<h4>Chapter 49: Imagination Art—Defeat</h4>


    ''Lady Mother of the 43rd Settlement, Zahae. She''s a troublesome woman.'' In thought. He recalled her appearances in Sumatra Chronicles, a cold-blooded woman famed for her viciousness, even amongst Mammoth nsmen.


    A year after the First Major Disaster, when the Mammoth n enters a kingdom to trade, a minister offends her. Zahae schemes against the minister in such a way that even after his entire family was ughtered, with the heads of everyone raised on spiked poles and kept on disy on the streets, the King had to personally ask for forgiveness.


    The number of Mammoth nsmen were few but each were strong. At the same cultivation level, a Mammoth nsmen can take on five other cultivators and emerge victorious. This difference was further extreme among masters.


    The Mystic Bone Art was the best in Sumatra Continent, at the pinnacle in terms of cultivation efficiency. Adding onto the Empyrean Tusk that gave Mammoth nsmen all resources they desired, as long as a Mammoth nsman had enough talent, he could grow strong.


    Conversely, a cultivator in a human kingdom wasn''t so fortunate. Not only do they possess inferior cultivation techniques, most of the time, they wouldn''t even have ess to the optimal resources, oftentimes having to subsist with simr materials.


    That and the fact that they have to build their Spirit Vessel on their own was a challenge. For a Mammoth nsman, once they fuse their hundred Spirit Containers into one and enter the Body Stage, they need to fuse with a Pranic Beast egg, and bam, they''ll stabilise their cultivation and could umte strength Immediately after.


    This wasn''t the case with a normal cultivator that had to painstakingly infuse properties of various minerals into their Spirit Container and hopefully stabilise it after a lot of problems. The sess rate was minimal.


    That''s why, despite having cultivators in the tens to hundreds of millions per kingdom, the number of cultivators that reached the body stage only numbered in the thousands. Masters were even fewer.


    The amount of Prana they possessed was minimal. Their lifespans too were short and numbered. Adding everything, an average cultivator paled inparison to a Mammoth nsman.


    When the minister''s family was singlehandedly ughtered by Zahae, the King was furious. But even he was defeated by her and had to beg for forgiveness. Of course, Zahae looted the kingdom''s royal coffers and also purchased enough ves to make up numbers for the newly added 44th Empyrean Tusk.


    The ves were used as fuel by the twenty-something Mammoth nsmen survivors in the new 44th Settlement to birth newborns. And under the influence of the 44th Empyrean Tusk, the newborns were all born as Mammoth nsmen.


    The ves were disposed of shortly after, since they had served their use. It was pretty vicious, but that was the norm here. ''And I definitely cannot displease her.''


    Unlike Bora Tusk, the 44th Settlement Leader, Yahard Tusk, the 43rd Settlement Leader was a reasonable man. As long as In appealed to his curious nature, he''ll help shield In from Zahae''s schemes.


    "Now, why don''t we discuss your findings?" At Zahae''s words, In remained in his prostrated pose.


    Seeing that he remained respectful, Yahard Tusk gently nudged his wife, causing her to retract her Prana. Once the formless energy vanished, In was able to move once again. He stared up and nodded respectfully, "It''s an honour to contribute to the n."


    "Even if we''re from different Settlements?" Zahae asked, expressing no intention behind her words. But it was a test. She was judging In''s worth.


    "That doesn''t matter." In said in confidence, "If the n benefits, my Settlement would naturally gain from it. In that regard, I intend to be useful to my n."


    With the first statement, he expressed his broadminded perspective, focusing on the big picture—the Mammoth n. His second statement meant that he didn''t stint on his Settlement in favour of the big picture. Finally, he expressed the desire of every Mammoth nsmen—to be useful to the n.


    ''For a student his age, he''s focused.'' Yahard Tusk sported a mild smile, ''Well, that is natural for a Death Row student. Only then can he survive his death sentence.''


    Upon seeing her husband''s opinion of In improve, Zahae calmly brought Luttrena forward and asked, "What do you think of my daughter?"


    "I''m envious of her talent and contribution." In expressed honestly. It wasn''t his honest thoughts. He was just expressing them as if they were his honest thoughts.


    ''That''s it?'' Zahae calmly eyed Luttrena, observing no fluctuation in her facial expression. Her thoughts werepletely masked as her eyes trailed towards Instructor Mandu and settled on the object he was carrying, "Exin about it."


    "Yes," In nodded and motioned for Instructor Mandu to carefully ce it on the floor, facing the crowd. He didn''t open it prematurely and instead gave a curt exnation, unwilling to offend the masters with a long-winded exnation and waste their time, "It''s an art piece that a mere nce of will affect your emotions. This one, in particr, would probably cause you to kill me. It''s that offensive."


    "It might rile up enough emotions to make anyone in the Spirit Stage lose their Prana as their Spirit Containers break." He bowed lightly, "That''s the end of my exnation. Please brace yourselves."


    "What is it called?" Yahard Tusk didn''t seem to mind the exnation. Rather, he had observed In''s shabby appearance to judge the piece''s effectiveness.


    In slowly opened the doors, revealing the inscription inside. He hadn''t even finished opening it when Prana gushed into the doors, destroyed his imprint, and took control. The doors closed shut in an instant as the Imagination Art flew towards Yahard Tusk.


    Dense killing intent filled the room, enough to make everyone faint from the sheer bloodthirstiness in the pressure.


    "Yahard!" Zahae bellowed, emitting her Prana in warning, calming down an agitated Yahard. The nature of her Prana turned gentle and shielded everyone in the room that had fainted, healing them as she watched them get up one after another.


    "I apologise." Yahard sighed as he observed In regain consciousness after five seconds had passed, pping in praise, "That was incredibly offensive."


    Heughed casually, "If not for my wife, I indeed would have killed you."


    "You''re brave, kid."


    The reason was simple. The Imagination Art pretty much touched the reverse scale of every Mammoth nsmen. It was a simple image, one disying the scene of an Empyrean Tusk crying as it fell to the side, overwhelmed by Zingers. Headless Mammoth nsmen stood on its copsing body while their heads were carried by the Zingers as they did with their Prana Bombs.


    What triggered them the most was the Empyrean Tusk shedding tears at the death of its immune system—Mammoth nsmen—as it was overpowered by the enemy, falling to its death. That was the scene depicted on the carving, of an Empyrean Tusk''s defeat, something iprehensible and unimaginable to the Mammoth nsmen.


    Imagination Art—Defeat!