Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?
Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?
Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Chapter 67: Defy the Son of Heaven
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"Golden Crow Nine Sun Desolation!"
A glowing orb of golden light appeared before Ji Longyi, pulsing rhythmically. The trees and grass upon the island burst into flame as hazy waves of heat scorched the air and turned sandy beaches into a mess of molten glass and slag. Sea water for countless kilometres began to steam and bubble, a shroud of water vapour rising into the air.
This heat was not that of the Fire Trigram, Li, but the Heaven Trigram, Qian. It was not the blaze of burning wood or a forge. It was the heat of the arrogant sun that reigned above, looking down upon the mortals below. Rather than produce the physical energy of heat through a chemical reaction, it was akin to a Law that simply demanded everything its light touched become warmer. Few below the Saint Realm could wield natural law in this way, only geniuses of comprehension, like Xi Fu or Ji Longyi.
Xi Fu grit his teeth as waves of powerful Heaven Qi slammed into him, nearly forcing him to his knees. He felt his skin begin to sear simply from the light touching him, as the strange law forced him to become hotter. Heaven Defying Spear Intent surged from his Spear Heart, erupting around him as he forcefully stood and banished the warmth around him.
"Is that all you got?" he defiantly shouted.
Ji Longyi smiled, slowly raising his hand. The glowing orb of solar light began to swell, pulse and rotate as it drifted through the air toward Xi Fu.
As it spun faster and faster, a chaotic and desolate aura grew. When the star exploded, everything for miles would be utterly incinerated. This was an attack that could kill ordinary Nascent Souls.
The sheer force of the attack bore down on Xi Fu, who narrowed his eyes in thought. He actually wanted to see the attack erupt so he could study it, but he felt a great sense of danger from it. He raised his hand suddenly.
"Sky-Erasing Spear!" he shouted.
A baleful yang blaze exploded from his fingertip, like a line slashed across the air. The whole world seemed to turn monotone before the brilliance of the light. It slammed into the Desolate Golden Sun, and as if it had never been there, the star vanished from existence. The only evidence it had ever been there was the boiling glass of the island beneath them.
'What in Heaven's name is that move?' Ji Longyi thought in shock. 'It's the same move he used earlier... I can't believe it's so powerful?'
His Golden Crow Nine Sun Desolation was an attack of monstrous power, with few counters. When it exploded, it was nearly impossible to dodge, due to being made of light. Furthermore, each time it exploded, a new, even stronger sun would be born, which would then itself explode until nine suns had been born and erupted. This incredible offensive power made it nearly impossible to block. Furthermore, attacking would normally only cause the Sun to explode faster.
There was no right move to stop it, only numerous bad options. Yet somehow, Xi Fu had simply erased the attack from existence before its potential could be revealed, wasting a huge portion of Ji Longyi's Qi.
However, the Ji Clan member was a combat veteran and quickly assessed the situation. Flashy trump card moves were useless if Xi Fu could erase them all, so he would just have to use many smaller attacks instead.
"Ten Fusang Fists! First Sun, Dawn Brilliance!"
The Chosen of Heaven punched and a solar flare exploded, ripping Xi Fu with incredible power. The spearman smirked. Wreathed in Heaven Defying Spear Intent, he shot forward. His own body becoming like a spear, he pierced the solar flare and shot toward his opponent.
With a single flap of his golden crow wing, Longyi appeared above Xi Fu and kicked. The spearman shot down towards the sea, skipping across it like a rock, before thrusting his weapon at the winged man. A lance of Spear Intent sliced the air.
Ji Longyi was barely able to move his head to the side, a brutal gash opening up on his left cheek. Healing light appeared around him, but the wound did not close. Shock filled his eyes as blood dribbled down his side. A brighter light flashed, and the wound closed.
"Such potent Heaven Qi! Where the hell did you learn this technique?" Ji Longyi asked. "It refuses to submit, blocking ordinary healing!"
"Well, I'm mostly self-taught, to be honest!" Xi Fu thrust his spear again. "But if you're so interested in my Heaven Defying Spear Intent, I'll give you another taste! Cloud Carving Spear!"
A barrier of solar light appeared before Ji Longyi. However, the solar energy he possed was strongly aligned to the Heaven Trigram, exactly what the Cloud Carving Spear was designed to pierce.
The barrier cracked into golden dust as Xi Fu's river of spear intent slashed into it. However, it bought Longyi enough time to dodge out of the way.
"Heaven Defying Spear Intent? What nonsense! This is clearly a variant of Heaven trigram aligned Qi!"
"Yeah, how ironic. Defying Heaven is in fact, a manifestation of Heaven!"
Ji Longyi narrowed his eyes, as his Karmic Merit reacted with displeasure at the words.
"You are wrong," the winged man declared, unleashing a blazing attack towards his enemy.
Xi Fu silently watched the attack, destroying it at the last moment with a palm wreathed in Spear Intent. To be honest, he was less invested in winning the fight, and more in simply learning. Watching how Ji Longyi wielded his golden crow solar Heaven Qi was already causing him some inspiration.
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'Heaven is domineering law, the patriarch, the emperor. However, the only difference between an emperor and a rebel is who has won. Thus, my Heaven Defying Spear Intent is also a manifestation of the Heaven Trigram. But I don't wish to solely defy. The world is filled with things I dislike. I'm not self-deluded enough to call them all evil, but nonetheless, they are things that go against my Dao. Following my own way, in defiance of all rules, I'll exterminate every impurity before my eyes. Just like a glowing sun above, boiling away the darkness of night without a care for the opinion of the shadow. Everything before my spear must be purified.'
"Ten Fusang Fists! Second Sun - Steaming Spring!"
Ji Longyi flashed through the air towards Xi Fu, his golden wing fluttering. He unleashed dozens of punches in an instant, each one creating an explosion of burning sunlight and hazy vaporized flesh as they slammed into Xi Fu.
The Spearman was caught off guard, jumping back defensively. Scorch marks covered his skin, as the scent of burning meat filled the air. Just like his own attacks, a powerful, indomitable Yang Qi infected the wounds. Before they could cause any problems, Xi Fu excised them with his Spear intent, eyes narrowed.
He left one wound behind. Rather than purify it, he studied the unique manifestation of Heaven Qi with his own spear intent, poking and prodding at it to see how it worked. This was the fifth type of Heaven Qi Xi Fu had encountered.
The first was his own Heaven Defying Spear Intent.
Then he had experienced the crushing Heavenly Law of Tribulation.
He had discovered the Heaven Overwriting Intent present in Dragon Scales.
Then he'd had a vision of the unknown evolution of Heaven Defying Sword Intent that was present in the human Meridian System.
And now, he was studying the Heaven Trigram-based Sun Qi of the Golden Crow Bloodline.
"As you felt when I hit you with it, my Spear Qi is of the Heaven trigram, a domineering Yang. Yet, feel this aura with your sense and you'll know my words to be true. This is Heaven Defying Spear Intent, that overturns all laws!"
Xi Fu's aura erupted as he raised his spear and thrust once more.
"Cloud Carving Spear!"
A stream of hazy white turbulent energy roared through the air as it shot towards Ji Longyi, who narrowed his eyes in consideration, studying the attack.
Just as Bing Meilu had explained, true enlightenment of Law could only come from mastery and diligence, when every working of the world was laid bare before you. As the two Heaven-Qi cultivators studied each other's attacks moves and energy, they gained a better feel for their own power as well.
With every form of Heaven Qi Xi Fu saw, he felt he was gaining a better understanding of the concept as a whole, understanding the shared differences.
'Heaven is creation, and order. It is what produces and reaches out, to align that around itself. The stars above bathe us in their own light, we see through their grace. That is the highest Yang. Yet, there are countless laws, and countless powers fighting to re-order the world. Ji Longyi's Sun grants benevolent light to everything around it according to his own will. In other words, the Sun does not ask the Earth below for permission to rise, it simply does! This is why Yang is domineering and Yin is receptive and submitting. The enlighted Sage-Monarch may rule with a domineering and imposing will, but he can still benefit the people.'
At this point, Xi Fu probably had the deepest understanding of the Heaven Trigram of anyone below the Saint Realm. He already felt he could vaguely see patterns between the types of Heaven Qi, which could perhaps be used to predict and extrapolate entirely new forms. Cultivation aligned to the Heaven Trigram was actually pretty rare, so to get to study five of them was just astonishing luck.
Xi Fu felt his embryonic Spear Heart tremble. He knew a technique could already be built based on his new enlightenment, but he wasn't ready for another Tribulation of Art.
"I'll have to thank you later for this."
The two clashed repeatedly in the air, Spear Intent and Solar Qi erupted and clashed. As the fight progressed, it became clear that Ji Longyi had a massive speed advantage, but Xi Fu's Spear cultivation-based attacks were far more lethal and concentrated.
Ji Longyi would flash around like a beam of light, carried by the golden crow wings formed from his bloodline energy. He would unleash dozens of explosive attacks against Xi Fu, who was unable to dodge or block. Then, Xi Fu would unleash his spear intent, either dealing devasting blows or forcing Ji Longyi to retreat and dodge.
Meanwhile, Ji Longyi, who was a genius in his own right, was also learning from seeing Xi Fu's Heaven Defying Spear Intent.
Every time the domineering energy erupted, he got a better sense of its unique aura. It was purely focused intent, something that held nothing as sacred and above it, that would defy and Peirce anything that stood to block its path. The incredibly piercing force of the spear would open a path forward, no matter if gods or devils sought to block it.
He grew more and more disturbed as he realized Xi Fu was correct. This aura of his Spear Intent, to call it Heaven Defying was not inaccurate- but how could defying the Dao of heaven be anything other than dark, demonic and yin? How could such a pure and righteous spear intent be opposed to the Heavens?
He felt his heart shake with confusion.
"This fight has continued long enough," Ji Longyi declared. "I will not use my Karmic Merit, which is reserved for fights to the death. However, now witness the true power of a Chosen of Heaven!"
A golden character reading Heaven appeared upon his chest, above his heart.
The Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth endlessly rushed towards Ji Longyi, forming a massive vortex that distorted the air. The very natural power of the world loved and supported him, proving him with a gushing, overflowing power. Not only did Ji Longyi completely refill his Qi reserves from the long, fight, but he even exceeded them, his Inner Core swelling with more Qi than any ordinary Core Formation could dream of.
Inexhaustible spiritual energy, luck that could provide them countless amazing encounters and save them from lethal danger, a natural ability to comprehend anything within the world. They received blessings and baptisms with each tribulation and had the instinctual guidance of the Heavenly Dao leading them through life and fights. Not to mention, many of these abilities would only grow more profound as their cultivation bases rose. It was, to use crude language, ridiculously unfair bullshit.
All of this together made Chosen of Heaven uncontested to those within their realm. Combined with his incredible bloodline and huge reserves of Karmic Merit, Ji Longyi had even killed a peak Nascent Soul Demonic Cultivator before.
This was actually the first time he'd ever been forced to rely on the support of the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth when fighting someone in the same realm as him.
At the same time, Xi Fu's eyes were blank as he stared at the huge vortex of Qi. One might think he was simply shocked dumb by the sight... but he had actually fallen into a state of enlightenment
A golden light began to pulse from Ji Longyi. His body shuddered, his eyes becoming like that of a bird. The spectral wings of golden light began to become more detailed, feathers and flesh seeming to form as if the wing was becoming corporeal.
"Golden Feather-Knife Rain."
His wings raised, and feathers began to endlessly shed from them, not thousands, or even ten of thousands, but hundreds of thousands of golden knife-like feathers shot through the air, surrounding Xi Fu like an endless swarm of angry bees. The feathers stabbed and slashed at him, even as more and more poured from Ji Longyi's wings.
This was not a battle skill, or a manipulation of Qi, it was an inherent bloodline ability, which human beings lacked.
Xi Fu was already low on Qi from unleashing so many attacks. if it were not for Ji Longyi's inexhaustible spiritual power, he would have had a chance at victory, but now, he was simply unable to last.
He fought as long as he could, slicing away as feathers with his Spear intent, reinforcing his body to block stabs, but as hours passed, he began to run on fumes.
"The duel is over. Surrender." Ji Longyi declared.
He floated in the air, impassively watching Xi Fu torn to shreds by the swirling hail storms of golden knives.
"Hah- yeah, you got me. I'll give you this one. But.. next time we fight, I will win."
it wasn't a product or an arrogant declaration. Xi Fu's voice was casual as if he was saying the grass was green or the sky was blue.
After all, he had finally figured out how to step past the Embryonic stage of Spear Heart!
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Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the BMFS Faction, Li Ji proudly smiled as he gazed upon a stack of large chests. Each of the rune-covered chests was a spatial artifact filled with an enormous space of materials.
After all this time, every part Bing Meilu had asked him to gather was ready. It was time to build the flagship vessel of the Bing Meilu's Faithful Slave Faction- No, the Bing Meilu's Faithful Slave Squadron!
"What should we call it, your holiness?" Li Ji asked curiously.
Bing Meilu closed her eyes, sighing, as if deep in thought. She seemed to be pondering a profound truth. Then she nodded mysteriously.
"We'll call it- the Captured Slave Galley!"
Li Ji's proud smile turned bitter. He nodded.
"Of course Boss, a wonderful and unique name-"
"That's strange, it was meant to be an insult but shows what I remember about the customs of the locals here." she shrugged.