Chapter 135: Qi Part 6: Fighting Over Chicken!

Xie Xiu's POV:

After buying my precious sword back, the chicken bastard and I returned to the sect. Upon returning to my mountain, I was shocked at what I saw.

Previously, the chicken bastard had barely maintained the mountains upkeep on his own. But there are limits to what a single person can do. Hence, there were still parts of the mountain that remained unkempt. But now...

"What the hell happened here!"

The entire mountain had been given a massive makeover. The small rundown huts for outer disciples at the bottom of the mountain had been replaced with full-fledged houses. The growing wilderness encroaching on the sect facilities had been cleared away along with the ever-growing jungle on the back of the mountain. In its place there was more housing as well as new facilities such as an herb garden, an alchemy shop or a library, just to name a few. But the new buildings weren't the only discrepancy from how we left it less than a month ago. There were countless people wearing my branch sect's uniform walking the newly paved streets.

"Oh, it seems like they finished redecorating the place!" The chicken bastard said upon seeing the place.

"I should have known you were behind this! Explain!"

Ever since I took this guy's hand, I knew he wasn't normal. His attitude changed the moment we shook hands and ever since he has been pulling crazy ideas that somehow worked time and again. Heck, even before his character changed after the soul contract, he still had a few screws loose, but this goes beyond even that.

"How the hell did you manage this from all the way inside the chou empire?" I asked while grabbing him by the collar and pointing at the fairytale castle that had replaced my old mansion at the top of the mountain.

I could barely accept the fact he had enough cash on hand to pay for my sword. But even if he is some absurdly rich kid from a wealthy family, I can't even begin to imagine how he got this all done in under a year, much less a month.

"Oh, that? I just called in a few favors!"

"Favors?"

"What? You thought the money was the only thing we got out of your pony rides?"

"My coworker gained a fortune of cash and connections thanks to our small delivery company! It's only right she returned the favor!"

"Coworker?"

"Don't worry about that! You might never meet her again anyways!"

"Then who are all these people?"

"Oh, hey Chucky! Come over here and give our elder a run down!" He said as he waved over Bucky, the disciple he made me take in right before leaving the sect, before he wandered off somewhere.

Apparently, back when he first entered the sect, he had secretly been recruiting disciples from the surrounding villages while he had gotten some unknown person to train them. These disciples had been scattered throughout the territory, rebuilding the desolate villages and towns right under my nose. Right after we left, some group of people led by a woman in a mask had suddenly appeared and started rebuilding my mountain into its current state. 

"Just who the hell is this guy's backer?" I muttered to myself as I walked towards the castle.

...

Xie Xiu's POV:

It has been several months since our return to the sect, and in that time, I have been surprised time and again as I explore my new territory.

"It's like an independent country!"

Previously, the mountain had been almost completely reliant on the support from the main branch to sustain itself. But now, the dangerous wilderness has been tamed and turned into farmlands, the desolate villages have been turned into cities of commerce, and the countless bandits and thugs have been turned into disciples or law enforcement. Just from the taxes alone, we make more than what the main branch allots us. 

I was enjoying a nice glass of wine in my room as I looked out at the flourishing lands below as my buzz was disturbed by the chicken who just slammed open my door.

"Hey, we got a problem!"

"Whatever do you mean, my golden goose!" I said as I thew the glass of wine off the balcony.

"Hey, was that wine? I told you, no more alcohol! You have a problem!"

"No! That was just fruit juice! But more importantly, what's this problem you mentioned?" I said, trying to change the subject.

"Arg! Fine! This isn't the time for an intervention anyways! The problem is the sect competition next week!"

Every year the qi sect holds an inter-branch competition where each elder sends their top disciples to compete against each other. In the past, I just let Feng decide who to go, but since he turned traitor, I was just going to let the chicken do it since he would know the new disciples better. Unfortunately for me, unlike Feng, this chicken has been making me take part in nearly all the decision making since we got back. Back when we were in the Chou empire, he rarely ran the decisions by me as he sent me to every corner of that place with a carriage in tow, but now he won't stop pestering me about every little detail regarding our territory he is blowing out of proportion. I still remember how he kicked in my door screaming about what wallpaper to use for the castle bathroom.

"Can't you just pick somebody? I barely know any of the people you recruited, so wouldn't it be best if you chose our representative?"

"That's a good point we'll have to discuss later, but that's not the problem!"

"What is it then? Are you worried we don't have shiny enough shoes for them to wear! Hehe!" I joked.

"No, I'm worried that they will assassinate you because you're making a comeback!"

"Hehe! Why would they bother when they know I'm going to die anyways?"

"Just because they know you'll die doesn't mean they're patient enough to wait! Just look at this swanky new castle! Do you honestly believe those guys will just sit around waiting another couple of years when they could just kill you now and take it right away?"

"You worry too much! What happened to the guy who worked me like a fucking horse for a week before gifting me a castle, like it was no big deal?"

"That was that and this is this! The only reason they haven't killed you already is because by the time they had torn you down it just wasn't worth fighting you over the destroyed wreckage that was your territory! But that has changed!"

"Whatever! It's not like I have to go anyway!"

"Actually, you do!" He said before handing me a scroll marked with the qi sect's emblem.

It was an official order from the sect main branch. It wrote:

'In accordance with the sect leader's decisions all elders are to be present at this year's competition in order to demonstrate our sects unified strength to the world. This is not optional and any who defies this verdict will be dismissed from their position as an elder.'

"What? He is still technically only a temporary leader! He shouldn't have the power to directly dismiss an elder without at least consulting the rest of us first!"

"Which means the other elders are probably in on this! That or your junior is getting too big for his britches! Either way, this is likely a ploy to get rid of you so they can plunder this place for all its worth!"

If they came at me inside my own territory. Even if I can't beat them with all the new disciples here, directly killing me without causing a commotion would be difficult. But if they ganged up on me inside the isolated meeting room, they could easily just blame my death on an assassin since the only witnesses would be them and their core disciples. If I die, they would be able to appoint whoever they want to replace me as long as it's a fire element cultivator, and there are plenty of candidates in the main branch to choose from. 

"We don't stand a chance if we rebel! How about defecting to one of our neighboring countries?"

"There is not enough time for that! The competition has been moved up to next week!"

"Then what are we supposed to do? Hey, wait a minute!"

Just as I was panicking, I noticed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the chicken's freaked out expression relaxing for a moment. This piece of shit already figured out what to do before coming here and was just messing with me.

"You smart ass!"

"Oops! Seems I've been caught!"

"What's it this time? You going to cash in another favor?"

"Nope! My boss has already agreed to come take care of the problem!"

"Boss? So, I finally get to meet your mysterious backer!"

I figured out this guy is being backed by some pretty powerful people, but he refuses to tell me what faction is behind him. Given how wealthy he turned out to be after I watched him pay five times my lives savings to buy back my sword on top of the flipping castle he had built on my mountain, the only force on this continent I could think off with that kind of money would be the dark empire. The only other candidates would be someone from another continent, but that seems unlikely as they would have no reason to help me over my junior.

"Is there really no other option than to defect to the dark empire?" I asked feeling kind of sad it has come to this.

"Like hell you're joining that playboy's side!" A silver haired girl in a mask said after suddenly appearing behind me.

"WHAT THE! WHO ARE YOU? HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?" I shouted, as I wasn't expecting an intruder.

"Sup, boss! You're earlier than I expected!"

"Chicken! You know this twerp?"

"Ha! She figured out the joke name I gave you Tommy!"

"This is my boss! And a word of advice you don't want to piss her off, so keep your insults to yourself!"

"So, am I supposed to believe this shorty-? *Bonk* AAAAAAAHHH!"

Before I could finish, the little twerp manifested a black stick and bonked me on the head. And holy shit, did it hurt. I thought for a moment she had cracked my skull open as I clutched my head in pain.

"I'm not short! I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet! See!" She shouted as she suddenly grew half a meter in height, before deflating back to her original size.

"I should also mention that her height is kind of a sore subject!"

"What the hell! You picking a fight twerp?"

"Nice spirit old lady! She might be rude, but she's a keeper! Good job chicken man! I'd give you a raise!" She said as she patted the chicken on his head.

"Sweet! I actually have been eyeing this-!"

"Of course, I know you're way too devoted to our cause to accept so I won't! You're welcome!"

"Okay, so how is this twerp from the dark empire supposed to help me deal with those old farts? You are going to give them a taste of that stick too? Actually, that would be kind of fun to watch! Haha!"

"As fun as it would be to give those sexist geezers a spanking myself, it would be way more fun to watch you do it yourself!"

"What? So, I'm on my own? Didn't you say your boss would take care of this for us?"

"Horsy, the contract only says we have to help you take over this place, not that we have to conquer it for you!"

"What did you just call me?!"

"Seems like she heard about our delivery service!"

"You bet your chicken buns I did, and I would have done the same! The only thing I would have done differently would be to have her also wear a chicken outfit with the horse mask!"

"I think a horse chicken hybrid would be a bit too freaky for our business partners though!"

"Could we get back on topic? How am I supposed to deal with those geezers?" I said, worried that if I let them continue their conversation it would end with me stuffed into a chicken suit and running another marathon.

"Oh, that's easy! You just have to become the sect leader!"

"What?"

...

As it would turn out. The crazy chicken's boss was even nuttier than him. As her plan to save me from being killed by those geezers was to have me advance into the nascent soul stage and claim my title as the sect leader.

"You trying to kill me, you little shit?!"

"Nope! I just need my prized work horse to sit down and start cultivating!"

After dragging me off to some secluded room, the duo has been trying to force me into committing suicide by advancing.

"If I do, I'll die! God damn this stupid contract!"

"Hey, Tommy! Your horse is kind of cowardly!"

"That's because you didn't explain anything before dragging her in here!"

"Hm? Oh, right! Listen Kissy the cowardly horse!"

"Who the hell is that! My name is Xie Xiu, damn it!"

"Not anymore, it's not!"

"Wha-!"

The little twerp suddenly grabbed my face and dragged me down to eye level.

"Xiu, was it? You made a deal for your soul! That means I own you! So, if I call you a horse, you're a horse! If I call you a chicken, you're a chicken! And if I say you'll live then you'll live even if I have to drag you out of hell itself to make it so! So, sit your ass down and get started! That's an order!" She spoke, and for the first time in decades I felt fear I haven't experienced since I was a child.

It was nothing like the kind of shock you get from being surprised, nor the kind of fear triggered by a phobia like seeing a huge spider or looking down from a great height. Not even the fear of death was an apt description. It was more like the fear a child would feel when they think there is a monster under the bed. Only the monster wasn't under the bed anymore, it was staring at me from the foot of my bed, and I could feel my stomach sinking as it slowly moved closer.

"Ugh! No! Stop! I-I don't want to!"

I resisted with all my might, but no matter what command I gave my body, it only responded by crossing my legs and sitting down.

*Knock*

*Knock*

*Knock*

"Sir, the darkness elder is here to meet with the fire elder!"

"What! Tell him we'll be with him soon! Sorry, but I got to go deal with this guy!"

"Chicken! Help! Please, don't go!" I begged with tears in my eyes.

"Hey, Xiu! You're not a kid anymore! Crying and begging won't do squat! If you want to change your fate, then you have to grit your teeth and do it yourself!" The little girl said as she looked me in the eye.

...

This disciple greets the honorable Elder Ming!"

"Who are you? Where is that drunkard?"

While Nox was forcing Xie Xiu to undergo her advancement, Chi Ken left to meet with the darkness elder to stall for time. It would be disastrous should he interrupt the process part way through while searching the palace for her.

"Oh, you know how that woman is. Out drinking her guts out somewhere! Nothing like the illustrious elder of darkness, protecting our great sect from the shadows!"

"Hehe! Well, I wouldn't go that far!"

"And so modest too! I can only dream of ever reaching your majestic eminence, I am truly honored you would deem to visit this poor excuse for an elder's residence, as it is clearly far too lacking for one such as you!"

"No, no! This is quite enough! I'm not nearly that grand!"

"You humbled yourself, just to not shame this lowly disciple! I am not worthy of this great mercy, but I'll endeavor to better myself in hopes of one day being as such! Please, if you would bestow me this great honor of guiding you through this small tower of ours!"

"Well, I! Ehem! I was hoping to speak with miss Xiu first! If you could be so kind as to point me in her direction?"

"I BEG FOR YOUR FORGIVENESS!!!" Chi Ken screamed as he kowtowed.

"Uh! Young man, please stand up! There is no need for this! Just tell this elder what is the matter!"

"I apologize, your greatness, but the elder has been touring the territory as she wanted to sample the various new liquor that has been flowing through our territory! Last we heard she was seen somewhere over by the southern border in a drunken stupor."

"Oh! Is that so? That doesn't sound like her?"

"Forgive me, oh great elder Ming, but this foolish disciple has failed to grasp your graces great intellect! Might you bestow this incompetent man a sliver of your infinite wisdom?"

"Ah! Well, rumor has it miss Xiu prefers to drink in solitude, while in the confines of her own room."

"Ah! Well, you know how fickle women can be! Nothing like the reliable elders who has stood tall since time immemorial, truly you are the only men befitting to be called immortals! And none are greater than the man who single handedly prevented the sects collapse from the shadows without a single complaint. Choosing to bear the burden of carrying the sect through its darkest hour, you are truly a man among men! No, a god!"

"Well, I guess, if she isn't here then-!"

*Crackle**BOOM*

Just as the elder was about to leave with his face flushed red from all the praise. There was a sudden lightning bolt of fire energy that struck the castle, shaking it to its core.

"What was that?! Are we under attack?!"

"Oh no, it must be the dark palace! Have they discovered your greatness's location? There must have been a spy! Quickly, it's no longer safe here! Elder I beg you to flee and tell the sect to prepare for the coming battle! We will hold them back!" Chi Ken improvised.

"I am an elder of the qi sect! I cannot flee in terror while the young men of this sect fights for their lives!" Elder Ming said as he brushed Chi Ken aside as he followed the crowd of soldiers running out to see where the lightning struck. But Chi Ken quickly grabbed his sleeves as his face filled with snot and tears.

"Please, elder! The enemy is obviously after you! For the sake of the sect and everyone here! Please, don't let our deaths be in vain! I beg you to go warn the others so that we may be the only lives lost today!" Chi Ken cried while clutching the elder's sleeve.

*Crackle**BOOM*

"Fine then I'll go if you can promise me one thing!"

"Anything!"

"Please live to meet me once aga-! Hm?"

"I promise!"

"Something is wrong!" The elder said, as he could sense something odd in the air.

There were no cries of battle, no sounds of clashing blades or smell of blood. From what is known about the way the dark lord wages war, that should be impossible. There is no way a group of body and qi refinement stage cultivators could fend off an assault from the dark empire's men. If this was a real attack by the dark empire they would have already breached the gates while tearing their way through the mountain by now. But there were no signs to indicate as such.

"Wait! Elder! No! Please, I beg you!"

Chi Ken tugged on elder Mings sleeves to stop him from heading towards the doors to the garden where he'd be able to see the shed where Nox and Xie Xiu were doing their thing. Elder Ming only brushed him aside as he moved to open the doors.

*BOOM*

There he saw it. The shed lying unprotected as tribulation lightning of the fire element was striking down.

"You lied to me! Hehehe!"

"Elder! *Gag*!"

After realizing that Xie Xiu was in fact still here and not at the southern border, elder Ming grabbed Chi Ken by the throat as he threw him towards the shed just as a tribulation lightning struck, frying him to a crisp.

"I just can't stand liars! Well, then Xie Xiu! You are to stop this at once and come with me to attend the sect's festivities!" Elder Ming shouted, knowing full well that even if she heard him, she would be unable to move without risking shattering her own core.

*Crackle**BOOM*

"..."

"You seem intent on defying the sect rules! As an elder I cannot let this go unpunished!" Elder ming said with a grin as he stepped towards the shed.

"No!" The burned body of Chi Ken said as he stood up to block the elder's path.

"Hmph! You are quite the man to have endured that lightning at your level! Out of respect for your achievement I will let you live if you stand aside now!"

*Crackle**BOOM*

"..."

"Young man! Do you not understand or are you just a fool? You yourself is a perfect example of why that woman should never had become a cultivator much less an elder!"

"Women are fragile and naive creatures not suitable for the path of a cultivator. She failed to endure her last attempt and wasted valuable resources to keep herself alive, which could have been used to raise countless fine young men such as yourself!"

*Crackle**BOOM*

"She believed she could lead an entire sect, but she led what little territory we granted her, into ruin!"

*Crackle*

"Even if you stop me, it won't change the outcome! Her last attempt resulted in an incurable ailment that would cripple her cultivation should she ever make another! Just watch!" Elder ming said as he grabbed Chi Ken by his burned skull and turned him towards the shed.

*BOOM*

"Do you see now! She was nothing but a frail!"

*Rumble*

"Foolish!"

*Rumble*

"Woman!"

*BOOM*

As the elder finished his words the ground began to tremble as a red shockwave of qi cleared the smoke from the destroyed shed. And out stepped a nascent soul, Xie Xiu.

...

As Xie Xiu stepped out of the smoke, the qi of a nascent soul radiated from her body.

"IMPOSSIBLE! WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS?!"

"Impossible? Huh? Hahahahahah! I guess it is! And yet somehow, it's still true!"

"XIE XIU! YOU ARE TO SURRENDER YOURSELF AND COME WITH ME TO THE SECT'S MAIN BRANCH TO RECIEVE YOUR PUNISHMENT!!!" Elder Ming screamed in a panic.

"Punishment? Dear old Ming, you speak as if I've committed a crime! What can I possibly be guilty of?"

"There is no way for you to have advanced on your own! You must have stolen a great treasure from the sect's coffers! There is simply no other explanation!"

"Stolen? Old man! No, rather! Old fart Ming! How can I steal what already belonged to me?"

"What are you blathering about, you mad harlot?"

"Have you already forgotten the agreement you all made 9 years ago?"

"...!"

"If I were to ever reach the nascent soul realm you would accept me as the new sect leader! That was what you declared before the entire sect! And look at me now!"

"I will never accept this!"

"What's that, you crusty old fart? I can't hear you over the flatulence coming out of your mouth!"

"I WILL NEVER ACCEPT A WOMAN AS OUR LEADER! YOU ARE MERLY A TOOL FOR THE PURPOSE OF SERVING MAN! A SLUT LIKE YOU WILL ONLY LEAD OUR SECT TO RUINE, JUST LIKE YOU DID TO THIS TERRITORY!"

"You mean this flourishing land you're standing on?"

"..."

"Face it! I didn't fail because I was a woman! I failed because you narrow-minded old men are too proud of your own dongs to let someone without one stand above you!"

"SILENCE!"

Having had enough of this, elder Ming unsheathed his blade as he rushed at her.

*Clang**Sizzle*

Just as Ming swung his blade covered in darkness Xiu unsheathed her red willow katana to counter. As their blades clashed, the fire overpowered the darkness as elder Ming was pushed back.

"How is this possible? You only just advanced! How are you able to command so much qi?"

"Hehe! Maybe it's because I'm a woman! Isn't that your excuse for everything I do? Why stop now?"

"You bitch! DIE!" Elder Ming screamed as he lunged at her, only he wasn't aiming his blade at her. 

He instead stabbed into the ground as a blade launched out of her shadow from behind.

*Squelch**Splatter*

The shadow blade never did reach her though, for Chi Ken had stepped in between to block the attack with his body. The shadow blade had pierced right through his chest stopping moments before reaching Xie Xiu, only because Chi Ken had grasped the blade as it ran him through, struggling to keep it in place as it shredded his hands.

"Little chicken?"

"See, what you've done you harlot! This innocent young man's life was lost to save your miserable existence! Now repent in the afterli-! *Swoosh**Sizzle*"

Just as elder ming was readying another attack, Xie Xiu's blade turned a pink color as she effortlessly swung her blade to the side, scorching elder Ming's head in half.

"Hey, little chicken! Little chicken! You can wake up now! I killed the enemy! You don't have to play dead anymore! Come on this isn't funny anymore! Wake up! Get up! Please! YOU CAN'T BE DEAD! NO! GET UP! PLEASE, please! Don't leave me too! *sobbing*"

As she screamed and begged for Chi Ken to stand back up, tears started welling up in her eyes as she sobbed and cried. Meanwhile a dark orb floated out of elder Ming's corpse. It soon transformed into a dark translucent version of Ming, and it soon turned to the sobbing Xie Xiu with an expression of rage.

"YOU WHORE! I WILL NOT REST UNTIL I HAVE TORN YOU LIMB FROM-!"

"And that's enough of that!" Nox said as she stepped out dressed like a preschooler ready to go bug catching.

She swung her enchanted bug catcher net through the old man's phantasmal body and caught his core, before dropping it into her enchanted glass jar. The elder's dark core flittered around inside the jar like a black firefly as he banged against the glass.

*Sob**sniffle*

"Hey, you okay over there Kissy? Your face is leaking!"

"Shut up!"

"I can't hear you! You'll have too nay louder!"

"JUST SHUT UP!"

"No can do! We have a schedule to keep! Now that you're the sect leader we have to-!"

*Smack*

Too upset to think straight, Xiu slapped Nox in the mask with an angry tear-filled expression.

"How can you be so cold! Chi Ken just died! Do you feel nothing!"

"More than you'll ever know." Nox whispered, before her eyes began to change.

*Sob*

"Listen you whiny little baby! If you want to cry, then do it after we finish kicking the shit out of those dirtbags responsible! Otherwise, we'll only give them more time to prepare!"

*Sniffle*

"How long do you think it'll take for word of this geezer's death to reach those old farts? Cause that's how long we have to make our next move! Otherwise, they'll be on their guard, and a hell of a lot harder to deal with! So, if you don't want his death to mean nothing, then we don't have the time to piss our eyes out while those ass-wipes get ready to kill us all! HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR?!"

"Y-yes!"

"Good!"

And with that Nox's eyes went back to normal as she turned around to pull out a dashboard and reading glasses.

"So, we got a ton of things on our schedule. First, we need to tell everyone you're better than them by showing off your swag. Second, we need to shove a stick up the geezers' butts to send a message to others, I'll lend you my stick. Thirdly, we have to kick the ding in his dong before we send him to the farm with his posse of grandpas. Fourthly, we need to get ready for the group sleepover where we will discuss strategy for the pillow fight. Fifthly, we'll need to kick the dark lord out cause he hasn't paid his rent in over a year."

"What? Wait, did you say the dark lord?"

"Come on let's go!"

"Hey, stop pulling!"

And so, Nox, full of energy, grabbed Xiu by the hand as she dragged her along.