Exciting news! A close friend of mine is making cover art for me, which is just downright awesome. It should be done within the next few days, so expect an extra chapter just cause I'm in a good mood.

Audun was ready to fight, but Avari still had reservations about him taking on an Earth realm expert on his own. She couldn’t do anything about it however, she was too busy fighting off the multiple attack of the surrounding cultivators. She wrote off her worry by reminding herself she still had that treasure, and it could stop any expert under the Saint level.

As Avari fought off her combatants, Audun launched his strike. He momentarily cut off his opponents battle sense, an ability he discovered he had back when he had done so to a demon wolf in the forest months ago. By blocking world qi from entering the body, the cultivator was essentially cut off from the world. It would only last a moment, it wasn’t strong enough to stop an expert who was actively trying to keep their connection, but the moment was deadly in battle.

He launched a knife hand directly at his opponents neck, but his opponent reacted like a snake, deflecting him hand and punching him full force. Audun flew back ten meters before he was able to regain his footing. His opponents was on him just as he stabilized, but he was luckily able to fall under his fist, and retaliate with a wind ki infused knife hand. This time he cut through his opponents abdomen, although only slightly. His opponent was gone in the next moment, smiling devilishly.

“You are pretty good for a true realm runt, you are definitely worth activating my elemental ki.” The wind began to swirl, and became visible in a tornado of dust all round the bandit. “Hear my name, and let it be the last thing you remember child. I am Varen, expert of the wind and vice lieutenant of Heaven’s bandits.” Even before all the words had traveled to Audun, Varen was before him, launching a tornado from his fist right at him.

Audun was only barely able to move out of the way because he could feel Varen’s movements with his sense. Since he was surrounded by so much ki, he was like a beacon to him.

“I have to end this soon.” Audun knew that even with his body being so strong, if the fight was prolonged, it would not be long before he fell to the bandit. “Bandit,” he bellowed, “you will hear my name, and let it be the last thing you ever hear. I am Audun Baste, risen from the grave.”

Varen’s eyes flickered with shock, but quickly narrowed to rage. “You refuse to recognize my name, you brat. I don’t care what treasures you think you have, the gap between us is uncrossable!” Once again, Varen was upon Audun, but this time, Audun did not move. The tornado was launched as before, but this time, Audun got it in his palm. The ki started swirling around his palm, forming almost a ring, that began sucking the ki from Varen’s body. He quickly realized what was going on, and jumped back.

Audun quickly pursued, using the raw power of his body to overtake his opponent, and launched the swirling ki at him him in a fist. It lashed forward, as a sword would lash at his opponent. Varen assumed that he simply repel the ki, any wind ki below his own should just be absorbed. Shockingly, however, he was pierced by it. This was because Audun had infused world qi into it. While world qi was usually harmless, when compacted together and used at an accelerated velocity, it was deadly.

Varen didn’t just allow himself to be injured without retaliation, and launched a kick towards Audun’s face. It connected, and a sonic boom bounced off of the bottom of his foot. He was launched all the way across the road, and smashed into a tree before he finally stopped. Varen just stood there, killing intent swirling around him.

While this was occurring, Avari was having a decidedly easier time. None of her opponents had the ability to touch her, and she moved gracefully through the wind. Despite this, she wasn’t able to kill any of them. This worried her greatly, because it seemed that they knew her clan’s special training techniques. This felt more and more planned, which only increased her worry for Audun.

“I have had enough of dealing with little ants like you people. None of you are qualified to fight with me.” Reaching into her spatial bag, she pulled out a case that contained three pills. Two were yellow, while one seemingly held the sky itself. She quickly took a yellow one, and the clouds around them congealed. Lifting her dual daggers up, lightning struck them, causing electricity to swirl around both of them. This took time to describe, but in actuality it was but a moment.

Her opponents attempted to flee, terrified of what they had just witnessed, but she was in front of the nearest one before he could even turn away. Her dagger cut through the air and world qi itself, ending the life of the man before her. Electricity bounced across her eyes as she calculated her next three targets, and they were dead in the next instant. With her opponents all fallen, she set her sights on the leader. Shockingly, however, the magic she was using had already dissipated.

“Wha… What? That was a pill forged from pure luck, supposed to last ten minutes, yet it barely was able to last ten seconds. What it going on?” The pills were precious treasures, and she was unwilling to waste another one, but she held it at the ready in case the fight should get out of hand.

Meanwhile, Audun felt a warm feeling well up inside of him, empowering him. The kick had only injured him slightly, but this new feeling instantly swept it away. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he could vaguely feel lightning ki around him. Even though he has never touched it himself before, he naturally grew up ar?p? experts who have used it. He felt it swirling chaotically, and he knew almost instinctively he could control where this power was directed. The thought of his right leg flashed across his mind, and all of the sudden, the feeling converged into his leg.

Electricity sparked throughout his leg, and a new type of power made itself available to him. He didn’t have a good control of his leg power, but he was able to have some control due to world qi’s universalness. Planting his right foot behind him, he located the bandit.

“I’ll end this in one attack.” Expelling lightning ki through his foot, his speed was now another level. Varen had a shield in front of him, strengthened by weakening the one behind him. He had thought there was no way the kid would be able to get behind him. This miscalculation was what decided the fight, as Audun’s knife hand pierced the bandits chest.

The wind that had been swirling stopped, and everything was quiet. The only sound was that of dripping blood. Audun knew the fight was his, an attack like that was deadly. He removed his hand, and took a step back. Yet still, the bandit did not fall.

“Hmph, it seems as if you are more troublesome that I could have predicted.” Blood sprayed as Varen finished talking. “I have never before had to resort to this, feel proud that I must use my family’s legacy on you.” A sense of overwhelming danger flooded both Avari and Audun as he pulled out a scroll covered in formations. The air itself tingled and vibrated around the scroll.

Sensing that he most likely would die should the scrolls power be unleashed, Audun quickly rushed towards him and brought down his leg on the bandit’s head. A shock went through Varen’s body, before he crumbled.

Staring at the scroll, he breathed heavily. He wasn’t sure what it was yet, but he could sense the power emanating from it. Whatever it was, the treasure had the power of a mid sky expert. He retrieved it and put it away in his bag. He then looked over to see Avari blushing.

“Why are you blushing?”

“Well… Um… You seem your leg… Well that can only happen, luck transfer I mean, with… Two people who are dao bonded…” She was completely red by this point, obviously embarrassed by it. Audun couldn’t help but laugh. He knew it was no dao bonding, it was his passive luck stealing, but he was more than content to let her think that they were dao bonded.

“Well, we can do nothing to change it then. The real thing we should focus on is my new power.” Lightning still coiling around his leg. “Whatever happened, I feel a step closer towards the Earth realm.” He now had a better grasp of what he had to do to move on to the Earth realm. It seemed that each of his limbs had a place to fill with a conduit for elemental ki, and this pushed him. At this point, he was stronger than almost anyone else in the True realm.

Avari shook off the remnants of blush on her cheeks. “We might as well head into town, at a leisurely pace, the gates will be open and the sun high when we arrive.” She packed up camp, and the two made their way for town.