Ryu sat cross-armed in the rafters silently watching as another one of his friends were brutalized by the unstoppable Jin Wu. Augus nearly broke a blood vessel watching this unfold. "How dare he!"
"I know Augus, I know. Tianlong fought as well as she could, but it wasn't enough. The way I see it, either me or Qin Ming will destroy him. We just need to wait."
Augus sat back in his chair and grumbled "Ryu is right, we just need to wait. Soon his death will come, but Augus I should remind you that some fates are worse than death." Qin Ming spoke matter of factly.
Qin Ming fumbled with the ring on his finger. In Qin Ming's mind his fate was sealed. Qin Ming would simply seal Jin Wu's soul into the Miniture Eight Trigrams Brazier and endlessly torture is soul. The only problem was getting there.
Augus was the first to rush to Tianlong's side after the match was called. He cradled her arm around his neck "hey, hey it's ok little Xunny."
Tianlong's eyes were filled with endless dread and sorrow "I could not beat him, Augus. I could not get revenge for Raya!" she buried her face into Augus' chest and sobbed uncontrollably.
Ryu jumped down from the rafters and pointed his finger at the man who had wreaked havoc in the past few matches "listen here Jin Wu, today is the day you die! You will pay what you owe."
"Hm and just who will stop me? You? Qin Ming? No, no let me ask you a better question. Why do you think it is not your last?"
"Enough talk! Director call the match!"
"You shall wait your turn until both of you head to your respective teams now!" the director lifted his hand and waved them away as you would a fly.
"Fine if I must" Ryu flies off in another direction Jin Wu however just whistles as he strolls back.
Back at the Dorms
"That guy really pisses me off!" Ryu was impatiently pacing back and forth.
"If you don't kill him I will." Whiffs of fire feld from Augus' nose.
Qin Ming hadn't moved from his spot, he sat quietly in lotus position "don't worry Jin Wu will get his!"
Ryu receives a mental message from the director "come to the arena contestant."
"It seems my time is here, come see my friends watch me."
"Hmm something doesn't feel right." Qin Ming remains in deep seated meditation.
"Come my friend let us watch the death of Jin Wu" Augus clasps Qin Ming's shoulder.
"Jin Wu will not fall in this battle, although my divine scrying is young and I see myself fighting Jin Wu." Qin Ming slowly mumbles
"You have acquired a scrying technique? How impressive" Augus was taken aback
Qin Ming stands and walks out the room with the others. He glances to his side "do you believe he has a chance"
"I sure hope so, if he can't then you must!" Augus clenched his fist, a blaze was set in his eyes, his only goal was to see Jin Wu suffer. If not by his friends then by him.
"None of you will have that pleasure, I will end him right here right now." Ryu just strode forward, each step was controlled and calm. He was only driven by his rage.
In less than a second they all had arrived. Qin Ming sat down with the crowd slowly twiddling his thumbs. "Lu Snow, can we talk for a few seconds." Qin Ming passed a mental message into his Icedawn Pearl.
"What bothers you my son." Lu Snow answered back in a chipper manner; her voice had more life in it than before.
"This fate scrying technique you gave me, how accurate is it at my level?" Qin Ming stayed stationary in his seat pretending as though he still had his full attention on the fight taking place.
"Hm at your level it's hard to say, do you remember the final battle at the Frozen Seas?"
"Well yes I do, what does that have to do with fate?" Qin Ming couldn't help but wonder how the two played a role in the other, although it wasn't too hard of a guess.
"I had used the Mirror of the Nine Heavens to help in the Divination process, in tandem with an absolutely top tier fate scrying technique. I had foresaw my own victory. It was all but assured in my eyes." Lu Snow felt as though she need not explain further.
"Fate is a funny tool. In my recent divination I saw me fighting Jin Wu, that can only mean Ryu loses here…" Qin Ming leaned forward in his seat.
Ryu jumped in the air landing three decisive leg blows against Jin Wu, however Jin Wu was quick to the jump and put his guard up. Even so Jin Wu coughed up blood. Each kick sent powerful vibrations throughout his entire body.
Ryu brought his hand down with the force of a mountain range.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three mighty explosions chopped against Jin Wu's defenses. Jin Wu was an expert in the ways of defense and used this wall of a defense as his greatest offensive tool in his kit. The enemy simply couldn't land any meaningful blows and would get sloppy as a result.
Ryu pushed his two palms into Jin Wu, he lifted up his fingers and created 36 small white dots that held the mysteries of the Dao of Space. Each one of these dots were like a very small star. This is nothing to say of their power. The dots came together and formed a replica of the constellations of the night sky. This was more than enough to provide an adequate counter attack.
Ryu wiped the blood off his mouth, as did his opponent. "This damn technique can even get over this wall."
Ryu spun his hands in a wave like motion sending a flurry of air pressure gushing towards Jin Wu, the moment his guard goes up to block this form of attack Ryu switches it up! He ignites the air blowing Jin Wu back in an explosive manner. "Use his defense against him, yeah this might work!"
Jin Wu cocked his head and pushed his hand forward nine stars shot forward with such intensity the wind around each star splintered. This attack was so powerful that the space around the beads began to distort. A faint whisper escapes the mouth of Jin Wu "from zero comes one, [Wuji BirthsTaji]".
Qin Ming sat upright in his spot "no way, he made a breakthrough in the Dao! Right here, right now!"
Qin Ming started to chew his nails. Qin Ming did have an extensive repertoire at his disposal, he had the legacy of Lu Snow and Lei Laoshi however raw talent and experience can only take one so far.
BOOOM!!!
The nine stars that now held a hint of the true meaning of the Dao slammed against Ryu. Each star caused Ryu to cough up blood, his ribs and internal organs were shredded in an instant.
"Not yet…" Ryu lifted his finger up and drew several runes and glyphs each containing the mysteries of the Dao within them.
The runes shot forth and the sheer heat became too much for lesser cultivators to handle. Then the Dao of Wind collided with the Dao of Fire.
It must be understood that this entire stage was surrounded in a protective formation set up by a Divine Mortal who was already a grandmaster in formations. This barrier would not give even under the attacks of Violet Exultants to say nothing of Xiantians. So when the two collided the explosion remained contained to the arena, the heat the raw destructive power all of it! This was Ryu's last ditch effort, he knew this attack would be exceptionally deadly in this situation. This was true, this attack was completely situational!
The explosion made no sound whatsoever it expanded at speeds that not even the human eye could detect. The ground turned to ash in mere seconds it slammed against the walls of the formation in even less time. Then when the explosion reached its utmost destructive capabilities the energy in the core of the explosion reached critical mass. It even began to implode on itself due to how massive and dense the sphere became.
It was only at this moment when it let out an ear piercing boom that heard around the entirety of this Major World.
A bright flash of light blinded everyone who could see it, in fact it was like another sun was summoned on Oldjade!
"Huf huf that was close!" Jin Wu tried so desperately to catch his breath.
"I wondered what that was! If I was just a smidge slower, or a smidge less intuitive I surely would be dead!" Jin Wu held his blistered body.
Jin Wu was mostly a skeleton at this point, his robes burned off in its entirety. It was clear as day who had won. The Director called the match in favor of Jin Wu. Qin Ming was not surprised as this was already foretold.
Qin Ming jumps into the ring "we end this now!"
Jin Wu glares back at Qin Ming "is that so?"
The Director stands between the two "it's not, both of you turn and leave now!"
Qin Ming grumbled as he left, Augus left with an injured Ryu following not too far behind. Qin Ming locked himself in his room and used half of his attention to focus on his fate, and the other to practice the Dao of Martial Arts. This Dao was a long and tedious process to master, however if he could break through to the World Level then Jin Wu would crumble under his might!
They gave each combatant a month to prepare. In this time Qin Ming had seen over a million different outcomes but was no closer to reaching the World Level. He was stuck at a bottleneck. His other Daos grew but not by much, to be completely honest a month is a slim amount of time.
The dawn of the next morning when all things would come to an end. The two rivals would meet for one last time. Qin Ming was determined to kill Jin Wu, but this was a hopeful dream. Jin Wu was simply too strong, it would be a wonder if Qin Ming could do it.
"Jin Wu…" Qin Ming glares at his rival.
Jin Wu says nothing, the growing tensions could be felt throughout the stadium. Augus shook in his place just watching them!
Qin Ming wasted no time and instantly used the [Stellar Transformation] technique in tandem with his beast transformation, growing beast-like palms and legs. The horn in the middle of Qin Ming's head glowed a bright yellow; its sheen was so shocking that Jin Wu was taken aback!
Qin Ming flew as fast as he could at Jin Wu, he became a blur to most of the 'regular' onlookers, in fact he was undetectable to any Basic Mortal! This was something Jin Wu prepared for!
Jin Wu set up his Polaris Formation 36 little beads of light swirled around Jin Wu creating an ironclad defense!
BOOM!
Qin Ming's fist clashed against all 36 at once the force of this blast made such a loud concussive bang that lesser cultivators began to bleed from their eyes and nostrils. Qin Ming kept up this assault and soon even Jin Wu found it hard to stand under this might.
Jin Wu shifted his stance and it was an instant shift in the battle Qin Ming was now on the defensive. Every hand movement caused more and more stars to fall down, Qin Ming felt his internal organs crush and compress. Qin Ming spurted up blood, he grabbed the side of his chest. His immortal energy was handicapped and couldn't regenerate his body as fast.
Qin Ming stepped back, pulling the Dorje Thunderbolt from his storage treasure. In one fluid motion he sends a wave of electricity from the blade of lighting. Jin Wu was caught off guard as this blade ate through his defenses. This magic treasure was so powerful that even though Qin Ming had no talent in the Dao of the Sword he was still able to outclass even his own martial prowess.
Jin Wu put his guard back up then shot out even more stars which Qin Ming batted away. Each strike leveled the arena by meters. Qin Ming eloquently slashed his sword at Jin Wu. Qin Mig while not skilled in the Dao of the Sword as compared to the Dao of Martial Arts, he still reached One with the Blade level. This made his skills on par, however his heart was that of a martial artist!
Clang, slash
The sword flowed like that of the ocean or a calm river. Each slash was cold and calculated. Qin Ming couldn't gain any upper hands on Jin Wu, however Jin Wu was only figuring out how to kill Qin Ming.
Jin Wu took one final blow before shooting out a single star that destabilized the runes around the weapon, the lightning visage dissipated. Qin Ming backed up even more. He was significantly less advanced in the Dao, he had pure power on his side but that's it. Qin Ming wasn't a human he was a god beast, humans could perceive the Dao unlike any other! Qin Ming was born simply stronger.
To be fair if he was a human and had observed the Icedawn Pearl he would have already been able to form a Dao Realm in five or six different Daos! Although it wasn't his own discoveries and would be severely crippled later!
Jin Wu beat down on Qin Ming with all his might, Jin Wu ripped the horn from Qin Ming! Blood spouted from every single direction. Jin Wu sent a star that blew off his arm. Qin Ming had his back to the wall. His only thoughts now were that of his grandfather, Lei Laoshi, and Lu Snow.
His mind layed entranced on his grandfather the aura he carried was unlike any other, the way he moved his arms and legs it was as if his grandfather was the Dao of Martial arts itself! Everything flowed into his mind all at once, Qin Ming looked at the Dao in a whole new light! At first he believed the Dao of the Sword to be completely different from his own but he was wrong! In fact they were one in the same, just practiced differently is all. No, what Qing Ming had stumbled upon was the true meaning of the Dao. he understood it like he understood his own name.
Qin Ming opened his eyes and with ease knocked the orb to the side, he knocked each orb casually as if he was swatting flies. This small breakthrough was more than enough to push him over the edge, in truth they were more or less equal and he only needed to make a sudden breakthrough to overwhelm him in power! With a quick jab to the solar plexus Jin Wu dropped to the floor.
Qin Ming had finally broken through the barrier and became One With the Fist level of mastery he had been on the very edge for a very long time. In truth it was a culmination of every past experience all in one. Indeed even the Dao of the Sword had been raised a few stages as well nowhere near this level but still.
The tension rose to the point that it was thicker than moving in gelatine. Jin Wu stepped back as two knife-like gazes stabbed into his chest. "You will pay for what you have done!"
His eyes began to twitch as blood filled the whites of his eyes. Teeth clenched and grinding against one another, Qin Ming finally had the power to enact his revenge and blow off steam. This had been a long time coming indeed.
With a loud snap of Qin Ming's fingers, three runic talismans shot out from a storage ring. These talismen moved faster than Jin Wu could think! Once they attached themselves to him Jin Wu could not move one bit.
"You deserve nothing but death! That's too easy, I think you should suffer." Qin Ming motioned his finger to activate the seals
"AHHHHHHHH S-STOP PLEASE QIN MING I'M BEGGING YOU SHOW MERCY!"
"Mercy? You wish for me to show you mercy!" Qin Ming closed his fist the third rune activated.
The rune began to glow a bright red. Jin Wu's flesh cooked in seconds. Qin Ming activated each rune all at once, one would contort his muscles and limbs beyond what was normal, breaking every bone he had. Being cooked alive and even feeling like he was drowning.
Normally yes anyone at his level would be able to easily brake though this type of barbaric torture, however when he landed that last attack to the solar plexus he severed the Jidan region effectively making him mortal. Something he picked up in the numerous torture arts he picked up. In total he bought over 180 different techniques, he fully intends to use them all.
Weeks passed by of nonstop torture, Qin Ming had been stricken with grief but this did little to help, however what this did was make a point! Fuck with the people he cared about and you'd be the next!
"Jin Wu I have a surprise~" Qin Ming strode forward placing his foot on Jin Wu's skull.
"You finally get to die!"
"Thank you so much Qin Ming! Thank you thank you thank you!" Jin Wu kissed the very ground Qin Ming stood on praising it like a holy site!
A quick slice to the throat ended his short miserable life! Jin Wu's soul began to fly away to find peace in the afterlife. This soul was filled with joy and anguish, but more than anything it was relieved!
A sweet smell wafted through the entire area. It was like lavender and wisteria. The soul was suddenly being dragged back down to earth. It twisted and contorted and turned into a horrid amalgamation of unbearable dread, something so unexplainable and ugly. The relief it felt turned into dread quickly!
It was pulled into the Incense Soul stealer that Qin Ming had bought a while back! Qin Ming waved his hand and a Miniature Eight Trigrams Brazier appeared out of nowhere. Qin Ming opened the lid and dropped the stick inside. Once it closed Jin Wu's torture began again!
"Did you really think you'd have a peaceful afterlife! I promise you I'll release you in eight million years!"
With this Qin Ming had his empty victory, he stormed off the stage and went into seclusion for months. The screams of Jin Wu rang through his ears all day. Getting a good night's rest was now a luxury then a given right.
A month had passed by and Qin Ming decided it was time, "he's up everyone give him space" he faintly heard through his room.
A bright light flashed into his room, the first person to run in was Augus he wrapped his arms around him and spun him left and right nearly crushing his ribs "MY BROTHER HAS FINALLY RETURNED!"
Qin Ming turned his head to the side "could you put me down"
"Oh uh yeah of course" Augus dropped him Lei Laoshi walked in and motioned for Qin Ming.
"Come with me son"
Qin Ming left and his heart had almost felt something, everyone even Akuma came to see him, he had realized he had touched so many people. Even so when you torture someone you torture yourself as well Qin Ming's mind had simply been to weak.
"What is it, Master?"
"You have yet to pick your prize for winning, come now, you're lucky it was me if I hadn't talked to them it'd be forfeit."
"You're not disappointed with me father?" Of all the people Qin Ming wanted to hide from, Lei Laoshi was at the top of the list.
"I am not proud of what you did"
Qin Ming looks at his feet and grabs his left arm "but you did what you felt was right you did what you had to do even if it's something you didn't want to do and for that I couldn't be prouder!"
This did make him feel a little better. Soon they arrived at the palace. Qin Ming went inside.
"Ah so you've finally decided to make it come now let's pick out your prize."
The attendant led Qin Ming to the Royal Treasury. "Here you may pick any one thing from the first level, however you are forbidden from entering the inner sanctum!"
Qin Ming understood, everything here was beyond powerful but was nothing compared to what was beyond. Every treasure at present had been at least Earth rank, some even at the Legend rank.
Treasures had been split into a few different ranks based on usefulness, or quality they were foraged at. They were split up even further between those ranks into low-grade, middle-garde, and high-grade. Those ranks being Basic, Mortal, Earth, Legend, Heaven, and Immortal.
Basic weapons didn't require any sort of binding, these could be used by anyone. However they were fairly weak and could be found in the trillions of the Oldjade world. Mortal weapons were only slightly stronger than Basic weapons, they could be used by Basic Mortals but allowed for one to pour immortal energy into it, which would make them exponentially stronger. Most masters opted to give their disciples these weapons, as one could be foraged easily. Earth weapons could only be bound by cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage; these could easily break apart mountains. Legend rank weapons could only be bound by those at the Divine Mortal level, however at this rank they would develop a mind of their own and a life of their own. If the Spirit treasure within liked the user enough it may allow it to be bound to them. For example take Qin Ming's Dorje Thunderbolt for example, both him and Lu Snow bound to it at the Xiantian stage. Yet the weapon was ranked at the Legend level of power at the first stage. The weapon at the ninth stage would be stronger than an Immortal garde weapon!
The Dorje Thunderbolt however was special. It had several different stages to bind to. The first stage was able to be bound by Xiantain level cultivators, while it was as durable and gave off similar power ripples to a legend rank weapon it was unable to unleash power at the level. If the user wielding the weapon was unable to understand its profond intricacies they naturally couldn't use the full power of the weapon.
These ranks were fairly subjective of course, the creator of the Dorje Thunderbolt ranked the first stage at Earth grade though was on par to most Legend grade weapons. He graded the Dorje Thunderbolt at all nine stages unleashed to Immortal rank but was much, much stronger than that! after all this weapon was forged for his first disciple who had a knack for the Dao of the Sword and Storms! he doted upon his disciple heavily and thus gave him a weapon that would be useable all the way until he was a Celestial Immortal.
There was a collection of formations and mystic fire, water, ect. What had drawn his eyes was a pair of thunder gauntlets.
"Huh? Twin Gauntlets of Heaven and Ice" he read the name carefully.
He continued to read the description. "One could shake mountains summon glaciers shoot lighting, if it could be seen under the sun these gauntlets could do it"
Qin Ming had heard of these; they were used by a whole slough of people because even if you were a formations expert you could still find some use for these. This set was even legendary to boot. If Qin Ming couldn't find anything better he'd pick these up.
This was almost made for him although he had the dorje thunderbolt which outclassed it in every way he had no weapon he would use now.
He turned his attention to the collection of divine arts. These were manuals created by gods, unlike sword arts or bow arts that could be used by everyone. This could range from teleportation to flight, shapeshifting, you could even turn your own body into a treasure and become an unbreakable wall in the process!
Although those types of divine arts would be deeper into the treasury. However the two he was allowed to have were [Stellar Transformations], and [Three Heads Six Arms].
This made sense as both were incredibly common. One of which he already had! However, [Three Heads Six Arms] was something every Practitioner used and was undoubtedly the most useful divine art. The power was always a consistent boost, as you got stronger so did this ability and thus made it a timeless ability one would always use.
This was because you would grow an additional four arms making you in theory four times stronger. You'd also gain two extra heads giving you a wider perception of the space around you making it harder to be snuck up on. However it was mostly the extra arms that made this divine art as powerful as it was.
What was so different from this and let's say Lu Snow's ability was that these were real arms, not made through divine power. This took zero strain on the body so it could be used indefinitely. Most cultivators opted to do this.
The choice was more than obvious, he picked up the book and brought it to the attendant.
"Ah yes excellent choice most people pick this one I wasn't surprised. Here." he handed Qin Ming a bamboo scroll; it was a perfect replica. "We ask that you do not share this technique with outsiders."
This was one of the loosest promises Qin Ming ever had to make to obtain a treasure. It was just a polite ask, even if he did share this technique he wouldn't make any enemies or his soul wouldn't be destroyed, nothing! This was because this technique was very ordinary and most adventurers could find a copy. The only thing that would happen if he gave it away was merely that he would need to work twice as hard to court the favor of the imperial domain. Nothing more nothing less, if he did show above and beyond dedication and work why would they hold a grudge over something like that?
"Emperor Primalfire has informed me that if you need any work he would give you a job or two, take this as well.'' He handed him a jade talisman with the imperial writ in it.
Qin Ming nodded and left.
This marked the end of the first chapter in his life, the first hurdle, Qin Ming couldn't feel anything less than joy!