Mortal Leaving Pinnacle Realm (263/800 XP)

(I'll include the XP at the start of every chapter from now on for an easier time tracking it for both myself and readers.)

"Quick through the gates…" On the north side of the city, the guards lay slumped against the gates – darts sticking out of their neck like a pimple on the clear face of a noblewoman standing in the spotlight among her friends.

But like said pimple, people couldn't help but look and gossip at the guards which had just been incapacitated in front of them – the line of people gasped and argued as the gates began to close, those who tried to enter were hit with the same darts which had incapacitated the guards just seconds earlier and they slumped to the ground in an instant, dead or alive? No one could tell or be bothered to stop and check.

Those that had fallen seconds earlier and were unlucky enough to have been near the back of the group were trampled as they turned around and ran away from the gates, everyone was in a daze – in those short minutes the North gate of the Capital had been taken over silently, as the gates had closed no one inside had noticed the change. 

The walls isolating the shouts and screams of those on the other side perfectly, yet no one had noticed the faint ripples in the air as each black-cloaked figure had entered through the gates nor did they notice the faint humming sound that had appeared when the gates had closed as they had already disappeared into the city after closing and jamming the gates, rushing towards the inner city of the capital.

But they didn't notice the figure who appeared behind them, out of the shadows a grin hanging on the corner of his mouth before turning around and walking away in the direction of the Technique Pavilion at a leisurely pace.

…

'Hehehehe, finally.' I laughed to myself silently. I'd detected several powerful auras rushing through the city quickly, appearing just in time to watch them disappear towards the Inner City – it was finally time for me to make my move.

Just a while longer and I'd be able to take advantage of the chaos – maybe I would even be able to kill that Core Gathering Expert in the pavilion under the cover of chaos and push me one step closer to my breakthrough…

The thought caused my heart to beat against my chest with added vigour as I thought of my impending breakthrough, I would need to kill an estimated three more third realm experts to progress to the Core Gathering Realm, with an average of 200 XP per Primary stage cultivator I was confident in killing those at the primary stage, less so with those at the Intermediate Stage, I shouldn't be overconfident in my own abilities after all after learning the Shadow Movement Art combat power didn't necessary equate to what realm you were in.

That thought reminded me however, a sly smile on my face as I began to walk into the sky – literally walk as if taking steps up a stairway I slowly ascended and began a leisurely stroll towards the technique pavilion.

Yes this was the technique "Like Cloud like Mountain." It allowed me to float into the sky as if I was talking a leisurely walk in the park – of course with my current realm I was constricted to a short three minutes before I would plummet back towards the ground, and my limit was about a hundred feet before I wouldn't be able to defy gravity any longer.

But the ability was exhilarating, I felt like one of the superhero's I had admired when I was younger – rising into the sky and looking down on everyone below, protecting silently from above like a guardian angel.

It was a pity that I had no intentions to help anyone, my heart had grown numb to the actions of others and I could look on indifferently even if I was forced through the entire ordeal of 'that' woman throwing herself down the stairs once more.

Even if I was in that prison cell now I wouldn't cry or complain I would simply accept that's the way life is – my heart had found its own peace and I could feel I had reached a realm that although didn't increase my combat strength had allowed me to feel indifference towards my surroundings like a spectator simply watching a show.

But in this case I was the spectator who would reap the benefits from the shadows and kill remorselessly in an effort to improve myself – I had no doubt that I had changed immensely since being shown this new world but I could be certain that these changes weren't due to the daggers influencing my emotions – instead they were the manifestation of my anger and rage causing me to isolate myself from the rest of the world.

It was a welcome feeling compared to the coldness I had received from both family and friends after my little 'incident.'

I suddenly came to a stop, subconsciously I had recognised I was above the Technique Pavilion despite being lost in my own thoughts at the time.

"Now we wait…" I could faintly feel the aura of the Core Gathering Expert in the building but since his senses didn't extend all around the building and only on the floors of the inside of the building I was undetected as I relaxed in silence, watching the people below walk around their mundane lives unspectacularly.

…

Hours had passed and nothing; however, I had felt the aura inside the building fluctuate for a second before stabilising but it showed no signs of disappearing – I was starting to grow impatient as I paced back and forth on the roof out of view from the people below.

A look of disappointment appeared on my face as I began to tap my foot on the roof, a low thudding sound echoed off the roof every so often. 

"Why aren't they doing anything?!" I shouted from the roof, my voice echoed from the rooftop and several people below looked up in interest – I regretted it but I couldn't help it, I was really frustrated. This wasn't how the script was meant to go, they were meant to cause chaos in the capital before causing everyone to rush over leaving me with an opportunity.

'Why the hell can't rebellions always just be-' "Bang, Bang, Bang." My thoughts were interrupted by several small explosions that went off from the direction of the other inner city gates – the one I was by had been completely untouched by the explosions.

From my vantage point I could see the gates and walls collapse in on each other blocking the path, although it would be no problem for me I was sure it would become a major disadvantage to the common Mortal Leaving Realm Soldiers, I didn't even consider the mere rubble to be able to block anyone at the Core Gathering Realm.

But finally my chance had arrived, the Aura of the Core Gathering Expert suddenly disappeared but I could detect a figure flying out of the pavilion at an extremely fast speed – much faster than my own, I shuddered thinking I had thoughts of fighting someone with such an extreme speed.

But I was happy that he had finally decided to abandon the pavilion – it was time for me to go reap some benefits from the chaos to improve my personal strength.

A grin crossed my face as I made a hole in the roof and jumped through into the building, descending into the 'belly of the beast' whilst the beast was sleeping.

My eyes set on the battle technique section…