Chapter 2: Execution

The sun starts to rise in the horizon, indicating that dawn is coming. A sound of a rooster crowing can be heard, and it is the signal for Ling to postpone his reading and continue his cultivation. Ling stood up and closed his book by placing it back on a chair.

"Alright. I'll continue my cultivation training then..."

Ling sat on a lotus position and closed his eyes.

(Six years after I started my cultivation path, I am still stuck on Qi Condensation Stage. This special qi of mine seems to saturate even longer than the rest of what a normal cultivator could...)

Ling open both of his palms and draw them close to each other. Then, several purple threads appeared at the tip of his fingers. However, the amount and length of qi threads doesn't satisfy Ling.

"This won't be enough to condense the new technique. I need to release more qi threads."

Ling closed his eyes. Several qi threads starts to emerge from both of his palms on a faster rate and began to form a dense sphere between his hands. Several minutes later, Ling finally opened his eyes.

"This is enough."

The qi threads starts to compress into a single point between his palms. This qi threads starts to mold into a figure similar to a dagger.

Within an incense stick of time, a purple dagger-like figure made of purely concentrated qi was finally complete. Ling examined this new technique.

"This..."

(A cup worth of qi could only condense this size? I thought this dagger made of qi could create a size larger than my fists. What kind of crappy cultivation technique did I stole!?)

The qi dagger began to tremble and flew around him. It maneuvers freely within Ling's field of vision.

(Oh well, I think it's not bad at all. Small sizes are enough to kill some small fries undetected rather than large ones. It's over when someone could notice a flying object made of qi with a size larger than a fist.)

The qi dagger flew back to Ling. Ling grabbed it, and the qi dagger began to dissipate into thin air.

"This should be enough for today."

Just when Ling was about to enter the ruined pavilion, he sensed something. Ling smiled, knowing that his guest has finally come.

"Ling! Where the hell are you! " A female voice familiar to him shouted.

"Oh well. Here comes the troublemaker..." Ling murmured.

Ling turned around and saw the young miss of the Wen Clan, Wen Jia, alone.

"Why did you kill my brother? You better give me an explanation, or else-"

"Or else what?" Ling replied.

Jia's face went sour upon hearing Ling's response.

"You..! Hah... Oh well, there's an explanation for every actions right? Now tell me why did you do it."

Ling walked closer on the ground where Jia was standing.

"First, he offended me. He said that I should be treated as a servant rather than a house guest due to my status being an outsider in your clan."

"That punk..!" Jia murmured.

"Second, he tried to assasinate me by mixing a poison on my tea. Luckily I'm familiar with the poison's smell that he used, so I noticed it beforehand."

Ling stopped walking upon reaching Jia's position.

"Third, that brother of yours kept babbling that I should reject the marriage proposal with you."

Jia smiled when she heard Ling's final answer.

"Hoh... So you finally knew it. "

Jia pointed her finger on Ling's chest and slid it down slowly.

"Since the beans had been spilled, what's your response then?" Jia asked him.

Ling leaned forward and drew his face closer to Jia's.

"I refused."

Jia was baffled on Ling's response.

"What?"

"Hmm.. How should I put this... "

Ling leaned back and placed both of his hand behind him. He stared at Jia with a smug face.

"Though your figure is quite fair-looking, it's just that you're not interesting enough to even look forward to. Plus, you're weak enough to even prove anything. "

Jia frowned upon hearing Ling's criticism.

"Even a maidservant from your house is even more useful. If I'll choose between you and your maidservants, investing on them would gain me benefits rather than you."

Jia raised her palm and tried to slap Ling.

"How dare you mock me!"

Ling blocked Jia's slap by holding the wrist of her hand. Jia struggles as she tried to shrug Ling's grip. Ling opened his hand, letting Jia's hand go.

"Tsk... I knew that you won't be a good lapdog for our clan's survival. Guards!"

Several guards emerged from the trees. A total of ten Qi Saturation Stage experts surrounded Ling, leaving him no gaps to escape.

"I, Wen Jia, would never take insults as if it's nothing. On behalf of the Wen Clan, I condemn you as a traitor for killing the young master and defaming me. You shall be executed on spot. "

Jia stepped back behind on the guards surrounding Ling.

"Guards, Kill!"

The guards nodded at each other and began approaching Ling one by one. Ling didn't move an inch, as if he's not afraid at what's about to happen on him.

...

In the distance, Jia watched the fight smiling.

(Oh Ling... It's such a waste that you will die today, though my father and the elders are the ones who made this decision. I was also fed up by appeasing you all this time. I thought it was enough to soften your heart so that I could easily manipulate you.)

(Now that you will die today, let's how you will put that tough act of yours...)

"KUARGHHH!"

"AGH!"

"Ugh..."

Jia noticed the noise and checked the situation. She saw all nine Qi Saturation Stage lying on the ground.

"What just happened...?"

"Young miss... Run... Cough!"

Jia saw Ling strangling a guard with his bare hand. She also saw a strange purple qi technique with a shape similar of a dagger. That purple qi dagger pierced right through the head of a guard.

Jia witnessed the horror and her body began to tremble. Ling dropped the dead body of a guard and approached Jia slowly.

"S-Stay away..!" Jia shouted.

Ling didn't stop and still continue to walk towards her. Just when he was about to reach her, he was interrupted when an unknown person jumped to him from behind.

Ling noticed it beforehand and tried to avoid the stranger's assault. He avoided it with ease and got a clear view of the person's identity.

(Seems a middle-aged man with a Qi Perfection Stage cultivation...)

"Haha! Now that Yao Peng is here, you won't stand a chance against him!"

Peng extended his right hand towards Jia.

"Young miss, you should go back and tell the elders about the situation here."

Ling's face turned serious and became vigilant.

(Tch. Calling for reinforcements is a smart move. I can't handle that much people due to my low cultivation... )

Ling moved his feet forward and extended his left hand, indicating a stance.

(I need to end this quick.)

Jia began to walk away from them slowly. Just when she was about to take another step, Peng began to move.

"Hahhh!"

Ling began to approach one of the corpses and began to pierce the corpse's chest with the qi dagger.

(By pouring a drop of qi, it will start to absorb their qi and vitality... Although it would take some time, it should be enough to replenish my qi.)

Ling began to repeat the same process on another corpses while avoiding Peng's barrage of attacks. After a while, Peng stopped from attacking and distanced himself away from him. Ling noticed Peng's unusual actions.

(Muscle's expanding. His breath becomes stable. Qi is condensing on his hands. He must be preparing an ultimate tenique.)

Ling noticed that the corpses began to wither, indicating that the process was complete. Then, he began to absorb the qi he planted from their corpses back to him.

(Wait. All of their qi and vitality is just a cup and a half worth of qi after absorption?)

Peng clenched his fists and ran towards Ling with a murderous intent.

"Traitor, you must die for killing the young master!"

Ling opened his palm widely. A new purple qi dagger began to condense at the top of it. The time it took to condense the purple qi dagger became shorter than before.

(Tch. It would take seconds to condense this. I need to buy some time.)

Peng jumped on the air and began to descend swiftly towards Ling.

"Rock Smashing Iron Fist!"

"Go!"

The first purple qi dagger flew towards Peng. Peng noticed it and began to interceprt Ling's attack.

"Hmph. Such paltry tricks, break!"

Peng punched the qi dagger with his bare fists. But he noticed something unusual with the qi dagger that as it drew closer on his fist.

(Huh? It's absorbing my qi and vitality...)

Peng grabbed the purple qi dagger with his bare hands and jumped back away from Ling. He noticed that the purple qi dagger began to absorb even faster after grabbing it.

(This...!)

Peng noticed that Ling's second purple qi dagger approaching towards him. Out of options, he threw the first purple qi dagger towards Ling at a lightning speed. Ling noticed his first purple qi dagger rushing towards him at a faster rate.

(I can't control it due to it's immense speed. I need to dodge it!)

Ling managed to moved away, but the qi dagger still able to land a hit on his legs. Ling grunted due to pain from the part where the dagger was hit.

"Guhh..!"

On the other side, Peng witnessed as he saw Ling drop to the ground.

(Finally I managed to hit him! I win!)

While he was celebrating, he noticed something unusual.

(Wait...!?)

Peng noticed that the second purple qi dagger approaching towards him from before was gone.

(Where did it go?)

Peng looked around, but he didn't saw it at all. Just when he was about to look below, he noticed the second purple qi dagger pointing its tip towards him. On the other side, Ling smiled as he was controlling the second qi dagger all this time.

"You lost, idiot."

In an instant, the second qi dagger pierced on Peng's head like an arrow. Peng died instantly.

"You shouldn't celebrate too early when it comes to fight, especially if your enemy's still conscious."

Limg stood up and approached Peng's dead body.

"Thanks for the nourishment, though."

Ling began to absorb Peng's qi and vitality. By absorbing it to heal his wounds, Ling managed to recuperate in a short time.

(Such a waste! A Qi Perfection Stage cultivator is worth a cup of qi, but half of it was used just to heal my injuries...)

After a while, he finished absorbing and his wounds was also completely healed.

(I managed to heal my wounds, but my stamina can't be healed with my qi at all.)

Ling looked around and senses that several men coming to his direction.

(They're coming, I need to hide for now!)

Ling ran away and hid to the depths of the forest, away from the detection of his pursuers from the Wen Clan.