Chapter 20: Qi

At a certain point, under the suffocating pressure that the old man has put him through, Zax found sanctuary in the depths of his consciousness, in his soul. By minimizing the awareness of his soul to the rest of the body, although he was still hurting, Zax was able to subdue a substantial portion of the pain the old man inflected on him.

"Haaaa!"

Something in him that he never could perceive switched and suddenly became a new nature. When it happened the echo, which was a side effect, began to resonate as means of guidance.

Zax heard it before, the voice, but could not figure from where or when and without realizing his vocal cords started to mimic its rhythm in his own voice. Finally he just let it wash him over together with the new sensation. Like a cup that is being filled with water, every pore, every nook and cranny in his body was brimming with unrestrained energy.

"Haaaa-"

The echo stopped abruptly and as Zax gained clarity as to what it was; his body already broke into action.

The old man did not know if to laugh or cry. As if the output of pressure that was equal to the Advance phase of an E level Mist User was some minor nuisance, the boy he firmly educated fended it off and sprang to the air explosively.

Mr. Martinez eyes widened, same were the eyes of Jinka. Apart from the old man, he was at the Beginner phase of a D level Mist User and she was at the Beginner phase of a F level Mist User. Both of them could feel the pressure Zax was in and knew that there is no normal child in all of Kingdom Earth that can withstand it. But when the boy unpredictably acted and let out a murderous intent the two were completely baffled.

A tremendous amount Qi energy, an eruption of Qi steams, burst from Zax's body. His body was mid air, high enough to be at eye level with the old man. Seeing his face so clearly, although having the picture of Masela Majid in his head for an instant, a turmoil of emotions he could not control made him savage and desiring to kill.

BANG!

Zax's structure was struck against the floor like a mad beast, spewing blood. The old man increased the pressure, this time he did not have an indifferent glance and on the contrary, presented an irritated front.

The old man sighed. "I didn't say it before, but truly ... Remarkable!" His sudden praise surprised, more than anyone else, his great great nephew, Mr. Martinez. "A soul attack at your age, in your current level ... I was skeptic before, willing to damage your spirit to prevent future misgivings, as farfetched as it may sound".

The old man looked at Zax tentatively. A coreless child with such a strong soul and who was able to perceive the existence of Qi in his body, even if not in the ideal age ... He now recognized the future prospects of that not even ten years old boy, and they frighteningly seemed limitless.

Zax stopped struggling after a few seconds. It was hard to guess which factor was responsible for his breakthrough in the perception of Qi. It could have been many things ... An innate talent, the presence of an expert, his big sister, in his life, a secondary effect of his soul training, his proximity to Take while he trained under the guidance of his big sister, could even be the events of one intensive day or maybe all of the above.

Either way, the new domain of pain and ordeals under the old man supplied the definitive stimulation that he needed to achieve a breakthrough. Afterwards, the new found feeling was so invigorating that it swept all reason. A recent memory that he unconsciously summoned put him on his feet and higher and what followed was a condense Qi punch that fell through before it got to its destination.

Now that he returned to the hard stairwell's floor, engulfed by a veil of nothingness, Zax met the same fate as Turan.

"Em," the old man directed his voice to Mr. Martinez's ears only. "The moment I'm gonna strike the decisive blow to end the boy life, take care of the Miss first and then kill the three kids".

"Great great uncle?" Mr. Martinez winced. He also acknowledged Zax's potential and understood the importance of eliminating this future threat who might seek revenge on their family. Whether killing the boy or not was not a decision that they could compromise over. Killing the defenseless woman and three children, on the other hand ... Looking back at the past seventeen years, since he inherited the position of the head of the family, he could not remember himself committing or initiating such heinous deed toward others whom he or the family had no animosity against.

"Don't you dare falter!" The old man's bark reached every corner of the stairwell but no farther. Because of whom was he about to substitute a severe punishment with death? Was it no his great great nephew and his spoiled son who started it all?

Killing a coreless boy ... He cursed Zax, too, for revealing his true potential and at the same time felt fortunate for not missing it. The old man cursed himself, too.

Four low class eyewitnesses. The old man could not allow that. Now, he no longer doubted over the existence of an expert behind Zax and was not keen on betting on his and the family's capabilities with dealing with the mysterious expert who could foster such talent. Therefore, the old man reached the conclusion that no eyewitnesses, not anyone who has the slightest knowledge of what went on between this stairwell's walls, should be allowed to live.

He will kill Zax, for his own peace and quiet. Em will kill the other four at the same moment. Later he will order Em to use the family's resources to deal with Turan's friends, as well, and even the C level Mist User, Core Breaker, Mishe, which served the family for nearly three decades. That was the most potent way to get rid from any loose ends.

Watching the rag like figure of the boy at his feet, the old man decided to at least send him off serenely. He released the pressure and the feeble body beneath him rose somewhat, indicating the expansion of the lungs as the unconscious Zax breathed freely.

"Die-"

"Hahaha, very cunning, very cunning, hahaha..."

Zax's execution was cut short by a new guest who entered the stairwell in high spirit. The old man stared at the intruder perplexed. Just now, if he proceeded with the killing blow, his intuition told him that he would die next.

Mr. Martinez's intuition, in comparison to the old man's, did not was quite as sharp. When he felt his great great uncle's killing intent, his body charged behind Jinka instantly. He was about to kill her smoothly and then the three kids as his great great uncle instructed him. Regrettably, he was one moment too late and so could not avoid the surge of light gold mist energy, nor block it properly with his dark brown mist energy. Mr. Martinez was thrown back like a bug in a strong wind.

"Habul Majid!" The old man cried, revealing the color of his pure silver aura for the first time, as if it could intimidate the brown bearded man.

"Gerardo, do my eyes deceive me or are you also accepting challengers like the lads on the rings?" Mr. Majid laughed and stroked his long beard.

"Damn you, Habul!" The old man, Gerardo Martinez, his face flushed red yet he managed to swallow his rage. How long has it been since he was last taunted? To guess one would need to count in centuries. "He broke the formation that I set". Gerardo noticed and actually took it reasonably.

Strictly speaking, it was not because Mr. Majid was two phases above Gerardo Martinez or past the bottleneck of the Mist Lord level that he could easily shatter Gerardo's formation. That is because formations require more than high Martial level. Theoretically every Mist User can execute any formation in a class corresponding or bellow to his or her level. However, the higher the class of the formation the more versed the Mist User has to be in its complex foundation and structure. To fully grasp the essence of a formation could take between days to hundreds of years, depending on the class of the formation and the Mist User's aptitude.

Gerardo had beneath average aptitude to study formation, therefore he did not bother learning any C class formations or above, which in this particular case was the reason for as to why Mr. Majid could so effortlessly surpass his formation till it broke.

"Haha ... Mr. Majid. I planned to greet you later, how kind of you to greet me first". Gerardo acted as if he shared a laugh with Mr. Majid.

"Oh, but I'm not here for you, Gerardo. I'm here to gather my daughter's young friends for the exhibition fights. You and your nephew should also hurry; these fights are really fun to watch".

Hearing so and realizing that he is about to lose someone who in the future might turn into a terrifying enemy, Gerardo immediately sought to sway Mr. Majid's, the Beginner phase Mist Lord's, mind.