I Can Only Cultivate In A Game-Chapter 190: Dysfunctional Vest

Victor looked at her vest. The light on the chest still blinked green.

"Should be."

The beast lunged.

Victor didn't move but his heart slightly pounded. However, the green blink of the teleport beacon reassured him.

With a burst of light, Zara suddenly vanished.

Victor waited for the the same to happen to him...

But surprisingly, nothing happened.

The beast snarled as it arrived before Victor.

Victor looked down at his vest. The light flickered and then died.

"Uh oh," he muttered.

"HELLO? SYSTEM MALFUNCTION?! ANYONE?!"

His voice echoed but there was no response.

In the next moment, the team from earlier appeared in the distance but they were way too far from Victor's current position and it looked like they weren't going to get to him in time.

The creature roared and charged with its claws raised to strike.

As the beast's claws came crashing down with tremendous force, Victor's instincts kicked in.

He threw himself into a backward flip just as the massive talons slammed into the cracked ground where he'd been crouching seconds earlier. The impact sent tremors through the terrain, and a thick plume of dust burst upward, veiling the chaotic scene in a gritty fog.

Victor landed in a crouch and then launched himself into tens of feet into the air while drawing in a sharp breath.

He coiled his right arm back to the limit while his muscles bulged as qi flowed through his veins and gathered at his fist.

With a focused roar, he punched downward causing his knuckles to crash into the beast's skull.

A resounding BOOM echoed across the forest clearing. The magical beast's head rammed into the dirt with a thunderous crack, carving a crater beneath it.

The trio from earlier... one warrior, one berserker and a Mage, stood frozen some thirty feet away with their jaws hitting the ground.

They had witnessed what was clearly a victim... dismantle a level 14 magical beast with raw strength. It defied logic.

Victor didn't pause for even a second.

He immediately activated his Frost Bloom Palm and slammed his misty palm onto the beast's nape.

A chilling hiss rang out as the beast's limbs locked while icy veins of frost slithered under its thick skin, rendering it momentarily paralyzed.

Then came the moment that silenced any remaining doubt. Victor turned toward the Warrior in the distance and outstretched his left palm.

He summoned his Void Emperor Qi, weaving it into invisible threads. The threads snaked forward, wrapped around the Warrior's sword hilt, and yanked the weapon out of the stunned student's hand.

The blade flew into Victor's waiting grasp. He spun around with a fierce roar while channeling qi into the sword.

"Shadow Crescent Strike!"

A wave of dark, crescent-shaped energy erupted from his swing and cleaved through the beast's throat. The enormous magical beast's head toppled from its body causing a geyser of blood to spray through the air.

Utter silence~

For nearly a minute, no one spoke or moved.

Victor stood there, panting slightly with part of the beast blood on his face.

It was at this moment that he realized what he had just done. Slowly, he turned to look at the trio, who stared at him with wide eyes.

"How... how did you just do that?" The Berserker questioned with a look of confusion. "The vest is supposed to suppress mana. You shouldn't have been able to use any abilities."

Victor blinked, then played it cool.

"Yeah, well, it's also supposed to teleport me out when a beast gets too close, right?" he said while holding out the vest. "Guess it's not exactly reliable."

The Mage furrowed his brows. "That's true... but still—"

"Hey, I'm not complaining," Victor added with a smirk. "I'm alive. Be thankful I didn't wait around to test the next glitch."

That seemed to silence them. They began escorting Victor back while still muttering amongst themselves. When they returned to the instructor, the incident was reported immediately. The beast's body was still visible in the distance.

The lecture supervisor examined Victor's vest with a look of scrutiny. According to his instruments, the mana locking fuction was still active during the entire confrontation.

Which meant one thing—Victor had used abilities even though his mana was supposed to be locked. That didn't make any sense.

The supervisor didn't speak on it right away. Instead, he declared the exercise terminated for the day, citing technical errors with the safety systems. All students were to be awarded full marks for participation.

Later, as students were filing out, he approached Victor and leaned close.

"Someone tampered with your vest," he said quietly. "They probably wanted you to get seriously injured or worse. The teleportation didn't work but mana suppression was intact. And yet you still used abilities. That doesn't add up."

Victor only offered a nonchalant shrug. "Guess I'm just full of surprises."

The instructor squinted at him, then whispered, "Be careful. I'll look into this."

Victor nodded before leaving and rejoined Danny, Selene, Aria, Kai, and Rylan at the FeedHub-11 cafeteria. Word had already spread.

"Dude!" Danny shouted across the food line. "You killed a level 14 beast while wearing a suppression vest?"

Victor sighed and plopped into a seat. "Don't remind me."

Selene popped a lollipop into her mouth and smirked. "I don't know whether to be impressed or worried. Are you trying to take my title of chaos gremlin?"

"Wait," Aria squinted at him. "How did you use your abilities again?"

"Faulty vest, apparently," Victor said before spearing a piece of chicken with his fork.

"Oh really?" Aria's tone was skeptical.

Rylan added, "Man, whatever you're doing, you're going to get on the leaderboard real quick."

Victor just nodded before stuffing his mouth. Internally, his mind was racing.

The situation was getting worse. Someone at the academy had actually tried to kill him. It was more than just rumors and petty bullying now.

He left the group early and blamed it on exhaustion before returning to his dorm.

As expected, Kairo was still not back. Victor glanced around, locked the door, and slipped under his sheets.

He placed the VR helmet on his head and logged into Ascendant Realms.

[ Booting Ascendant Realms... ]

[ Synchronizing Avatar... ]

Victor's body materialized in the familiar stone chamber within their hideout. Yuren stood near the doorway with his back straightened and his hands clasped behind him as if standing guard. freewebnσvel.cøm

"You're back," Yuren said flatly. "The young master is awaiting you."

Victor nodded and stretched his arms. "Yeah... I'm ready. Time to finish what we started."

Upon Victor's return to Ascendant Realms, it had already been nearly another six days.

It was time for him to get briefed on everything that happened in his absence.

"You're finally back," Tarkos voiced with his arms crossed upon spotting Victor.

"A lot has happened."

Victor approached with a look of intrigue.

"Yeah, six days here. What did I miss?"

Tarkos began pacing slowly while speaking in a low tone. "After you left, I waited three days before moving. The city was on fire with rumors. Elders and disciples alike were in chaos after the death of Zhao Feng and Xu Jian. Security tripled."

Victor folded his arms. "Tripled?"

Tarkos nodded grimly. "The Emerald Coil Pavilion erected a barrier around the sect. Now, only disciples with an enchanted pentagon token can pass through. And they personalized each token—so no, you can't steal one and walk in. It's completely useless if you're not the assigned bearer."

Victor exhaled heavily. "So we can't infiltrate."

"Not unless we find another way. Which," Tarkos added with a faint smirk, "we will. But for now, we stick to outdoor targets."

Victor raised a brow. "Any progress while I was gone?"

Tarkos turned toward the back wall where a small map with blood-inked Xs marked previous operations. "Two more are gone. That makes eight left. But here's the problem: the remaining ones aren't leaving the Pavilion anymore. They know they're being hunted. They're spooked."

Victor rubbed his chin. "Then we force them out... or get someone inside."

---

Elsewhere, within the inner sanctum of the Emerald Coil Pavilion, seven figures sat in a jade-glass room veined with frost and glowing sigils. Incense, tension, and desperation spread through the room.

The two remaining elders presided over the group of senior disciples.

Xiao Mei, one of the disciples with raven-black hair tied in a high serpent-braided bun, leaned against her chair with a look of coldness.

"We've lost four senior disciples," she voiced with a disturbed tone. "Zhao Feng. Xu Jian. Li Chen. Huo An. All four are dead."

One of the other senior disciples replied nervously, "But they were always moving in droves. How can one group take down so many so cleanly?"

"You're missing the pattern," Xiao Mei snapped. "They weren't random. They were targeted. All four of them were part of the committee."

An eerie silence followed her words. The elder at the head of the table with long white hair trailing past his shoulders, murmured, "You think this is about Fang Chen."