Strength

There was no need to ponder why others would attack him. Ever since joining Pitch Black, Heming had long understood the cruelty of this world; for the weak, there was only one path, and that was death.

Heming could only do his best to dodge the attacks of these few individuals. Regrettably, due to the disparity in strength, he had no way to evade them completely. He was at his limit, and now, his only option was to pray.

"Boom!" A massive minotaur descended from the sky, felling all those who had been attacking Heming with a single swing of its axe. Heming glanced at the minotaur before finding a wall to sit against; he no longer had the strength to move.

"You lot have some nerve, daring to openly oppose our Pitch Black? Are you looking to die?" Qiming stood on the shoulder of the minotaur, questioning the few people who were watching from the sidelines.

"What 'Pitch Black'? We are the greatest organization in the world! Go to hell, all of you!" one of the onlookers shouted loudly. He was likely some kind of extremist.

Qiming said no more. He drew his bow from his palm—the Spirit Flash Profound Bow—which shimmered with a strange white light. Despite the righteous name and appearance of this bow, it had once been a lethal weapon used by an evil sorcerer in Europe.

Qiming was not like those men from before; he had no intention of underestimating these enemies whose lives were about to end. He gently pulled the bowstring and loosed a Death Arrow. Someone tried to flee, but under the pursuit of the Death Arrow, that person immediately abandoned the thought of running. This was undoubtedly the most terrifying aspect of the Spirit Flash Profound Bow: it created illusions, causing the enemies it targeted to no longer fear death, and even to yearn for it.

With a rapid-fire sequence, those men ceased all movement. They had clearly understood the strength of the man standing atop the monster; now, they simply waited quietly for death. Unfortunately, Qiming would not show mercy. This was the rule of Pitch Black—mercy was forbidden, for in the end, the only one who would be hurt was oneself.

The Death Arrow flew straight ahead, and just as it was about to disperse to strike its targets, a figure suddenly appeared in front of them. Heming hadn't even seen how that person had appeared; he only knew that, in a flash, there was one more person present.

Qiming was not particularly surprised, as he could clearly track the man's movements. It was only natural that Heming, with his current strength, could not see them.

"I have no desire to meddle in this affair, but I sensed a leak of evil energy and came to investigate out of curiosity. Seeing that you, young friend, are riding a Chiyou, I couldn't help but feel an itch to spar. I wonder, what does my young friend think?" The speaker was an old Taoist—or perhaps one could call him an immortal—whose voice drifted lightly. This was one of the unique skills of Easterners.

Qiming carefully scrutinized the Taoist's attire: a cyan Taoist robe embroidered with a Black Tortoise, dragon-headed and snake-tailed, with a Three-Star Crown upon his head. A low-ranking immortal. He was within the range of what Qiming could handle. Although Qiming didn't particularly want to fight someone only slightly weaker than himself, if he didn't, this old fellow certainly wouldn't let him finish off those men. There was no other way.

"Fine, set up the barrier!" Qiming put away the Spirit Flash Profound Bow and casually drew his own sword. Heming found it strange; in his eyes, almost everyone in Pitch Black knew how to use a sword.

The old Taoist chuckled and waved his hand, and the Black Tortoise on his robe leaped out, slowly growing in size. Qiming, having had experience fighting immortals, knew this was one of the old Taoist's magical treasures. Qiming leaped down from the minotaur's shoulder and kept his eyes on the old Taoist.

The Black Tortoise stared straight at the minotaur, as if it were about to charge and fight to the death, while the minotaur simply toyed with its axe with ease.

The old Taoist struck first. He threw out five talisman papers and shouted, "Covenant of Heaven and Earth, Vow of Thunder and Rain, Five Thunder Summoning Technique!" In an instant, the sky was covered in dark clouds, and thunder rumbled incessantly.

Qiming gathered energy into his sword, preparing to withstand the impending Five Thunder strike. The old Taoist did not stop; just as the thunder was about to fall, he threw out several more talismans. This time, he merely gave a light shout, and the talismans burned rapidly. Qiming was startled; this was the high-level Samadhi True Fire. Blocking it head-on would surely result in injury.

Qiming took out two Demon Sealing Beads from his waist and channeled the Pitch Black Heart Method.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!" The Five Thunder strike descended directly. Qiming flicked his wrist, throwing the two Demon Sealing Beads in front of and above him.

First came a flash of lightning, followed by a massive horse's neigh. Above Qiming appeared a stallion entirely wreathed in lightning.

As for the Samadhi True Fire approaching from the front, just as it was about to strike Qiming, a massive flaming arm blocked the flames entirely. Meanwhile, the Five Thunder strike from the sky had gathered and fallen, but unfortunately, it landed on the Thunder Horse. The Thunder Horse gave a light snort and absorbed the high-powered thunder. After absorbing it, it snorted again, as if to say, "This bit of electricity isn't enough for a meal."

Seeing both his attacks blocked, the old Taoist was naturally unconvinced. He signaled the Black Tortoise to charge. The Black Tortoise let out a giant roar and rushed forward. Despite its turtle feet, its speed was not slow, but Qiming's minotaur did not show weakness, brandishing its axe as it charged to meet it.

The Black Tortoise attacked first, opening its massive dragon head to spit a series of fireballs, while its snake tail transformed into a snake head, spitting out a barrage of water bullets.

Seeing the incoming fireballs, the minotaur held its axe in front of itself to block them. "Clang, clang, clang, clang!" With the violent sounds of collision, the minotaur's axe was scorched red by the fireballs, but it seemed to have no effect on the minotaur. After blocking all the fireballs, the minotaur threw its axe at the Black Tortoise. Most of the incoming water bullets were split in two by the axe, and those that weren't hit the minotaur, though they seemed to have no effect on it.

Seeing the blood-stained axe flying toward it, the Black Tortoise retracted its entire body into its shell. With a loud "Clang," the axe struck the shell, but aside from a spark, there was no significant impact.

The Black Tortoise continued its death struggle with the minotaur.

Qiming watched the show as the old Taoist brought out his best treasure, the Fire Spirit Divine Talisman, and charged at Qiming.

Seeing this, Qiming met him head-on. He had seen the Fire Spirit Divine Talisman before; it would automatically extend to attack enemies. If Qiming wasn't careful, his clothes would be burned, which would be a nuisance.

"Pitch Black Sword Technique, Seventh Form: Flood Submerging the Flying Swallow." A close-quarters combat technique. Qiming's sword, carrying energy like a torrential flood, suppressed the old Taoist's Fire Spirit Divine Talisman.

The old Taoist brandished the Fire Spirit Divine Talisman; although his offensive was blocked, he was gathering the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in his other hand, preparing to use an immortal's ultimate technique: the Spirit Gathering Finger.

In reality, Qiming had already noticed, but the old Taoist's Spirit Gathering Finger posed no threat to him.

The powerful spiritual energy gathered to form a small green sphere; if released instantly, its destructive power could rival an atomic bomb.

"Pitch Black Sword Technique, Ninth Form: Rain Falling into Gold." A direct thrust forced the old Taoist back a step. Qiming quickly sheathed his sword and drew the Spirit Flash Profound Bow.

By then, the old Taoist had unleashed his Spirit Gathering Finger. A powerful beam of green light shot toward Qiming. Qiming quickly gathered energy and shouted, "Energy Profound Arrow!" A pale black arrow flew out and collided with the green light.

"Boom!" With a massive explosion, the old Taoist was violently pushed back a step by the shockwave. He had no way to counterattack, as Qiming's next arrow was already prepared.

The Black Tortoise and the minotaur were still fighting, but any normal person could see that the minotaur was intentionally holding back; otherwise, the little Black Tortoise would have been chopped in two long ago.

The old Taoist recalled the Black Tortoise and said with a smile, "It has been my great fortune to spar with you, young friend. Your grasp of every aspect is extremely precise, and your energy control is also quite excellent. If fate allows, I hope we can meet again." Having said this, he transformed into a mist and departed.

"Immortals have no desire to meddle in the affairs of mortals. I hope you will show mercy where you can. Until we meet again." This voice was transmitted directly into the minds of the few people nearby.

Qiming shook his head but still fired the arrow he had already nocked...

Several days later, at the Okinawa branch office in Japan, Heming had recovered. He received a notification from Qiming to bring Rie to the office later.

In the office, Qiming was not sitting in his boss's chair as he usually did; instead, he stood with Heming. Sitting in Qiming's seat was a man Heming had seen a few times at the Pitch Black headquarters. His name was Guangcheng Mingli, a Level 1 member. His strength was likely on par with Qiming's, though there might be differences in other areas.

He scrutinized Heming and Rie before saying, "Yaming asked me to come and observe whether Rie has the potential to join Pitch Black. Unfortunately, her constitution is not suited for the Pitch Black Heart Method. If you want her to carry out missions with you, you can only give her the Necromancy Grimoire from within your body. Through certain means, I can make her suitable for using magic. However, a mage is a mage, after all; there is a certain level of danger when executing missions, and she will have only offense but no defensive capabilities. You two should consider it."

Heming was still pondering, but Rie spoke first. "I have already thought it through. I am willing to become a mage!" Her tone was firm. Yes, even though it was in Japanese...

Mingli stood up and said, "Very well. Heming, endure for a moment; separating the Grimoire from your body will cause you some mental strain."

Several hours later, Rie completed the transformation of her constitution.

If Heming did not possess the power of replication, or rather, if he did not have the Necromancy Grimoire, this transformation would have been meaningless. In truth, Mingli had explained it quite clearly to Heming...

The Necromancy Grimoire had been transferred from Heming's body to Rie's. As Heming left, Mingli told him that if he wanted to protect Rie's safety, he should have her go on fewer missions. Rie now belonged to Pitch Black, but because she could not practice the Pitch Black Heart Method, she could only be an auxiliary member. Every official member of Pitch Black was allowed to bring a few auxiliary members on missions.

Rie practiced her magic control while Heming looked up at the sky, not knowing what he was contemplating. In his hand, he held the Magic Shield Generator that Qiming had given him when he left the office. Looking at Rie, who was engrossed in her practice, he didn't know whether to smile or...

Rie's practice session ended. Due to her special constitution, Rie could only practice magic at a few specific times each day, though there was no limit to using magic, provided she had a medium.

Heming handed the Magic Shield Generator to Rie with one hand. "This is a mid-grade divine artifact. As long as you channel your magic power into it, it will automatically form a magic shield. The strength of this shield is ten times the amount of magic you pour into it. It is suitable for you to use right now; once you reach the level a proper mage should have, the artifact will lose its effect, but for now, there is nothing better to protect yourself with."

Rie took the Magic Shield Generator and wore it around her neck.

Several days later, Rie was finally able to begin physical practice. Heming collected a medium specifically for necromancer training from the item storage; this medium was crafted from pitch-black energy and could only be used for practice. As for using it in actual combat? Well, that was impossible.

Heming was spending a lot of time practicing the Pitch Black Heart Method lately, so he decided to stay behind and watch Rie practice. Even though he had already taught her everything he knew, he still felt a bit uneasy.

Her first attempt at summoning a skeleton was successful, though one could tell at a glance that the summoned skeleton was incapable of combat. Surely, it should at least be a complete skeleton? The skeleton Rie summoned for the first time didn't even have legs and could only crawl on the ground. Heming ran over and dispersed the energy skeleton; skeletons summoned using energy like this would vanish the moment they were touched.

Rie was currently only a magic apprentice, and the magic power she possessed was less than one-fifth of Heming's. She could only attempt to summon a skeleton once, after which she needed to rest for a period of time before she could conduct a second practice session.

Although the dedicated training grounds could increase the speed of magic recovery, Rie was not a mage after all. She could not yet use meditation to restore her magic power and had to rely on sitting and waiting.