Mana 4 Chapter 31 (Patreon)

“Why do you protect them? They have betrayal in their blood.”

I ignored the patriarch's nonsense. “I’d like to know your name before we fight.”

“Gei Ying. Are you the man that killed my son?” He narrowed his eyes as he jumped off the house and landed ramrod straight fifty paces before me.

“Your son had me ambushed in the mountains. He had me weakened. A sword ran through my gut, another through my leg. He wasn’t willing to fight me at my full strength, yet even after trying to work it in his favor, he was still too weak to kill me.”

Gei Ying snorted. “You think I’m unaware of what happened on the mountain?” He lashed out in frustration, shattering a nearby tree.

“If you did, then why wouldn’t you come after me in the pavilion?” I poked a hole in his bluster. “Were you too afraid of me?”

“You are nothing but an ant. Beg for forgiveness for daring to lay a hand on my son and I’ll leave your corpse intact. The Orchid no longer protects you.”

“So you are afraid of her.” I taunted back. I wasn’t sure how much he’d really known, but I had a feeling there was a mix of truth and bluff in his statements. I had no doubt that if he’d really known for a fact, I’d killed his son, there was no way the threat of Lanhua would have kept him from reclaiming his family’s honor.

Even now, I could see the burning hate in his eyes as he stared back at me.

“Enough. Time to show the city why you don’t mess with an ancient family. I hear you are staying with that whore of the Su family. I want you to know your stupidity will get her killed as well. The Su family name can only protect her so much, and I have nothing left to lose.”

As he finished his statement, a massive surge of mana twisted out from the balding patriarch.

I had to cover my face as bushes and trees were ripped from the ground and sent sailing, almost as if we were in the middle of a tornado.

Wave upon wave of powerful mana blasted out from Gei Ying as he threw palm strikes at me. Each and every one of them was like a mountain coming crashing down.

Dodging out of the way only did so much. Enormous craters filled the Ying family estate, although the patriarch didn’t seem so concerned. The shockwaves hammered into me as I weathered the indirect blasts of each attack.

His cultivation was shocking. Both of us might have been fifth rank, but we were leagues apart in terms of strength. He must have been close to sixth rank.

Guo Ying’s fighting style made more sense now. He’d watched how his father fought, only needing to use raw power, not actual skill or strategy. Unfortunately, Guo Ying wasn’t powerful enough for that strategy to work.

As I avoided direct hits, I worked to strategize. I’d need to be more tactical to win this fight.

The patriarch continued his barrage. The hits were intense. In the mortal world, all he would have to do is arrive at a sect and put out this kind of power to take down an entire sect.

Like Guo Ying though, he didn’t seem to have any technique.

Between attacks, I used void mana to slip up to his side, aiming to attack. As I popped up next to him, I swung my sword.

Rather than block or dodge or really use any skill, he simply put out enough mana to fling me backwards.

“I see. You think you stand a chance. You don’t yet understand how weak you are, how insignificant.” Gei Ying gathered a massive attack, holding his arms up before throwing a blast of mana down at the ground.

Crossing my arms over my face, the blast made me fly backwards, hitting the wall around the Ying Estate.

I groaned. The sheer power behind each one of this old man’s attacks was amazing, and he didn’t seem to be ready to let up anytime soon.

More waves of mana hammered me through the wall, sending it crashing down and blasting me further out into the neighboring houses.

I picked myself up out of the wreckage as Gei Ying strolled towards me with contempt on his face and his arms behind his back. “This is a pretty neat trick, but you can’t keep this up.” Wiping at my mouth, I pushed aside a broken slab of stone and got back to my feet.

Drawing on my own power, I created a bolt of lightning and threw it at Gei Ying.

Gei Ying used the same tactic as before, sending out a wave of mana to neutralize it. Although this time, it wasn’t completely effective. The bolt of lightning pierced the center of the wave and hit Gei Ying. Unfortunately, it did little more than singe his robes; the power was robbed from it while it penetrated the wave of mana.

My mind swirled with my options. The fight was harder than I had expected; there was apparently still much for me to learn about this world’s cultivation. I hated to admit it, but I was outmatched in power. My only chance was in skill, or possibly numbers.

Gathering mana, I threw out a Kunpeng’s Claw at Gei Ying. He, of course, continued to throw palm strike after palm strike.

So, I matched him, throwing out Kunpeng Claws one after the other. The different attacks crashed together, creating a massive windstorm as the spells collided and boomed like a set of drums.

Each of the hits pushed me further back; my attacks weren’t quite as strong. But I’d been expecting that.

While continuing the attacks, I pulled out the sphere that the auctioneer had tried to use in the auction house. Wenxi had said it was even dangerous to a 5th rank immortal.

Blasting out several more Kunpeng Claws in rapid succession, I managed to push him back just a smidge, seeing my opportunity.

Twisting the sphere like I’d seen the auctioneer do before, I threw it out with my next Kunpeng’s claw.

The device rode along with my own spell, and I threw several more spells to protect it.

Either Gei Ying didn’t see it, or he didn’t care, because mana surged into the device for several seconds as it traveled. When Gei Ying went to block it with another powerful strike, it detonated.

I hadn’t been quite sure what to expect from it.

A maelstrom of mana exploded out from it, devouring the earth and sky and throwing me backwards.

The very air seemed to melt as it expanded so rapidly that the explosion leveled what remained of the Ying Family estate.

Even as far away as I stood, my ribs ached, and my head spun from the blast.

I couldn’t imagine what the patriarch looked like. I worked to get myself into a battle stance as the dust cleared, anticipating his next attack if he’d made it through the blast.

Sure enough, another attack flew towards me. Jumping into the sky, I let the spell pass harmlessly beneath me as I got a good look at the patriarch.

His front was smeared with blood as he stood emotionlessly, staring at me. One of his arms dribbled blood down on the ground, and I could see that his hand had taken the worst of the blast; he’d likely been extending it forward to stop the spell.

“You thought something like that would stop me?” He sneered. “Relying on a toy to fight is for the weak.”

“Fighting a single tactic is tedious. Don’t you have at least something different to do?” I taunted back as I crested the top of my jump and landed fifty feet from my opponent.

“There’s no need. Absolute power is just that, absolute. I don’t need any skill or technique. I have a boot big enough to step on you.” Gei Ying drew more mana into himself and ready himself for a new attack.

I observed him. Wanting to throw him a bit, I replied, “That’s exactly the same attitude that Guo Ying had before I killed him.”

The patriarch’s forehead erupted. Veins like angry earthworms writhed just under his skin, and he screamed in rage, throwing more needlessly powerful attacks at me.

My mana beasts beat in my chest, but I wasn’t ready for them just yet. There were still a few more moves I had to try. I leapt around as he attacked, making him thoroughly destroy what little remained of his home.

On his next attack, I wrapped my body in sharp metal mana and put a thin layer of void atop that before I met the blast head on with the first stroke of my sword form.

Boom.

I cut through the powerful wave of mana and sent it crashing down around me. Remaining unmoved by that wave gave me hope. I had a way to combat his attacks. I stepped forward again with the next stroke of my sword form.

Slicing through the wave, it broke around me. I smiled, once again gaining a bit of confidence. My body still took a hit, but it was manageable.

Sword stroke by sword stroke, I stepped through the onslaught of attacks until I was in front of Gei Ying. This time, he looked panicked, throwing several more attacks at me in rapid succession.

I parted each wave with a slash, causing the attack to flow around me as I stepped through. In a few steps, I moved up to Gei Ying, striking a successful blow across his chest.

I was weakened from having to endure and combat all the waves, but excitement passed through me as I landed my first hit.

Gei Ying’s eyes blazed with rage, as if me scoring the hit with my sword was an affront to his legacy.

Not bothering with his feelings, I lashed out again, only to abort my attack and jump back as the ground exploded.

Gei Ying’s bloodline blazed to life on his forehead and collected as a bright character. His power had been overwhelming before, but now it was a whole new level. The amount of mana radiating off of him made me squint and brace against the ground.

I wasn’t stupid. There was no way I’d be able to combat this without my bloodline.

“I’ll give you some credit. You fight well, but ancient families have maintained power for a reason.” Gei Ying yelled. He projected his voice, ensuring that the entire town heard him. He clearly aimed to use me to reestablish his dominance, much like his son had attempted to do.

It made it even more enjoyable when I activated the gold dragon bloodline and watched his face.

“What?” He shouted, his eyes going wide. I could hear the crowd murmuring as my own character formed on my forehead.

My body filled with tyrannical power that thrummed in the air, shattering the pressure of the Ying family bloodline and going a step further. It felt like the power from the gold dragon bloodline stomped down upon the world, declaring its dominance over the Ying family.

Mana in the air rumbled and rushed toward me in a roar as it flooded back out, putting pressure back on Gei Ying.

His eyes were wide open and his pupils shook as he stared at me. “Which family are you from? We’ve paid all our debts. There is no grudge between us and another family. I moved all the way out here to appease you and restart.”

I wasn’t sure what Gei Ying was so afraid of, but it seemed that the power of my bloodline meant something to him. Old grudges, perhaps.

“The Ying family is done.” I declared with a snort. “There’s nothing you can say to stop me. Not with your feeble bloodline.” That last bit felt right. I could feel that my bloodline was above his and not insignificantly so.

Apparently that statement touched a nerve, because Gei Ying went hysterical and started throwing palm strikes everywhere, like he was trying to blanket me with attacks of raw power.

The world seemed to explode as dirt and debris flew everywhere. It left me slashing left and right to deflect the attacks, while I used my bloodline to fortify my body.

The attacks became weaker, and I realized Gei Ying was moving away from me. As dust began to settle, he was just a dot on the horizon, fleeing.

I was so shocked I stood there for a moment stunned before I gave chase, jumping along rooftops as Gei Ying tried to escape the city. His footsteps were so harsh that he was collapsing rooftops as he went.

Wanting to move quicker, I decided to try a move I’d done once before. I summoned a pair of Kunpeng wings on my back and gave them a single flap. In that one move, I hurtled miles forward, floating in the air above Gei Ying.

It was almost like I had real wings, though I could feel them fading quickly.

When he looked back over his shoulder and couldn’t find me, he stopped at the wall and looked every which way. But he didn’t think to look up.

Knowing my wings wouldn’t hold out much longer, I tucked them in and dove. I imbued my hands with metal mana as I came crashing down on top of him.

We went down together, collapsing that area of the wall and starting an alarm.

Gei Ying hurtled attacks in my direction, indiscriminately smashing more of the wall and the surrounding houses. I cringed for the people who lived there. A fight among fifth rank cultivators was akin to a natural disaster. In the mortal world, I had a feeling it would have caused a spatial collapse.

But in the immortal world, where everything was tougher from years of absorbing immortal mana, it was just mass destruction.

Gei Ying kept himself away from me and my sword, jumping back and continuing to send the same waves towards me. His limited fighting style was starting to hamper his ability to fight back as I figured out how to outmaneuver them.

As the town continued to be pummeled around us, I did my best to try to minimize the damage. Planting myself between him and the town, I summoned up a large attack of void mana into my sword. Bringing it down in an overhead slice, I moved towards him.

Gei Ying fled the town, leaping well clear of the wall and out into the forest.

I smiled, glad that I’d been able to herd him away from further destroying the city.

I moved after him like a predator, glad that we’d also get space away from prying eyes.

“Good. I’m glad you’ve decided to leave town, Gei Ying.” I paused, swinging the sword over my shoulder, showing I meant no immediate attack and hoping he would pause in his retreat.

While I stood above him in skill and bloodline, his raw power was a hindrance. We could fight across the entire landscape of the mountains before I killed him. But I had another idea, and that required being able to surround him.

“Is that all you wanted? For me to leave town?” He looked confused. “Why didn’t you say so?” His attacks stopped. “I don’t want any more trouble with other families. Whatever grudges you think you have, they’ve been paid, I promise.”

I strolled forward. The only past grudges I had were from his family. “Did you forget what your son tried to do to me?”

He paused, confusion crossing his face as his brows furrowed. “How would someone of your status become a slave?”

Realizing I had no more time, I released my mana beasts.

Lumi appeared behind Gei Ying, cutting off his retreat as Mei and Aurora stood to his sides, and Quinn floated above. The five of us formed the corners of a pyramid.

“What’s happening?” He spun, looking at my mana beasts. “No.”

“Remember me?” Lumi growled.

“I’ve never seen you before in my life. But...you are a mana beast, made human? That’s not possible. Where are you from?”

“Sorry, Gei Ying.” I tsked. “I’m not interested in educating someone before their death.”

He spun back to me and started up another barrage of attacks, but like before, I started to cut through them one by one, stepping my way closer.

I moved methodically, but my girls weren’t so patient.

Quinn swooped down, transforming into a massive gold dragon and smashing Gei Ying to the ground.

Mei came next, in her hand a blade of void that severed his arm as he rolled away from Quinn.

“Stop. Stop. I’ll give you anything.” He landed on his butt and scooted away.

But I was there in a flash, my sword leveled at his neck. “Can you give the lives of those you killed back? Guo Ying killed two girls trying to get me. Can you return their lives?”

“What? No, of course not, but I could buy you a dozen of the most beautiful women you’ve ever seen. They would put the Orchid Pavilion to shame.”

I shook my head. “You’ve lived so long above others that even their lives have lost value to you. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure that you learn your lesson. Your life will have to be enough.” My sword flashed forward, but Lumi stepped in its path and I had to pull back.

“You promised me.” She looked into my eyes. I knew she would stay with me regardless, but this was important. In the heat of everything, I’d forgotten my promise to her. “Of course. His life is yours.”

“You killed me on that mountain.” She pointed several peaks over. “You remember smashing my cabin to draw me out?”

Realization lit up in Gei Ying’s eyes, and I could see the idea of escaping flicker through them. Stabbing him in the leg, I pinned him before he could make a move.

Lumi frowned at me, so I quickly explained. “Sorry, he was going to run.”

Lumi crouched down above him, her hand lighting up with electricity. “I’m going to make this hurt, but it won’t be long, because I also should thank you. Because of you, I found a master. A great master and partner. Goodbye.” She touched her hand to Gei Ying’s chest and his body convulsed heavily; his mouth foamed as he tried to sputter his last words.

Those words never came. He bit his own tongue as Lumi upped the power. Soon the smell of cooked flesh permeated the air, and he continued to twitch, though without the liveliness of the living.

“It’s done.” I told Lumi quietly, placing my hand on her shoulder gently. When she stopped, I bent down and took his spatial ring from him. “Is there any way to get access to what he might have stored in his world?”

But as I asked it, the surrounding space inverted, and out came a fortune in mana crystals.

“Oh, I guess that’s how it works.”

“Heaven reclaims what we take from it.” Lumi said, looking at the resources. “Now that he is dead, that space in his soul has been returned to the world.”

I took the mana crystals into my own spatial ring, not having near enough space in my soul for all of them, along with several treasures that had appeared.

I assumed those were his prized possessions.

“Okay, time to rest up and get ready for my wives to come through. I’ll have Wenxi claim the Ying Family estate… or what’s left of it.” I had been hoping to move into it and out of the Su family Manor, but the pile of rubble wouldn’t work very well for our purposes.

“Oh well, Master. We can still stay with Wenxi.” Aurora tried to make the best of it.

“Yeah! Now that the Ying Family is dead, we can play pranks on their spies!” Mei bounced up and down, already looking forward to her new home.

I looked at the other two mana beasts, who simply shrugged.

For now, Wenxi’s place made sense, although I’d like to get a place of our own. But part of me liked the idea of getting to build something new on the Ying Family’s old estate.