Fight

A figure stood firm and proud as his long black hair blew slightly from the airflow within a cave. This scenery would look perfect if his hair was gently blowing along with the wind, as well as his clothes. Unfortunately, they were inside a cave, rather than outside where this sight would have been glorious.

In front of his feet, was his defeated opponent who couldn't even take five moves from him. It wasn't that his opponent was weak, but rather because he was too strong. The defeated opponent made an example for everyone on the other side, facing his back.

This single action by him created a deterrence for the weaker people, making them lose their courage and any harmful intentions for his group. A young man in gray stepped forward and pointed his golden sword at the young man who was holding a black rod in his hand.

Obviously, it would be a fight between experts. As the two sides were about to fight, a figure in black interrupted. "Get back, I'll take him."

Long He Yu nodded as he withdrew and stood by Yan Lenglei's side. The youth in black, named Mo Jidong took his place and faced the youth with the golden sword. This golden sword was a powerful Spiritual Tool, which obviously didn't have a low grade.

Just by having it, one would immediately gain stronger combat prowess, enough to fight across stages. Mo Jidong unfolded his arms, knowing that this opponent wouldn't be easy.

With a cultivation base at the Seventh stage of the Noble Realm, he was one entire realm above the latter. With the golden sword, his strength was further increased, making the cultivation gap wide.

Of course, this was only true in a sense if the opponent didn't allow Mo Jidong to get close. Otherwise, with Mo Jidong's physique, he could kill his opponent within ten moves. The body of Qi Refiners was extremely frail, barely being able to take a hit, this was why many battles would end with a single move.

The one with more strength would overwhelm the opponent, going through their offense, before defeating them.

Bang!

Mo Jidong took a step as the ground beneath his feet broke apart. He was like a raging bull, coming at the opponent with both speed and power.

His opponent moved back and swung his sword. Multiple golden waves of Sword Qi streaked across the air in different directions like a den of snakes. Each attack contained an unparalleled might.

With the golden waves everywhere, Mo Jidong had nowhere else to go but straight. As he pushed forward, he narrowly dodged the Sword Qi, before being hit by a few from behind.

Bang!

Mo Jidong fell forward, but he didn't allow himself to get on his knees. Suddenly, a thick black smog-like Magic Energy fueled his body. As he slowly stood up, black flames also burned around him.

His long black hair floated upward, while black energy spewed from his eyes. His expression was extremely terrifying at this moment, those behind the young man with the golden sword felt like getting on their knees. Their hearts felt as though it was being crushed, making them all clench their hands over their chest.

Only a few stronger ones weren't affected so much but still felt a little dizzy from the pressure.

"What is that?!" someone said, as they were close to fainting. "Is this even human?"

Mo Jidong's current aura was like a Demon Lord who climbed out from hell to punish them. Black Magic Energy flowed like streams of water from his hands and eyes, while black flames burned around his arms and legs.

His opponent wasn't frightened, his sword glew brighter than previously, as he held it up in the air and gathered his Qi. Mo Jidong waited for this attack to come, he wouldn't back down and crush his opponent with their strongest move.

Soon, two different energies lit the cave. On one side, a majestic golden light from a Spiritual Tool, while the other energy came directly from the body of a young man.

Whoosh!

Mo Jidong moved. His speed was incredible, but he only moved in a straight line. The distance between himself and his opponent was only two steps, only being a few meters apart.

The golden sword was brought downward and slashed downward towards Mo Jidong. Behind him, a Chess Piece floated in the air, it was the shape of a 'Knight', further strengthening his attack.

In this world, there were those who weren't afraid to reveal their Piece. Why? By revealing it to others and having it appear for them, their overall abilities would increase exponentially. If one didn't use the power of their Piece, it meant that they were still holding back.

Mo Jidong moved towards the extremely powerful Sword Qi, this attack was unlike before, possibly able to heavily injure him. A late Noble Realm had used the power of a Spiritual Tool, as well as his Piece, which would easily kill even a regular Middle Stage Noble.

Even so, Mo Jidong didn't care. He was extremely confident in his own strength, and the pain he experienced at every moment of the day. There was no time where he was not in pain due to his unique physique and cultivation technique.

His demon-like body ran forward and slammed hard into the golden Sword Qi.

Bang!

Mo Jidong roared, his voice was inhuman during this moment. The terrifying demonic might around his body grew stronger, reaching up to the ceiling. As he was about to make contact with the Sword Qi, he stopped and slammed his hands together, as though he was clapping.

His hands stopped the Sword Qi, while his entire body was being pushed backward, digging into the ground. Even so, Mo Jidong wasn't hurt badly, only his hands were bleeding underneath the black Magical Energy and flames.

When his feet were ten inches into the ground, Mo Jidong roared once again. A strange 'Ohm' sound was heard from his body, as his energy grew. Slowly, the golden Sword Qi was disappearing, while Mo Jidong's aura was getting stronger.

On the other side, his opponent saw this and knew he had lost. That attack contained all of his might. Normally, it would even be able to defeat an Eighth stage Noble and injure a Ninth stage Noble, even so, Mo Jidong was able to take it without suffering too much.

Bang!

Mo Jidong lifted the Sword Qi into the air, as he threw it against the ceiling. The cave started shaking from the impact of the Qi, as Mo Jidong glanced at his opponent. "I Lost." his opponent said.

Putting the sword back on his back, he left the cave first. As for those who were watching, many of them had long fainted due to Mo Jidong's terrifying pressure. It was even greater than when they had tried to climb the stairwell earlier.

Those who were still awake and kneeling on one knee suddenly felt light, as the pressure on them stopped. Mo Jidong's Magic Energy returned to his body, as he held his hands behind his back.

He didn't want others to see the blood on his hands, as well as the bones you could see underneath his flesh. Obviously, Mo Jidong hadn't been unscathed from that earlier attack. A wound caused by a sword could also be faintly seen on his chest as well.

It cost him all of his might to direct the attack to the ceiling. His hands felt numb, but there was no pain. Such a minor wound obviously wouldn't cause him to feel pain. Even if his chest was stabbed through and burnt, he wouldn't even be able to feel it.

Even at this moment, the pain he experienced from his cultivation technique was thousands of times more painful than that, and even equivalent to a regular Body Refiner's daily cultivation.

His pain threshold was incredibly high due to this. For others, it would be unimaginable for them to experience even one-thousandth of the pain. Clenching his hands, Mo Jidong turned around and joined up with Yan Lenglei and Long He Yu.

Only when they left the cave, did Mo Jidong open his Spatial Ring and pop a pill into his mouth. The pill was a medicinal pill, made from herbs that were rich in Spiritual Qi. Such herbs were expensive, and even more so for the pills that were formed from them.

It required the hard work of an Alchemist to be able to form a pill. The pill he consumed was rich in vitality and Qi, made to heal wounds. Such pills were actually also used for cultivation since they were made of herbs and other things that absorbed in Spiritual Qi for hundreds of years, but Mo Jidong simply used them to heal his wounds.

The Alchemist occupation was quite rare. They were almost as rare as the 'Bishop', only one in ten thousand could become an Alchemist. Their job was to refine a pill inside a cauldron using various rare Spiritual Herbs and control a special flame that only Alchemists had called an Alchemy Flame. Alchemy also required a lot of time, effort, and talent.

It was also an extremely costly occupation, but if one were successful, the profits would outweigh the expenses greatly. Mo Jidong popped the pill into his mouth, as he suddenly felt refreshed, while his wounds on his hands were healing at a visible pace.

He had just consumed a fairly powerful pill, hence its effects were quite good. Pills were graded based on the same realms of cultivation, while Alchemists didn't have any ranks.

If they were able to produce a pill above their own cultivation base, they were considered a genius. Also, pills didn't have a high success rate depending on the Alchemist's skills, the better their skills, the higher the chances of a pill forming.

Another factor for their priciness was that pills didn't have any side effects. Let's say if pills had side effects such as releasing small amounts of toxins into the body that wouldn't be harmful at first, it would gradually grow over time from consuming many pills.

With a large amount of toxins, one would experience a weaker foundation and also damage to one's organs and fighting power. This was why Alchemists were highly regarded in the world.

After consuming the pill, Mo Jidong's hands were better. It had stopped bleeding completely, while his flesh was slowly growing back over his bones. He instantly popped another one into his mouth, allowing it to heal completely within minutes.

He ate such an expensive pill that would normally feed a family of ten for five years like eating candy. With his hands all healed up, Mo Jidong was as good as new. Only, his clothes were slightly torn but were changed immediately. Since his hands were fine, obviously the faint wound on his chest was also gone.

With this, the Flame Marquess' Grotto would soon close. This trip was quite a fruitful one, earning a few things for them, while also letting them expand their horizons.

Yan Lenglei, Mo Jidong, and Long He Yu quietly left the cave and headed out to leave the grotto.

Once they were out, they would then continue their journey and explore the big world that they have yet to uncover, as well as the many friends and foes they would eventually meet in the very future.