“Huff… haaaah… huff…”

Hou Jingshu took deep, heavy breaths as she stared at the pillar ascending into the sky. The black and white light swirled together, never mixing, but instead, creating two very distinct colors that combined to resemble a helix. Yōuměi stood beside her, also staring into the pillar.

“Did we get him?” asked the cat.

“Was that it…?” a voice said from inside the pillar. A person emerged seconds later. His body was singed and his hair looked a little burnt, but he was otherwise unharmed.

“I guess that answers your question,” Hou Jingshu muttered. Despite what should have been a frustrating situation, she was grinning. Her heart was pounding. This man had taken one of her strongest attacks and survived. She felt so excited.

“I suppose I should not have expected much from a mere Asura Realm cultivator,” Lì Liàng muttered. He cracked his neck several times. “I heard you were strong despite having such a weak cultivation base, but you’re nothing to write home about.”

“Ah ha… ha ha ha!”

Lì Liàng raised an eyebrow as Hou Jingshu began laughing Even Yōuměi was looking at her like she was strange. But she couldn’t help it. This was the toughest battle she had ever been in--tougher even than her fight with Mei Xilan. She had never been this outclassed before.

“What are you so excited about?” asked Lì Liàng.

“Big sister, are you having fun?” asked Yōuměi.

“Hmm. I’m having a lot of fun,” Hou Jingshu admitted, grinning from ear to ear. She pointed her spear at Lì Liàng. “You. Amuse me some more.”

“Haaah? You think this is amusing? Do you like knowing you’re outclassed? Do you have eyes, or are you just stupid?” Lì Liàng asked. He was soon grinning as well. “I see. I see. You’re the kind of person who likes a challenge. I understand. I like those too. Very well. I’ll let you fight to your hearts content.” Lì Liàng slammed a foot into the ground, unleashing of a wave of chi that caused the ground to crack. One of those cracks spread all the way to Hou Jingshu’s feet. “Come!”

“Let’s go, Yōuměi!”

“Yes!”

Hou Jingshu raced forward, dragging her spear across the ground. A small line was drawn in the earth as her chi exploded from her body. It gushed out like water spilling from an exploding bucket. Then it took shape. Wings formed behind her back. Horns formed on her head. A long tail made of glistening golden scales appeared behind her.

“Oh? What is this? Don’t tell me the rumor that your family is related to a dragon is true?” asked Lì Liàng.

Hou Jingshu didn’t answer. She had already reached him and was swinging her spear. Lì Liàng raised his forearms and took her attack headon. He only took a single step back, but then Hou Jingshu attacked again, pulling her spear before thrusting it forward. A dragon’s mouth appeared on the end of her spear as it slammed into Lì Liàng, who skidded backwards. Her attack was soon knocked off course when he pushed his forearms away. Hou Jingshu’s eyes only had enough time to widen before Lì Liàng thrust out his palm.

“Ooooooof!”

Hou Jingshu felt the impact in her chest as she was launched off the ground. She flipped around, landed on feet, and dug her spear into the ground. As she lifted her head, she found her opponent right in front of her. Lì Liàng was floating in middair, spinning around with a leg extended to kick her.

“BIG SISTER!”

Black tendrils erupted from Lì Liàng’s shadow and wrapped around him.

“This isn’t enough to hold me down!!!”

With a roar, Lì Liàng broke the shadows binding him mere seconds after they appeared, then continued with his kick. That split second was enough for Hou Jingshu to step backward. She blicked when the man’s foot passed right next to her nose. He almost removed some of her skin.

Spinning the spear around, she twisted her body and put all of her weight into another thrust, but it was blocked by the man’s big toe. Hou Jingshu roared, retracted her spear, and attcked again, but her attack was blocked… by a finger.

“If this is all you have, our battle won’t amount to much.”

After saying this, Lì Liàng knocked her spear wide, then slammed a fist into her chestplate. The impact once more reverberated through her body, and she was launched into the air. A shadow appeared over her as she sailed through the air. It was Lì Liàng. He was already preparing to attack her.

“Yōuměi won’t let you!!!”

A black panther appeared from Hou Jingshu’s shadow and clamped onto Lì Liàng’s forearm, but he flung her off, spun around, and slammed his heel into Hou Jingshu. Her internal organs shook as she struck the ground. Dust exploded everywhere. It was enough to choke her. She tried to stand, but something was pressing down on her. It was a foot. As the dust cleared, she saw that Lì Liàng had pressed his foot into her chestplate.

“I’m impressed you’re still alive, but I suspect it’s that armor of yours,” he said. “Let’s do something about that.”

She tried to grab her spear, which she had dropped beside her, but Lì Liàng stepped on her wrist. She flinched, but her wrist didn’t break. However, she was unable to grab her spear.

He raised his foot and slammed it into her again. A shockwave spread across the ground. Then he raised his foot once more and slammed it down again. Again. Again. Each attack sent a shockwave through her body. It wasn’t long before cracks began forming on her chestplate. It wouldn’t take more than a few more hits before it broke.

A roar echoed around them as tendrils once more wrapped around Lì Liàng and a panther emerged from his shadow to clamp down on his ankle. The man grimaced as her teeth pierced skin. Blood ran down his ankle and onto his foot, but he simply kicked Yōuměi so hard that a loud crack echoed around them as the cat was launched away, skidded across the ground, and eventually lay still.

“Yōuměi!”

Hou Jingshu’s eyes widened before narrowing. Red hot anger boiled inside of her. This man had invaded her kingdom, forced her people to flee, and now hurt her friend. She could kill him a thousand times and it still wouldn’t be enough. The anger she felt boiling inside of her piqued. It caused her cultivation to rumble. Chi spread through her meridians, the amount constantly increasing as her dantian burned brightly like a dragon’s flame.

“Don’t tell me you’re trying to break through during combat?! Are you insane?!” shouted Lì Liàng.

“SHUT UP!”

Hou Jingshu grabbed her spear, which she and thrust it forward. The bright golden dragon she unleashed slammed into Lì Liàng. Her attack did not hurt him, but he did stumble off her, and she quickly scrambled to her feet. With her chi circulating through her, breaking all the barriers that held her from the Human Limit Realm, Hou Jingshu attacked with renewed ferocity.

This man was going to pay for hurting her friend and invading her kingdom.

***

Is this girl crazy?! Who in their right mind would try to break through during the middle of combat?!

Lì Liàng had seen a lot in his century of life, but never had he seen anyone try and attempt something like this. It was crazy at best and suicidal at worst. Did she not realize what would happen if she failed to break through? She could easily cripple herself.

The Shang Kingdom’s only princess grinned Lì Liàng in a way no one had ever done before. It was a grin of sheer bliss. She was enjoying this battle. It took him back, unnerved him. Sure, he was having fun too, but he was also much stronger than her. The strong could afford to have fun. Just what about this fight was she enjoying? Did she like losing? And now she was trying to breakthrough mid-combat?

Lì Liàng furrowed his brow as Hou Jingshu swung her spear again. Her moves were much crisper. He would not have expected that, given the battlelust pouring from her. Most people became sloppier the crazier they got, but she was becoming even more refined. Her attacks were also growing stronger.

I actually felt that one!

Shaking out his slightly numb arms, Lì Liàng took a step back--only to trip over something.

“What the--?!”

He quickly righted himself, but then, whatever he had tripped over wrapped around him. Lì Liàng looked down. A black tendril had emerged from his shadow and coiled around his leg.

“Oh, shi--”

The tendril flung him skyward. He was a Deva Realm Cultivator, so he quickly righted himself, but he had almost no time to prepare as a powerful jaw clamped down on his shoulder. When did that bloody cat recovered? Dammit. Had he not broken her neck? He bit back a cry of pain as sharp fangs pierced his skin and glanced at where she had been lying, only to find nothing but skid marks.

He raised his fist to punch the magical beast off him. He would break her entire face this time. Before he could attack her, however, Hou Jingshu came soaring in. Her chi had become even more solidified. The golden dragon aura surrounding her had turned into something like scaled armor. Massive wings on her back flapped as she fell toward him, her spear extended, the aura surrounding it howling like a raging dragon.

What is with this girl’s aura?! Why am I getting chills?!

Left with no other choice but to block, Lì Liàng raised his arms in a guard seconds before Hou Jingshu crashed into him. His eyes bulged as the spear pierced his Chi Armor. Blood welled from the cut on his forearm as he flew backward and slammed into the ground. He coughed and choked as he swallowed his tongue. The attack hadn’t hurt too much, but the shock of impact caused his entire body to reverberated. At least the pressure on his shoulder had disappeared. That blasted cat must have disappeared into the shadows again.

To think should peirce my Chi Armor.

Chi Armor was one of his signature techniques. It was a passive skill in which he coated his body in five layers of condensed chi, each of which was harder than diamonds. The only way to peirce it was to attack with more chi than what was put into the armor. This girl did not have more chi than him, and he was certain his technique used more chi than she had.

She focused all of her chi into the point of her spear. That gave her much greater piercing power and allowed her to punch a hole through my armor. It doesn’t matter how much chi was used in the whole technique if she only attacks one section, though this sort of attack wouldn’t work normally.

His technique not only served as protection but also a cushion. It spread all of the energy from an attack across its surface to reduce the damage taken to any one section of his armor. That this girl had pierced it meant her attack had been so fast and packed so much power that his armor couldn’t adequately spread the force.

Lì Liàng stood up and leapt out of the crater his body had made. The moment he did, Hou Jingshu was on him, swinging her spear around like it was an extension of her own body.

Her movements are… different. What is this?

Hou Jingshu spun around. Her spear suddenly appeared in his face. He dodged on reflex as it came right for his eye, but then something raked across his chest. He looked down. Sparks of chi flew across the surface of his Chi Armor as Hou Jingshu attacked with a claw swipe. Her hands were covered in the same golden aura and looked like a dragon’s claw. The attack did not tear through his armor, but the power behind her attack made him stumble back.

He tried to right himself, but a pair of jaws clamped down on his foot. He yelped and looked down just in time to see a panther head disappear into his shadow. Dammit. That cat was such a nuisance. It had learned not to hang around too long and was now harassing him with small but annoying attacks. Its fangs were also strong enough to pierce through his armor.

Something crashed into the side of his head while he was distracted by the panther. He staggered, then something came at him from the other side. Lì Liàng was able to raise his guard this time, but the force was still enough to make him stumble. The object that had hit him was a spear. Hou Jingshu swung her spear around like it was a tail. A dragon’s tail. The way she held it and attacked with it made him think of a flood dragon he had nearly died fighting once. It had used its tail the same way she used this spear.

“RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!”

Hou Jingshu suddenly roared and even more power exploded from her body. The ground cracked, air pressure slammed into him, and the aura around her completely solidified into a dragon.

“This crazy bitch is really breaking through!” Lì Liàng eyes widened. He could have stopped her. Now would have been the perfect time to kill her… but he didn’t. He wanted to see what would happen. He wanted to see how much more powerful she would become. “Ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! Yes! That’s the way! Grow stronger! Give me a better fight! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

As Lì Liàng laughed, the aura around Hou Jingshu settled. The powerful dragon aura stopped fluctuating so wildly and wrapped around her body like a second skin. It looked like she now had scales covering her body. A pair of sturdy-looking wings and a tail appeared behind her. The horns on her head extended from her helmet and curved around like real dragon horns. Lì Liàng shivered as he felt the incredible increase in power. She had only just broken through the Human Limit Realm, but he sensed that she might be able to seriously injure him now.

“This is getting fun,” he muttered with a grin.