26 Etheric fruits 4

The rush of the fight pulsed through his veins like alcohol. He wanted more. He had completely torn through the boy's body and retracted his bloody arm, leaving behind the boy, dead in his own blood.

Finally, the leader moved.

They were five of them, now only two remained. The leader's face was ugly to behold and nothing could be said for the other disciple holding his dead sister apprentice and Meryl. Horror.

Ed was too scary. It was as though he had not actual fighting pattern or style. Like he was usung them to gain experience. The thought of this made the leader angrier. There was nothing he wanted more than to kill Ed.

"You killed three of the Tze sect's disciples. Do you think you are going to get out of here alive?" the leader said. Ed did not want to talk. He wanted to fight. He picked up the halberd from the ground and threw at the in coming leader. With a wave of his hand, the leader blocked it.

"Just because you have killed a little does not mean you are invincible." he said throwing a punch that Ed received with his hand. Of course, he did not forget to coat his palm with his energy. The leader's fist met with an unmoveable palm. He had put a lot of his energy into that punch. The backlash caused him to vomit blood.

"So you are strong, huh? Let's see if you can handle a mental attack!" as the leader said this, Ed felt a pressure attack his mind. Huh? Mental attack? He had heard of mental cultivators before, but never had the chance to understand how this mental powers worked.

Ed felt his mind shake and his vision blur. So this was the mental attack thing? He felt as though there was large leach stuck in his head. It seemed as though it was trying to devour his core. Ed frowned. He had no idea how to defend from this.

The leader felt a well of energy in Ed and froze. How can a spirit picking martial artist have so much power? As he took a taste of the rich energy, his mind felt a live for only an instant. For just that second he felt as though he had gained insight into all things. The beginning and the end. Eternity.

The next second, his mind felt as though on fire. He felt his core burn up from with, this caused him to turn red and start to burn from outside.

Ed's felt the hold on him come loose and his vision clear. He came to the sight of the boy burning. The boy had burned before he had the opportunity to scream. His burning body dropped to the ground. The smell of burning flesh filled Ed's nose, causing him to be shocked. His vision blurred for a second and the next thing his opponent was on fire? What was going on? He wondered.

He was not the only one. One one disciple remained and Meryl. They both did not understand what was going on. For a second, Ed stilled and the leading disciple was smiling. Then next, Ed moved and the boy was burning.

As much as Ed wanted to know, there was still one person left. He looked at the boy at the corner and the boy paled. He took out a slab engraved with inscriptions quickly and crushed it. Thick qi warped around him and Ed frowned.

"Spatial qi?" he wondered. It was the first time he had seen this, but it felt like the qi of space. This qi only stayed for a second. When it was gone, so was the boy. Ed frowned. This was bad. This boy must have used an escape talisman. He could be anywhere. Ed was sure that they were disciples of a large sect. Tze sect, was it? He had never heard of them. But he knew that such sects would have people much stronger than him. This was a grave mistake. He should have killed the boy before he escaped.

He was yet to enter the demon lands yet he had already made enemies.

"You won!" Meryl said. Ed walked towards her slowly till he stood above her paralysed form.

"Help me up." she said.

"We need to leave before the Tunsen bird returns and discovers that the fruits are gone." she said.

"You must really think we are allies." Ed said and she paused. That is true. They were not. Just a while back she was going to join the group and kill Ed, but when her group turned on her, she thought to side with him. If she was in his place right now, she would kill him so that he does not tell any one anything. She immediately paled at the thought. If she thought that, so could he.

"Sir... you are going to leave me here? Please, I know the demon lands. I can help you navigate this place. My people, the mermaid clan will be grateful if you...." she hurried started to plead. She did not get to finish when Ed picked up the sword lying by the captain and stabbed her. Regret filled her eyes as her words hung in her throat, never to be finished.

Ed turned and walked out of the cave as though nothing had happened.

In a large courtyard, a boy appeared suddenly causing those around to go alert. He started coughing blood the moment he appeared, alarming them all. This was the boy that had escaped from the cave. Before escaped, he had circulated the energy in his core in the opposite direction, causing him severe internal injury. He had wounded himself so that he would escape a punishment.

Returning to the clan without their leader was a capital offence. No matter what happened, they would still prefer that he died there and they avenged him, than return alive without his young master.

"Ah Fude! What happened? Where is the young master?" they asked.

"Young... young... enemy." he struggled to say.

"Inform the patriarch!" they called. Some moments later, a large man appeared at the scene. He was accompanied by two elders.

"Where is Didia? Speak!" the large man bellowed.

"His core is wounded. It is a miracle that he is alive." one of the elder said and placed his hand on Ah Fude's back, injecting him with his energy. Only then was Ah Fude able to breathe.

"Young master was killed. Everybody was killed." he said weakly after a few breaths. Every one gasped in shock. Their young master? The same young master, full of life and a bright future?

The large man turned red in anger. His chin trembled as he asked, "Who did it?"

"He never said his name. But,... he was a spirit picking junior." Ah Fude said and they air around them chilled.