Chapitre 21: Bronze rules above all
Pitter patter...
Rain poured down from the gray clouds above, Ximen Wei was drenched from head to toe as he looked at the lonely shed with expressionless eyes that radiated boundless coldness.
A sigh rang out, and the Qi Cultivator inside the shed finally got out.
It was an old white-haired man who have one foot in the coffin, a thick aura of death loomed over his head and yet, despite all that, Ximen Wei did not dare to underestimate his opponent.
The old man looked pitifully at Ximen Wei who reeked of blood then he looked behind him at the corpses of the villagers, the village wasn't huge, it only had 20 people in it, and it was mostly elders, women and children. Most of the men were out there, either working in the fields or hunting wild life in the nearby forest.
"Such a young child is walking down the demonic path, slaughtering the innocents and absorbing their essence. Sigh, looks like you're already beyond redemption."
The old Qi Cultivator seemed really saddened at Ximen Wei's state.
"Back when I roamed these lands, I've seen many things... Yet it's my first time seeing a thing like this!"
"No worries my child, although I may be a bag of bones, my cultivation base used to be in the great circle of Level 3 Qi Trainees, despite regressing all the way to the first level, I still have some energy and power left to strike you down and free you from suffering."
Ximen Wei snorted coldly at the old man's hypocrite actions, back when he was slaughtering around the village denizens, the old man did not try to stop Ximen Wei at all, but when Ximen Wei targeted him, the old man felt threatened and finally decided to take action.
Thunder rumbled as the rain continued to pour heavily.
After spending a minute studying each other, the old Qi Cultivator took a step forward as his hands moved in inhuman speeds, drawing a pattern in the air as he muttered a mnemonic incomprehensible to human ears.
The surrounding grass swayed violently as Ximen Wei's eyes widened, this was a new way to cast Qi Techniques! He can sense the surrounding Qi particles moving in a weird way, slowly gathering in the old man's hands yet swirling around him at the same time.
"Qi Technique - Iron Body!"
When Ximen Wei saw things not going in his favor, he unhesitantly casted a defensive Qi Technique and drove head first towards the old man, intent on disrupting before he finishes casting.
But unfortunately, it was too late!
"Qi Technique - Bronze Palm!"
The old Qi Cultivator's eyes shone with a mysterious luster as he sent his palm down in a cleaving motion, rumbling towards Ximen Wei's neck nape with deadly speed.
if this attack hit, Ximen Wei would collapse, after all, this was a powerful attack targeting one of his vital points, the back of his neck!
All the hairs on Ximen Wei's body stood on end as he took up a defensive position, the attack hit him on the shoulder, just mere inches away from his neck. Fortunately because of Iron Body's effects Ximen Wei only felt a bit pain, the area of impact was ripped and a bruise could be seen but that was only a small flesh wound, Ximen Wei was not injured at all.
When the old man saw this he frowned, yet he didn't let that dishearten him as he kicked Ximen Wei with his leg, sending the 10 year old child flying like a kite with it's string cut.
Ximen Wei crashed on a bunch of crates, but he quickly got up and brushed off all the dust from his body, still wearing the same expressionless face. He was only feeling his opponent out, after gauging out enough information, he will start using his offensive techniques, ending the battle effectively with low cost.
The Qi Cultivator took a fighting stance as he slowly walked towards Ximen Wei, he too had a similar intention as he wanted to figure out Ximen Wei's techniques and trumpcards before getting serious.
He started muttering weird mnemonics, intent on casting yet another one of his unorthodox Qi Techniques. After he was done, he looked towards Ximen Wei with a gleam in his eyes as he said mockingly.
"Let's see if you can dodge this one."
"Qi Techniques - Bronze Fingers!"
A big number of Qi particles condensed around the old Cultivator's index and middle finger, making them shine with a metallic, bronze luster as he sent them forward towards Ximen Wei's chest, targeting the area where his sternum lay.
This was yet another attack that targeted one of his vital parts, if this attack hit then Ximen Wei will be dead for sure.
Two fingers rumbled forward, they seemed abnormally powerful for a technique cast by a Level 1 Qi Trainee, yet Ximen Wei did not panic, he was calm and in fact, had no intention to dodge or block this attack whatsoever.
He threw a punch forward, casting a Qi Technique while at it.
"Qi Technique - Iron Fist!"
The two attacks collided, rumbling sounds echoed out and sparks flew about, Ximen Wei's hand trembled violently as blood oozed out from his fist, his vision swam and turned blurry for a bit as he felt a numbing sensation in his entire arm.
The old man was no exception either, although his Bronze Fingers was more powerful than Iron Fist and Iron Body combined, they still posed problems. His fingers shook so violently it seemed as if they were almost on the verge of breaking.
Blood oozed from the corners of the old man's mouth, he quickly wiped them off, a shocked expression on his face. He did not expect the kid in front of him to be so strong!
Naturally Ximen Wei picked up some combat and martial arts skills in his two years in the Criminal District, although he mostly did petty crimes such as theft and robbery, he had to learn how to fight at some point to protect his life.
"Kid, what's your name?"
Ximen Wei stayed silent, he kept staring the old man in front of him with cold eyes.
"You won't say, won't you?"
Silence persised, the old man got no response, he sighed as he took yet another step forward, This time his hands shot forward towards Ximen Wei with a grabbing motion, however thanks to Ximen Wei's small and nimble body, he ended up with nothing but air.
This persisted for couple minutes, as both the Qi Cultivator and Ximen Wei kept dancing in circles, with the former trying his absolute best to catch the latter.
The old man's movements were quite fast despite having one foot in the coffin, yet because of his Extraordinary Meridians and the slight boost from the surrounding Qi, they were borderline inhumane, in fact only top athletes from Earth could catch up to.
On the other hand Ximen Wei was dancing back and forth in circles around the old man, dodging his attacks albeit with difficulty.
Ximen Wei still had the body of a 10 year old child, without Qi Techniques, his strength is slightly above an adult's.
Without using Qi Techniques, he wouldn't be able to exterminate the entire village of 20 people in a short time, in fact if they ganged up on him he would be in trouble.
Qi Trainees are nothing more than slightly more powerful humans, they can easily take up two to three mortals, and even four mortals with difficulty, but in front of ten people or more, Qi Trainees will find themselves in big trouble.
The max Qi Techniques a Qi Trainee can deploy and cast depends on their amount of opened Extraordinary Meridians, Ximen Wei have six Extraordinary Meridians so he can cast up to four techniques without suffering backlash and injuries.
Regular cultivators who have five Extraordinary Meridians at most can only cast three Qi Techniques without entering the red territory, that's why Dongfang coughed up a mouthful of blood when only casting his third Qi Technique, it was not because the technique was powerful or beyond ordinary, it was just because he exceeded what his body can handle and forced it to unleash the technique.
Currently, Ximen Wei only casted three Qi Techniques, one earlier in order to sweep up the village very quickly and easily, and two against this old Qi Cultivator in order to defend himself against his attacks.
He still can unleash another one without suffering a backlash, he can even unleash five without receiving serious injuries because his seventh Extraordinary Meridian was almost complete!
Currently the fight between the two went on for almost ten minutes, none of them used Qi Techniques. They were keeping them as their trump card, if their enemy slipped up and made an error, they'll cast it and immediately gain an advantage.
Or if one of them found themselves at a peculiar situation, they can use it to save themselves.
Unfortunately, Ximen Wei had the undeveloped body of a 10 year old, and the old man was just a bag of bones waiting for death. Both of them had huge beads of sweat trickling down their foreheads and wore a tired expression.
However because of Ximen Wei's vitality and brimming energy, he had it a bit better.
The old man's movements slowly grew sluggish and slow, Ximen Wei was now finding it easier and easier to dodge his attacks.
If this continued on for longer, Ximen Wei will eventually gain the upper hand and kill the Qi Cultivator!
Unexpectedly, just when things started becoming optimistic for Ximen Wei, he found himself coughing a mouthful of blood as the old man, out of nowhere, kicked him viciously in the stomach, sending him tumbling in the ground.
"Hmph, don't get too cocky little demon, just because you dodged my attacks for couple minutes doesn't mean you can beat me." The old man harrumphed.
"I, Shao Rong, used to be a Level 3 Qi Trainee, just one step away from achieving Ascension. You think a child like you can pose problems to me?"
Ximen Wei struggled up to his feet, he felt sharp pain in his stomach as he coughed another mouthful of blood, the kick was sudden, making his insides rumble and organs tremble.
He pointed his finger towards the old Qi Cultivator Shao Rong, a devilish will slowly swirling around it, his other hand moved in an incantation gesture as he opened his mouth to say.
"Qi Technique - Blood Spirit."
Shao Rong's eyes widened as he found out a small hole appeared in the sky in front of him, it had a gravitational force to it that sucked all the blood in the area, slowly congealing into that vicious-looking head that had no eyes, no ears, no nose, only a mouth that had razor-sharp blood-colored teeth. Two curly horns sprouted out from it's forehead as the Blood Spirit opened it's mouth creepily and let out an eerie laugh that sent shivers up Shao Rong's spine.
Fortunately for Ximen Wei, there were the lifeless bodies of the villagers laying around, or else he wouldn't have had enough blood to fuel this technique and cast it.
Unfortunately tho, it's power was several times less than the Blood Spirit he casted in the Devil's Den.
Back there, there were tons and tons of cultivators that died thousands of years ago, despite the passage of time, their blood was still flowing and their bodies formed mountains upon mountains of corpses.
Thanks to that, fuel was dense and of high quality because it was the blood of powerful Qi Cultivators, and it was practically never-ending, empowering the Qi Technique to unprecedented levels, making it able to contend against the Level 2 Qi Technique of Song Jiayi, the red-haired Young Master from the Song Family.
The Blood Spirit shot towards Shao Rong, laughing eerily and emitting cracking noises. Ximen Wei took that precious time to grab a potion he looted from Dongfang's belongings and gulped it down.
Unfortunately that potion was low quality, and only served to give him a small surge of energy. Ximen Wei felt like it was the energy drinks from his time back in Earth, yet he didn't think about it too much, because at the moment he had other things to take care of!
Shao Rong's brows furrowed as he realized Ximen Wei's magic and techniques.
"So you're one of them! A practitioner of the Immortal Devil Sect's magic!"
Ximen Wei did not pay any heed to what Shao Rong said, he shot forward towards Shao Rong, his fist shining in a metallic luster that seemed able to pierce through anything and everything... It was the effects of the Qi Technique - Iron Fist!
Shao Rong found himself at a dilemma, the Blood Spirit was shooting towards him at unprecedented speed, if this attack hit him, although he won't be dead, he would be seriously injured!
At the other hand, Ximen Wei was behind the Blood Spirit, hands shining in a dangerous light that threatened to crush his bones and turn his flesh into minced meat.
Without any hesitation, his hands drew a hexagonal pattern in the air and his mouth mumbled incomprehensible, unknown words.
"Qi Technique - Emerald Shield."
The surrounding Qi in the air felt excited as it rose up towards the hexagonal pattern, eventually turning it into an illustory shield that shone with brilliant light, it also had a bluish green luster to it that was dazzlingly to the eye.
Instantly, the Blood Spirit hit the hexagonal shield, transforming it into countless shards that dissipated into the air, the same thing could be said to the Blood Spirit as it exploded into a puff of blood that rained down on the grass down below.
The Blood Spirit attack was stopped!
However, Ximen Wei already catched up. His small figure sent a heaven-rumbling punch forward, hitting Shao Rong squarely in the leg.
A breaking noise rang out as the leg deformed in the opposite direction, it broke!
Shao Rong bit his lips, holding in the scream of pain deep in his lungs, he looked at Ximen Wei with blood-shot eyes, then his hands shot forward and grabbed Ximen Wei's shoulder.
Instantly, a vicious ear-to-ear smile could be seen plastered on Shao Rong's face, his yellow and stained teeth could now be seen in all their glory.
"You have nowhere to run to now." Shao Rong whispered into Ximen Wei's ears.
"So what if you broke my leg? Demonic cultivator, I'll break every single bone in your body to avenge the dead souls of this village."
Ximen Wei's expression immediately turned ugly as he tried all possible ways to escape Shao Rong's clutch, he threw punches wildly yet to no avail, he even bit down viciously on Shao Rong's neck, grabbing with him a chunk of flesh. Yet the old man did not even flinch, he looked at Ximen Wei with malicious, cold eyes.
Shao Rong started reciting a mnemonic, targeting none other than Ximen Wei, blood slowly oozed from the corners of his mouth as he continued on casting his Qi Technique.
The old man did not even care that he was overexerting his body in order to cast yet another Qi Technique.
Obviously, how could Ximen Wei let his opponent successfully finish casting his Qi Technique and end up in a no-return situation?
He coughed up a mouthful of blood as his eyes shone devilishly, his black abyss pupils turned crimson as he unleashed the iconic Qi Technique of the Immortal Devil Sect.
"Qi Technique - Bedevilment."
Ximen Wei's vision turned all red as he sensed unprecedented power surge through his veins, boosting his vitality and battle prowess, yet at the same time he started feeling numb in his limbs, no longer feeling pain from the previous kick in the stomach or Shao Rong's hard clutch in his shoulder.
He looked towards Shao Rong's right hand, and instantly made a chopping motion towards it, intent on breaking it!
Yet before the attack could hit, Shao Rong's eyes suddenly opened as he finished casting his strange Qi Technique. Eerie words came out of his mouth, bringing with it a strange power that made all the hair on Ximen Wei's body stand on it's end.
"Qi Technique - Bronze Rules Above All!"
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone