"What said that?"
"A catastrophe sounds ominous, we should kill it." Jeffrey declared while getting ready to strike the translucent mass of qi that gave out an eerie aura.
"A book." Maxwell responded in answer to the previous question while placing his hand in front of Jeffrey to stop him.
"Let me do it. My qi is the deadliest."
"Your cultivation isn't that high, you'll just get hurt by whatever that is." Serena cautioned him.
"No, I'll be fine." Maxwell assured her and he got out his spear.
'Well Gáe Dearg, let's see if you can consume this demon.'
His spear whirred with excitement as he brought it near the demon that was killing the plants and devouring them. Maxwell infused his spear with his blunt spear intent, to smash it into bits in one decisive blow. He went all out and everyone could feel the terrifying spear intent he had comprehended. If any of them wielded a spear, the mere sight of the intent would have enlightened them and allowed them to reach new levels of spear intent.
He also covered the excited spear in a layer of gold qi that was masked by the presence of his spear intent. He was meticulous enough that only someone who comprehended a higher level of spear intent would be able to see the gold qi.
The mass that was the demon started to tremble and it looked to be frozen in place. Everyone around Maxwell was filled with shock. Maxwell swung down his spear on it and in a last attempt, it managed to break free from its paralysis due to its fear and it started to slide backwards rapidly.
Before it could get far, Arnold appeared and pinned it down with his burly arms. Maxwell's spear cleanly obliterated it, dispelling the ominous aura.
Maxwell let out a long sigh of relief. He felt it would be dangerous if even a trace of it escaped into the forest. Once it was destroyed by Maxwell, a nagging feeling in his heart disappeared.
'Good thing it died in one swing.'
"Thanks Arnold. Are you fine now?"
"Not really. It caught me off guard and my back pains a bit. Anyways, what is that? I just woke up and saw that."
"It's a demon. I don't know anything other than what it's called."
"Oh, I see. Well as long as it didn't get away. It gave me shivers."
Since the pond was now safe to access, they got out the 2 gleaming white horns. It was all that remained of the rhinoceros' humongous body. If they had the hide, they could've sold it for a good amount.
"We lost the hide, but the horns are the most valuable part." Arnold sighed.
"There was nothing we could do to stop it."
"Okay, let's not feel bad for losing such valuable material. Let's go to the village and assure them of their safety. We can get some rest before the airship arrives to pick us up."
As Maxwell said that pain swept through his body, bringing him to his knees. Blood started gushing through his body and his leg started glowing red and black.
"Maxwell, what happened? Are you okay?"
"Not really, get away. I think it got me."
The ominous qi spread through his lower body, and it approached his chest. Maxwell tried using his qi to fight it, but he couldn't get rid of it because of a small speck of dark red that advanced through his body, bringing the dark qi.
His skin convulsed and he started sweating. His stamina was being drained by the battle of qi in his body. He couldn't control the dragon in his dantian either to fight against the speck of dark red that was the source of the qi.
In a flash, Maxwell was struck with lightning, that cleared his body of the dark, murky and ominous qi. He felt invigorated and fresh, as if nothing had happened.
"What was that? Do lightning cultivators get struck by lightning when they are in pain and get healed?" Jeffrey asked sarcastically.
"Are you stupid?" Serena asked Jeffrey seriously.
"That was a joke, you don't have to hurt my feelings."
***
"Huh? I lost one of my children so fast. Something is wrong. Very few people should know what a demon is, much less how to defeat it. It seems I have to adjust my plan."
"What is it master?" A red female humanoid figure with long black hair and 2 black horns with a red pattern embedded in it asked after being beckoned. She had large breasts and slender legs. Her voice was very alluring, and it could easily captivate the mind of a young man. On her back were 2 crescent shaped blades that could be thrown at extremely high speeds. They were very sharp, and their edges glistened in the dark cavern.
"One of my blood spawns have been killed, it was in the Azure Dragon Kingdom in a young Spiritual Beast. Go find out who killed it."
"Yes master, I'll depart with haste. What should I do once I find them."
"If they are not on any side, make them join us, or else kill them if you can. Don't do anything reckless. I wouldn't want my plan to fall apart from the loss of my most trusted subordinate."
"I'm your most trusted subordinate? Thank you master, I love you." She said with her face red and her mind deep in her own fantasies.
"Oh no, her freaky side is showing again." he muttered under his breath.
She departed after being pulled out of a rather heated fantasy by her master.
"I wonder who defeated my blood spawn. Those old bastards who chained me up should have long passed away. They were very confident that I would be trapped here for many millennia. They wouldn't have taught anyone how to defeat one with their confidence in their seal."
***
"You're back pretty fast." Maxwell's teacher commented as Maxwell strode into his abode.
"It wasn't that difficult; it was very young and scared."
"So, it was inexperienced in fighting. It would still be able to fight to some extent with brute force and instincts."
"It did, but it went slightly crazy after a while."
"I see. Do you want some tea?"
"No, I'll pass, it's too strong for me."
"Okay," he said while pouring himself a cup of tea from a kettle that appeared out of his spatial storage.
"There was a demon in its body."
"A demon? Are you sure?"
"Yes, its appearance was as described in a book."
"Out of curiosity, did you stumble upon this book in the Chevalier's library?"
"Yes, it wasn't a detailed description, but it was more than enough for me to confirm."
"Hmmm, this shouldn't be. If it is then there's a big problem."
"Like a catastrophic problem?"
"Yes. Are you very sure that it was a demon?"
"I'm sure. It even had an eerie aura. It froze after feeling my qi and spear intent."
"I see. I'll be away for a few days. You can come here and cultivate."
"Thank you, teacher."
'Good, I can cultivate my other elements with the items I have in my spatial rings. Nobody will disturb me in here and my Affinities won't be exposed.'
Maxwell's teacher left using a small, but beautiful Airship. It was a small houseboat with a ring of metal engraved with countless formations. It had the figurehead of a roaring dragon, perfect for it since it belonged to the ancestor of the Roaring Dragon Sect. If you paid very close attention to the details of the ship and the figurehead, you would be able to realize that the figurehead was made by someone else with worse skills than that of the maker of the airship.
It was the best airship Maxwell had ever seen. Of course, it in no way came close to the quality and durability of his carriage even with it being covered in cracks. It travelled rapidly as soon as it ascended into the sky with a gust of wind, and it disappeared in the blink of an eye.
After assuring himself that his master was long gone, Maxwell headed back into the abode to cultivate.
'My lightning qi is still at rank 3 beginner stage, but my space qi is now at the middle stage of rank 1. I should get my other elements closer to Rank 2 peak stage. I can't create too much of a disbalance in the elements.'
If his elements were very far apart in ranks, they would start destroying the other element and consuming it, destroying his body and dantian while they fought. Space qi was an exception because of its lethality. It could easily overpower the other elements, but it was extremely difficult to cultivate so there was no chance of it devouring the other elements in his body because of its overwhelming strength.
'First I'll cultivate my wind qi and then fire qi.'
Maxwell brought out a handful of Dandelions that contained strong wind qi.