Qi Weisheng saw that the fight was drawing to a close and jumped down from the cliff after taking a final sip from his gourd.
The air rushing at him as he fell ruffled his long brown hair. His purple oversized robe was lifted slightly by the wind and the shine of steel was visible for a second underneath it.
Qi Weisheng suddenly leaned forward and the white leather shoes he was wearing suddenly revealed patterns that shone like torches and visible gusts of wind entered through them.
Shua!
It was as if he jumped on thin air. His shoes created a layer of wind beneath them which propelled him forward as fast as an arrow. As he flew above the trees, he saw the hammer youth raise his hammer and was about to strike down on Liu Zhong who was collapsed and leaning against a tree.
"DIE!"
"With a little taste of power, a saint forgoes his morals. Let alone a dog like you!" Qi Weisheng sighed. The hammer youth jumped up and yelled out as he realized someone was right behind him, he didn't sense anyone approaching him. Cultivators could sense their surroundings based on their soul power. A level 7 Qi Condensation cultivator could sense roughly five meters around himself, but Qi Weisheng was closer than that.
The hammer youth turned around as fast as possible but what greeted him was the hilt of a sword.
Thud
The youth's eyes rolled back and his unconscious body dropped down onto the ground.
"Attack him together!" The sword youth who watched what happened had an ominous feeling. For some reason, he couldn't tell the power level of his opponent meaning that he either had a method to hide it or was a lot stronger than the former.
The youth with the dagger didn't hesitate and quickly ran over to help. Qi Weisheng just stood there letting the two encircle him.
"Who are you and what do you want? Let's be civilized and negotiate!" The dagger youth pleaded. If they couldn't see through the strength of the latter it was a better choice to negotiate instead of risking offending a senior.
"Who are you to talk about being civilized? You are lucky I am someone with morals or this mission would have been a lot easier!" Qi Weisheng extended his hand into the air and a green sword appeared. Its texture looked like that of a cactus plant and the spikes strewn across it looked deadly sharp.
"A storage ring? This guy is part of a sect! Run!" The group was composed of bottom feeders in their sect, since the other party was likely a sect disciple then chances were that he was a lot stronger than them.
The two dispersed in two different directions at their fastest speed. Qi Weisheng smiled and activated his boots' ability.
As the sword youth was running away, a shadow covered him all of a sudden. Confused, he looked up. Above him was a huge flat cactus that was covered in small spikes.
"AAAHHHH" He quickly sent all of his qi into his sword producing a violent fire explosion. Qi Weisheng had much more qi than the latter so if the sword's ability was damaged, he could just continuously rebuild it. In the end, the huge sword slapped the sword youth into the ground covering him in shallow spike wounds. Seeing that he was unconscious, Qi Weisheng activated his boots and dashed in another direction.
The dagger youth made it a lot further than the sword youth due to his wind elemental infusion. He was nimbly hopping in between trees while taking multiple turns to throw off his pursuer.
"Phew, the other guy's sacrifice was not in vain, I made it out safely!" The dagger youth left the cover of the trees and rested in a meadow. His relieved expression froze as he realized that for some reason, even though it was midday, the sun did not shine on him. He looked around and saw that he was in the only spot not illuminated by the sun which gave him a bad premonition. He hurriedly looked up and saw a green cactus descending on him at a fast rate.
"Wind Piercer!" The dagger youth remained composed and formed his ace move as the cactus crashed down on him. A wide hole was made in the cactus from which he jumped out through, successfully avoiding the dangerous move.
"If I can't run away, I will just have to kill you!" He stepped on the cactus, using it to push off and dash at Qi Weisheng who was holding the hilt.
"That was a mistake" Qi Weisheng smiled deviously. Suddenly, the cactus shrunk back to its original, small form and the dagger youth found that he was suddenly falling. Qi Weisheng moved his sword to the side and then swung at the dagger youth who was helplessly falling. Since he was not at the Foundation Establishment realm, he couldn't use qi outside of his body and so he couldn't maneuver while falling.
The cactus suddenly enlarged again and slammed into the youth at the same speed.
BOOOM
The dagger youth was viciously slapped and crashed down deep in the forest, ramming through multiple trees and bouncing off the hard earth before coming to a stop.
"His fate shall decide if the wild animals notice him before he wakes up." Qi Weisheng sighed and took back his cactus sword. He activated his boots again and dashed back to the sphere where Gong Yu was sitting in.
Gong Yu was sitting in the sphere while biting his nails anxiously. When he saw Qi Weisheng return without either of the two enemies, he quickly stood up and started cheering.
"Young Hero, I knew you could do it! Those stinky beasts are not comparable to a just and moral person such as you!" Gong Yu bootlicked shamelessly.
"Get out of the sphere." Qi Weisheng didn't listen to him and spoke in a casual voice. Gong Yu was overjoyed as he realized that the latter didn't deny that he was a hero, meaning that he intended to save them.
Gong Yu unsheathed his sword and struck the protective sphere which made it instantly crumble. It was much weaker on the inside than on the outside meaning that he could leave anytime he wanted to.
"Sir Hero, your character is so noble that it must be rewarded! My family is wealthy and I can-" Gong Yu spoke as the light of the sphere dispersed around him, but he was cut short when the hilt of a sword struck his temple.
"Finally, now I just have to kill that kid and I can advance to Foundation Establishment." Qi Weisheng wore a grim expression. Ever since his sect had been destroyed and he lost everyone he had known, his character transformed. He didn't want to kill anyone but if he needed to become stronger, he wouldn't hesitate.
Zhao Fan stood next to the collapsed Zhou Da and Huo Long when he saw Qi Weisheng dash out of the forest at him.
"Hand over the lightning brat and knock yourself out and I can guarantee I won't harm you." Qi Weisheng said in a flat tone. Since the guy in front of him didn't seem evil or greedy, choosing to protect his friends, he didn't want to resort to force.
"You should honestly do it, even if he kills Huo Long, your secret will be kept and you will stay safe." Huo Long suggested.
"How can I do that? My master already told me that the Dao Path is the most important thing for a cultivator, if I back out and let my friend be captured, how could I continue cultivating?" Zhao Fan was already resigned that at one point he would have to reveal his secret. In one's life, there were things more important than secrets or treasures which have to be protected at all costs.
"What do you want to do with Huo Long?" Zhao Fan was curious about this point. He might have been some enemy of Huo Long's family or maybe he suspected that Huo Long was a heavenly genius and wanted to turn him in.
"I suspect he is a heavenly genius and has to kill him for a mission" Qi Weisheng didn't mind chatting a bit with Zhao Fan. He admired the latter for defending his friend.
"So it's like this huh. I suppose everyone else has already been knocked out?" Zhao Fan probed even though Hei Long already confirmed this point. Hei Long slapped his head listening to the question.
"Hmm, how would you know that I knocked everyone out? Seems like you aren't simple either" Qi Weisheng smirked. He realized that maybe Huo Long was not the target, but instead this inconspicuous youth. After all, even in the growth stage, a heavenly genius should be more unique than Huo Long so Qi Weisheng had his doubts about him being the genius already.
"It doesn't matter how I know. Coincidentally, you knocking everyone out makes it a lot easier for me" Zhao Fan circulated his qi, making the water claws form. Qi Weisheng took out the cactus sword from his ring.
His boots activated and Qi Weisheng jumped up. His cactus sword enlarged to become as massive as a huge tree and struck down on Zhao Fan. The force of the sword created a massive gale of wind which also crashed down and caused the bodies of Zhou Da and Huo Long to scatter away.
Zhao Fan didn't move from his spot at all and at the last moment, he swung his arms up. His hands met the flesh of the cactus, avoiding the spikes, and struggled to oppose the force.
CRACK
A crater appeared below Zhao Fan as he held the full force of the blow. The ground near the crater formed a spiderweb of cracks which showed just how large the force behind the attack was. By swinging the cactus sword at its normal size and enlargening it as it fell, the force magnified tens of times but so did the qi consumption.
Qi Weisheng was a tier 9 Qi Condensation cultivator but his supply of qi was not unlimited. Once he realized the attack was ineffective he took back the cactus sword and stared intensely at Zhao Fan.
"Am I so beautiful you forgot about your task? Or could it be that Huo Long wasn't the target?" Zhao Fan's mouth curved up to form an evil smile. His whole body was emitting wild, red energy making him look like an evil god.
It was only at that moment Qi Weisheng snapped out of his daze and realized that Huo Long's body was no longer behind Zhao Fan but instead was right next to him after it was blown by the wind. However, he no longer paid him any heed because a notification popped up in his vision.
-User Qi Weisheng has completed the first part of the chain quest "Massacre of the Rising Star"
"Massacre of the Rising Star":
__________
Part 1 - "Identify the Genius"
Description: Identify a heavenly genius battling the Cloud Leaf Sect disciples
Reward: Part 2 started
__________
Part 2- "Massacre of the Rising Star"
Description: Deliver the wrath of the heavens, slaughter the heavenly genius.
Reward: Foundation Establishment Pill (1x), Fate Location technique (rank B), title "Protector of the Era"