I Can Only Cultivate In A Game

Victor's breathing was rough but fortunately, he had made it this far—nearly to the outer edge of the forsaken slum-town—but now he was bleeding and battered.

His limb ached with exhaustion.

He had underestimated them.

Gravely.

Eight dead. That was how many he'd taken down so far. He hadn't let them live.

These were seasoned assassins, after all. Their techniques were ruthless, honed through hundreds of silent killings. Many of them were even lower in cultivation than him, but their battle instincts were lethal.

Killing them without taking any damage was pretty much impossible.

He gritted his teeth and spat blood to the side.

"I've been too overconfident."

Still, he had gotten what he came for—confirmation that the Jade Serpent Sect had placed the bounty. That alone had been worth the ambush. Worth the risk.

After placing saliva on all his open injuries, he slowly staggered to his feet.

One thing he couldn't do anything about was internal injuries. He couldn't put saliva on his ribs and expect them to heal from within.

It didn't work that way. So, he was still injured.

He pushed through a crooked alley of spiky stone, when it happened.

A sudden force crushed down on his shoulders like a mountain.

His knees buckled. He staggered.

Pressure...

Not just qi. Not just killing intent.

It was overwhelming, suffocating. As if the entire sky had turned into a blade hovering above his neck.

A figure stood just ahead, walking through the mist with a corpse in each hand. Tattoos coiled and moved across his chest and arms—living, writhing, reacting to his breath like sentient ink.

Victor's gaze sharpened.

'He's strong.'

No… this wasn't just a high-level cultivator.

This man was on an entirely different Realm.

Peak Soul Transformation Realm.

<[ Warning Peak Soul Transformation Realm Assassin Approaching ]>

The tattoos, the aura, the oppressive spiritual domain that leaked from him like an ocean current—it all confirmed it.

The assassin dropped the bodies casually and offered Victor a relaxed smile. "You're quick for a Nascent Soul brat. And clever, I'll give you that. Eight kills. Not bad. Surprisingly you are two realms higher than the information we were given. Did you hide your cultivation realm or were they merely mistaken? Hmm... it matters not."

Victor tightened his grip on his blade.

The man raised his hands slightly in a mock gesture of peace. "Don't bother. My name's Tarkos, and I've been hired to bring you in."

Victor narrowed his eyes. "So you're with them."

"Jade Serpent Sect pays well," Tarkos said casually. "And you, my friend, are worth more than your weight in celestial gold."

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

Tarkos chuckled. "No need to be hostile. The bounty says to bring you in alive. Which means I won't kill you. Or rather, I can't."

Victor raised his blade. "Then why are you bothering?"

Tarkos's smile widened. "Because you're a transmigrator."

Victor eyes narrowed.

"And as everyone knows," Tarkos continued, "transmigrators can't truly die here, can they? Your soul's anchored elsewhere. You'll always come back. Which means, I can kill you but at the same time, can't."

Victor body stiffened. Something about where this was going chilled him.

"But," Tarkos added with a dark smirk, "every time you die, you lose a bit of cultivation."

Victor's heart skipped a beat. 'Is an NPC supposed to know that?'

Tarkos leaned closer. "Am I wrong?"

Victor didn't respond.

"Didn't think so. So, you have two choices. Come quietly… or I kill you over and over again. Strip away every realm you've worked for. Until you're back at Qi Gathering. Or worse."

Victor's fists clenched. "That bounty says alive. You take me dead, you break the contract."

Tarkos's eyes gleamed. "But you won't stay dead, will you?"

Victor's grip tightened, and his voice turned razor-sharp. "You talk too much."

Tarkos grinned.

"I was hoping you'd say no..."

He vanished.

Victor's eyes danced around as the hair on his body rose.

He ducked and rolled upon feeling the gust of wind as Tarkos appeared behind him with his arm outstretched like a claw aiming to snatch his face.

"Because then... how will I else will I get to have so much fun with a cultivator..."

Victor reacted quick enough to slash upward with his blade.

Clang!

It sounded like steel on steel as his blade collided with the assassin's arm.

Tarkos's arm which was completely bare remained unscatched as the tattoos on it moved and hardened. The blade didn't even leave a scratch.

At the same instant, Tarkos's hand closed around Victor's face.

Boom!

He slammed Victor into a rock formation beside them, shattering the structure into flying shards. The shock rippled across the area.

Victor's mind reeled.

Before he could react, a blow slammed into his gut, sending him skidding across the ground like a ragdoll.

He had just barely gotten up when, another kick followed—directly to his chest—launching him into the side of a crumbling brick wall.

Pain blossomed. His ribs cracked.

'Too strong...'

Tarkos advanced with unmatched speed like a predator.

"You're durable. That's good. Means I don't have to hold back much."

Victor coughed blood as he rose to his knees.

[ Bloodline Technique Activated: Shadow Blink ]

He vanished into mist and reappeared behind Tarkos with his sword already swinging at him.

Slash!

The blade screamed through the air, aiming straight for Tarkos's back.

But the tattoos moved again—this time across his spine.

The blade collided.

Clang!

Again a sharp sound rang out like steel.

Tarkos turned without effort and sent a single punch at Victor's abdomen.

Boom!

Blood flew from Victor's lips as he was sent spiraling through the air.

He landed hard while coughing violently as his body slid across the ground, drawing long lines on it.

Tarkos rolled his shoulders. "Come on, Fang Chen. I expected better. The Jade Serpent Sect made you sound incredible."

Victor fingers twitched as he laid sprawled out on the ground.

'I can't win this… not like this...'

Victor didn't realise how much of a power gap was between Nascent Soul Realm and Soul Transformation Realm despite the fact that they were only one realm apart.