Chapter 28: The Power of Bloodlines—Gray Reversal Against the Thunder Qilin

Is that voice... his mother's? Qi whispered to himself.

He understood there might be reasons beyond their control, but he couldn't help feeling a surge of resentment. Yet before he could think further, the Qi Codex suddenly burst with light; a drop of silvery-white liquid shot toward him with such speed that even at sevenfold strength, he couldn't react in time. But just as it reached him, the liquid was drawn back into the Codex. Qi tried to intercept, only to find his body frozen, immobilized.

"Hey, hey, what’s with the long face today? Something upset you, little girl? As your child, if he were to receive that drop of your essence blood, that’s not a result I wish to see. I allowed you to live here and move about freely on one condition: you would not interfere in your child’s affairs. You’re violating our agreement."

"But since it’s your first offense, I’ll let it slide this time. Do it again, and I’ll send you back where you came from, understood?"

"Good, people must keep their promises. Ahem, well then, little Qi, your mother... is in my hands. If you wish to save her, you must present energy values of one each from the following: one, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred million, trillion, quadrillion, quintillion, sextillion, septillion, octillion, nonillion, decillion, undecillion, duodecillion, tredecillion, quattuordecillion, quindecillion, vigintillion, googol, and so on. Do this, and I’ll release her."

"I couldn’t gather that in a hundred million years. So she really is... In that case, can my one thousand three hundred energy units buy me that drop of blood?"

"Don’t be so pessimistic. After a billion billion years, maybe you’ll have one hundred-millionth of what you need. That drop of your mother’s essence blood alone contains energy worth at least a hundred billion billion units, not to mention the information it holds, which is of even greater value. What could you possibly do with your one thousand three hundred? But, since it is your mother's blood, I’ll clarify: in this world, everything belongs to me—including that blood, which I merely extracted from your mother. For your one thousand three hundred, I’ll give you the most basic information from within that drop. Do you accept?"

"I accept." He didn’t hesitate. He hadn’t expected his mother to be so powerful—a single drop of her blood so extraordinary. If she wished to pass on a message, it must be of utmost importance. Even the most basic information might be exactly what he needed now.

"You’re getting off easy. I had planned to show you this after you formed your foundation."

A message rose from the depths of his heart, etched into his memory. It was a secret method for guiding one’s own bloodline, using energy to propel the power of the blood, achieving the most basic form of time acceleration. If acceleration was possible, then surely there was also deceleration, or even time-stopping and reversal—most likely information contained further on, but Qi had only received the method for acceleration. He wondered how effective it might be. Anything related to time must be formidable, though the cost would surely be great. He wasn’t sure how useful it would be at his current level.

He recalled the moment in his battle with Xiao Li, the time he had used his "Returning Heaven" power. It seemed he’d wielded two different forces—one related to time, but what was the other? Was it also a power of blood? Could it be from the father he had never known?

But such questions were premature—he hadn’t even met his mother, let alone his unknown father. As Qi prepared to test the effects of time acceleration, Sasuke had already soared into the air, flapping massive hands like wings. Yet compared to Qi, his speed and agility left much to be desired.

Qi channeled his scant spiritual power to activate his bloodline. The moment he did, he felt an uncanny sense of familiarity. Accelerating his body, he noticed his spiritual power draining rapidly, and the world around him seemed to slow, much like the feeling of doubling his strength, yet fundamentally different—a strange, indescribable sensation.

Double speed? What if I used time acceleration after a sevenfold burst—would it double that, or just my base state? Would the increase diminish as my power grew, or would the energy expenditure become unsustainable? With no way to test further, he could not be sure.

But for now, Sasuke was drawing ever closer, those three-tomoe Sharingan eyes gleaming with ominous light. Sasuke’s lips curled in a smile, as though victory was within his grasp. What gave him such confidence? Qi was about to find out.

"Do you know? A flash of intense heat causes water vapor to rise and form cumulonimbus clouds. With those come thunder and lightning. I originally prepared this move for that man, but I’ll try it on you first."

It had been a perfect day for travel, Qi had thought earlier. But now, looking up, he saw oppressive, pitch-black clouds shrouding the moon. While his attention was drawn to the Codex, the storm clouds had slowly gathered.

Confronted by heaven’s might, Qi’s instincts screamed in warning.

Between heaven and earth, an extraordinary sight unfolded as the cumulonimbus clouds began to churn, lightning splitting the darkness with blinding brilliance. The bolts snaked and writhed like serpents and dragons, converging and twisting into the colossal form of a fearsome beast. Qi could smell the stench of death. The beast had taken shape—a snarling, roaring violet thunder qilin, which hurtled downward at Sasuke’s command.

This attack wielded the power of the heavens themselves, a force that mortals dared not provoke. In the cultivator’s world, the thunder tribulation was the most dreaded ordeal of all.

Qi had wanted to dodge before the qilin took form, but under the sensation of a locked target, escape was impossible. All he could do was defend. Lacking any attack options, his only hope was the gray "Returning Heaven" ability, and perhaps time acceleration would help.

"Swift as lightning"—people often used this phrase for ultimate speed, but only now did Qi realize how fast lightning truly was. He readied himself, mustering sixfold strength, and in the instant before Sasuke moved, he pushed his power to sevenfold. But in that instant, the qilin had already spanned the distance. With death upon him, Qi triggered time acceleration at the crucial moment.

Suddenly, everything around him slowed by half. Without hesitation, he unleashed "Returning Heaven." The qilin struck the spherical barrier, then tore through it like a thunderclap, its gaping maw closing over Qi's head—a third time today he faced the threat of decapitation.

His bloodline surged into his eyes, silver and black entwining as a flash of gray blazed. The thunder qilin within the "Returning Heaven" field vanished instantly.

Thunder rumbled—not loudly—but as it did, Qi's body plummeted. His arms had vanished, his body charred black, his abdomen scorched to cinders.

Just before, the gray "Returning Heaven" had flashed, erasing most of the thunder qilin. Qi's spiritual power was utterly depleted. It had already been mostly drained repairing his head and hands earlier, and now, crisis upon crisis: sevenfold force, "Returning Heaven," time acceleration, gray "Returning Heaven"—all of it had emptied his reserves in an instant.

The only consolation was that this expenditure had at least saved his life.

A flicker of surprise crossed Sasuke's eyes, followed by realization, respect, and finally calm. "It seems the outcome is decided. Admit defeat? Spare me the trouble of finishing you off." Sasuke descended, watching Qi's rapid maneuvers to lessen the impact before crashing, rolling dozens of meters before coming to a stop.

"Cough, cough. Your attacks just now must have drained a lot of your energy as well."

"Even so, I still have the strength to fight, while you can only lie there, unable to move." Sasuke approached, plucking his sword from the ground.

"True. Apart from hand-to-hand combat—oh, taijutsu—I have almost no other attack methods. But 'almost' doesn't mean 'none.' Do you know why the protagonist always wins in the end?" Qi lay on his back, gazing at the sky. After the thunder, it seemed rain would soon follow.

"Because he’s the protagonist? If he fails and dies, then he isn’t the protagonist. Do you really have a chance to turn things around?" Sasuke stopped, gazing coolly at Qi’s battered body ten yards away.

"Maybe. I can only try my luck. But the reason the protagonist wins in the end is because the opponent never finishes him off in one blow, always leaving a sliver of hope. That chance is the key to the protagonist’s comeback. Now it’s my turn to strike back," Qi said, forcing a grin, rambling on.

"Then try it. Chidori Blade." A pillar of blue light shot from the tip of Sasuke’s sword, aiming for Qi’s brow.

Despite his severe injuries, Qi leapt to his feet, unfurled a pair of wings, and slowly ascended into the sky. His recently recovered spiritual power was instantly depleted again, and now he was relying solely on ** power to stay airborne, hoping that by flying he might recover enough energy.

"Your vitality is truly stubborn. Let me send you on your way. Chidori Stream." Dozens of flickering blue bolts of lightning shot toward Qi.

"To wield lightning—how envious I am!" Qi shouted as he tried to dodge, but was struck in the back. The paralysis weakened his wingbeats, but then he noticed something strange: the electricity rampaging through his body was being channeled by his constantly operating main technique, directed into his meridians, converted into energy, and finally transformed into spiritual power. Qi was elated. Later, when he checked online, he guessed the reason.

All matter is made of molecules, which are made of atoms—atoms with positively charged nuclei and negatively charged electrons. Lightning is formed by the friction between positive and negative charges.

The human body, too, contains bioelectricity and static electricity. For devastating moves like the Thunder Qilin or Chidori, the current exceeds the body's limits and causes injury. But now, the current within him was still within absorbable range, so with the help of his main technique, Qi managed to swallow it. Only Qi, with his complete control over his body, could do this.

Of course, this is knowledge from Earth—whether it holds true in other worlds or cultivation realms remains to be seen. Still, this insight prompted Qi to consciously manipulate the electrons within his body, seeking mastery over lightning. But electrons are so small that even for Qi, control was difficult.

He even managed, using scientific reasoning, to analyze the formation of fire and ice, making some progress there as well. This delighted him, but that is another story.

For now, Qi was simply amazed that he could absorb lightning and convert it into spiritual power, whereas when struck by Gentle Fist earlier, he could only use energy to counteract the opponent’s force. Still, this was a good thing—regaining spiritual power meant he truly had a chance to fight back. But, ever cunning, Qi did not counterattack right away, instead continuing to flee, flapping his wings.

Sasuke frowned, surprised at his opponent’s tenacity. His own chakra was nearly spent, but he still had more than enough to finish the job. With this in mind, Sasuke activated his second-level curse mark, chasing after Qi in the sky.

Qi, conserving his strength, could not outpace Sasuke, so Sasuke quickly closed the distance. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

As expected, Sasuke used the Phoenix Flower Jutsu, which could change direction mid-flight. Qi folded his wings, dropping like a stone to dodge the attack. Still, Sasuke pursued relentlessly—it was time for a final showdown.

Qi clearly remembered how much spiritual power his moves had used during his recent brush with death. Now he had just enough to unleash a burst of sixfold strength and time acceleration—enough, barring some immortal opponent, to instantly defeat Sasuke.

But, to be certain, Qi continued to flee, hoping to maximize his advantage by recovering more spiritual power. After all, he regained energy faster than his opponent.

Yet Sasuke, too, sensed something was amiss—Qi's speed was too unusual for someone on the brink of death.

As he flew, Qi heard the thunder growing louder, and a sense of foreboding crept over him. Suddenly, he looked up to see lightning gathering again—an all-too-familiar scene. Qi made his decision instantly: he had to act now; he might not survive another onslaught.

He exploded with sevenfold power, launching himself at Sasuke with lethal intent. Sasuke smirked, "I’ve been waiting for you. Chidori Senbon!"

The sky erupted in a storm of lightning, blue bolts raining down like a shower of needles, covering the entire sky.

"Summoning Jutsu!" A massive purple serpent, even larger than the blue-white snake from before, burst from the smoke.

"Chidori!" Surrounded by the thunderstorm, Sasuke instantly formed a black Chidori. His three-tomoe Sharingan spun wildly as he locked onto Qi’s figure in the midst of the storm. This time, he was determined to finish him for good.