It was also possible that only one, or if they were extremely lucky, none of the Guards were ordered to protect the mine.
This was not something they could ignore because the Yinar race seemed to take Jason's prophecy extremely seriously.
In the end, even Jason had not expected himself to be taken that seriously, but this was certainly something advantageous for all the parties involved, excluding that of the Soul Monarch.
Thus, after the last two days had passed, and the remaining scouts had returned to the small and well-hidden base they had constructed, a simple plan was created.
AT first glance, there were multiple types of wandering souls that were working together in order to mine Soa crystals before storing them inside a specific and well-hidden space.
Other than that, there was no sight of a Guard which was helpful.
But based on the Soul force fluctuations the scouts had been able to perceive relatively easily, there were at least 50 beasts at the Specta stage.
The numerical advantage was thus on the defending side.
However, that could be tackled easily as long as no Guard was on their side.
Despite not sensing or seeing a Guard, they assumed that they would encounter at least two Guards in order to be on the safe side.
Afterward, the strength of everyone was taken into consideration, which was the crux of the entire situation.
Even if most youths and even the Specta stage Cultivators were not at a higher rank than the opponents they would face, by making use of the wandering souls they had bound, their combat prowess could reach an extremely high state.
In fact, some of the Specta stage Cultivators that had been sent out were well-known for their powerful wandering soul, rather than their individual strength.
This might be quite embarrassing for them, but Jason felt that it was even more difficult to bind the wandering soul of overly powerful beasts rather than being strong on their own.
After all, a wandering soul was something permanent that could continue to grow with oneself even further, while individual strength could be enhanced by training.
With that in mind, Jason began to see the Cultivators all around him in a different light.
Initially, they hadn't been prepared to face his mental assault with the abyssal effect, but now that the situation was becoming serious, his little lecture seemed to put some much-needed sense in their heads.
Jason felt proud after seeing how everyone evaluated their strength without boasting a lot as they recalled how they had been overwhelmed by Jason's simple gaze a few days ago.
This made them feel as if they were shrinking in size and were ants that he could squash easily if he wanted to.
Yet, simultaneously, it made them feel like Jason was some otherworldly being who was powerful enough to take out everyone just like that.
The entire situation was quite awkward, and every single time a youth exposed his combat prowess, their eyes automatically flicked to Jason.
Sometimes, youths, mostly the young men attempted to say that they were stronger than they truly were.
However, the moment they lifted their head and met Jason's eyes, whose relaxed gaze was lingering on them, they changed their statement.
As such, Jason felt awkward but also amused about the situation, only to be asked about his combat prowess.
"If you were to fight a life-and-death battle with an opponent that forces you to reveal your entire strength… Do you think that you can handle a bunch of Mid Ascendion stage wandering souls, or can you already defeat Late Ascendion stage wandering souls?"
The Specta stage Cultivator asked the question quite weirdly.
It was almost as if he was vigilant of Jason, and attempted to subtly investigate him.
This caused Jason to smile weirdly, but if he were to be honest, he was not really sure what to answer.
A group of Mid Ascendion stage wandering souls was no problem, and a single Late Ascendion stage wandering soul shouldn't be much of a problem either.
After all, he was yet to find out how strong he truly was.
It felt odd to answer truthfully and would almost look like he was showing off, but after sorting his thoughts, Jason answered,
"I'm pretty sure that I will be able to handle wandering souls at the Late Ascendion stage."
His voice was neither loud nor low, yet everyone could hear the way in which he had answered nonchalantly.
Some youths were unable to hide their grimace as they stared at him, wondering where the confidence to cross multiple ranks, and defeating opponents three ranks higher than himself came from.
And that was not all, because the beasts he was talking about were wandering souls.
This meant that their entire being had been enhanced to a much higher extent than it was the case with a being that cultivated in one of the major three cultivation paths.
Thus, his confidence in defeating wandering souls at the Late Ascendion stage spoke volumes about his true combat prowess.
Yet, rather than being shocked, the Specta stage Cultivator who took note of his strength sighed in relief.
It was a barely audible sigh, but his colleagues noticed this, which caused them to furrow their eyebrows.
'Wait…did he think that Jason might say he can defeat Specta stage powerhouses?!'
Looking from Jason to their colleague, who was visibly relieved, they were not sure what to think.
Had they underestimated Jason, or was their colleague simply insane?
In the end, the latter was more likely to be the case.
Yet, unbeknownst to the other powerhouses, the youngest of them had been silently observing them all.
He was busy mentally noting everyone's strength and was also the one with the best senses amongst all of them.
As such, he had clearly sensed the Celestia aura, the divine energy, and the potency of the overlapped Stigma from Jason and Jennifer a week earlier.
Thus, the youngest Cultivator at the Specta stage couldn't help but think that Jason might even be stronger than he had acknowledged.
If everyone present were to know that Jason had purposefully excluded losing his reasoning, turning into an Infernal Celestia, or subconsciously breaking the limits of his mortal body for a short period of time, he would have stated a much higher rank of beasts that he could defeat.
After all, unleashing his bloodline to the extent that he would be barely able to stay alive was something that could increase his strength to a whole new level, possibly even the Specta stage owing to the secondary bloodline awakening.
Even Jason didn't know how far he might be able to go in the worst-case scenario, after all!
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