"Damn it…" His body's Qi had been completely depleted after just a few minutes of use. It was truly pitiful.
A minute later, he exhaled, getting up from his meditation.
"Found you!" a shout said.
This damned insistent son of a bitch! he thought, cursing the man's stubbornness for continuing to chase him.
"This goddamned bastard leaves me no choice," he muttered, sighing in annoyance.
"Stop! I surrender!" Wu Zhe shouted, raising his hands, sword in hand.
"Finally. You didn't have to make this so difficult, insolent criminal," the captain sneered.
"Criminal? Me no criminal sir!" Wu Zhe said, shaking his head vigorously.
"Yeah, yeah I've heard it all before." he said, hearing the same excuses from all captured bandits.
"What a waste. To be a cultivator and to use that type of power for criminality." he said, sighing.
"Well? Are you gonna get down from the tree and come here?" the captain asked, pointing his sword at Wu Zhe.
"Understood, sir… please have mercy…" Wu Zhe muttered, trembling as he dropped down.
The captain eyed the cultivator before him, disbelief evident on his face. This was the one who had almost slipped past him? he thought to himself.
"Drop your weapon," he said, his gaze fixed on the sword in Wu Zhe's hand.
"Understood…" Wu Zhe replied, slightly bowing as if to comply. But then, his body and sword were suddenly engulfed in red qi.
In an instant, Wu Zhe leapt forward so fast that the captain had no time to react. As he leapt, his sword became wrapped in a pure red aura. The aura took the shape of a massive dragon, its eyes burning with hatred. With a single thrust, Wu Zhe drove the sword straight through the captain's throat, the dragon-shaped aura shredding everything in its path—the man, his lower body, and everything behind him.
The captain's body collapsed, falling off his horse.
"Whew…" Wu Zhe exhaled, relief washing over him that his surprise attack with his technique had worked.
As he sighed, he suddenly puked blood, his body unable to handle his technique.
"Ah…" he groaned, his eyes nearly rolling to the back of his head.
He kept vomiting blood, unable to stop.
After a few seconds, he eventually stopped, his eyes weak, and his mouth hanging open, blood still inside.
His gaze quickly fell on the corpse. "Lifeforce… I nee—" he murmured, unable to finish the sentence.
He began meditating, still visibly suffering from his internal injuries.
A cultivator's life force was far more abundant and potent than that of a mortal, so killing this man would be more than enough to heal his injuries.
As Wu Zhe meditated over the corpse, dark red Qi swirled chaotically around him. His body needed every drop of the man's life force. When he finished, a surge of energy shot through him, far stronger than any mortal energy he had ever absorbed.
His body shivered as the lifeforce traveled through the paths he had created, settling deep in his dantian. The other corpses he had lost no longer mattered. This one alone made up for everything.
His mind flooded with memories of the man's life. From them, he uncovered several useful things about this world.
But at this current moment that wasn't important at the moment. Wu Zhe currently needed the man's lifeforce for one specific purpose: to heal his internal injuries.
He guided the lifeforce, beginning to use it to heal his internal injuries.
As soon as the lifeforce started, his body and that painful feeling of agony began to ease, reducing his pain.
"Ha…" he sighed, feeling better. As he regained his strength, he began organizing the useful information he had just received.
The first was the cultivation realms the man knew of, which consisted of five realms, with the lowest being the weakest and the highest the strongest. They were as follows:
Qi Refinement:
The beginning stage where all cultivators start, when one achieves Qi Refinement they are able to sense and gather Qi, and also refine it. This stage contains 9 minor levels, with the lowest being the weakest and the highest the strongest.
Qi Foundation:
Where one's stabilizes and condenses Qi within the body, forming a solid foundation for one's future cultivation.
Qi Practitioner:
When one becomes a practitioner, they form a core within themselves, acting as another dantian that can store Qi and allows them to wield it more freely than before. This is just one of the many abilities they gain. If a cultivator is talented or fortunate, they may even unlock an elemental affinity, an innate connection to a specific element such as fire, water, wind, earth, and more. This affinity allows them to convert their Qi into that element and control it more naturally than others, greatly increasing the power and efficiency of their techniques. By circulating elemental Qi, they can enhance their physical abilities and imbue their attacks with elemental properties, making them far more destructive and versatile than normal Qi based attacks.
Qi Daoist:
At this stage, one's Qi can fully leave the body without collapsing. It can remain stable outside the body, extending outward and allowing one to fly and utilize extremely complex ranged techniques that were previously impossible. Unlike before, their Qi no longer disperses upon release, it can be controlled, maintained for a period of time. This ability stems from a subtle growth within the brain known as a "Qi Seed," which strengthens the mind's connection to Qi and allows it to guide and anchor energy beyond the body.
Qi Master:
As this realm's name suggests, once one reaches it, they are considered masters of Qi. Those who reach this stage can easily become sect leaders, heads of powerful families, or even control a entire region. Simply hearing of someone at this level is enough to make others back off or plead for their lives. At this stage, one's Qi becomes more condensed and pure. When released, it carries far greater destructive force and holds its form, allowing for more complex techniques to be performed. A Qi Master can output such vast amounts of Qi without any difficulty—so much so that it is once said ten Qi Daoists couldn't even defeat a single Qi Master.
The second was the man's own cultivation. He had been at the sixth stage of the Qi Refinement Stage. Based on how easily he was killed, Wu Zhe estimated his own strength to be at least the seventh stage… or higher."
Third was who he was escorting. From the man's memories, he learned they were guarding the last remaining lady of the Jue Family, an almost extinct minor clan that had made many enemies. Because of this, she had been sent away by the imperial government to Xiongwei. Like many nobles who had fallen out of favor, she had been sent to this place to die, because Xiongwei was a place where death was a daily occurrence.
As Wu Zhe was about to rise, his body continued consuming lifeforce, and he suddenly felt as if it was holding too much. With his limits being pushed, he seemed to be on the verge of a breakthrough.
But to his surprise, it wasn't just a single breakthrough, but a double.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, and feeling the new power inside him he couldn't help but mutter. "Good..."
"Hm… If I broke through once, then two times after that, that means I should be at stage 3 of Qi Refinement?" he muttered, assessing his realm.