Playboy Cultivator in the Apocalypse

Kane looked at General Michaels with a beating heart, listening to the war fervor spreading through the area. "Should we shut this down?"

The general studied Kaze's expressions with a pensive gaze. "We can't.

If anyone hears an obvious trap and feels confident about jumping in, they deserve a wake-up call."

Kane winced and looked at his soldiers with a pitying gaze. Only he had seen the emperor's strength firsthand and didn't underestimate those he chose.

"Are we limited to cultivation techniques?" A female soldier asked.

"I welcome you to use explosives, machine guns, or cultivation attacks." Evalyn announced with a twisted smile, shocking everyone, "Don't worry about my life.

If you kill me today—I deserve to die."

Everyone present was stunned-speechless, even Kiera.

"If you seek a catch, you will not get one." Kaze smiled ominously, "You may hit her with anything, and I'll protect you from bullets and attacks with a barrier."

He created a spatial rift around the soldiers and threw a rock into it. A moment later, it dropped from the sky in front of them.

"Like that. Only it will go ten miles in the distance." He smiled before waving his hand, creating another rift, "You'll enter through a rift to your right to enter the field."

The emperor walked forward and materialized to the soldiers' right, standing in front of a steel wall in the distance before returning.

"Once you walk in, you'll enter the battlefield in a safe zone." He continued, walking back through it and out through the right corner, "That's how it works."

Everyone's eyes widened except for the managers, Kiera, Kane, and General Michaels.

"You needn't worry about friendly fire off the field." Kaze smiled mysteriously, "So, unless you hurt yourselves, the only risk is suffering non-permanent damage by one of these"

He spun his hand, and a ball of ice the size of a baseball materialized out of thin air.

"It's only a ball of ice, but I assure you it's not a snowball." He explained casually, "It will hurt and can destroy your weapons and armor.

Are there any more questions, or shall we begin?"

"Can we get our gear?" A male soldier asked, suppressing his elation.

"You have fifteen minutes." Kaze replied with a relaxed smile.

The special forces soldiers turned to Kane, enthusiastically seeking permission.

"Everyone has my permission." Kane announced in a strange tone, "Hustle!"

It was clear to anyone watching that he was suppressing the desire to warn them.

However, their enthusiasm didn't dampen; they took off to get their gear with dreams of a sky-grade technique on their minds.

Kaze watched in satisfaction as the soldiers ran back to the vehicles and skycruisers in an orderly manner.

Showing his subjects what order looked like was immensely helpful.

The faction members watched the soldiers in disbelief when they returned fully loaded with assault rifles, grenades, and even rocket launchers.

They even had multiple large trunks containing rovers and battle drones.

Kaze pulled out a walkie-talkie. "Turn on the TVs. The live feed is starting."

"Understood." Brad replied from the other side.

"On it." Lily followed.

"Whatever." Rein responded in annoyance.

"Already done." Sammy added.

-

The elites turned on each mansion's TVs simultaneously.

"Who wants to watch the Ice Queen fight?" Brad asked with a grin, "Evalyn Skye, the blonde you know for shutting down your party."

After a second of stunned silence, the mansion of 500 people exploded into wild cheers.

Everyone got out of the pools and hot tubs to watch the show.

-

"What was that?" General Michaels asked loudly.

"This event isn't training; it's a demonstration." Kaze replied, "We're streaming the event to my faction members to help them learn. I told my members to turn on the TVs."

Kane shuddered alongside many of the special forces soldiers.

The emperor announced the filming after they showed up with military-grade explosives, ordnance, and battle drones. He wanted people to see.

General Michaels nodded and studied the blonde in the distance.

Evalyn Skye was remarkably ordinary looking, unscarred due to her physique and cultivation-enhanced healing. And yet—

—her eyes were murderous, and she wore killing intent like a coat.

The most experienced special forces soldiers declined to join after looking at her.

"Your fifteen minutes are up." Kaze boomed, drawing excited cheers from the mansion and malicious snickering from the soldiers.

"Can I go first?" A six-foot bodybuilder with grotesque muscles boomed, "Major Wiles. It would be an honor, sir."

The soldier had fierce brown eyes, and the excited whispering indicated he was known for his combat prowess.

"You needn't ask permission." The emperor smiled, "Step into the training ground and get started.

Once you move from behind the wall, you can attack."

Major Wiles nodded, stepped into the rift, and entered the firing range.

The safe zone was a square 50 feet tall and wide, and a metal wall surrounded it.

Since he had preparation time, he put down the case in his hand, pulled out his Beretta 93R, and set it to three-round burst.

After he finished, he kneeled, opened the case, and pulled out its contents.

-

"Is that a grenade launcher!?"

"No! He's pulling out a fucking gas mask! Chemical weapons!"

"Is that even allowed!?"

"They're trying to kill her!"

"Guys, calm down." Brad requested calmly, "The Emperor said this was permissible.

Do you think Kaze wouldn't limit special forces members if they had a shot?"

"Wait... you're right!" Larkin yelled, "If he trained Evalyn to kick everyone's asses, even with grenade launchers and chemical weapons or whatever, he'd be even more of a legend!"

The jester's excitement hyped everyone up, and a moment later, everyone in the downstairs area of the mansion exploded in cheers.

However, the buzzing in the other three mansions was inaudible from the outside. The anxiety from watching the soldier set up chemical weapons was too high.

-

"He's decisive; I'll give him that." Kaze chuckled, watching with an arrogant smirk, "But that's not always a good thing."

Major Wiles took a deep breath inside his full-face gas mask.

The grenade cartridges contained mustard gas, a simple yet devastating gas made from mixing ammonia and bleach.

It wouldn't kill Evalyn in the open air, but it could easily scar her lungs permanently and was sure to bring her to her knees.

"Three." He whispered, "Two… one…."

Major Wiles used his cultivation-enhanced speed to shoot out from behind the wall.

Staring at Evalyn, standing casually in the center of the area, he aimed his launcher and shot the grenade.

Before the grenade landed, he dropped the launcher, letting it fall to his side by the sling, and drew his Beretta 93R.

All three operations took less than two seconds.

Spirit Qi pulsed through his mind, slowing time alongside his adrenaline.

The blonde still hadn't moved from her initial location.

She was standing, waiting for something.

An icy chill crawled down the man's spine as he lifted his gun to aim as quickly as possible.

Despite the world moving slowly, she waved her hand at ghostly speed and—

Shiiiink!

—the grenade froze mid-air, ensuring it wouldn't trigger.

Major Miles watched it happen in slow motion, still aiming when it happened.

Just as the grenade blocked his sight momentarily—

CrrraaaCK! BOOM!

—an ice ball crashed into the grenade, sending it back faster than it shot out, and hit the soldier in the chest.

The impact broke the man's ribs on impact and sent him flying 20 feet into the training grounds.

All the soldiers watched the man crash to the ground in disbelief.

Most didn't see her move her hand because their adrenaline didn't slow the world down.

All they saw was Major Wiles shooting the grenade, attempting to aim, and then flying backward in a split second.

The soldier placed his hands on his chest in shock. "Gaaaaahhhhhh!"

Kane's soldiers fell dead silent, listening to his haunting screams from broken ribs puncturing his lungs.

Kaze walked up to the man with a slight smile and waved his hand.

A light red aura enveloped the man's body, and his screaming ended.

"You just witnessed a healing technique." The emperor announced casually, "It didn't heal Major Wiles completely, but it mended his lungs and broken ribs.

You'll learn this technique in the future if there's time."

More silence.

-

The opposite occurred in the mansions.

"T-That was f-fucking AWESOME!" Larkin yelled, "I knew I could trust Emperor Scrawn to train a badass!"

A wave of excited whispering spread like wildfire in the room.

The jester closed his eyes, bent his back, pumped his elbows back, and—

"Scrawn FuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUU!" Larkin howled into the sea of watching faction members.

—released a biblical battle cry.

Everyone in the mansion exploded in wild cheers that members in the closest mansion could hear.

Getting confirmation, everyone in that mansion broke out into a celebration.

"Well, it looks like he was a fucking idiot too." Rein remarked, making a sea of nervous members in her mansion chuckle.

The narrative in her mansion was sober, fearing Evalyn's needless death. As a result, it was hushed. However—

"...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

—they heard the explosive battle cries and cheering from the second mansion.

"YEAH! A woman yelled at full volume, "That was fucking awesome! Why the hell aren't we celebrating!?"

One awkward laugh.

A lone cheer.

Two claps.

The entire mansion detonated in roaring applause in a chain reaction.

Rein's eyes glazed over when she watched the members, panic-stricken just moments before, start partying and hugging each other.

"Fucking idiots." She laugh-scoffed, smiling in amusement.

The brunette couldn't help it; their enthusiasm was contagious. It spread to Sammy's mansion, and her mansion spread it to Lily's.

For a moment, most of the members were cheering in a celebratory spirit.

-

Kane cringed alongside his soldiers when he heard the cheering in the distance. It was already a devastating display—and it had only just begun.

"As much as I'd enjoy watching more overconfident people try attacking her one-on-one, we're short on time, and it's rather insulting." Kaze smirked arrogantly.

After glancing at the drone cases, he sent them soldiers a mocking smile that ate through their souls.

"So strategize and send in teams. I recommend some teamwork and perhaps some modern technology while you're at it." He smiled derisively.

"And don't hold back or be reckless. I won't heal anyone who doesn't take this exercise seriously. Begin!"