My SSS-Rank Skill and System is too OP in Modern Cultivation world-Chapter 142: An Unexpected Attack

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Soon, they arrived at the entrance of the Ruin's central hall. It was a grand chamber lined with ominous carvings that glowed faintly. Yang Li stood near the center, sword drawn, his face haggard yet stubbornly resolute. Opposite him towered a new threat: a tall, imposing cultivator in tattered black robes, exuding a potent, fresh aura that crackled around his body. Behind him milled half a dozen Level‑C fighters, all itching for a final battle.

"So you're that 'Nexus Yang Li' I keep hearing about," the dark alliance Level‑B sneered, glancing maliciously at the watchers. "Let me claim the Ruin Core artifact, or I'll burn this place to ash." He brandished a curved blade that shimmered with menacing runes, clearly an advanced weapon.

Yang Li spat on the ground. "You have no claim here," he growled, though fatigue weighed on his stance. "We overcame your allies and this ruin is under my guardianship. You want it, fight me for it. Show me what you dark alliance members are capable of."

The dark alliance figure let out a cold laugh. "Oh, I will. And you're too drained to stop me." He lunged forward, aura flaring, and their swords clashed in a brilliant shower of sparks.

Kent and Nima arrived in time to see the swirling tempest of spiritual force as the two Level‑B cultivators exchanged furious blows. The watchers braced themselves, while the half-dozen Level‑C minions sneered at them from the flanks, clearly intending to keep interlopers at bay.

Without waiting for a formal invite, Kent leapt into action. The comedic swordsman's unorthodox style caught the lesser minions off-guard. He performed a flailing somersault that looked half-stumble, half-lucid design, weaving through the minions' attempts to surround him. In the confusion, he jabbed one in the side, sending the foe toppling with a comedic yowl. Another, startled by Kent's flamboyant spin, left an opening that Nima capitalized on with a brutal punch, channeling a flicker of her Soulbinding aura.

A third minion, evidently the more cunning, tried to slip behind them, only to be intercepted by Auri, Raka and Lumo, who dive-bombed from overhead with a flurry of frantic attacks. The minion staggered back, clutching at a faceful of feathers and furs, and Nima finished him off using her soul scythe with a swift blow to the temple. The watchers joined the fray, helping mop up the outmaneuvered Level‑C fighters.

Meanwhile, Yang Li engaged the dark alliance Level‑B in a fierce dance of sword arcs and spiritual energy blasts. The clang of steel reverberated across the vaulted chamber, each strike testing his stamina. Despite his exhaustion, he refused to yield ground, the blade in his hand blazing with formidable, if somewhat wavering, might. But it was obvious he was on the defensive, the dark alliance fighter pressing advantage with fresh vigor.

Kent, dispatching the last of the minions in a comedic double-lunge that left him panting and them sprawling, turned to see Yang Li falter under a punishing slash that tore at the older man's shoulder. Blood stained the battered cloth of his robe, and he staggered to one knee.

The dark alliance cultivator sneered, "This is the best you can muster, Nexus? Pathetic. The Ruin Core artifact belongs to me!"

Nima hissed under her breath. "We can't let him win," she said to Kent, eyes bright with worry. "He's strong… but maybe, together, we can corner him."

Kent nodded, stepping to Yang Li's side. "Old man, you good?" he murmured, helping the older warrior stand.

A pained grin twisted Yang Li's features. "Better than your weird stance, kid," he wheezed, though gratitude shone in his eyes. Then he raised his sword. "Let's end this."

They attacked in tandem. Nima unleashed a wave of Soulbinding chains that briefly tangled the dark alliance fighter's ankles. Yang Li followed with a direct slash, forcing the enemy onto the defensive. Kent capitalized on the moment by unleashing a soul Slasher dagger charge, deliberately stumbling in a way that forced the foe to pivot awkwardly. The synergy of unpredictable comedic move, standard swordplay, and Soulbinding aura began to erode the dark alliance fighter's confidence.

Enraged, the Level‑B foe roared and unleashed a swirling torrent of destructive energy. It blasted across the chamber, shattering pillars and raining debris. Kent ducked behind a half-collapsed statue as dust enveloped the room. Through the haze, he saw Nima cry out in shock and leap aside, Soul chains flailing in disarray. Yang Li took the brunt of it on his sword, but the sheer force drove him back with a ragged gasp.

"Enough games!" the dark alliance warrior thundered, aura flaring. "Die or surrender!"

Panting, Kent realized this had to end soon. He met Nima's eyes across the swirling dust. She gave a brief, grim nod, and they sprang into action simultaneously. Nima flung a final wave of binding threads at the foe's legs, forcing him off-balance, while Kent leapt from behind, channeling an illusions with his architect of creation skill into a feint that made it look like he was diving in from the left. The startled enemy turned that way, leaving his right flank open. Where Yang Li, summoning the last of his battered strength, drove his blade in a decisive arc.

The dark alliance Level‑B let out a snarl of stunned fury. He staggered backward, a deep slash running across his chest. With a tortured hiss, he tried to raise his weapon once more, but Nima's threads constricted, and a comedic trip from Kent sent him crashing to the floor. Yang Li, sword brimming with righteous finality, slammed the hilt into the enemy's temple, rendering him unconscious.

A hush fell. The watchers and battered students let out cheers of relief as the last formidable foe lay defeated. Darkness and dust swirled in the chamber, gradually settling to reveal the battered silhouettes of Kent, Nima, and Yang Li standing triumphant. A flicker of battered pride crossed Yang Li's face. "Kid… you and your sister do a decent job," he huffed, trying to maintain his stoic facade.

Kent managed a grin, ignoring the burning ache in his limbs. "All in a day's chaos, old man," he replied, voice trembling with both exhaustion and relief. Nima said nothing, just offered Kent a sidelong look that conveyed grudging respect for their combined victory.

The fractured hall of the Ruin Core still echoed with the earlier clash of blades and roaring spiritual energy, yet a hush now blanketed the survivors. Nexus Yang Li's boots scraped softly on broken flagstones as he strode toward the raised stone dais: six steps worn smooth by time, every riser etched with glyphs that shimmered like moon‑silver. Atop that dais hovered the Ruin Core Orb—a grapefruit‑sized sphere of living radiance whose interior swirled in slow ribbons of turquoise, amber, and starlight white.

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Kent hovered ten paces back, fingertips brushing Soul Slasher's hilt. Sweat cooled on his neck. "If Yang Li takes the orb, this whole sub‑dimension folds and we will be sent out…" A tiny part of him still itched to swipe the Core for his system mission, but the older man had earned the right; besides, fifty hidden beasts in his Void Domain might complicate any unscheduled dimensional hop.

Nima, arms crossed, lingered near a toppled column with Auri perched on her shoulder and Raka's hooded form poised at her back. Lumo, the soul‑bear, rumbled quietly, amber eyes reflecting the orb's light. Fatty Li crumbs dotting his robe, eyes darting between Kent and Nima as if expecting another sibling explosion.

Yang Li mounted the first step. The glyphs flared brighter, reacting to his Level‑B aura. He reached the third step and the whole dais shuddered.

A metallic CRACK rang out, as though a gargantuan bolt had been snapped. Dust rained from the vaulted ceiling. Everyone froze. Yang Li halted mid‑stride, sword half‑drawn. "Formation shift?" he muttered.

Kent felt it next: the floor vibrated not horizontally, like common seismic tremor but vertically, as though something rooted below was pushing upward in tremendous, rhythmic pulses.

The orb's gentle swirl turned violent, colors sloshing like liquid in a storm‑jar. Symbols on the plinth gutters flashed from silver to deep forest green.

"Uh, old man?" Kent called. "That look normal to you?"

Yang Li's only reply was to leap back, rejoining Kent in the center of the hall. His eyes narrowed. "Guardians often die with their ruins," he said, voice low, "but some slumber until the core is disturbed."

The floor at the dais's base bulged. Stone cracked. From the fissure erupted a thick tendril of bark, a bark layered over black iron wood, each ring banded with jade motes. It slammed down onto the flagstones like a siege hammer, shattering a crater two metres wide.

A chorus of similar fissures spiraled outward. Roots coiled through the ground, ripping masonry as if the slabs were parchment.

A hush turned to screaming wind as an ancient presence unfurled. The orb rose higher, wreathed in vines that cradled it like a seed in a pod. Those vines thickened, twining upward until they formed a towering trunk fifteen metres tall. Branches unfurled, sprouting dagger‑leaf limbs, each leaf etched with ruin‑script. Between the boughs coalesced a vague humanoid torso, wooden chest, arms ending in root‑talons, crown of antler‑like branches.