Chapter 5: One strike, one kill

‘1 in 100? He is in the Beast-King realm?’ Jiao Xuan was in a pathetic state, his ribs were fractured and he was bleeding from all orifices. His internal organs still shook from Vasha’s attack.

‘What kind of attack was that? A shockwave?’ Jiao Xuan wheezed. His lungs hurt and he could not comprehend how he was thrown out of the building like that.

Vasha jumped from the third floor of the building and landed on the ground gracefully.

“It is called Shihakusho: Pulse! It is a Qi art that utilizes a person’s externalized Qi to wrap around them like a garment and then expand that garment in pulse-like waves. It’s useful for getting past defenses and fighting large crowds.” Vasha said like he had heard Jiao Xuan’s thoughts.

He walked slowly towards Jiao Xuan while stroking his strange hilted sword. The wind danced around him, causing his garment to flutter about and reveal his well-toned body.

“What are you going to do now, little mouse?” Vasha chuckled and taunted Jiao Xuan.

‘Where’s my saber?’ A shiver ran down Jiao Xuan’s spine and he began to search for his saber. His entire body ached and he could barely stand but he did not care his rage was greater than his fear.

       “There!” He finally located his saber beside another tree and he began to crawl toward it.

       Vasha stopped moving and he began to watch Jiao Xuan crawl toward his saber amusingly.

       ‘There you are. Xuan, circulate your Qi throughout your body and heal.’ Immediately he grasped his saber, soothing energy began to flow into his body. It flowed through his meridians into his organs and began to mend the cracks in his bones and the damage to his tissues and organs.

‘What’s this? Is it the power of my saber?’

‘Huh? How interesting, a spirit weapon? To think I would find such a treasure with such trash.’ Vasha looked at the saber that was slowly infusing Jiao Xuan with green Qi with interest.

‘No matter, I’ll kill him and study it later.’

“You!! I will kill you for what you did to Xiao Ming.” Jiao Xuan staggered as he stood up. He held up his saber in an offensive posture. There was a fierce but determined expression on his face.

       “Hahahaha.” Vasha broke out in laughter. He held his sides and cleaned the tears from his eyes.

       ‘Bastard, he is looking down at me.’ Jiao Xuan grit his teeth in anger.

       “That’s a good look you have there. In that case, come!!!” All of a sudden, Vasha’s expression became cold and serious.

       Chills ran down Jiao Xuan's spine when he saw the cold look in Vasha’s multicolored pupils. He clenched his saber hard and roared.

       “HAAAA!!!” He dashed toward Vasha with insane speed.

       ‘I can do this, he is strong but I can do this. I just need to use very fast and strong moves like a pulse to wear down his Shihakusho. I’m gonna use that!!’ Jiao Xuan thought with a cold sweat as he approached Vasha.

       “This is going to be it, for Xiao Ming!!!” Jiao Xuan condensed his Qi in his saber and swung it.

       “Take this! Flying saber slash!” A saber slash so fast and powerful, empowered by Qi flew out of his saber toward Vasha.

       ‘Huh? A flying sword attack, he shouldn’t have the physical strength for that yet. So he has saber intent already?’ Vasha took on a more grave expression. His Qi erupted and formed a garment around him.

       ‘Pulse’ The garment erupted in a pulse and deflected the slash easily.

       ‘That’s not all. Ethereal Saber River’ Jiao Xuan used a movement technique to get behind Vasha and execute a saber technique.

“What!?” Vasha was shocked.

       ‘Your Pulse technique might be a good defense but even it should have a weakness. Most of your Qi must have been directed to deflect the slash right? Leaving your defenses at your back weakened, in order words, I just need to time my saber attack with the trough of your ‘pulse’ and my attacks will be effective.’ He executed the technique by coating his saber in Qi and slashing with such speed that his hands became a blur.

       With his speed, the saber became a blur and afterimages began appearing. The sabers began to merge until they formed a river, an ethereal river in which the crest of the river clashed against the trough of Vasha’s ‘Pulse’.

       Vasha was flooded by a river of saber light but even through all this, his face had a sadistic smile that gave his face a twisted and creepy feeling.

       Swiiing. Splurt.

       “Huh?”

       “What’s happening? Why is my body over there? Why is my world spinning? I just used the Ethereal Saber River, what is happening?

       Thud. Jiao Xuan’s head fell to the ground with a sickening thud, blood spurted from his headless neck and his body fell to the ground.

       “Huh?”

If Jiao Xuan could turn his head now, he would see Vasha standing behind him, holding an odd-looking sword. The sword had a strange hilt that looked like the wings of a bird, a pommel wrapped in red clothing, and a blade, as black as the abyss, shaped in the fashion of a cleaver mixed with a sword.

       ‘I'm dead? No, I don’t want to die, Xiao Ming, please hel…’ Before those last thoughts could leave his mind, his eyes had already gone dark, and his brain was dead.

       “It was not a bad plan, but you severely underestimated me,” Vasha said coldly to the corpse as he sheathed his blade back.