"You had something to talk to me about?" I asked, remembering what Tong Shi told me earlier. Tong Xue nodded.

"Yeah. Do you remember that time Yin Jing Jing asked you about her friends? When she mistakenly thought you had the authority to give permission to people coming in and out of the sect? She wanted me to ask you about it again."

I groaned. "I already told her I can"t do anything about it. I don"t have the authority to give such orders, and even if I did, I"m not going to compromise the safety of the sect if a friend asked me to. h.e.l.l, she"s not even my friend to begin with!"

Now that I thought about it, Yin Jing Jing was an arrogant b.i.t.c.h who looked down on me and largely ignored me because she thought I was inferior. Not just me. She looked down on just about everybody, delusionally believing in her superiority. If she didn"t have this favor to ask of me, she would never have spoken to me.

Actually, she didn"t even speak to me. She tried to get her request indirectly through Tong Xue, in a roundabout manner. For someone making a request, she didn"t even have the courtesy to approach me directly.

I was even more determined not to help her. Well, it wasn"t as if I was in any position to help her to begin with, anyway.

"What was it that she wanted again?" I asked, just to be sure. "Yin Jing Jing said something about a Lu Li from the Dark Fiend Valley Sect or something."

"And the Ling sisters." Tong Xue nodded. "Dark Fiend Valley Sect"s Ling Yu Mei and Ling Yu Xuan are also now in Tushan City. They have visited Nine-Tailed Fox Sect to get our help in forging two appropriate Spirit Artifacts."

"Never heard of them." I shook my head. "Never heard of Lu Li either, to be honest."

"Of course you wouldn"t," Tong Xue replied dryly. "Not unless your real name is Qin Lie or something."

"Qin Lie?" I repeated, bewildered. Tong Xue waved his hands hastily.

"Never mind, nothing."

"Well…anyway, why can"t they just submit an order form online? They could just submit through the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect"s official website. There"s no need for them to take the trouble to travel all the way here. If I"m not mistaken, we even provide free delivery."

"Under normal circ.u.mstances," Tong Xue reminded me. "But right now we"re at war with Divine Shadow Sect. All delivery and crafting services have been suspended. We woldn"t be able to give them what they want even if they ordered it online."

"Can"t they wait until the war is over and everything returns to normal?" I grumbled. "They should have seen on the website that our services are unavailable right now, and wait for us to resume our business once the matter with Divine Shadow Sect is taken care of."

"How would I know? You should ask them, not me."

"I will if I get the chance, but I doubt I"ll ever run into them." closing my eyes, I thought for a bit. h.e.l.l, never mind Lu Li and the Ling sisters, I was planning to avoid Yin Jing Jing if possible. If that b.i.t.c.h thought I was a pushover, she was highly mistaken. She had ignored me and looked down on me throughout the past year in the sect together, and now she expected me to just say yes to her request? Never mind I couldn"t fulfil it, but even if I could, her att.i.tude still irked me.

Yeah, yeah, I was petty. But I wasn"t a doormat either. I knew that if I showed weakness and gave in too easily, Yin Jing Jing would begin to take me for granted in future and expect me to fulfil her other requests. She would begin to badger me over every little thing.

Like h.e.l.l I was going to roll over and let her do that.

Tong Xue seemed like he read my mind, for he smiled wryly.

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

Before I could say anymore, Hai Rong"s voice floated over from inside the Will"O Wisp Forest, barking out harshly.

"Tong Xue! Are you not done chit-chatting yet?"

"Coming!"

Tong Xue turned a little pale when he heard Instructor Hai. He groaned and stifled a flash of panic on his face.

"d.a.m.n it…she"s going to throw me against a Spirit Tiger. Or was it a Shadow Leopard this time? This is going to hurt."

"Good luck." It was my turn to wish him luck and I had the feeling that he was going to need it a lot more than me.

"See you."

Waving, Tong Xue steeled himself and disappeared into the foggy interior of Will"O Wisp Forest. I watched him for a moment, sympathizing with him – especially because I had undergone similar training earlier, and then turned around.

There was no point wasting any time lingering around here. I headed straight to my workshop with a weary sigh. Upon my "promotion" to premier disciple after I triggered a response from the Spirit Engraved Pillars, the Great Elders sought to move me from the Blood Blades dormitory into the inner sect disciples" sanctum as well as offered me a new, state-of-the-art workshop.

Obviously I refused. I was too lazy to move everything from one place to another, and I had already grown comfortable with my current workshop. Additionally, I had absolutely no intention of leaving the Blood Blades. My conception of martial arts manuals from the Spirit Engraved Pillars instead of schematics for new Spirit Artifacts (well, martial arts manuals count as Spirit Artifacts, but the Great Elders were expecting something more…concrete) had further cemented that. So they left me alone after that, much to my relief.

Opening the door, I spotted my four Castellax battle-automata waiting for me inside. I had completed the Spirit Engravings on three of them, but the fourth was only half-done. Thanks to the matter regarding Liang Shao Yang, as well as the Spirit Engraved Pillars and communing with them to get those martial arts manuals out, my progress with the battle-automata had been delayed somewhat. I spent whatever time I could, but having spent weeks in the plaza, trapped in Spirit Worlds while meditating, I scarcely had the time to return here to resume my work on the battle-automata.

In contrast, almost all the Blood Blades had finished their Spirit Engravings on their battle-automata or battle puppets by now. The only exception was Tang Qi Hong, who was busy with the research team gathered to study the Spirit Diagrams beamed from the Spirit Engraved Pillars when I triggered them, but she wasn"t a Blood Blade, so there was no pressure on her. Well, n.o.body pressurized me either, but I wanted to get them done sooner rather than later.

After working on the fourth battle-automata for an hour, I took a break and collapsed on my bench to take a short rest.

"Man…I just want to be done already."

Sighing, I pressed my cheek against the cool metal while grumbling to myself. All this hard work and tedium had further confirmed the fact that I was not meant to forge Spirit Artifact or engrave Spirit Diagrams. I didn"t have the talent for it like Tang Qi Hong did, and I just couldn"t stand sitting at the desk working on an object.

Reading, I could do. Writing, I was more than capable of. That was how I became a graduate student. But there was a reason why I didn"t major in mechanical engineering like my younger brother in my previous timeline. There was a reason why I wasn"t a science or physics major. I just couldn"t cope with hands-on stuff or practical experiments.

I was all about theory, not practical.

Speaking about theory…

"Hmm…interesting…"

I somehow recalled what happened when I nearly lost control and entered a state of Demonic Possession back in the Will"O Wisp Forest. That was right, there was something that struck me. While the pure natural qi from the surroundings merged with my purified innate qi, it triggered a volatile reaction so powerful that my body was almost ripped apart. If I hadn"t discharged it, my internal organs would have ruptured and I would have literally blown up.

And even when I discharged the qi from my body, it left a destructive effect equivalent to when I executed Seismic Step.

"Qi Fusion."

This was different from Qi Fusion Stage. Actually I had no idea why they named the stages and realms as they did, but it was supposed to sound more powerful than the preceding stage.

To be honest, it sounded pretty arbitrary to me, but I didn"t care about that right now. Instead, I focused on the phenomenon.

"Earlier, that fusion of two different qi produced a powerful discharge of destructive energy. As if it"s nuclear fusion…so qi fusion…"

If what I was thinking was correct, then I could perhaps do something with this discovery. Not with my body, but replicating it with a Spirit Weapon, and making a bomb. Obviously it wasn"t practical to convert martial artists into living human bombs who died after unleashing all that energy, but if I could replicate the effects in a Spirit Weapon and even amplify the destructive power, then we would have quite the formidable armament in hand.

Closing my eyes, I ran through the numbers in my head. If the process was really qi fusion as I conceptualized, then the human body was the containment field. Normally, if we followed the training methods of Blood Blades under Instructor Hai Rong"s guidance, we should be able to contain that latent energy, and as a living vessel for that powerful qi, our bodies would gradually adapt and strengthen to contain it.

Just like that, we martial artists housed increasingly powerful qi while our bodies gradually adapted to contain it, like living qi reactors. Fortunately, the process of qi fusion didn"t take place all the time, or we would never be able to catch up with the acclimatization. It only occurred when we absorbing qi in the Will"O Wisp Forest.

But what if I could contain the two different types of qi and separate them temporarily until I activated them, and upon activation I could cause the two types of purified qi to fuse, and then unleash all of that destructive power at once?

I could probably create a miniature nuclear bomb.

"Yosh!" I suddenly sat up straight, brightening up and excited. "Let"s try that!"

Rummaging around my workshop, I found the two purified qi crystals I needed. Taking some time to purify the qi inside those crystals but ensuring they remain inside them, I then used them as fuel for my pseudo nuclear bomb. Consulting the books that the sect lent me, as well as Google and Internet resource on my smartphone, I began to build a Spirit Bomb that relied on this principle of qi fusion. Unfortunately, it was unprecedented and I had to improvise.

"Like this? No…how about this?"

It took me many failures, but after a few hours, I finally had some semblance of a bomb. Unfortunately, it was still incomplete. Even though it looked spherical, with Spirit Diagrams etched over its silver surface, it clearly contained volatile power within. And no, it was definitely not the Terminator Profound Bombs. It worked on a completely different principle, and I didn"t base it off some ancient design. I was using scientific principles that I had learned from my previous timeline and applying them to this timeline.

Admittedly, most of the scientific principles I had learned were from science fiction rather than proper science lessons in university. But I still managed to figure something out, so it all turned out fine in the end.

Or almost fine…

"I"m still lacking a few materials…"

My shoulders slumped a little and I visited the website. Apparently the materials I needed were currently out of stock in the sect, which meant I had to visit the commercial district in Tushan City to replenish them.

"Aw…just my luck…"

I really didn"t want to leave the sect. Not because it was dangerous, mind you. Tushan City was as safe as could be, especially with the security measures that Lang Xie and Blood Blades placed. So I didn"t have to worry.

Speaking of safety, my family was unharmed and unaffected by all the commotion. Even though Divine Shadow Sect was at war with Nine-Tailed Fox Sect because I supposedly killed Liang Shao Yang, they were never interested in me. Their goal had always been to conquer Nine-Tailed Fox Sect and take our resources for themselves. They couldn"t care less about me.

Thanks to that, they weren"t aiming for my family for revenge against me. One reason was that if they acted against my family, who were not part of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, they would incur the wrath of the Imperial Guard, who would go after them. They couldn"t afford to make other enemies now, when they were fighting against Nine-Tailed Fox Sect.

The small fortunes within the big misfortunes, I guess.

In any case, if I wanted to complete the bomb and try it out, I would need to get the materials from the city. Of course, given my current status, I could just order it and the sect would procure it for me, and personally deliver it to me by the next day.

But that didn"t sit well with me. The sect was currently busy with a lot of things, and I didn"t want to disturb them further.

"I guess I"ll go down to the shopping district and pick them up tomorrow."

Making that decision, I decided to retire early and headed to bed. It was already night, and we had a semi-curfew. Even though Tushan City was, for all intents and purpose, a safe place firmly within our hands, the sect had stipulated that we not take risks. Having request that I not be treated favorably, I couldn"t go and ruin that by breaking the rules.

"This had better be worth it."

Looking at the half-completed Spirit Bomb on my bench one last time, I then switched off the lights and headed for my apartment.

Oh, and as I mentioned earlier, later that night when I feasted on the Horned Dragon"s meat, nothing happened except me spending the next fifteen minutes in agony. This was why I rarely ate demoinc creatures unless I was really desperate for an attribute I wanted, and even then, there was an extremely low chance of gaining that attribute.

Don"t worry. If the plot demanded that I get a specific attribute for something further down the line, I was sure I would get it. Otherwise I wasn"t going to turn into an overpowered protagonist with hundreds or even thousands of special attributes from eating so many different demonic creatures. Nothing so convenient would happen in reality.

*

The silvery moonlight was unable to pierce the blood-red fiery miasma that shrouded the forest like ghostly will"o wisps. What light penetrated the dense fog turned scarlet and imbued the creepy trees with an aggressive hue.

Dark shapes darted across the forest, the demonic creatures and magical beasts living within moving from place to place either steathily or speedily. Here, separated from civilization by a magical border, this was their territory. The only humans who dared approached their home were reckless idiots or Blood Blades desiring practical combat experience. Regardless of who they were, the magical beasts did not hesitate to attack them to drive them out of the Will"O Wisp Forest.

But even these deadly beasts avoided the two human silhouettes that were standing somewhere near the edge.

Lang Xie had just arrived not long ago, striding past the entrance to Will"O Wisp Forest and scaring a pack of Dire Wolves who had thought to nestle there. Stopping under one of the trees, he waited for a few moments before the second figure appeared.

Hai Rong tilted her head slightly to acknowledge his presence.

"How was he?" Lang Xie asked quietly. Hai Rong snorted.

"Look for yourself." She gestured toward the clearing where I fought the Horned Dragon. The remains were still there, the poor Horned Dragon"s corpse yet to be taken apart by scavengers and decomposers.

"That"s…the Celestial Seven Stars Swordsmanship. No…it has been modified, but I can see traces of them in there." Lang Xie was studying the wounds on the Horned Dragon"s corpse intently. "He has changed it…combined it with another sword-type martial arts."

"You can tell?" Hai Rong sounded impressed.

Lang Xie nodded. "Yeah. This boy really surpa.s.ses imagination. I never thought he would be able to kill a Horned Dragon. I looked through the past missions he had taken, and it seems he even went to the Void Ring last year to hunt a Void Whale. If I"m not mistaken, he went through a similar experience in Sen Lin Forest during his middle school years, but unfortunately I don"t have access to Wu Ling Academy records, so I don"t know much about that."

"In other words, he"s used to fighting demonic creatures and magical beasts. More so than human opponents." Hai Rong mused softly. Lang Xie shook his head.

"That might not be the case."

"Hmm?"

Hai Rong glanced at Lang Xie in surprise, but the latter continued in an almost indifferent tone.

"Again, I don"t know the details, but when he was still in middle school, he was responsible for killing over a hundred martial artists in the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect. And that was without receiving artificial qi like the other students."

"Right…Liang Shao Yang was also killed by this boy." Hai Rong looked as if she wanted to curse herself for missing that fact. "Even though he was from the Divine Shadow Sect and was trained in the arts of killing and a.s.sa.s.sination…in a direct fight, he lost to Fei Wu."

"Of course. Even though Liang Shao Yang was trained by Divine Shadow Sect, he was not a Blood Blade. On the other hand, Fei Wu is a Blood Blade." Lang Xie sighed. "If only I had returned earlier and officially approved of him joining the Blood Blades and granting him access to the Will"O Wisp Forest. He might have grown a lot stronger if he didn"t waste the year."

"I wouldn"t say he wasted the year." Hai Rong smiled. "He seemed to have gained quite a bit of combat experience fighting inside that Nascent Soul Stage pract.i.tioner"s tomb a few months ago, and even got a haul of battle-automata from there."

"…"

"What is it?" Hai Rong caught the look on Lang Xie"s face, and the latter shook his head.

"No, it"s just that…a few months ago, Heavenly Fiend Sect was in an uproar. Li Xue Wu, the sect patriarch"s son, was killed, along with a good number of disciples from that sect. In fact, other than Yan Qing Wu, almost all of the elite disciples were slain during the expedition into the tomb. The Heavenly Fiend Sect patriarch, Li Tian Zun, was furious, and vowed to track down the murderer and destroy him." Lang Xie paused for a moment and stared at the remains of the Horned Dragon.

"I see." Hai Rong smiled again. "And you suspect that Fei Wu might have been responsible for the deaths of Li Xue Wu and all those disciples from the Heavenly Fiend Sect."

"I"m saying it"s a possibility," Lang Xie said carefully.

Well, it wasn"t just a possibility. It was literally what had happened. Obviously I wasn"t going to tell them, not only because I wasn"t privy to their conversation at that time, but also because I wasn"t the type to brag. Plus that would get me into trouble if Li Tian Zun, also known as Tian Sha Tian Zun, found out about that.

The less people knew, the better.

"What made you consider that possibility?" Hai Rong asked as she raised her eyebrow. She knew Lang Xie wouldn"t mention it if he didn"t think it likely.

Lang Xie almost smiled. "From the intelligence I gathered, the Heavenly Fiend Sect discovered that Li Xue Wu and the elite disciples had been frozen to death. And among the younger generation who explored the tomb, who uses ice techniques?"

"I"m pretty sure Fei Wu isn"t the only one who uses ice techniques," Hai Rong pointed out reasonably.

"Call it a gut feeling, but…" Lang Xie"s mouth twitched a little. "When I read the after-action report regarding the expedition, Qi Hong, Xiao Ji, Zhao Shi and Da Ge mentioned something curious. That the technique Fei Wu used to immobilize Incendiary Ifrit Sect"s Ling Qing Zhu was the Ninety Yin Ice h.e.l.l Formation. And the ice technique that killed Li Xue Wu and his fellow Heavenly Fiend Sect disciples was the Nine Thousand Yin Ice h.e.l.l Formation."

"Oh…" Hai Rong grinned as everything fell into place. "Of course. That boy…he continues to surprise me."

"Well, it"s just intuition. I don"t have concrete proof yet. But I"ll continue to keep an eye on him." Lang Xie nodded. "If he really was the one who killed Li Xue Wu and the elite disciples of Heavenly Fiend Sect, then…that fact alone bodes extremely well for his future as a Blood Blade."

That was flattering and all, but little did I know, unfortunately, that my actions would have further repercussions down the road. Not that I regretted it, of course. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d tried to kill me, after all. But even so…sometimes I wished there was a more elegant solution than just killing everyone who tried to kill me, a way to end this vicious cycle of revenge and hatred.

Fortunately, I remained in blissful ignorance at that time, with the only thing in my mind the planned shopping trip the next day.