The moment the envoy stepped forward, the ridge beneath him cracked like brittle glass. The air tightened, pressing against Leon's skin as if an invisible hand were trying to crush him where he stood. A Heavenly-Realm cultivator did not simply release pressure; they **remade the world** around them.
Leon felt it immediately.
His spiritual veins shivered under the weight. His heart hammered once, twice—before the Dao of Euphoric Yin surged in response like a defiant blaze.
The envoy's lips curled slightly.
"You withstand my aura? Impressive. Rare, even."
Lightning in his eyes flickered brighter. "But pointless."
Leon didn't move.
He couldn't—not physically, not yet. The pressure rooted him in place, but his mind stayed sharp. His thoughts moved fast, calculating the timing, the angle, the rhythm of the envoy's spiritual field.
This wasn't strength.
This was **dominance**—a coercion of heaven and earth.
Leon inhaled deeply, grounding himself in the warmth pulsing within his core. The Dao of Euphoric Yin was not a power of destruction. It was connection. Harmony. Flow.
And flow could adapt to anything—even overwhelming power.
He looked the envoy straight in the eyes.
"Are you going to fight," he asked calmly, "or keep posing?"
The envoy blinked.
Then laughed.
A deep, thunderous laugh that echoed across the valley.
"You remind me of my younger self." His laughter faded into a low hum. "Arrogant. Fearless. And doomed."
Lightning exploded around him.
Leon barely had time to reposition his stance when the envoy vanished. He didn't disappear—he moved so fast the world failed to keep up.
Leon rolled to the side on instinct alone.
A beam of lightning struck the earth where he had been standing. The blast tore a crater several meters wide, sending stones and splintered earth flying into the air.
From a nearby cliff, hidden beneath a concealing formation, Nala and Mei-Yun tensed simultaneously.
Nala whispered, "He moved before I even sensed him."
Mei-Yun clenched her fists. "Leon is pushing himself too far—"
"Watch," Nala said. "He has a plan."
---
## **The Dao of Flowing Yin**
Leon hit the ground, rolled, and pushed off again as another streak of lightning sliced through the air. Each blast wasn't just an attack—it bent the environment, skewed spiritual currents, warped the ground beneath his feet.
The envoy floated above him, hands held behind his back.
"Move, boy. Show me why the Crimson Lotus Sect fears you."
Leon exhaled sharply, muscles burning.
Fine.
Since running wasn't possible—
He'd use the flow instead.
He closed his eyes for a heartbeat. The Dao of Euphoric Yin stirred within him, expanding like ripples traveling outward. It shaped itself not around power, but around sensation—reading the distortions the envoy caused, detecting shift and movement.
When Leon opened his eyes, the world sharpened.
He felt the envoy's presence—
not as a storm,
but as **currents**.
Predictable. Rhythmic. Movable.
Leon stepped to the side—
A flash of lightning struck exactly where he had been.
He leaned back—
Another bolt sliced the air inches from his chest.
He ducked—
A horizontal arc split the ridge behind him.
The envoy's calm expression finally shifted.
"You're… avoiding my strikes?"
"Trying to," Leon replied breathlessly. "But you're making it hard to look good in front of the ladies."
"What—?"
Leon pointed behind the envoy.
Nala and Mei-Yun were hiding just at the cliff's edge.
Both immediately pulled back out of sight.
The envoy stared for a moment, then snorted. "You jest even at death's door."
Leon smiled.
"I'm not the one dying today."
---
## **Leon's Counterattack**
Leon surged forward.
The envoy raised an eyebrow as Leon closed the distance. "Brave. Stupid. A combination I often see."
Lightning wrapped around his arm as he prepared to strike Leon down from the front.
But Leon didn't meet him head-on.
He used the attack itself.
As the envoy swung, Leon let the lightning brush past him, letting its momentum carry him forward.
Then Leon tapped two fingers against the envoy's wrist.
Only two.
Yet the envoy's entire arm trembled for an instant.
A shock—not of pain, but interruption—ran through his spiritual circulation.
He recoiled in surprise.
"What technique was that?"
Leon didn't answer.
He slipped under the envoy's guard like water flowing around stone. His fingers glowed faintly with the soft, pale light of Euphoric Yin.
Each touch disrupted the envoy's flow—
not harming, but destabilizing.
A Heavenly-Realm cultivator was like a perfect machine.
Leon wasn't breaking the machine—
He was throwing sand into the gears.
The envoy staggered half a step back.
Leon pressed the attack.
Palm strike—redirect.
Finger strike—disrupt.
Shoulder feint—flow.
Hip twist—guide.
Leon's movements were not explosive; they were precise, fluid, targeted.
The envoy gritted his teeth. "This is—this is annoying."
"Good," Leon replied.
He spun around for a final strike—
And the envoy vanished again.
Leon's hand passed through empty air.
A chill ran down his spine.
He looked up just as a shadow appeared above him.
"You're clever," the envoy murmured. "But cleverness cannot defeat heaven."
Lightning erupted point-blank.
Leon crossed his arms, forming a barrier of pure Yin energy—
And the world turned white.
---
## **The Fall**
The blast hurled Leon off the ridge.
Rocks crumbled beneath him.
Dust filled the air.
He crashed against a lower platform, skidding across stone before slamming into a boulder that finally stopped his momentum.
Nala and Mei-Yun moved instantly.
They dropped their concealment and rushed down the cliff, forming shimmering defensive shields as debris still fell from the blast.
"Leon!" Mei-Yun shouted.
Leon pushed himself up slowly. His arms were trembling, scorched, and bleeding, but he was alive. The Yin barrier had softened the attack—but barely.
Nala knelt beside him, gripping his shoulder.
"You insane, stubborn idiot."
Leon wheezed out a laugh. "You say that like it's new."
Above them, the envoy watched with cold amusement.
"Touching." Lightning crackled in his palm. "Let me end this."
Nala snapped her head up, eyes turning sharp as ice. "You take one more step toward him—"
"You'll what?" the envoy asked lazily. "Throw yourself at me? Cry? Beg for mercy?"
Mei-Yun's hands tightened around her blade.
"We'll fight. Even if we die."
The envoy rolled his eyes. "I'm surrounded by masochists."
Leon struggled to stand.
"Don't… touch them."
The envoy looked down at him. "Why? They mean nothing in the grand scheme of—"
"They're mine."
Leon rose fully, legs shaking, aura flickering violently.
The envoy laughed.
"Yours? Boy, you can't even stand properly. What makes you think—"
Leon's aura exploded.
Not with lightning.
Not with fire.
With **pure, intoxicating, overwhelming Yin**, swirling around him like a storm of moonlight.
The envoy's expression shifted.
"Impossible—your body should've collapsed!"
Leon stepped forward.
"You're not the only one who can defy limits."
The envoy braced himself.
Leon vanished.
For the first time—
the Heavenly-Realm cultivator looked surprised.