Jin moved through the trees with an athlete's speed when a message blinked up.
[Knives Throw (Novice-Lvl 10 -> Initiate-Lvl 1)]
He stared at the notification. 'I've been ignoring system messages since I messed up on Yunxi. I'll check it after this.' Then he pushed toward the source of the sound.
. . . . . . . . . .
"Vein-Rend Claw!" Grand Elder's fingers extend into jagged black qi that tried to tear meridians and qi. But it stopped short.
A light-pink barrier had bloomed around Yunxi. Beneath her, a lotus opened, feeding her qi. She surged, funneling that bloom into her domain.
His instinct shot up: 'She's coming!'
She blasted qi from the lotus at her feet, vaulting forward in an instant. She swung right, her blade carving through the air, just shy of his neck. A blink slower, and his head would have rolled.
Qi poured into his palms. "Corrupting Lotus Bloom!" he roared. A black lotus unfurled in his hands, its roots like poisoned blades, thrusting toward her heart.
Yunxi didn't flinch. She drove the lotus at her feet between them; the petals snapped shut and wrapped her in a shiver of silver light.
BOOM.
He didn't stop. The black roots lashed at the closing petals, slicing through smoke and petals alike. His senses were fried; he moved on raw instinct. And instinct told him it wasn't finished.
As the smoke thinned, he stared at the shredded lotus. No blood, no body.
"Where?" he demanded.
The answer came from behind. Petals whipped past him faster than thought, knitting into a lotus that uncoiled and spat her forward. Yunxi slammed into view; her blade was already coming down.
He had only time to brace and pour qi into his frame. It barely held. Her sword sliced through his defense, cleaving both wrists and leaving a deep wound across his chest.
By now the domain contest was decided. When two domains clash they don't simply cancel. They fight for supremacy. The weaker field is eaten, its power leeched away and its holder left badly diminished; the dominant domain grows beyond its normal limits, briefly surging with stolen force.
"AAAAAAHHHHH-"
By now, those fighting below had long grown numb to the Grand Elder's screams. Yet this one cut through even their hardened focus, leaving chills crawling down their spines.
'Just what in the hell is going on up there?!' The thought rippled through them all.
Yunxi gave no pause. The moment she saw her strike hadn't finished him, she twisted mid-air and snapped a kick into his face. The blow detonated like a hammer of qi, sending Daoxu's body hurtling across the battlefield. He plowed through structures in a storm of splintered wood and shattered stone before finally skidding to a stop.
He barely managed to lift his head. Only to find a vast sword arc descending toward him like heaven's own guillotine.
"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BITCH!" Daoxu roared, summoning every shred of qi he had left. A forest of black lotus vines erupted, lashing upward to meet the strike.
But the arc didn't falter. It carved through the vines as though they were no more than weeds before a storm, divine judgment given form.
Desperation wrenched his body into a leap, yet even so, the arc ripped pain through him. Agony tore across his insides, qi channels fracturing under the unstoppable force.
"Ghkkk-!" Black blood spilled from Daoxu's mouth. He wasn't a fool; he knew now he had no chance of winning. 'Damn it… all because of that brat! Still… it's not as if I have no other options. She's still the same Yunxi I watched grow up. I can persuade her-'
His scheming halted mid-thought.
Because when he met her gaze, he saw it.
Not Yunxi the girl. Not Yunxi the junior.
His executioner.
There was no mercy in those eyes. No pity. Only cold, measured precision.
And in that instant, he understood. There was no bargaining with a hangman.
So Daoxu pulled the last card in his arsenal. A talisman, dark and thrumming with demonic energy, gifted personally by the cult. A teleportation talisman.
Yunxi's blade was already in motion, cleaving down with all her might. But just as her strike fell, the talisman erupted in blinding light.
"See you later, you who-!"
The words were stopped as the light collapsed, vanishing as suddenly as it had come.
For a heartbeat, silence blanketed the battlefield.
Even Yunxi blinked, confused. 'What-?'
Daoxu, panic shredding his calm, realized the only choice left was,
"RUN!" he roared.
Yunxi watched him scramble, unbelieving. 'He actually thinks he can outrun me?' she thought, flat. She gave a dry little sigh. "I guess desperation does show a man's true nature."
She moved like a knife. One clean swing, both his legs were cut out from under him. He collapsed in a spray of pain.
"AAAHHH-"
"OH, SHUT UP." Yunxi snapped, fed up with the noise.
She strode to where the Grand Elder lay. Ragged, ruined, a corpse of status and stood over him. "Say your last words," she said, voice even.
Daoxu, clinging to breath, forced a defiant grin. "My last words? Now I see how foolish you were. Even after...he still insisted...You should've just...be a womb.. for our Lord-"
The sentence strangled in his throat. His voice thinned, then stopped; blood filled his mouth and the words died with it.
Yunxi rolled her eyes. "Why did I even let him talk?" she muttered, then turned and flew toward the estate entrance to finish the job.
. . . . . . . . .
Meanwhile, Jin had closed in on the source of the noise. His eyes widened at the sight.
One man was holding his ground against several attackers at once. Swinging, blocking, bleeding but refusing to fall. And that man was none other than the same friend Jin had dragged into his earlier scheme.
'This guy… If I'm right, he was one of the original Jin Ranyi's closest friends, Gu Liang. That's why I picked him without thinking. But why the hell didn't he run-'
"YOU SHALL NOT PASS! RANYI WILL CAPTURE THAT THIEF!" Gu Liang shouted, driving his blade against the demonic cultivators.
Jin froze, caught between disbelief and exasperation. Half of him was stunned at the dialogue, the other half at the sheer stupidity of it.
A helpless smile tugged at his lips. He shook his head. 'Fine, I'll help him. Five enemies. Wounded already. Manageable.'
With that, Jin surged forward. He leapt from the edge of the clearing, momentum helping him.
"Iron Palm!"