Author's Note: Hi all! Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays and merry Christmas Eve!

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“Can you still fight?” Qian Yu asked Sun Hong. 

“Yes, I’m fine,” Sun Hong nodded. Taking a closer look at her, Qian Yu noticed she seemed to be completely normal. Her breathing had already readjusted to normal and from her attire, it appeared that she didn’t even take any damage against her opponent.

“Jia’er can you stay with Zhen Yue and the rest? Zhao Xieren is not in the best state and the soldiers are all tired,” Qian Yu turned to Bai Jia. Her face was full with beads of sweat and her eyes seemed a little distant. Additionally, her clothing was a bit tattered and a few small wounds were seen on her body. 

“What do you plan to do?” Bai Jia didn’t immediately agree.

Qian Yu looked towards the few explosions happening nearby before giving her his answer, “I’m going to clear up the nearby area and also see if there’s a clear way we can go to leave the city. At the same time, we could also save some soldiers. Maybe see if there’s a path to leave the city as well. You’ve already fought against 2 Martial Fighters so you should rest. I’ll go with Sun Hong.” 

“... That’s fine. Stay safe,” Bai Jia looked at the two of them.

“You too. The stone works both ways, right?” Qian Yu pulled out a stone. It was the same one Bai Jia had given him over a month ago. A rather simple type of communication stone, it 

“Ah, yes, it does. I almost forgot about that. I’ll activate it in case something happens,” Bai Jia hurriedly took out her own stone and channeled her qi into it. 

“Alright, it works,” Qian Yu felt the stone glow and radiate a small amount of qi.

“Let’s set off now,” Qian Yu bid goodbye and started running off with Sun Hong. 

“Which way should we go?” Sun Hong asked Qian Yu. 

“I left a group of soldiers 15 minutes south to rest up previously. We need to go pick them up,” Qian Yu said. 

Yet a minute had barely passed before Tian Xinyi suddenly spoke up, ‘There’s some fighting nearby! Should we go check it out?’ 

‘Where? How far away is it?’ Qian Yu stopped running and looked around. 

‘A few minutes east from here,’ Tian Xinyi replied. 

“Something wrong?” Sun Hong asked.

“Xinyi said there’s a battle nearby,” Qian Yu changed his direction and started running. 

“Really? I can’t sense it,” Sun Hong frowned. 

“Yeah, her senses are pretty strong. Probably because they are spiritual beasts so it’s a little different,” Qian Yu assumed. 

“Mmm, they are also approaching our way. It seems to be a Martial Fighter chasing down a soul foundation cultivator,” Sun Hong replied. 

The explosions continued to occur more frequently as they closed in. Before long, a figure could be seen. Flashes of light could be seen from the small figure as he shot them backwards, causing more explosion as he ran. 

As they got closer, he noticed a familiar face. “That is Jiang Hai?” Qian Yu accelerated his speed.

“You damn rat!” A loud voice accompanied a woman who flew out from the smoke. 

“Spinning Tornado Blade!” Strong winds began to circulate around her sword. As a tornado formed, she swung her sword at Jiang Hai. 

*Whoosh!* As the tornado approached Jiang Hai though, another quick glow appeared before a small barrier quickly formed around him. 

*Boom!* Like a ball, Jiang Hai was sent rolling away, towards Qian Yu and Sun Hong.

“Asura Swift Steps!” A dark red hue zoomed past Qian Yu and Jiang Hai. With her bright red bloody sword in her hand, Sun Hong quickly slashed at her enemy.

“Tch!” The woman held up her sword as she met Sun Hong’s blow. 

Meanwhile, Qian Yu ran to Jiang Hai. From afar, he couldn’t notice the details but up close, he could see the severity of Jiang Hai’s wounds. 

“Q-Qian Yu…” Jiang Hai muttered weakly as he tried to get up. Yet with his bruised body, he lost his foot and stumbled.

“Don’t worry. That Martial Fighter won’t bother us anymore,” Qian Yu quickly caught him and pulled him up. 

“T-thank you… you guys saved me,” Jiang Hai turned his neck as he got a glimpse of Sun Hong fighting in his peripheral vision.

They walked a few steps yet Jiang Hai lost his footing again. “Let’s find somewhere to rest,” Qian Yu kicked away some rubble by the side of the street and placed a small sheet before laying Jiang Hai down.

“I need to go help,” Qian Yu left as he helped Jiang Hai down. Turning his head away, he looked towards the battle between Sun Hong and the unknown Martial Fighter. It was his first time seeing Sun Hong fight in a serious battle with the bloody red greatsword, but it was a completely one sided battle. A legendary grade weapon, it seemed like the regular sword Sun Hong was fighting against was no match for it. 

“Tch, what a strong sword! Unending Cyclones!” Swirls of wind shot forward at Sun Hong. 

“Blade Counter!” Sun Hong stood still and held her greatsword up as the cyclones approached her. As they arrived, she swung her blade, dispelling the attack but only to see the Martial Fighter run away. 

“Not again!” Sun Hong bit her lips and started chasing after her. 

“Now Xinyi!” Qian Yu called out as a large bolt of purple lighting appeared from Tian Xinyi who was by his side. Reaching the Martial Fighter running away, they turned into a bizarre arrangement, similar to a cage, obstructing her path. 

“Spinning Tornado Blade!” A shocked expression shortly appeared on her face before she attacked the cage of lightning. 

*Bam!* a crack appeared, making an opening for her as she flew out. 

“Asura Destroying Slash!” Yet the few seconds was enough for Sun Hong to catch up. Falling like a meteor from the sky, she crashed into the Martial Fighter and sent her shooting downwards. Her crash stirred up a large amount of dust yet just afterwards, arcs of lightning fell from the sky continuously for a few breaths of time.

As the dust settled out, a bent and charred figure could be seen from the giant crater in the ground. 

“Phew, not this time,” Sun Hong smiled as she returned to the ground. Heading to the body, she made sure it was dead before taking the storage ring.

“That was pretty easy and quick?” Qian Yu was expecting a harder and longer fight but instead, it had ended pretty fast. 

“Yes, most of my fights have been like this. Against other close combat fighters, they are usually no match for me, either because their fighting style has too many issues or I overpower them with my strength. Fortunately, this one didn’t get away,” a honest smile appeared on Sun Hong’s face. 

Nodding, Qian Yu returned to Jiang Hai. Even though Qian Yu wasn’t by his side, Qian Yu was sure Jiang Hai had been watching the whole time. “Who is she? She’s really strong,” an envious countenance appeared on his face. 

“My friend? Mmm, lover I guess,” Qian Yu answered back. 

“... I see,” Jiang Hai sighed before muttering, “if only I was that strong… I could protect her.” 

His quiet words fell onto Qian Yu’s ears though. “With time you will eventually be a Martial Fighter,” Qian Yu gave him a light pat on the back. 

Jiang Hai sighed and shook his head before saying, “Anyways, I will remember this.”

“It’s nothing, we are friends right? It’s only normal to do this,” Qian Yu couldn’t help but smile seeing the grateful kid. 

“I’m more curious about how you fought the Martial Fighter for so long though?” Qian Yu oddly looked at the kid.

“I just fought her with a bunch of talismans and artifacts. Over my years as a prince, I had saved up about 10,000 spirit stones but I pretty much had to burn everything to get away from her,” Jiang Hai explained with a straight face. 

“W-what!?!” Qian Yu stopped in place as he turned around and looked at Sun Hong who had the storage ring in her hands. 

Similarly, Sun Hong froze in place as she looked down onto the ring she had just retrieved. She was a Martial Fighter as well but that didn’t mean she was rich. With practically no methods of generating income, she was as broke as Qian Yu. Simply hunting spiritual beasts at the common and uncommon grades was useless and rare grade spiritual beasts were hard to find.

“Should we check our loot right now?” Sun Hong looked at Qian Yu. 

The two gave each other a long stare as they swallowed. “Ahem, now is not the time for that. Let’s check it later. I believe Bai Jia had gotten one earlier as well. We can look at our loot after the situation has settled down,” Qian Yu held his curiosity back. 

Yet as he said that, a large explosion reverberated from the direction of True Ice Manor. Turning their heads towards the center of the city, they saw that the inner barrier had broken with a plumes of smoke and dust filling the sky. 

Qian Yu’s gaze turned serious as he watched the ongoing explosions in the distance. “We don’t have much time, let’s hurry up,” he looked at Jiang Hai and Sun Hong.