"Enhance Armament!"

"…seriously?" Lei Yong Chun slapped his forehead. "Why the f.u.c.k are you ripping off Sword Art Online now?"

"Because the Alicization arc is the best part of an otherwise mediocre series?" I replied. The Incendiary Ifrit Sect disciples quickly reacted, all of them jumping back and withdrawing to a safe distance as they watched me cautiously.

Shin…

Nothing happened.

"Oh, right…" the color drained from my face when I realized what was happening. I had just absorbed the pure yin qi from Ling Qing Zhu and had yet to a.s.similate it. Right now, I was completely vulnerable and unable to execute any qi techniques.

In other words, I was a helpless, sitting duck with no means of fighting back. Or at least no spiritual means of fighting back, anyway. I could always use harsh language.

"You…" one of the Incendiary Ifrit Sect disciples growled when he realized that I had failed to execute any techniques. "Are you making a fool out of us, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d?!"

"No, I wouldn"t dare!" I protested, raising both my hands and shaking my head frantically. Putting my Azure Lotus Sword back in my spatial device, I tried to placate their anger. "Listen to me! I"m not attacking Miss Ling Qing Zhu!"

"What do you think you"re doing? Making an enemy out of the Incendiary Ifrit Sect? I mean, I know they"re a demonic sect, but you"ve got to be crazy, antagonizing so many of them like this!"

It was Nan Ke who spoke up next. She wasn"t paying any attention to what I said, and was shaking her head in disapproval.

"Hmph." Flanked by Qing Xin Xia and the other Green Dragon Sect disciples, Li Chun Long sneered. "Just as I expected from you, Fei Wu. Always getting into trouble. One of these days, you"re going to run out of lives."

"Can you guys stay quiet for a moment and let me explain?!" I snapped. "I"m trying to free Ling Qing Zhu from the ice, not attack her!"

"Why should we believe you?" one of the other Incendiary Ifrit Sect disciples retorted. "We know you"re an ice user."

"Uh, how did you know that?" I didn"t remember using any ice techniques in front of them, but apparently my reputation preceded me.

"You…I remember you! You"re that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Zhu Jiao"s accomplice! Helping him steal the Spirit Treasure Weapon from me after he launched a sneak attack on me!" Jiang Jun Hao poured more oil onto the fire as he jabbed an accusatory finger at me.

"You"re the one who launched the sneak attack, not Zhu Jiao," I shot back, getting a headache as more trouble began to pile up. b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, these guys just wouldn"t leave me alone!

"Hah!" Jiang Jun Hao snorted. "Who"s going to believe a liar like you?!"

What the f.u.c.k?! Who was the liar, dude?!

Unfortunately, Jiang Jun Hao"s fellow Heavenly Way Sect disciples gathered around him, siding with him and reinforcing the Incendiary Ifrit Sect disciples as they surrounded me. I braced myself, getting ready to fight back without qi techniques.

"Stop right there!"

A familiar voice rang out, and Bai Ning Xue and the White Tiger Sect showed up, along with Zhu Jiao. Lightning crackled around them, clashing with the flames emanating from the Incendiary Ifrit Sect disciples. The two groups faced off fiercely.

"We all saw what happened!" Bai Ning Xue declared. "That"s utter bulls.h.i.t! Zhu Jiao took the Spirit Treasure Weapon fair and square! But you"re the one who launched the sneak attack! All of us can testify to that!"

"Ugh…!" Jiang Jun Hao"s face turned pale, but he didn"t back down. Seeing that, Zhu Jiao glowered at him.

"Besides, this is between you and me! Why are you targeting Fei Wu?!"

"Because I happened to be here first," I replied dryly. "Trust me, if you were the one here instead of me, he would have happily looked for any excuse to attack you!"

"b.a.s.t.a.r.d…" Zhu Jiao growled. "If you want a fight, I"ll give you one!"

"Hah!" Looking around, Jiang Jun Hao saw that the two sects – the Incendiary Ifrit Sect and the Heavenly Way Sect – had the White Tiger Sect members outnumbered. Not that Kuang Hu minded. He was grinning gleefully as he prepared for battle. Similarly, Zhu Jiao had allowed his righteous fury to sweep him along with the flow, and was getting ready to fight. Bai Ning Xue and the others looked a little more reluctant, but they refused to back down on their morals. Seeing that his side had the advantage, especially with the Red Phoenix Sect seeming neutral and the Green Dragon Sect more inclined to join him, he grinned. "That doesn"t change the fact that this f.u.c.ker attacked the head disciple of the Incendiary Ifrit Sect!"

"That"s right." Li Chun Long stepped forward. Most of his sect members looked around, not sure what to do – especially Qing Xin Xia, when she saw that Zhu Jiao was on the opposite side – but a significant number of Green Dragon Sect disciples also moved to support him. "We"ll have to make sure justice is served."

"You call this justice?!"

This time, it was a new but familiar voice. Trampling through the door was the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. Tang Qi Hong burst in, her spear already on hand. Following closely were Lian Rou, Tong Xue, and to my surprise, Zi Xiao Ji and her bodyguards, Zhao Shi and Da Ge. Basically, the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect members who I was closest to.

Now that they had shown up, the odds had become a lot more even. The other side still outnumbered us slightly because of half of the Green Dragon Sect stepping in, but they recognized Tang Qi Hong, Zi Xiao Ji, Zhao Shi and Da Ge. Even Tong Xue had some reputation as one of the Blood Blades. They didn"t dare to move carelessly because they knew they would suffer heavy casualties if they forced the issue.

Furthermore, Liang Shao Yang and Hu Mei Er chose to show up too. They maintained a slight distance, Liang Shao Yang"s lip curling to a sneer as he watched me. The guy didn"t harbor a grudge against me, but he didn"t seem very enthusiastic about fighting for me either.

I didn"t blame him. At least he wasn"t going to join the other party and try to drag me down. It would call into question his commitment to the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect if he openly sided with outsiders against someone from his own sect, and threaten his position as the current head disciple (he was currently tied with Tang Qi Hong).

"You guys…when…?"

I was baffled at how they got here, given that I couldn"t find them ever since I began this whole expedition.

"We were the ones who deciphered the Spirit Engravings of the Sea of Fire Spirit Formation outside and decoded them," Zi Xiao Ji explained with a satisfied smile. "Without us, none of these people would have made it in here."

That was true. When I first pa.s.sed through the Sea of Fire, I only saw Lei Yong Chun, Sui Sha Yu, Nan Ke, Li Chun Long and the most elite of disciples. Suddenly, a huge number of normal disciples had flooded into the room, and I was pretty sure they didn"t just waltz through the Sea of Fire or gotten to here through luck alone.

I see. So the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect had deactivated the spirit formation in order to allow everyone to pa.s.s through it.

"If you want to attack our fellow sect member, you"ll have to get through us too!" Tang Qi Hong growled as she stood in front of me protectively.

"That"s right!" Tong Xue grinned.

"Ahem…"

Everyone turned to Feng Tian Yong, who was clearing his throat. He raised a hand, trying not to look too confused.

"I don"t mean to dampen your parade when all of you have your fighting spirits ignited like this, but don"t you think we should listen to what Fei Wu has to say before we all start fighting?"

Finally, someone with some common sense. I breathed a sigh of relief and bowed gratefully to the red-haired guy, who winked at me.

"Tian Yong is right," Nan Ke agreed. "That boy over there was saying that he didn"t attack Ling Qing Zhu. How did she get in that ice then?"

"The Ninety Yin Ice h.e.l.l Formation," I replied. Everyone turned to stare at me.

"But weren"t you the one who inscribed that whatever formation into the chamber?" Jiang Jun Hao insisted. Well, I was, but I wasn"t sure I should admit that. Unfortunately, there was no point lying. Everyone could sense my qi from the Niniety Yin Ice h.e.l.l Formation.

"Yeah, but it was an accident…"

"Like we"ll believe you!" one of the Incendiary Ifrit Sect members shouted.

Nan Ke sighed. "Well, before we start judging anyone, don"t you think the most important thing is to ask the victim herself?"

Another person with common sense. Who would have thought they would come not from the antagonists" sects or the protagonists" sects, but from a neutral sect such as the Red Phoenix Sect. Everyone realized that Nan Ke had an excellent point and fell silent.

"Wait…"

Everyone turned to Ling Qing Zhu. This whole time, she had tried to speak up, but weak from being ravaged by the pure yin qi, she was unable to project her voice, and everyone"s shouting and squabbling had drowned her out. She looked sternly at her fellow sect members.

"Sir Fei Wu was indeed trying to free me from the ice before you all came in. he"s the one who saved my life."

"Huh? Saved your life?! How?!"

The Incendiary Ifrit Sect members stared at her in disbelief. Ling Qing Zhu merely shook her head, looking weary.

"It"s a long story, and not something I want to elaborate on right now. Could you just help me out?"

"Sure thing."

Tang Qi Hong was the first to approach her, using her Nine-Tailed Fire Fox Formula to melt the ice. It took a while because of the Ninety Yin Ice h.e.l.l Formation still engraved within the chamber, but Zi Xiao Ji, Lian Rou and Tong Xue deciphered and destroyed the Spirit Engravings that I made, which made it easier.

And finally, Ling Qing Zhu was freed. She turned to Tang Qi Hong, an odd expression on her pretty face.

"So you"re the one."

"Huh?" Tang Qi Hong blinked, bewildered by her statement. Ling Qing Zhu smiled gently, and shook her head.

"Never mind, it"s nothing." She placed a hand on Tang Qi Hong"s shoulder before walking away to join her fellow sect disciples. "You"re really lucky. You should treasure what you have."

"Huh? What?"

"Oi," I growled. "Don"t act like the cla.s.sical spurned heroine!"

It sounded like Ling Qing Zhu had fallen for me just because I helped her out a bit. What bulls.h.i.t. If only it was that easy to get someone to fall for you!

Then Ling Qing Zhu turned to me, and I realized I had misunderstood. She was smiling, not sadly or pitifully, but because she was genuinely impressed. She didn"t develop a crush on me or fell for me. She just learned something invaluable from this encounter, and she was simply thankful for that.

"I"ll make sure to repay you in future, for saving my life."

"You don"t have to!" I hollered. Then I turned to her sect mates. "Your senior is being ravaged by pure yin qi at the moment, so you should bring her back to your sect as soon as possible and ask your masters to help her out."

"What? Is that true?!"

They turned to Ling Qing Zhu, who nodded.

While she conversed with her fellow sect disciples and filled them in on what had happened, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"You absorbed the Nascent Soul Heart?!"

There were gasps from the Incendiary Ifrit Sect, and they were staring at their senior in amazement. Ling Qing Zhu winced and nodded.

"But I got careless…if it weren"t for Sir Fei Wu, I would have died from the excessive yin qi freezing my body from the inside."

"I see…" Lei Yong Chun nodded as he glanced around the empty stone hall, and chuckled. "Indeed, from the looks of it, the Nascent Soul Heart has certainly already been taken."

"You were all too late," Ling Qing Zhu replied softly, trying to sound modest. "And maybe it would be a good thing too, or you would end up like me."

The elite disciples took note of Ling Qing Zhu"s current predicament and nodded in understanding, their expressions grave.

"You almost got burned from playing with fire," Sui Sha Yu remarked. "You should have been more patient, my dear."

"I will take the lesson to heart," Ling Qing Zhu promised indifferently. "But for now I"ll have to approach Master to ask her for a.s.sistance regarding suppressing the rampaging pure yin qi. If Sir Fei Wu did not siphon some of it away, I"m afraid my life would be in great danger."

"Your life is still in danger," Lei Yong Chun pointed out as he studied her, his expression serious. "You ought to hurry."

"Still, you benefited from it quite a bit," Jiang Jun Hao added with a smile. "Your qi has certainly increased."

Ling Qing Zhu did not deny that, and Jiang Jun Hao smiled. Even though he was putting on a magnanimous appearance, I could detect a trace of bitterness barely concealed beneath his cheerful surface.

"The fact that Miss Ling Qing Zhu was able to obtain the Nascent Soul Heart is evidence that she is extremely competent. Although the Nascent Soul Heart will offer us a chance to potentially attain the Nascent Soul Stage, the three of us do not mind if you have taken it. After all, even without it, our advancement to the Nasecnt Soul Stage is only a matter of time."

Wow, pretty confident, aren"t you?

"Then I"ll express my tremendous grat.i.tude to Sir Jiang Jun Hao for your generosity," Ling Qing Zhu responded graciously. Jiang Jun Hao swallowed as he watched her beautiful face, the desire in his eyes burning brighter than before.

"I guess we can leave now," I muttered. Tang Qi Hong and the others nodded, and we made to leave, with Zhu Jiao and the White Tiger Sect following closely.

Unfortunately, our troubles were far from over.

"Wait a moment!"

My heart sank when I heard Jiang Jun Hao shout out. I gritted my teeth and spun around irritably, along with Zhu Jiao and the rest.

"Now what?" I couldn"t help but snap.

"You"ve s.n.a.t.c.hed my Heavenly Way Sect"s Spirit Treasure Weapon. Do you really think you can just walk away like that?"

"Uh, what?" Zhu Jiao sneered. "What the h.e.l.l are you blabbering about? Since when does the Spirit Treasure Weapon in this tomb belong to the Heavenly Way Sect? If that"s the case, are you saying everyone has to hand over the treasures they obtained over to your sect?"

"Brat, don"t try to argue! I obtained that Spirit Treasure Weapon first, but you launched a sneak attack on me to s.n.a.t.c.h it away!" Jiang Jun Hao growled.

"We"ve been through this already," Bai Ning Xue replied coldly, her eyes as glacial as the Arctic Circle. "We can testify that you"re lying. You"re the one who tried to s.n.a.t.c.h the Spirit Treasure Weapon from him after he obtained it."

The Heavenly Way Sect faced off against the White Tiger Sect as the two groups clashed, sparks flying between them. It still hadn"t erupted into a full-blown fight yet, but the atmosphere was so tense that even a single word would be able to drown the burial chamber in an inferno of conflict.

"If I may…"

Liang Shao Yang cleared his throat. This was the first time he actually spoke up, and everyone turned to look at him curiously.

"There is on way to resolve this peacefully." He turned to me, his gaze hard and unyielding. "By my authority as the head disciple of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, I order you to hand over the Spirit Treasure Weapon, apologize to Jiang Jun Hao and the rest, and we"ll drop the matter."

"Since when did you become the head disciple?!" Tang Qi Hong snapped. "And you have no right to tell Fei Wu what to do!"

"Oh? Are you challenging my authority?"

Liang Shao Yang met Tang Qi Hong"s glare evenly, a cold, towering iceberg withstanding the superheated rage of an inferno. For a few tense seconds, it seemed that the conflict might erupt between members of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect instead.

"Um…" Jiang Jun Hao sounded almost embarra.s.sed when he raised his hand, probably because he was the root of the misunderstanding. "The person who stole my Spirit Treasure Weapon isn"t Fei Wu. It"s Zhu Jiao."

The astonished expression on Liang Shao Yang was so hilarious that I actually burst out laughing. Zhu Jiao joined in, and then everyone else as well. Zi Xiao Ji dropped to her knees, clutching her stomach, while Tong Xue was literally rolling on the ground as he howled in laughter. The hysterics spread over to the other sects, and other than the embarra.s.sed Liang Shao Yang, the sheepish-looking Heavenly Way Sect and the dignified Ling Qing Zhu, everyone was roaring with laughter. Even Lei Yong Chun cracked a smile and chuckled uncontrollably. Beside him, Hu Mei Er guiltily covered her face as she turned around and giggled.

"By the way," Zhu Jiao told Liang Shao Yang. "I"m not from your sect, so you don"t have the authority to order me to do anything, if that"s what you"re planning."

Liang Shao Yang"s face stiffened. "I never intended to do that."

"Besides," Zi Xiao Ji added. "If you really are the head disciple, what are you doing, siding with outsiders over people from your own sect? Aren"t you being a disgrace to our sect?"

"I was just trying to be fair and impartial," Liang Shao Yang muttered, but he ended up digging a deeper grave for himself.

"Fair and impartial? Even though my sect and I, and many others have provided testimony to the contrary?" Bai Ning Xue had turned her icy glare on Liang Shao Yang now, and the latter shrank back. "Are you questioning our integrity?"

"I dare not offend Miss Bai Ning Xue and the White Tiger Sect," Liang Shao Yang hastily replied. "I apologize if I have. I clearly have not thought things through before I spoke."

That sly b.a.s.t.a.r.d…even if he was a scheming antagonist who tried to plot my downfall, he had quite the glib tongue and was tactful enough to worm his way out of the mess he sank himself into. The guy was quick-witted, I had to give him that.

At least the guy didn"t do something as cliché as try to oppress us with his overwhelming qi aura or something. It was one h.e.l.l of a contrived way to create antagonists and enemies…that said, Liang Shao Yang was already an antagonist, so whatever.

"Well, if there"s nothing then, we will leave first."

Shooting a look of scorn at the Heavenly Way Sect, Zhu Jiao then turned to leave. The White Tiger Sect made sure to stand between him and them until he was out of the exit, and then they followed him out as well.

"Since there"s nothing left in the burial chamber, we might as well go too," Zi Xiao Ji suggested. Tang Qi Hong nodded.

"That makes sense."

The Nine-Tailed Fox sect took their leave as well, with Liang Shao Yang and Hu Mei Er lingering behind to do their own thing…I doubted they were shameless enough to collude with the other sects behind the backs of their fellow sect disciples.

But you would never know.

"Hey, bro!" Tong Xue threw an arm around my shoulders as we walked out of the burial chamber and into the empty s.p.a.ce where the illusionary Sea of Fire used to be. "Sorry for coming late, but I"m a little behind. What"s going on? What Spirit Treasure Weapon did Zhu Jiao obtain, to make that Jiang Jun Hao b.a.s.t.a.r.d so salty?"

"The Heavenly Golden Draconic Gauntlets," I replied. Tong Xue"s eyes widened when he heard that.

"What?! No wonder that Jiang Jun Hao idiot was so desperate, to the point where he was making up lies and contriving any excuse to attack Zhu Jiao and s.n.a.t.c.h it away from him. Amazing…to think Jiao got his hands on that…"

"What about you guys?" I asked. "Why were you so late? When Zhu Jiao and I arrived, I couldn"t find you anywhere."

"Oh, we had things to do before we came here," Zi Xiao Ji replied. Da Ge nodded genially and continued for her.

"We had a mission before this, so we went and accomplish that before we came. It was sort of related, anyway…since the rewards were exploration gear."

"They turned out to be pretty useful, especially when it came to a.n.a.lyzing Spirit Engravings and spirit formations," Zhao Shi added.

I nodded in understanding. To see the Spirit Engravings and mystical patterns of the spirit formations, I had relied on my gla.s.ses to spot and a.n.a.lyze the patterns, and even record them like I did for the Nine Thousand Yin Ice h.e.l.l Formation. Otherwise I would never have been able to replicate a miniature version to use against Ling Qing Zhu.

"I hope we aren"t too late, though," Lian Rou said worriedly. "By the time we arrived, most of the vaults have been emptied out and the treasures taken."

"I"m sure we"ll find more treasures lying around," Tong Xue a.s.sured her. "The ancient tomb is pretty big, after all. I doubt the whole thing has been explored within such a short time."

"Yeah! Don"t give up hope!" Tang Qi Hong punched the air. Then she turned toward me. "Who was that beautiful girl back then? She seems familiar, but I don"t think I have ever met her before."

There was a wariness in her voice that I wasn"t comfortable with, so I moved quickly to placate her. "She"s Ling Qing Zhu, from the Incendiary Ifrit Sect. It was as you heard. She recklessly absorbed the Nascent Soul Heart and was almost overwhelmed by the pure yin qi. I had to freeze her and absorb some of the qi to prevent her from dying."

"That"s all you did?"

"That"s all," I confirmed. Tang Qi Hong stared at me suspiciously for a moment, and then she nodded, as if to say she trusted me.

"Hmph, don"t worry. Most people call Fei Wu a beta male or a p.u.s.s.y. He doesn"t have the guts to **** a girl or have s.e.x with her even if she throws herself at him."

Tong Xue chuckled, evidently having read the comments of readers, particularly self-styled alpha males who only thought with their lower halves instead of using their brains and considering the moral and emotional consequences of such perverse actions.

"That"s not what I"m worried about!" Tang Qi Hong snapped. Then she hesitated and reached out with a hand.

I stared at her hand for a few seconds, not comprehending.

"Your gla.s.ses!" Tang Qi Hong hissed impatiently. "They"re broken! And you"ve done quite a messy job of repairing them. Hand them over. I"ll fix them for you."

"Oh." Sighing in relief, I took my gla.s.ses off and pa.s.sed them to Tang Qi Hong, who, true to her reputation as a prodigy in smithing and Spirit Engraving, began repairing my broken gla.s.ses skillfully while walking at the same time.

Man, she really was amazing, wasn"t she? That"s why I refuse to betray her.