A Path Between Villages

"I was hoping to find something useful in here." Hong Zhao sighed as he began to shut the door.

"Hey, hold on there!" Lan thrust her hand forward and caught the door before it could shut completely. "That's quite the way to greet your master, Little Zhao." Her eyebrow raised in annoyance as she jabbed the last two words in his face. "Here I am hanging out in a room, waiting for my disciple to finally open the door, and what does he do? He just shuts the door again. Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting?" Her voice held venom as she stared down at the nine year old boy.

"I'm thinking possibly three minutes." Hong Zhao put up his hand as if to count. "You transported here the moment you felt that the events called for you to show up. I believe you watch me constantly." He smiled as he saw her eye twitch slightly before she sighed.

"Don't you think shutting the door on me is a little much, though?" She pouted. "I did show up here to help, after all."

"Then enough with this wounded pride routine." Hong Zhao rolled his eyes. "What are your esteemed words of wisdom?"

"Fight them alone." Lan's smile became dangerous as she looked down on a dumbfounded disciple.

"Did someone punch you too hard when you were a kid?" Hong Zhao raised an eyebrow. "There are two of them. I can't feel their ranks. How do I kill them when I don't know what I'm up against?"

"Just use the gains you got from the stone lion's dungeon. Didn't you get a decent sword?"

"You are always watching me, aren't you." He didn't even say this as a question.

"That, and you put it in this storage ring, which we both have access to." Lan's look towards Hong Zhao spoke 'Duh' louder than if she said it. She had a point. How else would she be able to send him things, if she wasn't able to travel to the ring's storage herself?

"If I surpass them with the sword, it should only work for me for about five minutes before my qi runs out." Hong Zhao began running attack patterns in his head. "If I use vortex thrust and qi shot, I should be able to kill the first one right away. I'll have to fight the other one on one with the sword."

"Why not let the other one live?" Lan asked. "If he does, he'll go back to Yuan City and tell the City Lord that a random cultivator confronted them on the road. He might send stronger disciples next time."

"That would defeat the purpose of what I have planned in the long run."

"And what would that be?"

"You'll just have to wait and find out just like the rest of them." Hong Zhao smiled at Lan's impatience. "But I will take your advice on the sword. For that, I thank you." He turned his gaze back to the door and began to walk out.

"Use your devouring qi claws to deliver the final blow." Lan spoke before the door shut.

Hong Zhao shut the door fully and transported his consciousness back to his body. "I was already planning on it."

Following the path half way between villages, Hong Zhao found the cultivators once more. He ensured that the qi blocking formation was activated before he took the spirit sword from his storage ring. When he released the blade from its scabbard, an overwhelming power hit him and he gasped it in. It felt as if he had been hopped up on twenty energy drinks as his limbs felt light. He activated vortex thrust, not wasting any time gawking.

Hong Zhao activated qi shot and hit one cultivator in both legs, sending him sprawling. Before his partner could register him as a threat, Hong Zhao activated devouring qi claws on one hand, sending the pure white blades through the wounded man's eye sockets and through his head. Pink fluid dripped out the other side as his attack had pierced through the man's brain.

At that moment, Hong Zhao raised the sword and parried an overhead slash aimed for his own head. The force blew him back slightly, yet it wasn't enough to send him flying. His eyes went wide as he registered the man's cultivation. "You are a second star disciple ranked cultivator." He said in a low voice as he activated qi shot. Aiming for the man's sword arm, Hong Zhao released two bolts, yet the cultivator swatted the attack aside with his sword.

"And you are dead!" The man took a step, then vanished. Hong Zhao couldn't register how fast the man had to be running in order to disappear in a blink. He stood still and activated eagle vision. With vortex thrust as well as his vision ability activated, he would be able to react in a blink of an eye.

Hong Zhao felt a slight breeze coming from his left, so he raised his sword and guarded his right. As soon as his sword was up, it connected with the other man's sword. The cultivator's eyes went wide. "How did you know?" He tried pressing the attack, but Hong Zhao held him off.

No matter what, Hong Zhao had to finish the attack within the next minute and a half, or it was game over. His drop in rank wouldn't be visible due to his qi blocking uniform, but the difference in strength would make it obvious.

Instead of answering, Hong Zhao raised his hand in a fist and activated his devouring qi claws. At the last second before his knuckles connected with the man's skull, the claws formed and went completely through, ending the man's life. "If you were still alive, I would tell you that I would never guard a location which is so obvious. You should have attacked that side if you wanted to win.

Hong Zhao searched the two cultivators and found their storage rings. After placing a drop of blood on each one, he stashed them in his own storage ring. After just a moment, his head began throbbing with pain. He dropped to his knees as he felt his head would split open.