-Liu Xun's Perspective-

"Hey..."

The youth charged forth while avoiding all the blue slimes (I will call it slimes here to save word count and since this is what the system calls it). He focused on the main foe which was the towering mountain of meat and flesh, Shaggaroth.

"Bone Devouring Meat, huh..."

"Hey boy..."

"Looks like this would be a difficult battle."

Liu Xun muttered to himself as a familiar ax flashed on his left while a green-white spear glowed on his right. Gently floating by his sides were two deep blue sapphire short swords which hovered forth as the youth rushed up towards his foes.

"OI! STOP IGNORING ME!"

The other half of the young man's face retorted out in a pissed-off tone.

"What is it, senior..."

Liu Xun responded tiredly with a sore throat. His throat was sore from speaking too many words. Sadly, those words were not spoken by him but rather that talkative demonic soul which resides in his body.

"Oh my god, you are so rude and impatient. Kid, you need to be more attentive, if not all the girls will ignore you. Back in my day..."

The demonic soul began reciting another one of its escapades. This thing had been ongoing since Liu Xun relinquished part of the body control to this senior and he is greatly regretting his decision already before his part of the fight even started.

"Seriously senior, can we leave this for another time. Look, here comes the enemy's attacks."

[Devastation Beam x3 is attacking from 12 o'clock (Moderate).]

Three beams flashed from the front as Liu Xun raised the ax on his right hand. These light beams were only deemed to be moderate by the system based on the senior's cumulative power. Or else, even a light sneeze from Shaggaroth would be deemed as an overwhelmingly impossible attack. Hearing the announcement, the demonic senior gave a light 'Tch'. This brat Liu Xun sure has life easy, he casually thought.

"Sheesh, it is only some peeny weeny light flashes. That Shaggaroth cannot muster anything interesting for something who lived for so long. What a waste of lifespan."

The spear in his left hand swung out in an arc as the three beams were instantly dissipated by the casual swing.

"Look here boy, as a cultivator, you must be strong and you must be handsome. But do you know what you need the most?"

The senior's voice echoes from the right as the youth sighed on his left while rolling his eyes to the side.

"What is it, senior?"

He asked in a nonchalant tone.

"FLAIR! You of course need the flair to be able to show off all that power and handsomeness!"

He said out in a loud and rambunctious tone as he opened out his right arm (remember Liu Xun controls only the left arm) as he grandly gestured out.

"All the fairies, demonesses, rich young ladies would only be swayed if you have the ability to display your strength and handsomeness! That is flair! There is no point in just hiding your strength and beauty. No one would appreciate you in your full glory like that! Look at you hiding all these good stuff away while acting like some dumb kid with a scuffed lottery system!"

He shouted out in a grand tone as if he were some awakened saint. But seriously to Liu Xun, there was no real reason to attract any extra attention towards himself. The 'wonderful' announcement system is already doing a plenty fine job of doing just that. And to be honest, beauty is also probably nothing but just a vain desire. In the end, strength is the true language of the cultivation world. Only the strong are justified and righteous! It was only to placate this garrulous senior that Liu Xun chose to leave these words as just mere thoughts...yet.

[The system is fair host, the announcement system helps to boost your reputation and meet more wonderful people!]

"Hey, I can hear those thoughts, kiddo. You aren't wrong. But you cannot live forever as a coward!"

The two invading interlopers inside his body continued to comment on his thoughts without his permission.

"Sheesh, even my thoughts, really? Can't I have any freedom, here?"

[Nope.]

"Nada."

The Million Suns crosses her fingers.

The Thousand Decievers laughs out as he shakes his head.

Even the great ones observing chose to intercede in the conversation. Looking at the entire party that was brought along with him, one would think that Liu Xun was attending a festival currently rather than a tedious life and death fight. To be honest, the demonic senior was truly doing at least 95% of the work currently as he was the main controller of the body, weaving through most attacks and not even letting them be close enough for the combat messages to appear. This was all while giving his stupid spill on what is cool and not.

[Flesh arm is coming in from 2 o'clock. (Strong)]

[Flesh arm is coming in from 10' o'clock. (Strong)]

[2x Devastation Beams coming in from 11' o'clock. (Moderate)]

More combat notices rang out as Liu Xun was sighing at his misfortune. He was then brought to full alert as he swung up his ax to the left to deflect one of the flesh arms. The senior sneered as he casually waved the spear on the right, clearing the two beams while slicing the flesh arm on the right.

"Look, that is how you show flair. To you and me who are only doing one set of actions, it is pretty okay. But to the viewer who looks at us as one body easily swiping off all attacks with two hands without breaking a sweat. Their thought must be 'How Cool' or 'How Handsome'! Meanwhile, that meatball looks kind of pissed off right now, haha."

Liu Xun tried to ignore the senior's words, but the latter half caught his attention as he looked up. He saw a silvery-white fox look at his display of defense with surprise and slight admiration, while the mountain of flesh was deeply frowning while grinding all of its teeth. Maybe, this flair thing is useful once in a while, he thought.

"You insolent ant! Just die already!"

Shaggaroth roared out in anger as it directed more of its fleshy arms, including the recently cut-off one right towards Liu Xun. Even many of the eyes on its body were staring right at him as beams were fired out in numerous numbers. In its mind, all that was left is that insolent bug that managed to get power from god knows where and deflecting all its attacks, dragging all of its prestige and strength into the dirt! This man needs to die now!

[Warning host, multiple attacks are coming from various sources!]

[15x Devastation Beams from 10 to 2 o'clock. (Moderate)]

[2x Flesh arm is coming in from 9-10 o'clock. (Strong)]

[2x Flesh arm is coming in from 2-3 o'clock. (Strong)]

Multiple system messages rang out as the youth looked calmly forward. Most attacks are from the front huh, senior shall we? He casually thought.

"Yeah, so we shall!"

The body turned translucent as it faded away immediately as the attacks rained down on that single spot. What they had hit was merely an afterimage as the current youth was already right in front of the large mouth.

"Hmph, is that all this thing has? So this is the large mouth that has been talking about squashing me, huh!"

The senior's voice rang out in disdain as he stretched the right arm back, before driving the greenish-white spear forward with quick momentum. The two blue short swords following behind immediately follow the trajectory of the spear as they both rushed forward to deal a blow as well.

[Warning! Flesh Arm coming from directly below! (Very Strong)]

Rumbling could be felt below his feet as Liu Xun's right arm stretched forth.

"HAAAH! I got you now, you nimble rat!"

Shaggaroth laughed out in satisfaction as it had known that its ambush was successful.

--

"Hey, it is your turn newbie!"

The demonic senior cracked out a laugh as it grinned while thrusting the spear forward as he jumped up towards the largest mouth at the base of the fleshy mountain.

"Un..."

Liu Xun responded as he slammed the ax on his left hand down.

CRAAAAA-BAAAAM!

The ax directly smashed against the fleshy appendage that burst out of the ground.

"WWWHHHAAAT!?"

Shaggaroth's largest mouth shouted out in shock and confusion. It had completely not expected the small cultivator to be able to preempt one of its most deadly moves, the underground ambushing pierce! All of its previous plans of killing the measly ant while gloating and taunting his prey had completely been washed down the drain. Heat and embarrassment washed up the faces on the mountain as many of the mouths started grinding their teeth.

"Grrrrr-just die alrea-!"

"No, you shut up meatball!"

A light peal of laughter came out as a viridian-white radiance flashed forth. Piercing towards the large open mouth as words came out of it.

UUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGYYYYYYYYYYAAAA!

The spear wave flashed forth as it dived deep into the mouth tearing apart the contents inside. The two blue short swords also dived in as they cause havoc by slashing at all the contents while evading the defense mechanisms. Ample blood dripped out as numerous parts were gravely injured. This had further enraged the angry Shaggaroth as it noticed that a large part of its main body had received significant damage.

"YOOOU GODDAMNED INSECT!"

The main mouth roared out again in extreme anger as it flailed its arms around it. This move had cause Liu Xun (Senior) to use the ethereal step to flash backward as numerous flesh whips wrapped around, cutting off most sources of escape. Shaggaroth who noticed that the small cultivator ran away from it once again roared out in further frustration, extending more attacks in attempts to hit him.

--

[Flesh armx2 is coming in from 3 o'clock. (Strong)]

[Flesh arm is coming in from 5' o'clock. (Strong)]

[Flesh arm is coming in from 9' o'clock. (Strong)]

[3x Devastation Beams coming in from 11' o'clock. (Moderate)]

"Heh, not bad. Hey, I heard that your system can find out information, right? Help me look at the meatball!"

The senior laugh out as he nimbly shifted the legs whilst dodging all the descending beams and ground-crushing whips.

Liu Xun nodded slightly as he focused towards the front.

"System, inspect Shaggaroth."

[Host, how much detail do you want. Small= 100qi, Moderate= 1000qi, Large= 10000 qi.]

"Uhhh...."

Liu Xun was at a loss for words as he did not expect such a response.

"Boy, just take the large order. No point scrimping out on small details. Be a real man and go big or go home!"

[System agrees with the noisy one for once.]

"Heh, this system sure is uncute."

The two continued their bickering as Liu Xun's body continued to weave between numerous beams and smashes. He was akin to an unkillable cockroach as the senior utilized the shadow weaving arts by the Thousand Steps Venerable to another extent, dodging every hit with ease while misdirecting future attacks.

"...sigh. Alright system, large appraisal. Also check qi remaining."

[Beginning large inspection...checking qi remaining.]

The robotic voice responded as the sound of scanning rang in his ears while numerous visible pulses of qi extended towards Shaggaroth. So this was probably how inspection worked.

[Inspection in progress, qi remaining: 405 183/560 678.]

!!

He had already used up about 1/3 of the total energy that the body could hold. It was kind of understandable considering the senior had been wantonly using the qi to carry out flashy attacks and dodging all of the moves. It seems that these high-speed battles between high-level cultivators also quickly expended their qi storage.

"Well, you are right about that."

The senior agreed with the sentiment as he read the youth's thoughts yet again.

"At higher levels, it is no longer about conserving as much qi as possible. But using it as efficiently as possible while dealing the greatest damage and defending yourself. After all, the only way you can beat a cultivator stronger than yourself is by having more qi or utilizing your available qi more efficiently to deal mortal blows! The childish games whereby you flaunt your total qi pool and cultivation base applied less here since most of us would have a secret or hidden art or two that can turn the odds. So, don't worry too much about your remaining qi. Just figure out how much damage has been done to meatball and how likely you are to win, this determines whether a cultivator should fight or take flight!"

[5x Devastation Beams coming in from 10' o'clock. (Moderate)]

The senior continued his ramble as he wave the green spear on his hand. Deflecting another couple of beams, the spear flew forth from his hand as it launched right towards the mouth again, piercing the tongue once before flying back towards him. Liu Xun watched in admiration as he studied in detail the senior's battle style. Although this demonic senior was very talkative, his bite is as strong as his bark. The way the senior had utilized his body to weave through attacks while dealing blows had ensured that he had suffered no damage. It had also taken a great burden off Millie as the fox was seen damaging Shaggaroth from above through raining numerous blue fireballs and driving her black blade into several parts.

"Well, that is probably about another 10k qi used up right there based on calculations."

[Flesh arm is coming in from 3 o'clock. (Strong)]

[Flesh arm is coming in from 10' o'clock. (Strong)]

"Ooooh, how impatient. My spear has yet to return back yet."

The senior remarked as it noticed the few system warnings while looking at the approaching flesh whips.

"Need any help? I can only take on one."

Liu Xun asked as he looked at the whips, he could only deflect a single arm with his current skill level. The senior could probably easily handle both with a single swing, but he was not at that stage yet.

"Nope~and dodging? No to that as well. Conservative and efficient remember? These flashy blue flying short swords are not for show you know?"

He chuckled out as he flicked his wrist forward, signaling the two Twin Reprievers forward as they clashed with a flesh arm each. The two arms were easily sent flying back as the swords reflected each blow.

"Man, that is probably another 8k down the drain. Oh well, dodging would probably have around 12-15k anyways."

The senior muttered out.

[Appraisal results have returned.]

===

Shaggaroth

Peak Core Inversion (Breakthrough available)

Overall Health status: Moderately injured

Main Eye Health Status: Lightly injured

Main Mouth Health Status: Severely injured

Qi remaining: 1,873,354/3,168,743

.

.

.

Abilities:

Soul Devouring Blast

Devastation Beam

Flesh Smash

????

????

????

Items:

None detected.

=======

A flood of information ran right through Liu Xun's mind as he dissected the important information from the irrelevant ones. Considering how Shaggaroth had already been fighting previously before he had arrived, his consumption of qi was definitely greater in proportion despite the actual quantity being depleted being large on Shaggaroth's side. The outcome of the battle is far from clear since both sides still have more than half their strengths remaining.

"You...what have you done, insect!"

Shaggaroth shouted out in a panicked tone as it realized that numerous qi pulses entered its body. It had initially redirected its attention towards Millie who had dealt a heavy blow from above. But now it was increasingly wary as the initially silent cultivator at the bottom had used a weird spell on it.

[Flesh arm is coming in from 3' o'clock. (Strong)]

[Flesh arm is coming in from 5' o'clock. (Strong)]

[Flesh arm is coming in from 9' o'clock. (Strong)]

[Flesh arm is coming in from 11' o'clock. (Strong)]

[3x Devastation Beams coming in from 11' o'clock. (Moderate)]

The system warnings once again came in droves as the enraged Shaggaroth sent a bunch of attacks towards Liu Xun. Slight fear could be reflected in each of its eyes as it hurriedly tries to finish off this mysterious prey that should have died long ago. Meanwhile, the senior was still moving the body around while Liu Xun was examining and digesting the details that he obtained from the inspection. Looking through the details, it was obvious that the main mouth was the large mouth at the base of the body. But what was this about the main eye?

"Well, ain't that obvious? Shaggaroth has to have multiple parts to control its overwhelmingly large body with numerous arms and organs. The core controllers are the main mouth and eye in this case. I would've suspected that it had more control centers, but this makes it easier. The young lass above can take on the eye, while we go for the mouth!"

The senior laughed out as he continued to deflect more incoming attacks. The verdant spear that returned to his hand swang again swiftly with the wind as the senior rotated the body around and swiped away all the incoming attacks in a full 360-degrees arc.

"But Millie does not seem able to find the main eye!"

"Boy, you sure have some ability to process information. But you sure lack the smart and wits to utilize it. Look you have a system which can even detect the main bodies of Shaggaroth, just ask it to locate where the eye is!"

"Right...how could I forget. System, please point out to me which eye is the main eye."

[Host, the main eye is the eye at the peak of the body.]

The system replied promptly upon being asked as both of them (Liu Xun and the senior) glanced upwards. Looking up the large mountain filled with mouths and eyes of various pupil colors, the tip of the mountain stretched up high into the sky as a single small eye that was smaller than the rest gazed down from above, scanning every detail.

"A large mouth at the base and a small eye at the peak huh. How simplistic of this beast, I should have expected such an answer."

The senior roared out in laughter.

"Millie, target the small eye at the top! That is the main eye!"

Liu Xun then directed his voice towards the fox that was up above in the sky.

"But man, Shaggaroth can attempt to breakthrough to Nascent Soul stage, huh."

The senior said in derision as he recalled of his past of how he had failed to reach such a level.

"Boy, we better not let him have any further chances to advance! It would spell a disaster in the cultivation world!"

"I agree!"

The two voices muttered in unison as the youth once again charge forth.