Chapter 197 - Fighting Through The Countdown

"No…no…that…" the rat counsellor said as he backed away.

"Let me guess," Cheng Xiu said, "By destroying those torches I can widen the chasms which will devour the rats who are defying the Tower faster."

The rat counsellor shivered in fear. It realised that this human should be killed immediately. If the human goes out and reveals this to her companions then they were doomed and everything they did till then, and the sacrifices that they made, who be for nothing.

He started to attack Cheng Xiu continuously with its poison claws.

Cheng Xiu expertly dodged them, her speed fast and became faster with each attack.

The counsellor started to attack without any rhyme or reason, madly wanting Cheng Xiu to die and that was his only goal now.

The climbing could wait and there were still four other counsellors with him. Even if he failed, they would succeed. But this dangerous human could not leave.

"Die!" the rat screamed as it used the vines on the walls to restrain Cheng Xiu.

Cheng Xiu struggled to break free but found it impossible to do.

The rat screeched as it rushed towards her on three legs, the fourth leg held up as a claw to pierce her.

Cheng Xiu narrowed her eyes.

She made the Qi in her body condense and threw it out into a shockwave.

The vines on her had deep cuts like it was hacked by swords in varying depths. The rat counsellor glared at her as he held his broken arm and looked at the deep gash on it.

No. This was not the time for it to cry over its wounds. It had to kill the Human who knew too much!

The rat Counsellor ran towards her again, raising its other foreleg this time.

Cheng Xiu sent a second shockwave of Qi immediately.

The rat was thrown back along with the vines this time. They hit the opposite wall and fell to the floor.

The creature got up, its movements crooked because there were broken bones on it.

Cheng Xiu huffed and heaved, feeling tired.

"What was that?" the Fork asked the Spoon.

"I think…a Qi Burst?"

"A Qi Burst?" the Fork asked in awe.

"But…" the torch looked at the elegant figure of the Human cultivator with complicated feelings. "She used Qi Burst voluntarily? Aren't those suppose to be involuntary."

"Don't ask me," the Spoon declared. "Just watch."

Cheng Xiu looked at the vines and at the counsellor who was finally on his feet.

Cheng Xiu felt the Qi capacity in her was really low. She was not sure what she should do now. She could not use another Qi Burst. The Ghost Flame needed a large amount of power to activate that she presently did not seem to have…

They were both at a disadvantage.

She thought for a moment on how to get out of this impasse.

The rat counsellor's eyes portruded and became blood red, his fangs came down to its lower lips, leaving trails of blood.

Cheng Xiu's eyes narrowed. Was the beast going into a Berserk mode?

Cheng Xiu skidded to the side to escape the vines that tried to grab her.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, using Qi Absorption to fill her Qi Capacity Centre. But the progress was slower than when she had fought with the Experts. The speed difference between a level 3 and a Level 10 was obvious. She was a really powerful person but that did not mean anything in this regard. Her Level was too low for her to reach Full Capacity through the Qi Absorption technique.

There was no way out.

She had to fill it just enough so that she could activate the Ghost Flame. That was all she could do. That was the only skill that she…

Wait…

Cheng Xiu thought back to the time when she fought the experts which now seemed so long ago. She did have another way to fill her Qi.

Cheng Xiu took an inventory of what she had in her storage ring, and smiled.

There was still hope for her.

Cheng Xiu took out a simple blue talisman from her storage ring and sent a bout of Qi into it.

The talisman flashed and a baby in diapers appeared before her.

Cheng Xiu smiled at it. "Baby puppet…"

She sent a small amount of Qi into its central array.

The chest of the thing glowed and she felt her mind split the way it did when she was controlling the Sword Weaving Technique.

She ordered the puppet to absorb the Qi in the area around her.

"Was that a puppet?" the Torch asked in surprise. "How many skills does she have?"

Cheng Xiu thought on what to do as she stepped back from the puppet. It would take some time for her Qi Capacity to reach at a level where she would be able to use the Ghost Flame without much trouble.

Cheng Xiu guessed that 70% of her Qi had to be filled for it.

But how to occupy the rat and his vines until then?

Cheng Xiu couldn't use the Sword Weaving or the Sword Copies because if she did, she would be draining her already low Qi Capacity and then there would be no point in saving her Qi through the Qi Absorption technique and the Qi Supplier puppet.

Cheng Xiu held the Red Carp Sword in her hand and dashed forwards.

She could only engage in physical fight until her power was back up.

She cut away the vines that got close to her, her sword able to actually do damage to the vines. And that was the difference between the copies and the original.

The Original was that OP at times.

The rat counsellor jumped towards her, not caring about the broken bones, its limp left hand, or the fact that there were deep gnashes littered on the face and body.

Cheng Xiu dodged the creature again and again as it slashed at her with its poisonous claw.

The rat's movements became even more chaotic.

Cheng Xiu slapped its attacks away with the blade of her sword.

Her Qi Capacity had reached 40%...

45%...

She ducked as a marble spear came her way.

48%...

Cheng Xiu kicked the rat in the stomach, sending it crashing against the wall.

51%...

The rat's skin transformed, the brown fur on its body turned into a slimy black colour.

The odor of the room turned putrid.

52%...

Drool hit the floor of the room from the snarling fangs of the rat.

54%...

The rat's wound healed.

58%...

ran at her in full speed.

66%....