Fighting a Spirit

Falling down from the body of Huo Shan was a disfigured hand. Blood was constantly flowing from it, while some meat seemed to have been cleaved of. The bones in it looked as though a mountain had fallen on it all day.

A person had to give Huo Shan credit, he did have a high tolerance when it came to pain. His problem lay in his inability to accept when a person held more power. That along with his arrogance and lack of control when it came to desire.

His father Huo Yu Bo had bolted towards him as soon as he saw the movement of Huang Yang. He was at the awakening realm while having only reached the first out of eight levels. He still possessed incredible speed. A normal opening realm martial artist would not stand a chance.

The Huo father and son duo had sadly met a disaster today, in the form of Huang Yang. Huang Yang was faster and stronger than others in the same realm, and he was born with a perfect human tier body.

A true advantage also lay in his ability to use the metal elements to enhance his speed. While his legs added the powerful boost which set him off. The elements in the sword allowed him to accelerate and gain more momentum.

Before anyone knew what had happened, his sword had already slashed out. It was fast and silent with a sharp edge, cutting in Huo Shan who had grown weak after the loss of qi, was as easy as spreading butter. Even he himself was kinda surprised when it came down to it.

Huo Yu Bo was now standing in front of his beloved son, who he had nurtured since birth. While his son wasn't that talented, he still had the ability to cultivate and had reached greater heights than himself at his age.

He could hardly wait for the day, when his son would awaken his spirit and soar into the sky, hopefully reaching higher than he did. Had sect disciples and Huang family members known about this wish of his, they would have laughed their heart out.

Huo Shan was too far behind, yet how could a father not hope for the success of his son. All he could do now was look at his broken son, who was far beyond a simple mental breakdown.

By the duo's feet lay Huo Shan's lost hand, silently painting the snow red, while the stench of blood radiated from it.

Huo Yu Bo looked at his son with dread in his eyes, he knew that Huo Shan may never advance in his cultivation again, but he could not help but hope deep down, maybe the Huang family could give them a helping hand.

Huang Yang had come to a stop not far from them. His blade was dripping with small amounts of blood, but it still seemed to glisten. His eyes were focussed, knowing that the enemy could strike at any time.

"For committing this gruesome crime, I hereby condemn you to death, may you never be reborn excepts as nothing more than an ant!!", Huo Yu Bo yelled out in awe-inspiring anger.

Huang Yang bent his leg in preparation for what was to come. Huo Yu Bo simply took one look at a guard, before ordering the treatment of his son. His eyes looked like that of a tiger, wanting to hunt prey, yet his stance hardly changed. He was looking down on Huang Yang.

A flash of glee flashed past Huang Yang's eyes, yet no smile was seen. He now knew that this man was underestimating him to the fullest, even though he had just revealed his speed.

He remembered the first time he fought Pen Min. While he had no chance of winning, he did give his uncle a surprise which was caused by the underestimation of a younger martial artist. This would give him more of an opening.

People soon began shouting.

"Kill that kid lord!"

"He dared to hurt our young master!"

"He is the spawn of evil!"

It was clear that they were all simply trying to gain a small amount of favor from the ruler of the outer estate. Some even thought that what they were doing, actually worked.

While they all continued to shout out with great enthusiasm, Huo Yu Bo stood straight while coldly glaring at Huang Yang. In a mighty burst, his strength was let loose of its cage.

The onlookers turned silent as sweat fell from their necks in a hurry. They could only feel fear when being met with this amount of strength.

"I am a man who will serve the heaves by swallowing you!", Huo Yu bellowed, causing the ground to shake slightly.

From the ground came a snake. It had cold and menacing eyes as it began curling around Huo Yu Bo's right leg. Though not the biggest snake in the world, it still felt extremely intimidating.

Huang Yang's eyes soon studied it with a wary face. the snake was purely made out of water, yet Huo Yu Bo didn't seem to get wet one bit. The water seemed to come from the bottom of the sea as it almost appeared black in color.

The only thing different was its bright blue eyes, which soon turned to look at Huang Yang. It had now slithered its way up Huo Yu Bo, placing itself by his side.

While the snake wasn't in solid form, since Huo Yu Bo was only at the beginning of the awakening realm, it still felt like a beast bringing pressure upon Huang Yang after a simple glare.

"You should feel honored, that you will receive your death by my Deepwater snake, now kneel!!", he shouted out. The pure power of his yell almost brought Huang Yang to his knees, yet he resisted.

Huang Yang kept telling himself not to let go of his strength, he needed to fight through it. It felt as though he would have lost everything, should he bend the knee to this man like this.

His small muscles almost burst apart from the pressure. This was, however, not a bad thing in general, since he needed pressure in order for him to improve and reach his full potential.

His qi began to burst out as he drove in with great force as if he was wielding his greatsword. Sweat fell from his face as a painful expression that was priorly being suppressed almost appeared.

Standing not far from him, Huo Yu Bo was looking at Huang Yang with a slightly surprised face. This boy truly was a monster, "at the sixth stage of the opening realm he actually has the ability to stand under my martial spirits pressure".

"This boy must die, or I will never be able to sleep soundly!", Huo Yu Bo snickered to himself, as ruthlessness flashed in his eyes. The pressure which had stopped the snow from falling and people from moving drew back.

As if loading a gun, the pressure came erupting out towards Huang Yang with formerly unseen strength. Every single part of his body was being pushed down, yet he did not falter.

A hidden strength sprang forth while his qi grew with every second. Huang Yang felt his own power grow, as his qi slowly became denser. A pop was heard and another barrier was now broken.

He had reached the seventh stage of the opening realm!

With the newfound power, Huang Yang steadily regained control over his body.

He began stretching out his fingers while feeling every single muscle around his sour body. Had it not been for his already strong physique, he would have likely died that very moment.

He felt as though the pressure came from that martial spirit, perhaps this was just how they worked. He would only know the day he advanced to the awakening realm himself.

With the blade still held tight in his right hand, he began communicating with the elements, allowing himself to feel the power within. With careful eyes, he took a glance ar Huo Yu Bo.

The man had red eyes filled with hatred as he stared at Huang Yang, hoping to see him crushed by the pressure, but he had begun growing impatient, even doubtful of his own abilities.

Time stopped when people noticed that Huang Yang's aura had grown stronger as if he had advanced. But how could this be, he was in the middle of a fight. Huo Yu Bo's pupils shrank as he screamed out, "Don't you dare!".

Huang Yang had burst to the side with extreme speed. He clearly had a goal.

The deepwater snake launched itself towards him with long fangs, as Huo Yu Bo screamed out in rage. Every movement could lead to the death of Huang Yang. He was weaker than his opponent, but he still had quite the speed and power.

He stretched out his hand with a sudden gasp. Beneath the snow not that far from him, came a small vibration, and a greatsword showed itself in all of its bronze glory.

His hand tightly gripped the hilt and with a twist, he turned to face the approaching snake. He adjusted the Bronzefire greatsword, letting it act as a shield.

With a boom, all the nearby snow was scattered and Huang Yang was sent flying off. The soldiers of the circle could only fall after clashing with him, which allowed him to escape the small circle.

His sword buried itself into the ground thanks to his force. With shaking legs he stood up, astonishing the onlookers and Huo Yu Bo.

From the corner of his mouth fell a drop of blood, coloring the white snow.