Before I could give a witty response, a warm sensation runs down the side of my face. My hand raises and touches my cheek, finding the cause of that sensation to be blood. My blood.
I am wounded. I am fucking wounded!
Ah. No biggie. It is not like I have never gotten wounded before. In fact, I have bled plenty of times on my journey towards greatness. Nearly died a dozen of times as well.
Still, to think that I have to bleed against this shitty old man. This shitty old man who I can slaughtered in an instant if I really meant it.
"Here is my counteroffer. Return those Sacred Artefacts back to their rightful owner, me, and prostate yourself and I might find it in my heart to forgive you and let you kill yourself peacefully," I demand as the crossbow within my hand glows brightly with golden light.
The aura it radiates, vibrates the very air.
It is a just demand since those artefacts are stolen from my sect. Even if he is not the theft, his ancestor might be, and that makes him as guilty as them. I did say the thefts and their clan will get what coming to them.
Shen Hu replies by unleashing a powerful slash at me, and I meet him with a shot from my overcharged crossbow.
A golden bolt speeds out of the crossbow, rippling the air and crashing against the invisible slash from Shen Hu. It splits the slash and then continues onwards completely unhindered until it impacts against a manifesting golden shield.
Within an instant, fissures erupt on the shield, radiating outwards from the point of impact where the golden bolt tries to break through and hit my intended target.
"This is…" Shen Hu raises his hand and channels as much energy into the golden shield, reinforcing it, but he is only slowing down the inevitability. He does not have the power to reinforce Aegis, a Sacred Treasure of Divine Rank, to defend against another Sacred Treasure of Divine Rank.
The crossbow in my hand shatters, reduced to dust, as its internal energy has been depleted. All Sacred Treasures regardless of origin has a limited number of uses in the hands of others.
Only their original creator can prevent their expiration due to energy depletion.
Unfortunately, even if I am the creator, I do not have the cultivation to recharge its energy reserve or repair its durability. Actually, I could recharge its energy reserve, but it seems like a waste of my finite divine energy right now.
While Shen Hu is busy trying to stop my attack, I take out a bottle of water and piece of cloth to wipe off the blood from my face. He notices what I am doing with disbelief, and despite the burning angers within him, he cannot do anything but continue to expend his energy into Aegis, wastefully.
Shen Hu eventually realizes that it is pointless and tries to flee before Aegis fails. However, regardless of wherever he runs off too, the bolt will find him. He seems to understand this quickly from what his student has seen.
Pretty sure Yang Meili is his student of sort. If not, she is a student of his student.
Shen Hu decides to use the time smartly and charge his weapon. It is also a Sacred Treasure of Divine Rank, and it is capable to stopping the attack. Most of the energy within the bolt has been lost, trying to penetrate Aegis. Even so, Shen Hu has to use everything he has to block it.
"Looks like the negotiation has broken down," I state before taking out another crossbow. The golden aura it radiates is enough to scare the living shit out of the elderly man. He has no way to block another divine strike from the same Sacred Treasure.
Or was it really the same Sacred Treasure?
No, it is not, but I have never said that I have only one crossbow. I have like a dozen of them because I had thought I might need spares for hunting.
Seems like I was right.
"Do not think that I only have one Sacred Treasure of each type," I mimic his voice just to piss him off, and it didn't work.
Shen Hu immediately drops to the ground in prostration, surprising me. Not what I have expected, at least not from someone of his status. He is a Headmaster, right? Basically, the head of a school.
It is strange. Eh?
I just realize how much of a young master Shao Nianzu is to be able to command Shen Hu. Or at least have the elderly man fight for his behalf. Or maybe Shen Hu just wants my Sacred Treasure.
That might be the case.
"I have eyes, yet so blind. Please spare this foolish man," Shen Hu pleads and offers his sword in both hands while remaining prostrated.
"Oh? Do tell what you have manage to see?" I request since I have no clue either. My eyes cannot tell me what the others are thinking or what kind of crazy conclusion they come up with.
"That your cultivation must be beyond what I can comprehend," Shen Hu answers, and he is not really wrong. Once the differences in cultivation realm becomes too great, the weaker one cannot sense the stronger one. What he gotten wrong is my cultivation realm, and there is no need to correct him.
"I see. If you know then kill yourself. It saves me the trouble of getting my hand dirty," I tell him after taking the offered sword off his hands. It is more like taking back what is rightfully mine. Unfortunately, the sword is on the verge of breakage.
I cannot repair it, so I put it to rest. Its remains scatter to the wind.
"Please, senior, have mercy on this junior. I can be of a service to you. Please think about it. You have nothing to gain by killing someone insignificant like me," he pleads, and there is some logics to that.
Not the insignificant part, obviously. He is a Headmaster after all, and that kind of position do have some use to me if I ever want to go to school. Do I want to go to school? Never did back on Earth since I was too busy blowing shit up.
"There is some merit to that. You can call me Shin. Tell me about Beast Tamer and Gourmet Hunter," I request before taking a seat and returning to preparing my lunch. The battle was short, so the area is still relatively intact.
"Thank you, Senior Shin. What do you want to know?"
"How about everything? Just think that I have been living in a closest all of my life, and I have decided to come out of the closest recently," I response and set up the pot over the campfire. "Do not skip on the detail. I have plenty of time."
"As you wish, Senior Shin, but before that, may I ask why you do not use that meat for your stew?"
Shen Hu points at the dead beast nearby, and I raise a brow at that. Surely, he is not suggesting what I think he is suggesting, is he? Or there is a way to make the meat tasty?
Well, time to get enlighten then.