"Reporting to Zūnshàng, a help message just arrived from the Heavenly Demon Palace. Mo Su and his group have been intercepted by high-level Unity cultivators. They're stuck on the defensive."
Jian Feng strode into the hall and stated his purpose before Jian Dan could even ask.
"When did this happen?"
"Just now." Jian Feng's face was calm, but worry flashed through his eyes. Even so, he answered steadily.
"How many Unity cultivators are besieging them?" Jian Dan was already walking toward the courtyard. The War Hall squads parted to clear a path and followed their Hall Master outside.
"Two," Jian Feng replied at once. That number was exactly why he was anxious.
"Good. Let's go greet them," Jian Dan said with a smile. "You should know their exact location."
"Please allow me to accompany you, Zūnshàng." He blurted it out before Jian Dan finished, clearly in a hurry.
Jian Dan gave Jian Feng a look, then smiled. "Alright."
She tore open the void, seized Jian Feng, and vanished from sight.
Even with Jian Feng in tow, Jian Dan moved swiftly through the void, racing in the direction he indicated. When she ripped the void open again and stepped out amid the clouds, she saw two Unity cultivators expressionlessly battering a protective shield around a mobile peak. The barrier was on its last legs.
Their sudden appearance drew the pair's attention. One man flashed in front of Jian Dan, while the other continued hammering the shield.
"Don't meddle. Leave now." The mid-Unity man spoke without emotion.
"Oh? Big talk." Jian Dan's voice was mild. Her sleeve flicked and a red sword-light slashed straight for his face. True to a sword cultivator's creed, if she could strike, she would not waste words.
The man hadn't expected her to act so fast. He teleported away from the blade's path at once.
But Jian Dan's first cut was only a feint. Her true strike targeted the other Unity cultivator still attacking the shield.
A blaze of Verdant Flame sword-shadows streaked over. Sensing danger, the second man whirled to defend, but was still blasted a hundred meters back through the air, forced away from the mobile peak.
Jian Dan sent a voice transmission to Jian Feng. "I'm opening my domain and keeping these two here. You go rendezvous with Mo Su. Tell them not to get in the way."
"Yes, Zūnshàng. Be careful." Jian Feng trusted her strength completely. At her order, he flashed away.
Both Unity cultivators wheeled back and launched their assault. One wielded a sword, the other a mace. Black and white strikes cut from left and right toward Jian Dan.
On the mobile peak, Heavenly Demon Palace cultivators saw Jian Lu Zūnshàng arrive and lure the Unity enemy away. Mo Su immediately withdrew the shield, and everyone flashed out beyond the mountain.
With a wave, Mo Su stowed the mobile peak. Jian Feng arrived at that moment.
"Zūnshàng will detain those two. We leave the battlefield at once. Do not hinder her."
Jian Feng's voice was low, but his gaze locked on Mo Su.
Mo Su's eyes had stuck to Jian Feng from the moment he appeared. He nodded at once. He signaled to Mo Yi, Mo Qi, and the Black-Robe Guards, and the group instantly teleported away from the melee of the three Unity powerhouses.
They didn't go far. This time, Mo Su released a flying shuttle and ushered everyone aboard before explaining, "The shuttle's defenses and speed are better than the mobile peak. Space is tight, so bear with it for now. Once—"
His words stopped short. A vast shadow fell across them. In the next instant, razor-edged yellow talons raked for the shuttle.
"Hmph, more helpers."
Mo Yi was no soft persimmon. He could not handle Unity cultivators, but failing to deal with a mere beast would be disgraceful.
"Heaven-Splitting Cleave!"
Mo Yi's giant axe swept up to meet the talons. Mo Qi's twin sabers were already in her hands. The moment his attack left his blade, she followed, two saber shadows chasing the strike and sparking against the claws.
Both the shuttle and the talons were knocked off their original lines.
Mo Su's poison dagger, Cold Moon Edge, flashed with killing frost and lanced for one of the claws. A piercing cry split the air. Their attacker finally showed itself, a seventh-rank giant hawk. When its wings spread, they blotted out half the sky.
"Black-Robe Guards, hold the shuttle!" Mo Su issued the order, shot Mo Yi a look, then said to Jian Feng, "Let's join forces and bring this hawk down first."
"Good." Jian Feng did not hesitate. He gripped his newly reforged life-bound sword and moved in tandem with the three from the Heavenly Demon Palace.
Nine Black-Robe Guards remained on the shuttle. Bi Shu was pushed into the cabin for protection. In a high-level fight like this, a Nascent Soul stepping out was just cannon fodder, so they placed her under special guard.
The sky split into two battlefields. The Heavenly Demon Palace cultivators engaged the ambushing hawk, while Jian Dan had already dragged the two Unity cultivators into her own domain.
Their earlier pincer strike had slashed through an afterimage. Cotton Candy whisked its master away in a blink, leaving the attacks to tear through a fading remnant.
When Jian Dan reappeared behind them, she unfurled her domain at once. She had no intention of leveling the mountains below.
Realizing something was wrong, the two men whipped their spirit sword and spirit mace to try and interrupt the forming domain.
Too late. Jian Dan's domain flew from her hand and yanked them inside in an instant.
Both men's faces soured. To be outmaneuvered by an early-Unity woman was galling.
Once they were sealed within, Jian Dan relaxed. She sent a soundless command to Liu Chuan."Chuan, reinforce the boundary. Neither of them leaves."
"Got it."
Liu Chuan slipped from Jian Dan's sleeve like drifting dust, floated to the domain wall, then spread his branches. Veins of living power raced across the boundary until the domain pulsed like something alive.
Jian Dan faced the two Unity cultivators and finally spoke. "Report your names. I don't kill the nameless."
"How arrogant. You're only early Unity. What gives you the right to boast about killing us?"
The mace-wielding man looked her over with scorn.
"Since you opened your own domain, you saved us the trouble," he sneered. "We kill you, we walk out, and everything you own becomes ours."
"Hehe. I do enjoy your confidence." Jian Dan still smiled, unruffled. It was a rare chance to fight without restraint. Perfect for testing her sword domain.
Sensing her battle intent, the silver armor within the pendant at her chest surged forth like a tide and assembled a battle robe around her. Jian Dan drew the Mò Xī Jiàn from her dantian.
She blinked into the space between them. Twin blades cut left and right without the slightest mercy.
The unstoppable force of her twin strikes triggered a chill of danger. Both men swung to meet her. Sword shadows piled upon each other. In a breath, the three became streaks of afterimage, darting left and right, up and down, trading a hundred rounds within the domain.