The moment Ellen heard the voice, her expression fell and she let out an exasperated sigh.

“I should have seen this coming.” She muttered.

I gave her a questioning look.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Who was that?”

Before Ellen could respond, the voice called out again.

“Are you too afraid to face me? I never took you to be a coward!”

After hearing it a second time, I realized that the voice belonged to a woman.

“That,” Ellen said with a sour look on her face, “Was Evette Swirling Mist of the Thousand Blade Sect. She is the older sister of Galen Swirling Mist, a man who has been trying to make me his wife ever since we met more than two years ago.”

Willow frowned.

“You mean the idiot who tried to coerce you earlier?” She asked.

Ellen nodded.

“Yes.” She said. “He finally crossed the line, giving me the excuse I needed to ban him from the Dawn and Dusk Treasure Hall. However, it appears that he ran off to tell his sister about what happened.” She sneered. “I knew he was a dog, but I didn’t think he would be this shameless.”

I clenched my fist as I remembered the scene I witnessed earlier, when Cultivator Galen made a pass at Ellen. At the time, Elliot held me back. However, if he was stupid enough to show his face in front of me again, I saw no reason not to oblige him.

“In that case, why don’t we go out and say hello?” I asked, standing up. “After all, they came all the way here to see you. It would be rude to ignore them.”

Everyone looked at me with worried expressions on their faces.

“Darian, we can’t kill Cultivator Galen.” Ellen said. “Clan Swirling Mist is a prominent clan within the Thousand Blade Sect.”

I tilted my head.

“What do you mean?” I asked, pretending ignorance. “I never said anything about killing him. I just want to say hi.”

Ellen opened her mouth to say something, but Cultivator Evette’s voice rang out again.

“Water Fang! If you don’t want to come out here, then you leave me no choice!”

Ellen’s immortal abode shook as someone attacked the defensive arrays protecting it.

“We might as well meet them, Sister.” Elliot said. “Unless they brought an overwhelming number, the four of us should be enough to handle things.”

Ellen sighed.

“Fine,” she spat out,“Let’s go.”

The four of us left the main building of Ellen’s immortal abode. We found a group of people waiting for us outside. I recognized most of them. It was Cultivator Galen and his followers from earlier. However, a young woman now accompanied them. She looked a lot like Cultivator Galen, with fair skin, blue eyes, and blue hair. It was clear that they were siblings. However, she was in late Foundation Establishment compared to Cultivator Galen’s early Foundation Establishment cultivation base. I assumed this was Evette Swirling Mist.

The woman in question held a sword in her hand. It was a high-grade Foundation Establishment magic treasure with Water attributes. A kind of power coated her sword, which I recognized as intent. Nova had shown me intent when we met, though Cultivator Evette’s was much weaker. If Nova’s intent was like the sun, then Cultivator Evette’s was an ember in comparison. It was also sharper, as if it were meant for cutting rather than crushing.

Hmm, so there were different kinds of intent. Interesting. When I met with Nova, before I left the Dawn and Dusk Sect, she gave me a jade slip containing writings on intent. I gave it a brief skim at the time, but set aside since I wanted to focus on other things. However, after seeing Cultivator Evette’s intent, perhaps now was the time to study the jade slip.

The barrier surrounding Ellen’s immortal abode wasn’t weak. It should have been more than enough to keep out any cultivator in the Foundation Establishment realm. However, Cultivator Evette managed to shake the barrier using her intent. She didn’t damage it in the slightest, but it still amazed me that she affected it at all. Not only that, but I didn’t think she used her full power either. If I grasped and understood intent, how much more powerful would I become? A question to ponder later, after we dealt with the current situation.

As the four of us walked outside, Cultivator Evette swung her sword at the barrier created by the defensive arrays protecting Ellen’s immortal abode. The building shook, but the barrier held. When she caught sight of us, Cultivator Evette pointed her sword at Ellen.

“Aha!” She said. “There you are, Water Fang! You dared to threaten my brother and humiliate him in public? You must be tired of living! Come out here and fight me!”

At first glance, it appeared that Cultivator Evette had a forthright and righteous personality. She seemed like a hero from legend, the kind that traveled the land dispensing justice and slaying evil. Too bad that she was here on behalf of her brother, who was a dog of the lowest order.

Ellen stopped just inside of the barrier and crossed her arms. The rest of us stood behind her, ready to intervene if necessary. I glanced at Cultivator Galen. He wore a pitiful expression on his face, but his lips kept curving up in a smirk. I wanted to punch him in the face.

“Cultivator Evette,” Ellen said in a faux cheerful voice, “I would say that it is a pleasure to see you again, but we both know that would be a lie.”

“Enough talking, Water Fang,” Cultivator Evette said. “Come out and take your punishment like a real woman.”

Ellen raised an eyebrow at that.

“And why would I do that?” She asked. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Cultivator Evette let out a derisive snort.

“Even now, you deny your wrongdoings.” She said. “First, you attempted to seduce my younger brother with your feminine wiles. I should have punished you right then and there, but like a fool, I listened to my brother and showed you mercy.”

Ellen scoffed.

“You attacked me in the middle of the Dawn and Dusk Treasure Hall.” She said. “You call that mercy?”

Cultivator Evette nodded.

“Yes,” she said, “I only attacked you once.”

For a moment, I thought she was joking. However, from the serious expression she wore, I realized that she meant it.

“Cultivator Evette,” Ellen said, “The reason why you only attacked me once was because Branch Head Elroy confined you to your quarters for six months as punishment for your actions. You didn’t have the chance to come after me again.” She smirked. “Besides, if you had, I would have defeated you again.”

Cultivator Evette’s face twisted with anger.

“That’s because you cheated!” She yelled. “You relied on puppets instead of your own strength.”

“I am learning puppetry,” Ellen said. “Using puppets is part of my strength. Not everyone is a sword fanatic like you.”

Cultivator Evette swung her sword and left a deep cut in the ground next to her. The swing almost hit one of Cultivator Galen’s followers. He scurried back.

“It doesn’t matter.” She said. “You don’t have your puppets here with you. Once you come out and fight me, I’ll be able to defeat you with ease.”

Ellen chuckled.

“You’re giving me even less reason to fight you.” She said. “Not that I needed it. As I said earlier, I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Cultivator Evette’s expression darkened.

“‘Nothing wrong?’” She said. “My brother told me that when he visited the Dawn and Dusk Treasure Hall earlier, you threatened him. If he didn’t give in to your demands, you would drag him into a scandal and ruin his reputation!”

Okay, that was enough. I couldn’t listen to this nonsense anymore. Otherwise, I felt like I would throw up a mouthful of blood.

“Is that what he told you?” I asked, stepping forward. “Interesting. I was there, and I remember events playing out differently.”

Cultivator Evette glanced in my direction. However, when she saw me, her eyes widened. She pointed her sword at me.

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“Demon!” She looked at Ellen. “Now you’re consorting with demons? I didn’t think you could sink so low, Water Fang.” She wore a hurt look on her face. “How could you?”

I stared at her, dumbfounded.

‘Darian,’ Willow said to me through telepathy. ‘Is it just me, or does Cultivator Evette look as if her lover had betrayed her?’

‘It’s not just you,’ I responded.

It appeared that Cultivator Evette’s feelings towards Ellen were more complicated than I expected. Still, it didn’t matter. Ellen was mine, and I didn’t intend to share her with anyone.

“Ellen does more than just consort with demons.” I said, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her closer to me. Ellen returned the gesture. “She married one. I’m Flamewind, her husband.”

Rather than give Cultivator Evette and the other disciples from the Thousand Blade Sect my real name, I decided to use my fake cultivator name. Rather, I decided to make Flamewind my actual cultivator name. It fit, since I was a Wind Dance with a Fire and demonic spirit root after all. Not only that, but using a cultivator name kept my true identity concealed.

When I declared myself to be Ellen’s husband, the Thousand Blade Sect disciples stared at me. Cultivator Galen’s face was so red, he looked ready to explode. I admit, I felt no small amount of satisfaction at seeing that. The possessive part of my nature enjoyed openly claiming Ellen as my own. From the smile that stretched across her face, she liked it as well.

“That’s even worse!” Cultivator Evette exclaimed. At first I thought it was because I was a demon. However, her next words dispelled that misunderstanding. “You have a husband, yet you still tried to seduce my brother? Shameless! Absolutely shameless!”

Ellen rolled her eyes.

“As I’ve been trying to tell you, I didn’t try to seduce your brother.” She said. “He made a pass at me multiple times, and I rejected him each and every single time.” She let out a derisive snort. “Why would I want your brother?” She leaned her head against my shoulder. “My darling is all I need.”

“Aw!” I said. “I love you too, my dear.”

Cultivator Galen looked like he had reached his limit.

“Get your filthy hands off of her, demon scum!” He yelled, pointing a finger at me.

Ellen lifted her head and glared right at him.

“What did you just say?” She asked in a cold voice.

Cultivator Galen looked taken aback.

“Due to your status within the Thousand Blade Sect, I tolerated your vulgar behavior to avoid starting any unnecessary conflict.” Ellen said. “However, I will not tolerate any insult towards my husband.”

Cultivator Evette looked ecstatic.

“Does this mean we’re going to fight?” she asked.

Oh! She was a martial idiot! That’s why she wanted to fight Ellen so much. Everything made sense now. Maybe coming here to defend her brother’s honor was an excuse on Cultivator Evette’s part.

“That’s fine by me,” I said, staring right at Cultivator Galen, “I need to teach your little brother a lesson in manners.”

Cultivator Galen sneered at me.

“Do you think I’m scared of a weakling like you?” He asked.

I grinned at him.

“Scared or not, it makes no difference to me.” I said. “I’m still going to bash your face in.”

I stepped forward, beyond the barrier created by the defensive arrays that protected Ellen’s immortal abode. The others joined me. Ellen had drawn a pair of curved daggers that gleamed with a poisonous green light. Elliot had his yellow sabers, while Willow had pulled out a staff made from some kind of black metal. It was also a high-grade Foundation Establishment magic treasure.

As we stepped out, Cultivator Evette looked between Ellen and Elliot with a wide smile on her face.

“There are two of you!” She exclaimed. “Excellent. That’s twice the fun!”

Cultivator Galen and his followers also drew various magic treasures, all of them edged weapons of some kind. Like his sister, Cultivator Galen wielded a sword. However, other than Cultivator Evette and Cultivator Galen, the Thousand Blade Sect disciples all wore nervous expressions. While they had more people than us, we had the advantage, with two late Foundation Establishment cultivators.

As our two groups faced each other, the tension in the air grew taught. It was a good thing that Ellen’s immortal abode was located in such an out of the way place. Otherwise, we would have caused an even bigger commotion. As it was, I suspected that this part of the Third Terrace was about to be destroyed.

I decided to end this standoff by using Wind Dash Shoulder Slam against Cultivator Galen. Out of everyone here, he was the one I held the biggest grudge against. He looked startled by my sudden movement, but recovered his composure right away and took on a defensive stance. However, Cultivator Evette intercepted me.

“Ha!” She said. “Did you think that I would let you do as you wanted?”

She breathed out mist, which coated her entire body and made it difficult to see her movements. When she swung her sword, it seemed to split up into dozens of identical copies. I couldn’t tell if these were illusions or not. All of them seemed real, and they were all empowered by Cultivator Evette’s sword intent.

To avoid her attack, I aborted my charge and dodged. While I was sure that my defensive magic treasures would protect me, I didn’t want to risk them getting damaged. Cultivator Evette was much more powerful than me. While I was also a martial idiot, I wasn’t stupid.

Cultivator Galen took advantage of my distraction to make an attack of his own. Like his sister, he breathed out mist that coated his entire body and made it difficult to discern his movements. Caught between the two siblings, I was in a bad situation. Thankfully, I wasn’t alone.

Ellen attacked Cultivator Evette, bringing her dual curved daggers to bear. The two clashed in a flurry of blows, neither one having the advantage over the other. Elliot and Willow dealt with the other Thousand Blade Sect disciples, allowing me to focus on Cultivator Galen.

He thrust his sword at me in a straight line, which I found odd. I expected him to use the same technique that his sister had, when she split up her sword into multiple copies, which may or may not have been illusions. However, my intuition warned me that Cultivator Galen’s attack wasn’t as straightforward as it appeared.

I moved to block his attack. Yet, just before his sword made contact with my leather gauntlets, it twisted and evaded them somehow. The sword stabbed towards my chest, unimpeded. A shield sprang to life around my body, thanks to the crimson robes that Second Master gave me. The shield blocked Cultivator Galen’s sword, though it lost some of its light in doing so. Still, I made a mental note to thank Second Master. His gift might have just saved my life.

I tried to retaliate against Cultivator Galen. However, similar to when he attacked me, his sword twisted and blocked my strike. At this point, only an idiot wouldn’t have realized that something strange was going on. Was it Cultivator Galen’s movements, or was he interfering with my perception somehow? If the latter, then it must have been a powerful illusion technique, since I couldn’t see through it even with my Light of Dawn innate ability.

The two of us exchanged blows several times, testing each other’s defenses. However, these exchanges always ended with me at a disadvantage. No matter what, I couldn’t pierce through Cultivator Galen’s defenses while he bypassed mine with ease. If it hadn’t been for my crimson robes, I would have been riddled with holes by now. If this continued, I would lose this fight. From the expression he wore, Cultivator Galen knew it as well.

However, I learned something valuable from these exchanges. Rather than focus on Cultivator Galen and his sword, I focused my spirit sense on the movement of the air around him. This would tell me if he was using some kind of illusion technique or not. It was difficult, since I had never tried something like this before. However, my efforts paid off.

After exchanging dozens of attacks with Cultivator Galen, I realized that the movement of the air around him didn’t match the movements that I saw with my eyes and spirit sense. The differences were subtle and difficult to sense, but I noticed them. He was using an illusion technique!

Armed with this knowledge, I focused on reading the air around Cultivator Galen to predict his movements. He still had the advantage, since I wasn’t used to this, but I grew more proficient at it with each exchange. Soon, I had a rough grasp on Cultivator Galen’s movements.

I felt like a blind man who realized he could now see. A thrill ran through me as I realized that studying the surrounded environment was another way to notice and predict an opponent's movements. I made a mental note to include this in my training, so I wouldn’t face this disadvantage again.

Cultivator Galen swung his sword at me. I moved to block it. As before, his sword twisted to avoid my gauntlets. However, I knew this was part of the illusion. Instead of relying on my eyes, I studied the air around him and used it to predict where his sword actually was.

Sparks flew as the metal studs in my leather gauntlets clashed with an invisible blade. For the first time since our fight began, I blocked one of Cultivator Galen’s attacks. His eyes widened when he saw this. I grinned at him, before attacking him in a frenzy. Now that I could counter his illusion technique, I pressed my advantage in order to end the fight as soon as possible.

Cultivator Galen tried to defend against my assault. However, unlike before when we tested each other’s defenses, I threw caution to the wind and focused entirely on offense. No matter how hard he tried, Cultivator Galen couldn’t stop my momentum and remained on the back foot.

“Enough!” He snarled.

Cultivator Galen breathed out a cloud of mist that enveloped the area around us. I tried to stop him, but he disappeared into the mist and my fist connected with air. I whirled around, trying to find him again. However, no matter where I looked, I saw nothing but mist. It obscured the area around me, hindering both my spirit sense and my mundane senses.

This seemed familiar and I realized that I faced a situation like this once before. When I took the entrance exam to join the Dawn and Dusk Sect, one part of it involved navigating a stone maze that was obscured with mist like this. However, unlike then, I wasn’t helpless. I focused on the movement of the air and ignored everything else.

After several moments, I felt a disturbance in the air to my right. I turned just as Cultivator Galen appeared, silent like a wraith, and swung his sword at me. He used the same technique his sister had earlier and split his sword into multiple copies. However, the number he created was about a third of Cultivator Evette’s. Also unlike hers, the copies felt less substantial. It was clear to me that they were illusions.

I blocked Cultivator Galen’s real sword, while ignoring the illusory swords. This turned out to be a mistake. While they had less power than the real sword, the illusory swords still damaged the shield protecting me when they struck. My shield’s light dimmed, to the point where it almost shattered.

Well then. It appeared that I had underestimated these illusory swords. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. Good thing I dodged Cultivator Evette’s attack earlier. Otherwise, I would have suffered a serious injury.

Once again, Cultivator Galen was surprised that I managed to block his strike. He tried to retreat back into the mist, but I used Wind Dash Shoulder Slam to smash right into him. This knocked the air out of him and sent him flying. I gave chase, and the two of us exited the cloud of mist.

I aimed an attack right at Cultivator Galen’s face. However, just as my fist connected, his body dispersed and I realized that I had hit some kind of illusory clone made of mist. Meanwhile, the real Cultivator Galen shot backwards with a panicked expression on his face. I pursued him.

“Sister!” He cried out. “Save me!”

Cultivator Evette glanced at us, looking conflicted. Earlier, she and Ellen had been even. However, she had gained the advantage over Ellen since then. The latter now sported several wounds, though none of them looked serious. However, if Cultivator Evette wanted to save her brother, she would have to turn her back on Ellen and forfeit that advantage.

In the end, Cultivator Evette chose to rescue her brother. She launched an attack that pushed Ellen back, before rushing to Cultivator Galen’s side to fend me off. Afterwards, she looked around and grimaced. The situation didn’t look good for the Thousand Blade Sect disciples.

While Cultivator Evette managed to gain the advantage over Ellen, the others hadn’t fared so well. Elliot and Willow had already defeated their opponents, who were now unconscious on the ground. Cultivator Evette was powerful, but she couldn’t face four opponents on her own, two of which were in late Foundation Establishment. Despite this, her eyes gleamed with excitement.

“Well?” Cultivator Evette said. “What are you waiting for? Come at me!”

However, before any of us could move or say anything, another voice rang out.

“That’s enough playing around, children.”