Blood of the Army

by Tinalynge

  Xue Wei had spent a lot of Qi to create these four additional seeds of mirages, but there was no time limit to the duration of these mirages. He could dismiss them, and they were capable of getting destroyed by damage.

  They could also vanish after using too much of their Qi, and every attack they performed drained the Qi they were made of, but for now they were all of great use to Xue Wei. He did not expect them to finish the battle for him, but their numbers alone were enough to cause problems for the deserter. Moments after, all of them launched the Forbidden Rush movement technique.

  Forbidden Rush did not use much Qi, as it relied on the wind and one's comprehension of wind, but it still required some. The clones could use Xue Wei's abilities, and their comprehension was equal to Xue Wei's as they were connected to him through the mind. However, at the same time, they did not have the strength to push their speed to Xue Wei’s level.

  Still, to a single second layer Earth Warrior, it was impossible to see the movements of the original Xue Wei, but he could just slightly glimpse the copies. Even then, seeing five of them rushing towards him, he felt worried and sick.

  One attack numbed him, but if he was hit by five of them at the same time there was no telling as to how injured he would be.

  He backed up as far as he could until a sense of crisis emerged in his heart. Just as he tried to escape, a palm descended through the air.

  Shattering Mountain Palm!

  Xue Wei, far from showing alarm on his face, brandished a cruel smile as he shifted his weight, almost imperceptibly, and redirected his palm through the air.

  The deserter was hit squarely in the back and staggered forward, the hit having sent him off balance.

  Not missing the chance, Xue Wei's body merged with the wind as he vanished from behind the deserter and appeared right in front of him.

  He then drilled his fist into the pit of the deserter's stomach, after which he delivered a follow-up blow to his back as he was doubling over.

  After the Shattering Mountain Palm, Xue Wei delivered a series of blows. Although they did not contain any martial arts technique, they had strength far superior to a one layer Earth Warrior. And when these attacks landed on the deserter’s body, he felt as if a carriage had slammed directly into him.

  His eyes rolled to the back of his head. he was not dead, but he had lost consciousness.

  Everyone in the arena kept quiet. They were witnessing true life-and-death battles, and it was natural for one party to die, but when knocked unconscious the opponent was often left alive.

  Xue Wei, however, had not been treating his enemies in any good way. All of them had experienced a sinister and grim end. When Xue Wei looked at the unconscious deserter, there were no feelings of remorse, no feelings of guilt, and no feelings of pity in his expressions.

  All the people in the audience watched with bated breath as they waited for Xue Wei to decide what he was going to do with this unconscious person in front of him.

  Chapter 31 - Crimson Devil

  Xue Wei looked at the unconscious deserter in front of him, and then he picked up the the sword that the latter had dropped on the floor and slowly walked towards him.

  Everyone held their breaths. All eyes were on Xue Wei as he grinned and lifted the sword above his head before slashing it down, separating the head from the body of the deserter.

  The head rolled on the ground. The eyes were closed and blood sprayed from the headless neck. Xue Wei looked on with a smile on his lips that caused the hearts of the present people to constrict.

  Some of the blood even splashed on Xue Wei's red clothes, but it was hard to see it as his clothes were already red.

  Having finished the battle, Xue Wei looked at the many observers with a cold look. His eyes were as sharp as swords, and his gaze was like an overwhelming attack on the soul of the person he looked at.

  The ones his gaze landed on felt as if their bodies had frozen rock solid. At the same time, they also felt as if their souls were trembling and ready to ascend to the heavens, leaving their bodies for eternity.

  They all were filled with the thought of standing in front of a demon that had spawned from hell. This was not human behavior. The bloodthirst and obvious enjoyment from killing was so demonic that they feared Xue Wei more than ever before. Even the third layered experts were worried.

  So far, Xue Wei had easily dispatched all his opponents. Would he be able to continue? When they were at his cultivation rank, they were incapable of doing what he did now.

  "He is the crimson devil of the Heping Kingdom," someone suddenly muttered and the others nodded their heads. "He fights so cold-heartedly that you'd think him inhuman," another agreed.

  "Do you think he chooses to wear red clothes so that you cannot see the blood that splashes back on him?" someone asked, and many looked thoughtful upon hearing this suggestion.

  "He is going to be either our biggest hero or the worst calamity for our kingdom," another voice said.

  On the balcony, the commander shook his head. "Everyone knows what this man has gone through."

  "His family got massacred by a Primordial Beast, and he saw his entire village getting murdered right in front of him."

  "Episodes like these changes a person. The endless battling that we go through in the army changes a man whether he likes it or not. No one knows if these experiences awoke something that has been sleeping deep inside of him."

  "This young man has a devil in his heart, but at the same time, all warriors do to a greater or a lesser extent."

  "No one is truly good or evil, that includes Xue Wei and me."

  "What happens is that we arrived on the battlefield with a strong mind, mentally sane and prepared to do battle. We then fight with a ferocity that can drive a man mad, slaughtering beast after beast and criminal after criminal."

  "It is at this point we start wondering. Who is the real us? Is it the desperate one on the battlefield fighting with all that they’ve got, drenched in the blood of our enemies, or is it the calm and collected person who stays at home in the time of peace?"

  The commander was quiet, but everyone on the balcony had heard him, and all of them shuddered.

  Were they likely to become like Xue Wei? A cold-blooded killing machine that found pleasure in seeing the warm blood trickle down the enemy?

  Xue Wei snorted when he saw the scared expressions on everyone's faces and sat down to meditate. This time, he had used quite some energy, but he had five Seeds of Mirage that were surrounding him. Although he was incapable of restoring the energy spent to summon them immediately, they still protected him.

  Xue Wei took a deep breath. He had not regained any of the energy he had used, and he was about to face a third layer Earth Warrior.

  He felt his blood run cold. His killing intent soared, and his will to do battle could no longer be controlled.

  His dark eyes were like the sea in the dead of night, filled with murderous intent, and it was as if this intent was permeating through the five Seeds of Mirage, causing them to be just as dangerous to look at as Xue Wei was.

  A figure appeared on the stage. It was a third layer Earth Warrior, and from his appearance, Xue Wei could guess that he was a criminal.

  He carried himself with a haughtiness that a deserter would never have.

  Deserters lived on the edge. They were hunted down by the army and beasts alike, having nowhere to seek refuge. Only those that left the country had a chance at survival, but with the strength one could gain in the Kingdom of Heping, it was not easy to survive in the rest of the continent.

  "One against six?!" the criminal called out, filled with unhappiness. "I thought you army folks were eager for a fair battle, and now you want me to fight against six kids?!"

  He glared at Xue Wei and the Seeds of Mirage, when he frowned all of a sudden. "Wait, they are all the same kid. And they are a one layer Earth Warrior. Don't tell me you threw them here for me to kill them as I please?" the criminal laughed out loud.
/>   "Sure, I will grant you your wish. I will kill him like I killed the last kid that challenged me!"

  The commander’s face was ugly. He knew this criminal. He had already killed four geniuses of the genius camp – why on earth had he been summoned?

  It was the man who brought prisoners from the dungeons up unto the platform that decided the matchups, and to have picked this criminal meant that the person in charge of picking experts was against Xue Wei. He might even be trying to directly make things difficult for him, maybe even killing him.

  The commander frowned, but when he looked at Xue Wei, he did nothing more. The young man was blazing with intent to fight. His five clones were eager to engage in battle. When one looked at them, it was like looking at a group of wolves that had starved for days and finally found a sizeable prey.

  Grins were all around the faces of the young man and his copies. All of a sudden, all of them vanished from where they were, as all of them had simultaneously activated the Forbidden Rush Movement Technique.

  As they all vanished, the criminal finally started to seem as if something was wrong. He had a hard time locating the many fleeting shadows, and when he noticed one of them he did not know whether or not this was a copy or a real person, making his heart jolt with fear.

  He had just spoken such brazen words, claiming that he would kill the kid, but right now he was not even capable of touching him.

  "Kid, I don't believe your strength is as great as your speed! Let me stand in instead of your parent and teach you some proper manners, to not ask for more than you can handle!" The criminal refused to give up just like that, but then he felt an overwhelming killing intent that previously had been scattered suddenly intensify, and the person that had been running around suddenly stood still right in front of the criminal with his five copies right behind him.

  "What did you just say?" Xue Wei sneered, his first words since he had entered the arena. His eyes were filled with a dense hatred that had not been there before, and the smile on his face had vanished and was replaced by a sneer.

  Xue Wei did not have parents, and the only one he considered his parent was Xiao Lei.

  Hearing this criminal say that he would stand in his parent's place was the same as saying that Xiao Lei had not done a good job as a guardian, and this was something that caused great animosity within Xue Wei. No one was allowed to question Xiao Lei. No one was allowed to criticise him.

  The criminal stuttered and tried to say something, but he felt that he had just descended into hell, that hell’s watchdog was standing right in front of him, ready to gobble him up at any moment. The killing intent was dense, and it kept climbing.

  Xue Wei took a step forward. With each movement, his momentum was growing stronger and stronger. His rage was also clear to see on his face, and his hand was trembling.

  With a flicker of his hand, a sword appeared within it, but just as he reached the criminal, the criminal finally seemed to have regained his senses. With a horrified expression on his face, he panted loudly and widened his eyes in fear.

  "What are you?!" he exclaimed as he was pressed against the formation wall. "I thought we had a chance to fight back; this is straight out slaughtering! I demand justice from the army; this is not acceptable!"

  While he was roaring on top of his lungs, Xue Wei and his copies took one step closer after another. Every dragon had a reverse scale, and Xue Wei had one too. His reverse scale was the ones he held dear, and Xiao Lei was exactly one of these people.

  Xue Wei had already sentenced this person to death. He did not care about the fact that the criminal was a third layer Earth Warrior while he himself was only a one layer, all that mattered to him was to slaughter this person.

  Xue Wei's eyes were like slumbering embers, not fully lit aflame, but filled with hatred and anger, ready to explode at any moment.

  Seeing this, the criminal was wondering what he had said that could have caused this person to transform into the devil himself like this.

  Not rushing, Xue Wei took one step after another towards the criminal. He lifted the sword in his hand and slashed out. The criminal scrambled to the side, and his legs were trembling, but then he gritted his teeth.

  "I am not going to be able to avoid all his attacks," the criminal said under his breath, "but he is two layers beneath me in strength. He might be able to hit me, but if I use my Qi to protect myself, his attacks should not be able to wound me. No matter how intimidating he is and how dangerous he might seem, he is still only a one layer Earth Warrior!"

  The criminal was continuing to tell himself that things would be much better, that he was safe if he just defended himself using his Qi and that Xue Wei was weaker than him by a few layers and thus would not be able to break through his defense.

  The protective layer of Qi managed to fully cover the criminal's body just as the sword came into contact with it.

  Xue Wei had not held back; he had used his entire strength, and the sharpness of the sword was so frightening that some of the girls in the audience closed their eyes as their faces paled.

  The criminal felt a sudden feeling of pain and agony in the arm that he had reached out with to block the sword. However, when he looked at his palm, he saw a deep cut in his hand, a cut so deep that the bone was visible.

  This hand had been protected by both his Qi and the bodily strength he had from being two layers above Xue Wei, yet he still experienced some serious pain and injury.

  "How?!" The criminal was livid with anger and filled with disbelief. "How can you wound me?! I am two layers above you! I am using my Qi! You cannot defeat me! I am stronger than you!" The criminal was going mental. He had defeated a few geniuses of his own rank previously, but now he was being defeated at the hands of a weaker expert. Was this even possible?

  "Take back what you said," Xue Wei said, his voice dangerously low. "Don't ever say that you are my parent again." His expression then turned to one of insanity as he laughed out loud. "Oh well! What does it matter? dead men tell no tales!"

  Chapter 32 - Fighting Ends

  The madness on Xue Wei's face made the entire crowd fear him. At this point, even the captains felt that they were looking at an insane madman.

  Xue Wei on the other hand completely ignored the many looks and advanced towards the man with sinister laughter. His killing intent had reached a plateau, and his anger could no longer fuel his rage and potential anymore.

  His fighting ability was at its peak. But together with this sudden strength came a wanton consumption of Qi.

  Xue Wei had let reasoning fly out his mind. Instead, consumed by the desire to kill this expert in the most painful way possible, he no longer thought rationally and forfeited any considerations for later battles.

  Everyone could see that when the criminal had mentioned his parents, the young man had gone insane, and his murderous thoughts had soared to the heavens.

  All of them knew of Xue Wei and the fact that he had no parents, and thus they were not too surprised about his reaction, but they now all kept in mind to never insult the Crimson Devil's parents or even mention them in front of him.

  Their eyes were glued to Xue Wei as he fought against the criminal, and when they saw how the wind picked up, affected by the chaotic Qi, and how his hair whipped about in the wind, they all felt as if they witnessed the emergence of a different person.

  All of them had seen Xue Wei before. He had been calm and casual. He had never before done anything that could warrant such behavior. Amongst the audience, quite a few were feeling worried about what could have happened if they had acted on their impulse to make things difficult for Xue Wei.

  In the arena, Xue Wei was fighting against the criminal. He had used the overwhelming killing intent to make the criminal panic and render him incapable of fighting back, which gave him the advantage. However, the longer it took, the more used to the situation the criminal became, so his will to survive caused him to fight back.

  When he began retaliating,
it was simple attacks at first. But soon, their fight became more and more intense as the killing intent had less and less of an effect on him.

  Xue Wei used the Forbidden Rush and the sword created from the Inner Might techniques to their limits. His five copies were flying in the air in an attempt to confuse the criminal.

  It was clear that they did not have sufficient strength to injure the criminal, so trying to do that would be futile and a waste of energy.

  Since that was the case, Xue Wei had decided to use the group of copies as a way to confuse the criminal instead. Although the criminal had regained his composure and the ability to fight back, he was not able to see the difference between Xue Wei and the copies when they were moving fast while using the Forbidden Rush movement technique.