He pointed at her and said, "I was referring to you against some normal golden core cultivators, not special ones that can manipulate space and create space cracks."
"I am asking this because that's how it will look when ten nascent soul cultivators from a backward place like the Five Veins Region try to fight a well-trained unity cultivator from a sect."
"So tell me, how many attacks will it take for you to defeat one golden core cultivator? How many will it take you to defeat 10 golden core cultivators? How many will it take you to defeat 100 golden core cultivators? Will there be a difference between them?"
Lady Evergreen gritted her teeth but didn't reply.
She couldn't reply because any answer she could come up with would be used against her.
The proper answer to that question is that it won't make any difference how many golden core cultivators face her because she is too strong.
Normally, the difference in power between the two realms becomes bigger and bigger the further along the path of cultivation one goes.
The least difference in the peak power of the two realms is 100 times. But the largest difference in power between two realms can increase to 1,000 times.
This can be seen in the foundation establishment stage, where those at the seventh transformation are 128 times stronger than the peak power of the second mortal coil, while those at the tenth transformation of the foundation establishment realm are 1,024 times stronger than the peak of the second mortal coil.
A difference of just ten times is enough for her to have an overwhelming advantage over golden core cultivators. A fight with them will be similar to a fight between a rock and some eggs.
She will be the rock, and the golden core cultivators will be the eggs. Even if she stays still, it is impossible for the eggs to defeat her no matter how many there are.
But what makes nascent soul cultivators even more powerful is the fact that they have strengthened their souls and can attack the souls of other beings.
Golden Core cultivators can't wield their souls in battle. So if she attacks, they will be defenseless against her might no matter how powerful they are.
Even if a golden core cultivator can wield their soul, their soul will still be weak compared to hers. So she will still win.
Only special individuals at the golden core stage like Void Claw, who possess unreasonable abilities, can hope to defeat nascent soul cultivators. Even then, there is a strong risk of death.
At the end of the day, it is only a nascent soul cultivator who was lucky enough to reach the nascent soul stage that can fall to a golden core junior, and only someone like Void Claw can pull off such a feat. In the absence of these two things, it is impossible for golden core juniors to defeat nascent soul cultivators.
So by common sense, she can't say that the number of golden core cultivators will matter to the outcome of the battle. But if she says that, then Thunder Drake will say that no amount of nascent soul cultivators can hope to bridge the gap of power between the fifth mortal coil and the sixth mortal coil.
But if she doesn't say that and says that it is possible for golden core juniors to overwhelm her and defeat her, then Thunder Drake will call her weak and probably say something along the lines that someone as weak as her shouldn't be trying to unify the Five Veins Region.
She can't think of a single answer that will favor her. So she gave up on answering the question.
She said, "If we don't try, we will never know. Besides, I have faith in us. Not only are we twice as strong as normal cultivators, but we are also more talented than normal cultivators."
"I know that you don't think much of me, but if someone like Void Claw can reach the fifth mortal coil, then maybe it is not impossible for him to defeat someone at the sixth mortal coil."
Thunder Drake nodded and said, "Maybe. Maybe not. But like you said, I don't have much faith in you in particular."
"If it were Void Claw saying something like unifying the entire region, I might be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But not you.
She didn't get angry for dismissing her. She couldn't get angry anyway because what he said wasn't wrong.
She is talented too, or she wouldn't have managed to advance to the fifth mortal coil, but her talent doesn't enhance her fighting prowess like people like Void Claw and Stella.
So she pointed at him and said, "What about you? Don't you even have faith in yourself? Where is the pride of the cultivators of lightning?"
Thunder Drake didn't let her goad her. Instead, he said, "I just want to be left alone."
"If you are hell-bent on going through with this scheme of yours, then so be it. But I will have no hand to play in it."
Then he turned to leave.
She called after him, "Why are you running away in defeat so soon? I think you're just afraid we are helpless without Sword Flash to keep us safe. I think you believe that you are weak."
But no matter what she said, he didn't turn back. He didn't even bother to argue with her. He just accepted defeat and left peacefully.
He didn't bother to argue with her because he knows very well that words won't get through to her. Only strength expressed by fighting will be useful in convincing her otherwise.
He doesn't want to fight her, so he didn't try to convince her about the errors of her ways by fighting her. It is not that he thinks he is weaker than her.
In fact, he is sure that he can defeat her. After all, the element he controls is lightning, while the element she controls is wood.