Chapter 38: Total Extermination
“You don’t know the immensity of heaven and earth, snotty whoreson!” growled the camp owner. There was no way he could ever have predicted that his guards would be incapable of dealing with a boy like this. What was worse, only moments ago he had boasted that in the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the fight would be over. Except, that amount of time had not yet passed, and his guards had already been routed. “Those pieces of trash!”
Eyes flashing with cold light, the camp owner strode out of the door and headed right toward Xu Qing. As he moved, intense spirit power fluctuations rolled off of him, and his energy and blood erupted with force, causing his muscles to swell beneath his robe. To the onlookers, he looked like a mountain. He also emanated a faint golden light. The camp owner was also a body cultivator!
What was more, the technique he cultivated wasn’t something low-level like the Sea and Mountain Incantation, but rather, a consummate art from his sect. It was called Dharma of the Golden Vajra Warrior.
Tapping into all his power, his pace quickened and he became a streak of light as he rushed forward. A moment later, he was right in front of Xu Qing, where he launched a punch. As his fist flew, he glowed with dazzling golden light.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing glanced at the gate, where the old man in the brocade robe held Sergeant Thunder. He forced himself to be patient. He knew that if he managed to get the upper hand in this situation, the man would surely use Sergeant Thunder as a hostage.
Xu Qing didn’t want that to happen, and the only way to prevent it was to act quickly. So quickly that his opponent didn’t have time to react. Therefore, he clenched his hand into a fist and met the camp owner’s incoming blow.
A boom rang out, and Xu Qing staggered backward seven or eight steps. However, he didn’t move in a straight line backward. Instead, he moved diagonally.
The sun was behind his back, and his shadow was on the ground in front of him, twitching slightly.
Meanwhile, the camp owner also retreated a few steps. During the clash, he’d clearly felt how much power Xu Qing was capable of unleashing. Even still, his eyes overflowed with scorn as he once again charged toward Xu Qing, his cultivation base operating at maximum. He spoke no words, and his expression was one of contempt. Yet, when he attacked… he did so with full force. His scornful expression was clearly put on for show. He was the camp owner, after all, and he needed the scavengers to respect him. He might be a member of an important sect, but he couldn’t have the locals looking down on him.
“Golden Vajra Warrior: First Dharma!” he roared. Suddenly his body bulked up even more, and his power and strength skyrocketed.
The camp owner unleashed a smashing attack, and Xu Qing threw up his hands to defend himself, but kept his head down, making it impossible for the camp owner to see his eyes. At the same time, his shadow twitched even more intensely.
However, no one noticed that.
Seeing that Xu Qing had already stood up to two blows, the camp owner, whose cultivation base was already at the peak of the eighth level of Qi Condensation, glared with even more killing intent.
“Golden Vajra Warrior: Second Dharma!”
Yet again, he bulked up, then unleashed another punch toward Xu Qing. As his fist sailed through the air, the golden light grew stronger.
But before the fist landed, Xu Qing suddenly looked up. The killing intent in his eyes blazed as he shifted positions, allowing his shadow to get closer to the old man in the brocade garment, using the movement of his own body to disguise what he was doing with the shadow. Furthermore, because of the position of the sun in the sky, his shadow stretched out very long.
As Xu Qing looked up, and as the killing intent within him surged, he ignored the camp owner’s fist and jumped straight up.
That, in turn, allowed his shadow to bridge the gap to the old man in the brocade. The distorted shadow reached out and covered the wrist of the old man’s right arm, which was currently wrapped around Sergeant Thunder!
The shadow didn’t touch Sergeant Thunder at all!
This was the reason Xu Qing had positioned himself as carefully as he had.
Xu Qing roared as he unleashed the gruish power of his shadow.
The old man’s face fell as he was struck by intense pain and an eruption of mutagen. Instantly, his hand turned greenish-black.
The sudden development caused the old man to instinctively release Sergeant Thunder.
At exactly the same time, Xu Qing let the camp owner’s strike land directly on him. Coughing up a mouthful of blood, he burst into motion. Disappearing from the spot in which he stood, he left behind a series of afterimages as he shot forward. His dagger and iron skewer became like shining bolts of lightning.
As for the old man, his hand was already starting to mutate, so he had no choice but to fall back.
That gave Xu Qing the opportunity he needed to reach in and grab Sergeant Thunder. Then he threw him forcefully off to the side, to where Crucifix and Graceful Raptor were hiding in the crowd. The two of them leaped out, caught the sergeant, and raced off.
All of this happened in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint!
“Your shadow!!” blurted the old man in the brocade. Everything had happened so quickly that he didn’t even have time to react. The camp owner was also shocked at everything Xu Qing had done.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing wiped blood off of his lips and stared coldly at his two opponents. In the light of the evening sun, he looked like a bird of prey as he quietly growled, “Now, it’s my turn.”
He immediately rushed toward the old man in brocade. Xu Qing knew that, if he needed to pick between a body cultivator and a magic cultivator, he should take out the latter first.
Almost as soon as he started moving, he was already closing in.
An unsightly expression covered the old man’s face as he flew backward while performing a double-handed incantation gesture. Then he waved his finger, and a mist shot out, transforming into the image of an evil ghost that lunged viciously toward Xu Qing.
Off to the side, the camp owner howled, golden light surging off of him as he shot toward Xu Qing. Between the two of them, they sent two attacks toward Xu Qing, like vice grips, leaving him no room to evade.
It was a critical moment, but Xu Qing’s eyes glittered coldly as his energy and blood burst forth. Its power erupted in all directions like a windstorm, while at the same time, the spectral image of the hobgoblin appeared, snarling viciously, its inaudible howl shaking the area.
Xu Qing’s hands both formed fists as he launched two strikes at the same time!
The movement of his fist caused the spectral hobgoblin to split in two, with one part heading toward the camp owner, and the other toward the old man.
“Energy and blood projection?? That’s… that’s….”
The camp owner’s face fell as his fist collided with Xu Qing’s left fist. As the spectral hobgoblin snarled, the golden light around the camp owner faded, and he was sent tumbling backward over twenty meters.
The old man in the brocade was also shocked. The vicious ghost he’d summoned with his magical technique trembled in fear at the incoming hobgoblin. Then the hobgoblin snapped it up, only to keep going toward the old man. A boom rang out as the old man fell back, blood spraying out of his mouth. Luckily for him, he was surrounded by a glowing blue light that prevented him from sustaining any serious injuries. Shockingly, that glowing light came from a paper talisman!
It was… a talisman treasure!!
Xu Qing looked a bit pale. Though he was incredibly strong, he was facing a double threat from the camp owner and the old man in brocade. As a result, his internal organs were in chaos.
He was also coughing up blood. However, he hadn’t lost any of his ruthlessness. What was more, he took advantage of the shock of the camp owner to rush toward the old man, putting all of his strength into his next punch.
“Looking to die?!” the old man said, his face pale, but his eyes filled with venomous hatred.
Taking a step back, he kept up the barrier created by his talisman treasure, and simultaneously performed another double-handed incantation gesture. Instantly, eight evil ghosts appeared.
Each seemed as strong as the seventh level of Qi Condensation, and pulsed with sinister coldness as they lunged toward Xu Qing.
Xu Qing’s eyes shone with ruthless light as, instead of trying to avoid them, he let them slash into him with their teeth. At the same time, he increased his speed and unleashed a punch.
A huge boom rang out, and the talisman treasure shook. That said, it was still a talisman treasure. Until it was completely and utterly drained, it wouldn’t be easy to get past it. On the other hand, it was unlikely that even this old man would have a second talisman treasure. And he had used this one so many times that the calligraphy on its surface was getting hard to see clearly. As Xu Qing battered it, that effect grew more pronounced.
The old man realized this, and he looked even more worried than before. Realizing how ferocious Xu Qing was, and knowing this was a life-or-death situation, his eyes filled with madness as he performed an incantation gesture and then spat out some blood. That blood transformed into a blood-colored ghost that rushed toward Xu Qing.
Xu Qing’s energy and blood were surging, so he didn’t even bother looking at his opponent’s magical technique. Ignoring his injuries, he unleashed another punch!
“Sergeant Thunder was already in his dying days. But you just couldn’t let him go, could you?”
Xu Qing’s eyes were bloodshot as the spectral hobgoblin threw its head back and howled. Then its fist combined with his as he landed his blow.
The talisman treasure held, but was badly shaken, such that the old man in the brocade staggered backward, blood spraying out his mouth, and his eyes filling with hysteria.
Feeling like death was looming over him, he howled, “What are you standing around for, Zhang Shiyuan? Let’s attack together!!”
Zhang Shiyuan was the camp owner’s name. Hearing his name being called, the man suppressed his shock and once again charged forward on the offensive.
Blood seeped out of a neck wound on Xu Qing, and pain pulsed through him, but he ignored it. His energy and blood surged, and his heart overflowed with both fury and madness.
“Sergeant Thunder chose to leave, but you had to keep causing problems! He lived a miserable life, but your heart was set on total extermination!”
Xu Qing seemed almost insane as he unleashed one fist strike after another on the old man’s defensive barrier, all while the spectral hobgoblin howled and joined him in the attack.
Booms rang out in the scavenger basecamp as the calligraphy on the talisman treasure faded more. Though the defenses still held, the old man still sustained damage from the force of the attack. Indescribable terror filled him as the shadow of death grew stronger. His talisman treasure was especially effective against magical techniques. But he was dealing with a body cultivator whose repeated attacks created a power of resonance. And his already-damaged body wasn’t going to hold out for much longer. As he coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood, his despair grew.
He wanted to beg for mercy, but the resonance caused by the fist strikes hammered at him, making it impossible for him to do so. As he trembled, incapable of releasing any more magical techniques, he could only scream inwardly.
I… I don’t want to die. I—
Veins bulged on Xu Qing’s forehead, and his eyes were crimson as he launched both fists at the defensive barrier created by the talisman treasure.
“Die!”
An astonishing boom rang out as the talisman treasure twisted and distorted. It still remained intact, but the old man inside the barrier was shaken so badly his eyes bulged. And at this point, he really couldn’t take any more of this barrage. His eyes exploded, his organs collapsed, his flesh and blood were shredded into a paste!
Having done this, Xu Qing slowly turned around, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Clenching his right hand into a fist, he turned and launched a punch to meet the attack of the incoming camp owner.
Xu Qing was sent tumbling back about twenty meters. His numerous wounds opened up again, causing more blood to splash out. Beneath the evening sun, Xu Qing looked to be completely drenched in blood.
Seeing this, the camp owner was shaken to the core.
He looked at his partner, who had been blown to bits, and then his opponent, who was covered in blood but still standing there ready to attack, his eyes filled with killing intent. A chill ran down his spine.
At the same time, the surrounding scavengers looked on, also shaken. And as their eyes came to rest on Xu Qing, they seemed… awestruck.