Chapter 364: Fighters of the Underground

The Lawless Tower. The Shadow. The Darkness of Heaven.

So many names, so many titles, and so little information. The Dark Tower that united the Underground was an enigma wrapped in a mystery. To gain power, to observe power, there was no better place.

The closer he was, the deeper the runes became. The exterior was of obsidian black metal and reinforced with runes, symbols, and magic circles that had been carved from centuries ago. The Dark Tower’s jagged spires reached towards the cavernous ceiling of the Underground.

Houses and structures climbed on and connected to the Dark Tower, like desperate hands clinging. The highest of them reached up to floor fifty. Boxes stacked upon each other to this greater tower.

To enter the Dark Tower, one had to navigate heavily guarded checkpoints. The first line of defense was a barricade manned by burly guards clad in mismatched armor. They were not official. They were here because they wanted to gate-keep the Dark Tower. Many were on rooftops.

These were not guards. They were gangsters.

Kazi did not bother with Qi Sense. The moment he activated it, they would know. An unnecessary act for the time being. This flimsy attempt by the fighters from Floors 50-89 to exert their influence over the flow of people into the tower was pathetic. Dasha’s sharp eyes assessed what lay directly ahead of him. The group of burly fighters seemed more interested in intimidating passersby than maintaining any real order. Power-wise, Dasha guessed they were on the same level as the weakest of the Monster Hunters.

One of the gangsters, a broad-shouldered man with a scar running down his cheek, stepped forward as Dasha approached.

“Hold it right there,” the gangster barked. “Entrance fee’s gone up. Gotta pay to get through.”

Dasha met the gangster’s gaze head on, his expression unreadable. The lack of fear earned a glare. Dasha had no time for petty extortionists, but causing a scene here would only draw unwanted attention. He reached into his pockets and flicked out a few gold coins. The scarred gangster grinned, his teeth yellowed and crooked.

“Smart choice,” the gangster said, examining and whistling at the gold coins. “You can pass.”

Dasha did not bother to respond. He walked through the barricade, the fighters parting to let him pass. He could feel their eyes on him. This kind of nuisance was an unfortunate reality in the lawless expanse of the Underground. Everyone was looking. Everyone was hungry.

His OCD did order him to take those gold coins back someday though. Not today, maybe not even tomorrow, but some day.

Beyond the barricade, the path to the tower’s entrance was lined with vendors and hawkers, their stalls offering a variety of goods—enchanted weapons, potions, and magical trinkets. Every man and woman was a desperate soul or an opportunist. Fighters preparing for their matches, spectators placing bets, and merchants peddling their wares all contributed to the cacophony. The tower itself seemed to absorb the noise.

Like the Heavenly Tower, there was no singular entrance. The contrast lay in the method of entry. Though there were doors at the cardinal points, they were not magical portals. They were closed, double-doors of the same black metal that the Dark Tower was made from. On top of that, unlike the Heavenly Tower where each side could be easily accessed, here the Dark Tower blocked the space in between with the enormous, rising structures.

At ten, when the world became truly dark, the doors to the Dark Tower would open. They would remain open for twenty hours and then close for four hours.

As Dasha acquainted himself with his surroundings, there was a rumble. An unrelated incident was occurring. A minor shake erupted again, people pooped together, and mutters began to drum louder and louder.

“Someone messed with Princess Liuying’s servant!”

“Oh shit…”

He glanced over and saw a ring of people. ’A fight.’ Hands behind him, Dasha activated his Qi Sense and observed with keen interest. Here in this rush and chaos, it did not matter if he got caught or not.

He saw two women; one a blonde with black rags for clothes and the other in a fancy royal blue hanfu. The dragon imagery of the Imperial Sect on the hanfu was demonic.

’Must be a servant for Princess Liuying.’

His Qi Sense analyzed the servant’s movements, then went deeper.

The Imperial guard’s Qi and the way she moved suggested she was at the Peak Foundation Establishment. Her breathing was rhythmic and identical to the Tu Na breathing technique, yet distinct in its own right. The cleansing skill known as Tu Na Breathing described a practitioner drawing in the purified Qi of the natural world to replace the impurities within their body. It was a feat of great difficulty, requiring the body to naturally filter out clean Qi from the dirty, a process that was a matter of time rather than skill. Other cleansing skills, although he did not know them specifically, likely did merging of the pure and impure. Merging was not as efficient as replacing. Replacing came with the connotation and skill for the practitioner to inhale pure Qi and exhale the impure.

Hence why Tu Na Breathing was well known yet also advanced.

Some masters proclaimed that those who were capable of learning a cleansing skill in a short period of time were true prodigies with innate talent. It was what separated the ordinary talents from the extraordinary ones.

Her opponent, the blonde woman, appeared unremarkable at first glance. Her eyes were devoid of emotion. She wore simple, worn boots, clearly not crafted with any special care. She dodged and dodged, not doing much else.

To Dasha, that was what surprised him the most. The non-cultivator, the raggedy blonde, her footwork was phenomenal. She was gliding across the uneven ground.

The Imperial guard launched at the blonde, fists glowing with a aquatic blue light. She struck with the precision and power of someone who had spent years honing her craft and her element, drops of steel-like water flinging. But the blonde woman did not let a single drop taint her. A blur, she ducked under the swing and then avoided a roundhouse kick. The droplets of water kept flinging. Not one of them struck on the blonde.

“Is speed all you possess?” the Imperial guard taunted. “You dare to what offended the Imperial Sect with such lowly might!”

The blonde woman remained silent, her expression unchanged. Then, with a sudden burst of speed, she countered. Her leg shot out in a high kick, connecting with the Imperial guard’s jaw with a resounding crack. The guard stumbled backward, her confidence momentarily shaken.

A second kick struck her abdomen, then five more at her temple. The guard’s head cracked left and right, left and right. The absurd speed was one thing but the sheer damage output was another. There was no skill or elements involved. This was raw muscle and Qi.

Bam!

The guard managed to block a kick to the shoulder and recovered quickly. She lunged at her opponent again, but the blonde woman was already in motion. Her boots slapped her fist aside and delivered kicks to the stomach and shoulder with devastating force. She struck with such speed and precision that even Dasha’s Qi Sense struggled to keep up with her movements.

The ragged blonde used nothing but kicks. Her fighting style was pure and unadulterated, relying solely on the power and speed of her legs. Her kicks struck like lightning. Shoulder—bam! Chest—bam! Bicep—bam! A kick to the knees—and the guard buckled.

The blonde’s attacks landed with a resounding impact that echoed through the plaza. It was like nothing Dasha had seen before.

The guard, though at a level of cultivation above Dasha, was completely outmatched. She struggled to keep up with the relentless assault, her attempts to counter the kicks futile. With a final, powerful roundhouse kick, the blonde woman sent the guard crashing into a stall, unconscious and defeated.

The blonde’s kick returned to the ground, slow and without flaw. Dasha had memorized all of her moves. Without question, she was a one in a million talent. He couldn’t find a single flaw in her attacks. He couldn’t think of a better way to have attacked.

’She’s a pure kicker. Those boots aren’t enchanted in the slightest. It’s all her.’

The crowd erupted in murmurs, whispers and rumours spreading like wildfire.

“Did you see that?”

“She’s incredible!”

“Who is she?”

“Wait, I think I know…”

Dasha listened intently to the excited chatter around him. It seemed this blonde woman had been making a name for herself, climbing the ranks of the Dark Tower at an unprecedented pace. Rumor had it that she was on her way to reaching the fiftieth floor. According to Mùchén, this was a significant milestone that would grant her a private room and other privileges reserved for the elite fighters.

“I remember her name now! It’s Heidi of Old Blood and Guts.”

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