"Hmm?" Tang Qi Hong glanced in my direction, and her eyes widened when she saw the sparks flying from my "product" in a violent manner, filling the s.p.a.ce with a golden conflagration. "You idiot! Didn"t I tell you to be careful when measuring and mixing the two qi crystal powder?! Why did you use too much?!"

"I was sure I only used two grams of each," I muttered, but it was pointless making any excuses and trying to defend myself when the stuff was right about to blow. I watched the growing conflagration with trepidation. "What should I do?"

"You should get out of here!" Tang Qi Hong turned toward the door. "Grab the remaining qi crystals and leave the workshop! Or we"ll get caught in the blast!"

I knew why she wanted me to grab the qi crystals. If I left them where they were, they would get caught up in the explosion and blow up too, leading to a volatile chain reaction that woulde demolish this entire area of Flame Volcano.

However, I was reluctant to leave my workshop to destruction. I had a lot of stuff in here, especially products that I had worked on. And I didn"t want to have to go through the trouble of procuring new tools and equipment, even if the sect was willing to give them to me and pay for the damages. Not only would I cause trouble for the sect, the administrative process was a long and tedious one (requiring a lot of waiting), the elders would just tell me to focus more on martial arts, and I would get my blacksmithing rights revoked.

Not that I had many blacksmithing rights in the first place, but…

"What if I freeze them?"

"Huh?!" Tang Qi Hong spun around to glare at me. "What are you talking about?! Your ice techniques wouldn"t be able to stop the power of the explosion! Get out of here before you get killed or seriously hurt!"

Even though I didn"t intend to ignore her, I was focusing my icy qi into the glowing qi crystals (or their powdered form, rather) and enveloping them in ice. As Tang Qi Hong warned, my frost technique was insufficient to stop the expanding firepower of the explosion, and I could see the layers of ice cracking immediately, unable to endure the blast.

Oh, gosh. I didn"t expect 4 grams of 2 different types of powdered qi crystals to produce an explosion this powerful. I briefly wondered how much more powerful it would be if I was to use a hundred grams of qi crystals for my Spirit Bombs.

Provided I survived this, of course. At this rate, I would most likely get killed by my own failed experiment before I could succeed in creating a working product.

No choice then…

I desperately grasped for that feeling that I experienced when fighting Liang Shao Yang. The pinnacle of Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula, one that surpa.s.sed all other ice techniques. An ice so cold that it defied the laws of physics and warped reality itself.

Absolute Zero.

I didn"t just freeze the explosion and entomb it in fragile ice. Instead, I froze the very particles in the qi crystals, leeching all the heat and kinetic energy that caused the particles to vibrate and stopped them cold. Literally. Not just at the level of cold, but totally stopped the particle movement at the molecular level.

To my surprise, I actually succeeded. The particles stopped moving, and the explosion diminished. Sighing a breath of relief, I began breaking the frozen crystals apart and dividing them quickly to prevent another volatile reaction, while maintaining their frozen state.

"…eh?"

Tang Qi Hong had sensed the burst of frosty qi and the sudden drop in heat energy. Being a user of fire techniques, she was naturally more attuned to the change in temperature and sensitive to heat. Therefore, when the explosion was stopped, she realized it immediately. Curious, she stepped back into the workshop to gape at me.

"What did you do?" she demanded, almost in awe.

"I stopped the explosion," I replied simply.

"I know that!" Tang Qi Hong snapped. "How did you do it?"

Shrugging, I showed her the frozen crystals of the qi pwder. Tang Qi Hong stared at me.

"Your ice techniques are on a totally different level," she remarked, shaking her head. "I honestly can"t think of anyone more powerful than you with regards to ice techniques. I know you learned Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula from our sect, but that alone shouldn"t have allowed you to attain this level in such a relatively short time."

Tang Qi Hong was more correct than she knew. The only reason why I was able to improve my Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula and reach such a high level was because I had combined it with the Yuan Yin portion of my Heaven and Earth Formula. Mastering that part had allowed me to purify my frosty yin qi to an insane level, and it had a tremendous effect on my other ice technqiues. Sort of like a buff, if I were to use game terms.

"Sorry about that. I"ll be more careful next time."

As I broke the qi crystals apart and ground them into powder again, I apologized for giving Tang Qi Hong a scare.

"It"s fine." Tang Qi Hong sighed. "Everyone makes mistakes. But we can"t afford to slip up here, because a single small miscalculation will lead to a dangerous explosion. I don"t think either of us would have survived if you didn"t manage to stop that."

I lowered my head sheepishly and nodded. I couldn"t keep relying on my Absolute Zero to save us. I ought to be more careful when handling such materials. Again, I was reminded of why I was destined to never be a blacksmith. I just didn"t have the capacity for exact measurements or a feel for practical, hands-on work.

I was always more of a theory guy. Then again, I managed to make it this far with my martial arts, so I guess rather than theory, I was just good at some things and bad at others. I was aware that many readers were upset that I wasn"t a perfect Mary Sue who excelled at everything – somebody complained that I wasn"t an expert alchemist, and another whined about how lame I was when I failed to master blacksmithing, as if it was so easy. Hey, I was good at martial arts and studying. Wasn"t that enough? Why did I have to become a master alchemist or blacksmith as well? I wasn"t some unprecedented genius who exceled at everything I dabbled in.

Sometimes, people had the most ridiculous and unreasonable expectations.

"Okay, let"s try again."

Rubbing my forehead, I proceeded to dismantle and rea.s.semble the qi crystals. This time, I made sure to measure the exact amount. Using my gla.s.ses, I managed to check the precise quant.i.ty of qi powder rather than just estimating. I mean, I did that earlier, but apparently I was off by 0.2 grams or something. Just that small decimal place made a lot of difference.

Who would have thought? Good thing I wasn"t a math major. All these numbers and decimal places were driving me crazy. I was okay with calculus, algebra and trigonometry, admittedly, but everything else from matrices to integration to differentiation confused the h.e.l.l out of me. That was why I ran off to the humanities.

Speaking of which, why am I even trying to build a Spirit Bomb in the first place?

Well, the simple answer was because I could. Actually, it seemed that I couldn"t, which was why I ended up asking Tang Qi Hong for help. But it was fun, you know? Who wouldn"t want to build a bomb, especially one that was basically on the level of a nuke? Imagine if we had access to nukes in this martial arts world.

That would be insane!

After a few hours of experimenting and a.s.sembling, Tang Qi Hong called it a day.

"I don"t think we"ll be able to finish. And since the process of building such a weapon is so dangerous, it"s best that you don"t overexert yourself and lose focus. I need you in top shape if you want to keep going. So make sure you rest."

"Yes, Qi Hong." I saluted somewhat flippantly as she gave me instructions. She rolled her eyes in disapproval.

"All this trouble for a one-use Spirit Weapon? I don"t see the point. Why are we investing so much time, energy, effort and resources into a Spirit Weapon that can only be used once?"

"Well, once we refine the process and find out the correct way to build it, it won"t take as much time, energy and effort," I a.s.sured her. "And it probably shouldn"t require as much resources. Most of that is being taken up by our…uh, lack of success so far. Once we find the right method, I"m sure it"ll be much easier."

"I hope we find it soon," Tang Qi Hong moaned. "Right now we need to find a way to build a successful containment field, one that"s strong enough to keep the qi powder in a stable condition. Otherwise the d.a.m.ned thing will detonate prematurely, or blow up when we"re moving it from place to place."

I had heard Tang Qi Hong mention that earlier, while we were busily working on the sh.e.l.l of the Spirit Bomb, and nodded judiciously.

"We"ll find a way," I promised. Tang Qi Hong smiled wryly.

"I"m sure we will. I just hope it"ll be worth all this." she turned to leave my workshop, and I accompanied her, because I was heading toward my dorm. Escorting her partway, I stopped right at the place where we were going to part.

"I"ll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah. Stay safe." Tang Qi Hong waved at me before she disappeared in the direction of her private villa. I watched her vanish from view before I resumed my journey back toward the Blood Blades dormitory.

"??"

Suddenly there was a chime from my smartphone, and I retrieved it from my pocket on reflex. There was a notification on the screen, informing me that I received a text message from Tong Xue. Frowning, I tapped the app and expanded across the screen.

"Be careful, my friend! From the intelligence department in Blood Blades, we"ve discovered a few things."

Using my thumb and fingers, I quickly typed a reply on the touch-screen.

"What did you find out?"

The reply came almost immediately. Most likely Tong Xue was holding onto his smartphone at the moment. Since it wasn"t his shift, I guessed that he was probably lying on his bed in his dorm room, resting or slacking off.

"Divine Shadow Sect"s Blood Shadow has infiltrated Tushan City. Apparently he killed a couple of guards and gave the rest of them the slip. We"re trying to locate him right now."

"I should help," I typed in reply. The response was immediate.

"No."

Before I could reply, Tong Xue was sending another reply. I was formulating a response that included an argument on why I should help when his next message appeared. Sighing, I abandoned my efforts momentarily to read what he had to say.

"Blood Shadow"s target is you. From what we"ve gathered, he is far more powerful and terrifying than Gray Shadow and Black Shadow combined. I know that you"ve defeated Black Shadow, but Blood Shadow is several times stronger than him."

Well, I kind of expected that. However, I wasn"t going to just sit around and let the Blood Blades protect me. I was one of the Blood Blades myself, and I was more than happy to take the fight to the enemy if I had to.

I was about to express that intention to Tong Xue, but his next reply came in pretty quickly. d.a.m.n, but he was a fast typist.

"So don"t let your guard down. It seems that Liang Yang Zu has prioritized your death because he wants revenge for you killing his son."

"Bring it on," I muttered under my breath as I lowered my smartphone. Glancing into the distance, I frowned and tried to reach out with my qi senses. Despite my Heaven and Earth sense, I couldn"t detect any hostile presence.

It was only natural. The Nine-Tailed Fox Sect was heavily guarded by Blood Blades, the most powerful martial artists in our sect. Unlike the guards posted to the gates, who were more often than not lower-ranking warriors, the sect grounds themselves were protected by veterans and experienced professionals of Blood Baldes.

Even Blood Shadow would find it difficult to break into the sect proper.

"Normally, I would say that it is best if you leave Nine-Tailed Fox Sect immediately, but…I don"t think that"s possible. We"ve also received alarming news regarding the Martial Arts Alliance. Apparently, Divine Shadow Sect isn"t the only one attacking us. Dark Asura Sect, the Seven Valley Sects, and Cloud Sky Mountain are all scheming against Nine-Tailed Fox Sect."

"What are they scheming?" I typed in response, even though I was sure I knew the answer. There could only be one reason why they were scheming against us.

"In the future, they will most likely combine forces and attack Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. That"s why we"re readying for war."

"…"

I took a deep breath, weary and wary. This was just getting better and better. Not only was a renowned a.s.sa.s.sin sent after my head, the sect was going to be attacked and surrounded by enemies. Oh, yay.

"What is the Imperial Guard going to do about it?" I replied silently, my fingers flying over the touch keyboard. After sending that, I immediately sent a second message. "Surely the royal family isn"t going to let them do what they please?"

"Apparently they"re requested to remain neutral. The Martial Arts Alliance is formulating a legitimate reason to attack us, which would force the royal family to withhold their Imperial Guard and forbid them from acting."

d.a.m.n…what sort of legitimate reason could they come up with? Ironically, I was unaware of it at that time, but it was some poor excuse about us harboring weapons of ma.s.s destruction, which they knew we didn"t have.

But what they didn"t know was that I was about to build those very weapons of ma.s.s destruction to fend off their invasion. Karma had a way of biting those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds in the a.s.s sometimes.

"Well, the royal family will most likely sort out the legalities and come to our aid…eventually, but you know how all this bureaucratic red tape and nonsense go. It might take months before they are finally able to move."

By that time, it would be too late for Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. Not unless we were able to hold out against a ma.s.sive siege from almost a dozen different sects.

Welp, there was nothing I could do about it, so I headed back to my room, jumped into bed and fell asleep, all the foreboding thoughts pushed to the back of my mind. There was no use worrying about it, not unless I had enough strength to destroy several sects by myself (with Blood Blades" help, I mean). For now, I had best focus on finishing those Spirit Bombs I was trying to craft. If I wasn"t mistaken, they might be the only hope Nine-Tailed Fox Sect had of surviving.

At least there was a single good thing that happened that night. When I dropped onto bed, I suddenly received a social message notification. Apparently Elder Tie had posted on Facebook a couple of photographs regarding the Spirit Weapons he was forging for the Ling Sisters. He was showing off the Fire Demon Stone, Water Spirit Jade and Water Fluorite that he had his a.s.sistants bring, and t.i.tled the alb.u.m "Work in Progress."

Dude…shouldn"t you be working on forging those Spirit Weapons instead of taking pictures and uploading them on social media?

Despite the reprimanding thought that ran through my mind, I couldn"t help but smile wryly as I dropped my head against my pillow and swiped the screen of my phone to black it out.

*

Within the main sect hall at the peak of Flame Volcano, the next day, Sect Leader Zi Shou De, his wife Sect Lady Zi Da Ji, the six Great Elders, the dozens of inner sect elders including the Chief Elder Hai Mo, Blood Blades" Lang Xie and Hai Mo"s wife, Hai Rong, had all gathered within it. If I had seen the scene, I would have likened it to the senate in the Star Wars prequels.

Sect Leader Zi rose from his seat to call attention to him. Everyone stopped talking and whispering and focused on his distinguished figure.

"The reason why I"ve gathered everyone here today is to explain the current situation. Simply put, we"re in quite the crisis this time. That"s why I need to brief and update you on what"s going on now, and discuss what we will do going forward." he glanced at Hai Rong and tilted his head respectfully in her direction. "Mrs. Hai, please."

Everyone"s eyes swiveled around to Feng Rong, who stood up and nodded before she launched into her briefing.

"We"ve gained the upper hand ever since we"ve begun the war against Divine Shadow Sect." She smiled. "Blood Blades have killed over eighty-seven martial artists from Divine Shadow Sect outside Tushan City. In contrast, our casualties only number six."

Her expression was full of pride. This was practically a one to fifteen kill ratio, which was extremely impressive. It also ill.u.s.trated why Nine-Tailed Fox Sect was one of the eight major sects, and why Divine Shadow Sect was not ranked among them.

The six Great Elders and the dozens of inner sect elders were all nodding in approval.

"If it was just Divine Shadow Sect alone, we believe that Blood Blades will be able to defeat them easily. Even if Di Shi Ju and Liang Yang Zu personally lead from the frontlines, they still will not be able to overturn their loss."

It was at this point when Hai Rong faltered somewhat, and her bright eyes began to cloud over with worry.

"But recently, Dark Asura Sect and Cloud Sky Mountain have also gradually stopped trading with Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. Many of their lower-ranking martial artists have also evacuated from Tushan City. I fear this is a sign of things to come."

The moment she said that, the elders" expressions all changed.

"Blood Blades have discovered that the seven Valley Sect Leaders have been meeting more frequently recently. They are discussing highly cla.s.sified matters. It"s not just them. Even the demonic sects are on the move. From the river to our east, there has been quite a bit of movement, with what seems like an armada being a.s.sembled."

"The demonic sects?" the second great elder echoed. "Who?"

"Incendiary Ifrit Sect."

The great elders all sank back against their seats, looking as if they had aged decades.

"Why?" the third great elder murmured weakly.

"Isn"t it obvious?" the first Great Elder, Luo Zhi Chang, was bitter. "Fei Wu"s appearance has caused many people to feel uncomfortable. They"re worried that Nine-Tailed Fox Sect will grow much stronger and become harder to deal with in future. Already we"ve a fair amount of autonomy and independence even within the Martial Arts Alliance. The people in charge are afraid that we will become powerful enough to break away from them and declare our own independence. The other seven major sects are worried that we will surpa.s.s them and become a superpower ranked above them. With the promise Fei Wu has displayed so far, it"s looking likely that he will lead Nine-Tailed Fox Sect to heights previously unimagined."

Dude, you"re giving way too much credit. I was just one guy. There was a limit to what I could do on my own. And I had no intention of leading Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, in any case.

Unfortunately, n.o.body bothered to ask what I wanted. The sects attacking us just made their a.s.sumptions on their own. And admittedly, it wasn"t unreasonable that they wouldn"t believe me if I told them the truth.

"Furthermore, Nine-Tailed Fox Sect has grown stronger over the years, especially recently. Blood Blades" strength has also caused a lot of people to become wary of us." The fourth great elder added heavily.

"Not only that, Divine Shadow Sect"s swift defeat and eighty-seven casualties have cemented that fear of us," Hai Rong agreed. "Even though Divine Shadow Sect isn"t one of the eight major sects, their power is not to be underestimated and they are still ranked pretty highly. So when we crushed them so overwhelmingly…"

"A lot of people started getting more afraid of us," Sect Leader Zi concluded, and Hai Rong nodded silently.

"If the ten or so sects join forces, will our Nine-Tailed Fox Sect be able to handle their attack?" Sect Lady Zi Da Ji asked.

Her husband, the six Great Elders, and even Hai Rong smiled bitterly when they heard her question.

The answer was obvious.

To be honest, Nine-Tailed Fox Sect could destroy Divine Shadow easily by itself. Even if they allied with Dark Asura Sect, the two sects were still no match for Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. never mind them, even if the Seven Valley Sects combined forces, Nine-Tailed Fox Sect might just barely be able to fight against the seven of them.

But ten sects? If all ten sects decided to invade Nine-Tailed Fox Sect together, there was no chance of victory. And that wasn"t even taking into account the suspicious movements of the demonic sects such as Incendiary Ifrit Sect.

"Are they really attacking us because of Fei Wu?" the fifth Great Elder lamented. "That makes no sense. They didn"t move when Liang Shao Yang showed up, but now they decided to attack us when Fei Wu triggered the response from three Spirit Engraved Pillars?"

"You know as well as I do that they"re merely using Fei Wu as an excuse," Luo Zhi Chang pointed out. "The Martial Arts Alliance have always coveted our sect and resources for a very long time. It was only a matter of time before they act to curtail our independence and autonomy and destroy us. They"re just making up excuses to legitimize their claim. What weapons of ma.s.s destruction? Anyone sensible will know that they"re just spouting bullc.r.a.p!"

"But that bulls.h.i.t is enough to stop the royal family and Imperial Guard from aiding us," Sect Leader Zi muttered warily. "I"ve spoken to his highness, and he says it"ll take his legal team some time to work through the technicalities. But once they find a loophole or flaw, they will immediately move to act, and they"ll take our side."

"That"s good to know," Sect Lady Da Ji said dryly. "Except that they"ll need months to do that and pa.s.s the motion in court. Unfortunately, I don"t think we have months."

"We"ll do our best," Hai Rong promised. "We will turn this into a siege, and Tushan City is a fortress. We"ll hold them off for a year if we need to. Hopefully by then the Imperial Guard will be able to reinforce us."

"Even then, we"ll suffer quite heavy losses." Sect Leader Zi sighed. Raising his head, he gripped the armrests of his chair tightly. "Let"s hope it doesn"t come to that."

The rest of the people gathered in the room nodded solemnly, but every single one of them knew deep down in their hearts that it would only be a matter of time before Nine-Tailed Fox Sect fell before the combined might of their supposed ally, the Martial Arts Alliance.