Ten Minutes of Thunder
[Doctor, I have analyzed the enemies' movement patterns. I am deploying the nanobot swarm to secure visibility and assist with target tracking.]
Hundreds of nanobots, invisible to the naked eye, spread out around Ouyang Qiangang like mist. In the same instant, every enemy's position in the darkness was rendered as a three-dimensional hologram inside his mind, updating in real time.
The next moment—
"Kill him!"
At that cold, merciless shout bursting from the shadows, the Blood Sea assassins surged toward him all at once. The sinister killing intent pouring from their bodies made the air of the ruined temple, already drenched in torrential rain, grow even colder.
But Ouyang Qiangang did not retreat. Instead, he took a single step straight into that black tide of death. A storm of palms erupted from both his hands.
Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack—!
It was Gale Chain Palms. One hundred and eight palms moving too fast for any eye to follow swept through the great hall like the flooded currents of the Yangtze. The three first-rate assassins closest to him were caught in that overwhelming tempest of force.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Thunderous booms rang out as their upper bodies shattered before they could even scream, a mist of blood blooming into the air. It was a horrific sight—yet not a single man fell back. Rather, through the billowing crimson haze, the assassins' swords flew at every part of Ouyang Qiangang's body.
Swish-swish-swish-shhk—
A flesh-flaying wind was rising from their blades. Five swords pierced his body all at once. But what the blades met was not the yielding of flesh; it was the ugly screech of steel scraping against a thick iron plate.
Ka-ka-ka-kang!
[Five impacts detected across the chest, abdomen, and shoulders. Nanobot shield has successfully prevented physical penetration, absorbing and dispersing 82% of the force. However, internal energy consumption is accelerating.]
"A m… monster!"
The fact that their full-power, death-dealing sword strikes could not land sent even these emotionless killers into shock. And Ouyang Qiangang seized that instant of vulnerability. In the time it took him to take a single step, his body flickered like an apparition—and appeared behind one of the assassins.
Wham!
"Kghk!"
The Thunderflame King Fist smashed into the man's spine, and the assassin crumpled forward, his backbone buckling. Ouyang Qiangang did not stop. Gale Chain Palms poured from his hands like a waterfall. The first-rate killers caught in the palm force were torn apart as uselessly as sheets of paper, staining the ruined temple's floor red.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Crunch!
Squelch!
The Blood Sea assassins did not fear death. They trampled over their comrades' corpses and threw themselves at him again and again, desperate to end his life. But he was far too strong for them to handle. Every time his hands moved, the men caught in his Gale Chain Palms and Thunderflame King Fist were crushed without so much as a scream.
When only a handful of assassins remained, six masked men in black charged him with an aura utterly unlike the others. They were the elite, top-grade killers who guarded the Domain Lords. From their hands flew a thin steel thread—poison-coated steel wire that came sweeping over every inch of his body.
Shwaaaaaaak—
Hundreds—thousands—of strands wove themselves into a dense spider's web and began sealing off his movements.
[Doctor, the steel wires will seal off every avenue of retreat in 1.3 seconds.]
"Hah!"
Ouyang Qiangang scoffed and swung both palms. A shriek of wind tore through the air—
Hwaaaaaaaang—
The terrifying force of Gale Chain Palms, one hundred and eight palms stacked three times over, snapped the steel wires strand by strand and swept over the top-grade killers. Realizing they had no time even to dodge or block, the assassins' faces drained corpse-pale.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
As if they had thrown themselves against a great iron wall, their entire bodies were crushed and ground apart. When the last of the top-grade killers fell, only four people remained standing inside the ruined temple: Ouyang Qiangang, and the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Domain Lords.
The three lords gazed down at the carnage—all of their subordinates wiped out to a man—with eyes that could not believe what they were seeing.
The Seventh Domain Lord finally spoke. "Strong as a monster, I'll grant him that. But he leaves this place alive—no." Even having watched thirty of his men die, his voice carried neither rage nor fear. Only a virulent killing intent seethed beneath it.
He continued. "Eighth Lord. Ninth Lord. We end his breath with the Three Calamity Blood Slaughter Formation!"
Shwaaaaaa—!
Blood-red sword qi erupted from the blades of the three men surrounding Ouyang Qiangang, tangling and amplifying between them until it became a great tidal wave of blade-force that crashed down over him. But facing it, Ouyang Qiangang did not so much as twitch.
[Doctor, that formation functions by pooling the internal energy of three into one. Estimated combined power: three hundred years. At your current internal energy reserves, a direct confrontation offers no chance of victory. You must evade.]
You know as well as I do that running won't end this. If there's no chance of winning, then I'll make one.
[What do you intend to do?]
Absorb it. Make it mine.
Ouyang Qiangang brought both hands together before his chest. From his dantian, the true qi of the Transcendent Formless Divine Art, steeped in two hundred years of internal energy, began to swirl. The instant he flung his hands outward, one hundred and eight palms of Gale Chain Palms stacked four times over surged forward with terrifying force against the oncoming tide of blood-red sword qi.
KWAAAAAAAAAAANG—!
With a thunderous detonation, what remained of the ruined temple's half-collapsed roof was blasted away entirely. Beneath the sky where the torrential rain hammered down, a desolate scene was laid bare.
"Kgh!"
"Ghk!"
"Hhk!"
The three lords vomited blood and staggered backward more than a full zhang. And on their faces, for the first time, fear settled thick and dark. It was not because their Lifetime Meridian Gate had been sealed. It was because they had realized that the better part of their internal energy had drained away like an ebbing tide.
That realization could mean only one thing.
The Seventh Lord murmured with a trembling voice. "Th… the Soul-Devouring Great Method…?"
"Are you… a disciple of the Demonic Cult?"
Ouyang Qiangang frowned and shouted back. "Demonic Cult? What kind of nonsense is that!" His voice still carried strength, but he was far from unscathed himself—his clothes hung in tatters, and the blood streaming from his mouth and nose mingled with the rain, soaking the ground at his feet.
Ouyang Qiangang bared his teeth, wet with blood. "Now it's my turn."
Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, he spread his Step Through the Mountain, and his new form appeared directly before the Ninth Domain Lord's eyes. The man, utterly drained of his fighting spirit, swung his sword—but Ouyang Qiangang's fist was faster. The Thunderflame King Fist, laden with a crushing, all-annihilating mass, shattered his blade and his sternum in the same instant.
CLANG! Crunch—
The remaining two lords attacked in a frenzy, eyes rolled white, but with more than half their internal energy stolen from them, their strikes could no longer threaten Ouyang Qiangang at all.
PAPAPAPAPAPAPA—!
Gale Chain Palms, having reached the realm of the Twelve Star Great Completion, mercilessly crushed their bodies to paste.
[All hostile life signs terminated. Your remaining internal energy reserves are below 13%. If you do not begin circulation breathing immediately, there is an 87% probability of loss of consciousness!]
With Akasha's warning, Ouyang Qiangang felt his vision begin to blur. The fight had taken less than ten minutes from start to finish, yet the mental stamina and internal energy he had burned were scraping the bottom of the barrel. He was about to sit down where he stood to begin his circulation breathing—then froze, eyes snapping wide.
A human silhouette was flickering no more than a few zhang away.
"Truly impressive, young Master Hahu. I knew you had learned martial arts, but I never imagined it was to this degree."
The cheerful voice was not unfamiliar. The figure walking out of the darkness was Cheon Un-gi, the man he had parted from in Nanchang.
This man watched while those assassins attacked me. If he'd been in league with them, now—exhausted as I am—would have been his perfect chance to kill me. But he didn't. Which means, at the very least, he has no intention of harming me right now. In that case, I have no choice but to make use of his goodwill.
Ouyang Qiangang let out a long breath and spoke. "Brother Cheon, would you kindly guard my meditation?" Then, without waiting for an answer, he settled cross-legged on the spot and entered his breathing cultivation at once.
"……?"
Cheon Un-gi stared at him, dumbfounded, then burst into a hearty laugh. "Hahahaha, I can't tell whether that's fearlessness or plain foolishness. But it doesn't feel bad, being trusted like this. Very well. I'll gladly stand guard for you."
Cheon Un-gi crossed his arms and leaned his back against a half-shattered pillar. And around him, a mystical scene was unfolding.
Shwaaaaaaa—
The torrential rain pouring violently through the hole in the roof slipped and slid away mere inches from his body, as though striking an invisible barrier.
Though in a different form, a mysterious phenomenon was taking place around Ouyang Qiangang as well. The rain soaking his body was freezing white. At first it was no more than a coating of frost, but as time passed it thickened, until after half a shichen it had grown to a full hand-span of solid ice.
Ouyang Qiangang now looked as though he had been sealed inside a transparent iceberg. More astonishing still, that bone-chilling cold did not extend a single inch beyond his frozen shell.
Pitter-pitter-pitter-tok—
The downpour hammered down upon the ice sheath. Watching it, a light of admiration rose in Cheon Un-gi's eyes.
Astonishing yin-cold energy art. It would be no shame to compare it to the Ice White Divine Art of the North Sea Ice Palace, or the Vast Cold Divine Art of the Guanghan Palace on the Snow Mountains… a supreme pure-yin art of that caliber. But that young man couldn't possibly have learned one of those arts practiced only by women, and I can't place what it is at all.
It was a full shichen later when Ouyang Qiangang opened his eyes. Rising from his seat, he cupped his fist in salute and bowed his head to Cheon Un-gi. "Thank you for guarding my meditation, Brother Cheon."
"I only did what needed doing. Though I'm curious—what exactly did you trust me for?"
"Because I had no reason not to trust you, Brother Cheon."
"Hah… a wise answer to a foolish question."
Ouyang Qiangang looked at the man the raindrops could not touch, his eyes brimming with wonder, and asked, "I suspected you were no ordinary man, but I never imagined you were a transcendent beyond the world's reach."
"Transcendent, nothing. I'm a loafer." Cheon Un-gi asked, "By the way—that trick at the end, where you drained the Domain Lords' internal energy. What manner of technique was that?"
"So they were Blood Sea assassins, then?"
"You didn't know?"
"I suspected it, but I couldn't be certain. They never said a word."
"Well, that figures."
Cheon Un-gi nodded and went on. "The Blood Sea has ten Domain Lords beneath its Gate Master. Each Domain Lord commands some twenty underlings. In total, a band of two hundred and one killers."
"I see…"
"This time they mobilized four Domain Lords to kill you. Of those four, the Tenth Lord and his men were wiped out by your hand back in Nanchang."
"Then those three were—?"
"The Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Lords. When word of their annihilation arrives, the Blood Sea Gate Master—Hyeolhae Cheonsal—will blow his lid. Close to a third of the sect's elite vanished in this single night of slaughter."
"You truly know a great deal."
"Didn't I tell you I have many friends? Hahaha."
Then his easy laughter faded, and his expression turned serious. "You never answered my earlier question. That strange technique at the end, by which you seemed to absorb the Domain Lords' internal energy. It is not the Demonic Cult's Soul-Devouring Great Method, but it resembles it closely. And it differs from every martial art I know. What exactly is its principle?"
His gaze was of an entirely different order from the assassins'. Ouyang Qiangang's face stiffened. The Records of Life and Death had contained a passage on the Soul-Devouring Great Method.
"The Soul-Devouring Great Method is the most wicked demonic art in all the world, forcibly absorbing another's internal power and making it one's own"… and the Transcendent Formless Divine Art… follows the same path as such an art…?
"It has nothing to do with the Demonic Cult. It is a martial art I created myself."
Cheon Un-gi's eyes went wide. Ouyang Qiangang's answer had genuinely startled a man who had long since reached the realm of the Absolute Immovable Heart. "Created? You created an art akin to the Essence-Absorbing Art?"
"That is correct."
Cheon Un-gi spoke with a careful, measured expression. "I'll offer you one piece of advice. Think it presumptuous if you like, but hear me out."
"Please, go ahead."
"The practice of absorbing another's internal energy is a straight road into qi-deviation. It does not appear to apply to you, but no one can guarantee what form that harm might take. So use it as little as you can."
"I will keep that in mind."
Then Ouyang Qiangang asked, "There is something I'm curious about as well. How did you follow me here?"
Cheon Un-gi gestured with his chin toward the Blood Sea assassins, now stiffening into corpses. "The same way they did."
"And what would that be?"
"Scent. Your body carries the Thousand-Li Tracker Incense that the Blood Sea assassins favor. Even at thirty li apart, a trained man can follow it with ease."
"Ah…"
Cheon Un-gi pushed off from the pillar and continued. "The Tenth Lord who died in Nanchang must have laid it on you. Get rid of it before you travel any further. Otherwise, the Blood Sea assassins will appear again."
"You're leaving?"
"Doesn't look like anything interesting will be happening anymore, and there's no reason for me to linger with a man, now is there?"
Turning away, Cheon Un-gi waved a hand and ambled off into the distance. Faced with that mysterious exit, Ouyang Qiangang was struck speechless for a moment, and could only stand there staring blankly at the spot where he had vanished.