Zhu Bai's Strength
The wind blew peacefully within the large training field as the two young men stood at the ready from each other. Hong Zhao brought forth a qi sword, which he had spent the last two years mastering, while Zhu Bai sported his own. In a way, Hong Zhao felt as if he were grooming Zhu Bai to take the place of his right hand man. He had already trained the boy to such a certain degree that he was the third strongest within the entire continent, unless he was wrong and Li Wen and Li Wei had risen further in their strength.
Pushing the thoughts of the shadow sect from his mind for now, Hong Zhao readied his sword. Though it was a sword, it felt nearly weightless within his hand. It was perfectly balanced to suit him, yet if he hadn't practiced daily with it, he would almost feel as if it wasn't there. The sensation was not unlike his devouring qi claws.
"If you won't come for me, I'll come to you!" Zhu Bai bellowed as he stomped hard on the ground, a small crater formed from where his foot was only a moment ago.
A crackling sound rang out within the field as the two qi swords met. Small sparks flew as they met time and time again. Hong Zhao parried blow after blow, his arm almost moving on autopilot to block each strike that Zhu Bai threw at him. Zhu Bai stepped back and his qi sword began to glow an ominous white. "Howling sword strike!" He yelled as he swept his sword towards Hong Zhao. A blade of pure white left the sword and flew towards him with blinding speed, a scar was left on the ground leading straight towards him.
Hong Zhao activated his devouring qi claw on one hand and crossed it with his qi sword. While the sword took the impact of the attack, his claws absorbed the qi that it was made from, rendering the attack completely useless. He smiled as he watched the qi blade grow smaller as it sank into his own body. He had only recently learned of this method of absorption as he was sparring with Xuan Hua. As long as his qi was more pure than the qi that was thrown within an attack, or his cultivation rank was higher than the one who launches the attack, he would be able to take the qi from the attack within himself.
Wasting no time, Hong Zhao launched himself forward with both sword and claw. Zhu Bai parried most of the strikes, but he spent too much attention blocking the qi claws. He knew first hand from sparring with Hong Zhao what the claws could do. He didn't enjoy the thought of having to make up for the day's qi refinement just because he was slashed by those blades. Because of his attention on the claws, he sacrificed himself a few times with the sword. Shallow cuts could be seen on his clothing, some of them had dark stains where drops of blood melded with the fabric. Though Zhu Bai gained a few wounds, he did not allow himself to slow. If he dropped his guard even for a second to observe his wounds, Hong Zhao would take the victory, of that he was certain.
"Devouring burning strike!" Hong Zhao roared as he jumped back. While in the air, three small white flames as pure as his qi formed upon the devouring qi claw. He launched them at Zhu Bai who blocked them with his sword, yet as he did, the flames stuck to the blade. He examined them and noticed his qi sword becoming more and more faint. His eyes widened as he released the sword and allowed what remained of his qi within the blade to dissipate.
Hong Zhao smiled as he noticed this. He knew that if Zhu Bai had drawn the qi of his sword back into his body, the flame would latch onto the source and suck all of the qi from his friend's body. Having come to that conclusion on his own, Hong Zhao felt immense respect for Zhu Bai.
"What the hell was that attack?" Zhu Bai glared at Hong Zhao as he sat back down on the grass.
"It's just something that I have been working on." He said with a sheepish grin before looking at his qi claw. "I wanted to see if it was possible to merge the flame elemental qi with an attack. When I did, the flame took on some of the attributes of the attack itself." He looked at the flame near Zhu Bai. Since he had allowed his weapon to dissipate, the flames simply went to the ground, yet they did not burn the grass. Instead, they hovered an inch above the tallest blade, keeping itself from touching. Hong Zhao raised a hand and the flames flew to his palm. He concentrated on the flame, and it sunk within his skin. He could feel the qi from his friend's attack melding with his veins, following the blood back to the source, and then into his dantian cave.
"You really are a freak, you know that?" Zhu Bai sighed as he looked at his friend. "Though I'm glad this freak is on my side. I pity anyone who would wish to make you an enemy."
"I can think of a few people who would agree with you." Hong Zhao smiled lightly. "Yet I can still think of a few that need to learn this for themselves." His eyes turned hard as he looked up to the sky. "In two short years, I've made it to the eighth star of the warrior rank, yet I feel as though such a boost would mean nothing compared to what is coming in a few years." His mind went to the coming poachers that would arrive within the next six years, that is if Li Xiao didn't learn of him breaking the slave agreement sooner.
Zhu Bai nodded grimly. Since his father was city lord before Zheng Guo, he knew about the slavers agreement from thousands of years ago. He also happened to know that the three hundred year mark was quickly approaching. Soon, there would be ships docking at the port to lead thousands of their population, whole families into servitude. Though this had always been the way of Yuan continent within his eyes, he still couldn't bring himself to accept this as his reality. "I think this time will be different." He said with a note of defiance. "Though Li Xiao had invaded Yuan thousands of years ago, he did so with a full force. Now that he sees a docile community, he will think he is sending slavers to pick up cattle."
Hong Zhao smiled and nodded to his friend, yet his smile wavered nearly the same moment. Though it was true that Li Xiao would be thrown off, what would happen after the initial contact? He looked at his hand, the white flame looked like a reflection of the sun off of the water within his palm as it made its way through his body. He closed his fist tight. "I need to get stronger. I will get stronger." He made a silent vow to himself. Though these last thirteen years had not been easy, they had also not been for nothing. He would break through again and again before the promised day arrived.