[Last Emperor] Chapter 11 - Winning Indirectly, but winning anyway (Patreon)

Tao Zi had made a massive gamble. It was that simple. All in the hopes it would work and give him enough time to escape. But that was the issue, he had no idea if it would work how he thought it would. He could only pray in his mind for success. 

Tao Zi prayed. Harder than he had ever in his life. Drenched in sweat as he dodged another haymaker that would have cut him in half without any difficulty. All of Zarfu’s attempt were getting closer and closer to hitting their target. The air screamed every time it swung with every ounce of power in its body, large muscles bulging in effort. It grunted and face scrunched too. 

Red eyes locked onto him no matter how he tried to get away. 

At this point it was impossible to escape. The thing was too close. If Tao Zi tried to turn his back for even a moment, he would get obliterated. Cut in half quicker than he could react. Zarfu would not miss that perfect opportunity. 

Fuck! When is it going to show up?! I’m fucking exhausted!

He had never had to push himself this far. His robes were dripping from how much he had sweat into them. Through two layers of clothing. Legs burned worse than any workout he had ever done so far. Even his arms, shoulders in ways he hadn’t even known possible, and back were killing him with every Qi infused swing. 

Zarfu looked the exact opposite. As though he had no end to its font of endurance. No matter how many times Tao Zi cut it. No matter how much green blood covered its entire body from the hundreds of cuts that covered it. Nothing slowed it down even slightly. 

Tao Zi was confident that the thing was speeding up. 

Like everything he had gone through, the chase and the fight were all nothing but a warm up to it. 

Zarfu shook his head again. Those were the moments Tao Zi was taking advantage of to score himself some damage without having to worry about a counter attack. The underwear’s odious smell affected the enhanced senses of the orc. It didn’t matter that Zarfu was trying to hide it, it had to re-up the smell to its wrist wrap. 

The same one Tao Zi had cut and got a hold of during the battle. He sent it to his ring. Removing the one source of counter to its disadvantage in the clearing. Now, Zarfu had a few moments, not more than a second, where he almost looked stunned. Stepping back and shaking his head. Unable to react.

He took advantage again. Charging ahead and getting low, trying to get anything across the neck. Hoping that it would—

Zarfu snapped his head at Tao Zi. Its face moved in slow motion as it morphed into a triumphant smile. It was a trap. The world sped up. Tao Zi tried his best to dodge away from the massive axe to his left only to take a meaty fist to the face. Launching him a distance away. A full connection that squared him up perfectly. 

Tao Zi was stunned. Hurt. The world spun. His legs wouldn’t listen and his sense of balance was lost. He couldn’t stand. Any attempt to get up resulted in him face-planting. His face and side burned. 

The only reason he wasn’t dead from the sheer force was that Zarfu’s fist was too big. Getting a lot of Tao Zi’s shoulder on the way to hitting his face. The same shoulder that he suspected was now shattered. He couldn’t pick it up. Everything hurt so he couldn’t tell if it was flaring in pain or not. Locating where the suffering was felt impossible. 

All he could say was that all of him hurt. Even his toes. 

He groaned as a shadow stood over his beaten body. Blurry eyes looked up to find the massive orc towering over him. It said something in its guttural tone. Laughing at him. Enjoying having almost broken him. 

Tao Zi's hands grabbed the hilt of his sword. Qi would not listen to him. Not even anything in his core. 

A fucking concussion?! 

He blanked for a second. Darkness took his vision and mind. Only for everything to snap back into reality a moment later. Tao Zi sat up like a lightning bolt. The world spun and his head felt like it was cracked, which it probably was. Skull damage to his cranium. 

Noise erupted around him as the sense came back. Tao Zi made the effort to stand up again. Still struggling to find his balance, but it was better. He looked around, blurry eyes starting to clear. He watched as Zarfu stood a distance away. Facing something else, his back to Tao Zi. 

Tao Zi leaned ever so slightly to see beyond the hulking orc. Only to see the goal of his plan arriving. Moments too late. Had it appeared just a bit earlier he would have dodged the literal concussion he received. CTE was not something he expected to deal with in a cultivation world. It seemed like such a distant impossibility considering no story ever mentioned it. 

He groaned. 

“Human. You are prize! Stay there! I won!” Zarfu said as it looked over its shoulder for a second. 

Tao Zi almost laughed at the orc. Prize? Stay there? Was it stupid? In what world would he just sit there when he had a perfect chance to escape. He turned and jogged out of the clearing. Zarfu shouted behind him. Cursing and yelling. Accusing him of having no honor and shame, but otherwise preoccupied with a far more deadly foe. 

A HellHound appeared. A rumbling roar escaped its maw of sharp teeth. Zarfu was forced to deal with it and let him escape. 

The act of jogging hurt Tao Zi’s head, but he pushed on anyway. He followed the trail of destruction that was Zarfu swinging his massive axe at him the entire chase until the clearing. It didn’t take long for him to retrace his steps. Reaching his cave. 

He didn’t even check for enemies. Walking up to the boulder. Struggling to open it and closing it. Walking straight to his bed, ignoring Tiger’s attempt to convince him to play a game of chase the Cat Yarn. Tao Zi popped a Spiritual Medicine Pill. Then sat there for a long moment. 

Feeling the warm energies coarse through him. 

Tao Zi could tell instinctively that the pill was too low level to do the job for his head injury. So he took three more. He wasn’t sure if that would have a negative effect, but he honestly didn’t care at this point. He had almost been crushed like a bug just a few seconds ago. His first true life and death battle. One that he technically won, but not unscathed.

He cursed the orc. Hoping the HellHound ate it for lunch and kept some of its body for dinner too. 

The system pinged him. 

Battle Concluded!

Defeated Zarfu - Orc-oid Warrior 

Total Rewards - 

23 Qi Exp

49 Body Tempering Exp

1 Spiritual Medicine Pill - Rank 2

Congratulations on your exceptional action!

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Congratulations on your exceptional action!

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Congratulations on your exceptional action!

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Tao Zi got a long string of notifications and a series of rewards that dropped around him. None of them except the one Spiritual Medicine Pill - Rank 2. It landed directly on his lap. It glowed a bright red, looking very ominous to Tao Zi. 

He didn’t care at this point any longer. He popped the pill into his mouth and cringed at the horrible taste. Taking a large gulp of water to wash down the horrible taste. He immediately felt the large surge of energy that filled his body. Covering him head to toe, more importantly his skull and brain. Tao Zi doubted they had any brain and CTE specialist in this spacial rift pocket. 

The system pinged him again, asking if he wanted to start the process to break past his level cap and bottleneck. Mentioning that he had excess amounts of Qi Exp and Body Tempering Exp that would slowly disappear the longer he took to break through. 

Saving them was possible as long as he didn’t waste any more time. 

He knew there was no point in waiting any longer. Nor did he want to stay awake as his body ached and hurt everywhere. The plan had been to knock out asleep. Worry about everything else in the morning once he didn’t feel like a buffalo was currently having a head butting match with his brain. 

Clicking yes was the easiest decision he made so far. 

Tao Zi fell over on the bed immediately.

12h 39m 20s

12h 39m 19s

12h 39m 18s

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