Kapitel 11: Power
*Things like sexism and racism are purely for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.*
Qing Fang lay on the bottom of the lake bed and examined his new soul.
Previously, the outer layer of his soul, which was unlocked, was shining brightly while the centre, which was still sealed, was a dull and dark colour. However, now that his soul had fully unlocked, every part of it shone with mesmerizing and pretty light. It had also grown over ten times larger. In the dark space that housed his soul, Qing Fang had no reference for the previous size, but he watched as it grew much larger than it had been.
Not only did this grant him divine sense, Qing Fang felt that his comprehension ability had massively increased. Due to this, while he was a little above average before, now he was a monstrous genius. However, that was only for the stages below Stage 7. Qing Fang knew he wasn't special. Whatever he got from unlocking his soul, other people got as well. Because of this, he knew he was still far inferior to a Stage 7 that had unlocked their souls themselves.
However, Qing Fang knew that the power of his soul would be similar to that of Stage 7. The only thing he was inferior in was comprehension ability and the power of his divine sense. As his soul was much stronger, he was confident in using it to suppress and even control the souls of Stage 5 cultivators. Stage 6 was theoretically possible but was too risky for Qing Fang as of now. Controlling the souls of others, as he did with that strange breed of human before, was now many times easier.
Apart from this, the main thing Qing Fang was ecstatic about was the increase in his battle power. Before, Qing Fang had tested how it would help him in a battle situation by turning his divine sense toward a fish swimming within its range. When he did, he could see the ripples in its muscles before it even moved and could make out tiny movements. This would help Qing Fang in a close-combat fight. As well as this, there was the obvious fact that he would be able to see all around him simultaneously which would boost his defence.
From this, Qing Fang thought that if he had to fight Qing Jinfeng again, instead of winning a pyrrhic victory, he would crush him in the same fashion as he did Qing Li Guan. Qing Fang now had the power to fight higher stages, but this advantage would disappear when he reached Stage 7.
After he was satisfied with his insights, he looked over his healing body. The countless stab wounds that riddled his torso and legs had shrunken a lot as the flesh gradually closed up. Blood would no longer flow if he removed the water membrane. However, he still kept it to keep the wounds clean. Even a Stage 3 could succumb to a vicious infection. Illness of any kind no longer affected the body at Stage 5. Anyways, Qing Fang had healed for the most part. At least he could move easily if he wanted to.
Knowing that he had regained his movement, Qing Fang decided he would leave this part of the forest as soon as possible. Although he speculated that Li Shan would stop pursuing him eventually, that was after a year. Since the incident happened not long ago, Qing Fang thought there would be many cultivators roaming the forest to find him.
Plastering another protective membrane of water on the wounds to keep them sealed, he parted the water for himself as he left the lake.
Qing Fang moved very cautiously, wary of people that could be following him. After all, not so long ago, there were two Shadow path cultivators following him while he was none the wiser. To stop this from happening again, Qing Fang hid his movements and traces as much as possible as he traversed the forest.
Qing Fang didn't know that Qing Dong Cai had left the forest a while ago as he had had no luck in finding him. It had been around forty minutes since Qing Dong Cai recovered Qing Jinfeng's body. While running, he realised the stupidity of his actions. He was running around to find Qing Fang with the gold coins in his possession. Thinking of how his master would punish him for letting emotion lead him by the nose, Qing Dong Cai quickly headed back to Qingshan City with the gold coins. Any chances Qing Fang had at regaining them were lost.
Meandering through the trees, Qing Fang travelled deeper and deeper into the expansive Tai forest. The trees were getting taller while the animals were getting bigger and bigger. Qing Fang previously knew that there were no beasts above Stage 3 in Tai forest, but that was only in the discovered parts. Right now, Qing Fang was deeper than anyone had been before.
He encountered a few Stage 3 beasts and even felt the aura of a Stage 4 beast. However, although strong, beasts were stupid and Qing Fang had no trouble avoiding them. He had no time to face them head-on as he wasn't taking any chances of being discovered.
Since he still had plans to hide within the forest for a year, Qing Fang was looking for possible places to stay. Of course, he had to get far away from the place where he killed Qing Jinfeng. Tai forest was extremely big, so he had no problems getting far away while still being within it.
The planet that Qing Clan owned, Planet Qingpu, had a radius of about 100,000 kilometres. Although it seemed big, it was a relatively small world to the other worlds within the Mortal Realm. Planets that had cultivation were usually over 100,000 km in radius. However, planets within the Mortal Realm that still hadn't discovered cultivation were much smaller.
As for how these planets are protected from the greedy hands of cultivators? It had to be known that planets like these were incredibly useful for large forces. If they could, they would take them all under their rule.
However, planets without cultivation don't mean that their inhabitants are unable to cultivate, but that it's undiscovered. Before a planet welcomes its first cultivator into the universe's expanse, there is a 'world barrier' that can only be broken from the inside. Cultivators that can travel the universe and multiple planets have to be Stage 6 at least. From this, if a planet still hasn't 'discovered' cultivation, then it has never produced a Stage 6 expert.
When a Stage 6 cultivator finally ventures out of the world, the 'world barrier' would be broken and that planet would be thrown into the Universe of cultivation, vulnerable to the many dangers. Whether it be experts fighting, planetary-level beasts or natural disasters, planets disappear all the time within the Mortal Realm. Big forces flourish as many planets voluntarily subject themselves to be ruled in exchange for protection. After all, Stage 5 cultivators and below are shackled within a planet, unable to leave. If an expert has a family unable to leave the planet and feels his power is insufficient, he and his planet would join one of the tyrants of the Mortal Realm.
These planets would become outposts for the respective forces they join. Take Qing Clan for example, although they only own one planet, many others had subordinated themselves in exchange for Qing Xie Han's protection.
Deep into the forest, Qing Fang was in a completely virgin area. Trees hundreds of meters tall surrounded him on all sides while shrubbery and weeds filled the floor. Many small animals were moving within Qing Fang's vision. They were all either hunting or mating. Many birds of prey could be seen perching on branches. Qing Fang even saw a Stage 2 beast with a wingspan of over ten meters.
Passing unnoticed through the territories of many predators, Qing Fang arrived at a strange place within the forest.
It was enclosed by small trees and pungent-smelling flowers. It looked like a garden within a forest. No animals could be seen at all and there were many types of medicinal herbs that usually are unable to grow around these parts.
Realising that this space is undoubtedly man-made, Qing Fang wanted to investigate. However, he suddenly felt a feeling of dread wash over him.
Looking up to the sky, he saw a sky of raging and swirling flames appear above the whole Tai forest. The forest suddenly turned into a hellscape. Red light from the flames shone down onto the forest as many animals, powerful and weak, fled in fright with no direction. It looked as though a second sun had appeared and it was directly above all of Tai forest. It was an extremely dominating scene that scared every living thing that saw it.
...
Mortal children looked up in fright. Only now had they experienced the fear of death for the first time. The adults weren't much better, they looked up with hollow eyes. Long had they known the godly might of cultivators, but wasn't this too much? As weak mortals, they might as well kill themselves instead of trying to survive in this sort of world.
However, what they didn't know was that cultivators looked up with a similarly despairing expression.
"What..." A young man, around sixteen, and a Stage 1 cultivator looked above him as he saw his death. He was feeling glad that he managed to become a cultivator and was excited to embark upon the road of cultivation. But seeing this monstrous might that defied the heavens, he began to fear the very thing he sought to become.
Another young man, similarly aged, also looked up with chaotic thoughts swirling in his mind. He snapped out of his daze and looked at his companions around him. His eyes immediately locked on a girl in his party that had an unfazed expression on her face. She even looked quite bored with the spectacle.
For some reason, he was angry that the girl didn't even acknowledge the situation they were in. "Li Yin! How can you have such an expression?! Have you gone blind?!" As he shouted, his voice was obviously filled with fear. The others thought that, by shouting, he was trying to distract himself from the raging fires.
The girl, attracted to hysterical screams directed her way, looked at the young man with a sneer unbefitting of her gentle features. "Of course you know nothing, Han Xiao. We are safe. Want to know how I know? Because that's my father!" As she spoke, she pointed her delicate hand toward a small figure within the huge sun. There was unbridled arrogance in her tone as she happily showed off her father's might without shame.
Slightly angered that he was outright insulted, Qing Han Xiao snapped his head with rigid movements to look at where Li Yin was pointing. There, he saw a man floating in the sky with his arms outstretched, as if he was conducting the fire in a musical symphony. Han Xiao couldn't make out the figure as he only had Stage 1 cultivation but he took Li Yin's word for it.
After all, Li Yin was the eldest daughter of esteemed elder Li Shan. If she was certain it was her father, he was compelled to believe it.
Looking at the stupid expressions on her companions' faces, Li Yin felt immense pride and satisfaction. She was a dainty young lady. Although only Stage 1 with minimal combat experience, women aren't subject to the same expectations regarding this as men. If Li Guan had her strength at her age, he would've been killed by his father for being weak. However, Li Yin, as a woman, could afford to be weak as long as she was beautiful. If she was weak and ugly, only death awaited her.
...
Looking closer, Qing Fang saw a middle-aged man with black hair at the centre of the artificial sun. He looked like a fire God descending from the heavens as his body basked in the flames. Qing Fang, unlike those Stage 1 youths, could clearly make out the figure in the sky.
'Elder Li Shan.' Qing Fang was helpless. He thought that elder Li Shan would never show up personally. Why was he exerting so much effort just to capture himself? Right now, Qing Fang started to despair. A Stage 6 cultivator could kill him with a flare of his nostrils.
Qing Fang didn't know that elder Li Shan had been punished with one thousand years of servitude for his deeds. The Patriarch, in his infinite righteousness, ordered him to avenge his son by killing Qing Fang.
Unaware of the developments, Qing Fang could only inwardly gripe. 'It doesn't matter why he's here. The only important thing now is to live.' Qing Fang knew he couldn't hide from a Stage 6's eyes. The only thing he could do now was try to keep his life.
Elder Li Shan had still not found himself. After all, Stage 6 experts had no divine sense so they could only rely on their advanced vision to scout. Looking up at the fire god incarnate, Qing Fang sensed something was off. This powerful display seemed to lack a sort of...dominance?
How could it not? This grand fire god, Li Shan, was now a servant. All pride he had built up was swept away in the winds. However, elder Li Shan was venting his sadness and frustration by releasing a massive amount of his power. He wanted to make the annoying Qing Fang despair before he killed him by burning him alive from the inside.
Qing Fang realised he was in a terrible situation. He couldn't hide from Li Shan as cultivators could sense each other unless there was a huge gap between them. It won't be long until he was discovered and killed. Desperation driving him, he made a decision he never thought he would in his life.
'Life is the prerequisite to all things. I can rise again.'
Resolving himself, Qing Fang used his new divine sense to look inside his body. There, he saw strands of ocean blue woven into it. These were the fragments of the Law of Water that he had absorbed to reach his current cultivation. They pulsed with a profound and mysterious power as they moved ethereally within his body. The amount and concentration of the Law fragments were what would be expected from a peak Stage 3 cultivator.
Bearing a solid resolve within his pain, Qing Fang destroyed the fragment Laws within himself.
What Qing Fang was doing now was destroying his own cultivation. When he had purged all the Law fragments, he would be a mortal. Although this greatly bothered Qing Fang, he was willing to sacrifice everything he had if he could live. This was the resolve of a man who wanted to achieve greatness.
The reason he was destroying his cultivation was that he needed the one advantage mortals had over cultivators: he needed to stay hidden.
Cultivators sensed each other's cultivation and existence by sensing the amount and type of Law fragments within one another. Although they were limited to absorbing one type of Law, they could sense all of them. Of course, there were methods to hide and change the appearance of one's cultivation, but they were in the hands of large forces. Although Qing Clan was a large force and indeed possessed these methods, Stage 3 Qing Fang doesn't have the right toward them. So for now, Qing Fang could only take drastic measures to achieve the same effect.
Since mortals had no Law fragments within their bodies, they naturally couldn't be sensed by cultivators passively. Of course, with divine sense, one would be able to sense mortals. However, Li Shan did not have divine sense. He only had a pair of powerful eyes.
Amidst the pain of literally destroying his own body, Qing Fang felt his body grow weaker and weaker until he wasn't able to even lift a small boulder. He felt his alignment with the dao of water vanish and his senses dull. He could only see up to one hundred meters clearly and his hearing no longer picked up all the sounds around him.
When he had finally destroyed the last Law fragment, Qing Fang powerlessly collapsed down to the floor under a thick canopy of trees in the garden within the forest.
It should be known that when Qing Fang 'destroyed' his body, it wasn't the same as normal injuries. His body was unharmed on the surface and there were no cuts or bruises on his body. However, deep within his body, there were deep scars that would never heal.
...
Former elder Qing Li Shan, now servant Li Shan, sent his gaze filled with fire over the entire Tai forest. His eyes shone with solid blue fire within the red mass of flames, making him look like a being made of fire. However, indignance filled him as he was unable to find Qing Fang.
He sensed all the Laws within the forest and scoured the land. Any time he saw the Law of Water concentrated in one place, he would investigate. However, after searching all of these places, he had not found Qing Fang. Although he spotted his useless daughter with her friends, he didn't spare them a glance. If his daughter wasn't beautiful, she would already be dead. Li Shan's only child that had looks, as well as power, was the Li Guan. Nothing of him remained, though.
But then he thought, wasn't it entirely possible that Qing Fang was dead? Although Qing Dong Cai had left the forest and confirmed Qing Jinfeng's death, that doesn't mean that Qing Fang was alive.
In a battle against a Stage 4, Stage 3 Qing Fang was bound to suffer grievous injuries. He might've even died from them after he fled. In fact, Li Shan was informed that Qing Fang left a massive amount of blood next to Qing Jinfeng's body. At this thought, Li Shan thought it was more likely for Qing Fang to have died shortly after the battle.
The thought that Qing Fang could've destroyed his cultivation to hide never crossed Li Shan's mind. After all, it was just too absurd. Li Shan had underestimated Qing Fang's will to live. However, he couldn't be blamed.
If you asked the question "would you rather destroy your cultivation or die?" many cultivators would die, unwilling to consciously lose all they had gained on the road of cultivation. Also, after destroying one's cultivation, one would never be able to surpass their former stage. If that was the case, why bother? People that chose the road of cultivation wouldn't choose anything less than the peak. Who would rather be Stage 8 instead of Stage 9? If that lofty goal suddenly became impossible by any means, didn't they waste their whole life up until now?
Not finding Qing Fang and it being impossible to flee Tai forest in such a short amount of time, Li Shan declared Qing Fang already dead. The only bad thing was that he couldn't find the body. He didn't have divine sense so he would have to search the whole forest himself. Naturally, he couldn't do that. To search everywhere thoroughly, it would take even him over a month.
Helpless, Li Shan could only dutifully report back to Qing Xie Han. Although he didn't fail his first mission, he couldn't confirm its success.
However, in anyone's eyes, there was no way Qing Fang could be alive.
...
Qing Fang suddenly opened his eyes. He looked extremely ill.
His lips were pale, he had heavy bags under his eyes and radiated an aura of weakness as he breathed roughly.
Right now, Stage 3 Water path Qing Fang was no more as only Qing Fang the mortal remained.
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
PSYcho_72
PSYcho_72 Can I please ask people to leave a review on the book? There are not enough ratings so my book doesn't have a rating. Due to this, many potential readers are leaving before they even read a word...
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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