My SSS-Rank Skill and System is too OP in Modern Cultivation world

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After a few minutes of thinking Kent was scratching his head. "I need to give him a simple name. He looks so cute. I bet if Nima saw him, she would immediately claim him as her underling." While parting the baby Earthbound Sentinel Kent says out loud, "you have earth type powers. I will call you Rocky. It's simple yet perfectly fits you."

The baby Earthbound Sentinel makes a soft purr noise, as if it had recognised its name. It started to lick Kent's hands. Kent murmured, "it seems you liked your name. Alright, Rocky, I will send you inside the void domain. You should rest there. I will come and play with you later. I have a mission to complete."

A few moments later, Kent stood in between an ancient foggy thicket, where massive trees were exchanging rumors of gossip between leaves that had long turned green dry from years of neglect. The system had led him thus far, one step further into Azure Forest Ruins. He defeated the Earthbound Sentinel and captured Rocky; he now knew what lay ahead of him—the second guardian.

His shoes forced through damp moss as he breathed in the air. This part of ruins wasn't all that different from the rock-lined passageways of the previous battle, save that it was teeming with life. Wind played among the trees, thick with the scent of trees and something nauseatingly floral. Leaves whipped at Kent's ankles as if taunted by spectral fingers.

[Ding! System Notification]

Mission Progress: 1/4 Guardians Defeated.

Next Target Identified: Wind-type Guardian.

Location: Whispering Glen, Azure Forest.]

Kent smirked. "Whispering Glen? Sounds like a vacation spot. Maybe I'll get a spa treatment before the fight."

His amusement faded as the wind suddenly shifted. A strong gust blew past, nearly knocking him off balance. The once gentle rustling of the trees turned into an eerie howl, and the mist thickened, distorting the shapes of the surrounding trees.

He squinted, feeling that something moved ahead. Something, or someone, observed him.

Light, musical laughter filtered through the glade. "A human invades my domain, unannounced and uninvited. How audacious."

Kent spun quickly, his hand automatically tightening making a fist. The mist coalesced into form, taking on a shape perched on a leaning branch.

She was not what he had grown accustomed to. The guardian appeared to be a spindly, angular woman with her silver-white locks flying abnormally around, as if held back by an endless wind gust. Blazing supernatural light burst forth from her sky-blue eyes, and her spun gossamer finery clothes that streamed around her shone like a mirage. Breeze free of any turbulence followed her with wings that glimmered in and out of sight.

[Ding! System Notification]

Name: Sylphara, the Whispering Tempest

Cultivation: Level C (Weak due to loss of spiritual energy)

Age: Unknown.]

Kent whistled. "Oh, it's you who's here? Huh? Sylphara, by any chance? More like from a fairy tale, is what it is."

Sylphara allowed her gaze to drift over to follow to one of her feet. "And you are?"

He rested one hand on his chest with arrogant bravado. "I'm Kent. Full-time professional prankster, part-time hero, and future legend in your kids' bedtime stories."

Sylphara scowled at him for a moment before she was doubled over in laughter. "Oh, I see. A fool… you are a stupid human."

Kent's grin never faltered. "And yet, I already defeated one of your guardian friends. Does that make me a lucky fool?"

Her eyes were slitted, wings flapping. "You murdered the Earthbound Sentinel? That old codger was always behind on his dues. You must have goaded him into defeat."

"I'll accept it as a compliment." Kent shrugged. "And now I'm here for round two. So do I invite you to come on out and play a friendly game of tag, or do you begin firing hurricanes at me?"

Sylphara let out a sigh, placing her chin in her hand as she reclined against the tree trunk. "Humans are so loud. You invade hallowed ground, disturb the elders, and you think you own the world." Her tone was silky, but filled with anger. "You should be kneeling, begging to be permitted to leave this realm alive."

Kent snorted. "Groveling does not come naturally to me, but sure thing, I can teach you something about loose. Perhaps breathe, relax a bit?"

Air around them quivered. Leaves and dust were blown upwards in a fury storm as the wind howled like a living creature. Sylphara's face thundered. "You have the audacity to speak to me so familiarly?

Kent raised his hands in mock submission.

"What, are you going to be calling me the 'Great and Mighty Wind Lady'? Because that is a tongue-twister."

Sylphara's eye sparkled. "Impudent."

A nasty shock of power struck Kent, and he stomped his heels on the pavement to keep his feet from being blown away. He was gulping as the wind tore through his hair like an outraged demon of the winds.

"Alright, alright, I get it," he said, dusting himself off. "You're all drama. But seriously now—you're going to fight me no matter what, right?"

Sylphara's grin was savage. "Oh, no, little human. I do not simply fight. I remind those in my way why the sky yields to the storm."

Kent shrugged, smiling. "Now we're talking."

As if in response to his irritation, the winds blew up and buffeted Sylphara's body like a living storm. The trees creaked in protest, the branches wailing in dismay. The mist howled around them, slicing vision to close to zero.

And in an instant, Sylphara was gone.

Kent's grin falters. "Oh. That can't be good, I guess."

A gentle whisper in his ear. "Let's see if you can back up your arrogance or not, human."

A cutting gust brushed across his cheek like the cut of a knife ignored. Kent's reflexes reacted, and he sprang back just in time as a gust blow snapped through where he had been a split second earlier.

His smile came back. "Hide and seek, then? Alright, Sylphara. I hope you don't mind losing."

The laughter that enveloped him was airy and mischievous. The wind screamed and fighting was initiated.

It howled in rage like a mad beast, thrashing about Kent in deadly whirlpools. Sylphara had scattered in the tempest, her power out on the field as a ghost spirit within the mist.

Kent clenched his fists. "Let's get on with games.".

He struck his hand, and black fire blazed around him, casting ominous shadows twisting through the wracking tempest. His Hellfire burst to life, black fire unnatural and inhuman against the shrieking gale. Fire tore outward, burning the earth beneath as mist was torn away in an instant.

"Let us see how well you endure heat, Wind Lady."

Sylphara's yell from under the storm, half laughter, half inquiry. "Oh? Fire to wind? You are dumber than I was calculating."

The hurricane howled and a dozen silent swords fired out at Kent, all sword blades open.

SWOOSH!

Kent evaded, rolling out of the way as the first attack tore through a tree behind him, cutting through it like paper. He rolled back around, summoning a wall of Hellfire in time to intercept the rest of the slashes headed his way. When the flame met the wind, the gusts ripped it apart—but not entirely. Some of the attacks still got through, hurting his arms and shoulders.

"Tsk." He smeared at a thread of blood across his cheek. "Okay, wind's pushing back."

He fired a quick blast, channeling his Hellfire Blast and firing it out into the roiling mist. Black fire wailed, heat distortions ruffling the air. Trees blew up and incinerated, their leaves disintegrating at once.

Beat of silence… And—WHOOSH!

The flames were sucked into the storm, engulfed by the whirlpool. Kent didn't have time to step back before a shock of compressed air hit his chest and he stumbled a few feet backward. He coughed, his chest bruised from the impact.

Sylphara returned, reclining effortlessly on a blasted wind, hair of silver blown around her head. "Typical," she muttered to herself. "Wind toys, fire burns. But you believed that your flames would consume me?"

Kent rose a second time, taking breath. "You prattle too much."

A bolt struck down upon the snap of her wrist. Kent leapt clear of it just in time as the land he'd stood on was tore away.

His mind was racing. She's going too fast, and my fires aren't scorching her wind hard enough.

And then, abruptly—A memory from three days ago, When they'd taken the bus to Azure Bay ruins. He'd constructed a homemade sword on a whim with his skill SSS-Rank Architect of creation. It'd been a test then, and he'd not had much confidence in it. But now…

Kent's eyes snapped open.

"The sword."

Sylphara's head tilted. "What's that?"

Kent smiled. "Just remembered something important. You better be prepared for your defeat, wind lady. I am not holding back anymore."