Martial research master

"You have got a lot of guts to try and extort me." The sect master said.

"Well, I know desperation when I see it. I believed that your disciples' life would be worth more than some measly treasures which are lying around in the sect treasury. It turns out I am correct. Congratulations to me for guessing it right." Li Meng said in a smug tone.

"Do you dare to take his life?' The sect master asked.

"Why wouldn't I? It isn't like he is the only one with backing. Am I correct old man?" Li Meng said while looking at the sky in the direction where the old man was standing.

For a short moment both the sect master and the grand elder were shocked to hear Li Meng's words. They never expected that a QI King would be able to detect the presence of Qi Monarch when they are hiding their presence. The old man sighed a moment later and appeared beside Li Meng.

"I hope the sect master won't sully her status by trying to bully my disciple." The old man said with a smug grin on his face.

"You have got the upper hand in the situation, but I won't be forgetting this matter. My disciple will return to claim his honor up."

"Your disciple couldn't even stand a chance against an attack I devised at the very moment. If I break through the Qi King level, I will crush him with a single finger." Li Meng said with a smile. It was a smile that showed how confident he was in his powers. " It is better if you could even get him to cultivate like he used too. I hope the dog can learn to bark again, or else he would just be a nobody in my eyes." 

Li Meng turned around and left. He didn't even care about giving the sect master a little bit of face.

"I would like to apologize for the rude behavior that the child has shown today. I will make sure to discipline him so that this mistake isn't repeated in the future." The old man said with a bow.

"He is speaking the truth. If Huangfu doesn't get over this defeat, it will become a demon in his heart which will halt his progress forever. He might never even be able to reach the emperor realm." The sect master looked concerned.

"He will get over it. He is the holder of the Battle-sage body. I hope I don't have to tell you the significance of his inheritance. He is going to surpass his father for sure." The old man said.

"Defeat isn't something which could be ignored. It is a learning point to hone your mistakes and make them your strength. Overwhelming defeat on the other hand is like mental trauma. It makes you feel helpless in front of a powerful opponent like Li Meng. No matter how hard you try, you aren't able to overcome the power-gap. It is a huge blow to both his confidence and moral stature."

"His confidence and ability to persevere through a situation comes from his mother. I am sure you know the ability perfectly." The old man said. "You have raised him to the best of cultivation standards. Let him walk his path. He needs to surf through this alone. Only he can decide the path to walk on. If you interfere like this, you will give a bigger blow to his confidence than the overwhelming defeat."

"I guess I will take your advice this time. Let's meet again during the Royal Road convention. I hope your disciple is going." The sect master said.

"He is going for sure. He is already capable enough to defeat normal low level Qi Emperors. Given his speed, he should be able to break-through the Qi Emperor level within months. I am going to reward him for his hard efforts. That should nudge his speed even further. I hope he can experience the world inside the road. It is required if he ever wants to walk the path of Monarch hood." The old man said.

"Huangfu has already reached the peak refining possible for his body to sustain while being in the QI King level. He is going to breakthrough as soon as he wakes up. Don't blame me if he comes to demand a re-match, and beats the shit out of your disciple." The sect master joked.

'Didn't you hear his words? He said he wasn't even trying that hard. He was holding back his power. I wouldn't have believed it before, but now, I choose to. He has too many secrets. If he says that your disciple wouldn't be a problem in the future, I choose to believe him." The old man said.

"I for one am hoping it to be a false claim." The sect master said. "You should go and check on his injuries."

.......

Li Meng's house-

Li Meng fell on the floor as soon as he reached the house. For some reason he could no longer control his body, and something was causing a lot of damage inside his body.

"Sit down and concentrate on your body. It is the battle-energy from the battle-saint body. That body is not known as one of the world's strongest natural bodies for no reason." If it were before, Li Meng would already be in his peak condition. That is the special ability he gained due to the world tree's ability. Yet the power of battle-saint was extremely violent and powerful.

It was even absorbing the energy inside of Li Meng's body while growing stronger and damaging even more body parts.

'So, this is the reason the battle-saint body gets stronger as the host gets injured, or with time. It consumes the natural energy through the wounds and processes it faster with time, getting stronger." Li Meng's interest was piqued. It was an incredible power to have. If he could learn the secrets of battle-saint body and inculcate me those abilities into hi sown body, he didn't know the heights his battle prowess could rise up to.

"Stay in your thoughts, and don't get distracted. Use the power of the artifact and your avatars to isolate and purge the energy. The energy is still within control. If you manage to consume any more of your energy and undergo some type of weird Chaos law mutation, you never know what might happen." The Keeper's words rang within Li Meng's brain.

He tried to encapsulate the entire energy contained within his body and slowly began to purge it out of his body.

. The battle energy was extremely violent and it was difficult even with Chaos law energy to control it. 

"How can it compete against Chaos energy?" Li Meng asked.

"Well, Battle energy by itself is quite a powerful form of energy. On the other hand, your Chaos law is at an infant stage. You need to grow stronger and seize way more energy from the world. It grows stronger with you. Eventually Battle Energy won't even make it to the list of powers that can affect you." The Keeper said.

"There are enough powers that can affect Chaos laws that they made a list." Li Meng said in a shocked voice.

"There are so many things you don't know. I will make you aware of the list when you grow strong enough or you manage to encounter those type of energies." The Keeper said.

Li meng decided to drop the topic.

"Can we conserve this energy so that we can study it?" Li Meng asked.

"I can save you a sliver, but it will eventually run out. You need to replenish it with more battle sage energy." The Keeper said.

"I guess we will have to visit Huangfu Hongue again sometime in the future." Li Meng said.

"Junior brother, are you inside?" Ren Wang's voice sounded outside his house. Li Meng rushed out, and greeted Ren Wang.

"From the looks of it, you are alright. Master has asked me to call you in for a conversation. You need to follow me." Ren Wang said. 

"What does that old man want from me now?" Li Meng said to himself.

The duo made it back to the old man's hut. Li Meng saw the old man and Ren Dao standing beside him. The old man signaled to the duo to take a seat.

"Since you have managed to touch the boundary of the Qi Emperor level, it is time for you to learn about some things." The old man said. "Do you know the difference between a Qi King and a Qi Emperor?" The old man asked Li Meng.

"QI King is someone who has connected with the laws, while Qi Emperor is someone who has managed to inculcate those laws into his body by refining it with them." Li Meng replied.

"That is right. To become a Qi Emperor, you need to refine your body with law energy and give rise to a law-body. The greater the number of laws your practice with, the greater the number of energies which will refine your body, and hence greater will be your strength." 

"Do you know the difference between a QI Emperor and a Qi Monarch?" The old man asked.

"No, master." Li Meng said. This might be a great insight into the road of cultivation.