In his previous battle with the Blood Bakshis more than two years ago, Aksai had received the Blood Fiend Creation manual.
The problem with the Blood Fiend Creation manual was that it was crafted while skipping the basics of the Blood Bakshi Arts.
It was as if the Blood Fiend Creation manual he had received was only a small part of a much larger cultivation art.
His neural link fabric also needed more data to run sandboxing tests on the Blood Bakshi Art.
As such, Aksai couldn’t start his experiments during the last two years.
Aksai was very interested in blood fiends. He wanted to fuse the Blood Fiend Arts and Scarecrow Puppet Arts to create a brand new form of puppeteering technique.
Targeting someone like Zen, who seemed very knowledgeable about the Blood Bakshi Arts in general, was an ideal target for Aksai to finally fill in the missing blanks and start the fusion process.
Zen realized too late that it was not him targeting Aksai but the other way around. It was Aksai who had led him here with the sole purpose of robbing the part of Blood Bakshi Arts he had in his possession.
However, it was too late to back away.
Zen didn’t think that he would be on the losing end against Aksai anyway. Not only did he have profound experience as a veteran late-stage Spirit Refiner, but he also had a numerical advantage in the form of four blood fiends.
As such, Zen charged at Aksai while making the four blood fiends close in on his opponent from various directions.
Swoosh. Zoom. Clash.
Aksai clashed with Zen, and the swords of the two Spirit cultivators clashed with each other in the middle.
Sparks flew, and a peculiar form of Spiritual pulse was released by both the swords as the two empowered their attacks with their Spirit essence.
At the same time, before the blood fiends could attack Aksai from multiple directions at the same time, a group of scarecrow puppets appeared and intercepted them.
These were Aksai’s puppets, which had managed to prevent the blood fiends from getting in Aksai’s way.
The Scarecrow puppets could be deemed weaker when compared to the blood fiends. However, they appeared much more intelligent and were in complete control of their battle moves.
With Aksai acting as their leader, the scarecrow puppets could coordinate their actions as if they were part of a team. Almost like real Spirit cultivators.
Just like the blood fiends, the Scarecrow puppets also lacked souls. However, their honed primal instincts were refined and perfectly controlled using the Essence Equations embedded within them.
Moreover, Aksai had summoned 8 Scarecrow puppets to deal with the 4 blood fiends. The goal was simple: overwhelm the blood fiends with numerical advantage. If Zen could think of overpowering his enemies with the number game strategy, so could Aksai.
The blood fiends were individually stronger than the scarecrow puppets. However, they struggled to overcome their opponents quickly. They were forced to engage with the Scarecrow puppets that Aksai had summoned at the last moment to keep Zen isolated.
***
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Meanwhile, Zen felt overwhelmed by Aksai’s ferocious moves.
He realized too late that his opponent was a body cultivator. The backup he expected in the form of the blood fiends failed to arrive, leaving him to face Aksai alone in close combat, a skill in which he was not very proficient.
Zen had summoned his blood fiends to create some space for himself, allowing him to cast Spirit spells against Aksai and swiftly defeat him. However, he had not anticipated Aksai’s possession of puppets.
As their swords clashed, various questions raced through Zen’s mind about Aksai. The bronze aura surrounding him puzzled Zen, as did Aksai’s ability to control eight puppets simultaneously.
The Lian Flying Sword held by Aksai was not his only weapon. As a proficient body cultivator skilled in various martial arts, Aksai’s entire body seamlessly accommodated his sword attacks and other agility-based movements.
[ Qi Flow Arts ]
[ Qi Palm Arts ]
With the grace of the Qi Flow Arts and the precision of his Qi Palm Arts, Aksai struck Zen repeatedly with his free hand while their swords remained locked in deadlock.
Aksai had to admit that Zen Pewlu was far more experienced in battling other Spirit cultivators. Probably because the latter had been in a war-like state for more than two years.
However, Aksai easily overwhelmed Zen using the martial arts he had honed in Martial World Sharang.
The battle against Aksai did not go the way Zen wanted it to. He realized he had to do something to save his hide. A desperate gamble.
“You bastard, I will fu*cking kill you,” Zen charged at Aksai with newfound ferocity, preparing to cast a Spirit spell.
But before the effects of the spell could manifest, Aksai leaped toward him with force. He spun on his left heel, narrowly dodging Zen’s attack. Gripping Zen’s shoulder, Aksai used his momentum to get behind him.
Before Zen could react, Aksai seized both of his shoulders. The Lian Flying Sword flew at the last second to lodge itself in Zen’s right thigh, immobilizing him.
With his right leg infused with Bronze Qi, Aksai initiated the Qi Flow Arts, transforming his smooth legs into muscular pillars.
Facing Zen’s back, Aksai twisted his arms and used them to pull him closer. Simultaneously, he launched a kick at Zen’s back, driving his leg through his torso.
Zen’s back contorted into a reverse C shape for a split second before collapsing entirely.
Swoosh. Zoom. Pierce.
Aksai’s sudden attack shattered Zen’s rib bones and rib cage, forcing his heart out of his chest. Aksai’s leg, red and muscular, emerged from the other side of Zen’s back.
“You…” Zen’s voice trembled with fear before Aksai withdrew his leg, causing Zen to fall face-first. Moments later, Zen’s breath ceased, and the blood fiends lost their animation.
“Well, that was surprisingly easy. I guess there’s always an opening when casting Spirit spells. Hehe, that’s the advantage of martial arts,” Aksai mused, examining his blood-soaked leg. Some of Zen’s heart tissue and veins were also coiled around his leg.
The skirmish may have appeared lengthy to those engaged, but Aksai dispatched Zen in less than a minute. Had he not been intrigued by testing his martial prowess, the Spirit farmer might have ended the bout even more swiftly.
With a deliberate halt to his qi flow, Aksai reverted his leg to its unimposing state.
Getting rid of the blood and tissue away using a simple wind-element Spirit spell, Aksai glanced greedily at Zen’s storage ring.
He hoped that he could find something interesting related to the Blood Bakshi Arts. Especially the basics.
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AN: Aksai obtains the Blood Fiend Creation manual in chapter 59.