The village square had become an arena of destruction. Flames licked at the edges of buildings, casting an eerie, flickering light over the scene.
In the center stood Xing, his posture relaxed yet menacing, his eyes fixated on Kai Chen.
Xing’s revelation hung in the air between them. The crackling of fire and distant cries of villagers provided a chaotic backdrop to their standoff.
“Qi Perception Realm,” Kai Chen repeated, his voice barely above a whisper. His eyes darted around, searching for an escape route, but finding none. “Impossible. You shouldn’t be here!….YOU SHOULDN’T BE HERE!”
Xing's lips curled into a cold smile. “I can go as I please Kai Chen. I have the STRENGTH TO!”
Kai Chen's hand tightened around his sword hilt, knuckles white with strain. Sweat beaded on his forehead, a mixture of fear and the intense heat surrounding them.
“Who told you about my daughter? Xing asked, voice was dangerously soft.
In a sudden burst of desperation, Kai Chen lunged forward, his sword describing a green arc through the smoky air. “YOUR MOTHER!” he screamed.
Xing sidestepped the wild attack with ease. His hand shot out, fingers rigid, striking Kai Chen's wrist. The sword clattered to the ground.
“You're outmatched, boy,” Xing growled. “Last chance. Who. Told. You?”
Kai Chen attacked, showing a more focus and precise form of attack. It was if, he’d improved the second he knew Xing was on the Qi Perception Realm.
Xing found himself on the defensive, blocking and dodging a flurry of Kai Chen’s strikes. Each impact sent shockwaves through his body, aggravating him.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle it, it was a case that he still had to finish off the remainder of Kai Chen’s men before they killed off the village.
This isn't sustainable, Xing thought grimly. I need to end this quickly, before my Core Dantian shatters completely.
As they fought, Xing’s superior skill became evident. Despite Kai Chen best efforts, his techniques were unrefined, his movements predictable.
Xing began to find openings, landing precise strikes that slowly wore down his opponent.
But the strain on Xing's body was mounting. He could feel his Qi becoming unstable, threatening to burst out of control. The village around them continued to burn, adding urgency to the battle.
Xing knew he had to take a risk. Gathering his Qi, he prepared for a decisive move, knowing it might cause irreparable damage to his cultivation.
Frustration began to brew on Kai Chen’s face, his eyes bulging with fury. He took the bait, charging forward with reckless abandonment.
His sword became a blur of green light as he unleashed a flurry of strikes, each one aimed to kill. But in his anger, his technique grew sloppy, his movements telegraphed.
Xing stood there, waiting for the perfect moment, timing his counter with practiced precision.
Kai Chen overextended himself on a particularly vicious swing. Xing stepped inside his guard. Qi surged through Xing’s arm as he launched a devastating palm strike directly at Kai Chen’s chest.
The Guiding Star Fists - First Fist - Starlight Strike.
Xing’s hand blurred into quick precise punch that shined as if it were bursting with starlight.
Kai Chen’s gapped from the speed, he raised his sword up in a desperate attempt to block to the attack, but it wasn't enough.
The force of the blow shattered Kai Chen's defense, sending him stumbling backward. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he gasped for air.
The impact reverberating through his entire body. In that moment, Kai Chen knew the difference between a Mind Awakening Realm expert and one of the Qi Perception Realm.
Kai Chen whipped the blood from his lips as he stared at Xing.
The wooden plates in his robes dropped from his robes sagged out, thudding as they fell to the ground.
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The menacing fist strike that Xing gave him splintered the wooden plates instantly, leaving him feeling as though he’d been struck by a hammer.
It was exhilarating. Chen never fought anyone like Xing before, but regardless of him only being a Mind Awakening Realm, that excitement was what he needed to feel alive! “IT’S BEEN SUCH A LONG TIME SINCE I HAD A GOOD FIGHT! THE ONLY MAN TO EVER HURT ME LIKE THAT WAS LIM FU…AND HE’S DEAD!” Kai Chen spat, feeling the blood from his mouth trickle from the side of his mouth.
Kai Chen slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled a white pill free. He watched as Xing’s eyes widened in surprise, which filled him with further excitement. “I wonder how it feels for someone of the Mind Awakening Realm to defeat someone of the Qi Perception Realm!” Kai Chen roared.
A surge of Qi rumbled from Kai Chen as his body began to quiver and shake after he consumed the pill. His skin went from pale to red in an instant.
He gnashed his teeth as though he was in serious pain, and his eyes went from white to yellow, giving him a demonic look. What did this fool take? Xing thought, thinking back to his battle within the small bay.
Xing turned after finishing the last of Chen’s men and then began walking toward him. He side-eyed the villagers and groaned to himself. “YOU NEED TO LEAVE!” He shouted.
“Leave? Heh heh,” Chen laughed. “The only one who gets to decide that…IS ME!”
Kai Chen made one step and exploded directly at Xing, waving Green Fury with venomous err.
The blade sheened in as brightly, reflecting the moon’s light. Xing anchored he left fought, spinning trying to counteract Kai Chen.
The bastard couldn’t use a sword, it was evident to Xing, but the intensity in which he fought, made it seem as though he’d had an edge.
If Xing had practiced The Dance of the Willow as regularly as Heng Guo had suggested, he would’ve disarmed in two moves.
Chen’s rapid thrusts had a mixture of upward and downward slashes which were aimed at Xing’s chest, throat and feet.
At first, he thought those attacks were random, after shifting and feinting. He quickly realised the pattern that Kai Chen had.
A pattern he hoped to force Xing on the back foot and swerve left, which would open his right side.
Each pivot was met with an upward slash, which began to frustrate Xing as he knew that if he didn’t deflect or block Kai Chen’s attacks.
The real problem Xing was facing though, was the length of time he’d been already fighting, as he couldn’t fight for much longer, as his Dantians began to vibrate within his body.
Waves of Qi began to fluctuate from Kai Chen, which appeared like small patches of grass growing around Xing, making it hard to decipher where the bastard was going to attack.
The Qi Perception Realm may have allowed him to perceive the way Qi flowed, but if that person had a multifaceted attack, committing to one defence would be suicide, but as Xing wasn’t one to rely on reading one’s Qi, it was easy for him to follow the flow of battle.
The flow that would eventually allow him to counterstrike!
Xing spun, leaving himself open and Kai Chen thrust the sword directly at his chest, only for Xing, to dodge at the last moment, falling to the ground. He tapped the ground with his right arm, and spun back up, kicking Kai Chen in the stomach twice.
Kai Chen flew backwards a meter, then kicked air twice, anticipating Xing’s charge, successfully.
Xing blocked, but also slapped his third kick, burying the sword into the bastard’s shoulder, as he was barely able to deflect Xing’s thrust from his chest.
The howling growl of Kai Chen was like bells to Xing’s ears. He released the sword and went to bury the sword in hand into the bastard’s chest, but felt a gnawing pain in his right side.
Kai Chen’s lips curled into a smile, and then Xing spat a mouth of blood as he fell back down to the ground with a boom. “Qi Perception Realm…more like Core Awakening Realm!” Kai Chen howled.
As Qi leaked Xing’s dantian began to slowly churn within his three dantians. He used that Qi, to seal his dantian, forcing them to stay within.
A bead of sweat dripped from his cheek as his mind mentally kept his Qi from flowing like a river. He blinked once more and solidified his resolve.
Instantaneous Step.
Xing appeared in front of Kai Chen in a flash, using the roiling Qi from within to increase his speed. Kai Chen loosed a kick, which grazed Xing’s nose.
He wrinkled his nose, stepped into Kai Chen, then swept him off his feet with a knee, then spun violently in the air, Qi surging within him like a flood.
Xing’s eyes began to glint as his Qi formulated within his Mind Dantian as he spun. He rocked his hand back, then felt all the Qi from within his body and calcifying outside of it into the form of a claw.
The Iron Shredding Claw pulsed with vigorous energy as Xing brought his hand down on the floating Kai Chen.
The beads of sweat that began to run down his fist went into his eyes as gnashed his teeth as his Qi slowly began to dissipate.
Xing pounded his palm into Kai Chen’s chest releasing all the Qi that surged within his body. The bloodshot eyes that were lit with anger churned yellow, then white after a few seconds.
The heat that emanated from Xing’s hand began to slowly burn as he felt his hand reverberating as he pushed it further into Kai Chen’s chest.
A loud crack groaned, and Kai Chen shrieked and howled in pain, but that didn’t stop Xing. His left leg finally left the ground and whipped his waist thrusting his hand even further into the bastard's chest, then finally slamming Kai Chen into the ground with a loud boom creating a small crater.
Dust floated from the ground, puffing around Xing like a blossoming chrysanthemum.
He pushed himself up, eyeing the shaking body of Kai Chen, then grabbed him by his tunic feeling his weight trying to resist Xing’s tug.
Xing gnashed his teeth as he eyed Kai Chen, vermin ready to spew and felt the heat from his breath rustle against his scraggly beard. The breath that he exhumed from his lips, was sombre, quiet and filled with death.
Still, though, he smiled, as if he’d won something, something that confused Xing because all he’d won…was death. “You might’ve defeated me.” Chen said, “but that daughter of yours will be dead before you even know it!”
“How do you know about my daughter's mountain scum?” Xing growled, grabbing the bastard by his throat, squeezing it slowly.
Kai Chen coughed a laugh and looked Xing dead in the eye, he opened his mouth and before he could say something he stopped breathing and sagged in his arm, making Xing ground his teeth as he held him. “CURSES!”He spat, feeling as though Li’er was in danger and there was nothing he could do to save her.