Chapter 20：The Time Skip

Li Qiang had broken through.

Li Qiang opened his eyes and sat there revelling in his new strength. Then, he laughed. Loud, jubilant laughter rolled through the hall and his huge shoulders shook in glee.

"Show me my classification."

Li Qiang [Owner]

Strength: 213.1

Speed: 126.6

Exterior Qi: Level 1 (1%)

Anima: Level 1 Carnage (0%)

Anima Skills: Carnage (Passive)

Techniques: Sword Basics (100%)

Looking at his huge improvement and the words 'Exterior Qi', he broke into another bout of laughter.

"Little An, it's time for celebration! You have cultivated for long enough, celebrate with me! Your brother is now invincible across the planet!"

Li Qiang shouted loudly, his voice stretching across the house. Used to being ignored by now, he got up slowly, intending to talk to her face to face. However, as he got up, he noticed something. Dust had collected on his shoulders! He was puzzled for a second and then ravenous hunger seized his body.

In a flash, putting everything else to the side, he ransacked the kitchen and made a huge meal, devouring plates upon plates of food. He sat back on the reinforced chair, which creaked under his massive weight. He looked at the clock which was placed on a wall. It was 9:56 at night. At this point Li Qiang was very puzzled.

He went over to the TV and turned it on, only to be met with grey static.He went upstairs, opening Li An's door, only to be shocked.

Li An was gone! Li Qiang froze.

'What happening during my breakthrough?'

He entered his own room and rummaged around finding his phone. The date was the 2nd of December 2020! This was almost 3 months after he sat down to breakthrough!

Li Qiang was silent. He sat down on his bed, contemplating what happened.Then he stood up and went over to his drawer that contained all his rewards from the Coliseum of the Cosmos. They were gone!

His cultivation manual, the Sword Manual and even the Anima Awakening Cube, all gone!Li Qiang felt a headache coming on. He had just broken through and without his cultivation manual he wouldn't be able to progress to the realm after the Exterior Qi realm.'

I'll have to recover it before I get to Exterior Qi 7th Realm.'

Li Qiang rushed back to the sports hall, looking for his sword. Seeing it in the corner, untouched, he grabbed it, relieved.

'If my weapon disappeared, I would be f*cked.'

Li Qiang quickly decided on his next course of action.

'I will go out and figure out the state of the city and hopefully find my sister.'

Li Qiang stepped out of the bunker, shutting it securely behind him, for the first time in weeks.He breathed in the fresh night air and for a second, he felt his troubles fade away. Li Qiang made his way out of the driveway and out to the public street. What he saw was terrifying.The city was a wasteland! The buildings were battle-torn and hollow, rubble and ruins lay everywhere.Li Qiang jumped.

His new abilities included being able to release Qi out of his body and he used this ingeniously to hold him in the air. He levitated there high up in the air.

This image was magical. A huge man, dressed in a warriors clothing and a sword in his hand was high in the air, looking down on the city like a God on his creation. If someone looked closely enough, a thin yet extremely strong length of red Qi extended from his feet to the ground.Li Qiang surveyed his surroundings quickly.

It was the same no matter how far he looked. The entire city lay in ruins and he didn't see a single human. Li Qiang felt a surging rush of unease. He continued using his ingenious method of Qi-Walking, staying high in the air, moving around by using his Qi like stilts. He moved slowly at first, unused to this mode of transport sped up and then began sprinting through the air.

Li Qiang could have travelled extremely quickly using this technique and because he would just reuse the same strands of Qi, he could theoretically do this forever. However, he moved slowly across the city, checking for any signs of life and sometimes even just appreciating the beautiful views from high up.

Li Qiang scoured the city and finally, he spotted a small movement in the corner of his eye.Instantly, he homed in on it and he reabsorbed his strands of Qi, plummeting towards the small figure. He crashed in front of the running figure creating a crater. What happened next just puzzled him more on the situation of the country.

The figure was small and dirt-faced, and Li Qiang had to look closely to realise that he was a young boy. Upon seeing Li Qiang, the boy knelt and kowtowed, smashing his head on the ground.

"Oh, almighty Sentinel, please forgive this lowly one for trespassing. My mother and sister are starving, and my father is gravely wounded. I have no choice to venture for foo…"

The boy rambled on and on, smashing his forehead on the ground with every sentence.Li Qiang observed him silently.

"Stop."

The boy became silent immediately.

"Get up."

He was obedient.

"I am not a Sentinel. I have been in seclusion for 3 months. I need to be updated on the situation within the country. Be quick and don't waste my time with unnecessary words. If you do well, I will help you get food and medication."

Li Qiang was straight to the point.

The boy was overwhelmed. Li Qiang saw several emotions flash across his face before he started talking.

"Almighty being, it would be my pleasure. For the past 3 months, the world has been turned upside down. It began with the Cult Sacrifice, which was committed by a secret organization. Then the Wraith's appeared. The Wraiths appeared in order of power, first being black, then red, then purple and finally blue. Even then, with the secret powers of the world emerging every day, order was maintained in the larger countries. However, about 2 and a half months ago even more powerful being emerged from the Portals. They weren't like the Wraiths, they had emotions and were able to communicate with us. They are called the White Demons. They ravaged the continents and one of them lay waste to Shenyang. The government collapsed and everyone thought the end of the world was nigh. However, about 2 months ago groups began to form and emerge between super-powered individuals. These individuals all had awakened their Anima and were able to fight the Wraiths and some of the elites were able to fight off the White Demons. They were called the Knights. The most powerful groups in China include the Black Flame Warriors, the White Crane Sect, the Thunderous Tiger Sect and the Holy Order. The North of China and Shenyang is governed by the Holy Order, which had also overthrown the tyrant in North Korea and taken over that area as well. So far, the White Demons were locked in combat with the Knights and currently it is a stalemate."

The boy paused, panting slightly.

"What is a Sentinel?"

The boy's face turned bitter.

"The Holy Order evacuated everyone from the cities and created camps and locked everyone up there. No-one is allowed out unless given permission by the Sentinels. The Sentinels are the lowest rank in the Holy Order."

"Tell me more about the Holy Order."

The boy looked surprised then made a smirk.

"Almighty being, you have asked the right person. I have lots of information on the Holy Order. They have about 700 members, each being at least the rough equivalent of an armoured tank in terms of military prowess. Their elites are even stronger and are named Priest. The rank above that is Bishop and finally there are 4 Popes at the top of the organization. Its rumoured that 1 of the Popes is equivalent to the leader of any of the other organizations in China, which is why it is known as the strongest group in China, coming closely second to the merged group between Britain and the USA, which is call the Red Lions. There is also speculation about a higher individual than the 4 Popes, but nobody knows much about it."

The boy looked around before leaning closer to Li Qiang.

"Look, I don't know much but if you could spare me some provisions then I could give you some premium secrets.