“I want that boy alive!” Fang-Da’s voice boomed out. He didn’t care about his henchmen. Master Domain experts were common in established guilds, he hired these men from random mercenary guilds. He wanted to observe what secrets this boy had on him and watched expectedly as his men got within fifty twenty meters of Ryu.

The Infinity Tome flipped wide open behind Ryu and in a flash a large hand print appeared on the ground. The mark on the ground was three meters wide and in the center was one flattened middle aged men.

Before anyone else had the chance to recover, more a few more booms rang out. A few more men either got flattened like a pancake or got hit hundreds of meters away by an invisible yet clearly tyrannical force.

“Fools! Focus your Qi into your eyes and spread out your auras!” Fang-Da shouted, this time disdain could be heard in his overbearing voice.

Much to their surprise, they saw four previously invisible massive arms made of Qi floating behind Ryu. Each with a mind of their own seem to attack at the same time.

Even though they could finally see what the invisible force is targeting them, most of them couldn’t avoid it. In less than a minute, more than half the force had been decapitated into a sorry state.

Only the three most skillful ones managed to close in on Ryu. One held a long sword, one carried a dagger and the last one had a katar. The incoming opponents all assumed Ryu was weak in close combat due to the fact that he hadn’t shown off any close range skills.

The one with the sword plunged forward while the other two circled around him. Ryu side stepped the sword and walked forward, catching the wrist that held the sword. Ryu’s back is now directly pressed against the sword wielder’s back. The sword was directed by Ryu to accept the incoming dagger. As contact was made, the sword seems to have lost all force and the dagger somehow slide down to intercept the katar.

Just as the three weapons were in contact, Ryu’s hand formed a powerful revolving circle. The weapons seemed to be stuck together. The three ambushers were afraid to let go, fearing that the moment they do then their hands would be chopped off. All the force in their bodies seem to be caught up in the momentum in the circular whirlwind. Without a warning the weapons that appeared to be glued together flew upwards and the three men collapsed to the ground.

All of them were covered in sweat, although they didn’t comprehend everything they knew that they just had a close encounter with death.

If there was a crowd watching then they would gasp in astonishment. This was almost impossible to imagine. The deadly strikes against Ryu was neutralized in an instant.

Over the years Ryu did not grasp any set of skills from a manual. He learned a few moves but mainly he understood the concepts instead and applied them as he wished. His palm strikes were only the most basics and efficient moves. Against the weapons, he only used Wudang’s Tai Chi’s concept to use softness against hard.

“You are right, it was my mistake for using flashy moves earlier.” Ryu spoke as the last henchmen fell. He was truly grateful because in a real life or death battle, the result could be decided in one move. I really have lots to learn still.

“Your sword and palm techniques are very basic but profound they must be from foreign sects. However, those Qi blades… they have metal inside, that’s why they have so much penetrating force right?” Fang-Da voice rumbled out at Ryu.

Fang-Da was right about the Qi blades, Ryu was surprised since the blades disappeared after a short period of time. Inside what looks like meter long of Qi blades were steel materialized by him. He combined three elements of fire, air and earth to produce steel. The thin steel blades were fashioned by blacksmithing knowledge he had obtained, making them extremely sharp. The blade Qi reinforcement method was mainly a fusion of what’s used by knights in Britannica, expert archers and assassins.

What Ryu didn’t know was that Fang-Da assumed he had a special body with affinities to the earth element. Fang-Da even went as far as to assume that it might be Ryu’s “special” ability gained at Master Domain but the odds were much less likely. Only one out of hundreds of practitioners establish a special ability in the Master Domain. Even he who was hailed as a genius didn’t manage such a feat. Never in a million years would Fang-Da guess that Ryu simply used his mastery of Qi elements to produce the steel.

Instead of replying, Ryu simply nodded and propelled himself upwards with flames from his feet. This time Ryu spent more effort on his aura, making it seep underground. During today’s encounter, he realized that he needed to focus on the earth beneath him as well.

Amazing, his mastery of earth is much higher than mine. That’s not something I can mimic at the moment. Ryu praised to himself.

“Boy, who’s your master?” Fang-Da asked.

Instead of replying, Ryu materialized an enormous being made of Qi behind him. It was the same size as the golem, had two arms and had a silhouette of a human in knight armor. This being was visible to the naked eye due to the much denser Qi concentration.

Fang-Da was currently sitting on the right hand of his golem in shock. The reason he was able to display this magnificent amount of Qi and the infamous Terra Golem technique was because of his specialization. His sect focuses on earth Qi only. The pledge every member makes as their specialization is using earth Qi based skills exclusively and giving up the ability to use any other types of Qi. In return their earth Qi type skills will increase by many folds.

“Doesn’t matter, I’ll bring your body back to the sect to examine.” Fang-Da said to himself. He was just about to move until suddenly half of his golem got demolished with a terrifying bang. The shattered pieces splintered everywhere.

“What the hell!” Fang-Da swore in disbelief, a cold chill shot throughout his spine. He had no idea what happened but some destructive force came from above and he barely escaped with his superior reflexes. Before he could recover, Ryu attacked forth.

Ryu named the Qi being materialized by him the Gold Keeper, named after the fact that it’s gold when visible. The Gold Keeper is able to perform martial arts, increasing its destructive potential by several times since it is made of raw Qi.

The Gold Keeper threw a punch towards Fang-Da and it’s all he could do to protect himself by using the other half of his golem as a shield. The fragmented pieces of his golem flew backwards to reform itself.

The golem is actually made of special rocks that Fang-Da can move around at will. As it was reforming, relentless attacks from the Gold Keeper fractured the parts that were shielding Fang-Da.

“If this little bastard keeps this up, I’ll be crushed before my golem can fully regenerate. It looks like I’ll have to use a forbidden technique.” Fang-Da growled. He bit his tongue and dripped it on a talisman he pulled out.

This was an item made personally by the head of his sect. It’s similar to doping except that one has to sacrifice one’s longevity to activate it. It’ll temporary enlarge your Qi channels, allowing you to have twice the Qi output.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

The effects were instantaneous, the stone golem that was on the verge of collapsing was able to regenerate faster than the damage. The regenerated golem seems a bit larger than before as well. Fang-Da stood at the middle of the golem’s chest and looked a bit exhausted but his eyes showed a strong desire to destroy Ryu.

The two enormous Qi beings exchanged blows. Fang-Da was confident in his close combat skills, his sect’s Millenary Meteoroid Fist style complimented the Terra Golem technique. This fist style focuses overwhelming the opponent with pure power. Each physical blow carries earth shattering power that carries deadly vibrations which continues to destroy the insides.

“I dare you to use that skill again!” Fang-Da hissed. He had no idea what demolished half his golem before but whether it’s a rare treasured item or somehow some skill Ryu possessed, he was ready to receive it. The first few exchanges Fang-Da gauged Ryu’s strength. So he’s only at peak Master Domain. Finishing him off is only a matter of time. He must have depended on rare medicine to cultivate this fast.

Ryu felt the deadly force after exchanging a few blows and decided to use softness to intercept hardness. Nothingness to block solid. As the golem’s fists came, it was redirected with the minimal amount of strength needed. The lethal damage from the Terra Golem was rendered harmless in a flash.

Fang-Da started throwing out a few strikes with his fist and the golem swiftly followed. By controlling the golem with your whole body, it’ll double in reaction time. Ryu instead of trying harder, sat in a meditative pose with his eyes closed in mid-air.

“How is this possible?” Fang-Da shouted in rage.

Fang-Da could not believe what’s unraveling right in front of his eyes. He had unleashed everything he had but he can’t even bruise his opponent that’s decades younger than him. A mere boy who’s no more than eighteen by his estimation. He doesn’t even have his eyes open!

In that moment the pause caused by his disbelief, Ryu decided to end the fight. Right before the golem threw another punch, Ryu’s Gold Keeper stepped forward and pushed the golem forcefully backwards just as its arm was drawn back.

Crash! The golem collapsed miserably. Just as Fang-Da’s eyes looked towards the sky as he fell backwards, a dangerous scene was displayed in front of him. A gigantic sword that should not exist was hovering over the sky hundreds of meters above ground. The sword was plain and simple, the blade was longer than the golem itself. What’s terrifying is that the whole sword was covered in a sharp Qi that looked like it could split a mountain in half. The inevitable obviously happened, the sword started descending.

“No!” Fang-Da screamed in terror. He had never felt so terrified in his life. Compared to his golem, he was as small as a puppy and yet this unrealistic large sword was about to fall on him. This was what split his golem up the first time.

Fang-Da crawled up as quickly as he can and ran for his life. The Terra Golem is running right behind him covering for its master. Ryu finally opened his eyes and the colossal sword suddenly split up into a dozen pieces that’s a bit thinner than its original size but of the same length. The speed increased tremendously though.

The golem was reduced to rubbles instantly. The blades cut through the golem as if it was made of butter. Ryu purposely made it so none of the blades will directly hit his opponent.

“Impossible… impossible! You… you have reached… are you a grandmaster too?” Fang-Da spoke with blood dripping out of his mouth. Using the forbidden talisman had temporary increased his Qi channels and allowed him to be much more sensitive to Qi. The Qi blades that struck his golem were clearly composed of a grandmaster’s raw Qi.

“Give it up.” Ryu said as he descended.

“Impossible. That gold freak you summoned… it was clearly composed of Qi from the Master Domain! But those blades had the Qi of an early grandmaster…” Fang-Da rambled on, his mind was in chaos.

“Leave, if I ever catch you again I won’t be as merciful.” Ryu said sternly.

“Yes… Yes…” Fang-Da replied as he bowed. Suddenly he summoned all his Qi and directed right underneath Ryu. He was going to kill Ryu with the earth below by summoning two pieces of rock slabs to crush him.

Ryu frowned and released his own Qi downwards into the earth as well, neutralizing Fang-Da’s Qi instantly. With a wave of his hand a quagmire appeared under Fang-Da and he sunk a meter into the muddy marsh created by Ryu. After a few seconds the mud solidified and Fang-Da was trapped.

“I gave you a way out and you decide to kill me instead…” Ryu spoke slowly to himself. Sigh, although I’ve vowed to carry out justice but if I simply killed everyone who has wronged then how would I be different from him?

Ryu sat down and contemplates for half a day. Fang-Da obviously struggled in the meantime but the recoil from the power boost earlier had actually critically damaged his inner Qi. Right now he can’t even use half of his regular strength. Suddenly Ryu stood up and a spine-chilling feeling shot throughout Fang-Da.

This eerie feeling… it can’t be! This is unmistakable, this is clearly the unexplainable feeling felt by nearby people in front of someone who made a contract with their Qi for a specialization! Fang-Da frantically spoke in disbelief, “You just achieved your specialization that’s not poss-”

Before he could finish a burst of aura excreted from Ryu. This aura was fierce and vigorous, constantly transforming into something explosive like a volatile liquid before harmonizing into a stable state.

Ryu let out a sigh of relief. Fang-Da’s face just kept paler and paler until it looked like a sheet of paper.

“You just entered the Grandmaster Domain? How… you were clearly in the Grandmaster Domain already!” Fang-Da whispered. Fang-Da was really sounding like a broken record at this point but he can’t help it.

Never had he felt so helpless. He who have decades more experience than Ryu. He who was at the peak Grandmaster Domain. He was a respectable elder from one of the strongest sects in the province. As Ryu slowly walked towards him, he felt dread like he has never felt before. How did he make a mistake of crossing such a monster?

Ryu looked directly into Fang-Da’s eyes and spoke calmly, “You can’t reveal anything about me or anything else that you witnessed today. You’ll have to start over a new life. You may not use your Qi for personal gains, only to help those in need. You may not harm another person. You may not act on any evil thoughts or intentions. Do you agree?”

Like all selfish men, in front of death even his previous inflated ego was gone. He quickly replied, “I agree I agree.”

Inside he was thinking, maybe this young boy won’t kill me. I can always get revenge later. I’ll beg the sect leader if I have to. Right on cue a tightening feeling can be felt around his Qi reservoir. Some unworldly sensation is coming from the deepest part of him.

“This is my specialization, Absolute Agreement.”