Yang Zexian’s words echoed in the clearing. The shadow figures surged forward in an endless tide of darkness. Bright purple intermixed shining from their hatred filled eyes. They sought to destroy her, bring her great misery and pain.

Xinyi jumped back. Her jaw tight and Qi bubbling to be used. It begged her to be brought out in her defense, like it had a life of its own. But she was a soldier.

Not a warrior.

A knight with a fucking brain.

And more importantly, her Ancestor watched over her. There was nothing to fear, nothing could shake her foundation. She could not feel the prickling sensation of anxiety. Hu Xinyi could fight to her hearts content and knew that she would be alright in the end. Even against a foe so much stronger.

Xinyi also wanted to impress him. To make all the resources he had already used to be worth it.

She didn’t wait a moment until a plan clicked into her mind. Her strengths and weaknesses were glaring to her after years of fighting and fending for both her and Shui. Xinyi’s greatest asset was her speed, agility, and grace on the battlefield. She would use it to her advantage against the lumbering shadows that had no thought.

The shadows lunged at her. Just a mass of anger clawing with swords and spears.

Her movement technique sang aloud as she dodged and danced through the maelstrom of blades, teeth, claws, and Qi. The world seemed to slow as she reached a state of perfection. A feeling of everything flowing seamlessly.

Every parry, somersault, twirl, and roll was timed before she could think. Xinyi moved like a floating leaf against heavy laborious strikes. A butterfly.

All to reach the moment she had built up too. Xinyi had led them on a chase and had out flanked them. She burst out of the trees, the fog somehow always clearing before her and the shadows, and into the clearing they had been moments ago.

Right above Yang Zexian.

She fell with precision. Eyes wide to counter anything thrown her way.

Xinyi’s smile was wide. The joy of the hunt, the battle drove her forward. The way Zexian turned late to her presence only caused her heart to soar. He moved in slow motion. Turning as she burned through Qi to speed up tearing through the air around them.

She powered her wooden blade. Prepared a short distance blast of Sword Qi. It was the most she could accomplish with a gaseous core, but it was more than any she had ever met at her stage.

Xinyi swung her blade a few feet early. It cut through the air and missing Zexian, but that was the plan. He had dodged the trajectory of her blade. And she had used it to summon that Sword Qi. Launched a second after.

She caught him. The shadows did nothing to help him. The overwhelming advantage turned into a crutch. Xinyi started to laugh as the Qi reached him, just a bit too high on his face, but it should tear right through. Killing–

The Qi struck. Zexian was thrown backwards. Xinyi stopped in her tracks and stared.

The large gash on his face leaked blood. But he got up. Slowly he rose. Power pulsing through his body. More than she could have imagined. Enough to match the Bandit Lord. An Immortal Realm cultivator.

His left eye burned in hatred, the right covered in blood. She had barely missed it.

The tide of shadows reached her. Crashing into her form. She was thrown a great distance away, her body only stopping because she crashed into a massive tree trunk.

Xinyi grunted. The wind knocked out of her. Her back arched at the pain. Eyes wet from tears.

“Bitch.” Zexian growled. “You’ll never die. Let your soul suffer.” His voice was distorted. Like an otherworldly beast had taken over his physical shell.

Xinyi forced herself to stand. She looked up to see Zexian covered in black miasma. Only his eyes could be seen. She spat out a tooth not worried about it. It would grow back with enough healing and Qi Circulation.

It was her life that could not be salvaged if she didn’t find a way to escape or…

The wind whispered into her ear. She could almost hear its distinctly feminine words with clarity. But not enough. She knew what it wanted, but Xinyi could not bring herself to grab the blade and actually use it. Her ancestor had made it clear this was a last option, and she was not out of them yet.

Zexian threw a spear of darkness, his figure growing larger. She lunged. Dancing past what could have been an endless stream of darkness surging from Zexian.

Xinyi tried to circle around again, but found no opportunity. Zexian was wiser after nearly losing half his face. She tried to sneak past a few strikes, but a wall of sharp shadows would surge any time she got too close.

She kept going, the moment she stopped, he would catch her.

But she was getting desperate.

This was the difference between a Gaseous cultivator and a Liquid cultivator. The sheer weight and amount of Qi available to them outclassed the former. It wasn’t even close. She knew quite well that if not for her Ancestor’s boost physically, she would have already died.

“Wield me, Fucking Tramp!”

Xinyi tripped. Crashed into the brush. The wind had screeched into her ears, startling her. She tried to jump up and out of the way of the shadows but was too late.

It caught her leg. Threw her across the forest and chased after her freefalling form. It surged over her, pummeling her. She did her best to fight with her wooden sword. Every three cuts she blocked, one would make it through.

They were adding up quickly.

Xinyi could not tell how long she struggled. Or when she started screaming for her Ancestor’s help. Or when she gave up asking for his presence.

She was covered in blood, a thousand cuts indeed. Her core had gone dry long ago. Every ounce of her Qi had been burned, threatening to crush her very foundation. Her haggard breath and shaking body only accentuated the situation.

Zexian stared from a distance. He looked tired, but nowhere near how exhausted she was. His face, covered in dried blood as the wound had already stopped bleeding, had a grin as wide as the laceration.

He sauntered towards her in a sedated pace. A whip in hand, cracking every few steps on the ground.

“Use my power. This world will cry at your finger tips. Never would an insect as weak as this dare to stand before my leviathan aura. Wield my power–”

“I don’t fucking know how!” Xinyi screamed.