I stepped back a few paces again, but the explosion I was expecting didn’t happen. The technique worked, but the burst of Qi only broke the victim's jaw and tore off a small piece of skin. Nevertheless, it was enough to leave my opponent dazed, partially losing consciousness.

Meanwhile, Li Douche decided to circle around and attack me using some sort of technique. A tightly coiled charge of Qi surrounded his fist, and I had no intention of finding out what would happen if that charge met my body. However, I was curious to see what would happen if it collided with the unconscious body in front of me. Pretending to hesitate, I waited until Li Douche was close enough and already mid-strike, then shoved his ally directly into the path of the blow and jumped aside toward the last member of this gang.

The technique did not disappoint. The ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivator was literally torn to pieces. Douche didn’t expect me to use his comrade as a shield and froze for a couple of seconds, staring in shock at the bloody mess in front of him. I, on the other hand, wasted no time and lunged at the other ninth-level cultivator. Since my technique proved unreliable, I decided not to waste Qi on it and instead opted for simple physical attacks to beat my opponent into submission. Surprisingly, this approach worked quite well.

I relentlessly attacked my opponent, slamming my fists into him with such force that his bones cracked and teeth flew out like a spray of confetti. I made sure to maneuver so that the victim of my assault remained between me and Li Douche at all times, preventing him from attacking me. The cultivator resisted as best he could, reinforcing his body with Qi. Occasionally, he tried to strike back, but none of his attacks landed. For me, the entire fight unfolded in "slow-motion mode," giving me ample time to notice an attack, plan my evasion, and execute it with ease.

The most interesting development occurred about a minute into the beatdown. As I landed blows on my opponent’s body, his Qi interacted with mine, generating "shockwaves" inside me. Over time, these waves triggered a sudden transformation of the Qi in my channels. It vibrated intensely and then "collapsed" in a way I was already familiar with, advancing to the second level of Qi Condensation.

For a split second during the transition to the next level, I slowed down, but then my strikes became twice as powerful. My body now coursed with higher-quality Qi, which interacted with reality much more efficiently. My opponent switched from mere defense to screaming at the top of his lungs, begging for help and urging someone to do something. To me, his cries sounded like beautiful music, and I felt compelled to strike in rhythm, driving the intensity to its peak.

Realizing that his last underling was about to meet his end, Li Douche decided to use another technique against me. He stepped back, creating a glowing sphere between his palms. I waited until the technique reached its peak power, then accelerated even more, grabbed my opponent by the arm and leg, and hurled him like a projectile straight at Li Douche. Naturally, the technique worked, but since it was in the hands of its creator, both enemies were caught in its effects.

The spell turned out to be some sort of immobilizing net. Both cultivators fell to the ground, struggling to free themselves. I, of course, wasted no time. Charging at the pair, I kicked the ninth-level cultivator in the back of the head. He twitched and went still, and I felt the Qi dissipating from his internal channels — a clear sign of death.

Li Douche lay beneath his comrade’s lifeless body. I climbed on top of him and began pummeling his face with all my strength. The first punch broke his nose; by the third, I had knocked out all his front teeth; by the fifth, he was unconscious. But even after the tenth punch, his skull remained intact, and it seemed unlikely I could kill him this way.

Assessing the situation, I concluded that the problem lay in the "soft" ground. The idiot’s head had sunk completely into the forest soil, which absorbed the force of my blows. So, I tossed the corpse aside, grabbed Li Douche by the collar, propped him against a sturdier tree, and resumed smashing his face with the methodical force of a steamroller. Even so, my efforts yielded little result. First, I carved a sizable dent in the tree with his head; then, the tree itself cracked and began to fall toward me. I let go of the body and stepped aside. Imagine my surprise when the falling tree easily crushed the guard’s head like a rotten pumpkin.

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Surveying the scattered corpses, I pondered how to dispose of them. Dusting off my clothes to remove brain matter and cleaning my hands with a light Qi burst, I began recalling the map of the area, trying to determine if I could drag the bodies to a ravine and dump them without being seen. At that moment, quick footsteps and alarmed shouts rang out. Another guard and about ten disciples emerged from the forest. For a moment, I considered eliminating all the witnesses, but then decided that this solution was counterproductive. That way, I’d have to wipe out the entire sect.

“What happened here?” - the guard asked in shock, surveying the wreckage and mutilated corpses. The disciples stopped a little further back, whispering quietly among themselves.

"Li Douche attacked these three, killed them, and then committed suicide by shoving his head under a falling tree" - I explained, offering the first thing that came to mind.

"What kind of nonsense is that?!" - the guard snapped, clearly unimpressed by my story.

I helplessly spread my hands, silently admitting the absurdity of my explanation.

Meanwhile, more footsteps echoed from the forest, and soon three more guards appeared, including Liu Zhi.

"What happened here?" - he asked, stunned as he took in the aftermath of the battle.

"Li Douche attacked these three, killed them, and then committed suicide by shoving his head under a falling tree" - I repeated, sticking to my version of events.

The response was another round of bewildered stares from everyone present. Yes, I knew it sounded completely implausible, but what else could I say? I couldn’t exactly tell them that I had killed four guards who, technically, I was supposed to obey.

"I'm just as shocked as you are, but I saw it happen with my own eyes" - I added, trying to sound more convincing.

After all, it was unlikely that these local cultivators would believe that someone like me, at the second level of Qi Condensation, could kill four individuals at the eighth and tenth levels. Compared to that, my fabricated story seemed oddly credible.

Liu Zhi studied me intently for a moment before nodding and issuing orders.

"Mao Ce Rak, report to the sect leader that Li Douche killed three guards and then committed suicide. You two, retrieve the body from under the tree. Tai Tang, fetch some disposal sacks. We need to get rid of the corpses before sunset. Tan Ji Tao, come with me; we need to talk."

We stepped aside to a more secluded spot where no one could eavesdrop. Liu Zhi looked me in the eye and quietly asked - "So, what really happened?"

"Well, I killed all four of them when they accidentally witnessed my secret cultivation technique" - I admitted, offering a completely truthful alternative version of events.

"Stop lying!" - he snapped, growing irritated. - "If you don’t want to tell me, fine, but why come up with such ridiculous nonsense?"

I stayed silent, and Liu Zhi interpreted it as my reluctance to reveal information. He probably assumed that someone from the sect’s leadership was covering for me. In truth, I was at a loss for how to respond to his disbelief. Maybe I should have made up some spooky tale about a mysterious headless cultivator? It might have even become the official story, given how much people here loved their horror stories.

In the end, the sect leadership declared that the official explanation was temporary insanity and suicide caused by Li Douche’s inability to advance to the Foundation Formation stage. The funniest part was that Liu Zhi jokingly told his acquaintances about my "second" version of events, and the story spread like wildfire throughout the camp, creating yet another legend about me. While everyone seemed to understand that I couldn’t possibly have killed those four, whenever I walked through the camp, people bowed, stepped aside to let me pass, and addressed me as "sir."

Analyzing my fight with Li Douche, I arrived at some interesting conclusions. When two cultivators’ Qi clashed, the denser Qi had greater "priority" in influencing reality. When I struck Li Douche’s head, I couldn’t shatter it because his Qi was denser than mine, even though the actual force of my blow was more than sufficient. However, when the tree fell on him, it contained no Qi at all, so his head was crushed in full compliance with the ordinary laws of physics.

This "physical" vulnerability only applied while the cultivator was unconscious. If Li Douche had been conscious, the tree wouldn’t have left a scratch. Moreover, sleep wasn’t considered loss of consciousness in this sense, so to exploit this weakness, the opponent had to be deliberately knocked out first. The fact that I could easily break people’s arms and legs was due not to my Qi but to my sheer physical strength, which I had even before I started cultivating.

In conclusion, while Qi granted power, it came with caveats, making it fundamentally different from other forms of magic I knew. A cultivator’s strength was impressive — but only until a stronger cultivator appeared. While there was a range in which an even fight could occur, in the end, everything was decided by the density of Qi. It didn’t matter how smart or cunning you were; the only thing that truly mattered was the density of your Qi.