Prologue: Encountering the Daoists of the Otherworld (part 7)

"Hm, I do suppose that I have plans for you. Though, it's not plans which you would be willing to cooperate with. Besides, I don't think you have the motivation to keep surviving if I push it... So..."

"So! I'll just blow myself up and take you with me!!!" the more this monster spoke like a human being, the more the young man's sanity began to waver and eventually snapped. Cutting off of the conversation in a hysterical manner, he throttled all of the Qi in his body, he took the yin and yang energy in them and began to mash them together like a blender.

In a split-second, the young man's foundation was already crumbling from the storm he had stirred up and the energy in him exploded uncontrollably.

BOOM!

Like a sacrificial pawn, his body exploded from his detonation and sent a furious burst of exploding flames in all directions. Threatening to incinerate everything with his death.

The exploding flames released a rippling wave that blasted everything away. Dust and rubbles swirled in frenzy and the surrounding temperatures rose tremendously for more than 400° Celsius.

Woosh!

Air and water vapor burned up in an instant. And the exploding flames swirled up into a flaming pillar that reached the skies before vaporizing into thin air abruptly.

Everything went quiet and dark once more, only the aftermath of the explosion and the youth was left standing amidst the sizzling heat that could melt the sturdiest rocks.

"My oh my, what a hot temper he had." If that was actually a joke, then that would have been funny.

Seemingly unfazed by it all, the youth dust off the dust clinging on his business suit with his hand. He was unhurt and fine as even his attire was fireproof compared to his Demon body.

The sounds of small rocks toppling over the ground reverberated and a charred figure rose up from the carbonized ground.

It was the comrade who had been beside the youth and had been blown away from the explosion.

Although the comrade had set himself some protection barriers and distanced himself from the explosion, he still couldn't handle such dreadful force and was sent crashing deep into the ground.

Returning to the youth's side, he remained silent like a puppet waiting for his orders.

"I don't like broken toys. Can you fix yourself right now?"

"It will take a long time."

Responding to the youth's disgruntled query, the puppet shook his head. To Cultivators like himself, wounds like these can heal over time. If it was poison or Cultivation decline, then he may suffer deadly repercussions. But considering that the blast had only damaged his Physical body and Spirit Vessel, all he had to was meditate in seclusion to heal it all away.

However, he couldn't heal himself instantly with his own powers. Such was one of the problems for Cultivators.

The youth seemed to be interested how the foreigners heal from such deadly wounds but he prioritizes that later and made a move.

Flicking his fingers, a dazzling magic circle appeared below the puppet and enveloped him in hazy white light. Billows of wind softly sprang up and blew away the carbonized particles of his body. The wounds seared on his flesh began to recover at a rapid rate. The Spirit Vessel that was on the verge of crumbling inside his body, began to regenerate as the cracks mend back faster than the eye could see.

And in less than a second, the puppet was instantly revitalized and was good as new.

"Oh, waking up now, are you?"

The youth noticed something amiss with his puppet and realized that the comrade's mental state was regaining its strength and fighting back the speck of consciousness that was suppressing him.

With a snort, the speck of consciousness radiated the power of dominance and trampled the comrade's consciousness under its massive Will. Preventing him to take control of his body once again.

"Feel better now?"

"Not only better, I even feel improved."

"Improved, huh? Tell me about that later."

After that was done, the youth paid no heed to the puppet as his control over it was secured again.

Flicking his fingers again, the youth teleported along with the puppet. And both arrived where the elder was supposed to be resting his weak body. But he wasn't there like he was conveniently supposed to and all signs said that he had escaped.

After a brief moment of silence...

"What?! How did I get back here?!"

"It seems you foreigners aren't quick on the uptake, huh?"

Frowning in displeasure, the youth turned around and face the elder who had a baffled expression on his face.

With his long years of experiences telling him to move, the elder leaped back quite a distance from the youth and summoned what bit of his powers left he could use.

'This isn't good. The odds are against me. There's no way I can subdue him alone after witnessing that overwhelming strength this being possesses. If possible, I would pin my hopes that my fellow brothers will come to search for me if I'm gone for too long... No wait, I can just crush a Distress Jadestone right now!'

As he decided such notion, the elder puts his focus on the storage ring worn on his finger, but then realizes a split-second that the ring that was supposedly on his finger had disappeared without his notice!

Shocked, the elder stared at the youth and grew wide-eyed after he saw that his storage ring, the container of his many precious possessions, is being fiddled around carelessly in the youth's fingertips.

"I don't suppose you need this, right?"

"..."

The elder was speechless. Which only said that he really did need it judging by the look of frantic skepticism on his face.

"... What do you want?"

"I want you to blow yourself up like what your friend did back there in front of me."

"What?!"

He didn't know what the youth was talking about, so the youth pointed his finger at the direction where the explosion took place.

The elder, having witnessed that terrifying explosion a moment ago, was suddenly taken a back but now understood what the youth meant.

"I see. So, a disciple had sacrificed himself but went in vain to take you with him... What a shame..."

The elder sighed. Seemingly depressed and regret.

"A disciple?" the youth blinked at the elder. "You mean like a student under someone's tutelage? That kind of disciple?"

Taken aback, the elder blocked in confusion for a moment but answered "Yes." as he understood.

"What... What kind of teacher teaches his student to blow himself up!!!"

Perhaps it was bad to rebut something he didn't understand deeply but he couldn't help but curse at the outrageousness of the foreigners.

As he was a disciple, he should have been taught to value his life and preserve himself from all challenges he must face in life.

Yet, that unwritten rule doesn't seem to apply to the foreigners as it seems that forcing your ways even if it means death was a suitable action to take in face of dire situations.

Are these foreigners dumb?! Is blowing up your life to take your enemy's life somehow a great achievement if somehow successful?!

How dare you call yourself a human being when you treat your own lives like fireworks.

Unforgivable! Have they no shame?!

"Elder, are going to blow yourself up as well?"

"..."

The elder was caught speechless by the sharpness of the youth's voice. It was at this moment that he discovered that the monster before him was also capable of getting angry.

And he would get angry for the most outrageous of reasons.

Actually, he did plan to detonate his cultivation when push comes to shove and take this ogre with him. But if he could trade his life for another tomorrow, then that was fine too. After all, he can just come back with a stronger expert to deal with this uncontrollable factor.

"Well, um, may I... May I propose a trade?"

"Trade?" abruptly, the youth's countenance slightly changed. His crimson eyes gleamed brightly and a faint smile sprouted from his lips. He took a step forward and in one second, he became an amiable man.

"If it is a trade honored elder desires, then this young man will be willing to negotiate..."