Wu Jian decided to fight Black. She was a swordswoman and used the wind element to increase the sharpness of her attacks and launch long-range attacks. In terms of threat level, she was a far higher threat than Blonde, whose entire arsenal was stymied by the fact that she couldn’t risk using her fire techniques lest she burn down the forest.

[Wind Blades]

Black narrowed her eyes and swung her sword, sending dozens of wind blade his way. They were invisible. However, while he couldn’t see them, he could sense them the moment they entered his sphere of influence. With the Dao of Space, he could detect any disturbance, even the invisible ones.

[Black Hole]

Wu Jian lifted Pale Moon and swung it down. A black tear appeared in front of him. The wind blades flew into the tear and vanished, then emerged from another tear behind Black. She was already reacting as though she knew what would happen. Spinning on the balls of her feet, she dodged left, then darted forward to close the distance between them. Each blade of wind felled a tree, their severed trunks toppling to the ground.

[Space Lock]

He tried to lock her in place by locking the space around her, but the woman’s constant movement made pinning her down hard. Wu Jian could only lock someone in space if he knew their coordinates. If their coordinates in space were constantly changing, it would be impossible to lock them in place.

She’s fast. I already knew that, but it’s still a sight to behold. If I want to lock her in place so I can finish her off, I’ll need to keep her from moving.

Black was dodging the spatial blades he threw at her, which, to be fair, were much easier to track than her wind blades. The massive black tears in space were not something he could hide. She dodged left, right, ducked, then leapt over his last attack and came down swinging. He raised Pale Moon to block. The loud clang of their swords clashing echoed across the clearing and sparks flew in all directions.

Even without Blonde by her side, this woman was a troublesome opponent. As their blades locked, she lashed out with a series of kicks while hovering in the air, and Wu Jian grunted as several wind spheres slammed into his chest and stomach. He could ignore the stinging sensation, but the force pushed him back and caused him to stumble.

She’s not only fast. She’s more experienced than me too.

The woman flew into the air and raised her sword. Then she moved the sword in a circle before her. Over a dozen scintillating green swords appeared before her, all of them aimed at Wu Jian.

[Dance, Swords of Wind]

Black pointed at Wu Jian, and the swords quickly shot forward. Wu Jian swung Pale Moon and once more created a tear for the swords to fly into, but they swerved around and attacked him from behind, forcing him to react. He gnashed his teeth together and swing his sword again. Pale Moon’s silver edge was coated in black spatial tears.

[Spatial Severing]

Clang! clangclanclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclang!

He struck one wind sword, then another, followed by another. Despite Pale Moon’s size and mass, Wu Jian swung it quickly as though it weighed less than a feather. He had to concentrate on the wind swords as they constantly manuvered around him, attacking from the left, right, behind, and above. Meanwhile, the woman he was fighting simply floated in the air and watched with eyes like a hawk.

I can’t let her take control of the flow of battle like this. I need to shake things up.

[Nihility]

Wu Jian stopped trying to knock the attacks away and used Nihility to simply make them phase through his body. Then he launched himself skyward. He narrowed his eyes after deactivating Nihility and tried to once more lock the woman in place, but she deftly flew back. Did she know what he was trying to do? No. She couldn’t. However, she had to know he was trying to do something. This woman’s instincts were incredible.

Can I do what she did?

Wu Jian concentrated on manipulating the Dao of Space and willed several swords into existence. Blacker than the night sky, these blades were shaped like Pale Moon, making them several times larger than the ones Black had used against him. Several of them wavered. Their fragile existence threatened to make them vanish, but he held them together with pure will.

“Go!”

[Daodao Rondo]

While Wu Jian wanted to attack this woman with his new technique, the wind swords she had created early were all flying up toward him. He had no choice but to launch his technique at hers. The many swords clashed in midair. Wild winds whipped around them. Tears in space formed cracks in the sky. As the attacks canceled each other out, Wu Jian swung at Black, the Dao of Space coating the edge of his blade.

I’ll slice that sword of yours in half!

Black was using a profound spirit weapon. He didn’t know how powerful it was, but it was able to withstand attacks from Pale Moon, which Hua Xue claimed was probably the best weapon on the Xaio Continent. That was why he needed to destroy it. Without her weapon enhancing her attacks, he would have a much easier time killing her.

The two attacked each other in midair, clashing over and over, their powerful swings creating shockwaves that rustled the trees. The veins in Wu Jian’s arms throbbed as he used his overwhelming physical strength to keep pace. Black wasn’t much stronger than him, and her strength was caused by her peak Human Limit Realm cultivation. It wasn’t like Wu Jian’s natural physical strength.

Strength was still strength, however, and this woman’s higher cultivation gave her a slight edge over him.

Should I use Byakko’s blood? I’d rather not. I already burned through the power in one of those drops. We have no idea what we’ll fight later on. I’d prefer to save it for when I really need it. Also… I don’t think she’s trying to kill me, weird as that is.

Byakko’s blood was his trump card. It granted him an incredible boost in his physical abilities, but also all five of his senses. However, once he burned through the power in Byakko’s blood, he needed to wait until the blood regained its power before using it again. Without knowing what they would face later on, he didn’t know if he could afford to burn through anymore blood than he already had.

If she had been trying to kill him, he might have used it, but all of her attacks lacked killing intent. Now that he was really paying attention, he realized none of her attacks had been fatal--even the Lightning Qilin she and Blonde had unleashed at the end wouldn’t have killed him.

Though it would have left him half-dead for sure.

That being the case, Wu Jian channeled the Dao of Space into Pale Moon, further sharpening the space around his weapon. He slammed it against his enemy’s sword, watching. Both their weapons might have been profound spirit weapons, but he was sure that his was stronger.

As I thought.

Wu Jian felt triumph surge through him as cracked formed in his enemy’s sword. Black backed off and glanced at her blade. She furrowed her brow, then looked at him, eyes narrowed.

Then she vanished.

Wu Jian’s spun around as he felt her come up behind him, but his eyes widened when he saw the woman had split into three--or at least, that was what it looked like. The three women came at him from the left, right, and center. He narrowed his eyes and focused all of his concentration.

[Nihility]

The three women attempted to impale him, but they went right through him. Wu Jian spun around a moment later and swung Pale Moon. Black didn’t try to block. She dodged, but that was exactly what Wu Jian had been waiting for. He raised his left hand, channeled his chi, and clenched it into a fist.

Black stopped moving.

[Spatial Lock]

Knowing that his time was limited, Wu Jian rushed forward and stabbed Pale Moon straight through the woman’s chest. She was still locked in space. Her chi, which had been surging to break free, suddenly dwindled as her life bled out. She stared into his eyes with a look that seemed to accuse him of committing a sin. He stared right back and watched in silence as her eyes grew faded and dull.

His opponents body went limp on his blade as he realized the spatial lock.

***

Zhou Lihua was no longer a fighter. She spent her days refining pills, memorizing recipes, and learning about ingredients. Her days pushing her physical limits were behind her. That did not mean, however, that she did not keep up with her training. Alchemists might not belong on the battlefield, but they did occasionally find themselves in trouble. Plenty of people would love to have an alchemist like her in their pocket. Many of those people wouldn’t mind using nefarius acts to acquire her. Even if she no longer focused purely on combat, she still made sure to keep up with her training.

Blonde came at her with purely physical combat. She was fast, as expected of someone at the peak of the Human Limit Realm, and she was even faster because she was using the lightning element to increase her reflexes. Her linear movement might not have changed. However, her ability to launch attacks and counter her attacks far exceeded what Zhou Lihua could do.

Zhou Lihua stepped back was the woman raised her left leg in a kick that cut the air, then moved left as her opponent brought her heel down as though to crush her head. A loud quaking sound echoed around them as a crater formed in the forest floor. This woman’s attacks were so powerful that a single hit would be enough to defeat Zhou Lihua.

I can’t afford to get hit even once!

Leaping back, Zhou Lihua slammed her hands into the ground. Flames burst from her palms and quickly caused the grass, twigs, and leaves to catch fire. A conflagration went up, but it was doused just as quickly when the woman somehow used her own flames to put out her fire.

“That won’t work with me,” Blonde said. “I might not be an alchemist, but I have spent most of my time around one. I know how to counter your flames.”

“Why tell me this?” asked Zhou Lihua.

“Because I want you to understand how futile this is and give up,” Blonde said.

“You must be dreaming if you think I’ll give up,” Zhou Lihua drew her lips into a thin line.

Blonde shrugged. “That man you are with is powerful, but he’s still only just stepped into the Human Limit Realm. He doesn’t have a good handle on his strength yet. Meanwhile, my sister and I have refined and perfected our techniques. He can’t win against her.”

“You’re only saying that because you don’t know how strong Jian Wu really is. He won’t lose to your sister. I believe in him,” said Zhou Lihua.

Blonde sighed. “Suit yourself. Remain blind for all I care. You’ll understand the truth once my sister lays his corpse at your feet.”

Zhou Lihua didn’t bother talking anymore. She waved her tessen and sent a wave of fire across the forest. It was countered, of course, but she used that moment as a distraction and closed the distance between her and Blonde. Silver flames coated her fists and feet as she attacked.

Blonde raised her hand to guard against the kick Zhou Lihua launched, but her eyes widened and she leapt back. The silver flames lingered on her arm. She snuffed them out with her flames, but the attack had already done some damage.

What made the Heavenly Ghost Flames so dangerous was not how powerful they were. It was how they damaged the soul. Even just being touched by these flames was enough to accost the soul, bringing about unspeakable pain.

Zhou Lihua once more set the forest on fire. Blonde grimaced as she ignored it and attacked her instead. The woman threw a punch with enough power to knock Zhou Lihua unconscious in a single blow, but she used her tessen to redirect the attack. Silver flames danced along the tessen and touched Blonde. The woman bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as she backed off.

“We should have never given you those flames,” the woman declared with an ugly grimace.

“I knew it. So you are from the Zhou Kingdom,” Zhou Lihua declared. Blonde drew her lips into a thin line, but it was already too late. “You’re working for Cì Chuān.”

“So what if we are,” the woman snapped. It was too late deny it. “Knowing that won’t do you any good. If we succeed in capturing you, it won’t matter who we belong too. And if you defeat us, my lord will simply deny his involvement. You have no proof other than your word, and your word is not strong enough to shake his reputation.”

“Maybe not, but knowing what he did is enough for me. Now that I know, I can inform the Zhou Clan and have them bring the full weight of their might down upon you,” declared Zhou Lihua.

“The Zhou Clan?” Blonde smirked. “It seems you don’t know you’re clan very well if that’s what you think.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“What indeed.”

While Zhou Lihua was startled, the woman somehow slipped into her guard before she even realized it. It happened in the blink of an eye. Zhou Lihua barely had time to back away as the woman thrust a palm at her face. She grimaced as the force slammed into her, sending her stumbling back. Even though she hadn’t taken a direct hit, the force alone was enough to crush her nose.

Ignoring the blood pouring from her nose, Zhou Lihua tried to defend herself, but she was distracted by that woman’s words. It made defending herself much harder than she would have liked. Blonde came at her again with several punches. Zhou Lihua coated her tessen in heavenly flames, but the woman had finally learned. She avoided attacking when it looked like she might touch Zhou Lihua.

Blonde stopped midpunch, then ducked low. Zhou Lihua only had a moment to realize what was happening before something struck her in the knee. She cried out as her left knee bent at an awkward angle. Crashing to the ground, she reached out and touched her leg. The kneecap was crushed. Her leg was bent in a way it was not meant to. The pain was enough to distract her.

A shadow appeared above her. She looked up as Blonde stared down at her like she was an insect.

“Now you see how futile it is? Though it’s already too late. Now you’re coming with me.”

Hundreds of thoughts passed through Zhou Lihua’s mind. Was she really going to get taken away by this woman? She would rather die. What about Wu Jian? Had he defeated his opponent yet? She was so frustrated by her lack of strength. Zhou Lihua had chosen the path of alchemy knowing that it meant giving up the Martial Dao, but it still galled her to realize her own powerlessness.

Blonde took a step forward.

Then she stopped.

Zhou Lihua wondered what she was doing, but she squawked in surprise and scrambled back as the woman pitched forward. She stared at the inert woman. There were no external wounds to show that she had been injured. It was like she’d just died on the spot. What happened? She looked up after a short second to find Wu Jian standing before her now, a red organ dripping with blood in his left hand and Pale Moon in his right.