“You may need some more time to get along with her before being able to control Muna just yet...” Lei Zhi tried to comfort Lin Shu as she pouted.

“Yeah, I know. I’m just mad that I didn’t show my good side at all! I just embarrassed myself in front of everyone.” Lin crossed her arms, upset at the elders and herself.

“It happens.” Bing tried to be nice. “You’ll have more chances in the future.” He assured her.

“It just sucks that I trained all week only to lose in such a dumb way.” Lin admitted.

“It looks like I'm next out of our group to go next.” Lei gave a helpless smile.

“Unless you’re paired up with people that don’t wanna work together at all, I don’t see how you could lose.” Bing said.

“Hmm? Is that old man strong, Little Bro?” Jue whispered in Runt’s ears.

“Hmm.” Runt had to think for a second.

  If the old man actually went all out, how strong was he? Throwing away his kind nature, just how dangerous could he be?

“Very strong.” Runt shared his honest thoughts.

“Wow. Do you think he’d be willing to spar with me?” Jue asked next.

“Yes?” Runt couldn’t give her a clear answer but he couldn’t think of a reason why the old man would refuse a regular spar.

“Good luck, Master!” Lin Shu loudly shouted, eager to see her Master in a fight for once.

  Lin Shu wasn’t alone in her excitement to see Lei Zhi fight. He Wenqing and Xiucai also closely watched the area when they saw Lei Zhi going up on stage. Chatter began to slowly blossom from within the crowd at the sight of the old man.

“Isn’t that the Blind Savior?”

“I didn’t know he was a Qi Gatherer...”

“He’s a what?! I’ve been letting some weak Qi Gatherer treat my injuries?! Why the hell can’t I feel his qi if he’s a Qi Gatherer!?”

“That’s an interesting cultivation technique...” A higher-realmed disciple murmured.

“Perfect for an assassin...” Xiucai could see the uses of this martial art easily.

  Lei Zhi didn’t hold any information back during their week of training for the finale. That cultivation technique of his completely erased his presence at the cost of rapidly draining his qi. This drawback would be dealt with the further you mastered the technique and the benefits of using it would increase the more you understood Withering Willow. Lei explained that he learned this technique after losing his eyes to survive in the sect better.

  Xiucai was the only disciple to learn this technique from Lei Zhi as well as the only one to somewhat be able to use God’s Fingers. The cultivation technique was perfect for an assassin-born cultivator like himself. Because he was born in an assassin’s clan, he was taught about the human body from the age of three with real bodies. God’s Fingers was still incredibly difficult despite his upbringing. Qi points, qi pathways, the main qi points, all of that was new information for him just as it was for his martial brother and sister. So, he may have had a small advantage over He and Lin, it wasn’t as if he was heads above them.

“Alright old man, what use are you?” A tall firmly built young man questioned as he stared down at Lei Zhi with his arms crossed.

“My name is Lei Zhi. You can call me Zhi. I’ll be able to treat any injuries and my spirit beast can help incapacitate the enemy.” Lei kindly smiled as Quon was released from his capture bead.

  Quon immediately wrapped himself around Lei and squeezed. The giant transparent octopus completed hid Lei Zhi’s body from view. Its internal organs were completely visible to everyone watching. Xiang happily greeted this tentacled friend of his by hugging his tentacles as Quon hugged Lei Zhi. The two creatures gurgled in joy as Lei was slowly being suffocated by happiness and a lack of air. Lei patted the giant octopus twice on the tentacle and it slowly unlatched itself from his body.

  Multiple octopus tentacles came from his coat and tried to greet Quon who was quite confused by the tentacles coming from Lei Zhi’s coat. He used his tentacles to grip the tentacles coming out of Lei’s coat and multiple friendly handshakes began to happen at once. Lei Zhi gave a helpless smile.

“I know this is all quite a strange sight but it's easier if you just don’t think about it too much. I’m something of a doctor and this guy can help out if you two are ever in trouble.” Lei softly rubbed Quon’s bulbous head as he floated in the air.

“You are right. I don’t know what the fuck I'm looking at and I'd like to keep it that way.” The big youth from before turned away. “I’m Changlin.” He shared.

“What can you do Changlin?” A youth shorter than Lei and Changlin asked.

“I’m a body cultivator. My strength is my body. My weakness is this shitty axe of mine.” Changlin pulled out a chipped metal axe that has seen some use. “But, since you said you were a doctor, I can use my secret technique that taxes my body and you can just treat me afterward.” He smiled.

“Call me Gou. I can move fast and get away fast.” Gou tossed a curved dagger into the air repeatedly and caught it by the tip of the blade every time.

“Hmm. I say the best way that we go about this would be Changlin using his secret technique while Gou and I support him from the back.” Lei Zhi shared.

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“Sounds good to me.” Changlin grinned, eager to use his secret technique and show off in front of all the elders.

“No problem. As long as I don’t gotta fight anyone too strong, I'm good.” Gou replied.

“Looks like we’re ready then.” Lei Zhi waved at the elder watching over the match.

  Their opponents weren’t quite ready yet and still weren’t even after 10 minutes had passed. The elder started the match regardless if they were ready or not at the 10-minute mark. At the start of the match, Changlin grinned as a dark red aura of qi coated his body. With a loud smack, he palmed his chest. Multiple changes began to happen within his body that Lei Zhi saw all too clearly.

  This technique of the young man was quite strong but he was right in how it taxes his body. If he used it often, he’ll probably live less than half the average lifespan of a person. Lei Zhi and Gou followed behind the now hulking figure rippling with muscle and veins all over his body. Changlin let out a monstrous roar as he swung his axe into the hastily formed Qi Barrier.

  The spell shattered once it made contact with the shabby-looking axe and the swordsman from the other team used the opportunity to attack as soon as Changlin broke the barrier. His sword slashed across Changlin’s chest but barely left a thin mark on it. Changlin laughed in ridicule, bringing his axe into the air to split the swordsman in half.

  Gou disappeared after seeing the spellmaster’s talisman thrown to the ground earlier. Lei Zhi saw him speeding off toward the spellmaster trying to make a formation. A spear-wielding young girl stood in front of the spellmaster to protect him, ready to take Gou on. Lei Zhi made his way over to help Gou since it seemed like the swordsman wouldn’t be enough to give Changlin trouble. With a smile on his face, he took out his pink fishing rod that he hasn’t used in oh so long and swung it toward the two.

“A fishing rod...?” Lin Shu expressed in disbelief.

“Yep.” Bing smiled, it really has been a while since he’s seen that rod. “Before becoming a doctor, that fishing rod was what he used to fight with.” Bing explained for the rest.

“Really...?” Runt couldn’t believe it either.

“Really.” Bing nodded.

“You’re kidding... How could you even...?” Lin Shu couldn’t wrap her brain around it.

“He seemed pretty weak but maybe that old man is actually strong?” Jue questioned. Instinctively, she was able to smell a strong person from a weak person. That old man smelled weak but something was weird about him.

  Lei Zhi’s fishing hook sliced through the air as it sped alongside Gou. Gou charged head-on toward the spearman. The spearman was confused about what she should do. The fishing rod was aiming for the spellmaster but that kid with the knife was coming toward her. She frowned as she stood in front of the spellmaster and prepared to take on both.

  Gou tried to weave and sneak his way into the spearman’s guard but she wasn’t an amateur. She kept him at a distance and refused to allow him to get past her spear’s range while keeping her eye on the hook coming closer. The spearman built up qi within her body as she shouted something.

“Wild Dragon’s Twist!” Her body and spear spun as one with the wind following her movements.

  The spear struck the incoming hook into the air and sent it flying away at an even faster speed than it had earlier. Lei Zhi whistled, quite impressed at the young girl’s strength. Gou didn’t miss the chance to take advantage of the moment after the girl pulled off her martial technique. His dagger came snaking toward her chest intent on reaping her life!

“I finished it!” The spellmaster shouted in exhilaration.

  A bright light consumed the stage and blinded nearly everyone watching.

“Son of a bitch!”

“I can’t see shit!”

“I’m gonna fucking kill that twig piece of shit after this tournament!”

  Once the lights died down, everyone could see a white aura surrounding the bodies of one of the teams.

“About damn time...” The swordsman cursed. He was only still alive because that strong idiot was playing around with him.

“It’s our turn to go on the offensive now!” The spearman giggled.

“I’m not as weak as I seem!” The spellmaster pulled out a sword that was far bigger than himself.

“It looks like your sword inspired someone, Ying.” Wan Qing pointed out.

“His sword looks nothing like mine. What are you even talking about?” Ying’s sword was massive in length and thickness. That guy’s sword was just like a longsword but way longer and just a bit thicker.

“It's only a matter of time before people start to copy us.” Wan informed.

“You really think so?” Ying had a hard time believing anyone would want to copy her.

“You’ll understand later.” Wan Qing told her. It's only natural that the weak would want to copy the strong.

“All of you come at me! It's not often I get to break this technique out!” Changlin bellowed, leaping over in front of Lei and Gou, cracking the stage apart on landing.

“Don’t regret it!” The Spearman charged first.

“Be careful! His body is tough and can recover from small wounds!” The Swordsman warned.

“I’m at my strongest like this!” The Spellmaster dragged his sword behind him as he rushed behind the spearman.

  Changlin took on all three of the enemies with just his metal axe. His movements were slow but incredibly powerful. Even with the spellmaster’s formation providing support to his team, they were still just barely below him in strength. The strength of a technique that reduces one’s lifespan can’t be underestimated.

“Well, we can’t let him do all the hard work if we want to win.” Lei Zhi patted Gou on the shoulder. “Follow my lead.” He instructed as his hook returned back to him.

  Lei hooked a part of the stage and ripped it out. With a big piece of the stage hanging from his hook, he tossed it toward the group slowly overwhelming Changlin with their teamwork. Seeing the incoming large piece of stone, they were forced to retreat. Giving Changlin time to breathe, Gou the chance to sneak behind them, and Lei Zhi to send his hook flying once more.

  The piece of the stage crumbled to pieces upon landing on the other part of the stage. Changlin’s axe crashed into the spearman’s spear and sent her flying out of the stage and nearly into the crowd. A barrier formed in front of the crowd and the spearman crashed into it back-first. Gou’s dagger quickly assaulted the swordsman who was unprepared to be attacked right after dodging. Lei Zhi’s fishing hook easily caught the clothes of the spellmaster.

  The fisherman sent the young boy flying through the air as if he was flying a kite. It didn’t take long for the boy to lose consciousness. The next one to follow him after was the spearman who couldn’t retaliate against the overwhelming Changlin who continually attacked her after she crashed into the elder’s barrier. Changlin’s axe repeatedly struck against the shaft of her spear until she could no longer hold it in her grip anymore. Her spear fell to the ground before she did.

  The spearman dropped to her knees in defeat. Gou managed to utilize his speed with his dagger mastery to suppress the swordsman’s swordsmanship. He knocked into him with a body and sent the both of them tumbling off the stage. The dagger-wielder then held his weapon at the swordsman’s throat as he laid on top of him.

  Lei Zhi’s team was determined the winner but overall, everyone seemed impressed with both teams. Realizing the usefulness of a spellmaster in this type of fighting, how reckless one could be with a healer on their team, and combining your strengths to your advantage. Everyone applauded the battle while Lei Zhi decided to treat everyone free of charge. He gained some more cheers for doing such a thankless thing

“Looks like I was right.” Bing grinned.

“I just got lucky.” Lei responded back with a grin of his own.