"I"m not bluffing!" Liang Shao Yang waved his Terminator Profound Bomb wildly. "I"m really going to detonate it!"

There was no stopping him now. The very ice that I used to imprison him also protected him, preventing anyone from interfering when he pulled the trigger. The extremely pure lightning and thunder qi swirled within the Terminator Profound Bomb, the volatile energies building up to unleash a ma.s.sive destructive power that would obliterate the entire Flame Volcano and all the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect members in it.

Liang Shao Yang had gone truly insane.

"This is your fault!" he yelled at me. "Ever since you showed up, nothing has been going my way! You keep thwarting my attempts to oust Tang Qi Hong and become the sole candidate to be the future sect leader!"

"What attempts?" I asked dryly. "You mean, trying to a.s.sa.s.sinate her? What do you think is going to happen if Sect Leader Zi finds out about that? Not even the Great Elders can save you from his wrath."

"I don"t know what you"re talking about," Liang Shao Yang replied coldly. "I was…talking about something else."

"Oh, you mean that time when you tried to goad Qi Hong into attacking you, so that the Great Elders can all side with you and decide that you"re a better candidate to be future sect leader?" I burst out laughing at that. "What kind of stupid logic is that? That"s based on the a.s.sumption that Sect Leader Zi and the majority of the Great Elders are idiots who don"t know how to run a sect. What, you think they"re going to go, "oh, Qi Hong is not fit to be sect leader because she attacked Shao Yang!" and then abandon her so that they can invest all their resources in you? They have to be really r.e.t.a.r.ded to do something as stupid as that."

"For the purpose of plot, normally sect leaders and great elders are conveniently r.e.t.a.r.ded and make the most baffling of decisions," Liang Shao Yang replied, not denying my comments at all. "They will definitely side with me and invest all their resources in me if everything went according to plan!"

"That"s quite the a.s.sumption to make." I shrugged. "I mean, let"s think about it. you"re a.s.suming that Sect Leader will trust you, someone who has only be in the sect for a little over a year and has been known to commit atrocities, and is under suspicion of murder of Senior Hao Ying, over Qi Hong, who has been in this sect for many years and has proven her loyalty over and over again. Why the h.e.l.l would he abandon her and stop investing resources in her over a single misbehavior, even if she somehow fell for your trap? Especially when considering that you"ve actually murdered someone, in comparison? Why the gap in treatment? Just because the author wants to contrive a plot device to posit you as a powerful and intelligent antagonist and create unnecessary conflict? And so that I can then conveniently save her from despair and take everything back for her? No, seriously. Think about that and give your head a wobble."

"Oh, shut the f.u.c.k up!" Liang Shao Yang roared and pulled the trigger, activating the Terminator Profound Bomb. Whoops. Maybe I shouldn"t have…uh, triggered him.

"Heavens…!" Tong Xue turned pale from fright. "He"s really going to kill us all!"

"d.a.m.n it…" Pang Feng spat, his kunckles turning white as he clenched his fists helplessly. "Is there nothing we can do?!"

Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do. Once Liang Shao Yang triggered the Terminator Profound Bomb, there was no stopping it from blowing up. Not unless…

I took a deep breath and activated my Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula to the maximum. Channeling my frosty qi into my Azure Lotus Sword, I slammed it against the ground again, stabbing the concrete with my crystalline blade.

"Enhance Armament, maximum power!"

"It"s useless, Fei Wu!" Tong Xue shouted. "Run away! You won"t be able to stop it even with your ice techniques!"

"I have to try!" I snapped back. "Or everyone will die here! Besides, there"s no way I"ll be able to escape in time, will I?"

"Um, actually…you can. You have those footwork techniques!"

Okay, so maybe Tong Xue was right. But like h.e.l.l I was going to abandon everyone and escape by myself. I was aware that many edgelord readers would call me stupid and claim that I had no reason to save anyone in the sect, and that I should let them all die and survive on my own. That was the most stupid reasoning I had ever heard. For one thing, Tong Xue and Pang Feng were my friends, and Tang Qi Hong and Lian Rou were somewhere in the sect too, along with Elder Zhao, Elder Tie, Elder Hai Mo and all the other masters who had taught me when I was here, as well as many seniors in Blood Blades who looked after me.

I might not be a hero and I was certainly not n.o.ble, but I wasn"t a selfish, callous b.a.s.t.a.r.d who would abandon everybody just to save my own skin.

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

With a determined yell, I unleashed every bit of purified ice qi from my body, freezing the entire s.p.a.ce around me. A cold and frosty aura spread out from my body, drifting over the surroundings and causing the temperature to plummet drastically. Dense fog began to condense, despite being right under the blazing, hot sun.

Channeling my Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula into my Azure Lotus Sword, I gathered whatever purified frost qi inside my dantian and allowed the chilly, azure frost to escape my pores. Channeling the azure mist into my sword, I transformed the reality of the s.p.a.ce around me into pure ice, and for a moment it seemed as if a harsh winter had fallen in the small area that I had subjugated. I was not immune to the effects of my own technique, and a large crystalline layer of frost formed over my body, rapidly expanding from my hair and entombed my entire physical form in ice.

Crack!

The ice expanded from my body, filling the s.p.a.ce with an unnatural chill and threatening to freeze even the heavens and earth themselves.

"So cold!"

"What…what"s going on? Why does it feel like the world is about to get frozen? This…this isn"t any ordinary ice technique!"

"Heavens…isn"t that the legendary Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula?! Only pa.s.sed down to the greatest of Blood Blades?!"

"No, it"s not just the Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula…it"s the ultimate technique and pinnacle of the Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula…Absolute Zero!"

"What?! Absolute Zero? What"s that?"

Some of the more experienced masters and elders recognized the technique, but many of the disciples were at a loss, rubbing themselves as they fought to resist the overwhelming chill that had spread across the parking lot and entrance of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. grabbing their clothing and hugging themselves, they stared at my frozen form in wonder even as they instinctively retreated from the cruel winter that had descended upon the s.p.a.ce and was spreading its cold reach out to ensnare them in its chilly embrace.

However, there was a limit to my Absolute Zero. When the spectators placed enough distance between themselves and me, they realized that the cold was greatly reduced and they could once again feel the heat of the blazing sun.

"When did Fei Wu learn Absolute Zero?!" Tong Xue demanded, overawed. Pang Feng stared at him, confused.

"Absolute Zero? What"s that?"

The guy evidently had not been paying attention to the masters and elders murmuring around him. Then again, he was pretty out of it, having been badly hurt by Liang Shao Yang before. He was still busily recuperating.

"Listen to the elders," Tong Xue muttered, evidently too lazy to explain. I didn"t blame him.

Anyway, I had no idea how I was pulling this off, but I guess in my desperation I must have done what I was taught on reflex, and somehow executed Absolute Zero, which I had failed to achieve until this very moment.

They were right when they said people experienced a breakthrough in a crisis.

"Don"t think you can stop me with this!"

Liang Shao Yang pulled another Spirit Artifact from his spatial ring, and fired off a flaming Phoenix Arrow from his Divine Phoenix Bow.

However, layers of thick ice had formed on my body, turning into a natural frost armor. Even if the Phoenix Arrow could penetrate them, it could not break through my hovering Snow Aegis, which automatically flew to block Liang Shao Yang"s cheap shot. The flaming phoenix crashed into Snow Aegis and wailed soundlessly before dissipating harmlessly.

"f.u.c.k!"

Liang Shao Yang smashed through the ice from my original Enhanced Armament release from my Azure Lotus Sword, but he once again found himself bound by this new ice. He hurriedly channeled his qi into his Flame Lion Firegla.s.s Barrier to protect himself after he discovered that the earth beneath him had frozen solid and he was unable to escape into the shadows.

"How did he freeze even the shadows?!" he growled, not really expecting an answer. "It"s…as if s.p.a.ce itself has become frozen!"

He wasn"t given much time to ponder on it. The blue flames of the Flame Lion Firegla.s.s Barrier crystalized into ice, freezing immediately when the thick fog came into contact with them. The azure mist expanded and extinguished the blue flames swiftly, causing the roaring, frenzied lion of fire to scatter like ashes.

It didn"t matter. Liang Shao Yang smiled coldly as he threw the Terminator Profound Bomb. It was on the verge of exploding, the volatile qi already leaving its detonating structure…

Crack!

The Terminator Profound Bomb did not explode.

"What?!" Liang Shao Yang stared at it in disbelief.

The Terminator Profound Bomb was presently encased in ice, and even the thunder and lightning qi that once crackled fiercely within its core had been tamed, frozen solid by the frost. Absolute Zero did not care if it was a physical object or qi, it froze everything. The qi"s energy had been sapped away by the overwhelming cold, locked away by ice and rendered into nothingness. Absolute Zero had frozen the process of qi fusion or qi fission itself, halting the arcane particles from triggering their destructive explosion.

And just like that, the Terminator Profound Bomb shattered, both its components and the purified, volatile qi exploding into fragments of frost and rendered inert by the sheer cold. The icy crystals rained down harmlessly, resembling snow on a wintry day.

"Impossible…"

Liang Shao Yang never got to finish his sentence. His body suddenly froze.

His arteries and veins themselves clogged, the blood solidifying within his blood vessels. Even his supposedly superior amount of qi froze, turning into a frozen sea in the middle of winter, refusing to circulate in his qi channels.

Crack…!

Liang Shao Yang couldn"t move, his eyes seeming to burst as the capillaries within his eyeb.a.l.l.s expanded, unable to take the sudden cold. His very blood had frozen, and all over his body, his tortured blood vessels were rupturing as the solidified red crystals burst through them and into his formerly soft but now hard tissue.

"Fei Wu!"

"What happened?!"

At this moment, Tang Qi Hong and Lian Rou finally arrived, but Tong Xue gestured them over. seeing the wounded Pang Feng, and unable to draw closer to the territory of Absolute Zero that I had woven over myself and Liang Shao Yang, they could do nothing but obey.

And just like that, the light faded from Liang Shao Yang"s eyes bit by bit as his body was trans.m.u.ted completely into ice.

"Liang Shao Yang is dead!"

"Liang Shao Yang has been killed!"

After a long moment of silence, the shocked spectators began crying out around the entrance.

"No way…" Tang Qi Hong held her mouth in disbelief. "Fei Wu actually did it."

"…this means trouble, doesn"t it?" Lian Rou asked worriedly.

"Like h.e.l.l it does!" Tong Xue snapped. "Liang Shao Yang attacked us first! We have every right to self-defense! Pang Feng and I can testify!"

"Yeah," Pang Feng agreed weakly with a nod.

"I know, but…will the Great Elders agree? Will they even care about what"s right or wrong?" Lian Rou looked dismayed. Tang Qi Hong nodded.

"That"s right…they don"t care about justice. Fei Wu just killed a head inner sect disciple, one of the prime candidates for the position of future sect leader. A person they treasured and nurtured and invested so much resources in. Even if Fei Wu was in the right and did it out of self-defense, they might not listen…"

"That"s f.u.c.king bulls.h.i.t!" Tong Xue shouted. He turned to everyone. "Everyone, you saw, didn"t you? Liang Shao Yang tried to kill all of us! If Fei Wu didn"t stop him, we would have all been blown to h.e.l.l by the Terminator Profound Bomb!"

"Yeah!"

"That"s right!"

"Who does that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Liang Shao Yang think he is?! Trying to take us all with him! Even if he"s the future sect leader, he can"t just kill us like that!"

"He doesn"t have the right to be a candidate for future sect leader!"

"Everyone, let"s stand together! Fei Wu is one of us! We can"t let this injustice stand!"

The crowd were riled up, shouting their approval and support.

Even so, Tang Qi Hong and Lian Rou remained grim. They knew that the sect wasn"t run on democracy or popular support. The patriarchal system was strongly embedded within the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. the Great Elders" words were law, and even the Sect Leader had no choice but to listen to their "advice".

There were hurried footsteps coming down from the foot of Flame Volcano. Finally, the rest of the Blood Blades, as well as the martial artists of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect had arrived. They hadn"t heard the sounds of combat, and only realized it when they saw social media, which was why Elder Zhao took so long to arrive, having been engrossed in writing his report.

But it was too late. They had arrived just in time to see Liang Shao Yang trigger the Terminator Profound Bomb, but were powerless to stop it. They could only stand by and witness their inevitable death, until I executed Absolute Zero. Even so, while they were relieved that they weren"t dead, they were still absorbing the fact that Liang Shao Yang had just died.

"Fei Wu…" Elder Zhao whispered, concerned. "We"ve to protect him! We can"t let the Great Elders find out about this! Even though he saved all of our lives, they…!"

"Fei Wu! Run!" Tong Xue shouted, trying not to panic. "Run now! As fast as you can!"

"Before the Great Elders come!" Tang Qi Hong added, tears in her eyes.

I turned to look at them, rising to my feet and breaking the ice that covered me. Calmly sheathing my Azure Lotus Sword, I shrugged.

"Run where?"

"That"s…"

"They know where my family is. They"ll hunt me down. I"ll put my family in danger."

"Even so…" Lian Rou protested. I shook my head.

"Instead of running away, I"m going to destroy their injustice and unfair judgements."

As if responding to my will, the area stretching about a radius of twenty meters away from me became filled with cold, biting wind, an icy will that sealed even the heavens and earth in ice. The pinnacle of Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula, Absolute Zero.

"Eh?!"

"Snow? It"s snowing!""

"He…he"s causing the world itself to change! Just with that technique alone!"

Jaws dropped and people screamed as they watched the countless white snowflakes fall down under the bright, hot sun, and onto their shoulders and skin. The frost felt very cold and very real, convincing them beyond a doubt that this wasn"t an illusion.

"To cause a natural phemonenon with a martial arts technique…to actually cause the weather to change and snow just from using Absolute Zero…this is the first time I"ve seen such a martial artist…" Elder Zhao marveled.

"Oi, I know you"re an ice user, but don"t try to act cool!" Tong Xue snapped. "This isn"t the time to be acting cool!"

"Uh…won"t he be giving us the cold shoulder if you snap at him?" Pang Feng asked somewhat uncertainly.

I glared at them frostily. "Making cold jokes is supposed to be my job! Don"t push it, or I"ll stop you guys cold!"

"Can you stop making puns and get the h.e.l.l out of here?!" Tang Qi Hong cried. I shook my head and indicated Elder Zhao and the gathering Blood Blades.

"Nope. It"s too late."

The martial artists had gathered around me, as if they were supposed to capture me, but right now they were momentarily distracted by the falling snowflakes under the blazing hot sun, mesmerized expressions on their faces. A lot of them actually stretched their hands out to touch these falling snowflakes to confirm that they weren"t dreaming.

One of them snapped out of his stupor and turned to Elder Zhao.

"Elder Zhao?"

Elder Zhao shook his head and gestured for him to be silent. He studied me, his expression unreadable for the moment, and then answered calmly, "Unless he attempts to run away, you don"t have to do anything."

The person nodded and fell back into silence.

Raising his voice, Elder Zhao continued.

"Even so, Fei Wu is one of our own, and he just saved the sect from annihilation. Anyone who moves against him will personally answer to me."

He had seen Liang Shao Yang pull out the Terminator Profound Bomb, and was prepared to explain everything personally to the Great Elders and Sect Leader. Sect Leader Zi would be more willing to listen to him, but the Great Elders would pose a bit of a headache, being the hypocritical, unfair b.a.s.t.a.r.ds that they were.

Elder Cheng Ping also arrived shortly, and he moved beside Elder Zhao to whisper to him.

"Sect Leader and the six Great Elders will be arriving shortly."

"I"m surprised they haven"t arrived already," Elder Zhao replied dryly. "Well, it should be fine. As long as Fei Wu stays here, we"ll think of something. Hopefully Sect Leader will help us speak to the Great Elders."

"You have my word on that."

"…Father!"

Tang Qi Hong almost fell over when Sect Leader Zi spoke up. No one had noticed his arrival, and none of us knew how long he and his wife, Zi Da Ji, had been standing there. They might even have been there from the beginning, but…

"Mother, too!"

"That"s a great use of the Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula. This child certainly is gifted." Zi Da Ji was nodding in approval, a smile spreading across her face. She turned to her husband. "I don"t care what the Great Elders say. I"ll fight them if I have to. They will not be getting this child"s head."

"I feel the same way," Sect Leader Zi agreed coolly. "This boy will become a main pillar of the sect in the future, even more so than that ungrateful Liang Shao Yang."

His tone made it clear. If the Great Elders still favored Liang Shao Yang even after he tried to blow up the sect…

Wait, didn"t mean that Sect Leader Zi and Sect Lady Da Ji had been here from the beginning, or at least from when Liang Shao Yang waved his Terminator Profound Bomb about?

"The Blood Blades will protect him!" Elder Cheng vowed. "Like Zhao Shi says, he"s one of ours! I don"t care what the Great Elders say!"

Tang Qi Hong relaxed a little when she saw that her adopted parents were here. Shortly after, she was joined by Zi Xiao Ji and her two bodyguards.

"Sister Qi Hong, what happened? We saw that it was snowing, so we came over…"

"I thought it was a Spirit Artifact," Zhao Shi remarked as she gave me an impressed look. "I didn"t expect it to be Fei Wu."

"Ha ha ha!" Da Ge guffawed. "That kid is always full of surprises!"

"Well…" Tong Xue quickly filled them in on what happened. As he did so, even Pang Yun came over, and when she saw the state of her brother, she nearly flipped out. Thankfully, Tong Xue"s first aid and the Spirit Pills were having an effect and Pang Feng was slowly recovering.

Then the six Great Elders arrived. The fiery rage in their eyes (well, half of them) was so intense that it almost scorched anyone who looked into them.

They could hardly believe that Liang Shao Yang was dead. The future successor that they had chosen, nurtured, invested so many resources in, the genius who triggered a reaction from the Spirit Engraved Pillars, the one who held the potential for a promising future for Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, killed just like that before he had the chance to blossom and flourish!

They couldn"t forgive me for ruining the sect"s prospects.

"Zhao Shi! Cheng Ping! What are you still standing there for?!" the fifth Great Elder yelled. "Capture Fei Wu immediately and escort him to the Fire Prison Cliff! Execute him with the Divine Lava Flames!"

First Elder Hai Mo and many of the elders also followed, but they didn"t say it, understanding the rage of the Great Elders. The six old men looked as if they were about to topple over and die from rage. Well, half of them, anyway. A few of them looked more bemused than furious.

"Great Elders, please wait…" Elder Zhao knelt on one knee and bowed his head deeply. Following his example, I also knelt down and bowed. I wasn"t going to let my superior humble himself on his own. "Fei Wu had no choice. If he didn"t kill Liang Shao Yang, the sect would have been destroyed. You should listen to the circ.u.mstances…"

"That"s right!" Cheng Ping also knelt. "He"s one of our most valuable a.s.sets in Blood Blades! Don"t let your anger rule over your heart! Please consider this matter in a justful way!"

"Please, Great Elders!" Tang Qi Hong, Lian Rou, Tong Xue, Pang Feng and the overwhelming majority of Blood Blades also pleaded.

"Are you disobeying me?!" the Great Elder bellowed.

"No. They are obeying me."

"S…Sect Leader!"

The Great Elders trembled when Zi Shou De finally stepped out and spoke up. They were so caught up in their fury that they didn"t realize his presence.

"No one is to touch Fei Wu. He is the hero who saved our sect." Sect Leader Zi Shou De stared sternly at the trembling Great Elders. Well, half of them, anyway. Luo Zhi Chang and a couple of the other Great Elders looked more amused than frightened or angry. "The successor that you guys pushed, Liang Shao Yang, almost destroyed the sect with his own hands today. If Fei Wu did not stop him and his Terminator Profound Bomb, the whole sect would have been obliterated." He raised his voice. "This is the true character of the candidate you were pushing to be our future sect leader. Is this the future you really envision? Self-destruction at the hands of a tyrant? I have been tolerating Liang Shao Yang"s toxic behavior because you promised that you would reform him and guide him along the right path, but what happened? Not only did you fail to deliver on that promise, the sect almost got annihilated by the one who was supposed to lead us in future. Is this your idea of a glorious future for the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect? A demise at the hands of a vicious ruler?"

"T…that"s…" the fifth Great Elder spluttered, and then he slumped down. "But…but even so, their statuses are different! One is just a mere Blood Blade, the other is the future sect leader…!"

"If you insist on going against my husband"s decision, then I"ll remove you from your positions of Great Elder. By force, if necessary."

A force of heat that was even more overwhelming than my Absolute Zero chill flowed out from Sect Lady Da Ji, and the Great Elders immediately shut up. Oh gosh…her Nine-Tailed Fire Fox Formula was even more potent than my Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula, and I instinctively knew that was a mere fraction of her true power.

Jeez…

Anyway, I nervously raised my hand and coughed.

"Um, if I may…Liang Shao Yang isn"t actually dead yet."

"Huh?"

Everyone turned to me, bewildered. I shrugged.

"He"s just frozen. Just melt him out of the ice, and he"ll return with a prosthetic arm later in the series."

"Aren"t you mixing up the anime version with the original novel?" Tong Xue demanded, annoyed. "Liang Shao Yang died in the original novel. He"s certainly not coming back with a prosthetic arm in this version!"

"Really?" I dismissed my Absolute Zero and walked over to Liang Shao Yang and tapped on his frozen body. To my utmost surprise, Liang Shao Yang"s frozen form shattered and crashed into the ground in countless icy fragments, causing me to jump back in fright. I gaped at his remains for a few moments, and then turned to stare at the horrified Great Elders. "Uh…whoops?"

Yeah…Liang Shao Yang was dead for sure. There was no coming back from this.

"You…!" the sixth Great Elder spluttered in fury. Lady Zi Da Ji quickly moved in to intervene, clearing her throat.

"Anyway, a martial artist who has mastered the pinnacle of Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula, Absolute Zero, is in no way inferior to a blacksmith who triggered a response from the Spirit Engraved Pillars. This boy is one of the successors to the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect"s ultimate martial arts, and his status, by right, should rival that of Liang Shao Yang"s."

"Furthermore, thanks to your failure to reform Liang Shao Yang," her husband picked up on her trail. "We almost got destroyed. If your idea of a glorious future involves getting our sect blown to h.e.l.l by a psychotic leader, then you can go create your own sects. We don"t want such self-destructive behavior here."

"You may be right about that…but with Liang Shao Yang gone, then what are we supposed to do now?" the fourth Great Elder asked cautiously. Everyone (except the fifth and sixth Great Elders) stared at him as if he was an idiot.

"What do you mean what are we supposed to do now?" Sect Leader Zi asked, annoyed.

"Um, who"s going to take over as the future sect leader?"

"You have a problem with my daughter taking over as future sect leader?" Sect Leader Zi retorted without hesitation.

Everyone was already aware of that. Other than the misogynistic Great Elders who had dimissed that notion and insisted on grooming a male sect leader, everyone knew of Tang Qi Hong"s talent. She was just as, if not more talented than even Liang Shao Yang, triggering a response from not one, but two Spirit Engraved Pillars. In the future, she would definitely become a blacksmith and Spirit Engraver who was just as renowned as Hai Mo.

"And with Fei Wu as part of Blood Blades, who will dare challenge us in future?" Sect Lady Da Ji added with a devious smile. "We"ll not only be a blacksmith force, but a martial force to be reckoned with as well."

"I think you"re giving me far too much credit," I muttered under my breath. "I"m not a genius as you guys make me out to be."

Honestly, if it wasn"t for this crisis, I would never have been able to obtain Absolute Zero. h.e.l.l, I experienced nothing but failure, and I wasn"t confident I could replicate Absolute Zero after this event. Not unless I went through another life and death experience…

"You give yourself far too little credit," Sect Lady Da Ji told me. "We"ve watched over you and noted your growth. You"re one of the best martial artists in your generation."

"Um…thank you." it would be rude to continue insisting on the truth, so I decided to just thank her for the compliments.

"Even so…" the first Great Elder, Luo Zhi Chang, said heavily. "The fact of the matter is that Fei Wu did indeed kill someone, even if it"s self-defense…"

"The rules are rules," the second Great Elder agreed. "At least a.s.sign him some token sentence as a "punishment"."