158 Chapter 157: Intense Battle (1/2)

”Good idea,” Tang Qi Hong agreed with a nod of her head. She glared at the motionless Gray Shadow, and then reached into her pockets to pull her smartphone out. ”I'll call Elder Zhao right away and let him know.”

”Make sure he brings along a contingent of Blood Blades,” I reminded her. It would be good if Tong Xue and Pang Feng showed up as well. They were about the few friends I could trust, or at least I believed I could trust them. To be honest, even if they didn't, I still trusted the other Blood Blades enough to not look over my shoulder when they were behind me.

Paranoia was not a healthy state of mind. Besides, with my Heaven and Earth senses, I didn't need to look over my shoulder to know a sneak attack was coming.

”Still…” with one hand on her smartphone, Tang Qi Hong looked disapprovingly at me and took out a pill from her spatial device. ”Here's an all-purpose antidote. It should suppress the toxins in your body.”

”I don't need it,” I grumbled and held both my hands up. ”Let's just say I cultivate a technique that renders me immune to poison.”

There was also the Hellfire Badger thing, but obviously I couldn't mention that. That was pretty redundant, now that I had Heaven and Earth Formula, so I wondered why I even got it in the first place. Then again, if I didn't have the Hellfire badger's immunity to poison, I would have died with the Hydra's venomous fangs grazed me.

Sometimes Fate had a weird way of working out. Or maybe it was plot armor. Too bad the demon creature consumption thing was entirely based on luck, and most of the times I didn't get anything when I ate magical beasts or demonic creatures. I probably used up all my luck with the Hellfire Badger and maybe the Silverback Wolf. I didn't get anything from the Ghost Bear, Lunar Rabbit, Cobra and other demonic creatures that I ate. Like I said, it was pretty much a lottery, and far too unreliable if I wanted to go around collecting new abilities.

That was good too, it meant I wouldn't devolve into a godlike protagonist with millions of abilities to the extent that even the author lost track of what attributes I gained and most of them never being mentioned again outside pretty niche situations. Plus it would skew the power levels, and what was life if I could go around stomping my enemies as easily as a human on ants?

Tang Qi Hong frowned, but seeing that I wasn't kneeling over and dying from the venom even after so long, she took my word for it and kept the antidote. I watched her, feeling a little curious that she could so casually take an antidote out of her bag.

”Do you always carry an antidote around with you?”

”We are Nine-Tailed Fox Sect inner sect disicples. Of course we carry around lots of different medicines with us.” Tang Qi Hong stared at me as if I had just asked a very obvious question. ”Every Nine-Tailed Fox Sect inner sect disciple carries at least ten or more healing potions and medicines, for sealing wounds, mending internal injuries, neutralizing poisons, etc.”

”…uh, okay.” Why was this beginning to sound like a role-playing game? Or was I the one lacking common sense unique to this world?

”Why don't you have them?” Tang Qi Hong demanded. ”You're from Blood Blades, aren't you? Other than various high-ranking Spirit Armaments, the sect should be supplying you with new Spirit Pills every month to help you cultivate faster as well as healing medicine for injuries sustained during battles. Where are yours?”

”Oh…uh, I didn't take the Spirit Pills for cultivation or antidotes, but now that you've mentioned it…”

I checked my spatial device and saw that I had a supply of healing medicine in them. I had returned the Spirit Pills for cultivation because I was firmly against doping and steroids. Come on, do you seriously believe that bullshit that you can become stronger just from eating specific pills? That sounded highly suspicious to me. I also returned the antidotes because I clearly didn't need them. The Blood Blades administrator accepted my reasons, but insisted that I take the healing medicine, which I did. But I rarely had a reason to use them.

The last time was after I got injured by that Tian Sha Sect bastard and his subordinates in the ancient tomb, right after I tricked them into the Nine Thousand Yin Ice Hell Formation, and I also took a few pills for frostbite after running out of the damned chamber. So to be fair, they were useful. I was just too lazy to go back and retcon those chapters.

As for Spirit Armanents…I relied on the cheap swords because I wanted to forge my own Spirit Weapon. So I naturally refused them, wanting to customize a Spirit Weapon that was mine and mine alone. That was why I hadn't gone and replaced those swords. Well, I ended up acquiring the Azure Lotus Sword a few months ago in the Nascent Soul Stage practitioner's tomb, which was another reason why I couldn't be bothered with requisitioning new Spirit Weapons from the sect. I enjoyed my independence and was pretty proud of it.

Tang Qi Hong seemed to be somewhat aware of that, or perhaps she read my expression, and she sighed in exasperation.

”Are you kidding me?! Don't you know that's the greatest advantage of our sect? Every sect disciple has a great advantage over heir enemies because of the high-quality Spirit Armaments, equipment and medicine that we possess!”

”I do have the healing medicine, though.” I took the Spirit Healing Pills out to show her. Tang Qi Hong twitched, annoyed.

”So where's your Spirit Weapon?”

”Still in the midst of forging it…” there was no way I was going to take out my Azure Lotus Sword, and Tang Qi Hong would recognize that it wasn't a weapon from our sect. there was no deceiving a blacksmith with regard to weapons.

”You said that last month! And the month before then! And are you an idiot? Why can't you borrow a few Spirit Weapons for now, and then return them after you finish forging your current project anyway?”

Now that she said that, I guess it was pretty obvious. Pride had gotten in my way, but to be fair, I never really needed them. I never really believed in the whole ”better quality” of Spirit Weapons in the first place. I subscribed to the school that a weapon was only as good as its wielder – probably a bit too far and too zealously – but I didn't want to inculcate the bad habbit of relying overly on the quality of my weapon. After all, if I could win a match with a lower quality Spirit Weapon, that spoke a lot more about my skills than me being spoiled by Pay To Win mechanics.

And being from a previous timeline, I had an adverse reaction to P2W mechanics. They had no place in gaming. Of course, this was reality and not a game, so I should probably wisen up and not stick dogmatically to that stupid principle, or it might cost me my life someday.

Admittedly, fights between martial artists was not as simple as who belonged to whatever stage or realms. There were many factors involved, such as one's physical constitution, training, and knowledge – if you knew what martial arts your opponent was using, you could probably counter them better than if you were fighting in the dark. Furthermore, the quality of one's Spirit Weapons mattered and could make a huge difference.

I personally experienced that when my sword broke during that last battle in the ancient tomb. If I didn't have my Azure Lotus Sword…

Let's be honest. It did make a difference. If two martial artists of similar strength fought each other, the one with more Spirit Artifacts, or the one whose Spirit Armaments were of a higher quality, would have an advantage. And sometimes, that advantage was more than enough to lead to a decisive difference between life and death, no matter how slight.

Right now, I was practically playing with fire because of my pride.

”I'll think about it,” I muttered as I reflected on my actions. That said, I had acquired a high quality Azure Lotus Sword, so it wasn't as if I was completely helpless or didn't have any high quality Spirit Weapons at all. But I didn't want to say too much regarding that.

”I'm glad you understand.” Tang Qi Hong nodded as she finished reprimanding me. As the premier inner sect disciple of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, she pretty much embraced that concept of possessing an overwhelming advantage over the opponent with higher quality Spirit Armaments. In fact, that was the reason why the Blood Blades were so fearsome – because they were equipped with such high quality Spirit Armaments surpassing anything their opponents owned. That proved decisive in most fights, and sometimes even allowed them to fight on par with stronger enemies. Naturally, their martial arts and combat capabilities were excellent as well – at least my belief in that was not mistaken. If you couldn't wield a weapon properly, then even if you were armed with the highest-quality Spirit Weapon, it would be nothing more than dead weight in your arm.

Blood Blades were powerful not merely because they were armed with the best Spirit Weapons, but also because they knew how to use their weapons to their maximum potential. Instead of focusing on one aspect, I should learn to embrace both advantages that the sect provided.

”Ugh!”

”Trying to escape?”

Hearing the grunt from Gray Shadow, who had finally recovered enough consciousness to get up and tried to flee, Tang Qi Hong immediately diverted her attention back to him. She threw her hand out, and obeying her will, a purple flaming ribbon lashed out and struck the desperately fleeing assassin, grazing his shadows and burning him.

”OOOOOOOW!”

Howling in pain as his body shuddered from the impact, Gray Shadow tried to dodge in midair, but the eerie white bone spear shrieked and struck him from behind. It knocked away the shattered remains of his broken Spirit Armor that still clung pathetically to him and bowled him over, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.

He spun away and knocked the Frost Bone Spear aside, but I had suddenly appeared in front of him using my footwork techniques. Executing Liu, I hooked my foot around his, disrupted his movements, and tripped him over, causing him to fall flat on his face.

”You little…!” he swore, but I stomped on his head, grinding his face against the ground and turning his words into little more than a muffled curse.

”Who are you?” Tang Qi Hong demanded, even though she wisely kept her distance. ”Who ordered you to attack us?”

”We should restrain him,” I suggested, looking around for some rope. Even though I was supposedly one of the Blood Blades, I lacked the armament that they possessed, and only had a bunch of healing medicine and the Azure Lotus Sword and my current project in my spatial device. Hell, my spatial device was my current project, so it didn't count.

”Good idea,” Tang Qi Hong agreed and raised her hand. Her spatial ring lit up and a screen-like barrier that resembled a flowing cloud drifted out of the device and soared toward the sprawled Gray Shadow. Recognizing it as a cage that functioned to trap Gray Shadow inside, I quickly retreated. Like hell would I want to be imprisoned inside that thing with the bastard!

While I did so, I couldn't help but glance at Tang Qi Hong's spatial device. Just how many Spirit Artifacts did she have stored inside that little thing? Then again, I fitted an entire army of over six hundred battle-automata inside my spatial device, so I guess it wouldn't be surprising if Tang Qi Hong had an entire armory stored within it.

I bet she even had the Thallax-class battle puppets and Castellax-class battle-automata she bought from me stored inside her ring. I certainly had my Castellax-class battle-automata stored inside mine, but only two of them were battle-worthy at the moment, so I had no reason to take them out. Besides, Gray Shadow looked as if he was finished.

”Old Black! Help me already!”

As if he realized that too, Gray Shadow suddenly yelled out in a rasping voice.

”What?!”

Tang Qi Hong's beautiful face scrunched up in surprise. I narrowed my eyes, but didn't panic, instead feeling the surroundings with my Heaven and Earth senses. If someone wanted to ambush us, I would be able to detect his killing intent. To be honest, I did suspect that there would be a second assassin somewhere, just in case the first failed.

That was how the Blood Blades usually worked – we had reserves or contingencies in place, a second squad to reinforce the first if they end up being overwhelmed.

”Wu, be careful!” Tang Qi Hong warned, glancing around nervously while staying close to her Cloud Shield. She scanned the people nearby, especially those closest to her, as if expecting them to attack her suddenly.

I understood her anxiety. The Cloud Shield, while formidable, could only protect Tang Qi Hong from one side at a time. If someone was to ambush her from behind or from the sides, the light shield would not be able to fully defend herself from the attack. She would need to react or respond to the ambush directly.

”Don't look at me. I'm not an assassin.”

”This is Nine-Tailed Fox Sect's city. I'm not stupid enough to pick a fight with them here.”

”Me neither.”

The martial artists who caught her eye quickly backed off, raising their hands and showing that they meant no harm. They were just here to watch the show. The bastards couldn't even be bothered to lend a helping hand.

As much as I wanted to memorize their faces (which I could do by recording their faces with the camera function in my glasses), I honestly didn't have time to harbor a grudge and go hunt each of them down to ”take revenge.” I mean, seriously, what was I supposed to do? Beat them or kill them because they refused to help? I wasn't that entitled to think everyone was obligated to help save us, and I understood if they didn't want to get hurt. Besides, it was clear that Tang Qi Hong and I had the matter well in hand.

From the look on Tang Qi Hong's face, though, I could understand why they thought she would attack them. She was like a ticked-off bomb just about to go off, triggered by even the most trivial of matters. Not wanting her to mistake them for Gray Shadow's comrade, they retreated further, clearing the space around us.

Even though many of them were martial artists competent enough to take care of themselves, they kept a distance from Tang Qi Hong and me. Not because they were afraid of us – they were confident of their strengths and skills, especially if they dared to operate in a lawless area like Free Trade Street where fights broke out everyday – but because they were aware of our identities, and were fearful of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, which we were a part of. They didn't want to be relentlessly hunted down by the terrifying Blood Blades.

I paid no attention to them. Instead, my eyes were shut as I intently focused my senses on our surroundings, looking for any sort of anomaly.

That was when I sensed a strange presence coming from below. Worse, it was heading right for Tang Qi Hong!

Bastard!

Swearing inwardly, I used my footwork technique again to reach Tang Qi Hong's side. As soon as I reached her, I immediately stomped my foot on the ground and unleashed my Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula.

Crack!

The ground beneath me instantly froze, ice spreading rapidly over the concrete. The ice quickly spread all over the uneven road, encasing it in solid frost.

However, I could still sense the mass of qi drilling its way upward, smashing out of the rock-solid ground, erupting with the force of a volcano. Realizing just how powerful this new assailant was, I felt a chill run down my spine.

”Watch out! Under you!”

Bang!

The thick layer of ice that I froze over the road immediately shattered and the assassin emerged in a shower of hail. Shrouded by a dense aura of earth-element qi, his imposing figure barreled toward us like a massive boulder flung from a ballista.

I immediately stepped in front of Tang Qi Hong to shield her from the approaching assassin. My spatial device glowed brightly and transformed into a hi-tech shield…well, at least I hoped it looked hi-tech. resembling a gigantic snowflake with six petals, my half-completed Snow Aegis gleamed azure and erected a qi barrier in front of us.

Raising my right hand, I channeled my qi into my Snow Aegis to strengthen the qi barrier that it was emitting.

The black shadow didn't care. He continued charging forward, undaunted by the appearance of a huge shield. He raised his lance, which transformed into a spinning drill, and thrust it forward.

Bam!

”?!”

Despite the massive amount of earth qi crashing into my Snow Aegis with the force of a meteor, the black shadow found himself stopped dead in his tracks. He bellowed as he continued drilling through it as best as he could, but even though he shattered the first layer of qi barriers that formed in front of Snow Aegis with his metallic drill, he was unable to break the second layer of the remaining five.

”What is this?!” he snarled through gritted teeth.

Obviously I wasn't stupid enough to tell him. I just stood silently, firmly holding my ground against his powerful charge. As his tremendous amount of earth-element qi was expended, the black shadow retreated several steps away, glaring at me.

”That's…?”

Tang Qi Hong's eyes widened when she saw my Snow Aegis, recognizing it as the personal project I had been working on for so long. She then frowned.

”I thought you said you hadn't finished forging it.”

”It's not completed,” I told her. ”There are some modifications I wish to carry out, but I haven't found a way to gel them together.”

Tang Qi Hong rolled her eyes. ”Just let me have a look at it later.”

Seeing that this was no time for me to protest, I swallowed my pride and nodded while keeping my attention on Black Shadow. Tang Qi Hong was correct, in a way. If I allowed her to look at my Snow Aegis and helped me finish it earlier, I would be able to bring the full power of its offensive capabilities against our current enemies.

Right now, all Snow Aegis was capable of was defending. If I hadn't been so absorbed in my pride and had my head stuck so far up my ass and actually asked for help, I might have a chance of subduing the two assassins.

Black Shadow scowled and studied me, looking for a way past my Snow Aegis. He realized there was no point attacking from behind, because Tang Qi Hong had the Cloud Shadow protecting our backs. His paths of aggression were limited.

In the end, he decided to go for another frontal attack. Summoning a huge amount of qi, he infused it into his drill and thrust it at us again. By now I had recovered and restored the sixth layer of qi barrier, and withstood his attack without much difficulty.