I watched the cloud of dust where Qi Fu Ren landed, knowing that he wouldn't die from a single kick.

"!"

As I expected, a flare of golden lightning arced out of the crater, lancing forward in the form of a destructive bolt. Scooping Tang Qi Hong into my arms, I carried her before using a footwork technique to disappear.

BOOM!

The lightning bolt seared into the ground where Tang Qi Hong was lying on a few moments ago. Qi Fu Ren, that despicable bastard. Even when down, he wouldn't miss an opportunity to fire off an attack at someone who was incapacitated.

"The hero saving the beauty, eh?"

Rising from the crater, Qi Fu Ren wiped blood from his mouth and glared at me with a fierce grin that was ruined by the bloodied swelling of his cheek. He spat a glob of blood and staggered toward me, his eyes hard.

"Of course you'll come to save your woman."

"Fei Wu!"

Tang Qi Hong was just as surprised as Qi Fu Ren to see me. Her eyes widened in incredulity as she studied me, and then she realized something was amiss.

"You..what happened to you?!"

"A lot," I replied curtly.

"Don't give me that! You..!"

She needn't had said anything. I knew far better than she did that I looked like hell. More because I actually felt like hell.

Unfortunately, I had no time to rest. Not when there was one last enemy I needed to defeat first.

No, not just defeat. I was going to end this once and for all. I was sick and tired of letting Qi Fu Ren run around freely, of allowing him free reign to hurt my friends and loved ones. One way or another, I was going to settle all my debts with him today.

Ignoring Tang Qi Hong, I focused my hostile gaze on Qi Fu Ren, who looked more amused than intimidated.

"Fei Wu!"

Tang Qi Hong broke me out of the spell and I glanced down at her.

"Right..sorry. Tang Qi Hong..you and Zhu Jiao..and Teacher Jiao, and all the others came here to save me."

I lowered my head.

"Thank you."

"..Fei Wu..?"

Tang Qi Hong's eyes widened in disbelief as she studied me, still unable to comprehend what was going on. Then she caught sight of the blood all over my hands and feet.

"That's not my blood," I assured her. "Well..most of it, anyway."

Much of the blood that I bled had dried up long ago, so I wasn't lying.

"We.."

Tang Qi Hong began, but she found herself at a loss for words. I didn't let her continue. Instead, I interrupted her.

"You're hurt."

"!"

Tang Qi Hong continued to stare at me speechlessly, still in shock at the sudden turn of events. I could tell what she was thinking, even without the ability to read her mind. She and the others had come to save me, but I ended up saving her instead.

"I'm sorry..it's all my fault."

If they didn't come to save me..if I had never gotten captured in the first place..then none of my classmates and my homeroom teacher would be hurt. None of them would ever be in danger to begin with.

It was all my fault for being too weak.

"No, wait! You..what about you?! What did they do to you?"

"A lot," I replied curtly for the second time. A lightning bolt saved me from being reprimanded by Tang Qi Hong and I used Tui to evade the lethal bombardment of electricity that scorched the dull gray concrete black underneath my feet.

"Fei Wu!"

Zhu Jiao had just reached the rooftop too. I withdrew to his position and put the semiconscious Tang Qi Hong down as gently as I could.

"I'm all right," I assured him, and then met his brown eyes steely. "Look after Tang Qi Hong for me, will you?"

"O..okay!"

Nodding gratefully, I used Jin and dashed toward Qi Fu Ren, taking him by surprise. He stopped hurling his lightning bolts around and focused his insane, murderous gaze upon me. Sighing in mock disappointment, he shook his head.

"So you're still alive, shitty trash."

I shrugged. "Sorry to disappoint you."

"You.." Qi Fu Ren narrowed his eyes, his stance growing slightly wary. "You seem to have changed. I don't know what that bastard Ba Yun did to you, but you're clearly a different person from before."

He then snorted.

"Well, that makes sense. If you didn't change, you would be long dead at the hands of that psychotic bastard."

"Look who's talking," I retorted. "Your hands aren't very clean. No, they're stained with the blood of the innocent." Cocking my head, I then smiled faintly. "Or have you already forgotten all about poor Hu Shuo and Ba Dao?"

"Shut up!"

Hollering, Qi Fu Ren tossed an onslaught of lightning bolts at me. I easily weaved through them, using Jin to get in front of him.

"Hah! Na?ve! I have three sexagenaries of qi! You have nothing compared to me..guh!"

My Shadow Kick caught him in the chest, cutting off his speech and sending him careening across the rooftop.

"Kuh! You..!"

Rolling to his feet, Qi Fu Ren sought to counterattack, throwing a Lightning Punch at me. But I stepped to the side and twisted my ehad slightly out of the way before kicking his knee and causing him to stumble.

"Fucker!"

Qi Fu Ren retaliated with a sweep of his arm, lightning bursting fiercely out of it, but I bent my back and dodged it by a hair's breadth. Using the momentum, I flipped myself up and rammed both legs against Qi Fu Ren, sending him spinning to the ground as blood spurted from his mouth. In a single, fluid motion, I jumped back up to my feet.

"Stop dodging!!!"

Bellowing in rage, Qi Fu Ren charged at me again, punching with his Lightning Fist. I easily dodged it and scoffed.

"For someone with three sexagenaries of qi, you sure have a difficult time dealing with me, don't you?"

"Fucker! Shut up!"

Qi Fu Ren roared and threw another punch that I effortlessly evaded. Hooking my leg around his ankle, I tripped him up and sent him sprawling on the ground.

"Gah!"

Before he could get up, I stomped on his back and unleashed Seismic Step. The ground beneath Qi Fu Ren's body collapsed and both of us crashed through the warehouse, plunging into the depths below amidst falling rubble.

"Fei Wu!"

I could hear Zhu Jiao shouting to me from above, but I waved at him to back off.

"Stay where you are!" I yelled back at him. "Take care of Tang Qi Hong!"

"But..!"

"Trust me, you don't want to see this."

"Huh?! What?!"

I ignored him and showed him a thumb's up sign.

"Trust me."

With that, I exerted more power into Seismic Step and sent Qi Fu Ren smashing through several levels of the warehouse. We smashed past the second level, then the first, and then kept going into the basement.

BOOM!

"UGH! ARGH!"

Pinned beneath my foot, Qi Fu Ren writhed and flailed wildly, blood erupting from his mouth and wounds. Debris continued to rain about us, catastrophic damage dealt to the crumbling structure. I ignored a huge chunk of concrete, merely swinging my hand out and slicing it with my Ghost Shadow Sword technique before it could crush me.

It just so happened that a particularly big piece from that chunk crashed onto Qi Fu Ren's face, causing him to gag.

"Kuh! Ugh!"

Qi Fu Ren thrashed frantically, grabbing my foot and lifting it off his back. As expected of someone with three sexagenaries of qi..even though I was placing my full body weight and all of my strength into pinning him to the basement floor, he was still superior to me in terms of physical strength. This wasn't a contest I could win.

"I'll kill you! You fucking bastard..I'll kill you!"

Qi Fu Ren bellowed impotently from beneath me, slowly but surely lifting my foot away from the small of his back. I merely looked down on him condescendingly before unleashing another Seismic Step that carved a crater into the ground, with Qi Fu Ren bearing most of the impact.

"AAAAAAAAAARGH!"

"You did always love stepping on other people," I remarked. "How does it feel to be on the receiving end of that now?"

"FUCKER! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

With a roar, Qi Fu Ren unleashed a desperate burst of Lightning Flash. Sensing the danger before he could fully execute his technique, I used a footwork technique and retreated as far back as I could, even as golden rays of lightning erupted from his body.

BOOM!

"Phew..that was dangerous."

Despite putting as much distance as I could between myself and my opponent, I could still feel my skin tingling and my body going numb from the sheer volume of voltage that Qi Fu Ren discharged into the air.

This guy is dangerous. I can't afford to play around with him.

Not that I ever intended to do that to begin with.

Qi Fu Ren rushed forward to deliver a barrage of Lightning Punches that devastated the walls around us. Knowing that I could not afford to take a direct hit, I relied on evading his every attack, ducking under his cracking fists and avoiding his electricity.

"Fight me if you're a man!"

"Uh..isn't that what I'm already doing?" I muttered, trying my best to suppress the urge to roll my eyes.

"Then stop dodging!"

"And let you hit me?" I felt like we had this conversation before. Was this guy an idiot? He just never learned.

Instead, I stopped trying to think of an innovative retort and responded with a roundhouse kick that struck the side of his head and caused him to stagger back. Despite putting my full strength behind that blow, Qi Fu Ren was merely fazed and not taken down.

He has superior strength and endurance, but I'm just a tad faster than him..

"You..you're definitely different from before," Qi Fu Ren growled as his hand went up to his temple, and his fingers came away wet with blood. "What the hell happened to you down there, in Ba Yun's basement?"

"You should know. You were there most of the times."

Not caring to elaborate, I jumped above Qi Fu Ren's kick and then ducked under a punch before retaliating with a kick to his midriff. Qi Fu Ren was forced back one step, his body presumably throbbing from the blow, but he held firm.

"No.."

Qi Fu Ren's eyes narrowed when he realized something was amiss. He aimed another Lightning Punch at me, but I easily dodged it.

"What happened to Ba Yun? I find it difficult that he just let you out of his basement like that?" he glared at me suspiciously. "And the others were looking for him earlier because he wasn't at his post. Where did he go?"

I smiled thinly as I stepped back to avoid another Lightning Punch. "It's as you suspected. He came to his basement to finish me off."

Qi Fu Ren's eyes widened when he understood the implications of my statement. For all of his faults, the cunning bully was not an idiot.

"You..what did you do to him? I don't believe you defeated him! That's impossible!"

"You can believe whatever you want," I replied coldly. "I have no obligation to convince you otherwise."

"Fuck you!" Qi Fu Ren snarled. "There's no way you could have defeated Ba Yun! Impossible! He was so much stronger than you!"

"That's what he thought too," I agreed while ducking under another punch. Raising my right hand, I suddenly activated my Ghost Shadow Sword, but this time, instead of merely freezing an ice sword, I imbued it with dark shadowy qi reminiscent of someone. The horror on Qi Fu Ren's face told me instantly that he recognized it too.

"That's.."

He staggered back when I slashed him with my newly improved Ghost Shadow Sword, unable to follow the movements of the dark blade. Blood spurted from his chest as he staggered back, his eyes still bulging in disbelief.

"You..you didn't just kill him.."

"No," I agreed. "It would be a waste not to make use of his life."

"You bastard..you actually sucked his qi?!" Qi Fu Ren gaped at me incredulously, looking as if he was believing that this whole thing was a nightmare. "No, there's no way you can't. When did you learn the Demonic Shadow Qi Movement technique?"

I burst out laughing. "You call that cheap knockoff a qi absorption technique? Are you kidding me?" I met his punch squarely with my blade, causing more blood to spurt out of his knuckles. Twisting around, I grabbed hold of his arm and a ghost of a smile flickered over my face. "Let me demonstrate to you the real qi absorption technique."

"!!!!!"

Qi Fu Ren mouthed something speechlessly, utterly horrified, when he sensed his qi flowing from him into me. He struggled futilely, locking his qi flow and forcibly preventing it from going over. I had to hand it to him, but he was resilient.

"W..what is this?! this is so much more powerful than the Demonic Shadow Qi Movement that Master Tuo Ta La taught me?!"

Perspiration was flowing down Qi Fu Ren's face in thick rivulets as he struggled to stem the flow and prevent his qi from leaking out. I frowned as I noted the difficulty I had in draining him of qi. Of course, Qi Fu Ren was on the worse end, but even so..

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Right, it's much easier to suck the qi of someone who was incapacitated than someone who's still at fairly full strength.

The reason why I could drain Ba Yun's shadowy qi was because I had weakened him tremendously by beating him almost to the point of death. Similarly, Qi Fu Ren absorbed the qi of his lackeys surprisingly easily because he took them by surprise by seizing their throats and cutting off their airflow. If they were breathing normally and were on guard, he would never have succeeded in draining them of their qi.

To increase the success of qi absorption, one had to weaken the target first, and bring him to the verge of death before the attempt.

Otherwise..

"Don't underestimate me!!!!"

With a roar, Qi Fu Ren suddenly released the lock on his qi flow and allowed a tremendous surge forward. Sensing danger, I quickly let go and raised my Ghost Shadow Sword to protect me. My instincts were spot on. Qi Fu Ren had gambled on a gigantic move and struck me with Lightning Flash at pointblank range.

"Huff.."

I skidded backward, my body fuming with acrid smoke as electricity danced about me. Dropping to my knees, I convulsed as the devastating electric currents ran across my body, rampaging and ravaging my inner systems.

"Ugh..!"

"Ha ha ha! I finally got a clean hit on you!"

I tried to raise my Ghost Shadow Sword up to protect myself, but Qi Fu Ren shattered it with a lightning kick before punching my solar plexus with an enhanced Lightning Punch. I doubled over before the explosive crack of electricity lifted me off my feet and hurled me against the wall.

"Kuh.."

Coughing and wheezing, I tried to get to my feet. Snickering, Qi Fu Ren approached me in a slow and deliberate manner, confident in his victory.

"I don't know what tricks you used against Ba Yun, but I assure you, they will definitely not work on me."

Stupid antagonist, getting overconfident as usual and thinking he had won even before the protagonist was killed. I had no idea when they would learn from their mistakes. Ignoring Qi Fu Ren's jeering, I placed my hand on the ground.

"Hah! It's useless. I don't know what you intend to do, but my Thunder Break has scrambled your qi circulation and disrupted your qi flow. There's no way you can.."

"HAH!"

With a yell, I discharged the electricity in my body to the ground, ridding my system of the stunning effects. Rising before a stupefied Qi Fu Ren, I shook myself one final time to make sure the last of the lightning qi left my body.

"You..that's.."

"You honestly think there's no countermeasure against such a troublesome effect?" I shook my head. "Before fighting you, I made sure to do my homework."

"H..how? You were locked up in Ba Yun's basement for two weeks..!"

I snorted. "I was already taking note of the White Tiger Sect techniques way before you guy captured me. The moment you escaped from Wu Ling Academy, I knew for sure that you would come find me again." I smiled. "At least that's one instance where we think alike. You probably don't know, but I hate you even more than you hate me."

And I was going to take my revenge on him.

"So what? It doesn't matter if I don't give you the opportunity to discharge my electric qi into the ground!"

Qi Fu Ren glared at me defiantly before he lunged forward, his Lightning Fist reared back. I tried to dodge, but he suddenly twisted and aimed a kick at my head. I ducked that second attack on reflex, only to realize that it was a feint and his other Lightning Fist was barreling toward my solar plexus. Unable to evade in time, I crossed my arms and blocked it.

"Hah!"

Qi Fu Ren crowed as he unleashed his Thunder Break. Lightning exploded and the smell of singed flesh filled the air along with acrid smoke. Electricity danced about the floor and scorched the ground and I was sent skidding backward.

"How do you like my Thunder Break?"

"I don't like it at all," I replied as I lowered my fuming arms. Qi Fu Ren merely snickered and launched himself at me before I could discharge the electricity into the ground.

"Keep that smug visage up! I'll hammer that attitude along with your face to hell!"

Thinking that I was no longer able to use any techniques because he disrupted my qi with his Thunder Break, Qi Fu Ren threw another Lightning Punch.

It never landed.

"UGH!"

A geyser of blood sprayed into the air and Qi Fu Ren recoiled, clutching his bleeding stump. His disembodied right arm crashed down a few meters away, red fluids leaking from a hole and spreading into a dark sea.

"How..how..?!"

Wailing, Qi Fu Ren stared in fear as I swung my Ghost Shadow Sword. Despite having taken his Thunder Break, I was still using my techniques as per normal, as if my qi flow hadn't been disrupted.

That was because it wasn't disrupted.

"Well, you were kind enough to explain your Thunder Break technique to Tang Qi Hong, and I just happened to be there to hear it."

This was why people shouldn't be stupid enough to show off and explain their techniques to their enemies. They might have thought they won, but they were actually giving away vital information, information that their opponents could use against them. In war, intelligence was everything. The side with more intelligence had a greater chance of victory.

And every advantage counted.

I had no intention of explaining to Qi Fu Ren that, because his Thunder Break was created purely using yin qi to counteract the opponent's defense materialized from yang qi, it wouldn't work if I chose to form my inner qi defenses using yin qi instead. And being a demonic sect member, I had an abundance of yin qi.

"Impossible, impossible, impossible!"

Qi Fu Ren was spluttering as he tried to back away from me, unable to comprehend what had just transpired.

"I'm the strong one! The strong has the right to do whatever he wants! The strong rule over the weak! And I'm strong!"

I took another step forward.

"How is this happening!? This is impossible, impossible, impossible! The strong has the right to rule! I can't possibly be defeated!"

I was sick of listening to his ranting, so I used Jin and dashed forward. Swinging my Ghost Shadow Sword, I sought to behead him, but Qi Fu Ren had one last display of defiance left in him. Roaring in fury, he swung his left arm forward and unleashed Lightning Flash.

Black and golden waves of qi clashed and collided against each other, tearing the interior of the basement apart and blasting walls into debris. What was left of the ceiling crumbled and began to rain down on us.

"Huff..huff..huff.."

Qi Fu Ren was perspiring profusely as he held the Ghost Shadow Sword in my right hand at bay with his Lightning Flash. Seeing that he was overpowering me with sheer amount of qi, his lips curled into a feral grin.

"Hah! I knew it! I'm stronger than you after all!"

I didn't deny that. Qi Fu Ren possessed three sexagenaries of qi compared to my..few years' worth of qi. Even if I factored the two or three decades worth of qi that Ba Yun cultivated and stole throughout his lifetime, it was merely a fraction of the quantity Qi Fu Ren wielded. In a battle of strength, there was no way I could win.

But I never planned on fighting Qi Fu Ren head-on, at least not without a cunning stratagem to back me up.

My left hand darted forward, a second Ghost Shadow Sword materializing in it and scything toward Qi Fu Ren. My opponent's eyes bulged and he sought to block it..only to realize that he was missing his other arm.

"AH!"

With a scream he tore away, desperate to avoid the killing blow. He succeeded in dodging the second Ghost Shadow Sword, but at a cost. While his eyes were transfixed on the Ghost Shadow Sword in my left hand, I struck out with the first in my right and amputated his remaining arm right above the elbow, sending the limb cartwheeling through the air in a spray of blood.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

Howling, Qi Fu Ren dropped to his knees, flailing helplessly without both arms. He stared at me imploringly, his mouth moving to beg for his life, but I didn't make the mistake of heeding him. I had let him go several times too many.

And every single time, he came back to haunt me..to hurt my friends and loved ones, to try and take his "revenge" on me for not allowing him to bully me.

I had enough of his bullshit.

Scissoring his neck with both my Ghost Shadow Swords, I beheaded him in a single stroke, sending his head flying off his shoulders. Qi Fu Ren's head struck the ground and rolled for a few moments before finally coming to a stop his face kissing the dirt.

Good. I didn't want to see his face ever again.

With emphasis on my hatred, I stomped on his skull, flattening it and squashing the brain matter into nothingness. Leaving the bloody mess behind, I turned and began to make my way out of the collapsing basement.

"..!"

I didn't manage to get far. From the opposite direction, about a hundred hooded figures rushed toward me. They were sprinting in my direction, casting anxious looks over their shoulders and shouting to each other over something.

"Retreat!"

"Fall back!"

"Get to the underground tunnels and then seal the exits! We need to get away from these Martial Artist Alliance bastards!"

Evidently the battle outside had reached a tipping point and had turned sour for the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect. realizing that they couldn't win and that they were in danger of being wiped out, the surviving members of the demonic sect had fled to the basement, seeking to use the underground tunnels to escape their pursuers.

And unfortunately for them, I just happened to be in their way.

"That's..!"

The vanguard of the fleeing Chinese Parasol Tree Sect skidded to a stop, their leader staring at me from behind his mask.

"Who..?!"

"Isn't he Leader Ba Yun's prisoner?"

"Eh? The toy Ba Yun captured for torturing?"

"What is he doing here?"

Then one of them spotted Qi Fu Ren's headless body. Even without his head, they recognized his muscular physique and stylish clothes.

"That's..!"

"Isn't that Leader Qi Fu Ren?!"

"Don't tell me..this brat killed Qi Fu Ren?"

While some of the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect members regarded me with fear, most others glared at me hatefully. I met their gaze evenly, hating their guts even more than they hated me, especially after the hellish experiences they put me through.

I wasn't going to let even one of them get past me alive. I was going to exterminate them all, so as to prevent them from ever threatening the Great Zhou Empire again, and in effect my family and friends.

"What's with this person?"

"Careful! If he defeated Qi Fu Ren, then he must be no ordinary martial artist!"

"Did he..did he defeat Ba Yun as well? Is that why Ba Yun never showed up?"

"..that's..!"

A murmur of unease swept across the hooded figures, and some even faltered, taking several steps back. However, the leader stepped in front to lead them by example.

"Don't be afraid!" he hollered. "There's only one of him, and over a hundred of us! No matter how strong he is, there's no way he can beat all of us!"

Even though there was some hesitation, his words spurred the majority into action. More of them nodded and stepped forward, showing some sort of solidarity.

"That's right, that's right!"

"If we stand together, there's no way we'll lose to a single guy!"

"Let's take revenge for Leaders Ba Yun and Qi Fu Ren!"

"For the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect!"

I regarded all of them with a smile, and merely stood my ground as they charged, welcoming their assault with both arms.