As Lian tried to run, a shot whistled frighteningly close to his arm, which he barely evaded by taking a sharp turn. The arrow flew past him, striking the ground ahead.
It instantly crushed and exploded, sending dust and sand boiling up into the sky.
"Damn, no matter how fast I run, he is always behind me… I have to find a way to evade him, or I will die. I need to find a way to lose him," Lian thought, taking a sharp turn towards a rocky terrain.
"You have quite the legs on you, don't you? Have you no shame as a martial artist?" Xianshun spoke, nocking another arrow.
"Are you retarded? Do you take me for an idiot? You clearly have a higher cultivation than I.
If I stay to fight, what chance do I have of winning against you?" Lian retorted, taking a quick turn toward a dense, bushy area.
His words clearly made Xian Shun angry because his attacks began to intensify, swifter than the last and more frequent.
As Lian ran, arrows kept coming, forcing him to turn and shift with each attack.
"It feels like he is leading the path I should take," Lian thought to himself as he whipped around one more corner.
Then, finally, he found himself at an impasse. There was no more ground—he was now at the edge of a high cliff, so tall that the trees below looked blurry, almost like grains of sand.
"Hahaha… you have no more space to run to," Xianshun spoke, stepping into view, his step slow and his bow raised.
"What will you do now? It's time to choose: die by my arrow, or jump—you might just have a chance to survive…" Xianshun spoke, laughing horridly.
In that moment, Lian Xing felt his heart pounding loudly in his head. His thoughts were running rampant in search of a solution.
He knew one thing for sure: either solution led to death. If he was going to die, he was going to die with a fight.
He stood still and closed his eyes, concentrating all his Qi into his feet. "If I use all my Qi to attack him with swift speed, I might have a chance to surprise him."
"Hahaha! What, you choose to die by my arrow? What a coward! You're afraid to risk your life. You might have had a chance to live if you had jumped."
"No… You are lying. You were going to shoot me down as I jumped. There is no way you were going to give me a chance to live," Lian spoke, stretching his two right fingers and pouring some Qi into them.
"Aren't you clever… hehehehe," Xianshun responded, instantly releasing his arrow.
During that moment of conversation, Lian was gathering his Qi using the Sutra cultivation method. It might have been due to that method that he felt everything slow down.
Xianshun's arrow felt slower than any of his previous ones. With that heartbeat, Lian dashed. His whole body felt like it was going to tear apart.
Crack!
Just like a flash of lightning, he found himself in front of Xianshun. His two fingers, heavily covered with Qi, flew straight into Xianshun's eye, stabbing him.
"How…!?" Xianshun stammered as he fell to the ground, knees first.
Xianshun breathed his last, dying and cursing one final time.
"F*ck! I got killed by a brat that hasn't even broken through the Foundation Realm!"
"Damn it… I drained all my Qi. I might die soon as well," Lian thought as he collapsed next to Xianshun. What's more, the attack had shattered his left arm; his fingers bent in a way they were not supposed to.
He felt everything go blurry as he began to lose consciousness. "Son, this is the end, ha… I am about to die. I achieved nothing in my life… I guess it's only fair, I am a failure." Lian thought as he glanced at Xianshun.
"No… I will never die before my revenge…" Lian gritted his teeth as he dragged his right hand toward Xianshun's body.
"I bet he has some Qi pills somewhere on him…" Lian used his working arm and dragged himself over to Xianshun's side.
There, he saw something glimmer: a golden ring. Lian quickly took it off the archer's hand and slipped it onto his own.
"Ha… ha… ha… It's a storage ring. He might—" Lian lost consciousness for a short while, then suddenly woke up.
"If I fall asleep now, I will die…" he spoke, biting his lip, forcing himself awake. He squeezed the last of his Qi and activated the storage ring.
"Found it…" he murmured, producing a white vial.
"I am not sure if this is it or not, but I have no choice…" Lian thought, consuming the pill inside the white vial.
As soon as Lian swallowed the pill, a searing heat rose from his dantian. Golden energy surged through his core, radiating along every meridian in his body.
His Qi flowed like molten rivers, filling him with dizzying power.
"Hu… hu…" he gasped, adjusting into a cross-legged position. He focused on cultivating through his legs, feeling the strength of his body renewed.
But the warmth soon turned to unbearable fire. His skin burned, veins pulsed violently, and the sensation clawed at his flesh.
Damn it… this isn't a Qi essence pill, it's a spirit-exploding pill! he thought, grinding his teeth. Flames erupted around him, licking at the air.
Blood trickled from his lips as panic and pain surged together.
What… what should I do?! His mind raced.
Even in agony, Lian clenched his jaw and began reciting the Sutra. In his mind, he sat at the centre of a lotus flower, small as a seed.
The chaotic energy swirled around him, but with each repetition of the sacred text, it began to obey him. The wildfire in his meridians tempered, harmonising with the rhythm of his mind.
Just as the ocean flows, so too must my Qi. Every energy in the world has a rhythm. Fire… earth… water… I must find their rhythm, he chanted.
As he spoke, his body lifted slightly from the ground, though he had yet to register it consciously.
In order to be free from fire… become the fire.
Cracks appeared across his skin, from which blinding golden light poured forth. The intensity was unbearable, and the air around him shimmered as if caught in a furnace.
BOOM!
A thunderous roar echoed through the forest as Lian collapsed to the ground. The cracks healed, and the flames that had once threatened to consume him dissipated.
He exhaled slowly, chest heaving, every remaining pulse of energy finally settling.
"Huu… haa…" Lian breathed, marvelling at the sensation coursing through his veins. His body felt lighter, more powerful, more alive than ever before.
He looked down at himself. His clothes had been torn to shreds, but he barely noticed. A triumphant grin spread across his face.
I… I've broken through four stages at once. I was about to break into the Foundation Realm, but fell just short.
There's no need to hurry; it's a miracle I managed to absorb the pill at all. Too much greed is dangerous.
Lian felt a wave of relief as he flexed his muscles. The new Qi surged rapidly through his body, wild and fierce, almost like a raging beast.
His body and Qi had finally begun to harmonise, moving in sync with one another.
Let's see if there's anything useful in the ring, he thought, inspecting the storage ring. When he activated it, it opened like a spacious chamber.
Rows upon rows of spirit essence stones lined the walls, and neatly arranged within were clothes, weapons, and other items.
This should do, Lian murmured to himself, pulling out a set of pristine white robes. He donned them carefully; they fit perfectly, as if tailored for him.
Hmmm… this is great. I wonder why he kept these; they look like they wouldn't fit anyone else, he thought, tightening his waist belt.
As he explored further, he found a sword tucked inside its scabbard. The hilt was a striking blend of black and blue, and the scabbard shimmered faintly in the light.
Next to it lay a book, its cover inscribed with elegant characters:
Astral Blade
Wow… this guy sure had a lot of valuable stuff, Lian thought, flipping through the pages.
It's a sword cultivation book… Who carries something this precious around? He wondered, already engrossed in reading.
Lian took a deep breath, centring his Qi within him. The groove cut into the cliffside where he practised seemed to hum with energy, as if the blade itself were responding to his presence.
If this is just the basic form… what happens when I push it further? he thought.
He began combining movements, flowing from one stance to another, channelling his Qi into the sword in longer, more intricate bursts.
With each strike, the blue light along the blade grew brighter, more intense, dancing like lightning.
He leapt into the air, spinning, and brought the blade down in a diagonal arc. The force created a shockwave, uprooting nearby shrubs and leaving a deep scar across the cliff.
Incredible… it feels like the sword is alive, he murmured, eyes gleaming. The more he cultivated, the more he sensed a faint consciousness within the Astral Blade, guiding him, urging him to move in perfect harmony.
Lian focused further, closing his eyes. He allowed his mind to merge with the blade, following the rhythm of the Qi as the book instructed:
"The blade is not only wielded by the hand but by the soul's intent. When swinging the blade, the wielder must possess the intent to kill."
A sudden realisation struck him. The sword responds not only to Qi but also to my will.
He swung again, and this time, the blade left behind a trail of blue fire, slicing cleanly through a cluster of rocks as if they were paper.
His heart raced. If I can master this… I could fight beyond my stage, maybe even challenge that brute Lu Yan.
He tested another technique, one that the book described as the Astral Flash. Lian poured every ounce of his Qi into the sword, then released it in a forward thrust.
The blue flame shot out like a lightning bolt, tearing a gash into the cliff so deep that the earth trembled.
Lian staggered backwards, panting, sweat dripping from his forehead. This is… amazing. Who the hell created the Astral Blade? It's truly incredible.
He smiled grimly, gripping the hilt tightly. I have to get stronger. I have to master this blade completely… before I go back to the manor.
The wind rustled around him as he continued to practice, each strike leaving a mark on the earth—a testament to the growing power of Lian Xing and his ever-deepening bond with the Astral Blade.