Yin Long heard a creaking sound from behind them just as they started to run again, the low sound quickly followed by the thunderous sound of something massive tearing through the air.
"...A Province Emperor really is something else..."
Fang Yau's voice reached Yin Long before he could warn the others about what was coming, he had evidently been keeping an eye on their rear. Yin Long hadn't turned his head, he didn't need to, but he completely agreed with Fang Yau. He didn't even want to think about how quickly they would all have been killed if Starblood's actual body was here, or even if he wasn't being stopped by the Warden right now.
The thing tearing through the air right now was a tree, one of the gargantuan trees that filled this forest. Starblood had used his Qi to break it down even as he was being pushed back by their earlier defence. The tree fell at a slightly awkward angle so he was probably controlling its trajectory with his Qi, forcing it to fall directly towards them.
The trees in this forest really were gargantuan, easily requiring several full-grown men to hold hands just to circle them. From below they looked like pillars supporting the heavens, having one fall towards you made you feel as if a tsunami was rushing towards you. Yin Long put away his cyan blade and prepared to bring out the golden sword again, but Fang Yau stopped him ahead of time.
"Save your energy. I didn't come alone, I brought another helper. She should be catching up quickly, I just had to rush ahead when Xiao Yin Yu notified me of how the situation changed. Change our course slightly to the east, it'll take us two more seconds but it'll be worth it to meet up."
Fang Yau was keenly aware of their situation. The next 51 seconds, or rather 53 if they diverted their course, would determine life and death for them. They all needed to conserve as much energy as possible, having Yin Long deal with such a massive tree just because he had a fire-element sword would be a great waste of his energy, especially when he was using doping that could run out at any moment if he wasn't careful.
Yin Long understood the logic in Fang Yau's statement so he changed course slightly, the entire group following him as they moved. But as he changed direction and rushed forward, he allowed himself a moment to think, and at that moment he understood the truth. After all, just who would be foolish enough to follow Fang Yau to a scene like this?
"No... She can't come here!"
His eyes snapped to the east, clenching his teeth. But it was already too late, two seconds was simply far too short of a moment to stop anything. Golden light came rushing through the trees to their east, a horrendous heat washing over them as incandescent flames rose into the air and latched onto the descending tree.
The flames were far worse than any normal fire, far more dangerous as they roared with power. The wood was scorched practically immediately, turning to ash on the wind. But while the fire faded, something crackled between the dancing ash. Lightning, arcs of golden lightning crackled between the ash, forming a net that seemed to cover the sky.
And that net descended on Starblood, who had already corrected his position and rushed forward again. As the net descended, the one responsible for it came rushing out from between the trees where the light had come from, Lang Huo's crimson hair adorned by flickering golden flames, her crimson greatsword clutched tightly in her grasp.
"How was the light? Much better than the dark, don't you think?
Her complexion was a bit pale due to how dire the situation was, but she still managed to smile when she arrived, still managed to joke around with Yin Long. She had sent him off to spend some time in the limelight, denying him the chance to hide his own glory. It was a race to the end of the competition, a battle to see who could shine brightest at the end. But what a shame it was that things had developed like this, what a shame that his first foray into the light would be cut short like this.
Yin Long heard Lang Huo's question, but he didn't give a response. His ears were perked and his eyes were wide open, all his senses locked on the energy manifestation that was looking somewhat absent-mindedly at the lightning net that was descending on him. And then he heard exactly what he feared he would.
"Everburning flames... And this... Celestial General Cao Shi Ye's Primal Lightning...?"
He had his suspicions in the past with how many people mentioned it, but his fear reached an entirely new level after Starblood recognized the golden flames that formed his sword. He was repeatedly mistaken for the Lord of Everburning Trees, but it was actually Lang Huo who had somehow managed to get the flames that symbolized this Netherworld warrior. And now Starblood had realized the exact same thing.
"Yin Long! Just how deeply are you trying to humiliate our lord!? Just how many pieces did you and Bai Xiang cut his soul into!? You even went as far as to implant it into a mere mortal?!"
Starblood's voice was louder than the falling tree had been, it rumbled through the forest with such force that the tree trunks groaned. He was just a manifestation of energy, but the veins on his face bulged as he roared, his fury shaking the land. He was insulted, he was enraged, and he was filled with murderous rage. Yin Long could guess what would happen next, when powerful people like this were enraged they would always do the same, he knew because he had done the same. And because he knew, he could use the one second of time they had to prepare.
"He'll strike her. Even if it's only there for half a second, clear a path for me."
He muttered in a low voice, but it still reached those around him, the ones available quickly springing into action. Fang Yau and Yin Yu immediately stepped closer to Lang Huo and prepared their weapons, space in front of Lang Huo already twisting violently as Starblood approached in the strange manner that seemingly made space shrink.
Yin Long also got ready, bringing out a bottle from his interspatial ring. Rolling around within the bottle were three amber pills marked with the symbol of four wings folding around an eye. Wings of the Divine Soul, each one was a cultivation treasure formed using the blood of two separate soul-based Divine Beasts. Taking just one would give your soul an abundance of energy while also drastically speeding up your soul's perception of time and how quickly it acted.
To soul-based cultivators, there were only two or three resources that they would desire more, but those were so rare that you could only dream of ever even seeing one. Yin Long had only ever used these pills one at a time, they were extremely rare after all. But now, now it was a matter of life and death, and worst of all, it wasn't just a matter of his own death. So he opened the bottle and brought it to his mouth, swallowing all three pills at once.
He needed time right now. But above that, he needed more time than time could over. He couldn't allow his swing to be one second, it had to be less. He couldn't allow one second to be one second, it needed to be drawn out further. A move that could be done in one second needed to be done in half a second, when five seconds passed for him, only one could be allowed to pass for the world. If anything else happened then he would be too slow.
The world in front of him instantly slowed down as the pills dissolved in his throat, the crimson energy tinged with a bloody scent flooding his mind, overwhelming his soul. He gave himself to the energy, allowed his soul to dance within the crimson mist and seep out of his soulsea. And then he acted.
His world crumbled. He abandoned the forest around them, he gave up on the sky above them. The world crumbled, but he remained. The forest faded, the sky vanished, but he remained, his sword remained. Countless drops of water, particles of Qi, filled his tiny little world, that broken stretch of land that he hadn't abandoned. And in the water, he saw himself, reflected a million times over.
Starblood broke into that tiny world of his, arriving directly in front of Lang Huo, both his hands clenched together as they smashed towards her head like a hammer. He could interfere now. It would take Starblood half a second to reach Lang Huo's head, but it would only take Yin Long a quarter of a second to block him.
His heart beat in his chest, but the beat of his heart was shorter than a second. His soul controlled his sword, granting him a second longer than a second, a swing shorter than a second. But he didn't move. He wanted to, but he didn't. He chose to believe in the people that had gathered around him, the people he chose to trust. So he didn't move, he just opened both his hands and welcomed his weapons.
Fang Yau, Yin Yu, Lang Huo, the three of them acted together. The one they followed asked for an opening, no matter how small, so it fell to them to give him that opening. Lang Huo made the first move, pulling back her arms in an awkward manner so that she could swing her greatsword upwards in an arching manner. Her weapon rapidly approached the side of Starblood's clenched fists, wreathed in golden lights as fire and lightning danced to her tune.
Starblood changed the direction of his smash a little, tilting it so that it would crash into the edge of the blade. Offence as a defence, his main body would feel a bit of a backlash if the energy used to form this manifestation was torn away but it was a worthy sacrifice.
The fist met the sword, but there was no loud clang as they met. Lang Huo acted the moment they met, loosening her grip on the weapon and smashing her fist into the handle to abruptly push it upwards. The tip of the weapon tilted down as a result, the lowered base rising up as the entire weapon spun in the opposite direction. Starblood's fists, who were making contact with the weapon and had yet to unleash their gathered energy, slid along the blade as a result, deflecting away from Lang Huo.
But Lang Huo's move wasn't done yet, the handle she had smashed upwards crashed into Starblood's elbow, jolting it upwards enough to force his clenched hands to separate from each other. They kept most of their downward momentum, but they were no longer safely held together. She didn't know how much time Yin Yu and Fang Yau had spent with Yin Long, but if they had fought him just once then they would surely have learned something from his moves. Indeed, they would have learned the same thing she did, that was what she was banking on now.
And as she hoped, the two finished their moves just as Starblood's hands were separated. Fang Yau aimed for the left hand and Yin Yu aimed for the right, their swords rising in arching manners that snuck past Lang Huo's greatsword. Their blades hit Starblood's unguarded wrists, the veins on both of their hands bulging violently as they used all their might to push against those mountain-like wrists.
Their efforts were rewarded, the two hands that had been separated by Lang Huo's move separated even further, each following a different path as they were dragged along by the blades. Arching moves that used as little power as possible to deflect a descending attack, leaving an opening that someone fast enough could take advantage of. They had fought Yin Long, and they had learned. Now, now they just needed to trust in the man who asked for that half-second of time.
Yin Long had trusted, and his trust was rewarded with that small opening he asked for. It would take Starblood only half a second to restore his defences, even his manifestation body was that strong. But to Yin Long, half a second was more than just half a second. To his sword, his soul, half a second was longer than a second.
He grasped his weapons, two black swords now clutched in his hands. One was as dark as a black hole and the other was filled with what seemed like swirling darkness, both black, both different types of black. Devouring and Swallowing, similar yet different laws, similar yet different swords. He clutched them both, swung them both, and in that moment the two swords were swung with the same thought, resonated with the same emotion, each one tinged by a faint shade of yellow as that which was called the source of all pain tainted them.
A cold hand. A weak voice. It was raining that day, he could still hear the sound of the rain hammering against the window. His body was dripping wet thanks to the rain, he had rushed home after all. Was the hand colder or was the water dripping down his cheek colder? He couldn't quite tell, but in his heart, the hand was colder, it was like ice as it gently stroked his cheek.
How hollow he had felt that day, how empty his entire body felt. He was starved, not for food, but for love, for warmth. But that was just how emotions were, each was a mirror to another, and each could be felt like another. Yin Long felt sorrow that day, and this sorrow had taken the form of hunger, of starvation.
He thought about that day, that hunger. And he swung his sword with it. He wanted the world to know of that pain, of that hollow hunger, and he used his sword to impose it on the world, it was his nail to scratch the world.
One sword fell from above and the other rose from below, each one at a slight angle. One would cut through Starblood's neck from above and the other would dig in under his one and go out above his other shoulder, and at one point the two swords would meet. When you hungered, you would bite down on what you could find, when you starved you would chew even your own tongue if you could. And now, Yin Long's two swords became his mouth, and Starblood became the tongue he wanted to chew on.
Black light tinged with yellow radiated from the two blades. Swallowing and Devouring, both were laws that were quite suited to hunger, both could tell the tale of that pain. And as such, the might of the attack was raised, the pain of that starvation became all the more clear to the world. Esi, the Sword of Starvation, swung to bite down in that broken world where each second was longer than a second.
For the first time since his assault started, Starblood's expression changed to one that Yin Long could only describe as uneasy surprise. He had been caught off-guard by their attacks and defence earlier, but this was on a completely different level. No, this was something that shouldn't be brought out by kids like the ones in front of him, there shouldn't be a swordsman among them.
His Qi burst out as he reacted, a bit of blood leaking out from his mouth as the Warden took advantage of his momentary lapse of focus to attack his real body. His feet rolled back as he tried to jump back, as he tried to dodge a child's attack. Space shrunk as he moved, a metre of space violently getting compressed into half a metre and then quickly expanding again to facilitate his movements. Half a second, that was all he needed to completely dodge this move, thrown out by a fledgling that should be no more than an infant.
Yin Long saw it too. Half a second, that was all Starblood needed even after getting his defences thrown wide open and getting caught off-guard, in half a second, the closing maws of Esi would hit nothing but empty air. Even the lingering energy that would erupt from the blades wouldn't be able to reach him.
A second that was longer than a second, a swing that was shorter than a second, a heart beat that was shorter than a second. That was Yin Long's broken world right now, that was what allowed him to react in time, what allowed him to bite down to sate his hunger.
He had to give up on Starblood's neck. Starblood wouldn't be able to fully dodge in time even if Yin Long kept his current pace, but any damage he suffered would only be superficial, if he even suffered damage from the half-dodged attack. He moved his swords slightly, tilted them away from the neck and shoulder that presented itself.
His new target was the limb that trailed a bit behind the rest of Starblood's movements, the arms that had been deflected by the collective efforts of his companions. Those he would be able to hit with full force, they would not be able to dodge in time even if they were given that half a second.
One from above and one from below, each one a jaw, each one starving. They bit down on Starblood's right elbow, the black light radiating from them bursting out as they found something to sate their hunger. The light swallowed everything else, like a child greedily devouring everything it could get its hand on when it starved.
Yin Long heard a low growling in his crumbled world, the black light of Esi had probably had some effect on those around him. But right now wasn't the time to care about that. His feet moved before the black light had even faded from his vision, his crumbled world repairing itself slightly to expand a bit.
The others quickly followed him, although it seemed slow in Yin Long's senses. The attack had landed, but they knew that they still had to run, they still had to flee. There was no chance for them to win this fight, they couldn't beat even this manifestation that Starblood had brought down. No, victory to them was fleeing, that was all they could focus on now.
The black light faded before long, revealing Starblood as he stood there. His gaze was a bit grim as he looked down at his right arm, at the stump that remained there. Everything beneath the elbow was just gone, eaten up by the black light that made his stomach twist in pain. This was just a manifestation of energy, but the loss of energy still caused a backlash on his real body, he had to control this energy with his mind after all.
Honestly, the fact that the Warden had hurt him using the opening created by the backlash wasn't that bad. No, the worst thing about this was the fact that he had been wounded. He had allowed a child to wound him, a mere infant that had pretended to be his lord had wounded him. And it was in front of the entire world no less, everyone who saw this competition would have seen that, he would be the laughing stock of the entire world. How could he possibly face his lord and fellow compatriots with his head held high like this?
"Yin Long..."
His voice was dripping with hatred as he spoke, seething with disdain. Yin Long could hear it even as they ran, a chill unlike any other running down his spine. Starblood raised his remaining arm and pointed it at Yin Long's group, his energy seeping into the world.
Yin Long felt it before the others, the space around them folding and crumbling. A singularity had appeared in their midst, drawing in the surrounding space in a violent manner. And then he realized one of Starblood's laws. Gravity. A sphere of immense gravity had appeared in their midst and was drawing in all the space around them, he was trying to compress the entire area into a tiny marble to crush them all.
Yin Long grit his teeth until they felt like they were going to break, destroying this sphere of gravity would be hard, especially with how little time they had before it would crush them. Not impossible, but extremely hard, it was all a matter of what price they had to pay for it. But just as he was about to act, the situation changed.
He suddenly felt something sharp, it felt like thousands of blades were drawing across his skin. And then he heard a sound reminiscent of a scissor running through paper, a thin line appearing in the space between his group and Starblood. The gravity sphere was cut off, shredded by the sharp sensation that drew across his skin.
He could feel it from that line, from that sharp sensation. It was smiling. It was like a child opening presents on their birthday, their small knife tearing through wrapping paper as they received the gift they had asked for all year. It was so simple and childlike that it brought a smile to his face, he felt warm in his chest just looking at it. A swordsman, another swordsman had attacked.
A wound appeared on Starblood's body, going from the tip of his outstretched arm and all the way to his shoulder, spilling his energy like blood. Starblood's expression immediately distorted and sank, he knew that this wasn't something Yin Long's group could have launched, it was far too powerful.
"So someone's been hiding from the start, he? Can I take this as a sign that you're too scared to actually reveal yourself?"
He sneered as he spoke, if they attacked but didn't reveal themselves then they were probably too scared to make him their enemy, which should give him some room to chase them away with words. But there was no response from the surroundings. Well, no response to him at least. There was, however, someone talking to Yin Long, a voice ringing out in his head.
"Well well well, it was worth waiting to see that. I thought she was lying when she said she had found a young little swordsman, and I was even more sure she was lying when she said that she had taken him as her disciple. But, I stand corrected. You've got guts, kiddo. And since you made even that snowfield lady take you in, you've prolly got charm like nobody's business."
His sense of time should be stretched out immensely right now, but the words still sounded normal as they reached him, resounded within him. Whoever was talking was probably taking into account his current state, altering the way they transmitted their words to match his elongated time.
Snowfield, there was only one person Yin Long knew who would have a word like that attached to them. Hongzai, the Snowfield Demon, his master. Was this the favour she said she was going to try to call in?
"I originally thought it would be rather boring to pay back this favour, but perhaps you can make it worth it, kiddo, or at least interesting. That was a beautiful sword, kid, it was a magnificent attack. I'd be tempted to take you in as a disciple myself, but sadly I'm a Worldheart swordman so there's little I can teach a Woehowl kiddo like you."
The voice, which sounded rather masculine, kept resounding within his soulsea. A Worldheart swordsman, one who swung his sword with the warmth of his past in mind, they were the opposite of the Woehowl, who swung their sword with nothing but pain and misery. He was curious how his master got him to owe her a favour, but this really wasn't the time for a chat like that. And even with this unknown swordsman helping him, he knew that they weren't in the clear yet, the man's next words made that very clear.
"10 seconds, kid, that's how much time I'll buy you, that was the weight of the favour. For 10 seconds I'll make sure that the emperor over there can't harm or impede your group, after that you're on your own. But for those 10 seconds, I'll be kind to you, consider it a show of respect for that beautiful sword of yours. I am the Swordman of the Broken Clock, and for these 10 seconds, let me show you how to turn your sword into the clock's hand."
