Confusion struck me as I saw a pulse of qi burst outwards from the black-robed cultivator's dantian. Had he managed to counteract the Grasping Demon Finger so quickly?

I was disappointed when he was able to purge my poison qi within moments. This time I was certain it would not be so simple. Cultivators in this world didn't understand the intent behind the technique.

He stomped downwards at Wang Ren's head. He had been beaten within an inch of his life. There was no way for him to defend against the strike.

I was too far to intervene. Too slow.

The ground shook as his kick struck. I heard the sound of clattering rubble. The impact had felt far more intense than it should have. Just how strong was this bastard?

When the dust cleared, I let out a sigh of relief. The reason I'd felt the force of the kick from ten metres away was because it had missed.

The cultivator was clutching at his throat, his eyes bloodshot as he tried to scratch an itch that wouldn't leave him alone. He hadn't managed to figure out my technique, he was just an arrogant fool.

The flesh in his neck swelled up as the qi flowing through his body started to break its rhythmic cycling. It began to fight against his control, twisting as it became a corrupted shadow of what it was a moment earlier.

I saw the shock and fear in his eyes. A crueler man might have revelled in seeing those emotions on their opponent's face, but I had no time to gloat.

As soon as his concentration was broken I rushed towards Wang Ren. My own wounds still throbbed painfully, but he was on death's door.

I reached him in a few steps, reaching down and immediately using my healing technique. His breathing gradually returned to normal as the cuts and bruises all over his body faded.

Unfortunately he remained unconscious, my treatment unable to remove the mental fatigue and the aftermath of the savage beating he suffered. I suddenly slapped my palm into my face.

I'd figured out how to use techniques at range, so why couldn't I do the same with my healing technique? It was too late to test it now, but I would try to do so as soon as possible.

It would be the first step to accomplishing a similar feat to the emperor, healing thousands with a wave of a hand. One day I would reach that level as a healer, or better yet, surpass it!

As soon as I was sure that Wang Ren's life was no longer in danger, I stood up to face the black-robed cultivator. He was standing tall, clutching a palm against his neck.

I noticed the swelling had reduced a lot compared to a moment earlier. His qi was flowing erratically and he seemed fatigued, but somehow he had regained full control over himself, dispelling my technique.

"What an insidious move. You are truly a coward, with nothing but petty tricks at your disposal!" he taunted me.

My expression remained impassive. I wasn't going to lower myself to his level, no matter how many insults he threw my way. Especially not now.

Even though he had managed to remove the worst effects of my technique, the fact he had struggled so much with it gave me hope. It meant I wasn't totally powerless against him.

In the distance I could sense two familiar presences racing towards us. All I needed to do was buy enough time for my allies to arrive. If I was being honest, I also had a bone to pick with this thieving scumbag.

I had won the Binding Soul Empress' insights and knowledge fair and square, yet he'd stolen half of it. Even if the other half was lost forever, I would claim the flag to recoup my losses.

"I'd rather be a coward than some arrogant asshole who only knows how to spout bullshit instead of fighting," I retorted, before using the grasping demon finger once again.

I was starting to like the name, it fit the technique well. This time I didn't aim for the neck, my usual target. He had already removed it once so I didn't want to make it easy for him to remove.

I watched as his hips started to shift and swell. The qi near his dantian went wild. He instantly started to counteract the technique, but this time I had no patient to focus on.

I rushed forward and kicked out at his chest. He dodged it with ease, but my next strike found the opening he created. I couldn't help marvelling at his skill.

Even while struggling against my technique he was able to dodge or deflect every single one of my blows. He even threw a few jabs and kicks of his own to counter.

Despite the lack of effort behind them, I felt gusts of wind buffeting my skin with each one. If they landed, it would hurt. I suddenly jumped backwards, narrowly escaping a blade of light that left a deep furrow in the ground.

He had started to integrate talismans into his movements even while splitting his focus. I clenched my teeth in annoyance. I had hoped to end this now, but he had plenty of strength and wealth to spare.

Before engaging again, I used grasping demon finger a third time. He had yet to purge the effects of the last time and when he realised what I'd done his face twisted in anger.

"Bastard! How many times can you use this cursed technique?" he roared, leaping away from me. "Tch, I can't believe a trash from this place is forcing me to use this life-saving treasure."

As he spoke the second part of his sentence he pulled a talisman with an ethereal appearance from his spatial artifact. The characters on the surface were drawn in shining golden ink that was filled with qi, while even the paper used for it was a shimmering silver.

He slapped the talisman against his own forehead, where it melted into his skin. His entire body began to glow with golden light. A sudden flash blinded me and I held up my hands to guard myself from a surprise attack.

However, it never came. When the light faded I saw that the black-robed cultivator looked unperturbed and focused. Using my energy vision, I realised that he had not only purged all effects of my technique, but his qi was flowing more vigorously than before.

What kind of absurd treasure had he just used!? Truly, the power of a rich young master was bullshit. I was over here struggling with every advancement and technique, while all he had to do was throw money around and win every fight.

Despite the odds stacked against me, I felt confident. The two presences were close enough that I could distinguish who they belonged to.

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It was Shuanghu and the badgerhog. Knowing their combat prowess, I was certain that once they arrived we would be able to defeat or drive away this arrogant prick. However, whether I could hold on that long was uncertain.

I'd believed I had forced him on the back foot, but he wiped away all my efforts with a single talisman. Seeing his confident expression was unnerving.

"I had planned to simply kill you and take what belongs to me, but you've pissed me off. I will make you suffer," he said as a long metal whip covered in spikes appeared in his hand.

It was a cruel weapon, but seeing the eagerness with which he cracked it against the ground I felt it suited his shitty personality. I didn't have a weapon of my own, putting me at a disadvantage.

With qi, my body could become a weapon, but a well made artifact would always enhance one's ability to fight. Until now I hadn't considered it, given that I preferred to focus on healing and only fight when necessary. Unfortunately, with how violent this world was, it seemed to be necessary far more often than I'd hoped it would be.

I had no time to worry about my lack of a weapon as he began his assault. He barely moved his arms, but the vicious whip cracked through the air. Every single strike made a booming crack as it struck the walls and the ground, carving apart the stone as if it were tofu.

If one of those strikes hit me it would cut to the bone, if not through it. It was all I could do to dance about, avoiding the lightning fast whip.

He was swinging it so fast that it created sonic booms. It was disorienting as the sound of the strike came after the actual hit struck. Hot pain exploded across my thigh as I mistimed my dodge.

He capitalised on my mistake and another strike cut open my chest. Blood trickled down my robes before my body healed itself.

"Oh? Already healed? That's just perfect. Usually my victims die after twenty or thirty lashes, but you're a damn cockroach. All it means is you'll suffer for even longer!" he cackled as he resumed the attack with even more vigour.

I still avoided most of the lashes, but every lash that carved apart my skin stung worse than a thousand spider bites. Even though the pain and damage wouldn't last, each was a shock to the system that created more openings.

Within a few moments I felt my qi growing thin. There wasn't enough spiritual energy in the surroundings to keep this up forever.

No matter how powerful my regenerative abilities were, they were limited by how much qi I could draw into my dantian and lungs. The wounds were particularly nasty when the spikes cut into my flesh.

As he dragged the whip back, they tore it apart like a chainsaw. I grunted in pain as half of the world went dark. Hot blood trickled down my cheek.

This was terrible. I heard the crack of his whip, but couldn't see the trajectory. He'd sliced open my left eye.

I stumbled forwards as the barbed whip wrapped around my ankle. I fell to my knees. The whip started to rip through my skin as he pulled it back. If he was able to lash me again now that I couldn't dodge, I was as good as dead.

A final desperate move was all I could manage. As the whip savaged my calf, my hand shot out and grasped hold of it.

The metal spikes dug into my hand, seeming to suck the vitality away. Despite the agony I clutched onto it as though I was a drowning man who'd been thrown a life-ring.

"Struggle all you want, insect, it won't change the outcome. Keep writhing and struggling until your last breath. Beg for your life!" the black-robed bastard sneered from above.

My consciousness was slipping away with each drop of blood that left my body. I felt Shuanghu and the badgerhog close by.

The cultivator raised his arm. With my one good eye I saw that he clutched another talisman in his fingers. This one was drawn in blood red ink on pitch black paper.

With that sinister appearance there was no doubt what it was intended for. His gaze suddenly shifted towards the edge of the ruins. He kissed his teeth in annoyance.

"Zhao Dan! You'll die for this scumbag," Shuanghu cried out from behind.

The badgerhog didn't speak but I heard an angry snarl. Seeing the care of the companions I'd been with for only a day or two was comforting, but that wasn't the best thing about their arrival.

The cultivator's momentary distraction as he reacted to their presence gave me a final window of opportunity. Before he slapped me with the talisman, I exerted every drop of strength left in me.

I leapt upwards like a jack-in-the-box. "What-" he exclaimed, but it was too late. He tried to slap the talisman against my face, but before he could I stabbed my fingers through his windpipe.

Coated in sharp qi, I had delivered an instant kill. I rarely used such lethal moves, but there was no other option left.

He tried to speak but all that came out was a gurgle. He spat blood. I ripped my hand out and leapt away. A fountain of crimson spurted from his neck.

I watched his qi begin to go haywire. Right before he died, a burst of light exploded from within his forehead, enveloping his entire body.

When the light disappeared, the man had vanished. What the hell? I raced forwards despite my exhaustion, but there was no trace of his presence.

It was as though he'd been plucked right out of reality. I knitted my brows together in frustration, but then collapsed onto my backside.

Whatever had happened, I'd won. He was no longer a threat and apart from the unfortunate group of cultivators who'd failed the Soul Binding Empress' trial, no one had died.

Even so, I was annoyed. He had still possessed that soul trapping flag and the remaining insights of that ancient cultivator when he disappeared.

I had won, but not gained anything for my efforts. "At least I'm still alive to hunt for more treasures," I sighed, trying to see the silver lining.

"Zhao Dan, are you alright?" Shuanghu asked, deftly leaping onto the stone altar nearby. "Who was that cultivator?"

"No one I recognised, just some arrogant asshole. I'm all good now, thanks for coming to help. Did you find any treasures?" I asked, wanting to forget about it and change the topic.

"Plenty, but mostly trash. Martial-grade treasures and herbs for the most part. A few interesting artifacts, but none of them suited me," the white tiger replied.

"That's a shame. Let's hope your luck changes soon. I think we can probably leave these ruins now that we've scoured everything," I said, standing up. "Let me just wake Wang Ren up."

After gently waking him up, he shot to his feet and withdrew his glaive. The scene made me burst into laughter, a much needed dose of joy after what had just taken place.

"Relax, I chased that guy off," I told him.

"What? How? He was powerful," Wang Ren exclaimed in surprise.

"I was lucky. He became distracted at a crucial moment. We're going to keep moving, let's regroup with the others."

If I was being honest I'd made plenty of gains from this. I still had yet to read through the manual, which would give me context for many of the jumbled insights I'd absorbed from the Soul Binding Empress.

As I turned around to follow Shuanghu, my foot knocked against something hard. It clattered against the stone and my gaze followed after the object I'd kicked.

It was a ring. I reached down out of interest, wondering if it was a treasure I'd missed in the earlier excitement.

To my great shock I realised it was a spatial ring! They were far rarer than spatial bags and often had much more space within. Probing it with my energy senses, I realised that it had no imprint.

All of my dismay at the earlier lack of luck faded as I sent a drop of my qi into the ring to bind it. Unfortunately things were never that simple.

I found that my qi was rejected and I was unable to bind the ring. That meant I would be unable to look inside and see if there was anything valuable. However, I wouldn't give up after one failure. Even if it took me the rest of my time in the secret realm, I would bind this ring.

It didn't take long to find the other beasts. A few of them had better luck than Shuanghu. Our great monkey leader took great pleasure in showing off a shiny bronze chestplate he'd discovered.

When he beat his chest now, it made a ringing sound like a gong. He puffed out his chest in pride. It was a King-grade defensive artifact which was one of the most valuable artifacts we'd found so far.

After leaving the ruins we made our way back through the plains. Since the shift in 'season', plenty more places of interest had appeared.

We had to fight more than one group of hostile cultivators for the treasures hidden within, but due to the physical prowess of the beasts and our own skill we emerged victorious for the most part.

A few days passed in that manner. I began to grow rather bored. I wasn't disappointed with the results of my adventure. I'd learned a lot about my own techniques and even improved them, but the Blossoming Heavens weren't quite the mystical ancient wonder they'd been made out to be.

I would soon regret those thoughts. On the sixth day, the sky split apart and the heavens began to cry.

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