Chapter 138: Qi Part 7: Taking The Sect By Force!

Dong Bo's POV:

My name is Dong Bo, and I am a man. I was originally from a well-off family in the chou empire, but after getting ousted for my right as successor to my father's wealth by my aunt, I entered the qi sect's main branch as an inner disciple through the few connections I obtained through my late father.

It didn't take me long before my talents and efforts were recognized, as I was soon taken in by the sect leader as his second core disciple. Being the core disciple of the sect leader is a big deal, as it puts me directly below an elder in terms of status and power while practically guaranteeing my future as a cultivator. I could have become the sect leader if not for that bitch who whored herself up to my level. She was always master's favorite and it's obvious why, given the size of her bust.

It was so unfair. The old fool would always favor her over me because of his lust, he even made her an elder in opposition to the other elders' protest. I eventually had enough of this bias and with the help of the other elders we put an end to his bias, but the old fool was a crafty one. He had left instructions to make that slut his successor in his will and made sure the information was spread through the entire sect through multiple different channels, so we couldn't cover it up. I refuse to lose my rights to some other two-bit whore.

So, I spread rumors to slander that slut to turn some of the central disciples against her. With that old fool gone, and her reputation in shambles, she had no way of resisting as I took advantage of the old fool's will to gain control of the sect as his second disciple. It was only temporary, but I became the sect leader until she could reach the nascent soul. I was going to kill her, but after hearing she survived my assassin at the cost of her cultivation stagnating, I decided it would be more fun to watch her squirm instead. Maybe, if she survives and I'm in a good mood I'll let that woman be my sheath for a while. Dirty though he may have been, the old fool sure had good taste in women.

"So, has Xiu arrived yet?"

"No, leader Bo! Neither fire elder Xie Xiu nor darkness elder Ming has arrived as of yet!"

"Tsk!"

I had sent elder Ming, ever the loyal dog he is to bring that slut before me. Her territory has somehow undergone a drastic change as of late. We have taken special measures to prevent her from growing stronger whether it be in cultivation, reputation or resources. But somehow after we practically raised the place to the ground it has gotten even better than it was when we started 9 years ago. The little whore must have cozied up to some more rich old men to help her out once again, I just need to pry it out of her when she gets here. With all the elders gathered, there is no way she could possibly resist if I had her crippled. It will happen anyways one day, might as well be today. I digress

The strange thing is, that despite sending elder ming to go get her personally, they are both late. The sect competition will start later today and although it would be a good excuse to finish that whore off, I'd rather not get criticized for giving elder Ming special treatment when I do so.

I was currently sitting in the meeting room with the other elders as we were going over the schedule for tomorrow's competition, when suddenly a disciple interrupted the meeting.

"Sect leader! Elder Xiu has arrived!"

"Hmph! It's about time! Where is-!"

*Slam*

Just then, the door to the audience room was slammed open. It was Xie Xiu who just walked into the room.

"Get off my seat!" She spoke while giving me a blood shot glare.

"What?"

*Swoosh*

Before I knew it, I was flung across the floor.

"XIU! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" The water elder shouted.

"I'm merely taking my seat as the clan leader!"

"What nonsense are you spouting! Has the alcohol melted your brain?!" The earth elder yelled.

"Now, now! I'm sure my senior sister has a good explanation for all of this! Right?" I said while vowing to make her suffer later.

"Young Bo! You are too good on her! She will never learn her place if we let her continue like this any further!" The light elder spoke.

"Indeed! She needs to be punished for disrespecting her superior!" The spatial elder spoke, while the others nodded in agreement.

"Then why don't we just have her contribute some magic stones! I hear her territory has been flourishing under her care lately! Surely you wouldn't mind that senior sister?" I said as I was trying to estimate how much we could squeeze out of her this time.

"I think you are all mistaken!" She spoke

"What are-?"

Before the thunder elder could finish, Xie Xiu exploded with an overwhelming amount of qi that made my skin burn.

"No! This cannot be! Your cultivation was frozen! You can't possibly have advanced!"

"What?"

This should be impossible. I confirmed with my subordinates' multiple times that her cultivation had no hope of ever advancing.

"As you all agreed back then! The moment I ascended to the nascent soul stage, I would become the next sect leader! Now, could someone escort this disciple out of here so we can proceed with the meeting?"

"Pft! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

At her words the entire room burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"Little drunk, we only said that to prevent a commotion! Did you really think we would actually accept you as the sect leader just because you reached the nascent soul? How naive!"

Back then, when the old man died, she might have stood a chance due to the support of the fire and central factions backing her, but with her reputation in ruins and her faction only just recently recovering, there is no way she could wrestle the sect out of our hands. The dumbest part about this is how she willingly walked into an isolated space with us. The seven elders present are all nascent soul cultivators while the rest are golden core disciples. She may have been able to do something if she had reached this stage seven years ago, but with all her supporters in the main branch gone. Even if she somehow escaped this room alive, no one would care if we killed her out on the streets.

"Oh? So, you are abandoning the sect?"

*Giggle*

"It would seem your brain is still lacking senior sister! But what were we expecting from a woman! We are telling you we will not let you leave here alive! And if anyone asks, you drank yourself to death!" I spoke from behind the frost elder.

"Hmph! To think you all would turn on your words! But what should I expect from someone who only thinks with their dicks!"

"Kill her!" I ordered.

...

All the elders unsheathed their swords as they prepared to subjugate Xie Xiu. Meanwhile, instead of pulling out the blade at her hip, she pulled out a black pole with a wooden handle.

"Hahahaha! What happened to your katana? Did you have to sell your sword too, after selling your body?" Dong Bo mocked.

The elders chuckled as they surrounded her. The lightning elder struck first, but instead of defending she struck his leg with the black stick and to everyone's surprise...

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The lightning elder dropped his sword mid swing as his blade flew into the wall behind her, while he clutched his leg in pain before screaming and crying on the ground.

"What happened! What is that weapon?" The water elder spoke.

*Swoosh**sizzle* 

Before anyone could react, she used her blazing footwork to close in on the water elder landing a blow to his hands to a similar result as he dropped his sword to the ground while clutching his hand in pain.

*Swoosh*

"Ugh! AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The wind elder tried to approach from behind using his qi to accelerate his movements, but Xiu had predicted his angle of attack and was already swinging her weapon in his direction before he reached her, hitting his midriff, causing him to fall to the ground in pain before he even raised his sword.

"Enough of this! Let's all attack together!" The earth elder spoke.

The spatial elder jumped through space to attack her from behind with the intent to pierce her with a lunge of his sword, the light elder was using his light speed movements to travel into the air right above her, jumping off the ceiling as he intended to slash her on the way down, the frost elder sent an ice element qi slash at her from the front, while the earth elder sent a shockwave through the floor to throw her off balance in case she tried to move out of the way.

*Bang**Swoosh**Swoosh**Swoosh**Crackle*

However, it didn't work. She had used her fire qi to launch herself out of the way with an explosion. The light elder missed as he fell on the ground while the spatial elder ended up running him through before the frost slash hit them both nearly freezing the two old men solid.

In under a minute, she had incapacitated 5 of the 7 elders with the only real damage she had suffered being the small bruise she inflicted on herself in order to dodge that last attack. 

"Hey! Youngsters, help me vanquish this evil woman!" The frost elder shouted at the disciple escort of the other elders.

But looking at the fire ball of qi that was Xie Xiu only made them back away. It wouldn't be impossible for a golden core to intervene in a match between low stage nascent souls like them, but the fierce fire qi she exuded made it difficult for them to approach without getting burned and the state of the elders whaling on the floor only discouraged them more.

"Fine! I can take care of you myself!" The frost elder said after seeing he wasn't getting any support.

He sent another frost slash at her, but instead of dodging she just threw the black stick at the door, revealing the earth elder who was trying to sneak out of the room, she then countered the frost slash last second as she performed a quick-draw attack using her katana, burning through the freezing wall of cold qi. She then walked forwards as she leisurely walked towards the last elder, brushing off his every attack with ease as her red katana began to stain pink.

"How are you this strong? This isn't the power of someone who just reached the nascent soul!" The frost elder spoke, while she moved ever closer.

"Of course it is! It's just that unlike you who spent all your time cultivating in seclusion until you became elders, I spent my disciple days in combat!"

And with her words Dong Bo recalled their disciple days. The former sect leader had often sent her on missions around the sect back when she was still in qi refinement, and that hadn't stopped even when she became an elder. As for what those missions entailed Dong Bo didn't know! Normally, when someone becomes a core disciple they are given obligatory tasks related to the safety of the sect, like fending off magical beasts, subjugating bandits or protecting the sect from outside forces. These are tasks that have been deemed either too dangerous for low ranked disciples to do or are too urgent to be left alone until someone volunteers for it. As such they often get forwarded to the elders or leader who then either deal with it personally or send one of their core disciples. The average core disciple in the qi sect tends to be in the golden core stage.

Back when they were still disciples the sect had just come into conflict with a neighboring country, breaking the century long period of peace, the sect had experienced. It was a bloody battle that only ended with the appearance of the dark empire who soon conquered the enemy country in its early days. Back then, there was a lot of chaos and it was hard to tell who did what or where, which is why Dong Bo, fueled by his resentment for his aunt along with the misogyny from his fellow disciples, just assumed the sect leader embellished or forged his senior sister's accomplishments as a cover for what he thought was their secret getaways, but that was not the case.

She had trudged through muddy battlefields while covered in the blood and guts of her enemies. She had survived time and again while fighting opponents of the same or sometimes even one stage higher than her own. Even when she became an elder, she was given the most dangerous missions due to the other elder's harassment. This time of crisis was what killed the previous fire elder, while also allowing Xie Xiu to ascend to the elder position.

*Swoosh**Sizzle*

After closing the distance, Xie Xiu had raised her blade to cut down the frost elder, leaving a burning scar across the old man's chest. If this had been a normal attack it would have killed him, but her fire qi had burned parts of his wound shut to prevent major blood loss.

"As the new sect leader I sentence you all to death for the crime of betraying the sect!" Xie Xiu spoke as she used the tip of her blade to tilt the frost elder's head up to look at her.

"Ugh! Hahaha! You can't! *Cough* If you kill us then who will protect the sect from the dark lord?" The frost elder spoke, while coughing up blood.

"We-!"

*Smack*

"DIE YOU BITCH! HUH?"

While she was distracted, the thunder elder had recovered enough to stand back up. The pain from the earlier was only temporary since it was not caused by any physical injury, which meant the elders struck by the stick would be ready to fight once they recollected themselves. The thunder elder had taken the opportunity to strike Xiu while she was distracted by the frost elder, but.

"What! Why is nothing happening?"

The thunder elder had tried using his qi while performing a palm strike at her lower back. Normally, this attack would electrocute his enemies, paralyze their bodies and melt their eyeballs out of their sockets, but for some reason, he just wasn't able to move his qi.

*Smack*Smack*Smack*

"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE GOD DAMN IT! DIE!"

The lightning elder struck time and again to no effect, while Xiu just stood there and took it while her expression was getting more and more angry with each blow.

*BANG**Thud*

"KNOCK IT OFF YOU OLD PERV!!" She screamed before punching his head off.

"MY QI! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CORE?" Just as the other elders struck by that stick, came back to their senses, they all started screaming in panic as they realized the state of their bodies.

"Ugh! What the?!"

As the frost elder was staring at the panicked elders, he suddenly felt something comfortingly cold on his back. It was strange, he has never felt anything cold since becoming a nascent soul of the ice element due to his high resistance to it. He could walk around buck naked in winter and not feel a thing, but for some reason that wasn't the case.

He mustered his strength to turn his head and find out what this was, and what he saw shook him to his core. There stood a little girl with silver hair. Shoulder deep inside his back. It was Nox who had appeared from who knows where. His blood and flesh moved around her arm like water, while she looked like she was fishing for something inside him. Finally, she seemed to have caught whatever she was looking for.

"Okay! That's the last of them! Good job Kissy!" Nox said as she pulled out a light blue ball of freezing cold liquid energy. 

Her hand was plunged into the center of it as the frost was creeping down her arm. She then pulled out an empty jar covered in enchantments and threw it inside.

"What did you do?" Xiu asked.

"I'm redistributing our stuff!" Nox said.

"NO! THAT'S MINE GIVE IT BACK!" The frost elder screamed, as he desperately reached after Nox or to be specific, the core floating inside the jar she was holding.

"No, it's not! This here magical anal bead is made from the materials of this great sect of bead makers, which means it belongs to us! We are just taking it back for recycling!" Nox said, before stomping his head down, knocking the elder out in the process and turning to Xie Xiu.

*Clap**clap**clap*

"Well done sect leader! You wrangled these geezers good, with only one decapitation no less!" Nox applauded.

"Oh, right! You wanted them all alive right! I just forgot how fragile these guys are without their cultivation!"

"Poor old thunderhead! He was just trying to give you a pat on the back for a good job, and you killed him anyways! How cruel!" Nox said while pulling out a handkerchief to wipe her crocodile tears.

"Hey! Where is Dong Bo?"

"Oh, the piss-pants ran away at some point after that double knockout! You can go after him if you want! I'll take care of the rest here!" Nox said before pulling out some rope and started to tie up the elders.

…

Xie Xiu POV:

After I buried Chi Ken's body, the silver-haired monster in the form of a little girl teleported us right outside the central branch where the meeting was held. She had tried explaining her plan to me before, but it was hard to make heads or tails of her nonsense as every other word out of her mouth was some kind of joke while she kept referring to people by her absurd nicknames. All I could follow was that she was supposed to do something while I was fighting the other elders. She also wanted me to do the impossible task of subduing them without killing them so she could do something that kind of sounds like a sex-thing.

I wasn't feeling too confident even with this stick of pain and suffering she handed me. I can't figure out how that little monster could hold this thing with her bare hands as it's already sending jolts of pain down my spine even through the cloth, she wrapped it in. She had to attach a handle to it because I couldn't even touch it without feeling like my body was being torn apart, and even then, I can barely manage wielding this thing as it seems just being in close proximity to it hurts.

After the monster suddenly became invisible somehow, I took a moment to recollect myself as I ran towards the main headquarters. In order not to go limp with nerves I quickly threw myself into the thick of it before I had time to hesitate. I did what I always wanted to do and kicked that snotnosed little lecher my master took in, out of my seat as I sat down at the head of the table.

"XIU! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

As I listened to these old bastards talk about their thinly vailed plan to ruin my branch sect once again, I could feel my blood boil as my nerves were drowned out by my rage completely.

"Then why don't we just have her contribute some magic stones! I hear her territory has been flourishing under her care lately! Surely you wouldn't mind that senior sister?"

"I think you are all mistaken!"

"What are-?"

Burst out my nascent soul stage qi as I felt the urge to fry these old bastards grow stronger with every word that left their mouths. For the sake of the sect, I endured, as we can't afford to lose these shitheads just yet, because of the dark empire.

"Pft! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"What's so funny?" I said, feeling my last shred of reason slip away.

"Little drunk, we only said that to prevent a commotion! Did you really think we would actually accept you as the sect leader just because you reached the nascent soul? How naive!"

And as they finally dropped the pretenses, I just felt something snap.

"It would seem your brain is still lacking sister! But what were we expecting from a woman! We are telling you we will not let you leave here alive! And if anyone asks, you drank yourself to death!"

"Hmph! To think you all would turn on your words! But what should I expect from someone who only thinks with their dicks!"

But something was off.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!"

These elders who have been ruling this sect with an iron fist for a century!

*Swoosh*

"Ugh! AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

So, why?

"Enough of this! Let's all attack together!"

Why are they so incredibly weak?

*Bang**Swoosh**Swoosh**Swoosh**Crackle*

It's not that their movements lack power or speed, nor is my qi stronger than theirs. What is it? Could it really be that?

"How are you this strong? This isn't the power of someone who just reached the nascent soul!"

"Of course it is! It's just that unlike you who spent all your time cultivating in seclusion until you grew bald, I spent my disciple days in combat!"

To think I was ever afraid of fighting these chumps. They may have some power, but they lack the fundamentals of combat. I still can't believe two of them got taken down at once due to friendly fire. Did they really think I couldn't move just cause my footing was a little bit off. We are nascent souls for crying out loud, even if it isn't fast we can all levitate using our mental strength. The only reason I injured myself to dodge was because I expected some kind of trap, so I hurried out of the way, but to think these novices were really that dumb, it makes me wonder how the dark empire hasn't conquered us already.

Even as I dropped that conveniently painful pole to stop that dirt-faced old man from running I still managed to fight them with ease. I didn't even need to use my qi to parry those frost slashes. They were so unstable the fire element imbued into my blade was more than enough to scatter the ice element qi the last old man sloppily threw out. I've seen his disciples perform better frost slashes than him. The only reason they weren't scattering immediately was because of how much qi he put into it, just a little poke of my sword in the right spot was enough to deal with them. Whether they were just rusty or lacked combat experience it was clear that these idiots were nascent souls in name only.

"Ugh! Hahaha! You can't! *Cough* If you kill us then who will protect the sect from the dark palace?"

"We-!"

I was reminded why I couldn't kill these old bastards as I finally started to calm down, when I suddenly felt something touching my ass.

"DIE YOU BITCH! HUH?"

That limping old thunder douche had stood up to slap my ass. I was a little caught off guard as of all the battle simulations I brainstormed in my head, an outcome where these guys would waste a sneak attack on groping my butt wasn't one I could have foreseen.

*Smack*Smack*Smack*

"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE GOD DAMN IT!"

And I definitely didn't expect once not being enough for that old pervert, as he kept telling me to die while continuously slapping my butt. At that point I don't think what happened next could have been avoided.

*BANG**Thud*

"KNOCK IT OFF YOU OLD PERV!!" I screamed as I punched his head off.

I knew I didn't hold back on that strike, but it shouldn't have been that easy for me to knock his skull off his body like that. Soon after I realized why that was.

"MY QI! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CORE?"

"NO! THAT'S MINE GIVE IT BACK!"

It seems that little girl really is a monster. I have never seen someone extract all the qi along with someone's core like that from someone's body. Some of them didn't even seem to notice before after the fact. There was no qi deviation, no spasms of pain or even a wound left behind after the process. She just shoved her hand into their body and rummaged around a bit before pulling out all their qi along with their core, before dumping it in some glowing pickle jar. Chi Ken, just who the hell is your boss?

As I tried to stop my tears from spilling out, I noticed that the lecher was gone.

"Hey! Where is Dong Bo?"

"Oh, the piss-pants ran away after that double knockout! You can go after him if you want! I'll take care of the rest here!"

And so, I left to chase after that pervy little gremlin. With my nascent soul senses, I managed to track him down pretty easily. He was running towards the sect gates, but despite the fact he had a head start, he had barely gotten half way down the mountain by the time I caught up to him.

*Swoosh*Sizzle*

"AAAAAHHHHH! MY LEGS! MY FUCKING LEGS!"

Not in the mood for a chase, I cut off his legs, making sure I seared his wounds shut so he wouldn't die from blood loss. I then grabbed him by his long hair before I began to make my way back up the mountain. He tried to resist, but it was no use.

All this time and he was still in qi refinement. My master had picked him up because he was the son of his friend, yet no matter how hard he tried to teach this brat the virtues of a cultivator, all he ever did was laze about and that hasn't changed even today. I know that because with the resources he had access to as the sect leader, going from qi refinement to golden core in nine years would be child's play.

"SOMEONE HELP! SHE HAS LOST HER MIND! UGH!" The little lech said as he tried to squirm out of my grasp, while I dragged him through the sect.

I could feel the countless eyes looking at me as the screams for help coming out of the little leches mouth seemed to attract a crowd of onlookers.

The main branch of the sect is home to disciples of all types. When the disciples from the various branch sects reach the golden core stage, they will require more resources to further their cultivation. The number of resources required can often be too much for a single branch to support on their own. Hence, when a branch sect can't afford to keep these high maintenance disciples, they are usually transferred to the main branch as inner disciples. That way the branch sect can make room for new disciples, while the main branch gains more manpower they can use to protect and support the sect should anything happen. That is why, between all the mountain peaks of the Qi sect, the one holding the largest number of golden core cultivators is by far the Qi Mountain we are currently standing on.

"GET THIS MAD BITCH OFF OF ME!"

*Swoosh**Thud**Sizzle*

It didn't take long before some inner disciples came swinging at me with their blades, in an attempt to save this leach. It was a group of three golden core cultivators, one of which I recognized.

"Feng?"

The treacherous thief who sold my sword returned and as a main branch disciple no less.

"FENG! THANK GOD ITS YOU! GET THIS MAD WOMAN UNDER CONTROL!"

"Brother Feng! You know this woman?" One of the guys next to him asked.

I have rarely made any public appearances these last seven years and the few times I did I probably looked like a drunken mess, so it's not too strange for some of these disciples not to recognize me. Though I can tell from the whispering crowd that at least some people here still do.

"CAN'T YOU TELL JUST BY LOOKING YOU FOOL! THIS IS XIE XIU THE BITCH!"

But it would seem most still only remembers the slanderous rumors, rather than my contributions as I only hear insults amongst the whispers.

"SHE HAS FINALLY DROPPED HER ACT AS ELDER OF THE SECT AND REVEALD HER TRUE COLORS!"

"…"

"BROTHERS! LET'S BAND TOGETHER AND VANQUISH THIS TRAITOR ONCE AND FOR! *Swoosh**Sizzle* ALL? *Thud* AAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Tired of listening to his nonsense, I cut of Feng's left leg much like I did with Dong Bo, before grabbing him to.

"STOP THIS! *BOOM* AAAHHH!"

"UNHAND THEM YOU-! *BOOM* AAAAAHHHH!"

"WE WON'T LET YOU PASS! *BOOM* AAAAHHH!"

As I continued walking up the mountain, I encountered more and more disciples who tried to block my path, but they were all brushed aside with an explosion or two. Finally, I reached the gates to the mansion at the peak of the mountain. But there was one small problem.

"ELDER XIU! DROP THE SECT LEADER AND SURRENDER YOURSELF! DO YOU TRULY INTEND TO BETRAY THE SECT THAT RAISED YOU?! HAVE YOU REALLY FALLEN THIS FAR!"

Blocking the gates was a small army of golden core cultivators. It seemed as though the majority of the sect's power was gathered here to stop me from entering my new residence.

"*sigh* I think you all are mistaken! I have never betrayed this sect, nor do I ever intend to! Now move aside or are you rebelling against your leader too!"

"WHAT?"

"LISTEN UP, BECAUSE I'M ONLY SAYING THIS ONCE! AS OF TODAY, THIS MAN IS NO LONGER THE SECT LEADER! I WILL EXPLAIN IN MORE DETAIL LATER AT THE SECT COMPETITION! NOW MOVE ASIDE OR ELSE!" I shouted, releasing my nascent soul qi to make them back away.

"STOP! IN THE NAME OF THE QI SECT! I COMMAND YOU TO HALT!" The leader of the group screamed as the others couldn't take the heat and moved to the side.

*Swoosh**Sizzle*

As I was about to incinerate the defiant guy who blocked my path, one of the disciples who had moved aside had thrown a pebble at me. It didn't do any damage as the small rock had crumbled from the heat before reaching me, but that little spark of defiance set off a wildfire. Soon after, the other disciples started attacking all at once, only instead of throwing rocks they threw qi attacks at me.

I was hoping to just pressure them into backing off through a display of power as I'm not confident I could face the entire main branch alone, especially with two dismembered burdens on my hands. Even if I hadn't been exhausted from fighting those weak elders and fending off the disciples on my way up here, I would still lose to the difference in numbers should I face them directly. As such…

*Swoosh**Pow*Pow*Pow*Pow*

As the barrage of attacks came flying at me from both sides, I kicked off the ground as I flew into the air, dodging the volley of qi that was now clashing below me, injuring many as a result of friendly fire.

One of the advantages that comes with reaching the nascent soul is gaining psychokinetic abilities. In other words, we gain the ability to move objects around with our mind, which we can use to fly at a slow pace. Though flight isn't exclusive to the nascent soul as certain qi techniques can allow for flight as the wind cultivators who are flying after me now can attest.

"EVEN IF YOU RUN, THERE IS NOWHERE SAFE TO HIDE! THE ELDERS WON'T REST UNTIL YOU HAVE BEEN PUNISHED! SO, MAKE THIS EASIER ON US ALL AND RELEASE THE SECT LEADER AND DISCIPLE FENG! I PROMIS IF YOU DO, I WILL BEG THEM TO GO EASY ON YOU!" The leader of the group spoke.

"Hmph! Why would I ever be afraid of-!"

"AAAAHHHH! SAVE ME!" Dong Bo screamed.

He had passed out from the pain part way up the mountain, but it seems that the sudden commotion shook him awake as he started flailing around upon seeing how high he was dangling.

"Hey! Quit squirming or I'll drop you!"

*Swoosh*

Seeing I was distracted, the disciples saw an opening to strike and moved. I was surrounded from front to back, with no way of escape. Even if I dropped these two to their deaths, I still wouldn't have time to reach for my sword before their attacks reached me. I could only try to defend my body using my qi and hope that would be enough for now. Or so I thought.

*Swoosh*

"Huh? Wait! AAAAAAHHHHH"

*Swoosh**Bang*

Just as I was about to receive their attacks, a rope wrapped around my legs and pulled me out of the sky and slammed me into the front lawn of the sect mansion. It was that little masked monster again. She had come out of the mansion in a cowboy outfit, and she had used her lasso to slam us into the ground, shaking Feng out of his slumber. Behind her were a number of moaning, cloth covered carts.

"Howdy there pardner! You seem to have got yourself a mighty fine haul their missy!"

"What?! We don't have time for your nonsense! The entire sect is now-!"

"XIE XIU! COME BACK HERE!" The leader of the disciples screamed as I could see him rushing after me.

Meanwhile, I spotted the rest of the sect disciples barging through the gates. It wasn't long until we were surrounded.

…