The swords stabbed the barrier but only made it halfway through before stopping, barely missing Omari by mere inches.
Haaaah!!
Omari screamed. The barrier exploded, sending the swords flying in different directions. He stood up. His body didn't even look human, he was too skinny, every bone in his body visible through the skin. He hadn't seen a bath in two years. His dirty brown clothes were ripped, and his dreads had grown long, covering his face. They were brown and covered in dandruff.
Omari pulled out a short blade from his pouch and brandished it, assuming a fighting stance. The four cultivators all charged at him at once. He started breathing heavily. A humming sound, like boiling water evaporating, started coming from his body.
Staring at the incoming attacks, he leapt into the air, spinning and twisting, dodging all four in quick succession. They turned to attack him again, but Omari was already behind one of them. His speed had increased exponentially. Thick white steam emanated from his body as he thrust his short blade forward, aiming it at the back of the throat of the cultivator. The man got kicked on the side, saved by his fellow brother.
"Damn it, I haven't fully mastered this Steel Tempest Combat Arts," Omari thought.
"I'm better at using my fists. I need to get this done quickly," he whispered under his breath.
Quickly, he placed his short blade back in his pouch and charged forward. One of the cultivators slashed his sword, and Omari ducked down and instantly grabbed the cultivator by the throat, slammed him down on the ground, his nails digging into the man's throat.
Without hesitation, he pulled his arm back, ripping out the man's throat.
"One down," he said, looking back at the remaining three. The three stood frozen for a few seconds, shocked by the brutality.
"You damn slave! How dare you!!!" one of them yelled, and they all charged forward.
One of them lifted two fingers, gathering qi into his sword before thrusting it forward with incredible speed. Omari ducked to the side, but one of them appeared next to him, slashing him in the stomach.
Even though he jumped backwards, the sword had already slashed him. The cut wasn't too deep, but blood gushed out. Omari grabbed his wound, breathing heavily.
"I need to keep moving. The more I move, the stronger my Steel Tempest Combat Arts are."
He charged to the side, running, and the cultivators followed, chasing him. Omari slid on the ground, coming to a halt while gathering qi into his right hand. He turned around and threw a punch at the cultivators charging at him. A blast of qi shot from his fist and slammed into the abdomen of one of the cultivators. That was an opening. Without wasting time, he charged forward before the man could react, Omari grabbed him by the back of the head and slamming his knee into his face. The man was sent flying backwards, blood gushing from his nose.
None of them had mastered any swordsman techniques. They were all just starting their cultivation journeys, so they didn't have much battle experience. As for Omari, ever since he was chased from his village, he had been fighting and facing life-and-death situations at every turn.
"Distract him!" one of them yelled.
Two charged forward. Omari did a backflip, dodging a sword slash, then quickly grabbed the hand of the other one before he could swing his sword. He pulled him close and slammed his head into the man's nose. Before he could follow up with another attack, the two jumped away from him.
Omari turned around to see the third cultivator with his hands lifted in the air, and above his hands was a huge fireball. Below the fireball was a formation map, and the man was pushing qi into the map. The man lowered his hands, sending the fireball flying straight at Omari.
Its speed was incredible, and Omari couldn't dodge in time, so he charged forward and jumped, gathering qi into his fist.
Haaaahhhhhhh!
He screamed, slamming a punch into the fireball. It exploded, sending him flying and slamming hard into the bark of a tree.
His body was in immense pain as he coughed a mouthful of blood, forcing himself up.
"I've lost way too much blood. I need to finish this quick before more and stronger disciples show up."
"Damn it, my Steel Tempest Combat Arts, it's fading. The time limit is already up."
He stood up, assuming his fighting stance. "I'm going to kill every single one of you," he yelled, charging forward.
While charging forward, he stumbled and almost fell. His Steel Tempest Combat Arts had stopped working, and he couldn't force it anymore. His body jerked, surging with pain, and he coughed out blood. The orange spiritual energy around his body dimmed before fading completely.
"Damn it, not now. Come on."
Before he could take another step, a fist landed on his face, sending him flying into a brutal kick to the gut. He rolled on the ground but quickly got back up on his feet. Another cultivator appeared behind him, slashing his back with a sword.
Ngrr!!
He groaned in pain. One of them charged with a sword aimed at Omari's forehead. Omari barely dodged, but another appeared, stabbing him in the chest, barely missing his heart.
Omari grabbed the sword, pulled the cultivator in, and bit him on the cheek, ripping his skin off.
Ahhhh!!!
The man screamed. Omari pulled out the sword, screaming in pain, and stabbed him in the heart. Omari was now breathing heavily, tired, and about to pass out at any moment.
He kicked the man away from him, who instantly dropped dead to the ground.
"Two left," Omari declared,
"Ha ha ha ha ha... found you," a voice echoed.
More than two hundred white-robed and yellow-robed students surrounded the area. Above them all was Boot standing on his flying sword, and beside him was the purple token holder, Bai Zhentian, first student of Ghost Step. Next to him was the red token holder, Caspian, second student of Ghost Step.
"Oh wow, this is embarrassing.... Are you guys struggling to kill a kid who broke through to the Spiritualist realm a few hours ago?"
The two who were fighting Omari knelt down.
"Forgive us, senior brother, but this brat is tricky...."
Before they could finish, Bai Zhentian extended his arm forward. Just by closing his palm, he crushed the two of them into a meatball with his spiritual energy.
"Excuses, excuses... You are no longer needed in my Celestial Gate Sect."
Then he turned and looked at Omari.
"Wow, what a tough guy you are... you caused all this trouble all by yourself.. Wow, you should be proud. Great job, dude. Talk about earned suffering, huh?" He clapped his hands.
Omari could barely even stand, his body bloodied and tired. His eyes kept closing qnd opening as if he was bouncing between consciousness and unconsciousness.
"Hey, come on now, what is this situation, father?" Omari scoffed, a small laugh escaping his lips.
"I thought you said I was born to destroy."
His expression hardened. "Two years working as a slave in those mines, and you thought I would agree to a death like this? Nah, I want revenge. I need revenge. I want all of you to suffer. Mark my words, I will kill each and every single one of you!!!" Omari screamed, his expression ugly.
Boot laughed together with the rest of the students.
"Oh wow, this kid's a fucking retard," Bai Zhentian smirked while sitting down on his sword. "Okay guys, make him suffer," he ordered.
"Yes! Come at me! COME!!" Omari charged forward, stumbling and falling, but he kept going.
Haaaaahhhh!!!
All the students charged forward at Omari, ready to devour him. Omari threw a punch forward. A green glow awakened in his eyes, then his vision vanished. He was now in a dark void, just spinning around.
"Am I dead, just like that, so this is the story of my life. What a joke".
Ths void suddenly started spinning and he snapped his eyes open,his vision had come back, he was breathing heavily, his whole body drenched in blood. He looked around. There was blood everywhere. Within five hundred meters, there were bodies and body parts. Hands cut off, spines ripped out, legs broken and cut off, heads decapitated. He was standing on a small mountain of bodies, and around his neck, intestines dangled like trophies.
Ahead was a solid boulder of ice. Inside it, barely visible through the frost, was Boot, his eyes wide, his mouth frozen mid-scream. Around the area, trees were destroyed, and there were craters in the ground.
"What the heck happened?" he wondered, breathing heavily. "Did I do this?"
He looked around, fear etched on his face. Memories of his father and all the people in the village calling him a bad omen started running rampant in his mind.
"Spawn of the devil."
"Bad omen."
"Born to destroy."
"Great disaster will befall this world if he lives."
Omari closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to slow down his breathing. He couldn't calm down. His breathing only increased, and he got even more scared.
"I'm truly cursed. I'm a monster. Wh... what am I?"
His heart raced, his hands shaking while he walked back slowly. He turned around and charged, running away, but after a few meters, he stopped.
"Survival is my first priority right now...."
He turned around and started walking back, calming himself. It was hard, but he needed to be strong.
Kneeling down, he started pushing corpses and collecting spatial pouches from most of the dead cultivators. After he was done, he limped away, leaving the scene.
An hour after he had left, the solid ice boulder started to crack and collapse. Inside was Boot, who came out crying and puking.
"W... wh... what was that?" he stammered. "That was so messed up. He's a monster. A devil."
Boot got up and ran, going back to the sect.
Omari's body was covered in blood,some of it his, most of it from the people he had slain.
He walked, limping, his injuries and bruises burning with pain. His eyes darted around as he looked for a safe and hidden place to heal and recover his stamina for a bit.
"Siwang!!"
Omari quickly turned around after hearing his name called out.
Behind him stood Mo Jie and Xia Rou, the black token holder.