Chapter 44: Zhu Fu

A/N: Hey everyone. So I'm a day late for what I planned but I managed to get it out this week at least. As for next week, I think I'm mainly aiming for two chapters. I'm hoping to do three instead, but I think with my current schedule I can only guarantee two since there some disruptive life stuff coming next week(nothing major but just a minor annoyance).

Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 44:

I didn’t try to meet Zhu Fu’s bear construct head-on. Instead, I juked to the side, trying to bypass it and put him back on the defensive. Surely such a massive earth construct couldn’t be nimble, right? And maybe if I took enough of his attention, it would disrupt his technique. Or at minimum, I could maneuver him between me and it.

At least, that was the plan. Unfortunately, I underestimated the Immortal Earthen Guardian. 

The beast moved with far more grace and ease than a massive amount of earth shaped like a bear should be able to. It turned to follow me, cracking the ground as it lunged. I cursed and leapt back, just barely dodging a swipe of its claw.

I tried again to go around it, kicking hard off the ground and burst stepping. I managed to put some space between us. But it was only then that I realized I’d let Zhu Fu get out of my sight. The bear had blocked my view.

Cursing, I swept my gaze around, burst stepping again to put more distance between me and the bear as it charged. Just where had he—

I felt movement in my Earth Sense and leapt to the side. Pain ripped up my arm as something hard clipped me. I cursed, but kept my grip on my sword and turned to see another sweeping blow headed towards me. Zhu Fu had snuck up on me, and was now far too close for comfort.

Gripping my sword with both hands, I parried another sweeping blow and winced at the shockwave I felt through my sword. Then another came rushing towards me, and I couldn’t bring my sword up in time.

Armored Shell!

The semi-transparent dome of my defensive Skill appeared around me, blocking the blow and sending it skidding away against the scales. Taking the opportunity, I turned it off the moment I could and burst stepped away. But I barely had a second to breathe before his damned bear was charging me down again.

It roared and snarled as it clawed and bit at me. I ducked and dodged, avoiding its furious onslaught while doing my best to keep both it and Zhu Fu in sight. The bear was easier to deal with than Zhu Fu, but the constant threat of Zhu Fu joining in hung over my head. 

The moment that happened, I was going to be in for a world of hurt. But for the moment, he seemed to be holding back. Probably seeing if the bear can take me out on its own. Or maybe he didn’t have the concentration to animate the bear and fight me at the same time. At least not for long.

Somehow, I doubted that last part, though. From my stats and hearing more about how normal cultivation worked, I was pretty sure Zhu Fu's Mind stat was really high—at least compared to me. Unless the technique was super inefficient—which they were compared to my system Skills since I barely needed to control them—it was more likely he was just holding back.

Probably because he wanted a good fight and didn’t want to end things too early, given his personality so far. Hopefully, I could take advantage of that.

The bear lunged and tried another bite. I dodged and slashed out with my sword, channeling Metallic Razer Slash again. Both to see what I could do against it, but also to hide me spreading foxfire onto it as well. I needed to start going on the offensive if I wanted to finish this any time soon.

My blade bit into its rock-like body, leaving a deeper gouge than I thought it would. But the beast barely reacted, retaliating by trying to bite my blade and rushing me. Still, my foxfire surged from my blade, latching two balls at once. At least with this technique construct, I wouldn’t have to be as discreet.

I held back from draining the construct just yet. When I got enough foxfire onto it, I might be able to disrupt the technique. But since it was a technique, and Zhu Fu was connected to it and in control of it, I doubted I would be able to do this more than once. If he became aware of what I was doing, he’d be able to resist, making it a whole lot harder the second time. 

It might also put him on alert for me trying that with him. And if that happened, then my best chance of beating him would be untenable.

The bear lurched towards me, moving with a sudden burst of speed and breaking the tempo we’d fallen into. It charged with both paws forward, aiming to slam them down on me. It forced me to Burst Step to get away.

The beast slammed down where I’d just been, sending out an explosion of earth and cratering the ground in a hole larger than it.

I eyed the result warily, keeping Zhu Fu in sight in the corner of my eye. That bear was even stronger than I thought. Far more than just an animate mass of earth. But that was still fine. Once I got enough foxfire on it, I would just need to get some more on Zhu Fu, and how strong it was wouldn’t matter anymore.

I just had to figure out how to do that…

I charged as the bear pulled its paws out of the ground, trying not to dwell on just how I’d manage to re-engage Zhu Fu. For now, I needed to focus on applying foxfire to the bear.

Once again, I slashed at the bear, dodging its retaliatory strike. Three more slashes of my blade, cutting into its snout, claws, and shoulder, left another 7 balls of foxfire on the beast. That should be enough to—

Shit!

The bear slammed its paws against the ground, causing a massive quake to rumble out. I lost my footing, and it charged at me, mouth open in a snarl. Too off balance to Burst Step, I did the only thing I could since I didn’t think Armored Shell would hold against its full strength. I activated Earth Construct and put all the Qi in my excess pool into it.

A big spear of rock, half the size of the bear, rushed out from the ground and stabbed at its side. Rock broke and shattered, sending the bear off course and saving me from its jaws. Rolling on the ground, I force myself to my feet, whirling in search of any oncoming threats.

There weren’t any for the moment. 

The bear was pulling itself up from the ground while Zhu Fu was still standing where he’d been before.

“Once again, you impress me with the speed of your creations,” Zhu Fu called out, still grinning. God, that was starting to piss me off, given my own state. “But your constructs are without life and true strength. They lack profoundness. You should take this opportunity to take in one of my family’s greatest techniques. You might learn something and elevate your own use of earth.”

I frowned at his words, still keeping him in the corner of my eye while I refocused on the bear. It shook off the excess rubble from its body, showing that it had only taken a very minor wound from my spear. A wound that was already healing up as earth rose up its legs and integrated into its mass. My spear, on the other hand, was mostly shattered rubble, despite me putting quite a bit of Qi into it.

“Do you see the difference?” Zhu Fu asked, his bear reorienting on me but not charging.

“Yes,” I said, taking the moment to catch my breath. If he wanted to brag, then I’d let him. “Not sure what I can learn, though. It’s not like I can copy your technique by looking at it.”

Zhu Fu shook his head. “Of course not. But just think for a second. Why does my technique take such a majestic and powerful form? Why is there so much detail in its fur? Why is my armor both majestic and practical?”

“You’re telling me making things look nicer makes the technique better?” I asked, still mainly focused on the bear. I was a bit sceptical, but I wasn’t going to dismiss his claim. His family would know more about this stuff. And I didn’t think he was the type of person to lie.

“It’s part of why my techniques are better. Or perhaps, it's a result of a better technique,“ Zhu Fu said, his tone thoughtful as if repeating something he’d heard before. “There are many ways to look at it and interpret. But I can’t explain too much. Some things are clan secrets after all, and some things you must come to your own conclusion on.”

“Then why even tell me?” I asked, feeling ready to get back into the fight. But I refrained from doing anything rash as I was curious. And I couldn’t help but think about his words while looking over the bear. It really was incredibly lifelike. And his armor and staff were quite detailed, looking like the real things but made out of stone. I hadn’t noticed before.

“Because you have talent,” Zhu Fu said. “And it would be a shame for you to waste it using inferior techniques. At the very least, if you perhaps learn something from my words, you’ll put up a better fight.”

“Well, I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, crouching and preparing to move. At the same time, I started to form an image in my mind to test what he was saying. Not that I would let him know I was going to, of course. “But I’m not really one to test things in the midst of battle.”

“A shame,” Zhu Fu said, and his bear tensed. “Perhaps in our next encounter, then. Because unless you can improve your constructs, or are still holding back, I do believe that I will be victorious here.”

“Maybe,” I said, jerking forward like I was going to charge.

Zhu Fu’s bear fell for the bait and rushed towards me as I juked to the side. At that moment, I activated Earth Construct while focusing on the image I wanted and using another chunk of Qi. Instead of the usually vague shape, I had a very concrete but simple image in mind. Given my Mind stat, I was probably a lot worse at this than the average cultivator. But it was worth a try.

Jaws rose out of the ground just as the bear reached where I was. They snapped shut around its left arm, actually managing to pierce into rock-like flesh deeper than my sword had. It still wasn’t amazing, but it was an improvement, and it locked the bear in place for a moment without needing as much Qi as I would have before.

I grinned at the sight of my bear trap working before burst stepping over to Zhu Fu.

I slashed out with my sword, channeling more foxfire into my blade. Zhu Fu, of course, parried my blow, but it was fine. Just needed to do what I’d done before. Hopefully, before his bear rushes over here.

“Hah!” Zhu Fu laughed, parrying another blow from me. “That was a good first try! But you’re going to have to do a lot better to overcome my Immortal Earthen Guardian!”

I slashed two more times before being forced to disengage by the bear who’d broken out of my trap. Most of my new foxfire was just on Zhu Fu’s staff, but I realized that could be to my advantage. Just like the bear, it was just a technique, and thus disrupting it could let me win this.

Before I could act on that thought, however, the bear lunged at me.

Trying a repeat of what I’d done before, I formed another image in my mind and activated Earth Construct. This time, a spear formed. But unlike before, it was an actual spear. It was the kind an actual soldier would use instead of a spike of rock, but oversized.

The bear rushed right into it and… shattered it to pieces.

Damn, I cursed internally, burst stepping away as I let it get too close. Looks like I need too much focus to actually do it right. I’d need to practice with it more before I could really use it in combat. Or somehow raise my Mind stat. I hadn’t thought it was a major issue until now, given how little focus my Skills took.

“It’s harder than it seems, isn’t it?” Zhu Fu called out with a laugh, moving to support his bear this time. 

He rushed in from my right, using his movement technique, which seemed to involve the ground propelling his steps. Swinging his staff, he aimed at my token with a devastating blow. I barely managed to redirect it, pushing more foxfire haphazardly into his staff at the same time, tapping even more into my main reserves. Then I was forced to Burst Step again to avoid getting pincered by the two.

This happened two more times, Zhu Fu rushing to pin me down and give his bear the time it needed to reach me. Each time, it got harder to redirect his blows as he showed he was much better with his staff than I was with a sword. But each time, I still managed to touch his staff and add on more foxfire as well as move more from his staff to his body.

On the third time I burst stepped away, I decided to end things. He was getting too good at cornering me and might end up disarming me if it kept going. I was also dipping too much into my main Qi reserves. So I had to surprise him and end things now.

He appeared in front of me this time as his bear rushed behind him and to the side. Lashing out with his staff, he aimed for my left side. His staff came crashing at me with his usual rushing speed.

This time, I met it with my sword. But right before our weapons met, I focused on all my foxfire balls and mentally pulled on them. No longer holding back, I drained the maximum I could with all of them, pulling Qi from him, his staff, and his bear. It filled me with a rush of energy.

I could see the moment Zhu Fu felt what I was doing. His eyes widened in surprise, and his stance faltered. It let me far more easily redirect his staff, which was still holding together for the moment. His bear technique wasn’t broken either, but its movement seemed to stutter as it rushed at me.

Good enough for now.

Not wanting to give him the time to think and counter what I was doing, I shifted to put him between me and his bear. Then I slashed, again and again with my sword.

He parried my first strike, if a bit clumsily. My second strike, however, sheared off a chunk of his staff. The third shattered the rest entirely, forcing him to step away. 

The bear tried to move around him and get at me, but it started to break up too. One of its legs crumbled beneath its weight.

Perfect.

I rushed after him, not willing to give up my chance to end things. I could already feel my drain on his Qi stop completely, while he fought and slowed down the drain on his bear. But in that short amount of time, I already got a pretty large chunk of Qi, letting me not have to hold back.

I used Earth Construct again, once again trying to form a proper image. Dozens of sword blades shot out of the ground. They were still misshapen, but held edges and seemed stronger than what I could do before.

Zhu Fu met them with another staff he formed, shattering six of them. But they came too quickly for him to get them all and slowed down the movements of his swing. The rest stabbed out from all around him, keeping him hemmed in enough that he couldn’t properly move.

He responded by trying to do something familiar. He moved his arms to his waist, shattering the rock against his armor and skin that turned a dark shade of grey. Just like what Zhu Ling did before. But more earth blades rushed out of the ground, slowing him enough for me to swing my sword.

He froze when I hit my mark.

Behind me, I could hear what I was pretty sure was his bear crumbling into pieces as the last of the Qi was drained from it. After that, there was just silence for a moment. Well, silence from the two of us and the sound of the two Zhu clan members fighting Pan Song, cursing up a storm. 

I would have looked over to see what was happening there, but I needed my full attention on this until the fight was actually over.

“So, do you give up?” I asked, holding my sword right up against his token. “Or do I have to break this token and kick you from the trial?”

Zhu Fu looked at me for what felt like a long moment. Then he laughed, his body untensing, and the dark iron color that had covered his skin receded. “You were holding back, it seems. Yes, this is your win. I was a bit too careless there.”

I relaxed and pulled my sword away. 

Against another opponent in this competition, I wouldn’t have bothered with this. Mainly because I wouldn’t have trusted their word to end things. But Zhu Fu didn’t seem the type to go back on his word. And while I could have taken him out, if I’d done that, we’d likely have to deal with the rest of his clan members as well.

Also, it might have soured things with the guy, and I did not want to make him my enemy. Even holding back, this had been far too close for my liking. And I’d only really won because of the tokens. I doubted in that moment of vulnerability my draining caused, that I would have been able to deal much damage to him personally, given his armor skill, and that other defensive technique he used.

And that wasn’t taking into account that now he knew what I could do, that it would be far less effective next time around.

“That was an enjoyable fight,” Zhu Fu said, his Qi surging just a bit as he broke his way out of my remaining blade constructs. Despite being a bit harder and stronger than normal, they still broke rather easily under his strength. He turned towards me with a grin. “We should do so again sometime. Once you reach Mid Qi-Gathering, perhaps, and have worked on the more intricate aspects of earth techniques. Then we can have a true spar with no holding back.”

“Yeah…” I said, nodding at that. Part of me was wary of the idea of fighting the battle-happy guy. But the other part of me couldn’t help but want to test myself against him again. See just what else I could learn from him.

But that was a later thing. For now, we had more important things to do.

I looked to the side of the open area we’d been fighting in, where Pan Song and the other two Zhu Clan members were. At the moment, it seemed they were in a bit of a stalemate. Pan Song was protected in his defensive array but stuck inside it. The Zhu clan members couldn’t break through it with their range attacks, but also couldn’t get close enough to attack it directly. They were held off by the person-sized hand that crackled and sizzled with fire and lightning that attacked them if they got too close.

From their burned and soot-stained robes, the angry expressions on their faces, and one of them missing a sandal, it was clear they were very unhappy about that fact. That and their angry words.

“Get out of there, you coward, and fight like a man!” One of the Zhu clan members shouted. 

“I suppose we should just call that one a draw,” Zhu Fu said, walking beside me as if we hadn’t just been fighting. 

But since it seemed things were finally over, I decided to play along. “Yeah. But that means we win, right? Given I beat you and Zhu Ling as well.“

“Of course,” Zhu Fu said, pausing to shout for his clan members to stand down.

“Then I guess this is where we go our separate ways,” I said, gesturing at the temple we’d come here to reach. “There’s something we want to try with that building over there and would like some privacy.”

“I suppose that makes sense. You do have an array master with you,” Zhu Fu said, turning to look at the building. “Well, that’s fine with me. We’ve delayed enough for now, and there are more people I want to battle. I will see you at another time then.”

“See you later,” I said, nodding to Zhu Fu before he walked off to join the rest of his people.

Eventually, they left, a few of the other members giving us sullen looks, but Zhu Fu waved cheerily. Then it was just Pan Song and I, as well as the temple. It was finally time to see if he could really get inside that thing.

And after that, we would need to decide what to do.