She gets up from behind the boulder, and every time I blink, the muscular purple-haired woman gets closer and closer.
Blood gushes from my stomach, and even pours out of the corners of my mouth.
I start to look through the items in my storage space.
There are three small storage bags, ones that the stewards use to carry wood away from the servant camps.
Intuitively, I can feel how they work.
There is a lingering energy within each of them, the imprints of the three dead men.
The same exact energy is present in a small black ring on the Blood Sword Sect cultivator's finger, yet, it feels extremely sharp and far too dangerous for me to try and deal with right now.
Quickly, I choose the storage pouch that is tied to Zhou Kang's corpse, and pull it out into my hand.
With the fading consciousness I have left, I start to push my own qi into the bag to try and override the imprint.
Every blink, the darkness in between grows longer.
Everyone in this world is my enemy; some are just waiting for their time to strike.
I do not know Xu Hong's motives for running at me now, and do not want to gamble on the chances of it being for good or ill intent. When she comes within 50 or so meters, around the blast range where trees have fallen during my duel, finally there is a mental click that triggers and lets me pour qi into the pouch in my grasp.
Instantly, I see everything resting inside. I let the spatial pouch fall into my system storage space, so I can manipulate and sort them with far more precise mental clarity.
There is an enormous pile of wood, over 500 tiny spirit fragments, 2 full spirit stones, and over 40 burnt, misshapen elixirs.
One of them is a very familiar color, a marrow cleansing pill.
About a dozen of them are qi gathering pills.
The rest are mostly a strange grey-colored pill I've never seen before.
At the bottom of the pile, I find a small white pill with a consistency that is familiar. One I came across before I even became a servant at this sect.
Without wasting another second, I pull the inferior quality healing elixir out of my storage alongside an upgrade card, and drop it in my mouth while the bright white light flashes in my face.
The moment the warm rushing sensation floods into my meridians, and I feel the blood flowing out of my body cease all of a sudden; I even pull the longsword still stuck through me into my storage to let the healing process naturally take place.
I blink one more time, seeing only black for a few seconds before the intense splash of hot medicinal energy elevates all of my senses.
For a moment in time, my spiritual senses expand from 3 meters outward to over 30, allowing me to scan my neighbor still running my way.
All of my senses are spiked. I can see every scar on her body, and can subtly feel the invisible heavy strength built up from her Martial Warrior physique. For a moment, I can feel her emotions. She's filled with worry, surprise, and strangely enough, the urge to save me… It feels warm and inviting, kind of like the opposite of the sensation I get from qi cultivators' killing intent.
This burst of senses quickly vanishes, as I feel the medicinal pill flowing into deeper parts of my consciousness, and a golden essence seeping into my soul. All of my broken bones in my arm, chest, and ribs tingle and grow hot while shifting back together.
My instincts still push me to try and stay on guard, but the momentary burst of compassion I got from Xu Hong lets all my defenses down and allows the perfected healing elixir to take over.
My vision goes white, and I lose consciousness.
—
[Ding!]
[Congratulations! Side Quest Complete: Kill 5 Humans (5/5)!]
[Collect Your Rewards!]
[YES] [NO]
Golden text floating in my vision is what I wake up to. I choose yes immediately.
[Ding!]
[Rewards have been deposited into your storage!]
[x3 Perfect 1st Tier Upgrade Card]
[x1 Minor Lottery Draw]
I feel three more bronze upgrade cards enter my storage, bringing the total back up to seven. With it, another black and red minor lottery die appears.
Considering the life-saving copper bell talisman I claimed from the last one of these, my hands are itching to roll it again.
Yet, I quickly sense someone nearby.
I look past the fading text in my vision and see the ceiling of a thatched hut that isn't mine.
"You're awake already… it's been less than an hour, and not a single scar or broken bone left on you." A feminine voice rings in my ear in a playful tone.
When I turn my head, sharp purple eyes full of depth and intelligence stare back at me.
Xu Hong sits on top of her wooden chest, and I lay on her bed in nothing but my underwear.
My shirt and pants are wet, hanging off the end of the bed to dry.
She sees the direction of my gaze.
"I washed out the blood, and took care of any evidence on your battlefield too."
She leans forward and rests her chin on her hand. Her eyes don't leave my face, but I can't help but sit up and examine myself.
After hitting level 2 of qi refinement, my abs and veins in my arms have really come in. I don't look like the same malnourished farm boy slave from Donghe Village.
However, there are more changes than just this.
My skin is extremely smooth. Many of the cuts and marks that were on me from before I was a cultivator are completely gone.
All my bones have fitted back into place perfectly, and they actually feel even stronger than before. My muscles feel perfectly rested, and even my meridians feel as though they've never been overly strained.
The vague imagery of a pristine white healing elixir, covered in three golden vine patterns, comes to mind. Its energy is still flowing through my body…
Oddly enough, I even feel the minute fractures and separations of my two souls mending. My spiritual awareness has increased outward to almost 4 meters.
I can't help but look down at my flawless hands without a single callus on them, then stare back up at the short-haired woman that brought me back here and covered up my crimes for some reason.
"To get our story straight, neither of us saw a thing. Tomorrow, we chop wood normally like we're expecting him to come."
These are the first words out of my mouth.
She shows a slight smile.
"I take it that is for when cultivators come questioning the servants. What about your aura? How are you going to hide that? I can't tell exactly how strong you are, but it is definitely more noticeable than when you were wearing that artifact."
My eyes widen, and I feel around my chest, then realize the full power of my 2nd level qi refinement is bursting outward for the world to feel.
I stay silent for half a minute, and mentally debate what to do next.
"Leave this hut for a moment. I'm going to do something I do not wish for you to see. You already know one too many of my secrets. I'll have to kill you if you learn any more."
She nods calmly, gets up from the chest, and leaves out the front door without a word.
I pull out the red and black 20-sided die, and toss it on the floor in front of me.
'System… you have always given me what I need most. Some kind of stealth artifact, or a concealment talisman would be perfect… just like the copper bell before.' I think in the system space, watching the die click against the ground a few times, then roll to a stop.
When it disappears, I close my eyes and wait. A bright blue and green shimmering rectangular jade talisman appears where the die last rested, and a series of notifications echo in my inner ear.
[Ding!]
[Minor Lottery Draw Successful!]
[x1 Azure Lightning Attack Talisman] [2nd Tier Offensive Item]
When I pull it out and feel the azure-colored jade touch my hand, a wisp of my qi imprints into the item.
[Ding!]
[Azure Lightning Attack Talisman has bound to the Host!]
[Passive Ability: NONE.]
[Active Ability: 1 Use, Rechargeable (Cost - 10,000 Spirit Stones). This talisman can be activated to create a single concentrated bolt of Azure Lightning powerful enough to kill an initial stage foundation establishment cultivator.]
I grit my teeth with a mix of excitement and frustration. If I had this item an hour ago, I could have won that battle without even putting myself in danger.
Yet, for the first time, the system didn't grant me what I needed most.
"Maybe it's because I already have it…" I murmur, filled with confusion, then pour my mental energy into my storage, taking out three more items. They are the two stewards' pouches I did not break the imprint seals on yet, and the black storage ring floating beside the cultivator's corpse and his sword.
First, I concentrate and break through the fat man's imprint in less than a minute.
There are just over 300 spirit fragments, a communication talisman with no uses remaining, and enough food rations to last me two months.
The lanky steward's is equally dull, with about 700 spirit fragments, 4 unidentified grey pills just like Zhou Kang had on him, and a collection of drawings folded together of fictional female cultivators without any clothing.
Rolling my eyes, I stuff all their belongings into my storage, then work on the last black ring.
With the original wielder dead, the imprint has already begun to fade. I can feel that if I wait a few days, it will be even easier to break into. However, I don't know if I have that long.
I need every edge I can get.
I pour large amounts of qi through my meridians, into my hands, and deep into the black ring. It doesn't budge at all at first, reminding me of my own energy pathways before I ate a marrow cleansing pill.
After about twenty minutes of forceful attempts, finally, some resistance gives, and it only takes another ten to completely override its imprint with my own.
I've started to sweat a lot from the physical and mental exertion, but I hardly notice, as I'm completely consumed by the treasure trove before me.
There are 54 spirit stones, 7 qi gathering pills of far better quality than anything Zhou Kang got his hands on, 4 strange red pills, and a tattered black booklet with most of its pages ripped out, worn by time, or even some scribbled over with black ink.
I shove everything else into my storage, including the ring, then pull the booklet out to rest in my hands.
It reads: [Illusory Demon's Concealment Art] on the cover.
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Author's Note:
One chapter of Five Element Overlord will be posted every weekday: M,T,W,TH,F.
If you'd like to support me, and read 25+ chapters ahead of the public release schedule, my patreon is linked in my bio:)
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