A Coward’s Bluff

Looking at the cultist thugs outside who had thrown down their weapons and surrendered, and at that towering figure, Su Xuan, whose mental state was gradually returning to normal, felt an impulse.

He wished he could reach the Initial Form in one day and advance to the Second Form in two.

But reason told him this was impossible.

Cultivation had to be done step by step.

Only with deep accumulation could one go far.

Su Xuan had gained a great deal from this accident.

Besides the four tangible Black Energy Stones, he had also learned the ability of Energy Control.

Now, Su Xuan could control the energy particles circulating in his body more carefully and could regulate their use more precisely.

He could also make the energy particles in his body break down and release energy without external stimulation.

However, Su Xuan could sense that his level of Energy Control still had room for improvement.

Although he had mastered it, his skill was still relatively crude, and his control over the energy was still at a relatively low level.

Su Xuan felt that the pinnacle of Energy Control should be the ability to precisely control every single energy particle and every single cell in his body, using every bit of energy just right.

But this was an extremely difficult task.

Although he could achieve rough control over a specific cell with meticulous perception, integrating all the cells in his body was a huge amount of work.

In the heat of battle, the enemy wouldn’t give you space to gather your strength.

No one had 100% control over their energy particles.

Most people could only reach a passing level in their entire lives.

This passing level was not sixty percent control.

Rather, it was a thirty percent control level.

If, out of every one hundred energy particles, you could ultimately use thirty, it could be considered a pass.

The other energy particles would mostly be wasted in the air, eventually becoming free-roaming particles until they were captured by someone else someday.

Su Xuan roughly estimated that his control over energy particles was probably at a passing level.

With the enhancement of Life Source Energy, he could increase his control by several tenths.

Su Xuan’er’s enhancement could also improve it a bit.

But even when he activated his Life Source Energy, and even with Su Xuan’er’s enhancement, during the battle with the old man, every time he unleashed his energy particles, he could sense unused particles permeating the air.

But his brother, with a casual strike—a simple, unadorned blade qi without any brilliant glow—had taken the lives of countless thugs, and the amount of dissipated energy particles was minimal.

It was certain that his brother had indeed achieved extraordinary accomplishments in Energy Control.

But Su Xuan also firmly believed that he himself could one day reach this level.

However, right now, he couldn’t even manage the external release of energy particles.

He had to work even harder.

Under the starry sky, thousands of meters away under the heavens, small sparks of fire would occasionally light up and vanish in an instant.

Several figures were colliding in the air.

Drops of blood fell.

Blood flowed ceaselessly from the bodies of Yang An and the others, falling to the ground like rain.

The previous smugness in Yang An’s eyes was long gone. He pleaded, “…Spare us…”

Qi Yu and Han Chen were also covered in wounds.

Although they were all Second Form warriors, Shi Yidie’s group was indeed much stronger than them.

Even Fang Han hadn’t exerted much effort, and the three of them were completely suppressed, especially that pink-haired woman.

Her attacks were extremely cruel and difficult to detect.

The razor blades, which fell like petals in the wind, appeared and disappeared like ghosts in the air, making Han Chen, a master of hidden weapons, feel ashamed.

There was no helping it.

In the dark night sky, the lethality of hidden weapons was indeed much greater than in the daytime.

And although the quality of Han Chen’s four darts was much better than Shi Yidie’s blades, Shi Yidie’s strength was in her numbers.

Just how many blades were there?

Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands?

He didn’t know.

He only knew that there was an endless stream of flower petals.

Hidden within the beautiful imagery were fatal attacks.

The petals seemed to just drift casually, yet they landed precisely on the neck, on the eyeballs.

They seemed to be just delicate flower petals, yet they left deep wounds on the body.

Seeing that the Huaya warriors’ attack showed no signs of letting up, Han Chen immediately shouted, “You don’t intend to kill us all, do you! You should know that a desperate burst from us could give you a run for your money!”

Qi Yu also took the opportunity to say, “If you really want to take our heads, don’t expect to get away unscathed either.”

The three of them put on an act of making a final, desperate stand, hoping to scare off Shi Yidie’s group.

Fang Han sneered secretly, “A desperate burst? What a joke. You guys aren’t even willing to use your Life Source Energy, and you’re talking about a desperate burst.”

They were a group of cowards who cherished their lives.

How could they give up the hope of living so easily?

They wouldn’t try to use it until the very last moment, and might not even be willing to use it before they died.

Shi Yidie also pouted, tying up her already messy pink hair, and said, “Threatening me? It seems you’re really tired of living!”

Her voice was not loud.

In the howling wind high above, it seemed so small that Yang An and the others barely heard a few words.

They only heard the three words “tired of living,” which Shi Yidie had said through gritted teeth.

As these three words drifted in the air, a huge surge of energy fluctuated within Shi Yidie’s body.

Yang An and the others’ eyes widened, “She’s crazy! Does she really have to kill us all?”

There were many differences between Second Form and Initial Form warriors.

The most important one was their use of Life Source Energy.

A peak Initial Form warrior might have a rough contact with Life Source Energy, like Zhang Heng.

But Initial Form warriors could not use Life Source Energy very well, just like Zhang Heng.

If an Initial Form warrior was forced to use Life Source Energy, the after-effects would be severe.

In serious cases, it could even cost him his life.

This was because Initial Form warriors did not have the ability to control Life Source Energy.

Forcing its use could easily cause fundamental damage to their life force.

Second Form warriors, with their Phantom Soul Tempered Alloy, Soul Substance Infusion—these were standards that Initial Form warriors did not possess.

Even a peak Initial Form warrior was not a Second Form warrior.

The gap between the two was huge.

Talent, combat awareness, development of acupoints, and refinement of Energy Control were all means to close this gap.

Perhaps in a battle, a few peak Initial Form warriors could defeat a Second Form warrior by relying on their extraordinary talent and solid accumulation.

But to say that an Initial Form warrior could kill a Second Form warrior was practically a fantasy.

Because in a normal battle, Second Form warriors basically would not use their Life Source Energy.

Under normal circumstances, cultivating Life Source Energy was a very troublesome matter.

Unless it was a critical moment, they would avoid using it if they could.

And in ordinary challenges, it was even rarer for someone to use Life source Energy.

But if it were a life-and-death struggle, what was the use of saving Life Source Energy?

To take it to the grave?

So in a real life-and-death struggle, no one would think that an Initial Form warrior could defeat a Second Form warrior.

Most of the time, Second Form warriors do not use their Life Source Energy.

Once they do, it means they are fighting for their lives!

And Shi Yidie, this smiling, cute girl, had suddenly gotten serious.