Bab 56: Don’t Look Up

*Things like sexism and racism are purely for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.*

Qing Fang gritted his teeth as he could feel bursting flames encase his entire body and bite at his skin!

A huge pair of red eyes tore through the massive explosion and started right at a smirking young man, with endless killing intent within. Qing Fang could feel the heat from the higher Stage 5 attack burst his hardened skin and tear at his muscles!

However, he wasn't as weak as before.

A huge arm several meters long struck downwards and smote the air, the huge mess of red and orange instantly being split into two before dissipating.

Little Jiang smirked as he rushed forwards with his arm pointed like a spear, aiming to impale the white giant through the heart and take his life. His speed left rings of chaos in the air itself as his explosive speed tore at space.

Qing Fang flapped his huge wings, the bone spears glistening in the moonlight, as he sent rushes of strong air at Jiang's small figure! What was left of the fuming explosion was thrust into the nothingness from the winds and Jiang's hood was thrown off of his head as his speed visibly slowed!

Qing Fang caught the human arm within his huge monstrous grasp and ripped it from Jiang's shoulder as he sent him flying backwards with a punch of immeasurable force!

Jiang's body flew through the air chaotically as it spun without direction and eventually crashed into the ground! However, there was a smile of madness worn on his face the entire time.

His body rose from the ground and he looked to see his right arm gone and only a bloodied stump that was gushing blood and dying his clothes red! He smirked wider as steam started rising from the wound and an arm was materializing before his eyes!

A bone formed from nothingness as muscles wrapped around it in peculiar formations and the skin neatly encased it all together.

Qing Fang watched on as he threw the right arm of the higher Stage 5 into his huge maw and crushed it into nothingness as he swallowed it into his gut which was still full of the blood of hundreds. His eyes widened as he felt the density and purity of the Stage 5 blood!

Just a handful of this could push him to higher Stage 2! Qing Fang's eyes suddenly steeled as he felt an urge to devour the blood of the opponent before him!

He saw the arm of the human regenerating at an insane speed. He marvelled at the difference even a single minor realm made when Stage 5.

Jiang walked on the messed streets and saw lowly mortals run around the destruction with despairing expressions as cries of sadness were heard all around him. He snorted, his smile disappearing for the first time, as he started to run.

His run turned into insane speed that tore the ground apart as he instantly appeared on the ground beneath the monster and jumped to collide with it!

Qing Fang arched his leg to strike the small human rushing at him, but his leg was hit with the force of the punch instead! His body shot backwards and left only the thunderous sound of impact as he used his wings to stabilise himself in the air.

His white skin was an ugly purple as blood slowly started to seep through the pores and dye the area of impact red. Luckily the force hit his thigh, otherwise, his shin would be snapped in two.

He didn't even have a second after he stabilised himself in the air before the human had rushed before him once again! A punch landed on his left shoulder and jerked his body around, however, a gigantic bone spear that was on Qing Fang's wing directly penetrated the lower back of Jiang, just left of the spine!

"Aaaaargh!!! Hahaha!!" Jiang shouted as blood seeped from his mouth, eventually turning into a laugh as he felt his body dragged through the air by the huge sharp bone still through his belly!

Qing Fang reached back and aimed to grab the head of Jiang and crush it, however, the human punched the bone that was surfacing from his gut and broke the top of it off as it fell down to the earth at insane speeds!

Qing Fang grimaced as Jiang pulled his body off the spear before kicking Qing Fang in the back and sending his arching body flying. However, the impact was quite weak...

Qing Fang instantly stabilised his huge frame as the attack didn't seem to phase him at all. He burst from his position as he rushed towards Jiang who had a bloodied smirk on his face, his eyes purely insane.

They traded tens of punches as their ribs and limbs broke in multiple places, the blood still streaming from Jiang's gut unceasingly. Qing Fang was gradually pushed back due to Jiang's higher strength, a glint appearing in the human's eyes before a massive explosion manifested between them and exploded outwards!

The huge ball of fire lit up the sky like a small sun and many raised their heads to the dark sky with varying expressions!

The two were both hit by the same attack, however, Qing Fang fared worse as his forearm that bore most of the attack was just bone! The muscle started to regenerate, but at a much slower speed than Jiang!

Qing Fang scowled as he could only use his body to battle whereas his opponent had Laws of their level too!

He scanned the night with his eyes but couldn't see the human. They had been thrown miles from each other from that explosion and the human had definitely sustained injuries as well.

However, a voice in the night sky entered his ears only moments later!

"Hehehe, you have grown stronger beast! Stay with me and play a little longer; don't run away like last time! Hehehaha!!" Qing Fang raised his gaze to the way above him and saw the human stood in the air, his red-orange eyes shining and meeting his through the darkness.

However, he didn't reply as he and Jiang turned their heads to a large group of cultivators that were approaching their location from the ground. They all wore black robes that had a golden screaming skull woven into it!

"Cease your fighting at once, on behalf of Baron Kang!!" A large burly man that Qing Fang identified to be peak Stage 4 shouted as a dozen other Stage 4s stood behind him and released their auras!

Qing Fang looked at them coldly before shifting his eyes to Jiang and instantly fleeing with a burst of speed! His figure tore through the air and put the peak Stage 4 at ease, however, Jiang had a blackened face as he scowled endlessly!

Jiang moved to chase Qing Fang without hesitation, but a sea of Stage 4 attacks cut through the darkness and cascaded down onto his body!

Cutting waves, smouldering fire, burning light and slashing air instantly landed on Jiang's body! He didn't flinch at first but the attacks that kept on coming gradually tore at his skin and drew blood! His face was slashed as one of his eyes was burned from its socket!

He turned back to the group of cultivatiors with a grizzly expression, his eye glaring at them with infinite annoyance!

"Die, trash!" He screamed before a massive explosion, even large that before was thrown at the Stage 4s! They didn't even have a chance to flinch before their bodies were crushed into ash!

However, their death had alerted another...

Jiang rushed through the air at his highest speeds as the small wounds caused by those Stage 4s were healing almost instantly. He could smell the scent of the beast before him, he seemed to be right on top of him!

However, Jiang's pupils instantly shrank as he looked down to see a wide-open jaw lunging at his entire body! The layers of teeth shone menacingly as their sharpness was frightening. The deep, dark throat of the monster beneath him seemed to want to engulf his entire body!

Jiang threw a burst of flames at the maw, however, the teeth cut through them and only some flesh in the mouth was incinerated before it was right on top of him!

"Aaaaaaaaaa!!" A deathly scream sounded as the huge jaw hooked itself on Jiang's midriff! The long teeth sank into his flesh and tore at his organs ruthlessly! His eyes widened as he suddenly realised the danger he was in and tried to attack the huge head that was gripping him!

He flailed both of his arms madly, trying to smash at the huge eyes that were staring right at his hysterical expression, making him wail about even more! In those eyes, he saw a greed to devour! It wasn't like a human taking a bite out of an apple, it was like a starved vulture feasting on fresh meat!

But, his arms were caught by two huge white hands as claws sunk deep into his elbows and cut his tendons amidst a shriek! His arms couldn't regenerate as the pitch-black claws were embedded deep into his arms and preventing his tendons from forming!

Jiang started to arch his back and wrestle madly with the jaws as he used his entire strength to break whatever was holding him!

Qing Fang's neck bulged immensely as he tried to tame the flailing body of the higher Stage 5 body with his jaws. Some of his teeth snapped off from the moving, but they grew back and sunk back into the flesh of the human!

The arms of the human hung dead but the muscles in them bulged endlessly to no avail! His heels smashed into Qing Fang's neck, however, he couldn't muster enough force to do any damage!

The bite of Qing Fang lay right above the heart of Jiang and the red eyes glistened with happiness as he thought of the Stage 5 blood that would help his cultivation! The blood from the wound poured down his neck like a waterfall and now made his fangs bite harder! He lowered his teeth into the tough and spasming flesh like he was biting into pure stone!

However, the huge fangs neared the shivering heart ever closer, until...

Two huge spears made from shimmering white shot toward the two with unparalleled speed, aiming right for their heads!

Qing Fang immediately thrust himself away from the attack with the body of Jiang still within his maw and hovered in the air as he faced a figure a kilometre away from him.

A brown-skinned man with blonde hair stood floating in black robes. A golden skull that had its mouth open in a scream was clearly visible on his chest.

Jiang turned his fearful eyes towards the man with a glint of hope, however, he nearly started crying as he saw an unfamiliar face.

The black-robed man floated towards Qing Fang and looked at him with a disgusted gaze as he spoke.

"Look at you, abomination. Kneel down and surrender to me and I will make you my pet. Refuse, and die where you stand." A proud face coupled with pitying eyes made Qing Fang's gaze apathetic as his eyes drifted from the waste of words.

Swirling masses of clouds surfaced the black-robed figure, sometimes dark and dense and, at other times, light and fluffy. They pulsed and formed from soft shapes into sharp formations and seemed unpredictable as they followed the black-robed man.

"I am Baron Kang, ruler of this territory! You will heed my words, vermin!" A vast peak Stage 5 aura was thrust from his body as the clouds around him malformed into a dense blackness that seemed enough to crush Qing Fang into atoms!

Qing Fang frowned. Peak Stage 5 was something he could only run from with his middle Stage 5 strength. The human in his jaw had a fighting chance, but they were both looking to kill him!

He stood there upon the air, with his arms restricting Jiang's and his jaw still sinking into his flesh!

After a moment, the eyes of Baron Kang turned ugly as huge wades of abyssal clouds rushed toward Qing Fang with fury.

'That attack is not something I can withstand!' Qing Fang thought hurriedly before he moved his body! He took Jiang by the arms and loosened his jaw before throwing the higher Stage 5 right at the attack before fleeing!

The body of Jiang weakly flew into the epicentre of the huge clouds tens of kilometres wide like a huge mouth wanting to engulf him! Qing Fang was already rushing away as the eyes of Jiang shot open with imaginable fury!

He shouted with massive strength as his body became the epicentre of an absolutely ginormous explosion that expanded over the whole sky! The clouds were pushed back by the raging brightness, but only by a bit, as the explosion kept on expanding from the frail and tattered body of Jiang!

"You!!"

Jiang shouted gruffly as he turned to the fleeing white giant and shouted with hatred! Ignoring the growing clouds behind him, Jiang manifested his strongest attack as an explosion of blue fire started to grow from his chest between his hands!

He seemed to refine the fire and grow its power exponentially as he thrust it from his body with a light push and sent it chasing after Qing Fang!

The fleeing Qing Fang felt a huge power that could obliterate his entire body emerging from behind him as he hurriedly looked behind him while still rushing away into the sky. He saw a small human-fist-sized ball of blue fire chasing after him as it unstably shook, seemingly wanting to explode and obliterate a portion of the slums!

Qing Fang's expression became yearning as he suddenly arched his flight and charged into the sky! The wind caught beneath his wings like fish in a net as he propelled himself into the sky, the ball of blue fire charging to follow him under Jiang's manipulation!

The red eyes looked beneath and saw the blue fire still following. Qing Fang only flapped his wings with more strength as small sonic booms sounded from the night air every time they flapped, starting a deafening drumming orchestra that caused mortals to keel over with blood coming from their ears!

He flew to immeasurable heights as the city became small beneath him everything seemed far away! The lights from the pagodas became a blur of warm orange and the slums disappeared into invisible darkness from the altitude!

However, the small blue fire still followed at speeds that were catching up to Qing Fang!

And suddenly, Qing Fang stopped in the air as he let the blue fire fly toward him. He looked up above him and saw a crack in the cage of beasts that the moonlight seeped through, freedom seemed so close so why couldn't people escape, he thought...

He looked down at the blue fire and sighed as he seemed to decide something.

And it was at this moment.

An invisible reverberation shook the air around Qing Fang and made him grimace endlessly! The force flew down past the blue fire and made it wobble, but the attack still flew to the body of Qing Fang.

The force shot down with speed that made everything seem still and hit Jiang and Baron Kang's bodies.

Instantly, the huge clouds that were gradually devouring the massive explosion fell into the nothingness as the explosion evaporated, leaving the night air empty. The bodies of the two Stage 5s fell to the ground with unimaginable force as their pupils fell back into their skulls lifelessly.

The blue fire following Qing Fang started to slow down before it flaked into blue embers and faded into the night without so much as a sound...

Qing Fang looked down and watched this happen as blood started to seep from all of his orifices and made him look like death itself. He started to wobble in the air but managed to stabilise himself, however, there were signs of weakness and exhaustion evident on his face.

Looking within, Qing Fang saw his already cracked black soul start to splinter even more, bringing him unimaginable pain. The cracks widened substantially as his soul's condition worsened exponentially.

Qing Fang showed no regret, though. He could only unleash an attack with his unlocked soul even though it was injured. The loss was worth his life, however, his soul would now take many years to heal. The two Stage 5s with locked souls were only knocked out, not killed, as Qing Fang couldn't muster the strength for that.

He looked down weakly and saw the two bodies of Jiang and Baron Kang hit the floor and release ash clouds hundreds of meters high. Their souls had been severely injured into unconsciousness by Qing Fang's attack just now.

'Time to leave.' Qing Fang thought. He couldn't care less about the benefits staying in this cage had, he wanted to leave this place and recover.

Moving his head to look up at a jagged crack in the rocky ceiling above him and towards the open moon of Qingpu Planet, he yearned to be up in the real sky once again.

He moved slowly due to his injuries and came ever closer to the exit of this wretched place.

And just as he was nearing the crack, he stopped. Looking up with unbearably wide eyes, Qing Fang began to breathe quickly and heavily as if he could almost drown in the air.

Above him, a huge feline paw tens of meters long came across the crack in the ceiling and planted itself on the opening, causing small tremors to echo all around him. Huge movement ground across the earth from above as yellow blocked the moon.

Qing Fang stared up at the abyssal blackness bigger than his entire body in the form of a slit pupil that was surrounded by endless yellow that filled the entire crack and looked down upon him through the crack to the surface...

Qing Fang choked on his breath as he felt strong fluctuations emanating from the eye and making direct contact with his soul. It was seemingly telling him something, but he couldn't understand it as he looked up meekly at the eye, drowning in its sheer presence.

Divine sense tried to reach out to Qing Fang's body from the huge eye, but he was already falling. His red eyes fainted from the pressure as his body fell towards the earth strongly.

And merely seconds later, Qing Fang awoke from the rushing air around him and looked back up to where the moon was hastily. However, he only saw the moon...

Qing Fang's thoughts were chaotic as he moved his wings to let himself fall in the direction of the marshes to the east...

*3,187/3,000 words*