A Fight?

Buzz…

Whoosh! Whoosh!

While Bell was flying at the greatest speed he could muster with his now higher Constitution stat, Sixth Void was having no problems keeping pace with Bell's speed, relying on the sheer agility of his body to do so.

With that in mind, Bell could not help but ponder if he was already flying at the fastest speed he could achieve. Though, it did not take long for him to notice that the qi he had accumulated through his qi wisps weren't moving at all.

According to the information he had obtained from the Crimson Soul Manual, as well as the fact that the system had a stat that showed it, once he allowed the qi he had accumulated to be infused in his body, his overall combat power would rocket to a certain level, including his speed. And with that, he could not help but wonder why his qi wasn't moving at all.

'How the heck do I move my qi?' Bell asked himself inwardly, trying to manipulate his qi through his thoughts, just like how he beckoned the qi in the surrounding areas to be absorbed. Unfortunately, even after a couple of minutes of trying it out, the qi that was stored in the qi wisps seemed to not budge at all.

Of course, he didn't only stop there. He also tried other methods of manipulating them. Thinking that a part in his body needed qi, thinking that he was going to circulate qi, quite a few of those methods were thought up by Bell…and failed.

Eventually, he inwardly let out a sigh as he decided that the best way to learn how to manipulate qi, or do anything related to cultivation for that matter, was still to ask someone who was knowledgeable over the topic before trying to do it himself.

And so, while they were continuing to zoom through the various foliages and trees covering the ground of the forest, Bell stopped all of a sudden, prompting Sixth Void to stop as well as he asked him, "What's wrong?"

Without beating around the bush, Bell looked at Sixth Void and replied, "Now that I think about it, I haven't asked you how I can manipulate my qi yet. Is there a way to manipulate qi at the Qi Sensing Realm…or is it only possible once I reach a higher realm?"

"Well, if your definition of manipulating qi is the same as my definition, then you would need to reach the next realm, the Qi Gathering Realm, to truly manipulate qi," Sixth Void replied, which made Bell radiate a disappointed aura. Though, soon after, his next words reinvigorated Bell as he continued, "But my definition of manipulating qi is releasing it out of your body. If it's just manipulating the qi inside your body, then almost any being at the Qi Sensing Realm can do it."

Taking in a deep breath as he recalled all of his experience in the past regarding the manipulation of qi, Sixth Void then put on a solemn expression as he told Bell, "Back then, it took me around 20 tries before I could allow a bit of the qi in my qi wisps to enter my body. As for you, who's more talented in qi, it might just take you only 10 tries or less."

Gesturing with his fingers, he soon condensed a wisp of qi over his palm before starting to explain, "To extract the qi from your qi wisp, there are a total of three things for you to do. Well, to be more exact, a total of three things you have to think of."

"The first thing you have to think of is to beckon the qi wisp to release some of the qi contained in it. The next thing you have to think of is the part where you want the qi to head toward. As for the last thing, it's the thought of having the qi head towards that part."

"If you want me to explain it in simpler terms, then think of yourself as a builder, the qi as a person, and the part as the place the person wants to go. In this case, you and your thoughts act as the road for the person to head to the place they want to go," Sixth Void ended his explanation with this statement. "Are there any other questions you want to ask?"

"Hmm…I'll ask them once I finish trying it out," Bell said before closing his vision, allowing his other senses to be more focused towards what was going on inside his body. As he recalled the three steps that were explained to him by Sixth Void, he could not help but think to himself, 'So, the methods I've thought up some time ago actually needed to be done together step-by-step.'

'Well, there's no point mulling over what I should have done. Let's try and do this.'

With that in mind, Bell then went over the three steps to manipulating qi, beckoning the qi wisp to release some of its qi, telling the qi that it should head over to a certain body part, in this case, his wings, and then create a pathway for the qi to head to his wings.

Surprisingly, with this three-step method, qi was actually released from one of the qi wisps, heading towards the wings as Bell could not help but feel excited from the sensation. Though, his excitement did not last long as the qi soon dissipated about halfway. Not only that, he had also obtained a notification from the system that he had consumed 1 True Qi.

In any case, now that he knew that he could manipulate qi, he decided to hone his mastery over it, even if it was just a basic sense over it. With that, he sent point after point of qi towards his wings, wanting to boost his speed with it until finally, after the seventh try, he had succeeded in allowing the qi to be infused into his wings, making it feel lighter.

Ding!

[You have formed a connection between your wings and qi! Considering your current cultivation realm, 4 points of True Qi shall be consumed every second.]

[You have obtained the title 'One Who Has Controlled Qi'!]

"Hoh?" Getting two notifications at once, Bell could not help but feel surprised at both of them. Of course, before checking the notifications, he removed the pathway between the qi and his wings, or the connection between them according to the system. After that, he looked at the first notification closely and pondered over it in great detail.

Thankfully, it did not take long for him to come to a conclusion as he muttered, "In short, as long as my cultivation increases, the amount of qi I need to expend increases while the duration stays the same. If that's the case, is there any way for me to extend this duration?"

Placing those thoughts aside for now, he then placed his focus over the new title he had obtained, recalling that he had only obtained four titles so far. Commanding the system to give him the effects of what this new title did, he could not help but say to himself, "It's similar to that other one."

________

[One Who Has Controlled Qi]

A title given to those who have controlled qi firsthand.

> Increases one's control over qi.

{Note: This title is part of a set. If the owner obtains the other titles, a resonance effect will occur!}

Resonance Effect 1 | 2 titles obtained: The owner's control over qi has been greatly increased while the owner's qi absorption speed has been increased by 20%

________

Reading the last line of text on the screen that had appeared in his mind, he could not help but do a bit of mental mathematics, only to give up soon after as he thought that there was no point thinking about it in the meantime.

Nevertheless, after obtaining two effects that seemed to have increased his control over qi, he went ahead and established a connection between his qi and his wings once more, seeing that it was hundreds of times easier to do so compared to his first successful attempt.

Opening his eyes as he removed the connection, he went ahead and absorbed some of the qi in the surroundings to replenish his True Qi. While doing so, he looked at Sixth Void, only for Sixth Void to ask, "How many attempts did it take?"

"Seven," Bell said in response, to which Sixth Void lightly nodded in response as if it was a matter of fact. Not long after, Bell went ahead and asked Sixth Void, "If I decide to infuse my whole body with qi, would it consume more of it or the same amount?"

"If you're going all out, then yes, it would consume more of your qi," Sixth Void replied without missing a beat. "But, if you just want to increase your overall power slightly, then you can adjust the amount of qi you consume to the same level as when you infuse only one part with qi."

"Got it," Bell said as he had finished recuperating his losses from the multiple attempts to manipulate qi a while ago. With great confidence, Bell went ahead and infused qi to his wings before flying forward with greater speed, leaving Sixth Void with a slightly surprised expression. Though, with a quick chuckle and a light shake of his head, Sixth Void hastily caught up to the speeding Bell as the two of them continued to make their way through the forest.

By the time about half an hour has passed, Sixth Void told Bell to stop, to which Bell followed. Soon after, he told Bell to be silent as he perked up his ears, listening for any signs of a beast nearby. Hearing the faint sounds of grass being crushed, Sixth Void looked at Bell and lightly nodded as he told him in a whisper, "I've found you your first beast."

"What kind of beast is it?" Bell asked in response, making sure to whisper as well.

"It's a Blade Paw Tiger at the 1st Stage of Qi Sensing," Sixth Void replied, looking at the tiger slightly far away from them from time to time. "The reason why I chose this beast was because I thought that any beast stronger than this would probably be too much for you."

"In short, you want to gauge my strength first before searching for stronger beasts?" Bell said in response, to which Sixth Void replied with a light shrug, "You could put it that way."

"Well, that's fine by me…" Bell couldn't care less if his strength was being measured. In any case, he had not formed a Constitution skill from the Blade Paw Tiger's blood yet, so he would still win out. Nevertheless, there was still one worry he had in mind. "But…Sixth Void, wouldn't the pressure of your cultivation realm affect the combat power of the Blade Paw Tiger?"

"If that's your problem, then there's nothing to worry." Sixth Void let out a light chuckle in response before a dark shroud of energy covered him as he soon disappeared from Bell's sight. Naturally, such a quick disappearance left Bell in shock, only for him to be in more shock as he heard Sixth Void say to him, "I've more or less nullified my presence here, so you can fight against the Blade Paw Tiger without any worries."

While being fearful and impressed of Sixth Void's skill, Bell slowly moved towards the direction of the Blade Paw Tiger, noticing that it was looking for some prey to kill and munch on. With that, Bell went ahead and infused his qi to his wings and his proboscis, soon obtaining a notification that he was consuming twice as much qi than before every second.

'Thankfully, I thought of filling up my qi along the way,' Bell thought to himself as he inwardly let out a sigh of relief.

Unsurprisingly, the qi that Bell manipulated made the Blade Paw Tiger a bit more alert as it soon searched for the origin of the qi it felt. It did not take long for it to notice Bell hovering in midair, given that he had increased in size thanks to his third evolution.

Seeing that such a puny mosquito was emanating qi, the Blade Paw Tiger did not think too much about it as it infused its qi towards one of its paws, aiming to swipe Bell down from the air and crush it.

Though, just as it was about to do just that, Bell hastily zoomed at full speed, moving like a bullet as he allowed his proboscis to pierce through its forehead and…

Bang!

With all of the momentum Bell had accrued while flying, all of it was transmitted through his proboscis as the Blade Paw Tiger's brain was turned into mush. On top of that, it seemed that the force behind the attack was too much as a bit of blood could even be seen seeping out the tiger's back of the head.

Seeing just how powerful he had become, Bell could not help but mutter to himself.

"Is this…even a fight?"