Chapter 64: THINK!

Xi Son turned to see a massive beetle that was about to prey on him, it was probably the Queen, and it had been the only one that wasn't lured by my pill, it waited for Xi Son to drop his guard to attack, but while it was attacking, it too had dropped its guard. Though I would have not been able to beat it in a frontal attack, this method was more than effective at spilling the Beetle Queen's blood.

The poison Qi seeped through the area and I pushed Xi Son aside so that he doesn't get affected by the poison. I turned then blew a poison breath behind us and shouted, "The gate, move!"

Xi Son dashed to the tree and walked inside it first, while I followed after him after blowing an even thicker poison breath clouding the exit and stopping any beetle from trying to follow after us.

Once I was inside the tree, I found myself back at the same cave we walked in from. I was suffering from Qi deficiency. That I didn't account for, for when I trained in that room, I could use my spells and skills as much as I wanted due to the abundance of Qi. But here, just after using the -Tiger Stinger, yes I decided on the name of the fused skill-, the poison escape. And a couple of poison breaths, I was already down to a tenth of my Qi reserves, quite dangerous. I now remember why the Poison God's book heavily implied for one to fully comprehend the base of Poison Tiger Claw before learning Poison Escape, as the first will allow the user to tune his Qi expenditure and will have enough experience on how to manipulate his Qi thus enabling the user to know how to manage the Qi reserves. Qi micromanagement was the basis of most of the Poison God's skills, they all required huge amounts of Qi, but when one was proficient enough, they'll be able to use the spells without losing much of their reserves.

But, as I was now, exhausted and weakened, I seemed like a pretty damned good target to Xi Son who held a sword up to my neck.

"I won't kill you, but you'll have to hand over your holding pouch." His hands were already shaking and he tried his best to steady his grip.

I sighed as I rolled my eyes over then I punched him in the face, to hell with all the swords and magic spells this guy needs a beating.

The moment he was struck he fell to the ground, unable to understand what was going on, as I kept pummeling his face.

"You, Stupid, idiot!" I said as I punched him a few more times then I said as I pointed at my temples with both index fingers, "THINK YOU IDIOT THINK!"

"Do you think I managed to survive against twelve Soul Formation level puppets by luck? You think that just because I have a lower cultivation level than you, that you get to bully me?" I said then I grabbed his sorry self by the neck and made him face me.

His bloodied face was in a sorry state, he was an old-looking man but bloodied and sniffling like the stupid coward he is.

"If I ever wanted you dead along the whole run we had here, you'd be dead a hundred time over, I gave you chance after chance, opportunity after opportunity, and now that you think you're out of danger you'll get to bully me?! NO!" I shouted as I sent another punch right into his face, "I AM DANGER!" I called again then threw him off.

I took deep breaths as I waited for Xi Son to regain his bearings while I also needed the deep breaths to calm down, I can't afford to kill Xi Son, and at the same time, I have a problem with him escaping and telling on me. I'm in a pinch right now.

"Perhaps I should kill you right now and be done and over with this crap," I said as I pointed my sword at him.

Xi Son shuddered as he said, "No, wait, brother Shen Bao, it won't be smart to kill me; I apologize I have eyes but failed to see Mt, Thai!"

"No amount of apologies would save you from my hands," I said.

"It will only bring you trouble if I were to die, please brother Shen Bao, my father knows of my departure to this place, and he will turn heaven and earth to know how I come to pass. Please! Wait here," Xi Son made a pinching motion on his forehead and drew a small glistening white strand.

"This is my soul imprint, if I were to ever betray you or threaten your existence you only need to pinch it for me to die! Please, spare me!" Xi Son said.

I made a swiping motion and grabbed the strand then said, "At least you're sensible, but I still feel irked at the fact that you tried to kill me when I saved your sorry self." I said.

Xi Son understood immediately and handed over his own holding bag. I didn't even waste time trying to check the content as I stepped above the sword and flew up, "Don't show your face in front of me ever again, lest you want yourself dead. And out of my goodwill, after a hundred years, I'll release your soul strand, that is if you live long enough to reach it."

These were the last words I spoke to Xi Son who was bowing at my departure.

Damn, I could really get addicted to playing the tyrant, but some people are stupid beyond stupid. How come he didn't even think that I could be more dangerous than I give, I literally survived the planes where he faced against hundreds of beasts, managed to climb above him in the same pagoda he escaped from and was confident in luring and tricking away the same beetles that almost killed him, yet his arrogance still blinded him to the fact that I'm stronger than him, just because I was not in the same realm as he was. How frustrating to see people that lived so long have such a small quality of intelligence. I bet these cultivators grow in age and become senile instead of wise.

Thinking about what just happened only served to further irk and annoy me, so I shook the thoughts and continued flying toward the capital. I have a lot left to do, improve upon X, and get myself to the next realm, and the only way for me to do that is by alchemy.

I'm slightly proficient in Inscriptions, though I won't dare say I'm a match to the Poison God, and he himself said he wasn't great in this domain. But alchemy, should be my calling, the Poison God was a master of that craft, and with his guidance, I'll be able to craft some good pills that will help me reach higher cultivation realms.

Right, with my goals set, I'll be off to get work done. Time to start mass-producing poison.