Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 377: The Royal Guard

Chapter 377: The Royal Guard

"It appears that your fellow guards have been dispatched by Wang Lun. That’s good." Step, step. Gūniáng’s ears were unresponsive. He could not tell Dasha was moving. "This toxin is intended specifically for cultivators. It affects the pores in which we gather Qi. If you had been an Embryonic Breather like the members of the Imperial Family, this would not have worked."

Gūniáng dropped to his knees. Miraculously, the potion in his hand remained stuck in his fist. Blood poured in rivers from his nose and eyes and ears.

"None of this would have been possible either if Wang Lun had not nearly killed you and exhausted your Qi. I am sure he is searching." Another step. "He wanted the final blow. Alas, he will not get it."

Then Dasha disappeared.

Gūniáng’s Qi Sense was malfunctioning. He could not see. He could hear but blurbs of blood. His gaze and senses, while empty, did not lose their stature and confidence. with one blow, he could wipe Dasha and this darkness. All he needed to do was wait, receive a blow, and counter—!

Pain erupted on his neck. Instinct took over and he struck before it could deepen its fangs.

BOOM!

With death came more death.

The alleyway nearly turned to smoke. However, he lived. The royal guard of Princess Liuying, her third-in-command and de facto authority in her place, lived with a potion clutched to his chest. Leaning on debris, leaning with his life on the line.

A marron beam of light that penetrated his flesh by directly avoiding the material of his white hanfu. It was an incomplete Qi Blade manifested by Dasha Pang, drawing blood and yet...

"Hm."

Failing to deliver damage to the royal guard’s organs.

So it was true. The chances of killing Gūniáng with his current abilities were impossible. Zero.

Gods were gods, after all. To expect raw intelligence and talent to elevate him to the level of, say, Zeus or Shiva was foolish. Truly foolish and stupid.

Dasha was neither. Every death was important and vital in his view. All had to matter to advance his power.

With a tilt, Dasha avoided the burst of Qi at his head. Gūniáng’s breath and eyes remained bloody. His extended hand whimpered and fell. The nails bled. The impromptu Qi Blade of the Royal Guard failed to manifest.

Slowly but surely, Gūniáng was failing to manifest himself. His Qi, his soul, his muscles, all of it were breaking apart.

"Do you know the greatest aspect of the System?" Dasha asked the half-corpse. "I am sure you do; it is the ability to absorb particles of mana, Etherparticles, and use it to strengthen the soul. Not the body or mind—the soul. That is why it is not a temporary boost. That is why it stays. If the soul changes, so does the body and mind. If the mind changes, so does the soul. It is an important symbiotic relationship that makes us human and makes us stronger."

Gargles of blood served as his response. The royal servant’s fingers were twitching. He had not given up. His focus was narrowing. In two minutes, perhaps three or five, Gūniáng’s Internal Healing would rid itself of the toxins ravaging him. Some damage would be permanent. The grip on the potion. But as long as he lived—

"So if the creators of the System were able to do it," Dasha continued steadily, his hands coming together into a hand sign, "why not us?"

Gūniáng pushed his head up. His vision was gone, only his hearing worked. "Don’t tell me...the explosions..."

"Yes. The bombs and the monsters functioned in the exact same four phases: settling, amplifying, absorbing, and then imploding. The transformed monsters kill and consume to sate themselves. Then they do it for greed, then to stop the pain. The pain does not stop and when they realize that, they instinctively give themselves to death. The bombs did the same except I had them programmed specifically for collecting the Qi of cultivators. For collecting your Qi. Wang Lung, the monster wolves, the scouts, the bombs..." Dasha formed a second hand sign, then a third. "All of it was for this moment. To bring you here to this location."

All for this.

A Class Six Cultivator.

A Class Six worth of Etherparticles.

"You caused all this...to kill me...?"

"Yes. You who every man and woman whispered as the princess’ incessantly loyal guard. Even the children were aware of your predictable tendencies." A fourth and fifth hand sign. "You lived your life solely to die by my hands."

They had never met before. Hell, they had never spoken a word to one another. But somehow, this man decided he should die. He schemed and waited for when the princess left, all to kill him. Without any regard for people or regulations or peace or culture, this utter stranger sought his death.

Now he had it.

The royal guard twitched. Move, he screamed to himself. Move!

Dasha’s hands came together and whispered one last incarnation.

"—"

[ Receive:

21,777,443 XP ]

[ Level up! ]

[ Level up! ]

[ Level up! ]

[ Level up! ]

[ Level up! ]

[ Level up! ]

[ Level up! ]

The Royal Guard died with regret and little understanding of who killed him.

***

Flames licked and curled into the sky, mixing with the ash that rained down like a dark snowstorm. The wolves were bodies twisted and malformed by some dark magic. Splattered and forgotten as the people of the Underground survived.

Dasha Pang walked with his usual calm, his Venetian mask unperturbed by the madness around him. His invisibility cloak was active, fluttering slightly in the wind stirred by the chaos, but his stride was steady, measured. He had seen such scenes before—destruction and fear were tools, nothing more.

He passed a burning stall and heard a faint whimper beneath the crackling of flames. He stopped, Qi Sense active and slightly stinted. He tilted his head slightly, narrowing in. The sound and movement came again, more distinct this time—a child’s voice.

His Qi Sense scanned through the smoke until it locked onto a small, makeshift stand that had collapsed under the force of an explosion. Beneath the charred wood and fallen fabric, he spotted movement. Dasha calmly moved toward the wreckage.

The stand and the debris was sliced apart in an instant. Beneath the remnants of the stand, he found two small figures huddled together. Crying, dying, desperate, and wanting a hero.

"Y-you’re..."

Dasha reached out a hand. "Heng, Shaoruo, it’s over now. You’re safe."