CHAPTER 268: AWAKENING

I can hear them....

The sound of blades clashing and torn flesh echoed in the darkness.

"Ngh...."

I quickly regained my senses.

Slowly, I opened my eyes; however, in the darkness, all that appeared were sparks of light, silver and gold.

I could feel their qi draining with each strike, yet the darkness only grew as if absorbing everything. I wanted to move, but my chest hurt like someone had hollowed out my organs using a rusty knife or yanked them through my throat.

"....."

I swallowed my exhaustion.

Endured the pain.

Who was fighting?

How can I help them?

A warning bell sounded in my head. My hazy consciousness became increasingly hectic and hot. Whenever I found myself under pressure, I couldn’t control my emotions and would lose my composure.

It was something beyond my control.

The flow of blood slowly reached my limbs, causing a numb tingle of pins and needles to spread through my muscles. I closed my eyes with a quiet sigh, trying to focus my mind and qi on the areas I couldn’t feel.

Then a lovely voice whispered in my head.

[Congratulations! You have Ranked Up!]

[Rank 7 -- Rank 8 Baron of the Wastes]

• Total Subjects increased to 600

• Alliance and building power increased

• Evolution to Stage Six imminent!

• Cultivation Rank Up: Elemental Body Refinement -- Elemental Spirit Gathering

Wait!?

Instant pain followed.

My muscles tightened with agonising cramps. Soon followed by a frosty chill that sapped the heat from my body and spread frostbite through my limbs. As I almost lost consciousness, it transformed into a searing heat that boiled my insides.

"Fuck..."

It’s too much.

Frigid ice, searing heat, resilient Earth and finally...

A cooling breeze.

The cycle of pain brought great agony, yet beneath the suffering, there was something else. A pull, something that stretched and spread my veins to allow more qi to flow to my abdomen. Yes, that’s the better word—a flow.

It started deep in my core, where my dantian churned like a boat lost in a storm.

Threads of qi containing all four elements that I forced into my body through sex, combat and meditation twisted and formed knots. No longer fighting against each other, they began to meld together. Ice didn’t smother flame. Fire didn’t scorch the wind, and Earth didn’t block the current.

Instead, like a spindle, they spun together.

Became interlocked.

It was like watching four rival gangs suddenly clasp hands and form a larger provincial gang.

The frost in my beins became a foundation of cold steel, sharp yet durable. The fire boiled away all weakness, impurities and doubts. The Earth settled in my bones, making them heavy and grounded like stone pillars. And the wind... gentle but unrelenting, wrapped everything in a flowing cocoon.

[Elemental Body Refinement -- Elemental Spirit Gathering]

[Attributes Increasing]

A sharp bang exploded within my skull, as if I kicked open a great door. The world flooded into me like those cultivation novels.

Every sound.

Every vibration.

Every breath of air.

Every flicker of elemental qi.

The horde’s footsteps ceased to be noise; instead, I could hear the difference between a Brute’s lumbering stomp before he charged, a hunter’s sly movement before taking a life. I could sense the uneven tempo of Lao’s tendrils slicing the wind.

The elements became me.

I became the elements.

[Adjusting Body!]

Ah...

Then came the changes to my body.

My muscles tensed, the fibres pulling tight with an icy chill before relaxing with the hiss of fiery embers, denser, stronger. Every tendon thrummed like a bowstring pulled to the limit inside my ears. My bones felt... like metal, unbreakable and wrapped in the dense pulse of earth qi.

As the roar of blood echoed in my ears, thick and carrying rich oxygen and spirit energy in vast amounts, I realised everything had changed.

Stage Five.

I had been reforged, like an old iron sword hammered by a master blacksmith.

"Phew..."

• Strength: +7• Physique: +4• Agility: +3• Spirit: +3

I opened my eyes.

The darkness wasn’t absolute anymore; I could see as if it were afternoon, veins of light and the glimmer of qi in the air revealed people’s vague shapes. I could see the way Mu Qinglan’s qi curled around Endless Night. The way Li Ya’s flames danced like a living serpent. Even the sharp golden light of Yifei’s spear cut invisible lines through the night.

But the most significant change.

I could see Lao.

Not just his deformed body, but the elusive death qi. His qi twisted and writhed like an ocean of ink with dull yellow specks flickering deep within. The tendrils whipped from his back weren’t just bone and flesh.

They were flesh conduits that channelled his corrupted spirit power.

"Stand."

My chest still throbbed with the memory of his attack, the holes now sealed. Spirit power flowed into the wounds, like molten gold filling the crack, knitting flesh and bone faster than anything natural.

The pain faded.

"Stand!"

My voice sounded like a beast’s growl.

I flexed my fingers around the child of my bastard sword. The steel hummed as my qi flowed into the blade, a beautiful mixture of four vibrant colours.

My Qi resonated with the blade.

The cycle completed its last revolution inside me. The four elements stood in perfect balance, ready to be unleashed.

My lips curled into a thin, humourless smile.

"I’m not done yet."

With one last deep breath, I saw Mu Qinglan’s blade shimmer, deflected into the air as Lao’s tentacles stabbed towards her chest.

STAND!

The moment Lao batted her sword away, time seemed to slow.

Lao’s tendrils shot forward like black vipers, their barbed tips aimed for her chest. She twisted to dodge—but there was nowhere to go. His blade-arm was already cutting in from the opposite side, the perfect pincer.

My blood boiled.

The world snapped as I moved into motion. One step... and the wall beneath me cracked like glass under a hammer.

In the blink of an eye, I was between them.

My hair floated with a faint glow as my bastard sword cut through the air, the steel cleaving through his black tendrils and meeting his bone blade with an ear-splitting clang

. Sparks and shards of ice blasted out from the point of impact, but my footing didn’t shift an inch.

".....!!!"

Lao’s face twisted in pain.

All his eyes focused on me as I hooked Qinglan’s waist.

The tendrils slammed towards me, faster than most eyes could follow.

My gauntlets hissed with a low crack, eight shells detonating in a single buckshot volley. Each blast shredded through the black flesh and sent severed pieces whipping away into the darkness.

Mu Qinglan’s eyes widened, her lips parting in shock. "John—?"

"Sorry I’m late, honey."

I pushed her out of harm’s way.

Then attacked.

"W-Wait....?!"

The elemental cycle within me burned in perfect balance, every element lending its strength. My sword became an extension of my body, my body an extension of my will. The sheer force of each strike created a shockwave and made Lao’s feet sink into stone as he absorbed the blows.

Overwhelming Strength

Unrelenting Speed.

Invulnerable Spirit.

Every swing carried enough qi to fracture the air, leaving rippling distortions in its wake. Lao’s curved blade met mine in a rapid series of slashes—clang, clang, clang—each impact sending shockwaves through the wall.

He tried to counter with a low sweep, while stabbing with his tendrils, but my boot smashed down mid-strike, pinning them to the stone. One kick. Crunch. Black ichor sprayed like a burst water balloon.

Lao staggered back with a distorted snarl, but I didn’t fall for it.

My sword blurred in a horizontal arc, the edge trailed by fire and ice and gouged into his left shoulder. The sound of cracked bone carved through the chaos, and the powerless limb now hung limp.

For the first time...

Lao’s stance and immense power faltered.

"Not so fun when it’s you getting thrown around huh?" I mocked the monster, stepping forward, blade ready to finish what I’d started.

Our eyes locked together.

Still disgusting and yellow, but finally, there was a hint of human emotion, a flicker of fear lingering in their depths.

The tendrils behind him twisted violently, pulling him just out of reach as Li Yan, Shen Yifei and Mu Qinglan appeared behind me, all primed to strike.

"We’re still here!"

"Don’t hog all the spotlike, babe."

"John...." Mu Qinglan was already back at my side, her Endless Night raised. Her breathing was ragged, but her gaze was steady. "We finish him together."

I nodded once, feeling the raw power coursing through my Primordial Battle Body. Every muscle sang with energy, every nerve ready to fire. However, this form wouldn’t last forever, and if I lost this boost, then my strength would likely be beneath Lao’s by a small amount.

"Then, shall we end this?"

My sword flicked through the air as I rested it on my shoulder.

Lao watched us with caution.

He no longer carried the same sense of terror, and behind me, the howl of Tang Wei’s shotgun and Jiang Roulan’s constant orders guiding the troops set my mind at peace and I could focus on the battle.

My foot pushed off the ground.

And...