Author note: Back to regular scheduling(2 chapters a week) but will hopefully put out some more as I feel inspired. After rereading the earlier chapters I definitely think I was losing track of Sun Jiao. Definitely changed how things played out this chapter and for the better. Much much better. Enjoy! Oh and extra long side story(800 fucking damn words how is that SIDE?)
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Xiaobo had told Sun Jiao that this first step would be good practice for the future. He should behave as though others are watching so that in the future when something like this happened in front of witnesses they "could see how fucking awesome you are"; which was Xiaobo for keeping up appearances. In this world give an inch, take a mile was the law of the land; showing any sign of weakness would cause endless amounts of trouble.
With that in mind Sun Jiao tried to behave as casual as possible. With his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face, he approached the rundown gate that had been built by farmers and set into the side of a cliff. He briefly considered knocking, but quickly dismissed that thought with a chuckle. He instead planned to kick the door in and so, not knowing how strong the gate was, he decided to give it his all.
Xiaobo had shown him a second layer strengthening path that he could use on top of his First Layer path. Sun Jiao, now able to activate two paths at a time decided to use both the First and Second Layer strengthening paths. Had he remembered what Xiaobo taught him about layer strengths he might have held back.
As his foot hit the gate an enormous amount of force crashed into the pathetic excuse of a gate which was crushed immediately by the force. Along with the gate half the cliff face was also destroyed causing a massive cave in killing everyone inside.
The smile Sun Jiao's face froze as his mind went blank. He had only intended to break the gate and was at a loss of what to do.
A surprised Xu Rong was also at a loss. Sun Jiao had told her that they would be staying here after clearing it out, but now that the cave was destroyed how could they stay here? Why had he destroyed the place?
Sun Jiao, not wanting to lose face, gave a short cough and turned to walk towards another nest of bandits close by.
"Come along Xu Rong. We can't possibly stay in a place with that shitty of a gate."
Sun Jiao decided to play it off as though he intended to do that, but was secretly lamenting over the mistake. Not only had he destroyed the place, but he had just killed a hundred or so people for the first time.
Sun Jiao was still coming to terms with his previous mass murder when he arrived at the gate of his next mass murder. Not wanting to make the same mistake he decided to delegate the task of destroying the gate to Xu Rong. While he was mentally shaken he had calmed down enough to maintain his arrogant persona.
"Kick the gate down my foot is already dirty from the last one."
Rather than continue reflecting he decided to focus on how well he'd done giving the order and how great it was that this gate was in slightly better condition than the last. He'd made up his mind that he would have to destroy the gate in a similar fashion if it was also in horrible condition since Xu Rong might say something once Sun Qing finished her time out.
Seeing Xu Rong pulled out the gloves Sun Qing had given her Sun Jiao made a mental note to get her a space ring.
The previous Sun Jiao had several space rings he kept inside the one he wore and used them to organize various items. A few of the rings only had different bodies organized in them. For instance a ring could contain the dead bodies of pretty women and another would have an entire clan. The current Sun Jiao had put all those bodies into one ring as he didn't have the sick perversion that the previous one had about keeping the bodies organized to play with. Xiaobo had talked him into keeping the ring though as time didn't flow in rings so they wouldn't rot and bodies could still be used for various tricks such as faking his death or as a distraction.
The fingers of the snow white gloves that Xu Rong had were covered in silver magic runes that glowed briefly as she put them on. She strode over to the gate, sunk her fingers into the door as if it was clay, ripped it out of the wall and stepped to the side still holding the gate.
Sun Jiao pretended as if that was normal, but was secretly impressed. He thought that if he had used that method before then he probably wouldn't have caused a cave in even using his full strength.
The bandits standing guard had a terrified look on their face. The lookouts had seen Sun Jiao coming, but because he was dressed so well they had thought that there was no way he was coming to find them and chose to hide inside the cave fort. When Sun Jiao didn't pass them by they began to worry and when he ordered Xu Rong half of them had fled deeper into the cave to get their leader while the other half had frozen in fright.
The leader of the bandits was a burly man with an impressive beard named Ye Zhong. He had worked in the mountains as a logger for such a long time that he'd broken through to the First Layer. To cut wood in the mountains wasn't just a job, but a struggle between man and nature.
Magic beasts would often attack and armed only with their axes they would fight them off. During the struggle of life and death with these magic beasts it was possible to break through to the First Layer though it was incredibly rare and would only occur after countless battles.
Ye Zhong had worked for 40 years before breaking through during an intense battle, but only broke through after all of his crew had died.
Believing he was cursed none of the other lumberjacks would work with him despite his strength and so he had turned to a life of crime. With his strength he was able to form a bandit group that could attack small merchants transporting food and goods. It wasn't a rich life, but it provided for him and his men.
Ye Zhong was sitting at a table drinking with his men when one of the guards ran in yelling for him.
"Boss! Boss! Come quick some idiot is attacking!"
Now that he was in front of his boss who was a First Layer cultivator he was no longer scared.
"Someone is attacking huh? Haha let's go see who dares to attack the Lumber Axe Bandits!"
Ye Zhong grabbed his axe that was as big as he was and carried it towards his entrance. He wasn't worried about the attackers as anyone that reached the First Layer could find a good paying job doing honest work except for rare situations like his.
As he arrived at the entrance he saw a cruel looking, but well dressed young man accompanied by a ponytailed beauty. Seeing the jeweled collar around the beauty Ye Zhong began to panic. These two clearly came from a wealthy clan and would have the resources to reach a height he could never imagine.
With a forced smile he spoke up; "Greetings young master. Is there something I can help you with?"
Sun Jiao hadn't been waiting long, but had a bored look on his face. While he spent time reflecting on the walk over it was still a long walk and having to save face he couldn't casually chat with Xu Rong so it was not just long, but rather boring.
It was also well past dark and midnight was a ways off, but fast approaching so Sun Jiao got straight to the point.
"I need this place and since you know I'll be staying here you need to die."
Not wanting to hold back Sun Jiao jumped forward and threw a right fist, a habit he picked up from Doll Po. Ye Zhong wasn't prepared and there wasn't enough time to dodge. Instead the axe that had been resting on his shoulder was pulled down in an arc and rushed towards the attacking second prince.
Sun Jiao had been cautious though and was using his full strength. A cultivator using a Second Layer body without ki could fight evenly with a peak First Layer cultivator so how could Ye Zhong who was a mere first-body possibly hope to resist against Sun Jiao?
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Before the axe could get more than a few inches off his shoulder he felt an enormous pain in his stomach and lost control of his axe. The strength he had used to swing the axe was enough to send it flying out the cave towards Xu Rong who quickly used the broken gate to block it. The axe dug deep into the door, but the blade was stopped just before hitting cute little nose. A drop of sweat rolled across her rosy cheeks; if she had been any slower she would have a fatal splitting headache.
Sun Jiao hadn't noticed however as he was currently arm deep in Ye Zhong's innards. Yet again he regretted using too much strength and not enough control. The force of his arm had easily pierced Ye Zhong's body and exploded out the back causing his arm to penetrate rather than push away.
With a frustrated sigh Sun Jiao twisted his body causing Ye Zhong to fall to the right. As the corpse fell he extracted his arm which made a grotesque slurping sound followed by a horrible smell as the eviscerated bowels were exposed to the air.
Ye Zhong had been almost twice Sun Jiao's height so the fist had gone right through Ye Zhong's navel and out the back. The wound was fatal, but would take hours and was a very excruciating death.
After Xu Rong threw away the door and axe she saw what happened to Ye Zhong and paled. It was an incredibly cruel method of killing and only the most sadistic cultivators would use that method to kill someone that much weaker than them. Not only that, but Sun Jiao acted as if he hadn't even noticed and was shaking his arm trying to get the blood off as if Ye Zhong's horrific death was an inconvenience.
Xu Rong had fought in the coliseum several times and death was always apart of her life, but the bandits lived their life using threats that rarely ended with bloodshed.
The sight of Ye Zhong coughing up blood while trying to beg for death caused several reactions among the bandits. Most emptied their stomach or fainted, but one of the weaker willed bandits was so scared his heart stopped and he dropped dead on the spot.
Sun Jiao was oblivious to all this as he had never killed with his own hands. How could he know that a wound like that wouldn't have killed Ye Zhong on the spot? Thinking Ye Zhong was already dead he found that he was more frustrated with his bloody arm than having killed. After killing hundreds back in the cave one more hadn't bothered him as much even if it was a much more personal. He'd also seen the maid die a horrible death as well as Fang Shi's head explode so the blood didn't bother him much either.
Realizing he wasn't getting anywhere by shaking his arm Sun Jiao gave up and looked at the rest of the bandits. Seeing that they had lost the will to fight and not wanting to get even more bloody Sun Jiao decided to go with the plan that had previously shown great success; delegate the task to Xu Rong!
"Xu Rong, kill the rest."
"Yes master!"
Eager to give the poor bandits a quick and painless death Xu Rong exploded forward and began killing the already defeated bandits who didn't even attempt to flee or resist.
Sun Jiao was curious why she seemed eager for the task and was even more curious at the bandits reaction.
The emotion that showed on the bandit’s faces wasn't the fear he expected to see; it was relief.
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Let's just get to the side story yeah? Honestly felt a little disgusted writing about the Queen in this part, but mostly smiling because it's so absurd I couldn't not put it in.
Side story;
Jia Cho was covered in blood as he entered the ant queen chamber.
Incects have colorless blood, but he was covered in a terifying red blood. He didn't know where it had came from or how it was possible. He didn't care.
The Queen lay before him, the Beetle God sat upon her head, and a bead of sweat sat upon his. The Queen ant's eyes filled with lust. She had fallen in love with the Beetle God for his power. If the Beetle God was the god of beetles then this beetle before her was a Killing God. She didn't care about the ants that died, they were pawns; tools to be thrown away. She desired true strength.
She shook her large and seductive abdomen and clicked her mandables in an attempt to seduce this magnificent warrior.
BK liked the size of her abdomen; he could not lie, but how could he possibly dishonor the memory of his family by falling for her charms; many though they were?
He gave a snort and then ignored her deciding to glare at the Beetle God. Their eyes met and they knew what must be done.
The Queen was furious. She had many lovers and had never been ignored before. How DARE he? She sent out a smell that said "kill him now!"
The Beetle God smelt it and could tasted her hatred. He jumped down and aggressively fluttered his wings issuing BK a challenge. A challenge it would be for even though the Queen desired BK it was Beetle God that had first won her affections.
Both rushed forward like rams and smashed head first with a force that caused the ceiling to shake. As dirt fell from above the two shoved back and forth causing shockwaves. A minute past and they continued to fight. They hadn't moved an inch from where they started though as each time one side would gain a few centimeters the other would quickly make it back up with interest! If either was pushed an inch from the start it would mean death!
Another minute passed. UNHEARD OF! Beetles didn't have the stamina to fight for two minutes in a head to head conflict! Against ants sure a beetle wouldn't spend much stamina fighting, but in direct confrontation it required 110%!
The fight was so impressive and intense the Queen began to lay egges uncontrollably making a Plop.....plop......plop....sound.
A half a minute longer fatigue began to show in BK's eyes he had already fought through a horde of ants and thus was not as rested as Beetle God.
The Beetle God could see victory before him. He shoved with 111% of his might! He had broken the 110% barrier! Plop. Plop. Plop.
BK was shoved back almost a full inch, but he stood strong and would not fall that hair's distance more.
As he struggled he remembered the feeling he got looking up at the moon. The hope and love for his family had filled him and given him courage. He had also thought that one day he would fly to the moon and conquer it for his family.
At this moment he was a fraction away from death he saw his wife and kids before him. He could join them if he just gave up. Spend eternity with his family is all he wanted, but when he saw their eyes they weren't asking him to join them.
FIGHT!
That's right! His family supported him even now. They had all eternity together, but in this moment at this time was the only chance at revenge!
With a roar BK decided on a desperate gamble. He'd rely on a technique he comprehended when looking up at that very moon.
Beetle Jumps Over The Moon Toss!
BK somersaulted over the Beetle God with their pincers locked and threw him at the Queen. plopplopplopplopplopplopplop
As the Beetle God flew towards the Queen an endless stream of eggs poured out, but was stopped when Beetle God blew up in a huge fiery explosion that destroyed all the eggs and 80% of the Queen's body.
As BK stood over the dying queen fire burned all around him. He was prepared to die with his foe; his mission complete.
The Queen looked up at him and found that even though he killed her she loved him with 20% of her being which was technically all her being. She sent him a smell before dying.
"Do not blame the Beetle God. He was controlled by a mind corrupting fungus before he found me. The people truly responsible for your family's death is an inner city rat gang. They bought the fungus from some slug dealers and used him to take control of the gardens. The gang's name is...name is...."
The fire burned away the rest of the smell and surrounded BK.