A barrage of knocks rapped on the door of a sleeping youth. The door was shaking from the impacts of the hits and looked as if it was going to break down if this continued. From the sound of the knocks, it seems that whoever is outside has urgent business with the person inside. Surprisingly, it seems the loud knocking isn't enough to wake the slumbering disciple. He was just peacefully sleeping with a wide silly grin on his face. His hand was scratching his big belly as he murmured the words inside his wonderful dream.
"I will always love you my beautiful gentle sweet wife... Your chest is perfect just the way it is...."
Bang! The resting youth instantly awakened as his front door was just broken into. He grabbed his shield laying by his bed and stared at the intruders who barged into his home.
"Who... who are you!? What do you want!?" Bing asked with his heart beating rapidly.
"Did you not hear us knocking!? Would it take the roar of a beast in the Qi Consolidation stage to wake you!?"
An embarrassed blush appeared on Bing's face.
"I apologize. I'm a heavy sleeper... but was it necessary to break down my door? I'm sure I've never offended any of you." Bing said while looking at their faces.
A grin appeared on the head intruder.
"You may not have offended us personally, but we heard a little rumor that you've killed a member of our Huan clan."
"And we need to teach you a lesson for not putting our Huan clan in your eyes fatty."
Bing has realized that these thugs have only come to cause trouble. They aren't interested in any excuse or logical explanation for his actions. The only thing they want is to hurt and humiliate him. It's a very irritating reason to be awoken from such a sweet blissful dream.
"My fellow martial brothers... Is there any need to have such violence between us? If need be, I can get on my knees and apologize to all of you." Bing said with fear in his voice while getting in front of the four men.
An even wider smile appeared on their faces as they relished in bullying the weak-sounding Bing. He was only a 2nd stage Qi Gatherer while they were in the 3rd and 4th stage. There was no possible way they could see Bing getting out of doing exactly what they want and they loved it. The leader of the four pointed to the ground.
"Well? Hurry up and bow pig. We're waiting." The men started to laugh as they watched Bing slowly lower himself to the ground.
They still planned to beat him half to death for possibly killing one of family members. It would be a good idea to use him as a message to the other new disciples that just joined that their clan is not one to mess with. Dealing with this fatty can only bring benefits to them, why wouldn't they try and increase their influence within the sect by doing this?
But before Bing's knees reached the ground, his body suddenly buffed up! The fat that was present all over his body turned into pure muscle. The strength radiating through his body was enough to squash any 2nd stage Qi Gatherer with just his pinky! All this strength going through Bing's body was aimed towards the thugs invading his home. He was in crouching position with his shield faced towards them. He grinned as looks of confusion and mockery appeared on the Huan clan members' faces.
"Are you seriously planning on resisting fatty? You might as well-" His words were cut off by Bing's shout.
"Swift Devil!" He yelled as his body was being strengthened by Devil's Physique and Devil's Arms.
The sound of wind breaking was the last thing the Huan clan bullies heard before feeling the worse pain they've ever felt in their lives. Bing crashed into the lined up men like a bull charging to gore a predator. They were launched outside of Bing's home and spiraled across his front yard. They felt like all of their bones were simultaneously shattered and their organs were upside down and all over the place.
"I can't feel my... anything..."
"Mother... I'm not ready to die yet..."
The Huan clan youths could only helplessly twitch on the ground. All control over their body was gone and their mind was jumbled. Wasn't that fatty just a Qi Gatherer at the second level? How did they end up in this situation? They might not be talented within the sect and their martial arts isn't anything special but shouldn't their cultivation difference be enough? And if that wasn't enough, they outnumbered him as well! The only thing going through their brains right now was regret for choosing the wrong person to mess with.
Unforunately for these disciples, the difference in strength within the Qi Gathering realm doesn't really start until 7th and 9th stage. Before that though, the only difference is in pure strength. Breaking through the realms in the Qi Gathering realm will only increase your strength by 200 jin every breakthrough. Things are different in the Qi Consolidation stage though. The strength of one's fist becomes less important unless the cultivator is focusing on becoming a body cultivator instead of a qi cultivator.
"I was taught not to leave future troubles by my master. You can only blame yourselves for trying to bully and take advantage of the weak when you're only as strong as this." Bing stated as he slowly swaggered outside his home with killing intent radiating around him.
The meek and peaceful looking fatty from before turn into a terrifying behemoth of death and ruthlessness! One by one, Bing's thick fingers slowly grabbed hold of their heads and with a ruthless snap. The lights within their eyes faded forever. They tried to plead and beg for Bing to spare them after witnessing their leader perish but Bing was not dissuaded in the slightest. He isn't so dumb to believe these types of people will let him off so easily. If anything, being crippled would be the most forgiving of things they probably planned to do with him.
After finishing off the last person, Bing dragged all the bodies back inside his home. He still had some business left with these four. He checked to see if they had any valuables on their bodies and could only frown in annoyance. They were poor! Not even a single spirit stone or anything on them!
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"How could these guys have the gall to bully anyone being as poor as they are!?" Bing asked in astonishment.
"Thankfully, I have a technique that allows me to gain something from you all." He snickered.
Bing placed his hand on the chest of one of the corpses. He began breathing in a deep sinister tone and activated his Devil's Arms technique. Normally when using this auxiliary martial arts, Bing's body would use his fat to create a secondary pair of arms under his arms and strengthen them with qi. But this wasn't the only way of using this technique. It would be a mockery of a sky-ranked martial arts if it was only able to make him grow arms. The name of these martial arts isn't just because it sounds cool either. The user's personality will gradually become more twisted and devilish as they practice these techniques to the peak before they transform into a complete devil in all but appearance.
Bing's hand gradually started morphing a mouth in the middle of his palm. It had razor sharp teeth and a long forked tongue inside the mouth. The hand licked the flesh of the corpse and stabbed into it with its tongue. The skin, muscle, tissue, and all began to be sucked into the mouth of the hand. Bing's strength was being improved the more his hand ate. If he were to check his natural body's strength, he would notice that he's already left the threshold of a 2nd stage Qi Gatherer and firmly planted himself at the start of the 3rd stage with his body alone!
The only things left unsucked by the hand were the bones, blood, and clothes. It was a grisly disgusting sight for any normal person but Bing was not disturbed all that much.
For one, he had complete control over the hand. It was somewhat similar to having a pet and being the owner of said pet. It had its own desires and feelings but completely obeyed him. Two, the world of cultivating isn't something that he'll be able to get far in if he can't stomach something like this. And lastly, it would be a waste of his martial arts if he didn't use every opportunity to get as strong as he can.
Bing slurped up the other 3 bodies and was left with 4 skeletons and a large puddle of blood inside his home. The smell was a bit much and Bing had to pinch his nose as he brought his bone shield he got from the demoness over the blood. He dipped the bottom of the shield in the blood and watched as the blood gushed forward inside the bones.
"What kind of shield is this anyway...? I've never seen such a strange weapon before or heard of anything like a weapon that drinks the blood of its victims." Bing muttered to himself as he watched the bones on his shield become glossier and whiter.
"Just what kind of place could produce such a mysterious person...?" He wondered as he carefully slid his finger across the rim of his shield.
"I should go see if they have any shield martial techniques inside the Martial Pavilion." He decided as he left his home and went towards the library.
'Fighting with this thing feels so different from using a sword. It's so much easier to fight with and less stressful. At first, I thought the demoness was just being cruel to give me only a shield to battle with but as I got used to using it in battle, I slowly felt more comfortable and familiar with it. Far more than I ever had with the blade even though I was taught since young the ways of the sword.'
Bing arrived inside the Martial Pavillion and walked towards the counter.
"Excuse me Elder Zhong, I was wondering if there are any shield martial arts inside that I could borrow." Bing asked.
Elder Zhong's eyebrows furrowed in irritation.
"Of course we do! You think that the Golden Serpent Sect would be lacking any kinds of martial arts?! What a stupid question child. Of course we have..." He suddenly stopped in the middle of his speech.
Elder Zhong suddenly exploded in anger after realizing what Bing just asked.
"A SHIELD!? Why in the world would anyone use a shield?! Are you making fun of me boy?! Get out of my sight this instant before I force you out of it!" He roared.
Bing quickly scrammed outside the library after unintentionally angering the elder. He heard laughter from inside the library most likely aimed at him and slowly grew bitter.
"It's just an innocent question. No need to raise such a fuss about it. If you didn't have any shield arts you could've just said so." Bing curled his lip. "A sect as great as the Golden Serpent Sect and they don't even have a single measly shield technique. How pathetic." he muttered as he looked around his surroundings.
Maybe the demoness could help him somehow... With her mysterious background, she probably knows of a few shield martial arts or at least if they exist! Then all of a sudden, memories of Jing physically assaulting him ran through his mind. His body shivered and him wanting to ask the she-demon of anything was halted in its tracks.
"I've been doing fine without a shield art so far... I'm sure I can go a little bit longer without asking the Empress for help just yet..." He nervously chuckled as he went towards the Mission Hall to work on some tasks for contribution points.
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A young orange haired girl was pacing back and forth inside her home. This young girl was Ying Yue. She was close to tearing her hair out over the crazy deal she made yesterday. She wasn't completely against the idea of serving the girl and that's the part that was making her so crazy! She didn't know what kind of background that girl has nor does she know anything about her. She doesn't even know her name! Even if her life was at stake, she would never willing become someone's slave.
It would be easy to just try and avoid the girl or refuse to become her ally but this went against everything she stood for. If she would promise to do something, she will do it no matter what. What kind of person would she be if she went against her word? One that isn't fit to revive and lead the Yue family into prosperity again that's for sure. She let out an exhausted sigh.
Stressing over this situation isn't going to make anything better. Might as well charge forward and deal with the problems as they come. Not much else she can do at this point. Ying also doubted she could best the girl even though she was 3 small realms ahead of her in cultivation. The qi she felt from her was no joke. It felt like a bottomless ocean was standing before her and she was nothing but a small sailboat rocking on top of that ocean. Being crushed into nothingness would be the only outcome if she tried to fight against her.
Ying has never backed down from a challenge. No matter how many enemies there are, no matter how talented they are, and no matter how strong they are, she wouldn't surrender in willpower! But can you even fight against something like that...? Something that made you feel as if you were nothing but an ant in comparison to it. Even when she witnessed her grandfather facing off against another Qi Transformation stage cultivator, she didn't feel as helpless as she did under the qi of that girl.
It's inhuman. It's impossible. She's a monster...
Knock! Knock!
Ying jumped up like a startled kitten. Who would be at her door? She doesn't have any close friends. Could it be her...? A shiver went through Ying's spine at the thought of the girl. Her feet were rooted to the floor and she couldn't move an inch. The fear radiating through her mind was enough to overpower her body remembering that feel of that person's qi.
Another knock on the door riled Ying from her frighten state.
"How pathetic! Come on! You are Ying Yue of the Yue family! Fear is nothing to a member of the Yue family! Fear is nothing but pain leaving the body! Move!" She told herself.
Her feet unwillingly freed themselves from the floor and she walked towards the door. She slowly turned the handle of the door and outside it, stood a pure white owl with a storage ring in its beak. She looked around to see if there was anyone else and as she did the owl loudly hoo'd at her, bringing her attention back to it.
It looked somewhat annoyed as it threw the ring at her and flew away. She caught the ring in her hand and went back inside her house to find out what was inside. She sat on her bed and sent some mental energy inside the ring to see what was inside. Ying nearly choked when she saw what was inside.
"What kind of gift is this!?" She screamed.