On the ground below, men and woman fought with martial arts and a variety of techniques. Lightning bolts erupted from hands. Cultivators blew flames out of their mouths. A giant hand appeared above the heads of several cultivators and slammed down, squashing them flat and leaving a handprint on the ground. It was easy to see from a bird’s eye view that the Shang Kingdom’s army, while being pushed back, were actually killing more of their enemies than the Ming Province’s cultivators.

Hua Xue was able to take all this in as she battled against Duo Long and Fēng Yi, the sect master and ancestor of the Wind-Lightning Pavilion, in the skies above the battlefield.

[Ice Lotus: Bloom]

Hua Xue held out her hand. A lotus made of ice appeared before her, then spread its petals. Each petal scintillated in the light. Barely a second after she created the lotus, a pair of lightning bolts slammed into it. Arcs of electricity skittered across the surface but were quickly grounded. Her ice was made of water with zero impurities. It could not conduct electricity.

“Break.”

Hua Xue clenched her hand, and the ice lotus shattered into many petals, which she sent at the pair with a wave of her hand. The petals curved through the air and sought their foes. Duo Long and Fēng Yi floated together. Her petals closed the distance in a matter of moments and would have perforated them had Fēng Yi not erected a barrier made of wind and lightning.

“Wind-Lightning Barrier, huh? I hope you don’t think that will be enough to defend yourself against me,” Hua Xue muttered.

Her petals struck the barrier. Several shattered into crystalline fragments like glass, but the rest punched straight through the barrier. The pair were forced to separate as her petals chased after them. Fēng Yi, the stronger of the two, spun through the air as he turned around to face the petals. Wind gathered on his fists and he unleashed several powerful punches that destroyed each petal with ease. Duo Long had a much harder time. He was not at the level where he could destroy her attacks so easily, and so he was forced to expend more chi than he needed to make them shatter.

“Gather.”

Hua Xue clapped her hands together, and the powdery ice spun around their heads. Fēng Yi was able to defend himself, but Duo Long was not. The ice quickly penetrated his mouth and nose. The man grabbed his throat as ice began forming along the inside of his asophegous. He would die soon if nothing was done.

“Tch!”

After blasting the ice powder away, Fēng Yi slammed his hand onto Duo Long’s back. It wasn’t in Hua Xue’s nature to curse, but she did lament as the man destroyed the gathering of ice inside Duo Long. She had been hoping to kill him quickly. If she could just kill him, then she could focus her attention on the ancestor.

“Th-thank you, ancestor,” Duo Long muttered.

“Think nothing of it,” Fēng Yi said with a smile, though it soon left as he looked at Hua Xue. “You really are dangerous. I still cannot believe the Shang Kingdom has someone like you living within its borders. Tell me, why do you fight for them? Your sect owes no loyalty to the Hou Royal Family. If you agree to withdraw, I promise not to touch your sect.”

“Ancestor…”

“Quiet now.”

Duo Long shut his mouth. Meanwhile, Fēng Yi had not stopped looking at Hua Xue even as he reprimanded the sect master. He had been watching her for any signs of an attack, and he was not wrong to do so. Hua Xue was far beyond him. The only reason he had survived this long was because she couldn’t bring her full power to bear right now.

“The words of a man who would use subterfuge and deception to invade a neighboring kingdom are not one I can trust,” Hua Xue said.

“Ah. Well, I could see why you might feel like you cannot trust us…” Fēng Yi trailed off for a moment, then smiled. “What if I had everyone swear an oath under the heavens?”

“Ancestor?!”

“Quiet, Duo Long. I’m sure you can already tell, but this woman is far more powerful than either of us. The only reason she hasn’t been able to kill us is because it’s two on one, but there’s no guarantee this stalemate will last forever.”

Duo Long grimaced but kept his mouth closed, lips drawn into a thin line.

Hua Xue glanced at the battlefield. She wasn’t concerned about these two attacking her. Since they were kind enough to give her time to think, she decided to see how the others were doing.

Yu Chenguang was battling against Xao Wen. Their battle was more or less evenly matched. As the sect master of the martial god pavilion, Xao Wen relied entirely on martial arts and physical enhancement techniques to battle. He was stronger than Yu Chenguang, technically, but the Shang Kingdom’s most powerful commander had much greater skill. Sword technique met fist. The clash between the two forces created a shockwave that blew everything around them away.

How is the princess doing… oh?

Hua Xue raised an eyebrow when she saw Hou Jingshu and Yōuměi battling against Lì Liàng. The pair were surprisingly adep at working as a team. Just like Duo Long and Fēng Yi had been able to keep her from killing them with teamwork, the princess and her magical beast companion were able to work together to prevent Lì Liàng from striking a killing blow on either of them. Even as she watched, Yōuměi deflected one of Lì Liàng’s punches with her shadows, then Hou Jingshu burst forward and, with a roar akin to a dragon, struck a blow that sent the man skidding backward. Sadly, she was not quite adept enough to avoid the kick he sent before he was forced away. Hou Jingshu’s head snapped upward and her body bent backward. But she recovered quickly by using her tail to push herself upward.

Hua Xue caught the excited grin on the woman’s face.

Is she… getting stronger?

It seemed to her like Hou Jingshu was getting stronger the longer she battled. It was hard to tell from this far away, but she was certain the young woman’s cultivation was rising. It wasn’t just her cultivation either. Her attacks were becoming stronger, and her movements crisper.

What sort of monstrous cultivation technique does she use?

Shaking her head, Hua Xue turned back to the pair who had been silently watching her. That neither of them had made a move just went to show how wary they were of her.

“Loyalty is important to me. I believe those who show loyalty toward me deserve my loyalty in return. That girl down there has given me nothing but her best effort, and I have made a promise to help her. I refuse to break that promise.”

“I see.” Fēng Yi closed his eyes and sighed. “That is quite the pity.”

Hua Xue merely snorted before sending a storm of ice lotuses at the pair.

***

Hou Jingshu rushed forward. Most people would have looked at her and assumed she was being reckless, and from the look on Lì Liàng’s face, he also assumed she was being reckless. Well, she couldn’t blame him for thinking that.

The man slid his left foot along the ground and threw his fist forward. Several black tendrils quickly wrapped around his arm. They were ripped to shreds moment later, but that single second delay was all Hou Jingshu needed. She slipped around the first and used the handle of her spear to push the attack further away. Then she slammed into his chest with her head--or more specifically, her horns.

The horns on her head were physical manifestations of condensed chi. They were harder than steel and very sharp. Sadly, even her powerful horns were not strong enough to penetrate this man’s skin. Sparks flew as Lì Liàng was forced back--right into a pair of black spikes that jutted from the ground to impale him.

The spikes shattered when he spun on his left foot and kicked them with his right heel.

“Ah ha ha ha ha! This is so fun! More! Fight me more!!”

“I’m glad you’re having such a good time. I am too,” Hou Jingshu said with a grin.

Lì Liàng met her grin with one of his own. “I knew you were crazy the moment I laid eyes on you!”

The man lashed out with a series of punches so swift that Hou Jingshu was unable to close the distance between them. She ducked, spun on her heel, then raised her spear, accepting a glancing blow on the spear’s handle. The attack was so powerful that she stumbled backward, but she traveled with the blow to reduce the impact.

Yōuměi leapt out of Lì Liàng’s shadow, wrapped her tail around his leg, and yanked. The man was pulled off his feet and hit the ground hard. Hou Jingshu knew an opportunity when she saw one. She leapt into the air and came down, her spear pointed right at the man’s chest. He sadly caught her attack between his hands, but while he was focusing on the spear, she raised her tail and slammed it against his abdomen.

“Oooof!”

Air rushed from the man’s lungs. His hands slipped a little, allowing her to push her spear into his throat. She clicked her tongue when her spear only penetrated the first layer of skin, just enough to draw some blood. Then she was forced to leap backward as the man lashed out with a kick. The attack was so powerful that it pushed all the air away. That kick would have destroyed her legs if it hit.

Lì Liàng leapt to his feet, took a step forward, and threw a punch. Hou Jingshu quickly raised her guard. It was a good thing too. A fist made entirely of chi flew forward and slammed into her spear. Hou Jingshu was sent skidding backward along the ground, heels digging into the dirt as she struggled against the chi fist. Her arms shook, her legs burned, and intense pain wracked her body. Sparks flew as she roared and finally managed to push away the attack, sending it skyward.

“Haaaah… haaaaaaah…”

Hou Jingshu took several deep breaths. Her arms were shaking. Something warm trickled down her nose. She wiped at it and realized her blood was leaking from her left nostril. She grimaced. The cultivation technique she used was incredible, but it did come with a few drawbacks--chief among them being the risk of overdrafting her strength if she fought for too long.

She had been circulating her cultivation technique as she fought Lì Liàng, which meant her cultivation had been increasing this entire time. She had already reached the second subrealm of the Human Limit Realm. But prolonged use of this training method came with the risk of what was referred to as overdrafting. It was when you had no more chi left to use, but you somehow managed to use chi anyway. This dangerous situation often resulted in the cultivator’s death.

Hou Jingshu was getting dangerously close to overdrafting.

A shadow appeared above her. It was Lì Liàng. He grinned down at her, fist raised.

Narrowing her eyes, Hou Jingshu swiftly moved to the side--only to run into the man’s foot. She gasped. Blood gushed from her mouth as she was launched backward. Lì Liàng tried to follow through and attack her before she could recover, but Yōuměi leapt out a shadow and slammed into his side. He staggered and tried to attack her. However, the panther quickly disappeared into another shadow, then leapt out of a different shadow and attacked again, again, and again.

Hou Jingshu used the time Yōuměi had given her to recover, stood up, and channeled chi into her spear. The already glowing spear picked up an even greater golden glow. She took a deep breath, slid her dominant foot forward, and held her spear aloft. She narrowed her eyes. Time seemed to slow. Everything around appeared as though it were stuck in molasis. The muscles in her arms, legs, and stomach tensed as she released all the air in her lungs.

And threw her spear.

[Dragon’s Peircing Claw]

The technique came to her like a vision. Her spear flew straight and true, sailing toward Lì Liàng while Yōuměi distracted him. She was certain her attack would hit him dead on. Sadly, the man was not so distracted that he couldn’t sense her attack. He turned and struck out with a fist covered in chi. Spear and fist met. An outpouring of powerful chi caused sparks to fly everywhere. The power being released was so incredible that it burned away the shadows and forced Yōuměi to retreat.

“Sister… I don’t think I can keep fighting much longer,” Yōuměi confessed.

“I know. I’m almost all out of chi too,” Hou Jingshu said.

With a roar, Lì Liàng overpowered the thrown spear technique. Hou Jingshu’s weapon flew through the air, spinning end over end, before impaling the ground just a few steps from where she stood. However, Hou Jingshu didn’t dare pick it up. The man before her was exuding much more power than before. She had been giving this fight all she had, but Lì Liàng had only been fighting hard enough to push her.

I’m lucky this man is such a battle maniac. He’s so set on drawing out the fight that he’s forgotten his goals and let me gain more strength. However, this stalemate won’t last for long.

The shrill cry of an eagle pierced the din of battle. Hou Jingshu looked up and saw the creature circling over head.

That’s the eagle my forces are supposed to send after they completed their mission. It looks like our objective has been met.

Hou Jingshu held out her hand. The spear wiggled a little before soaring out of the ground and smacking against her palm. She slammed the butt against the ground and unleashed her chi, causing the earth to shake, then filled her lungs with air and chi to project her voice across the entire battlefield.

“MY CULTIVATORS! YOU HAVE DONE WELL! IT IS TIME TO RETREAT!”