Stillness reigned. The audience did not have the time to react.

Leung Lakse held his blade steady. “Don’t take swords that aren't meant for you.”

Yeon only steadied her gaze between Xiyun and Lakse. Her hand continued to grip the still impaled blade. “What. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Doing.”

Lakse shook his head. “You are not strong enough right now.”

“What does that matter for?”

“The story goes like this. I kill the boy. You become enraged and swear vengeance. In the future, when you're strong enough to be worth anything, I’ll cut you down and progress in my cultivation. Understand? A day further than that, your elder brother will arrive just to similarly give up his life. Such is a common cycle for me.” He smiled. “Too many already hate me, Mulsunhwan won’t make a difference. In the face of progress, risk does not matter-”

A figure arrived towards Lakse’s side. Dru swept his fist forward. Skin flushed red. Vapors of sweat evaporated in white steam. The momentum broke when his eyes suddenly contracted. His foot stomped to break his approach, but it was too late. His arm soundlessly separated in two.

Dru’s right arm fell on the floor. The man collapsed onto his knees, clutching his right stub with his left hand. He did not scream but thinned his lips and glared forward.

Yeon measured all of this with her eyes. When she imagined herself in Dru's place against Sword Intent too quick to perceive, she realized she would have experienced the same result.

On the other side, Duan Sui successfully pulled the frozen Xiyun back.

Lakse ignored both of them. “As I was saying, only one person will reach the peak of the mountain known as cultivation. Only the most difficult path will even allow a possibility to reach the end. In the distant future, my sword will strike down your master, or I will break trying. As a martial artist yourself, do you agree?”

Yeon lowered her head. The floorboards cracked. After a brief rest of her eyes, she raised her head again. “You hold a misconception.” Her hand which clutched the sides of the sword slowly pulled the blade from her stomach. Against expectations, the wound did not bleed. “You never needed to worry about the future. I can fight right now.”

He shook his head. “It doesn't matter that you have overcome those above your realm, because were they not common experts? Those raised directly by the schools and sects can all do the same. Even the boy behind you got one past Fei Ling. To cross realms and defeat those at the top of a generation is a completely different matter when combat potential is what determines the top of a generation. You are already within the reach of my breath. Do you not see what happened to your friend? If I wanted, you would already be dead right now.”

She creased her lips. “I entered your domain to protect Xiyun. However, it is true I am still alive. In return, I will give up this chance to break your sword.” She released the blade.

The corners of his raised lips emitted a light chuckle. “Break my sword? My intentions have not changed.” He still planned to kill everyone except for her.

Both Dru and Duan Sui tensed as they caught Lakse’s intent.

“It is not a joke.“ Everything reminded Yeon of the day they arrived at the Xiao Estate. The hand placed on her back and the words about rudeness. She forced a smirk across her lips. “Your spiel is nothing but nonsense. You don’t believe in any of it. There is only one reason and it's pitiful. My Eldest Brother went to the South to train. If you are familiar with him, then that only means one thing. You met him and he proceeded to beat you down like the mutt that you are.”

Lakse did not respond.

Abruptly, Yeon moved without shifting her limbs. Her body slid a step back in a sudden displacement. Her feet never left the ground.

In place of where she previously stood, though hard to see, the wooden board had been cut into two.

Her lips raised. She had caught it. She confirmed her suspicion. The window of time was larger than it had been for Dru. There was a difference between Lakse’s speed when attacking compared to when he was counter-attacking. In other words, although she could not strike him, she could still rely on her own Perception to dodge.

Yeon’s gaze met Lakse. An agreement was made. The fight was on.

Lakse adjusted his sword wrist and lightly swept. A sword focused intent and intent allowed greater control of breath. By motioning a sweep, Sword Intent extended along the direction of his blade. Far beyond the distance of his domain, Separation Sword cut the air, tracing a path towards Yeon.

She had already stomped straight down on the floor. Through Water Circulation, she didn’t need to move by going the opposite of friction. Simply by pushing in any direction, she could redirect the direction of that push.

Standing still, her limitation of what she could control was the strength of gravity. While moving, her limitation was her own strength. Not just the strength of her kick, she practiced pulling the muscles in every part of her body and redirecting it all to her feet.

Yeon flung herself in an arc across the training hall, above everyone else, with the path of the invisible blade edge following behind her.

Lakse took another step that traveled across the training hall.

She decided against landing. Her feet touched the remaining uncut wooden pillar of the training hall while in midair, sending her towards the open window. Midway out, her hand tapped the top of the window frame, immediately redirecting her upwards as she flipped onto the roof.

Perception caught something else and Yeon leaped again. She soared. High like a bird. The city below her. The horizon surrounding her.

On a distant street below, a single young boy holding the hands of his mother caught sight of Yeon and waved his hand.

Directly below, three cuts formed a triangle out of the training hall’s roof, sending the portion crashing down below. Lakse climbed out of the opening.

Yeon landed on the opposing rooftop. She waited.

In another single step, Lakse arrived on the same rooftop. As confident as she was in her mobility, Yeon confirmed something else.

Leung Lakse was faster than Han Yeon.

Unlike Pine Mountain’s focus on the speed and power of Sword Control and Sword Flight, Bamboo Garden focused on sword styles and sword methods. Still, the Union Path allowed innate control of a cultivator’s object.

In addition, although he did not have the affinity to achieve Sword Body, he possessed a pseudo Sword Body gained by treating his blood vessels as spiritual roots.

In his personal movement technique, he would first propel his sword forward. Then with his pseudo Sword Body tied to his sword, he followed the blade’s straight path in conjunction with lightness footwork.

Lakse once again readied his blade.

Yeon adjusted her feet.

He pointed his sword forward and took a step.

She tapped the ground and propelled backward, avoiding another cut.

Making use of her mobility, each step she traveled kicked off the sides of buildings instead of their roof. However, Lakse arrived from above. A slash was made.

The corner of a building was sliced cleanly, crashing down into the streets where frightened pedestrians scrambled away.

Yeon gritted her teeth. Her eyes looked west.

…

Danlu took in the scene. The entire training hall really did collapse by the time Yeon was done with it, just like she had said. Luckily the middle of the training hall was relatively clear and their side was not caught up in the partial collapse of the roof. ”What now?”

Fei Ling waved towards Dru. “Someone bandage him!“

Deoi stood up and made his way towards Dru. Shuixian Juan handed him the bandages she held. He looked at her oddly before proceeding to bandage both ends of Dru’s wound.

Shuixian Juan turned towards the window. Blankly peering out with a frown. What am I supposed to do now?

After calming down the trainees, Fei Ling looked to Gyuwon. “Take your horse and get to the Xiao Estate.” Like the training hall, Xiao Estate was also located on the northern side of the city. ”I don’t know any healers, but the Xiao Family might still be able to save an arm.”

The tall man, Gyuwon, immediately sprinted for the entrance.

Danlu blinked. “Thanks.”

“Hopefully this all gets dealt with by the city guards and Leung Lakse never comes back.” The old man turned towards a figure still knelt on the ground. “Is he okay?”

Danlu looked over and found Xiyun. “Xiyun! Xiyun!”

The boy turned his head. Though Danlu normally found him listless, he seemed different somehow. “Is there another horse?” he said to Fei Ling. “I’m borrowing it.”

The North River Training Hall did hold several horses, but Fei Ling smacked his lips closed.

Duan Sui raised his head. “I highly advise against this.”

Danlu also shook his head. “We don’t know where they’ve gone.”

Xiyun stood up and took stepped towards the entrance. “We do. Yeon’s first priority was to lead Leung Lakse away from here. Her second priority will be to lead the fight away from civilians. The river is too crowded during today’s festival so there’s no chance of using the shoreline. There is only one direction she could possibly go. The closest city wall.” He pointed west. “The old imperial palace.”

“Can you ride a horse?”

Xiyun paused.

Danlu grinned instead of objecting. “I can.”

…

Yeon jumped. Her foot touched the vertical side of flat stone and held on. She scaled the wall as she ran up it.

Lakse threw his sword in front of him. The sword suspended in place before accelerating up. His foot stepped on the end of the hilt and rose along with it. He arrived on top of the wall which overlooked the city. On the other side were the abandoned buildings of the old palace previously used by Northern Xue hundreds of years ago.

Yeon stood in the middle of the wall walk and faced him. “This place is suitable isn’t it?”

“A duel before the wall? In that sense it’s suitable.” He casually turned around. “Let me get rid of those who will interrupt.”

From the outpost behind Lakse, two soldiers in silver-scaled armor and red cloth arrived. “You two causes of chaos in the city! Cease all action immediately!”

“Annoyances.” Lakse spat two trails of spit which shot through both men’s forehead.

Yeon’s lips folded as the two corpses fell down towards the side of the old palace. Not only could she not stop it but- Those were not normal city guards.

“Let’s begin,” he said.

She raised her heels and stood on her toes. Her feet shifted slightly inward and then projected forward.

The unseen blade curved around her already twisting body that swerved through the air as she ran forward at bizarre angles. For three more blade strikes, she dodged, leaving thin gashes on the surface of the ground behind her.

There existed three ranges she had to be aware of. The extended sword reach, then the domain of reactionary sword intent, and finally the physical length of the sword itself.

At an angle from Lakse, her hand shot forward as her foot pivoted right. The moment her hand entered the range of his domain, she receded it back, yet blood still spilled.

A cut appeared at the side of her arm.

Lakse kicked forward with a new swing to close the distance. However, she flipped backward in a wide arc and he declined to follow her through the air.

Yeon landed back on the wall walk, a distance away. Lips creased as she glanced down. On her right leg and left hip, two more cuts appeared. Just like with the one on her arm, after the initial trail staining her tunic was discovered, the cut stopped bleeding and remained a thin red line.

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Lakse‘s robe remained spotless.

Yeon inhaled a large breath. “Let’s try this.” She raised her fist.

The force of the world which dragged her towards the ground ran up her leg muscles and overturned back down her shoulder blades. After passing her abdominals, they turned again, going back up her back. Meanwhile, from her stable stand, more weight directed upwards instead of down, adding to the sequence. A continuous buildup of strength. A continuous cycle of force. The true essence of Water Circulation.

Her fist came down and the ground shook and shattered. A spiderweb of fissures spread through the section of the wall walk.

Normally, her actions were reserved for soft-oriented techniques such as unbreakable grasps. Hard-oriented techniques needed to be withstood by both herself and her opponent. However, through the practice of Reverse Impact, she mitigated enough self-inflicted harm from shattering stone to accomplish at least this much.

Lakse raised an eyebrow and immediately moved to take initiative.

Yeon gave a small grin. Pieces of stone in contact with her hand climbed up her arms. Without the need to be held, they effortlessly stuck to her skin, rolling like magnets. In a moment of time, they already covered her entire arm.

Armor was pointless against Lakse, so they were not for defense.

She sidestepped a vertical slash and spun around a diagonal slash.

Then, without warning, a stone from her arm instantly gained speed and shot forward. It separated in two and veered off course the moment it entered his domain. However, a dozen more stones followed it and a dozen more behind those.

Five months ago, Yeon’s comprehension of how her style interacted with the world expanded and she broke through to the upper state of Control.

From then on, she placed great importance on a certain aspect of her style. She could apply her movement technique, yet instead of moving herself through the world, she remained immobile, thereby moving the world. Control meant inhabiting a style within the body, but only when she could permeate the world with a style would it be Harmony Within Nature. It was one step closer towards entering the next realm of the Marital Path.

Two more fissures cracked beneath Yeon’s feet. One hand reached down while the other extended forward. She learned three things as the exchange continued.

One. The attacks of the extended reach of Sword Intent had paused. He could not sustain his reactionary domain of Sword Intent and extended edge of Sword Intent simultaneously.

Two. The continuous barrages were not destroyed the moment they entered Lakse’s domain. Many made a short distance until being bisected by Separation Sword. An instance occurred where he batted a piece of debris with his physical sword. It meant his breath was limited, therefore his application of reactionary Sword Intent to protect himself was limited.

Three. He no longer stood. He dashed towards her. Lakse felt threatened.

While sustaining the projectiles, Yeon trailed back unpredictably, with each step creating new fractured stones that stuck to her feet. Yet, on the straight wall walk, Lakse closed the distance several times.

Yeon sustained several more cuts, including a large one on her shoulder. Amidst this, a handful of debris had pelted Lakse’s body.

The exchange continued. Was it a battle of attrition? No, it was much more than attrition.

He relied on inner energy for his methods. He neither housed an abundance of energy like those on the Worldly Path nor could he efficiently manipulate energy within the environment like those on the Orthodox Path. Instead, his advantage relied on the efficiency of likeness between him and his sword.

She could last as long as her stamina. Yet, in addition to physical exhaustion, was mental exhaustion. The health of a mind was tied directly to the body.

Lakse swung his sword horizontally, allowing a piece of stone to bruise his thigh, trading the hit for a quick extended strike.

Yeon flipped over the invisible edge. When she landed down, she bit her lips. Although she stalled the damage of the cuts, the pain never changed. Unable to numb the pain without numbing her reflexes, every step she took felt like the bites of a hundred beasts.

Watching Lakse step forward with his sword raised again, she placed her hand over part of the wall’s battlement and crushed it into pieces, preparing for the next round.

Pain no longer mattered. As long as her body did not break on her, she would continue fighting forever.

…

The main gate of the old imperial palace faced south in front of Luo River, while the one Xiyun and Danlu rode towards one which faced east.

The pedestrians peered up from under the cover of buildings at the top of the fifty feet tall wall. A clean-cut battlement fell down the wall and crash down below. Above were the two distant figures.

Danlu turned the reins north along the wall, away from the fight but towards the eastern gate. Xiyun sat behind him, focused on how he held the reins.

“I’ll tell you two one last time to wait for the family.” Duan Sui, on top of his own horse, said.

“You’re not doing a very good job convincing us,” Danlu said.

“I already planned to relay information to the city guards. This is part of our protocol. Keeping you two accounted for and away from danger is as well.” Now, he just needed to keep both of them within sight as the guards hopefully restrained Leung Lakse before Yeon got hurt.

Two riders in red and silver rode past them, causing Xiyun to raise his head. “They just left the gate.”

Danlu and Duan Sui both kicked the sides of their horses.

The structure came into view. Two guards in dusty dark-blue scales, likely discussing the event above, stood watching over the open gate.

As Danlu prepared to slow to a halt, Xiyun leaned forward and grabbed both of his hands. Danlu eye’s constricted. “What are-?”

Xiyun kicked the side of the horse. “We’re continuing forward.”

Duan Sui, who had begun halting his horse, widened his eyes.

Danlu and Xiyun’s horse turned straight at the open gate.

The two guards raised their heads. They began yelling something, but Xiyun heard none of it. The horse charged closer. One guard grabbed the other and both rolled over the ground.

The horse jumped past the entrance, reaching the other side.

A network interconnected buildings and streets resembling a city. Various abandoned government buildings. It was the sight of the administrative city.

Unlike Taiping’s palace which divided its inner and outer sections by a wall splitting north and south, Luoyi’s inner palace was walled in the middle while the functions of government surrounded it.

A distance away next to the wall, a squad of guards all looked up.

Danlu’s expression twisted into horror. What are we doing! This has to be unlawful!

Behind them, one of the guards had grabbed hold of Duan Sui’s horse. Duan Sui had a similarly ashen expression, realizing how much more he had to explain. He hoped that the Xiao Family name had enough pull to get through this.

The horse of the two boys never stopped accelerating, galloping into the covers of the buildings. From his seat behind Danlu, Xiyun turned at a street south. He had learned how to ride a horse.

At an open yard, Xiyun halted the horse and jumped off.

Danlu followed. “This is a palace! What are you doing?”

“Old palace. Everything is unused except for the garrison.” It meant avoiding people was easier.

He didn’t disagree. He heard that only the gardens were maintained for visitors just like those by the river.

“Leave the horse here for now and follow me.” Xiyun walked into a nearby building. “This should be the old agriculture department. There is a walkway that connects to the old imperial examination department.”

He paused. “How do you know the layout of this place?”

“There are even hidden passageways in Memories of a Withering Flower.”

Danlu thinned his lips. What is he talking about?

Xiyun tilted his head. “In the book itself, the writer has explored the entirety of the palace.”

“A book?” He resigned to believe Xiyun and ran past the dusty floors. “Then where are we going now?”

“One of the armories. I’m looking for a crossbow to shoot a bolt into Leung Lakse’s back.”

Danlu’s stumbled. His heart sank further.

The storage for siege defense armaments was only a short distance away. Xiyun led Danlu into the courtyard that connected to the backdoor of the armory.

“This isn't practical,” Danlu said. “You’ve never used any crossbow before.”

“I’ve never ridden a horse either. I know the instructions, so I’ll simply learn now.”

Danlu remained skeptical.

“She won’t win,” Xiyun said slowly and coarsely.

“What?”

He placed his hand over the door. “Certainty and uncertainty follow cause and effect. All I know is that Yeon will lose. Nothing matters anymore. All that matters is disrupting the outcome.” He opened it.

Crack!

A halberd broke the floorboards before Xiyun. A red-clothed soldier glanced over his own shoulder. “I think they’re the ones from the gate incident that the Guard Captain’s runner spoke about. What should we do, Commander Fang?”

In the hall stood more than a dozen men in red cloth and silver-scaled armor. They were in the midst of handling a crate of horn bows. In the middle sat a particularly tall and broad-shouldered man in a feathered helmet.

Xiyun caught sight of a token tied to the belt of the one in front of him. “Feathered Forest?”

Danlu gulped. “I think they had the same idea as you.”

“Imperial Guards shouldn’t be here.”

The man in the middle, Commander Fang, only now noticed them. He turned his lips up. “Do you two also confirm that the two fighting are Leung Lakse and Han Yeon?” He stood up and made for the entrance after seeing two nods. “Of course those were piercing wounds and... Zhang, keep them for questioning later.”

“Acknowledged, Commander,” the guardsman surnamed Zhang answered.

The squad finished apportioning arrows and multiple bows to each other. They filed in line to follow behind Commander Fang.

Guard Zhang lifted his halberd and set into a scowl. “You two, stay within arms reach and don’t fall behind. No funny business.”

Xiyun and Danlu exchanged gazes. They stuck behind the guard at the end of the line as they walked through the buildings. Not long after they reached the base of the wall.

Two more squads of red guardsmen joined the group. The city guards in dark-blue stood fidgeting at the side, occasionally glancing at the top of the wall where two figures moved in a flurry.

After the horn bows were split among every member, each one except for Guard Zhang, who stayed behind, entered into formation.

“The target is Leung Lakse.” Commander Fang raised an arm. “Ready! Hold! Follow! Loose!”

The arrows released. In a single moment, they traveled the short distance to focus on Lakse.

The man on top of the wall did not even bat an eye. The dozens of arrows shredded instantly like the stones propelled by Yeon.

“Again!” Commander Fang said. “Hold! Follow! Loose! Next volley! Hold! Follow! Loose! Continue pace!”

Though Lakse slowed down slightly, there was little effect.

Commander Fang raised his own personal bow. His fingers knotted three arrows. Matching the pace of his men, he released.

Three arrows curved through the air and traced an irregular path that went beyond a flat arc. They moved with the vigorous control of Nine Suns Bow Method, arriving at three opposing angles centered at Lakse. Upon entering his domain, they minced into scattered pieces like the rest.

Commander Fang's expression set into a frown but he did not order his men to pause their volleys. Though they would run out of arrows soon, the highest chance to capture Lakse was while he was still preoccupied. He glanced at the figure opposing Lakse, Yeon, who had just used the side of the wall itself to avoid what separated a piece of wall walk that fell.

Xiyun watched Yeon skit back a distance from Lakse while her left arm fell to her side. He tapped Danlu and pointed to the back of the guard named Zhang.

“I got it.” At this point, he had gotten so involved that it no longer mattered to Danlu anymore. If they get locked up, he’s sure that Xiyun would get them released somehow.

...

The rain of arrows allowed Yeon a pause to breathe. Her left arm hung down her side. She could no longer move it. The muscles were too damaged. Though it was still covered in full by a new layer of stone, it was likely the last batch.

It was pointless to continue prolonging the end.

After steading her gaze forward, she brought up her free right arm to the battlement next to her. The stone structure which bowmen hid behind cracked at the base.

She now understood the logic of her senior brother when he picked up the sword. It was not just about concentrating strength to a single point at her hand but also tearing outwardly everywhere else in order to efficiently split stone.

Freeing the thought from her mind, she ran forward. After releasing her touch, the battlement shot up in a sharp arc towards the clouds. Midrun, her left arm began projecting the stone pieces while her right hand detached the next battlement and then the next. Each battlement along her path towards Lakse launched upwards.

As she reached the domain, the first battlement fell in front of her, in time with the new volley of arrows. Her leg extended up in a sharp kick which ruptured the large stone into countless pieces. Her other leg pushed her into a leap to follow the array.

She needed to overwhelm Lakse’s limit.

Immediately a quarter of the stones diced into dust.

Midair, her leg stepped onto the next falling battlement. It shattered in Lakse’s direction while sending her upwards to the next battlement a short distance away. The hurled stones were not completely accurate.

Her feet touched it. She twisted her body, swinging the battlement with her center of mass to the direction of Lakse before rupturing it and propelling her towards the next one.

Now at the border of Lakse’s domain above him, her left foot caught the next battlement from beneath it. With an upright flip and a split, her right foot caught a second battlement. Pulling the weight attached to her feet down, her raised right hand caught a third battlement. Falling beneath a fourth and final battlement already aligned with Lakse, she detonated the three large stones downwards and followed after the pieces.

Lakse tilted his head up. A calm smile appeared.

Red lines traced over his skin. They detached from his skin like red silk. Sprouting out his skin and through his robe, they instantaneously created a coiling sphere. It surrounded him like an ornate cage that twisted and churned.

It was the same pseudo Sword Body which he taught Shuixian Juan, but many times more advanced.

A spiral of red string scattered up like a swirling whirlpool. It spun, crushing every piece of stone above him and every arrow around him. Yeon would be next.

Time slowed.

An arrow entered Lakse’s domain. It was a horrible shot. Any semi-trained bowmen could hit a standing target at less than a hundred feet away, yet the arrow missed the coiling sphere of red completely. It passed Lakse from behind him and struck a nearby battlement instead.

Yet, for the first time since the fighting began, Lakse’s gaze left Yeon. The arrow which escaped Perception lured his eyes for a brief moment.

Leung Lakse considered no one within the city a threat, yet this was the second spark of fear which spawned today. The absence of intent. A direct counter to his abilities. Perhaps not today, but in the future, would that arrow still miss? Was there more to why he wanted to kill the boy?

When his intent faltered, the rotation of the spiral paused for a single moment. In that one opportunity, Yeon kicked off the fourth and final battlement that fell behind her. There was no point in avoiding a confrontation. She went forward and successfully twisted past the strings of blood.

He returned to focus. “Did you forget I’m a swordsman?” A sword splendidly rose.

No longer able to direct her movement, Yeon raised her right arm to block. As she arrived from above, Lakse stabbed instead of slash. The sword made contact… and effortlessly pierced through her arm and aimed for her neck next.

Then, it severed into two.

“And you forgot that I said I could break your sword.”

Leung Lakse’s sword was broken by the clutch of the very flesh it pierced through.

At the last moment, the realization set in. His lips pulled back.

Yeon’s leg swept in a wide kick. It pounded the center of Lakse’s chest. Pushing the air out of his lungs and breaking bone. He hurled through the air and crashed through the roof of an administrative building down below.

She landed only to look down. All the guards stood with frozen expression. Danlu crouched, clutching both sides of his head, next to the collapsed man he had just kicked between the legs. Xiyun still held the bow that he pried off the guard up towards the sky.

Yeon laughed... before she collapsed. Mental exhaustion arrived. The wound through her stomach and back, the one initially created back at the training hall, opened. All the cuts she sustained while on top of the wall opened.

She closed her eyes. “I win.”