The ship was moving slowly toward the red planet when suddenly, a powerful presence washed over the ship and its inhabitants.
Klaus and Queen Lunara immediately exited the ship and commanded it to fly away. It was better to keep the ship safe; otherwise, it would be a long flight back home.
Of course, he could just send the queen into the multi-dimensional cube and use the Harem connection to get back to Earth in an instant.
However, it would be best to return the ship in perfect shape, considering it was the only prototype on Earth that could travel through space.
The moment the ship entered hyperspeed and left, a powerful presence began rising from the surface of Mars.
This prompted Klaus and Queen Lunara to get into battle-ready mode as they waited for the presence to arrive. They were cultivators, so the concept of gravity was basically non-existent for them.
This allowed them to move freely in space without any discomfort.
“The person is strong.” Just from the aura he felt, Klaus deduced the strength level of the person approaching, and he knew he wasn’t a match. However, he wasn’t alone.
The moment stretched for only a second, but from the surface of Mars, a powerful figure bathed in flames appeared, causing a shockwave to ripple through space.
Queen Lunara raised a shield around him and Klaus, blocking part of the shockwave.
The person who appeared was clad in metallic armor from head to toe. However, despite his attire, he showed no sign of discomfort.
This demonstrated that he could move perfectly. His helmet had angular, curved horns and was covered with a dark hood line embroidered in gold.
Though his face was concealed beneath the helmet, his eye sockets glowed with flames, revealing how intense his connection to the flame truly was.
Klaus narrowed his gaze, and from the look of his chestplate, he knew without a doubt that the figure had some connection to phoenixes, considering there was a phoenix drawing on it.
A long metallic bow was hovering behind him, creating a ring of fire as he stared fiercely at Klaus and Queen Lunara.
“State your business,” the figure said, showing no signs of hostility but also no sign of allowing them to pass.
“I was hoping I could pop down there and have a quick tribulation if you don’t mind,” Klaus replied, looking at the Bowman calmly despite his rather shameless and playful words.
“What if I said no? What then are you going to do?” the Bowman asked, causing Klaus to smile.
“Very simple, actually. I will let my sweetheart here engage you in a quick battle while I use 30 minutes to break through the bottleneck I am at.
Then I will take over and call down the tribulation. Naturally, your joining me will be good for me and bad for you. So either way, I will have my tribulation.
Now, the question we should be asking is how we can cooperate without stepping on each other’s toes.”
Queen Lunara didn’t know if she should take over the negotiation, considering Klaus wasn’t doing a good job. Of course, to her, this being was one of many beings down on the planet.
She came to this conclusion because when she tried scanning the surface of Mar, something blocked her, and it wasn’t the being in front of them.
So, Klaus joking with such a person wasn’t really something she was happy about. However, she allowed him to handle it.
The worst that could happen was for them to clash with this being and others to come—if there were even others down there..
“I can allow you to pass, but to get that chance, you must first defend against one attack from me,” the Bowman said.
Klaus narrowed his gaze at the Bowman, sensing something dangerous about him. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t figure it out.
This caused him to hesitate in answering. Of course, he had to turn to the senior, considering he was the expert here.
[The danger is coming from his flame core], the senior said, causing Klaus to arch his brow.
‘Flame core, huh?’ Klaus said inwardly, a smile tugging at his lips.
‘That means I am screwed.’
[You are fucked, brat. He had already moved through the five stages of elemental cultivation and had formed a core.
This means he is at a stage you can’t compare to now, and judging by the ring of figures behind him, he had already started comprehending the Fire Law.]
The senior didn’t polish his words. He laid it raw for Klaus to know the fucke up state he had found himself in.
Flame core is when a cultivator with fire affinity transcends the limit of elemental cultivation.
Anyone who has awakened their elemental affinity is automatically at the common stage.
Then there is the Refine stage or rank, which follows after one’s understanding starts to rise.
It’s also at this stage that most awaken their elements.
Then there is the Realm stage, where the element undergoes an upgrade and creates a realm where one can begin comprehending the elemental laws.
However, after these three stages, there are two important ones any cultivator would kill for. The 4th stage is known as the Transformation stage.
At this stage, after one understands what the law is, the first thing they can do is transform their flames.
Klaus is at that stage with his flame element and lightning element. Many at this stage transform their elements to create weapons, armor, and many other things.
Klaus created dragons and wings.
Then comes the ultimate stage, which is called immunity.
This stage is where one forms the core. Those with the fire element call it the Flame core, and those with lightning call it the Lightning core.
The moment the core is formed, one starts walking the path toward what is called Elemental Harmony. It’s the ultimate stage in Elemental cultivation.
This Immunity stage has seven levels/ranks.
The being who just challenged Klaus is at the first stage, called Initiate. This means he has already transformed his fire element, formed a core, and transcended, entering the immunity stage.
Asking Klaus to take on one of his attacks, knowing full well he will unleash the attack using his flame core, is just asking for too much.
“Why not?” In the end, Klaus could just accept and hope for the best.
Deep within, he knew he wouldn’t be able to defeat the Bowmaster standing across from him if they were to fight, so he must heed his words and accept the challenge.
“Very well. Then allow Veylor, the Infernal Bowmaster, to show you one of his skills.” The bow hovering behind him moved and entered his grip.
Instantly, a powerful Infernal energy washed through the space.