179 Chapter 178: Entry into the sec (2/2)

”I can show you the documents and all that.” Yin Jing Jing crossed her arms arrogantly. ”If you don't believe me, that's fine. Don't blame me when Lian Rou dumps you later.”

Tong Xue smirked. ”Don't you know? The reason why I love Lian Rou is because she isn't as shallow as that. And if you're so sure of yourself, then you shouldn't mind if I check with her on this matter, right?”

Even if what Yin Jing Jing said was true, Tong Xue was not obligated to help Lian Rou's family. He was in love with her, not her family and her family's potential assets. And there was no benefit to him whatsoever.

Yin Jing Jing panicked when Tong Xue disappeared back into his room to retrieve his smartphone. She began waving her arms frantically.

”No! There's no need! You're right! I must be mistaken! I mixed the matter up with something else! Sorry!”

To be honest, Yin Jing Jing had naively believed that Tong Xue would stupidly believe her over every matter regarding Lian Rou, for his love for the comely inner sect disciple was famous throughout the sect. Thus she had forgotten that Tong Xue was from the Smart Shadow Sect and was intelligent enough to see through her lies.

As such, she had concoted a lie that she based off Spirit Realm, hoping that Tong Xue would buy the story that she had read elsewhere. Unfortunately this was not to be.

”Look, I'll give you and Lian Rou several hundred gold coins if you go persuade Fei Wu to let them in!”

”It's pointless,” Tong Xue pointed out impatiently. ”Even if I convince Fei Wu to let your friends in, he has no authority regarding this matter. You've to bring it up with Lord Lang Xie, or Sect Leader, or at least one of the Great Elders. Fei Wu is just a kid like us. You're deluded if you think the sect obeys his every whim or word.”

”Ugh…”

Yin Jing Jing was on the verge of exploding. Seeing her frustration, Tong Xue sighed heavily and raised both his hands.

”Got it. I'll try talking to him, but no promises, all right? Don't blame me if we fail to get your friends into the sect.”

Clutching his head in despair, Tong Xue shrank out of view and moaned to himself. He recalled how I was currently training in the Blood Blades' Will'O Wisp Forest at the back of Flame Volcano. As I had yet to come out, he wouldn't have the chance to speak to me.

As Blood Blades, Tong Xue was officially granted permission to access the Will'O Wisp Forest at the same time as me, but he was extremely reluctant to return there, especially after the horrendous experiences he suffered while trying to absorb the dense spiritual qi miasma produced by the forest's medicinal herbs and spiritual plants.

”Ugh…this sucks…I really don't want to go to the back of the mountain…”

Groaning, Tong Xue slumped against the wall and buried his face in his hands.

*

”GUOOO!!!”

”Whoa”

I hit the ground, dodging the Horned Dragon's jaws, which snapped shut above me.

The Horned Dragon twisted its serpentine neck around and sought to clamp its jaws around me again, but I used a footwork technique to avoid it. Breathing heavily, I swung out with my Azure Lotus Sword.

Icy qi billowed out of my blade before glimmering with stellar essence.

Heavenly Draconic Meteor Strike – First Celestial Star Stance!

Even though I failed to penetrate the diamond-hard armored scales of the Horned Dragon, my sword strike still dealt a blow with the force of a meteor and caused the massive behemoth to stagger backward. It shook its head groggily, and then turned back to snarl at me vengefully, its claws lashing out in retaliation.

I flipped myself over the claws, twisting my body in midair and then thrusting my Azure Lotus Sword forward.

Heavenly Draconic Meteor Strike – Second Celestial Star Stance!

Like a shooting star, my sword pierced the Horned Dragon's forehead. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but then one of the horns that curled from its skull cracked and broke off, landing on the ground with a soft thump.

”Grr…?!”

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like I had inflicted any lasting damage on the Horned Dragon. Instead, it seemed more enraged than in pain.

Bellowing furiously, the Horned Dragon darted across the forest with a speed and agility that belied its immense size. I was forced to use Duo to evade its charge, and materialized behind it. With a determined yell, I held my Azure Lotus Sword with both hands and swung it downward with all my might.

Heavenly Draconic Meteor Strike – Third Celestial Star Stance!

The powerful blow rocked the Horned Dragon, causing it to sprawl forward when it was caught with its guard down.

The formidable magical beast was quick to recover, however, spinning around to face me with its feral maw snapping uncontrollably. I jumped back, barely staying out of the Horned Dragon's range while simultaneously evading its whip-like tail.

Crash!

Several of the trees were sent toppling over as the Horned Dragon bulldozed its way through with brute force. Squaring myself, I spun about to meet its charge, meeting brute strength with unyielding power.

Heavenly Draconic Meteor Strike – Fourth Celestial Star Stance!

My sword collided with the Horned Dragon's thick skull with the force of a meteor, my blade howling thunderously as the qi blast shrouding it exceeded the sound barrier, sending sonic booms reverberating across the forest. The unyielding blade smashed through the frontal armored scales and pierced the Horned Dragon's face, drawing a large geyser of blood that spurted high into the night sky.

”!!!”

Incredibly, that did not kill the Horned Dragon. Bellowing bestially, the immense demonic creature swiped at me with its claws, and I was forced to parry it. Despite blocking the direct hit, I was sent flying backward, crashing into trees and coughing out blood as my internal organs absorbed the tremendous shock and were ruptured.

”Ugh…!”

I didn't have time to dwell on the pain, however. The Horned Dragon was already surging toward me.

Rolling away, I barely avoided being crushed by the massive weight of the Horned Dragon as it descended upon my position. Jumping to my feet, I deftly delivered a counterattack at the exposed part of its unarmored belly.

Heavenly Draconic Meteor Strike – Fifth Celestial Star Stance!

”GUUOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!”

The Horned Dragon shrieked deeply as it flailed about desperately, blood billowing from the raw, gaping hole in its stomach. I hadn't just stabbed it in the gut, but unleashed a devastating amount of qi into its insides, causing heavy internal injuries. Even if they were fatal, they should be enough to incapacitate the monster.

However, I knew I couldn't afford to underestimate the behemoth. Correcting my stance, I held my sword parallel to the ground and faced the thrashing Horned Dragon.

As I expected, it recovered quickly and charged at me once again.

This time, I met it squarely on its own terms, thrusting my sword forward with a burst of stellar qi. Silver light streaked across the forest and smashed right into the Horned Dragon's head, breaking its other horn and knocking it flat on its back.

Heavenly Draconic Meteor Strike – Sixth Celestial Star Stance.

The Horned Dragon, to its credit, rolled back onto its feet and bounced back quickly. Snarling, but obviously grievously wounded, it darted toward me one last time. A final display of defiance, or staking everything on this attack to achieve its revenge, determined to drag me down to hell with it.

Either way, the Horned Dragon was still a highly dangerous foe, even when fatally injured.

”Huff…”

I drew a deep breath and held my sword with both hands again. Before the dragon could reach me, I swung my sword and unleashed a powerful blast of qi that engulfed it and nearly disintegrated its entire body.

Heavenly Draconic Meteor Strike – Seventh Celestial Star Stance.

The final strike, and thanks to the other injuries I had inflicted on it before, the accumulated damage overwhelmed the Horned Dragon's defenses and it simply ceased to vanish.

Well, most of it, anyway.

Walking toward the remains of the Horned Dragon, I picked up the biggest slab of meat I could find and stored it in my Snow Aegis. I would eat it later, to try my luck and see if I could get anything from it. Unfortunately, I suffered nothing but pain and didn't get any ability from the Horned Dragon, which meant I stupidly ate it for nothing. Oh well. It was pretty much like a gacha. Just because I could consume demonic creatures' meat unprocessed didn't mean I would definitely gain an attribute or ability of the demonic creature. As before, I didn't get anything but pain. I didn't get anything from the Lunar Rabbit, Ghost Bear, Kraken and a bunch of other demonic creatures I had consumed over the years, and I began to avoid it because the pain was just not worth it, especially if the demonic creature didn't have any useful ability.

Of course, I didn't know that at that time, and remaining blissfully unaware, I decided to try my luck (only to suffer for it later). Oh well.

”Well done. Well done!”

Hai Rong strolled into the area, glancing at the remains of the Horned Dragon. If she had seen me pocketing the slab of meat from the Horned Dragon, she gave no indication that she did so, or chose to ignore it.

”Thanks,” I muttered weakly as I staggered toward her. The blow from earlier had been vicious and I was certain that I had suffered heavy internal injuries. Probably broke a couple of ribs, and suffered some shock to my lungs and stomach. I would need to visit the infirmary for a bit, or at the very least rest for the night.

”Don't look so sad. You did well! You actually succeeded in slaying a Horned Dragon! That's a feat very few Blood Blades can claim to have achieved.”

”So did Lord Lang Xie,” I pointed out sourly. ”And he did it in one strike. I needed seven attacks to eliminate that Horned Dragon.”

Hai Rong smacked me across the back of my head.

”Why the hell are you comparing yourself with the vice-commander of Blood Blades? Lang Xie is the strongest martial artist in Nine-Tailed Fox Sect at the moment, on par with, or even surpassing Sect Lady Da Ji! He has decades of experience and cultivation over you! Don't even dream of competing with him, at least for the next five years!”

”Five years?” I repeated incredulously. I thought she would just tell me not to compete with Lang Xie, but she had added a timeframe for some reason.

”Your batch is pretty talented,” Hai Rong admitted. ”Not just you, but even the other disciples from your generation are on course to surpass the older generation, given your current rates of growth. I don't know if it's because of the artificial qi, or because of the resources provided by Wu Ling Academy, or modern technology, but your generation is growing at an unprecedented rate. It won't be long before you guys take over.”

”I'm sure you guys will figure a way to stay on top, given your wealth of experience and wisdom,” I assured her. Hai Rong chuckled.

”You flatter us.” she then beckoned for me to stand up and leave. ”Your training is done for the day. Get those injuries checked in the infirmary. Once you're healed up, we're going to resume training tomorrow.”

”Yes, ma'am.”

As I clambered to my feet and staggered toward the exit of the Will'O Wisp Forest, one of my colleagues rushed past me. We nodded at each other as a greeting, and then he went straight to Hai Rong.

”Instructor Hai, today is the day new members will return to absorb the spiritual qi from the Will'O Wisp fogs. Lord Lang Xie is not around, so we need you to take charge.”

The guy, who I recognized to be Tong Shi, bowed politely and respectfully. Then he turned to glance at me.

”Also, there's a guy called Tong Xue who wants to speak to Fei Wu. He says he has something important to discuss with him.”

”Why are you telling me this?” Hai Rong looked perplexed. ”Do you think Fei Wu requires my permission to talk to his friends or something?”

Tong Shi blinked for a moment, and then shrugged sheepishly.

”Um…I thought you were still in the middle of training.”

”Oh, no. I've just finished.” After assuring him, I bowed to Hai Rong. ”I'll take my leave then, and go speak to Tong Xue while at it.”

”Oh…speaking of Tong Xue…once you're done speaking to him, ask him to come see me.” Hai Rong had a sinister smile on her otherwise motherly face. ”If I recall, it's his turn to train in the Will'O Wisp Forest today.”

Not just him specifically, but all of our new batch. Having just undergone a hellish training regimen myself, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Tong Xue, Pang Feng and the others.

”I'll warn him,” I told Hai Rong, and left the Will'O Wisp Forest as hastily as I could.