I Shall Steal the Heavens 57 Chapter 56: Counterattack

Tang Qi Hong looked around nervously. Beside her, Zhu Jiao shrugged.

"Well, it's the only way."

"Yeah, we need to get that idiot out of there," Ban Zhang agreed as he crouched down beneath the grass. "Unless you've a better idea?"

"No, but…"

"Don't worry. As long as we follow Teacher Jiao's lead, there shouldn't be a problem." Tong Xue assured Tang Qi Hong before gesturing toward Teacher Jiao, who was at the front. All around them, heavily armored adults marched toward the gigantic warehouse that served as the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect's base. Troops alighted from armored personnel carriers and formed a perimeter. Even though they didn't bear rifles – ranged projectile weapons were pointless in a world where people could shoot qi blasts out of their hands – they wielded sharp pointy sticks…ahem, swords, staffs, spears and an assortment of other melee weapons.

The great Zhou Dynasty had sent a huge force of Imperial Guard to destroy the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect once for all. After receiving a large influx of reports where dozens of villages were raided and massacred by the despicable Chinese Parasol Tree Sect, the royal family couldn't sit still any longer and sent out the Imperial Guard.

The commander, recognizing the level of threat that this upstart demonic sect posed, having destroyed dozens of villages and claimed countless lives of citizens, had pulled together several regiments of martial artists, banding them together to exterminate the demonic villains with extreme prejudice.

"Stay with me, guys," Teacher Jiao told the middle school students without turning back. He had grudgingly gave them permission to participate in the mission, on the condition that they remained under close supervision. He wasn't about to lose any more students to the despicable demonic martial artists, yet at the same time he recognized that this would provide his students valuable and much-needed experience.

"Yes, Teacher Jiao."

The students followed closely. Originally Xiao Zhang had not intended to send a small delegate of Wu Ling Academy teachers and students to the frontlines, choosing to leave it to the Imperial Guard. However, my classmates had apparently petitioned him, and he finally gave his permission on the grounds that it would provide experience. That was when the condition was set, and Teacher Jiao personally volunteered to be their chaperon.

"We do need to at least show that we're invested in the safety of our students, and we don't just leave everything to a third party."

After acknowledging that, the participating staff had drawn up a plan. Among the students, however, only my closest friends participated. The majority of the student body recognized the massive risks inherent within this mission and had chosen to stay out of it. I honestly didn't blame them. They had no reason to put their lives in danger for someone they didn't know.

Master was correct in that regard. Unless you were strong enough and confident that you would be able to survive, it was the height of folly to throw yourself into danger where your chances of survival were extremely low.

The demonic martial artists of the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect were alerted to their presence and were all streaming out to meet the Imperial Guardsmen with their own demonic martial arts and ominous weapons. There had to be hundreds, if not thousands of crazed cultists, shouting praises for their revered leader as they sought to butcher and slaughter in his name.

"Whoa…"

Zhu Jiao's eyes widened when he saw the solid, steel wall of implacable Imperial Guardsmen hold the onslaught of demonic cultists back, stemming the tide of menacing weapons and demonic techniques. The rogue martial artists broke over the Martial Arts Alliance troops, their front ranks impaled by mystic spears or cut down by sacred swords.

"Quick! Use this chance to infiltrate their base! We're going to look for Fei Wu and rescue him from there!"

Teacher Jiao issued instructions to the following students, and they hurried after him as he sought an alternative route through the tide of traitors.

"Do you think Fei Wu is still alive?" Tong Xue asked nervously as they tried to weave around a point in the enemy's defenses that seemed the weakest. A platoon of Imperial Guardsmen had breached the defenses at one of the warehouse's smaller entrances, the orthodox martial artists combating demonic ones with explosions of qi and elemental blasts. The sheer violence and power that saturated the air unnerved the young middle school students.

"He has to be, right?" Tang Qi Hong snapped. "He can't die!"

"The villagers said that the demonic sect kidnapped him. That means they don't plan to kill him, at least not yet."

Tong Xue shook his head at Ban Zhang's deduction. "That was over two weeks ago. The villagers also mentioned that the demonic sect was abducting people to drain them of their qi. Fei Wu could very well be…"

"Does it matter?" Zhu Jiao interrupted. "Fei Wu might be dead, or he might not. But we won't find out until we get in there. If he's still alive, then he needs rescuing. Otherwise, we'll avenge him. Standing around and talking about isn't going to achieve anything."

Tong Xue hesitated, and nodded. Smiling he punched a fist into his palm. "You're right. No point overthinking about it. We'll do the things that we can do. One step at a time!"

"Yeah. And besides…" Zhu Jiao grinned. "I know how tough Fei Wu is. He's not going to die so easily."

*

Zhu Jiao was right. Despite all the torments and excruciating agonies inflicted upon my body, I was still alive, still hanging on. In fact, I was probably in better shape than before.

It took me a day or two to absorb all the qi from the Parasitic Wasp larvae embedded within my flesh and organs, greedily draining the qi from them like a man on the verge of dying from thirst. Completely robbed of their life essences and qi, the larvae broke down and completely decomposed into qi, which I lapped up.

Right now, there was no trace that any of the Parasitic Wasp larvae had ever inhabited my body. While at first I found it difficult to integrate and incorporate their inhuman qi into my own innate qi, I had experience from my time in Sen Lin Forest.

It didn't matter what creature they were. If they were living organisms, that I could consume their qi and make it my own. Of course, it would require some time, but time was something I had in abundance. In between Ba Yun's torture sessions, I would meditate, cultivate and incorporate the foreign qi into my own, assimilating the demonic bugs' qi and making it part of me.

Thanks to that, I was feeling a bit more robust than before. If this was a proper wuxia or xianxia story, I would be listing the breakthroughs or whatever I made, but all those weird realms and stages and levels were meaningless to me. I didn't know how to estimate all those weird stages. What I did know for sure, however, was that I felt better and a bit stronger than before.

Was it enough to make up the difference between me and Ba Yun? I didn't know that. But I also continually purified my qi, to the point that it was highly volatile and I could set off a spark by just rubbing it against the surrounding qi.

"Hu…"

Keeping my eyes closed, I continued to purify my qi, waiting and biding my chance. Not yet…at least, not until…

Boom.

A distant explosion thundered somewhere faraway, but I didn't bother to raise my head and looked around. I was too absorbed in my own cultivation to pay any attention to mundane reality. Besides, I was in quite the predicament right now, and was in no position to pay attention to the troubles of anyone else.

But there's a battle going on…lots of people are fighting…I can sense their qi. I can feel the combat…what's going on? Is the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect under attack? By who?

That didn't matter. The only thing I needed to know was that this was my big chance to escape from here.

"Fei Wu."

Before I knew it, Ba Yun had showed up. I didn't even hear him open the door. The sound must have been drowned out by the explosions and noise of combat.

"We're being attacked by the Martial Arts Alliance. The royal family has finally sent their Imperial Guard after us."

"Heh." I smirked while keeping my head down. "So what do you want me to do? Are you trying to recruit me into the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect?"

"Dream on. As if trash like you will ever be allowed into our great sect."

Sneering, Ba Yun looked down on me with pure condescension.

"I originally planned on taking my time and torturing you today as well, but…duty calls. As one of the elders, my duty is to fight and protect our base from those orthodox sects rubbish."

"Then why are you here?"

"Hmph." Ba Yun snorted, as if he couldn't believe that I had the gall to question him. "To prepare for battle, of course?"

I chuckled. "Really? I thought you just want to slack and run away from duty."

"No, no, no. what do you think I am?"

"A bastard," I replied honestly. "A fucking psychotic bastard who should be rotting in hell."

Ba Yun laughed at that and shook his head. He placed a hand on my shoulder and I immediately felt a burning sensation.

The guy was trying to suck my qi.

"I had a lot of fun, you know. I enjoyed my two weeks with you. It was really fun and amusing to see you struggle, to break you down, to build you back up, and then to break you down again."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," I retorted, my voice dripping heavily with sarcasm.

"But alas, it all comes to an end here. This might be the last time I'll get to see you. I don't doubt that I'll survive this battle, but we might be forced to escape, relocate and find a new base. Obviously, if that happens, I won't be able to bring you along. Or some of the orthodox martial artists might come across this place during the thick of fighting and rescue you. That would be terrible, but I can't stay here to guard you. I am needed elsewhere."

"How terrible indeed."

"So…I've decided. As much as it pains me to, I've decided to end your sorry existence right here and right now. You'll become a part of me."

I said nothing and focused on his hand, resisting the irresistible pull and locking the flow of my qi in place.

"The Demonic Shadow Strike, one of the demonic martial arts that the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect practices, includes a technique that allows the user to suck qi from another person. That's what our leader is using, and that's what he taught us. Thanks to that technique, we're able to rapidly increase our strength. That's why, even after the destruction of the Heaven and Earth Sect and many other demonic sects, the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect is able to rise and grow powerful in such a period of time. The downside is that we had to find a lot of necessary sacrifices, but the outlying villages were perfect for that. With the defenses concentrated in the cities and the capital, the rural villages in the countryside were left vulnerable to attack."

"…"

"Sucking the qi from one common villager might not be efficient. It wouldn't increase our qi by much, and it's not worth the effort. However, sucking the qi from a hundred…from a thousand villagers… now that's going to make a hell lot of difference. It would help us improve our cultivation by leaps and bounds in a relatively shorter time than it takes you so-called orthodox martial artists to raise your realms and levels."

I continued to maintain my silence, even though Ba Yun made a horrible mistake. He thought I was an orthodox martial artist?

Oh, how terribly mistaken he was.

"On the other hand…a single martial artist is worth ten thousand normal villagers."

Ba Yun licked his lips as he strengthened the qi absorption technique, trying to force my qi out of him. He looked perplexed when it didn't work. Ignoring the aberration, he continued to spew his longwinded rhetoric.

"It's also fate that you share the same type of qi and elemental affinity as me, that you use similar techniques as me. I will be able to immediately assimilate your qi and go straight to battle after this, stronger than before!"

"…fate indeed. Except that if you truly believe that I use similar techniques to yours, you're deluded. Our techniques are worlds apart."

"What did you say, trash?"

I didn't reply. Instead of using words, I showed him using actions.

"!!!!!"

Ba Yun's eyes widened when he realized that something was wrong. Even though he was trying to suck my qi, his qi was being absorbed by me instead. The flow of qi reversed and he wasn't able to stem the currents of his qi from surging into me.

"You bastard!" he roared as he forcibly tore his steaming hand away from my shoulder, staggering backward and clutching his fingers. "What did you just do to me?!"

"What, the same thing you tried to do to me, of course."

"You fucker!"

Unamused, Ba Yun stomped forward to hit me, but in a single motion I snapped the cuffs chaining my legs together, broke the chair and leaped forward.

"?!"

Before Ba Yun could respond, I was already twisting my body in midair and landing on top of him. Having left the chains on my handcuffs intact, I wrapped them around his neck and began to squeeze and suffocate him.

"Gah…"

His eyes bulging and his mouth frothing, Ba Yun struggled futilely, but I merely tightened the chains around his neck.

"How does it feel?" I whispered into his ear. "To be in the same position as poor Hu Hai? To be receiving a taste of your own medicine?"

With a surge of strength and an explosion of qi, Ba Yun grabbed me and tore me off his shoulders, hurling me away with a bellow.

"GAAH!"

The chains between my handcuffs snapped, but that didn't matter. I knew the same trick wouldn't work twice. Instead, I just flipped myself in midair and landed gracefully on my feet. Good, even after two weeks of sitting, I could still execute Shadow Steps decently enough.

"Fucking brat…!"

Roaring in fury, Ba Yun glared at me. I cocked my head to the side.

"So it's fine if you do it, but it's not fine if others do it to you, huh?" I snorted in laughter. "Double standards. You called me a hypocrite, but it seems that you're the biggest hypocrite yourself."

"Silence!"

Unhappy about having his faults revealed, Ba Yun bellowed at me. Without waiting for a response, he bounded toward me.

"You're just trash! Fodder! Food for me!"

Drawing his arm back, he delivered a devastating punch, but I merely stepped to the side and dodged it neatly.

"The strong eat the weak! In other words, I eat you! I'm the strong one, you're nothing but trash!"

"So try it," I replied before seizing his arm.

"!!"

Ba Yun tried to wrench his arm free, only to realize that something was amiss. All of his qi was escaping his body through his arm and flowing rapidly into me.

"This…this is…!"

I merely smiled.

"You were talking about that qi absorption technique that your Chinese Parasol Tree Sect had. What was it called again? The Demonic Shadow Strike? I think that was it. A pity, though. It's nothing more than a cheap knockoff of the original Heaven and Earth Absorption technique."

Ba Yun turned pale, even as he fought to pull his arm free, but I kept my grip on his arm, digging my fingers deeply into his flesh. Wisps of qi escaped from his reddening arm, all of them entrapped and sucked into the raging maelstrom of qi that swirled inside my dantian.

"…Heaven and Earth Absorption…?"

"That's right." I grinned. "Shall I demonstrate to you how to use a real absorption technique?"

"How…? This is impossible…"

I sniggered as I increased the rate of absorption. "You always thought that I was an orthodox martial artist, didn't you? But you were sadly mistaken. I'm the successor to the Heaven and Earth Sect, the one tasked with restoring it."

"Heaven and Earth Sect?" Ba Yun repeated, his eyes bulging.

"Yup…and I don't care who the opponent is. Whether you're from the so-called orthodox side or the demonic sect…as long as you get in my way, I'll crush you all."

"You crazy bastard!"

Ba Yun gambled on allowing a massive amount of his qi to surge out of his system in a major explosion. He finally succeeded in dislodging me, and I was forced a few steps back. Coughing and cursing, Ba Yun clutched at his swollen hand.

My grip had been so strong that it actually left deep, red impressions of my fingers into his smoldering arm. Thin wisps of qi continued to escape from his arm and he stumbled backward, heaving and panting.

"You…what are you…? No, how…?"

He swallowed and then shook his head to clear his mind. Suppressing his fear, he studied me intently before his eyes widened in surprise.

"You…when did you reach the Qi Fusion Stage?"

"Qi Fusion Stage?" I shrugged. "Wasn't I always at the Qi Fusion Stage?"

"No, you were at the Qi Essence Stage before. How did you skip the Flowing Qi Stage and reach the Qi Fusion Stage? …just what the hell are you?! You…you monster!"

"Monster? Funny that you're calling me that when you're quite the monster yourself."

Ba Yun seethed as he clutched his swollen, red arm. With a roar, he lunged at me.

"It doesn't matter if you've reached the Qi Fusion Stage! You can never beat a Pure Spirit Stage practitioner like myself!"

I dodged his attack, casually hopping back even as he pulverized the ground and left a crater. Dodging the flying debris, I widened the distance between us.

"You know, I honestly don't care about all these weird stages that you've been talking about since earlier. Qi Fusion Stage, Pure Spirit Stage, Flowing Qi Stage…whatever. All of these have no meanings to me."

Probably in an ordinary martial arts xianxia novel, the cultivators would have to go through tedious, boring step-by-step processes to proceed from one stage to another, and even within those stages, from one level to another. But I didn't know what these weird numbers were. How did you quantify your qi, anyway? How did you estimate how much qi you had just based off sensation or gut feeling alone? How did you know what stage you were?

It wasn't realistic. Not unless they had some weird biological qi measuring device implanted inside their bodies or something.

Not that it mattered. Right now, I was more concerned with the increasingly hostile Ba Yun. Spinning around, he delivered another punch, but I dodged it. Ba Yun then followed with a kick, qi blasting off his foot with frightening impact, but I used Duo to evade it.

"Where did you go?!"

Howling, Ba Yun whirled around to find me, lashing out with his hands. Had I appeared behind him, I might have been caught by that vicious backhand.

But I wasn't behind him.

"Up here."

"?!"

Ba Yun looked up, only to see me planting my foot onto his face.

"Eat this."

It didn't take me more than a millisecond to stabilize myself, and I clashed my purified qi with the potent yin qi that permeated the surroundings. This triggered a volatile reaction that erupted in a supernova of explosive qi.

"GAAAAAH!"

The entire place was consumed in flames. Not just any flames, but black, shadow flames. The fire element being overly imbued with yin qi. The very essence of the shadow or darkness element.

"…"

Even I didn't expect such tremendous power to emerge from the collision between my pure but volatile innate qi and the dreadful yin qi that saturated the surroundings.

…I see.

The basement had seen a lot of death. Many people had died horrible, violent deaths in this cavernous space, and I even witnessed the demise of Hu Shi and Hu Hai themselves. An air of violence had continued to linger here long after the living departed, which gave rise to an intense negative qi that now permeated the atmosphere. With nowhere else to go, the negative, deathly qi had continued to accumulate within this enclosed space, to the extent that it was highly potent yin qi on par with even the most hellish of places.

The laments of the dying, the grudges of the wronged, and the violent deaths of the innocents had all melded together into a demonic atmosphere so saturated with ghostly yin qi that the basement resembled the underworld itself.

At that moment, I was reminded of Grandma Meng and her soup – particularly the power she wielded over the dead.

"GAAAH!"

Thrashing about violently, Ba Yun vengefully emerged from the thick, enormous cloud of smoke and strode forward. Blood streamed down his face and body, severe injuries sustained from taking the full brunt of my Seismic Step. I was actually surprised that he survived my Seismic Step, but I guessed the guy had to be pretty tough if he could make it to the upper echelons of the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect.

"…you…you…"

Shadowy black qi was now blanketing Ba Yun's muscular figure, almost forming a thick spiritual armor that encased his body in mystic protection. Around his hands, the shadowy qi lengthened and sharpened into blades.

"I can do that too."

Raising my hands, I froze the water vapor in the air into dual ice swords and adopted a combative stance.

Ignoring my defiance, Ba Yun was growling incoherently.

"I'll kill you, kill you…kill you! I'll chop you into pieces, cut off all your limbs, and then slowly kill you!"

Snorting, I pointed one of my ice swords at him – the one in my right hand.

"That should be my line." I narrowed my eyes. "Remember what I swore after you murdered Hu Shi and her son?"

The air surrounding me crackled and snapped as it froze, a thick coat of frost materializing from thin air as the temperature plummeted all around me.

"I'm going to fulfil that vow right now."

Chapter end