Blood Torrent Grandmaster

From the beginning, a force control spell was no different from telekinesis, so most cultivators only used it to 'initiate' or 'stop' motion, rarely to 'intensify' it, which was much more complicated as well. Therefore, those who used this technique, especially at the Qi Refining, were rare.

In addition to this, Liu Jiaoshi, who focused on cultivating for the major part of his life, lacked experience. For him, it was unconceivable that a former disciple of the Liu clan, even one that had been banished, could just drop his sword even though it was the heart of the Liu clan's techniques.

It was a combination of these two factors that allowed Baotian to catch him off guard, just this one time.

'But it's all right, this one time is all I need!'

Using force control spells continuously without caring for his dwindling spiritual energy, Baotian slapped his opponent's sword away and unleashed a barrage of punches on him, repeatedly aiming for the face. 

"Die, die, just die already, you dog! Avenging your little brother or whatever, I don't care about this! His brain was so dogshit he stayed in sword range while spitting at my parents grave and your brain is dogshit enough to let a Qi Refining failure like me punch you to death, but I'm supposed to be the one at fault! Bullshit, bullshit, everything you say isn't worth the dirt under mortals shoes, you stupid dog! You're the one who can't see Mount Tai, you bastard, you're courting death!"

Baotian didn't care how disgraceful he could look at this moment, a dirty old man spouting obscenities while throwing his hands like a lunatic. He kept pummeling, fueled by anger and despair. His enemy tried to call his sword back with a force control spell but he pushed his arm away with his elbow, disrupting the spell's trajectory. He kept striking and striking, using every possible part of his body to prevent any form of resistance.

'If I stop punching, I'll die! If I let him get back up, I'll die! If I let him get away, I'll die! If I let him recover his sword, I'll die! If I end my reserves of spiritual energy before it's over, my punches will stop being effective, and I'll die! I refuse to die, I refuse to return to nothing, so please, please…'

"Please, just die!" he screamed, crying, before using what he had left of spiritual energy for a last punch.

Crack!

His body and mind both exhausted in every way, he fell off Liu Jiaoshi and fell on the wooden ground of the cave, unable to move. As he felt himself passing out, only one thought came through his mind:

'I hope this sound… was his skull cracking'

A few minutes later, as he woke up, there was two good news, and one bad news.

The first good news was that Liu Jiaoshi's body hadn't moved while he was unconscious, indicating that he was likely gone already. The second was that, while unconscious, he had regained a bit of spiritual energy.

And the bad news was that, in the bottom of the cave, an old man, looking even older than himself, was looking at him. In the cave, the smell of blood had mostly replaced that of the humid wood, though not completely masking it. The old man had crimson eyes, undoubtedly exuding great evil and, upon closer inspection, his body seemed to be somehow translucent. Looking at him while rubbing his chin, the old man raised an eyebrow:

"Would you look at this, reaching this age and still stuck at the Qi Refining stage! Tssk, tssk, what a trash…"

"…"

Baotian was so concerned that for a bit, he forgot his fear. Was this old dog truly going to be the one ending his life?

"I'm sorry, senior, I am in fact such a trash, so I shall disappoint senior by informing him that I am unworthy of becoming elder's blood sacrifice"

The old demonic cultivator laughed:

"You seem to have a gable tongue but you switched between senior and elder, so you must truly be dead tired, huh?"

"..."

'Shit, I just made myself an easier target' Baotian mentally cursed.

"It's not that surprising after all, since you just managed to kill a mid stage Qi Building cultivator. I must say, your intelligence and decisiveness were pretty impressive…" the old demonic cultivator praised. "Ah, don't worry for your life - at least for now - little guy. You must have noticed while seeing this senior's translucent body, but I'm nothing more than remnants of a split soul. Originally, I in fact planned to use this split soul to possess the first fool that dared enter my wooden cave, but no one in the Blood Wood Cave Forest, where the strongest cultivator is a mere Core Formation, is foolish enough to enter this senior's old cave, even after his death, fearing the traps I could have left. A bunch of cowards, truly… since none dared to approach, this split soul kept getting weaker and now, I don't even have the strength left to take over a mortal's body, let alone yours"

A… mere Nascent Soul!? This old dog… during his life, he must have been at the very least at the Nascent Soul realm!

"Oh, well it's truly a shame, senior" Baotian said, barely trying to hide his relief.

"Yes, I suppose, this master already accepted his end: in ten or twenty years, the split soul will completely disappear… though looking at you right now, even assuming you don't get squashed like a bug by a passing demonic cultivator, it's unsure which one among the two of us will disappear first, hehe"

Baotian's expression became uglier, his wrinkles deepening more. A split soul on its very end, having the same lifespan left as he had. It wasn't fair. It truly wasn't.

"Senior… even though your end is inevitable, wouldn't you enjoy remaining in the world of living in another way?" he asked.

The old demonic cultivator raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued:

"Are you trying to say that there's a way for this elder to not completely disappear?" he asked. "Go on, then, tell me, little guy"

Just the effect Baotian had hoped for. Without the slightest bit of shame or hesitation, Baotian bowed deeply:

"O master, teach this pitiful disciple a method to make my life longer!" he declared. "Even though every method has a limited amount of use, I am sure that a great master of your caliber at least has ways of lengthening the life of a cultivator by a few dozen years! Grant me the opportunity to live through those additional winters, and I will spread your name! I have been blocked in this realm for thirty-six years now, because my Qi Components are unable to turn into Qi Pieces, and I lost hope of reaching the Qi Building stage one day, but I wish to keep on living! As long as possible! By allowing this junior to live on even just a bit more, you gain the opportunity to change the life of one, and to conserve a direct influence on the world through me. Senior, do it for you… or do it for yourself. All I can do is plead for your kindness"

The face of the old demonic cultivator changed, and a strange light appeared in his crimson eyes.

"Zhang Ming" he said.

"Uh?"

"That is my name: Blood Torrent Grandmaster Zhang Ming! Shouldn't you at least know it before begging like this?"

"Yes, you're right, master. I apologize"

Zhang Ming laughed loudly at such a shameless bootlicking:

"Hehe, I guess it's only karma, that a demonic master such as me ends up with such a pathetic disciple wannabe. In this state, I can't make your life any longer, and I don't have any method that a mere Qi Refining junior can use. All I can do is grant you a chance"

Baotian's eyes lightened up, and tears welled up before falling, flowing on his sunken cheeks from the emotions:

"Yes… please… anything"

"Fine then" Zhang Ming said, nodding. "In this case, I will now… become one with you"

"What?"

Before Baotian could react, the formations of the cave activated, and he was completely immobilized as the entry of the cave disappeared. Then, Zhang Ming split soul's translucent body turned into a lump of light and entered his body through his forehead, nesting itself in the upper dantian.

Baotian tried to scream but no sound could escape his lips. The Qi Components he formed lost their stability and merged, and he returned to the mid stage of Qi Refining. The spiritual energy in his middle dantian dispersed, and he returned to the early sage. Finally, once all of it was gone, the formations let him free and he passed out, his cultivation back to the very bottom of Qi Refining.