Chef in the Apocalypse

Jayce watched on as the sea of spells took up his entire vision. Some of the skills were ones that he had never seen before, yet the power that emanated from them was enough to hint at their phenomenal prowess.

If this was 6 months ago, he wouldn’t be sure how to deal with this sudden attack and would likely have suffered extensive losses in the first encounter. However, his strength was not something that could be overcome by such a thing.

In less than a blink of an eye, the dark purple sword flashed in the air, cutting a horizontal arc towards the oncoming attacks.

The slash pierced through the spells like it was cutting through air, meeting no resistance as it completely overpowered the mana infused Armageddon.

The enemy could only watch on in horror as the sword strike continued towards them, not slowing down at all. Their expressions ranged from dumbstruck to fearful, seeing their strongest attacks dealt with in one fell sweep.

"GUARDIANS!"

A deep shout knocked them out of their reverie, finally restoring some clarity to their thoughts. 30 or so people stepped forward, carrying large kite shields on their arms.

With one swift motion, they slammed their shields into the ground only for a large translucent blue barrier to appear in front of the entire force. The Juxtaposition of the abilities had a multiplicative effect, increasing the strength of the barrier many fold.

The sword strike landed on the blue barrier moments later, producing an ear piercing metallic ring throughout the plain. The guardians trembled under the enormous pressure from the blow, holding on for dear life as the strike inched closer slowly.

They could only stare at the shield and pray that the shield would hold long enough for the strike to lose its power. However, luck did not seem to be on their side today as the shield began to show signs of shattering moments later.

Cracks meandered across the blue shield like spiderwebs, eventually filling their entire vision. It was at that moment that they knew there was nothing that could be done to stop the impending attack.

The shield broke apart in a flash of brilliance, filling the surroundings with motes of light. Before the enemy could appreciate the spectacle, Jayce’s attack tore through their ranks, sending body parts scattering all over the place.

The metallic scent of blood suddenly filled the plain, spreading through the air alongside the dust from the impact of the sword strike. Despite not being able to see the damage, Jayce’s army continued to rush towards the enemy line, preparing to reek havoc.

The dust and blood mist began to disperse, finally showing the aftermath of Jayce’s strike. The army who was charging forward valiantly just a moment before, suddenly slowed down and came to an abrupt halt.

Jayce frowned for a moment, yet he too suddenly stopped after the enemy line was visible. It wasn’t that his army had lost their will to fight, it was that there were currently no enemies to fight...

"What..."

One by one, the army directed their gazes to Jayce who looked just as dumbfounded as them. Their faces were awash with shock and awe as they gazed at the man who had destroyed their enemies with a single strike.

’This doesn’t make any sense.’ Jayce thought, looking at the devastation that a single strike had brought to the traitors.

His strike had indeed been powerful, however he did not think that it would be capable of tearing through so many people as if they were merely weeds. Why had Rubick told him he needed to make a breakthrough before coming here?

Would he not have been able to assault the place even before reaching the Core Formation realm if the enemies were only this strong?

However, now was not the time to think about this. Now that they were here, their first priority should be to rescue Leah. Since it was clear that Jayce was far too strong for these people, there should be no issues in wiping them out either.

"Lianna, Zane, go search for Leah. Send the signal if you get into trouble. The rest of you, there should be other enemies within the city, let’s go."

Jayce relayed his orders before moving forward once more. He felt a little uneasy for some reason, despite his obvious strength advantage.

If previous trends were any indication, Jayce had every right to be wary. Every time that he had breezed through an obstacle, there was always something that had occurred to mess with him.

The Hydra at the end of the Beast Tide, the imprint from the Dryad’s, the intervention of the three beings. Too many times he had been screwed over by outside forces that he had become a pessimist.

There was a chance that this time would be different, however there were no benefits to thinking this way. He would rather be alert at all times, than become lax and get caught with his pants down.

With that, he continued onwards into the city, keeping his eyes peeled for enemies.

It didn’t take him long to reach the next roadblock, however there were considerably less people lined up to face him. Their faces filled with shock indicated that they had not expected him to arrive so quickly. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Not waiting for an invitation, he flew up into the air and entered into a horse stance, his body emanating a suffocating pressure. His body shimmered in a golden glow for a moment before he unleashed a heavy palm towards those on the ground.

Jayce had decided to use his Golden Buddha Palm from the Divine Body Arts record that was left by the golden haired General. Leah could be within one of the houses in the vicinity, so he did not want to accidentally destroy a house she was in.

The devastating palm landed squarely on the 20 or so people who were standing below him, they had tried sending out attacks yet it was all for naught. The palm quickly smashed them into meat patties, even sinking a few meters into the ground.

"What the f*ck..."

Jayce could only watch on in disbelief as his palm shook the entire Earth as if he had caused an earthquake. The 5 or so buildings in the vicinity crumbled like they were made of matchsticks, causing a domino effect.

’How can this be?’ Jayce thought inwardly. He had been practicing the Golden Buddha Palm relentlessly over the past 6 months, yet it had never been this powerful. This was the only reason why he was comfortable in executing the attack.

He had also taken into account that his strength had increased, choosing to not even utilize 30% of his full power in the attack to compensate. Yet even doing so he had almost destroyed this part of the town.

Jayce returned to the ground and looked at the mess he had made, his expression one of regret. He could only hope that Leah was not in one of the surrounding houses. But considering he had only just entered the town, he could be in luck.

"Jayce..." A soft voice entered his ear, causing his head to jerk in the direction of the sound. With his enhanced senses, he could instantly pinpoint where it had come from.

His eyes trained directly on the woman who was a few hundred meters away, widening in response. At first he could not recognize her due to the swollen features and dirty hair which had been neglected.

However, his mind quickly made the distinction, connecting the dots. Seeing her pitiful state, dressed in rags with clear signs of abuse, Jayce felt a bubbling rage from within, telling him to raze the entire town into the ground in one fell swoop.

In a flash he arrived next to Leah, taking her into his arms and inspecting her state. He could see that not only was she in a sorry state physically, her cultivation had also been sealed, making her as frail as a regular person.

"Are you okay?" Jayce’s tone was icy, yet there was an underlying emotion of care beneath it.

"I’m okay now." Leah said, grinning.

Jayce could see the cuts on her lips reopen from the smile that just formed on her face. He stifled the bubbling rage within him and soared into the sky without a word. With a twist of his hand, he undid the seal on her Dantian, causing her to let out an audible sigh of relief.

Her Qi which had stagnated for the past 6 months finally began to flood into her meridians, filling her body with strength. Her pale face instantly filled with color and she suddenly felt a million times better.

Not saying another word, Leah’s body glowed a warm green as the Law of Nature sprang to life, dancing around her like a lost child who had been reunited with their mother.

In a few moments, her external wounds were healed, returning her beautiful features to what they once were. Unfortunately, the Law of Nature could not do anything about the rags she was wearing, nor the smell.

However, Jayce would never mention any of these things, especially since he was doing his best not to explode in rage.