Their surroundings merged together as the concealment formation he’d laid activated. He took out a pair of qi-binding manacles and a soul-sealing collar, placing them on the helpless, wide-eyed tutor.
“You qi cultivators should really consider doing weights or something,” Cha Ming said. “You’re so fragile that you collapse after a single blow.”
Of course, his being far stronger than the imperial tutor might also have had something to do with it. The older man could only weep and struggle for breath as Cha Ming confiscated his belongings, which included a core-transmission jade, among other expensive items. To his surprise, it even included a few formation flags. The man was a runic artist.
“You should thank the heavens you’re a good man,” Cha Ming said, noticing the light merit glow on him. “When this is all through, you might actually survive.” That, and the death of the imperial tutor would surely result in an uproar. It was extremely likely that the man was tied to a life slip, a life candle, or some similar device.
For good measure, Cha Ming snapped a picture, sealing the space around the man. Problem taken care of, he flew up above the Blood Master Monastery, holding up the Space-Time Camera as it burned away thousands upon thousands of peak-grade spirit stones. Whereas before, he was economizing, he now had no choice but to put in his all. He couldn’t risk letting a single blood master out of his containment.
A few agonizing seconds passed, and his camera flashed. A gray barrier, invisible to most, appeared all around the monastery. Those outside of it would sense nothing as a battle ensued. The barrier would block out all communication, and for the most part, block those trying to escape. Three seconds passed, and the barrier firmed up. Cha Ming nodded and flew through the bubble, not bothering to hide his presence as he smashed down on the main building with his Clear Sky Staff, now in pillar form. Crushing Chaos split the building in two. It crashed down on the blood reservoir of the monastery, evaporating the stored blood vitality in a cloud of red mist.
“Who dares?” a man roared. Dozens of red flashes appeared before Cha Ming. One of them bore an inviolable aura, that of true blood-awakening cultivator. He held a large bloody saber in one hand. It seemed heavy, almost too heavy for him to wield. Beside him stood two half-step transcendents and two dozen peak-marrow-refining cultivators. “You?” the man yelled in surprise, noticing the staff in Cha Ming’s hands.
Cha Ming grinned. The time for disguises was over. He banished his disguise and summoned a thousand and eighty combat sigils, which spread out around him and summoned an inferno to burn the weaker blood masters who were gathering or trying to flee. The power of a half-step-rune-carving cultivator was too much for them to handle.
Only a second passed, and most of the blood masters, the buildings they occupied, and even their weapons were already gone. Only those at middle marrow refining or above remained, though those struggled to hold on to their lives under the blistering combat formation. Those at late marrow refining held weapons in unsteady hands, preparing to aid those at peak marrow refining or higher, who were only slightly affected by Cha Ming’s flames.
The stone beneath them cracked under the intense heat, which Cha Ming finally released, replacing it with a frigid, slowing cold. It pierced these cultivators to their bones, reducing their reaction speeds and making their bones and muscles more brittle.
“I see you have the capital to invade us,” said the head blood master, a transcendent. Lightning crackled around the man and attacked him as his presence mounted and caused space to tremble. “And I see you’ve mounted a barrier. How wonderful.”
“Wonderful?” Cha Ming asked, grasping the Clear Sky Pillar, reducing it to a more manageable form. It contracted until it became an inch thick, just big enough to expand as he fought, but just small enough to be fast and zipping with his movements.
“I haven’t gotten to fight to my heart’s content in centuries,” the head blood master said. “Now that the surroundings are adequately shielded, no one can blame me for going all out.” The air around the man shattered, and the lightning intensified, burning at the man’s skin, which began peeling off in scorching layers.
Cha Ming’s eyes narrowed. “Are you not worried about heavenly retribution?”
The bald man cackled madly as his robes burned away, revealing charred flesh. “I’ll survive, but you will not. Blood masters—kill!”
The crowd swarmed around Cha Ming, whose feet became a storm of wind and lightning. He slashed out with multiple iterations of Splitting Heaven and Earth, imbuing different elements for different effects. Some were burning, corporeal blades that seared through skin. Some were heavy blows imbued with vibrations that shattered bones.
One swipe, one kill. Cha Ming started with the small fries, dancing around them using gravity and flow to this advantage. His nascent domain shone around him like a bright protective barrier that also extended to his staff, making it far more lethal than it had a right to be. He destroyed the weaker blood masters with impunity. Unfortunately, they were the least of his worries.
A lethal saber strike suddenly came for Cha Ming’s neck. He twisted around, evading it just in time for another one to come at his torso. He banished his Clear Sky Staff, summoning it before him to absorb the shock of the blow. Space shattered at his front, damaging his body,
