The crowd could no longer see Zhang Bo, and some began to worry. This was Li Bolin’s killing move and, angered as he was, they weren’t sure he’d hold back.

Li Bolin was actually well known among novitiates in the Blue Moon Sect. Big though he was, he was surprisingly fast of both body and mind. Some claimed that he was already at the outer sect level, but was suppressing himself because he enjoyed being the strongest too much.

The crowd had been surprised when Zhang Bo held the initiative at first, but now it seemed that it was over.

“I told ya, I did! ‘Round these parts, yer nothin!” Li Bolin was practically squealing with glee.

The mud was about to crash down when…

“Flash Freeze.”

The entire dueling platform froze over, including the mud that had been about to bury Zhang Bo.

With a punch, the mud dome shattered, crashing down around an unharmed Zhang Bo.

“In a fight between cultivators, Qi is everything. Before I knew how to use Qi, you could win. But from the moment I learned, a weakling like you never stood a chance. Li Bolin — from now on, I will no longer remember that name.”

Zhang Bo walked over and put a sandaled foot on the big man’s face.

“Are there any others who would challenge me?”

His long black hair blew in the wind. There was not a single scrape or mar on his skin. For the first time, many of the female disciples in the crowd realized… He was incredibly handsome.

At the same time, the male disciples began to feel stifled.

He joined the sect through one of the Ninth Elder’s hellish examinations.

In a week, he became strong enough to fight against a novitiate gatekeeper and win without a scratch.

And, most importantly, he was about to become the sole disciple of one of the Zenith.

All of those present realized that this youth would be a new shining star within the Blue Moon Sect.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Kid, stop.”

Song Yi stood in a small forest clearing near his village. His legs were shaking and his entire body was dirty.

“Not yet,” he said.

“If you go any further you’re going to start expending too much Vital Qi. This is your limit. Eat the pill.”

“I’m almost there!”

The monarch sighed. This boy was too stubborn. For days he had refused to take the pill that Lord Yang had given him, insisting on learning the art on his own. He would stay up at night meditating to acquire more shadow essence and then train all day. In the meantime, he’d still been doing his physical training.

“Being steadfast is good. But if you push too hard, you’ll only harm yourself in the long run. Knowing when to back down is a part of wisdom.”

“One more time.”

With another sigh, Emperor Wang relented.

Song Yi clasped his hands to make a hand sign, trying to control the Qi that streamed through his body.

Releasing it all in a single burst, the lower half of his body suddenly turned into black smoke that swirled in the breeze.

The effect only lasted for a moment before it went back to normal.

Song Yi’s breath was ragged as he spoke.

“I have enough control, but not enough Qi.”

“So take the pill.”

“It can only be used once, and I’m sure I won’t be able to afford another any time soon. Isn’t there another way I can get enough Qi?”

“I’ve told you before, the only way to attract more Qi is to strengthen your soul. With increased soul pressure, the Qi will come running to you. Right now, you have yet to reach even the first gate. It’s a miracle that you’ve managed to accumulate as much shadow essence as you have.”

Feeling bitter, Song Yi held the jet-black pill in his hand.

“This is the only way?” he asked one last time.

“For our current purposes? Yes.”

Without hesitating any further he popped the pill into his mouth.

The moment it dissolved, he felt raw power course through his body. Every muscle, bone and nerve ending was on fire. This strength wasn’t the same as that of the obsidian axe. This power would last until he expended it. All his fatigue from the last few days was gone, the Qi naturally nourishing his body.

“This… I feel so strong!”

Was this the kind of resource that higher ranked disciples enjoyed?

“Try to execute the art once more.”

Song Yi made the hand sign again. Now, when he went to circulate his qi, rather than a stream it was like an unstoppable flood.

With this much Qi, Song Yi struggled to control it. It seemed that, as one became stronger, they would also need better Qi control.

When he felt like he was prepared, he released the art.

The thirty meter wide clearing filled with thick black fog.

This fog was Song Yi’s body.

He was able to move freely around in it at a ridiculous speed, materializing wherever he liked.

If Song Yi had been able to do this back when he fought the salamander, he would’ve had no trouble whatsoever.

What was more, he could tell that, in his current state, he could maintain this art for hours.

Be that as it may, Song Yi still decided to cancel it as soon as possible. The amount of Qi it ate up was frightening, and his supply was limited.

On his own, it might’ve taken him a month to collect enough Qi just to execute it for half a minute. Not to mention that the ridiculous excess of Qi helped him to learn at a rapid pace. He resolved to thank Lord Yang for this later.

This was the Twilight Shroud Minor Art.

Song Yi still had plenty of Qi within him, and there were two more arts to learn:

The Dark Phantom Minor Art, and the Silhouette Severing Major Art.

The Dark Phantom Minor Art was an art that would allow one to create an identical image of themselves. At a consummate level, a cultivator would be connected by Qi to the phantom, and could control it to talk.

They would also be able to see, hear and smell what the phantom could. Unlike a real clone, however, the phantom was incapable of fighting. Fortunately, this also meant that if the phantom were killed, it would not injure the cultivator either.

As for the Silhouette Severing Major Art, it was truly terrifying.

Any who were engaged in battle with a cultivator who’d mastered the Silhouette Severing Major Art would have to be careful not only with their true body, but with their shadow.

The art made it so that the target’s body would be tied to their shadow such that damage to one caused damage to the other. The drawback was that a large target would have a larger shadow, and thus the user of the art would have to expend more Qi.

What qualified this as a major art was that, if this art were fully mastered, it could be used to tie multiple opponents to each-other. No group of cultivators would ever want to face off against a Silhouette Severing master.

This was what Song Yi had learned from Emperor Wang over the past few days.

He smiled as he looked at the sun setting behind the mountains. His heart was filled with excitement at the thought of learning the new arts. It had only been a short time, but his stay in the Blue Moon Sect had filled him with a sense of belonging.

The trees were shaking.

Out in the distance, a flock of birds took to the sky in a panic.

Seeing that the disturbance was in the direction of Su Bai’s village, Song Yi jogged in that direction to check out what was going on.

The first thing he noticed upon arriving was the large crowd that was gathered around. Clearly, others like him had noticed and wandered over. All of those present seemed to be novitiates.

The second thing he noticed was the reason for the shaking.

In the middle of the crowd, two girls were exchanging brutal blows, holding nothing back.

His face drained of colour when he saw who they were:

The girl from his village and Su Bai.