Li Hui Ming

Somebody from the Blue Fire Sect tried to stop me. I dodged past him and continued towards the place on the map. I leapt over the sect’s fence. Once I was outside the sect, I called upon my Dao to force me to go faster. My body radiated heat, little spurts of crimson fire occasionally appeared out of thin air. I dashed forward, my right foot leaving a hole in the ground behind me.

It took incredibly fast reflexes to move at this speed in a city. I dodged left and right, jumping off the walls of the streetside buildings.

With the Scorching Sandstep movement technique, I could move at the speed of a regular fifth stage cultivator. I was lucky to have discovered a technique that fit me so well, most techniques were made from a Dao that deviated too from my own for me to learn them.

People looked up as I passed above them. The wave of heat hit them after I passed, making them duck down.

I heard sounds of buildings falling ahead of me. An extremely powerful cultivator had to be fighting. I turned a corner to get closer to the sounds. I found two people, both wearing crimson robes, whaling on an oval piece of wood. The buildings around them were all blown away.

Layers of wood continuously splintered under their assault. The wood had been thick enough to withstand the assault.

“Senior Chen, Senior Wang! Please stop, what are you doing?” The Blue Fire sect head must be in the shell. Based on what Jin had said, what else could motivate two sixth stage seniors to come out from the Crimson Fire Sect?

They hardly spared me a glance. “Don’t interfere with our business, junior.”

Behind them, a great aura awakened, one greater than I had felt in years. An old man was walking towards the two seniors. A bright flame surrounded the old man, turning all to ash. He carried two spears, one in each hand. A thin white beard hung down on his muscular chest. The broken buildings around him burnt away, regardless of whether they were made of wood or stone. “Elder Zhu.” I gasped. I trembled, my previous resolve withering away.

In front of seniors Chen and Wang, I still try to save the sect head as Jin had asked me. However, in front of Elder Zhu… The elders of the Crimson Fire Sect were all monsters. Each was able to wipe out small sects single handedly.

Elder Zhu was an eighth stage cultivator.

The two seniors stood back with their hands behind them, respectfully waiting for the elder to act. They were obedient dogs waiting for their master’s next command.

The wooden shell opened and the head of the Blue Fire Sect jumped out. The earth exploded beneath her feet and she launched off in a desperate attempt to escape.

“Hmph!” Without moving a finger, she was blasted back toward him.

The muscular elder stroked his wispy beard, “I sense somebody approaching from that direction,” he pointed into the ocean of buildings. “Take care of it.”

“Yes sir!” seniors Chen and Wang barked and departed.

I stood on shaking legs, alone with Elder Zhu and “Chen Wei”.

“Stop! Please, Sect Elder Zhu! You don’t know what you’re doing. Please stop!” I screamed. Who knew what Jin would do if she died at the hands of a Crimson Fire sect elder.

“Who are you?” he stabbed a spear into the ground, the earth rippled and a wall of flame formed around the ring of destroyed buildings. I jumped to dodge the ripple. He frowned and flicked at me. A strand of qi flew out of his index finger and hit me in the forehead. My neck jerked back, cirking from the pressure.

Elder Zhu shifted his remaining spear to his right hand. I felt the Qi in the air begin to swirl around him. The Qi funneled into his spear. Raging flames developed the spear. He rose into the air, aiming it at the Blue Fire sect head.

In my desperation, I threw the box at the sect head. I hoped it would break when it hit the ground, but my throw had been too soft. The box bounced off the ground and the sect head caught it.

I didn’t tell her anything, but she already knew what to do. She crushed the box just as Elder Zhu threw his spear. Another wooden shell covered her body. The spear rammed into the shell, piercing part of the way through. A shockwave spread from where the spear and shell made contact.

I held my breath as Elder Zhu turned to stare at me. My body couldn’t decide whether to step back or freeze. It did both, and I stumbled backward. “Little girl…” He pushed his palm at me. I saw the air ripple before the force slammed into me. Two dull cracks resounded in my stomach. He didn’t even touch me and he cracked two ribs.

I shot back into a pile of rubble. I tried to stand and saw Elder Zhu tearing massive chunks out of the wooden shell. Soon, the shell was ripped in two again, exposing the sect head.

He balled a hand into a fist. He was about to punch when he looked up, startled. A crimson robed body flew across the rubble and landed a couple meters away from him. The body had come from the direction Elder Zhu had pointed earlier.

A deafening crash from the same direction. Another building crashed to the ground.

Elder Zhu flipped the man who had been tossed over, revealing the bloodied face of Senior Wang. His robes began twitching like a small animal was trying to get out. Then, a torrent of vines ripped through his robes. The cascade carried the sect head away.

The rest of the vines swept at Elder Zhu.