Jinshen looked at the Echoing Range and the vast chasm of the mountain below him. The wind tugging at his robe before he smirked and jumped down.
"Xian, I wanted to ask something. What are your new updates now that you're back?"
Jinshen was casual, not worried about his rapid descent towards the ground, a drop that surely would kill anyone normal.
FIRST OF ALL! Don't call me trash. Second of all, you'll see what my updates are. One, by one.
Jinshen remained calm as his back started to glow and before long, wings of black flame arose from his back. He started flying towards the Swordsong palace, the wind whistling past him.
"Huh? Cool."
Jinshen remained nonchalant, looking at the wings behind him, were similar to phoenix born in hellfire. He leveled out, slicing through the wind.
That's just the start, Xian cackled. I control your energy now. ALL of it. Qi? Energy? Emotion? Vibes? All mine. I'm the captain now.
Jinshen banked toward the Swordsong Palace, his flames trailing like war banners in the sky.
"I mean, I could fly without wings. What's the point of these?"
There was a mechanical pause, Xian trying its best to come up with an excuse.
…According to my calculations… they're slightly more efficient. And.. Their sick as hell.
Jinshen chuckled in amusement.
"I'll take it."
He flew through the air, a few people on the ground noticing him but before they could even process what they saw, he was gone.
"Damn.. I should really stop drinking.. I'm seeing stuff now..."
One of the bystanders muttered under his breath before walking away.
Jinshen finally arrived at the Swordsong Palace, which now had a large, black wood sign on display.
The Acoustic Palace.
Inscribed on it with white paint, giving the palace a final name.
Jinshen smiled softly, looking at the sign—he put his spear on his back, the wings of flame dissipating.
He walked into the castle, the wooden floorboards creaking softly under his weight.
His eyes glowed softly—he gently moved his head backwards, a lazy look on his face, a sword going just across from his face from none other then Lin Zhue.
"Lin Zhue. I'm back and you try to stab me?"
Lin retracted his sword, sheathing it on his back with a small smirk on his face.
"Yeah, we don't like Jiangshi's in this palace. They are usually too dirty."
They both turned to face each other—Lin was wearing a bright white hanfu, a black belt wrapped across his waist with the small symbol of a white skull in the center.
Jinshen's eyes glowed blue with hints of black—while Lin's eyes gleamed with a bright and regal violet.
They both stood in silence—staring into each others soul with a smirk on their face—the atmosphere was so heavy and thick that it would be easy to cut it with a blunt knife.
The only sound was the faint whisper of breathing from both of them—both of their hands on their weapons but before anything could go down-
"Jinshen Zhe!!"
A commanding and authoritative voice yelled out from behind Jinshen—it was none other then Xie herself wearing a long, silky red robe and a black veil covering her face.
"Who... Who are you?"
Jinshen looked at her pretending to be confused, a small pout on his face but when Xie angrily kicked him in a rather... Sensitive area, he fell to the ground, clutching at his crotch.
"Oh damn.."
Lin muttered under his breath, awkwardly taking a step back—he chuckled slightly, not wanting Xie to get even more angry.
Meanwhile Xian was laughing like a maniac in Jinshen's mind, not doing anything to stop the pain.
"I live for this drama!! I could help with the pain but fuck you master!!"
Jinshen pursed his lips, taking a deep breath before looking at Xie who was staring at him with a shaky pout under her veil.
"Oh um.. Sorry."
Jinshen chuckled in an attempt to appease some of her anger—he slowly stood up, pushing apart her veil a little bit.
"Come on, let me see that face-Oof!"
He was immediately cut off by a headbutt which finally broke Lin's desperate attempts to stifle his laughter—both Lin and Xian laughed like maniacs while Jinshen just rubbed his nose with a small smile on his face.
"Fiesty huh? Why aren't you speaking? Want me to apologize for 'dying'?"
Xie took a step back, crossing her arms before slowly nodding, her head turned away from Jinshen.
"Yeah... Stupid bastard.."
Jinshen let out a snort, letting go of his nose—clearing his throat before speaking.
"Well first of all." He began with a small teasing smile. "You aren't my wife yet but even then. I'm sorry... Alright?"
The apology seemed to calm Xie down—albeit just a bit since she just stormed off, fuming—slamming the sliding door of her room shut with a loud thud.
Jinshen slowly turned to Lin who was on his knees holding his stomach, his whole body shaking with laughter.
"Yeah.. So uh mind giving me a run down on things?"
Lin's laughter stopped immediately, he stood up straight—taking a deep breath before talking in a hushed and serious tone.
"You see. Their's a city, Heiyan Gou, the Demonic Sect used to do business with them before a guy took over."
Jinshen's expression also hardened into a serious, Xian's laughter in his mind also stopped completely.
"Took over? A whole city?"
Lin nodded slowly, leaning against the wall.
"Yeah, the whole city, he's basically a cult leader now.. Wanmei is his name."
Jinshen let out a soft scoff at the mention of the name.
"Wanmei.. Pretty conceited huh? Well. I'll be paying him a visit later on I guess. But first I need to settle things up in the Demonic Sect."
Lin narrowed his eyes, pushing off the wall to stand in front of Jinshen.
"Well, I ain't gonna stop you, but you need to go and visit Lady Yunxia, she has.. Something of use."
Jinshen looked at him, putting a hand on the back of his head—scratching it for a moment while he contemplated whether or not to really visit Yunxia before ultimately nodding.
"Sure. I'll go there for now."
Lin nodded, stepping aside for Jinshen to walk towards Yunxia's garden—the sound faint humming coming through to his ears.
He stopped in front of the doors that served as a barrier between the garden and the palace—giving no care, Jinshen just kicked the door open, his hands above his head.
"Yunxia, you have something for me?"
Yunxia looked over her shoulder, while sitting on... Air taking one final sip of her tea before putting the empty teacup in the middle of the air—the teacup casually floating in the air.
"Well well well.... If it isn't the walking Jiangshi.."
Jinshen remained stoic, leaning against the broken doorway—he remained silent but curiosity was evident in his gaze.
Yunxia sighed deeply, standing up straight, putting her hands behind her back before speaking.
"Wanmei, I assume you know of him—he gave me a cube, its a maze of mirrors, one that supposedly traps anyone that isn't 'enlightened'. I think it might come in use."
Jinshen furrowed his brows, putting his hand forward—palms open and facing upwards.
"Give it to me."
Yunxia snapped her fingers, a small rippling motion occurring on Jinshen's palm, the glass cube forming in his hand.
It reflected his face to infinity, the cube larger than his whole hand and heavy enough that if he dropped it, the stone below him would crack instead of the cube.
"The Qi coming off of it... Its strange. I'll use it against The Grand Marshall.. Even after getting resurrected I'm barely at the level of Spirit Refinement... The Grand Marshall is like.. 4 realms above me."
Xian added its own, blunt commentary in a mocking manner
Go and cry in a ditch.
Yunxia nodded, sitting back down on the air—leaning back comfortably—her silky blue robe floating just above the ground.
"Very well. But I did not give this to you alright?"
Jinshen threw the cube into the air before catching it a small, smirk on his face—the black flame wings forming on his back once more.
The wings flapped a few times and lifted himself off the ground and just before flying off, he responded to Yunxia.
"Don't worry, I won't be losing. I've got a lot of help."