"Not bad....eh?" Hao Xuan mumbled satisfactorily but when he tried to move, his body wouldn't budge an inch.
"Baracus, what's going on?"
"Well, a fair few things," he replied awkwardly, "It seems I may have underestimated the stress using the nanotech puts on your body."
Hao Xuan raised an eyebrow curiously, "How so?"
"When you used that last move with 100% power, over 130 bones in your body fractured at once. Most are hairline and should be fixed within half an hour but both your legs and feet have more than 15 major fractures. Also, all the ligaments on the lower limbs were severed."
"...."
Hao Xuan was at a complete loss for words. That was all caused by stress?
"Wait, why don't I feel anything?"
"I'm blocking your pain receptors so you don't feel any pain. Would you like me to stop?"
".....N-No," Hao Xuan stuttered, "Just start the healing process. Redirect them however you want to and fix it."
"Alright. You won't be able to move from this spot for few minutes though."
"Yeah, I assumed as much. Go ahead," he helplessly waved his hand with a sigh.
Seeing as the fight had finished, Henrik and company jumped down from the other side and approached him.
Henrik was covering his mouth with a handkerchief with stepping over the pieces of flesh and guts that were plastered all around the insides of the small valley.
"Well, that was....something..." he mumbled with a disgusting expression after accidentally stepping into a puddle of blood.
Hao Xuan was of course standing still, trying to move as little as possible.
"Yeah, but I overdid it a little bit and broke a few bones. Can't move until it's healed. Cover me for a while."
"Yes yes, that's what I'm here for," Henrik replied apathetically while trying to clean his shoes.
Fulke, Jin Wang, and Hazel were scrounging through the innards of the beast looking for something. Hao Xuan didn't bother to ask. He could feel himself getting weaker by the second as his blood essence level dropped continuously.
The nanotech were still machines and even though they could accomplish a lot of things, they still required energy for each action. And this energy came from his own blood so every time he used them, he would have to pay for it with blood, literally.
It would leave him weak and powerless after the fact so it came with its own price. Not to mention that simply using one technique with full 100% power basically turned his lower body to mush. If not for the nanotech, he would not even be able to stand.
Hao Xuan let out a helpless sigh.
"With great power comes a great cost....huh?"
He suddenly remembered the other spectators that were watching his fight and looked to the right.
"Oi, come down here you two," he yelled, startling Tao and Naim who were about to retreat back into the woods.
They exchanged glances with one another and knew that he if wanted to catch them, there was no way they would be able to run away.
The duo made their down to the valley and carefully approached Hao Xuan. Henrik had moved far away on a spot that didn't have any viscera around it while the other three were still poking around the beast's innards, trying to put it back together for some reason.
"H-Hello," Tao bowed from the waist as soon as stood in front of Hao Xuan. Beads of sweat trickled down both their foreheads but Naim seemed to be doing much better than him.
Hao Xuan was exuding a faint pressure without even realizing it. It was so minute that to other cultivators it would be nothing but to these two it weighed down on their shoulders like a mountain.
"What are you doing here?" Hao Xuan asked casually. He was just curious and had no other meaning behind it but the duo took it as the start of an interrogation.
"R-Replying S-Senior, we were j-just out looking for some food when he heard some noises and decided to investigate. We r-really didn't mean to i-intrude!" Tao replied weakly, barely able to stand straight.
Naim looked at the nonchalant expression on Hao Xuan's face and knew he couldn't care less about them or their story.
He stepped forward, getting Hao Xuan's attention.
"Can I take some blood?"
"Hmm? Of what?"
"The dragon."
"Dragon?" Hao Xuan's brows scrunched up in confusion.
"What dragon?"
"The one you just killed," he replied looking around him.
Henrik who was listening in from the side couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"You think that little thing was a dragon?? And that HE killed it?" Henrik didn't know what was funnier. The fact that the kids thought the mutated alligator was a dragon or that Hao Xuan killed it alone, like THAT.
"Hahahaha," he grabbed his stomach and almost fell down laughing.
Hao Xuan's eyes narrowed to slits as he spewed obscenities through his eyes. He then looked towards the two teens, "I thought you were looking for food. Why do you want the beast's blood?"
Tao was about to make up another excuse but Naim stepped forward and explained everything.
Hao Xuan couldn't help but chuckle, "Sure take all the blood you want. Take the rest too if you need it. I was just using it as a test," he replied casually and left them to their own devices.
As they were leaving Hao Xuan stared at Naim's back with a complicated expression.
"Looks like that thing will be showing itself soon....."