He rushed toward me with his actions pretty well telegraphed. With his sword pulled back and the point facing me it was pretty clear he would thrust straight at me.
A moment later exactly as I thought was going to happen occurredWith a simple sidestep I slashed my scythe vertically upwards in an attempt to sever his arm, but I believed a simple takedown didn't go as planned.
In quick glance I saw that he had actually caught onto the pole of my scythe just after the blade part with his other hand.
I saw him smirk as if he had already won, but without waiting I went for a kick against his leg. Midway through I saw him try to move his sword arm, but my foot smashed into the side of his knee.
"Ah!"
It caused him to buckle a bit as his knee bent, shifting his weight. Using this moment of his weakness I turnt my scythe on its side and plunged it deep into his chest. Without rest for him I slid my left hand down the pole of the scythe and shoved it downwards, twisting the blade that was already inserted into his chest.
"*Hooumnp!* *Cough!*"
He tried to hold back whatever whatever was trying its best to rush out of his mouth with no success as he coughed out a few drops of blood. The place my scythe punctured should have been one of his lungs and part of his heart.
The arm he still had extended out quickly lost its strength as a *clang* was soon heard from the metallic weapon.
His eyes stared deeply at me with such deep hatred, but I cared not for it.
I placed my foot on his waist as some extra leverage before ripping my scythe out of his chest cavity. The pain from removing my blade was shown quite visibly upon his face.
He futilely tried to close his wounds up with his hands on the ground, but I could no longer pay attention to him as it seemed the rest of them had arrived.
The 3 stood partially frozen at the top of the stairway and my eyes focused on the one in the back particularly. He was the only one with a cultivation in the Foundation Establishment, the same as me, but he was actually a layer higher then me currently. I felt I was close to reaching that layer, but I still needed a little something. Perhaps at the end of this fight I might even be able to reach the 2nd layer like he is now.
I didn't feel like this fight was too unfair though, even in the past I had on a few occasions even won against those past my realm. A simple layer advantage with two people of a lower realm shouldn't be too difficult.
"W-what?! Brother Xiao Died so quickly?! He just warned us not too long ago!"
Although that man's face wasn't familiar I could tell it was that treasure loving man from earlier. It wasn't like it was intentional to over hear them, but it didn't matter.
The man to his right was staring at me, mostly my body, but he soon froze as his sight reached his "brother Xiao" who was still struggling to stay alive with all his might.
"Get a hold of yourselves, spread out and encircle her. Now isn't the time to grieve."
"Y-yes Big Brother!" They both said at once before doing exactly that.
With the woman lover on the left and treasure lover on the right, my "equal" stepped up directly in front of me. All of them had solemn expressions with their weapons ready.
I didn't want to keep letting them think the situation was on their side any longer. The more confidence they gained the more coordinated they might become. They must hesitate at every action, thinking whether or not it would be the right one.
Immediately I wanted to get rid of the other two on my side. In the end I picked the man who liked to play with women. I would test out the flame on him both to sate my curiosity and to avenge that woman he had done so much wrong to.
I dashed toward him in an instant with my scythe raised high. His slightly determined expression drastically changed into one of absolute horror and dread.
In almost an instant the blade part of my scythe was engulfed in a thin and translucent dark flame.
He raised his sword up to block it, but with the blade's curved hook-like feature I was able to graze his left arm. A small part of the dark flame seemed to have seeped into that wound of his and burrowed deep. I could feel a steady stream of my Qi flowing into the weapon as the flame was active.
"W-what did you just do to me?! You b-bitch, tell me now!"
Even if I wanted to tell him I couldn't. I was probably equally as confused as he was, but while he was probably going to suffer soon I would simply be watching.
At this point the other two had reacted and tried their best to rush over, but as they arrived I willingly disengaged. They surrounded their teammate while asking questions of concern, probably more on the fact that they would be down to a 2v1 then actual worry for his wellbeing. Their boss stood in front as the other checked up on him.
"Hey, hey are you alright? Can you keep going?"
"I… I think so."
I was confused by the odd scene playing out, was this dark flame useless in the end? I looked at him intently and realized that I could feel the presence of the flame within him.
'It's still inside him, why isn't it doing anything? Do… I control it?'
I tried my best to use it at a distance and soon a heart-retching scream was heard as I moved it.
"Ahhh!!!! Gaahhhh!!!"
"B-brother! H-here, take this medicine, quickly!" The other man stuck his hand into his robe and dug for a moment before pulling out a small pill bottle. With a *pop* the cork fell to the ground as a pill was shoved into that brother's mouth.
I felt like there was something guiding me to two possible places, their Dantian or their heart. Since I knew neither option I just chose the closest one, the heart.
"Gah!"
The man with a flame within him fell to one knee as he was clutching his chest. I could feel the flame had taken root there and had engulfed a part of his heart in those flames. It only ignited and burned the amount that could fit within the flame itself and had done nothing more. Now it was simply dormant within his body.
Soon their tissue regeneration from that pill that was forcefully shoved down his throat was showing its effects. But I could still feel the flame within him and I was still injecting Qi into the scythe.
The amount I had to put forth was simply trivial at the moment, but if I wasn't careful then It might be my downfall. I decided to keep the effect active until I killed him, if by then nothing happened I would be quite disappointed in this ability.
I walked towards them as I quickly started gaining momentum and the two in the back scrambled to get their weapons. Their boss up front rushed forth to meet me, but I decided to leave him for last.
I stepped to the side a bit and motioned for a simple diagonal swing, but he didn't go for a block, instead trying to evade with a duck. As soon as my swing missed I kicked him which pushed him back a fair bit.
Using this distance I charged at the two who had barely become ready to defend themselves. Money man came first and I sidestepped his hit before slamming the pole end into his jaw. He reeled back a bit and the other came immediately after with a thrust to my chest. I didn't have any time to prepare for his strike so I redirected the momentum from my first hit to change his sword's trajectory while in the meantime counterattacking.
My blade sunk deeply into his neck and I quickly felt as if his life was dissipating. At the same time that small flame within his body reacted as it had found an escape. It flew through his body and hovered in front of me.
Without much time to think it over I grabbed onto it as I leaped back.
*Thu'um*
The floor I had stood on was shattered and in its place the sword of their leader. He lifted it out of the crumbling ground as he focused his sight on me.
I watched him for a moment before opening the palm of my hand which now held the same flame, but now there was a red hue enveloping it. There was a feeling like I should absorb it. Soon the flame disappeared into my palm leaving no traces behind. I could feel as it traveled through my arm and not long after it reached my heart as well.
It then went up and melded with my own heart, but I felt as if a small surge of power now appeared and reinforced my body by just a bit. It was the feeling of Physical cultivation, but all at once. I felt like I had just cultivated for a few days in Physical cultivation all at once. It really wasn't much, but if this ability did what I thought it would, my cultivation could be settled without having to patiently cultivate the traditional way.
Excited at my new potential prospect I eyed that leader of theirs quite eagerly, so much so that it must have become a little uncomfortable for him.
"B-boss, w-what do we do!? I-I don't think we can kill her!"
"Shut up, we have to try! If we don't we'll die instead. I don't think she'll simply just let us leave after what she has done. Just attack together with me."
Together they rushed toward me, but I was still distracted by my new wondrous discovery for the moment. They attacked simultaneously at unnatural angles. I went for yet another dodge and counter, but by now they knew my strategy. The leader quickly redirected his attack in order to get a hit in and I had to hand it to him. He did manage to get a cut on my arm, but in retaliation I had landed a sizable cut on him as well and I had injected a sizable portion of the flame as well.
It seemed the amount of flames from the scythe were a little limited.
"Guh… So this is the pain you inflicted on him?"
Unlike the first man the leader seemed like he could handle it much better. I controlled the flame within and this time I made it head towards the Dantian.
"Ah!! You bitch! Come on, what are you standing there for?!"
Not wanting to simply take this pain he toughened himself up as he rushed at me. I didn't know if I needed the flame to consume his dantian or not before I could gain some of his strength so I waited to finish him off.
Instead I focused on the other who was slightly isolated. I rushed straight at him and within a few exchanges his head rolled across the floor. By now the leader's Dantian was fairly consumed by the flame and he clutched his stomach, the location of the Dantian. The flame didn't feel like it could hold more so I went up to the weakened man and in a single swoop his head flew.
I grabbed the flame which emerged from his body and looked at the color of it once more. This time the hue was blue instead. After a moment of absorbing it I felt the foundation I had for Qi cultivation reinforced as I had even rose up past a layer. Now I was a 2nd Layer Foundation Establishment realm cultivator like he was.
'Now I'll have to deal with that sneaky little shop owner, but of course not before I take anything of value from them.'