Author’s Note: Hey all. For those who are curious about how long this journey/volume of his lasts, I’ll estimate it to be 40-45 chapters. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter and how Qian Yu learned to apply another usage for his Lightning Spasm. This probably won’t happen much for future moves because I already have to think of a lot of martial techniques for each cultivation technique for not only himself but for harem members T.T (I underestimated how difficult it would be). 

Oh yeah, a certain woman makes a cameo appearance!

Also, I’ll probably be doing these author’s notes (once every week or two) even if I don’t have much to say or update you guys on because I feel like I should interact with you guys more and encourage you guys to comment your thoughts and what not. Stay safe and enjoy!

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3 days later, Qian Yu and Sun Hong had reached the 8th floor of the maze. By now, they had fought countless other teams on their way here but the strongest was at the middle stage soul foundation at most. Additionally, the rewards had gone from sky ranked cultivation techniques and pills to heaven ranked cultivation techniques in the 6th floor. At this rate, Qian Yu wondered if they would get a legendary ranked cultivation technique in the higher floors.

“Bam!” Sun Hong had just destroyed another team as she dropped from the sky. 

“Are you alright?” Qian Yu asked Sun Hong who had just finished fighting a group of two early stage soul foundation fighters. 

“Mhm, they weren’t that strong. Let’s keep-” she was talking as she stopped and immediately pushed Qian Yu aside. Flying a few feet back, he saw a serpent of fire sweep past where he was. 

Looking at where the attack came from, Qian Yu turned his head and saw two people at the end of the hall. 

“A late stage soul foundation expert and 7th stage qi gathering fighter,” Qian Yu heard Sun Hong say from the side.

With a glance, Qian Yu knew which was which as he felt that the one with red robes was extremely dangerous. On the other hand, the guy with blue robes didn’t give off such a dangerous vibe. 

The two sides didn’t need to say anything before everyone came to a tacit agreement. Sprinting at the enemy, Sun Hong didn’t hesitate to engage the man in red robes.

On the other hand, Qian Yu didn’t rush in as he observed his opponent in blue robes who was similarly watching him. 

“Hahaha, a 2nd stage qi gathering rogue cultivator in the 8th floor of the maze. Truly laughable,” he tried to provoke Qian Yu.

Hearing it, Qian Yu didn’t bother with him as he thought of a plan to defeat the enemy. As there was such a large gap in between them, he knew he couldn’t defeat the enemy normally and would have to rely on some extreme measures. 

“Not talking eh bud?” the guy sneered as he ran at Qian Yu with a sword in his hand. 

*Clang! Clang! Clang!* The sound of metal colliding against each other rang out as the sword and spear continuously hit each other. 

Meanwhile, a more intense battle was occurring between the two late stage soul foundation fighters. 

“Hmm, the female rogue cultivator with a greatsword. The infamous, “Two Handed Destroyer” haha, I have heard much about your strength. My name is Chen Bai from the Flame of Origin Sect,” Sun Hong’s opponent introduced himself.

Hearing his introduction, Sun Hong didn’t say anything as she launched her first attack. 

As the greatsword came forward, Chen Bai took out his weapon, a fan, and waved it forward. 

“Flames of Origin - Wall,” he yelled out as a large wall of flame surrounded Sun Hong stopping her in her tracks. 

“Scram!” Sun Hong yelled out as she waved the large sword. Gust blew as she waved her large sword. Yet as the wall of fire disappeared, she heard Chen Bai launched another attack.

“Flames of Origin - Waves” he yelled out as a wave of golden fire shot forward at Sun Hong who had just dispersed the fire wall. 

“Tch. Annoying,” Sun Hong muttered as dashed to the side to dodge the attack before using her dash technique to close the distance between the two. 

“Hmph, Flames of Origin - Serpents,” he yelled and waved his fan again. This time, three serpents of golden flame appeared as they locked on to Sun Hong. 

*Whoosh!* the serpents landed but they were immediately dispelled as she used the counter technique and dispelled the flames. 

“Not bad for a rogue cultivator. To think that you can go against me, a core disciple from the Flame of Origin Sect. Flames of Origin - Inferno!” Chen Bai yelled out as he performed the strongest move in his cultivation technique. At that moment, golden flames swirled around Chen Bai as he waved his hand forward. 

Like a god of fire, a flaming tornado was summoned as it engulfed Sun Hong. Smiling, Chen Bai had a confident smirk on his face. The Flames of Origin was a legendary cultivation technique that had an extremely old history and its name referred to the first fires that mankind learned to use. 

However, his smirk instantly disappeared as the tornado of fire he had just conjured was easily canceled by the red qi and greatsword of Sun Hong. 

“How! This isn’t possible! Y-You’re a monster!” Chen Bai roared as he saw what happened. 

Hearing his words, Sun Hong’s face grimaced as she bit her lips until it bled. The grip on her greatsword strengthened as she continued running at Chen Bai.

Seeing that she was approaching him, he continuously sent out serpents and waves of flames to stop her assault.

However, even though Sun Hong was forced back every time she went to attack, she managed to slowly get closer to Chen Bai. At a certain point, her speed instantly exploded as the distance between her and Chen Bai closed. 

“You, what!” Chen Bai raged as he saw her approaching. Previously, he had been keeping a safe distance based on the speed and distance that Sun Hong had shown. Nevertheless did he expect that she wasn’t using her full strength since the beginning of the battle. 

*Bam,* a large sound rang out as Sun Hong landed a direct attack on Chen Bai knocking him onto the ground before he was instantly teleported out of the maze. Looking at the huge crater on the ground, a stream of tears silently slid down her cheeks.

On the other side, the fight between the two qi gathering realm fighters was approaching the climax as well. 

‘Damn it,’ Qian Yu thought as he looked at the numerous cuts on his body. The opponent wasn’t too strong or anything but there was too much of a gap between them. Still, it didn’t mean that he was completely unscathed. 

“You are one tenacious bastard, eh? Are you ever going to use your martial skill? Stupid idiot, how do you like this, Cyclone Blade!” the man yelled out as Qian Yu saw a fast slash of wind qi flying at him. 

‘I can’t use it unless you let me smack you or something’ Qian Yu cursed upon hearing his words. All this time, the opponent had completely overwhelmed and Qian Yu only managed to land a few superficial attacks on him. Additionally, the man had used many of these Cyclone Blades that while didn’t do much damage, were extremely fast and hard to dodge. 

Gritting his teeth, Qian Yu thought of a way to dodge the attack when he suddenly thought of an idea. With a crazy smile, he didn’t attempt to dodge the attack as it approached him. 

‘Lightning Spasm!’ Qian Yu thought just before the attack landed on him. However, this time, lightning spasm was activated on his whole body! Normally, Lightning Spasm would convert his own qi and whatever it came in contact with into chaotic qi before Qian Yu could electrify the chaotic qi and make it explode. 

However, what happens if he didn’t electrify the chaotic qi instead! As the slash of blade qi approached his body, its power suddenly dropped before vanishing. Instantly, Qian Yu felt a large drop in the amount of qi he had but a smile appeared on his face. 

“HAHAHA” Qian Yu laughed loudly at the new discovery he just found. Without wasting a second, Qian Yu ran at the enemy.

“Yo-you-what are you! Cyclone Blade! Cyclone Blade!” the man on the other hand was in terror as he saw what Qian Yu just did. With a gap of 4 levels between them, he had managed to completely negate his Cyclone Blade! As if the devil was coming for him, he unleashed a flurry of attacks at Qian Yu. 

As the Cyclone Blades came at him, Qian Yu activated Lightning Spasm on his body again as it neutralized the two attacks once again draining his qi. ‘I have to end it fast,’ Qian Yu thought as his head started hurting and felt it was harder to control his body.

By now, Qian Yu had arrived very close to the man and started hammering out his own attacks. For once, he was on the aggressive side and after a few bouts, the man made the same mistake as Wolfblade. Getting baited by the aggressive attacks of the spear, he left an open spot for Qian Yu to give him a kick.

*Bam!* the man took the kick straight on as an explosion happened. He flew back a couple meters or so before falling unconscious. 

Similarly, Qian Yu had just mustered in the last bits of his qi and felt his vision turning blurry as he fell down. As he fell down and his vision turned dark, he saw the feet and black robes of a familiar person approach him, and before losing his consciousness, he felt two delicate fingers on his lips as a round foreign object entered and disintegrated into his mouth. 

“Good job,” a quiet female voice could be heard.

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In a random location in a forest a couple miles from the grassland, a portal appeared as Chen Bai fell from it. In a matter of seconds, a couple people with different colored robes showed up to the spot before asking, “What floor did you get to?”

Hearing the question, Chen Bai, who was dazed and still muddle-headed, answered, “I was eliminated on the 8th floor.”

Upon saying that, he started remembering what happened as he put up his caution, “Who are you guys! I’m warning you, I’m a core disciple of the Flames of Origin Sect, my-my elders are on the way!” he said as he took a closer look at the group of people surrounding him. 

He wasn’t 100% sure, but his instincts were telling him something. They were all Martial Fighters at least! What he didn’t know however, was that it wasn’t just Martial Fighters who arrived.

“Hmph, this one was still on the 8th floor, looks like we just need to wait a couple more days,” someone said as she left. Following her, the others left too, uninterested in his gains.

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In another area, an unconscious man in blue robes was teleported out. 

A few seconds later, a certain woman in a black dress appeared through a dark black portal. 

“Hopefully this one has something interesting,” she muttered as she waved her hand. 

A snake appeared as its eye glowed and stared at the unconscious person. Before long, it turned to look at its master while its eyes continued to glow.

After a few seconds, she said, “Alter his memory so that it was a masked person instead.”