Broken Sword and Zero Zone

Since he now had the Eye of the All-Seeing Buddha, Jian wanted to reach the 4th Step of the Qi Core Realm. He also wanted to become an Inner Disciple to have access to much more things than he did as an outer disciple.

Since Li Kuo also had to strenghen his body and find some medecine, they both decided to go to the Thousand Flowers Forest. Jian already knew where it was so he lead Li Kuo there. When they reached it, Li Kuo warned Jian about something.

" I don't really know how to fight, even though the Zero King Sutra allows me to use a certain technique. With my current strengh I might be able to contend with a Qi Core 1st Step Beast but that's all." Said Li Kuo.

" Don't worry about it, I know how to defend myself. As long as it's not a Qi Core 2nd Step Beast, I wil be able to fight back. Also our main objective is to find some flowers for you." Jian reassured him. And so they both entered the forest.

The Forest was quite thick and the trees were extremely tall, Jian couldn't see much since the light of the sun didn't even get through the massive branches of the trees. However Jian had a good nose and good ears. That is why he could hear some distant howls and could notice a smell similar to mint.

" I think we found some kind of spiritual flower, it smells like mint. Also I heard some distant howls, there may be a pack of beasts in that direction." Said Jian pointing to the east. Li Kuo nodded and they both searched for the flowers.

In only a few minutes they found several blue flowers. Li Kuo had seen his father using those to concoct a soul pellet.

" Soul Pellet ? What is that even supposed to be ?" Asked Jian. Li Kuo looked at him like he was dumb before he remembered that Jian wasn't exactly that versed in cultivation.

" Soul Pellets are little balls filled with Qi that help cultivators grow in power. They are extremely expensive and some people from rich family use them to become stronger without having to actually work. However the more powerful they are, the more expensive they become. From what I heard in the neighbouring countries, the most powerful Soul Pellets one can buy are the Qi Core 8th Step Soul Pellets. The more powerful Soul Pellets simply cannot be bought with money." Said Li Kuo.

Jian looked at the flowers in his hand, and greed flashed in his eyes.

" So that means that we could make Soul Pellets with those and become stronger ?" Asked Jian and Li Kuo immediately shook his head.

" Not really. For that we would need to actually know alchemy. We could also ask a good Alchemy master to make some for us, but it would be quite costy . We don't have that kind of money. Though we could sell those flowers for a good price. They are pretty rare I heard. Also we should get away from here. My father always said that Spiritual Beasts were able to directly eat Spiritual Materials like those flowers. They don't even need to refine them. That's why Spiritual Beasts love to eat flowers like those. We may meet some Beasts if we stay.....Here." Said Li Kuo, his face becoming paler at the end. Jian turned around and saw that a pack of creatures had appeared.

[ Name: Iron Rabbits

Age: Young

Rank : Qi Core 1st Step

Type: Stray Beast

Description: Iron Rabbits are bigger than usual rabbits with skin as hard as iron. They do have a weak point and it is their abdomen. They usually hunt in packs and only hunt weaker creatures. ]

" Iron Rabbits ?!" Yelled Li Kuo.

" You know about those things ?" Asked Jian as the Rabbits slowly approached.

" Yeah, my Mother loves their meat, so our family's servants usually went to hunt for them. I heard one of them say that their weak point is their abdomen, but I am not really sure. " Said Li Kuo, his knees trembling. While he could easily handle a few of them, the problem was that a pack of Iron Rabbits wasn't made of five or six rabbits. No, it was made of twenty rabbits !

" Stay calm. They aren't strong, just resistant. However you are stronger than them and I know how to fight. We only need to make sure we don't get separated and we're good." Said Jian. Li Kuo nodded and got into a sloppy battle stance, while Jian got into a boxing stance. In that exact moment, the rabbits jumped on them and the two Cultivators striked.

Li Kuo had superior strengh, so he could easily swat them away, even though he wasn't really damaging them. Jian on the other way was hiting their abdomen with quick punches.

After a few minutes, Li Kuo was exhausted and was surrounded by six rabbits. While Jian finished the last rabbits who were attacking him. He had been hit a little, but he wasn't bleeding so it was okay. Li Kuo had a weak body, so the rabbits were able to rough him up a little bit more.

After he was finished, Jian got behind the rabbits as Li Kuo breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing the towering shadow on the ground, the rabbits turned and squeaked when Jian started to kick them one by one.

" Okay that should be all. See, it wasn't all that hard ?" Said Jian. Li Kuo nodded and calmed himself. Jian motioned for him to pick the rabbits with him. Jian then placed them in his inventory, even though it looked like he had placed them in his robe, which was slightly weird, but Li Kuo didn't mind.

The two of them were ready to get back to the sect, unfortunately rain started to fall. They could get back to the sect even while rain was pouring, however it was known that rain attracted strong creatures, so they both hid under a huge tree and waited for the rain to stop, while looking around for any sign of a creature approaching.

The problem was that they were looking behind them, in front them and left and right. They weren't looking up.

" CAWWWW !"

" What in All Heavens was that ?!" Yelled Li Kuo. The strange noise had him jump in fright and fall to the ground.

" LI KUO !!!"

Seeing Jian running towards him and screaming at him, Li Kuo understood was wrong and so he looked up since he couldn't see anything around. And that's when he saw it. A creature similar to a crow, however it was gigantic and had...White wings ? It was truly a strange creature, it had the black body of a crow but also had white wings, which gave it a somewhat holy appearence.

Jian jumped on Li Kuo and pinned him on the ground just as the crow descended and nearly impaled him with it's blade-like beak. Jian then looked up and his legs nearly gave in when he read the informations the system had on this creature.

[ Name: White Winged Demonic Crow

Age: Adult

Rank: Qi Core 5th Step

Type: Demonic Beast

Description: White Winged Demonic Crows are mutant-type Demonic Crows. They are less powerful than normal Demonic Crows but they live longer and can use Demonic Qi AND Nature Qi. ]

" White Winged Demonic Crow ?!" Screamed Jian which got the attention of Li Kuo.

" Wait what ?! That's impossible, those mutant-type Demonic Crows can only be found in the Li Zhang Kingdom !" Exclaimed the noble as the Crow dived once again and they dodged as fast as they could. They hid behind a tree as Jian looked confused.

" Li Zhang Kingdom ? What's that ?" He asked.

" It's the kingdom I come from. It's the southern country that's closest to the sect. " Answered the young noble who wondered if they didn't have better things to do than talk about Geography.

" Oh okay. About that crow, I have a way to kill it." Said Jian while Li Kuo wasn't facing him.

" Oh yeah ?! I would really like to see....It.....WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ?!" Li Kuo yelled as he looked at Jian who now had the broken blade in his hands.

" Don't ask. Just know that this thing is powerful enough to kill that damn bird." Said Jian. He then rolled away from the tree and the Crow's locked his eyes on him. The Crow dived once again and Li Kuo clenched his teeth in fear.

And yet just as the Crow was about to kill Jian, the boy blocked with his blade. Sparks appeared as the beak of the Crow and the Blade clashed. But the Crow was forced to get away when Jian tried to kick it.

" I hadn't thought of that, but I can't actually kill it with how fast it is. I need to find a way to stop it. " Said Jian. Hearing this Li Kuo gulped, but ended up bracing himself.

" I have a way to completely stop it but you need to hold it down for a few seconds !" He yelled.

Jian nodded and opened his arms, Li Kuo wondered what he was doing, but understood when the Crow dived once again and stabbed Jian with it's beak.

Jian was actually using his pain tolerance to block it using his own flesh. He then stabbed the Crow in the back with his blade to keep it in place.

" NOW !!!" Screamed Jian. He had pain tolerance, but he knew that he could die if the Crow completely impaled him.

" Okay it's coming !"

Li Kuo glided on the grassy ground and reached Jian. He then extended his arms and crossed them before putting them on the ground.

" ZERO ZONE !" Screamed the young noble. In an instant the temperature dropped and the Crow was completely encased in a thick block of ice. Jian actually jumped back in fright due to how cold it had gotten. He then saw that Li Kuo had lost consciousness and shook his head.

" So that's the technique he can use with the Zero King Sutra. So the Zero King Sutra allows him to use Ice. Poor Li Kuo, if he had been recruited by a sect like the Snow Peacock Sect, he would've become a prized disciple easily. " Said Jian. He then gripped his broken sword and swung it vertically, but it only leaved a dent on the ice.

" How resistant is that block of ice ?!" Exclaimed Jian in frustration.

[ No need to try Master. This block of ice is too hard to be broken. The temperature of this block is also too low for you to move it. You have to leave it behind.]

Jian wanted to refuse, but he knew the system was right. The only thing he could do was take Li Kuo with him and get back to the Sect. Atleast they had the corpses of the Beasts and the flowers.

What Jian didn't know was that several hours later, two Elders would stumble upon the block of ice.

" * Hiss * This block of ice is so damn cold !" Said the first Elder, who was the East Gate Elder, Hou Fei.

" Hmm.....Indeed it is. Strange....None of the beasts in the area can control ice." Said the second Elder, who was none other than Wei Fang.

" Lu'er, do you know if some disciples came back from the Forest in the last hours ?" Asked Hou Fei to the girl who stood behind them.

" I do. Three disciples came back from the Forest in the last hours. Li Kuo, Jian and....Zhao Shu." Said Lu'er. Hou Fei looked pensive but Wei Fang was taken aback.

" Li Kuo and Jian ?!" He exclaimed, surprising Hou Fei.

" You know these disciples old friend ?" Asked Hou Fei.

" Kind of. They are the newest recruits of the Sect. Li Kuo is a noble from the Li Zhang Kingdom while Jian is an orphan. They both showed little to no talent during the tests, however Jian has an amazing willpower and Li Kuo....He somehow cheated during the test. He somehow became extremely resistant while in the cave and passed the test easily. What is surprising about them is the fact that Jian can apparently completely ignore Pain and Fatigue, while Li Kuo broke through the first and second steps of the Qi Core Realm in a single night." Said Wei Fang. Both Lu'er and Hou Fei looked interested, though Lu'er was interested in Jian and Hou Fei in Li Kuo.

They were about to continue on their way when Lu'er suddenly yelled.

" WAIT !!"

Both Elders turned around suddenly and saw that Lu'er was looking at the ice intensely.

" What is it girl ?" Asked Hou Fei, though Lu'er's expression when she turned around frightened him.

" Zero...Zero King's Zero Zone !" Yelled Lu'er which caused both Wei Fang and Hou Fei to almost have Heart Attacks.

" What are you talking about, Lu'er ? The Zero King's Heritage was lost years ago, how could this ice have been made by the Zero Zone he used ?" Asked Hou Fei. However he seemed to remember something as he fell on his butt. Both he and Lu'er looked at each other and their eyes widened. They couldn't help but exclaim at the same time.

" ZERO KING SUTRA !!!"