by A P Gore
“Again.” Li Tim’s sword came for him again, and he had to take it head on. He was once again pushed a step backward.
Impossible. There had to be some trickery involved.
Li Tim might have already reached Bone Baptization Realm and hidden his cultivation like Du Su had for a decade.
Yes, that had to be the case. Otherwise, how could one explain this? But how had this never come to light when they had spies inside the Li clan? It didn’t make sense, unless Li Tim hadn’t told anyone but the patriarch.
“Li Tim. Don’t overestimate yourself. I haven’t used my martial skill yet.”
A crafty smile appeared on Li Tim’s lips. “Neither have I.”
Roaring, Du Su activated Roaring Tidal Sword, the Du clan’s famous sword skill. A thread of qi rushed out of his dantian into his arm and then into his martial artifact. Before Houtian Realm no one could use their qi directly, and only martial artifacts allowed them to use it somewhat.
When his water qi entered his sword, his sword shone with a blue color, and a thin layer of water formed around its blade. When it met with Li Tim’s sword, the water flowed like a river and pushed Li Tim back. “Li Tim, I underestimated you, but if you think your layer one cultivation can go against my layer two, then you’re courting your death.”
“Du Su, stop talking and take my sword.” Fire jumped out of Li Tim’s hand and covered his sword, turning it into a fiery beast. “Fire Beast Roar.” He struck with his sword, and like a beast, his sword roared, rippling the water film on Du Su’s sword. When their swords met, Du Su was pushed back, and the water film on his sword was vanquished by the fiery beast.
“You.” Du Su’s hand went numb when the impact passed through his sword into his wrist and then into his arms. “You even have a low-tier Silver Grade artifact. How is this possible?” Even after becoming a Bone Baptization Realm cultivator, he’d only received a high-tier Bronze Grade sword, and it hadn’t even had an array carved on it. So many times, he’d gone to master Wu’s workshop, only to have his request declined. He wanted to smash that old bastard with his palm, but he couldn’t. An array cultivator wasn’t someone to trifle with.
But how could the Li clan have a Silver Grade artifact?
Was the rumor true? Did they really emerge out of the Imperial Capital?
Du Su stomped on the ground and regained his composure. “Roaring Tidal Sword.” Pushing all the unnecessary thoughts to the back of his mind, he used the second level of his Tidal Wave Sword Art. It consumed one third of his qi and increased the intensity of the water swirling on the sword blade. The fire on Li Tim’s sword was extinguished in one strike.
“Li Tim, although you have a higher-grade weapon, don’t forget I’ve yet to use my Icy Hell Disk. You’re nothing but an ant in front of me. Today I’ll eliminate your clan and then bury them in this same ground so no one will dare to go against my Du clan.” Rage burned in his heart, and he attacked again.
“Fire Beast Strike.” Li Tim responded with similar vigor and his sword swiped down at Du Su.
Fear gripped Du Su’s heart. This was the second level of the Fire Beast Sword Art martial skill of the Li clan, and it was said that it could increase a martial artifact’s might by a minor layer.
It seemed there were many things about the Li clan he didn’t know.
Had he made a mistake by coming here alone?
No, this couldn’t be happening. If this continued, he might get injured and have to retreat, maybe even lose his life.
Li Tim pushed forward, his sword attacking Du Su from seemingly everywhere. Although old, Li Tim had fought many battles, and he had much more experience than Du Su, and Du Su realized it quickly. If this continued, he would fail because of his lack of experience.
“Li Tim, you’re pushing me to do this.” Slipping his hand in his pouch, he pulled one white pill out. It was a Qi Expansion Pill that allowed one to raise their cultivation by two minor layers for two hours. It would leave some medicinal effects in his body, but he could slowly push them out.
Of course, he could use the Icy Hell Disk and finish this quickly, but it would consume a medium-quality Qi Stone, and he didn’t want to waste that yet. If he could, he wanted to eliminate the Li clan using his cultivation alone and tell the patriarch that he’d used it. That way he could gain double benefits.
But if the fight continued like this, he would have no choice but to use their clan artifact.
“Du Su, you need to eat a pill to go against a cultivator of a lower realm than you? How shameful.” Li Tim stomped his feet and charged forward like a wild beast, his long white hair fluttering on the wind, giving him a solemn look.
Du Su smirked and initiated Flowing Tidal Sword, the third level of their martial skill. It was his limit—he couldn’t learn the fourth and fifth level yet—but no one could underestimate the might of the third level. It was unparalleled in the same cultivation realm. Water rushed like a heavy tidal wave and swept over Li Tim’s sword in a speck of a second, pushing Li Tim back.
Li Tim staggered back and spat a mouthful of blood. A deep bloody wound appeared on his chest.
“Li Tim. I’ve already reached layer four of Bone Baptization Realm. Kneel and cut your own head, and I’ll leave your corpse intact. You can’t win.”
Du Su’s gaze burned with fury as he got up and charged forward with an undying attitude.
But Du Su wasn’t afraid of it anymore. He had a cultivation realm advantage, and nothing could overcome that. Definitely not a tiny ant like Li Tim. Today he would wipe out the Li clan and snatch the coordinates.
In ten minutes, they clashed forty or fifty times, but every time Li Tim ended up with new wounds. Finally, he fell on the ground and didn’t get up.
His body littered in wounds, and he looked like a withered tree on the last stress of its life. Seeing him like that, every other Li clan person went dead silent. They couldn’t watch their ancestor’s humiliation, but they couldn’t do anything about it either.
Du Su chuckled. This was the effect he’d wanted. In fact, he could kill them all quickly, but he was afraid only Li Tim and Li Shua knew the coordinates of the ancient treasure trove, so killing them meant he wouldn’t get them.
That wasn’t he wanted, so he chose to humiliate them and make them surrender.
“Ha ha. I told you, Li Tim. You can’t win. Just give up and die.”
“Ancestor . . .” The Li clan members came forward but stopped when they spotted Li Tim pushing his sword into the ground and lifting his body with help of it.
Du Su narrowed his eyes. This old bag of bones surprised him. Even after fighting with him to this condition, he had some energy left to stand up. It seemed like he’d gone too soft, considering the old man’s age.
“Du Su. I’ll fight you with my life.” Raising his sword, Li Tim dashed forward.
Du Su chuckled and readied his sword to take Li Tim’s life, but suddenly an inexplicable fear gripped his heart, like death was watching him from the shadows.
“Fire Beast Explosion.” Fire leaped out of Li Tim’s sword and enveloped his whole body.
“Crap!” Du Su shouted and hazily retreated. Li Tim had directly used the fourth move of Fire Beast Sword Art, and it was a forbidden move. It pushed a cultivator’s qi in a strange manner, and it exploded out of their body. If an opponent fell under the effect of the explosion, he would die.
Chapter 60 Still Alive?
Fire exploded out of ancestor Tim’s body and swallowed a three-foot area around him. Du Su was in there too. It was like a miniature sun going nova and burning everything in its path.
The explosion rang in Li Wei’s ears, making his heart quiver.
Dust and stone flew everywhere, hitting a few Li clan disciples. They cried in pain. A few of them started to rush forward, but grandfather Shua raised his hands and stopped them, his face turning grim.
A huge pit appeared from behind the curtain of dust, and Du Su lay half-buried in the middle. He didn’t l
ook good, but a wooden disk hovered above his head, spreading a strange light over his body.
There was no trace of ancestor Tim.
Li Wei’s chest tightened. Demise of ancestor Tim wasn’t something he thought would happen. With this loss, Li clan had suffered a huge loss.
Ancestor Tim had used the fourth level of Fire Beast Sword Art. Fire Beast Explode. It was a forbidden move that allowed a cultivator to channel their life energy into the sword, but the sword would explode after use, destroying itself and killing the cultivator. It was equivalent to a Blood Berserk Pill, but this move didn’t even give ten minutes of power up. It just exploded and vanished.
“That motherfucker!” Du Su leaped out of the pit, his eyes burning with rage. His right hand hung limp when he landed outside of the pit. His right arm and half of his face was charred black, and his jaw was wrecked beyond repair. “I’ll—” He tried to fix his jaw with his left hand, but it didn’t work. “Motherfuckers, I’ll kill you all. Each of you dies here today.” With his unharmed hand, he pulled out a medium-quality Qi Stone and inserted it into the Icy Hell Disk. When the pure white stream of qi entered the wooden disk, it started revolving in the air. It floated in the air like an emperor, spreading its might to the whole world.
“Yang Domain,” Du Su shouted, and icy cold energy burst out of the Icy Hell Disk. It descended like an icy apocalypse in a hundred-foot area around the Icy Hell Disk, and the temperature dropped sharply.
A few Du clan and Li clan disciples fell under the Yang Domain, and they cried in pain. Wei too felt the chill penetrating his skin and reaching his bones, but with a shake of his blood it vanished. Grandfather Shua had stronger cultivation, and his expression didn’t change, so he must’ve shaken it off too.
However, within seconds the temperature dropped again, and the cold air turned into an icy hell, forming a thin film of ice around people caught in its radius. It was so cold Wei felt his internal organs on the verge of freezing. He was only in layer six of body Refinement Realm, and he couldn’t sustain himself without using his cultivation art. Firming his mind, he began to absorb essence energy from nature and kick-started his cultivation art. As soon as the essence energy entered his Yangming meridian, the cold was pushed back. With every new drop of blood undergoing the transformation, a stream of vital energy rushed out of his meridian and suffused his entire body, easing the pain and coldness. This was one of the unique properties of his Blood Essence Body Cultivation Art. Blood was everything, and blood was above everything. It was said that blood would resolve every ailment in one’s body.
Wei’s eyes gained clarity when he circulated the essence energy through a fifth cycle, and he didn’t feel cold anymore.
From the corner of his eyes, he spotted grandfather Shua circulating his fire qi and fending off a thin layer of ice that had formed on his clothes.
But not everyone could do the same. Two peak Refinement Realm experts that were caught within the icy domain couldn’t resist the cold, and their bodies froze in a blink of an eye. The thin film of ice around them expanded and formed an ice sculpture of those disciples.
“Sha!” Grandfather Shua patted one of the frozen disciples’ back, and fire jumped out of his palm, melting the ice, but by the time ice melted away, the disciple had died.
“Die you bastards,” Du Su shouted again, sending another pulse of cold energy out of the Icy Hell Disk.
Wei retreated. He had nothing but his own blood to fend off this energy, and he wasn’t sure how long he could survive the assault.
But grandfather Shua didn’t retreat. Instead, he pulled two Essence Burning Pills out and ate them in one go. “Senior,” he whispered in a soft voice. “I’ve placed a small note in my grandson’s pocket. It bears the coordinates of a secret treasure trove. If you think it’s enough compensation, please escape with a few of my Li clan’s young generation and take them to Dabuio City. The Lord of Dabuio City is my friend, and he will help them settle.”
“Grand—” Wei bit his lip. He understood his grandfather’s motive. He was going to perform the same action ancestor Tim had and die for the Li clan’s survival.
No. Wei clenched his fists and wracked his brain to think of a solution, but there was none. If his grandfather didn’t fight Du Su, there was no way the Li clan could survive. A wise choice would be to leave everything and run. A half-wise choice would be to take the young generation of the Li clan with him, and the worst choice was to try saving his grandfather.
What choice should he take?
Chapter 61 Third Choice
Wei chose the third option.
In both of his lives, he’d had no one he could call a blood family. All his close friends had had their own families, and he’d envied them. Maybe he felt a little jealous too. While sitting by himself under a tree, drinking tea, he always wondered why he felt like that when he hated the Li clan.
Yet despite hating them, he still returned to Old Martial City after he’d gained power, looking for them, and when he learned the Du clan annihilated them, he went after the Du clan and took revenge.
Wasn’t that a form of belonging? Now the same thing was happening with the Li clan. How could he let it?
Flipping his hand, he pulled a Qi Burning Pill from the storage ring and put it inside his mouth. For activating the forbidden technique to break through, a realm needed a powerful medicinal pill. What could be better than a Qi Burning Pill?
Boom! The pill’s medicinal energy exploded inside his stomach and rushed to his dantian. It gushed in like a roaring river meeting the sea and formed a small whirlpool of thick qi that swirled inside his dantian. It rushed through his tiny qi path, destroying all the impurities in its wake and clearing a wide path for itself. It pushed his qi path to the limit, and then he felt his cultivation realm breaking through.
His cultivation level rose sharply. Layer three, layer four, and then it paused when he reached the peak of Refinement Realm. The whirlpool inside his dantian pulsed, and a tide of pure qi flashed through his qi paths, pushing his cultivation to layer one of Foundation Realm. After he reached Foundation Realm, unlike others, he didn’t gain any attributed qi. That worked to his advantage. For others, when they absorbed pure qi, they had to convert it into their attributed qi, and caused a loss of some percent of the qi in the transformation process.
But he didn’t.
When pure qi rushed through his meridians, he felt an impeccable power pulsating through his body, like he could break a hundred kg stone with a single punch. But this wasn’t enough. If he wanted to fight Du Su, he had to reach the peak of Foundation Realm.
He had to power up once more, else he couldn’t beat that bastard.
A sharp cry made him open his eyes, and he found his grandfather trying to make his way to Du Su, but with the Icy Hell Disk sending undulations of cold energy, it was quite difficult. Cold energy continued pushing him back and assaulting his body, wounding him. Freezing him.
This was bad. He had to stop him, but he couldn’t go and fight. With his current powers, he was nothing but an ant in front of Du Su and his spirit artifact.
But he had a ray of hope shining inside his heart. He had the strange Primordial Blood Palace, and it could elevate his powers.
How much, he didn’t know, but he was about to find out.
Activate. He pushed a bit of his pure qi inside the green pendant, and it hummed in response. A stream of pure blood qi rushed out of the cold pendant hanging around his neck and entered his body, rushing toward his dantian. It was blood qi, a rare-attributed qi that only appeared in the Demonic Serpent Blood Clan of the Martial Realm.
Wei arched his brows. This could be troublesome. The Qi Burning Pill he’d used provided pure qi that could be easily assimilated by anyone, as it didn’t clash with their innate attributed qi, but if one received a different attributed qi, a clash was inevitable. Fortunately, he had attributeless qi, so it shouldn’t fight with blood qi to the bitter end.
But the result was
yet unknown. He could only wait until the blood qi reached his dantian.
Boom!
Blood qi gushed inside his dantian and overwhelmed the pure qi whirlpool, turning it red. In the blink of an eye, the white whirlpool transformed into a blood-red, giant whirlpool that sent streams of blood qi to his whole body. New power rushed through his meridians, pushing his cultivation up, and he once again began breaking through madly.
Layer two. Layer three. Layer four. Layer six.
When his cultivation reached layer six, the blood qi whirlpool stopped sending more qi to his meridians, and his realm stabilized at layer six Foundation Realm.
Wei grunted. This was short of what he needed to reach. Only after reaching the peak of Foundation Realm would he have a chance of defeating Du Su with the sword he had crafted Strength Expanding Array on.
Another cry sounded, and when he turned back, he found three Li clan disciples frozen dead on the ground. They had hundreds of wounds on their bodies, all frozen, and one of them was Li Guan.
Emotions flooded him, and his hand went to his sword. No matter what, he had to fight today. He couldn’t live with a guilt inside his mind, even if it meant his death. This was his martial way. A lazy martial way.
Pulling the sword from his back, he marched forward, taking in the icy feeling emitting from the Icy Hell Disk. It still exuded the icy domain, but it didn’t affect him the same as it had previously. First, he had backup from his layer eight body Refinement Realm, and second, he now had reached layer six of qi Foundation Realm.
Wait, how did he reach layer eight in body Refinement Realm? When did that happen?
Spreading his divine sense inside his body, he checked his Yangming and Taiyang meridians. Both of them were on overdrive, absorbing the blood qi rushing out of his dantian and producing new blood pearls. Upon reaching layer eight, he should have obtained eight hundred pounds of strength.
What? Was this an intended effect of the Primordial Blood Manor?
He didn’t know why, but it was awesome. With his cultivation increasing in Blood Essence Body, he could feel power rushing through his muscles and tendons. It gave him a feeling that he could break a large boulder with one punch.
