Feng Zhiming looked to the sky briefly before speaking, the stars began to dim and the moon had begun to move, it seemed like the night would actually end this time.

“Isn’t this enough?”

Not long after he spoke, he felt a sinister shadow appear in his mind.

“Not a bad performance." She spoke directly into his mind. “I was thoroughly entertained.”

Feng Zhiming rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t say it earlier but it's quite impolite to not introduce yourself.”

The woman chuckled for a moment.

“My official name is now Maiden of Black, but that's quite a mouthful, call me Kura.”

He noticed an obvious pattern connecting her with the Scholar of Black, the naming sense of this Lord was quite poor.

“I see, Kura.” He yawned before continuing. “This hunt wasn’t meant as entertainment, it was meant as a demonstration of my abilities.”

She didn’t reply immediately.

“Well, what else could you possibly want?” Feng Zhiming was becoming impatient.

“It was impressive, I will not undersell your skills…however.”

“However?” He didn’t like the sound of that.

“I had a different test in mind.”

Feng Zhiming exhaled deeply, this long string of tests had begun to annoy him thoroughly.

“Speak.” he finally spoke, restraining himself from arguing with her. That wouldn’t help him in this situation.

Although he didn’t flat out admit it, the prospect of getting his questions answered by something that knew far more than him did sound very appealing. Especially since the answers he sought ate away at him endlessly.

A shadow appeared on his shoulder and gently ran its fingers along his cheek.

“I know that it’s tiring, but it is all necessary, in the end it will only benefit you.”

He remained silent and did not react to the sudden touch, awaiting her answer.

“The final test you’ll face, will be killing an Ethereal Core cultivator.”

Feng Zhiming's face changed into a puzzled expression. He had slain many Ethereal Core cultivators at this point, was this really a test?

“While remaining within the Qi condensation stage.”

His previous confidence wavered ever so slightly. “I didn’t take you for the humorous type.”

He said this on the surface but he began to scour his resources mentally, thinking of a way he could kill an Ethereal Core cultivator in his current state.

“Anissa’s suppressed as well, everyone here is. Maybe the Elders of the sects, Madam Hua?” He thought as an apple appeared in his hand.

Kura continued her previous statement..

“It must be in a battle, free of any direct interfering factors.”

The piece of the apple he bit into fell from his mouth.

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“And the one you’ll face will be that Holy Knight.”

“I thought you needed me alive, am I a sacrifice or something?!”

Kura chuckled once more.

“A Caelum Juravi should at least be that powerful, not every battle you are in can be fought in the shadows, nor by the borrowed blades of others.”

He sat down on the cold grass before biting into the apple once more. His face contorted into a complex expression. He was intelligent, far beyond his years, but this task truly seemed impossible.

“Don’t be discouraged, you hold within you strength untapped, abilities hidden. I can teach you the true use of that eye.”

That statement appealed greatly to Feng Zhiming. But the implications tugged at his heart, there was a line he wasn't willing to cross.

“I know it means nothing but I will ask anyway. Will I still be myself, after using said power? The power of this Lord.”

Kura understood Feng Zhiming’s dilemma, after all she had been in the same situation not too long ago.

“I promise it on my own existence, if you do not retain your agency may the Great Dao shatter me into innumerable pieces, never to be assembled again.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “The Lord values your mindset greatly and will not corrupt it with his own, this should have become evident to you when you spoke to the Scholar of Black.”

Feng Zhiming took another bite of the apple.

“I have a few ideas, but I will need assistance. Not direct interference with the battle, but some arrangements.”

His gaze fixed on a set of contrasting eyes in his hand, retrieved from his storage ring.

Kura smiled and leaped off his shoulder, kneeling before him on one knee, her hand resting over her heart with her head bowed toward the ground.

“I exist to serve you, fated one.” She declared, her voice filled with devotion.

Feng Zhiming raised his eyebrow at the sudden pledge of loyalty. It went without saying but he took it with a grain of salt, the value of mere words had steadily declined over the years.

“Anything else?” She asked, raising her eyes to meet his.

Feng Zhiming looked into the distance, thinking about something.

“What’s wrong? Worried about your sword wielding heroine.” Kura remembered that there had been someone who he considered a subordinate here.

He cracked a small smirk, scoffing at the notion.

“As if, there's no one in this forest capable of besting her, even me. She is truly an abomination." To others it may seem like he was overselling her, but this was no mere exaggeration.

"You have faith in her?" Kura inquired, she did not know much about Anissa.

"To put it bluntly, even if the remaining dunces all attacked her at once, she would emerge as the victor.”

As he went to take another bite he noticed the apple in his hand had been completely eaten.

“That is, if she can understand the meaning of my words.”

Feng Zhiming was nothing if not a great analyst, and he did not like to gamble but if he was a betting man, he would go all in on Anissa.

…

Krimin chased the blue harried woman for five minutes before he finally arrived at a small clearing within the forest.

He had not caught up to her, rather it was her who had stopped running.

“This should be far enough.” She said as she softly exhaled, before turning around to face Krimin.

Daiyu was still clutching on to her head, the pain was not subsiding, it had never been this intense before.

As Krimin placed her on the ground she looked up at Anissa.

“You…. where is Feng Zhiming? You were accompanying him.” she managed to utter, fighting through the crippling pain.

Anissa ignored the words, her eyes interlocked with Krimin’s.

An unseen clash of sword and saber intent unfolded between them, a gale of pressure knocked down a few of the surrounding trees.

“I’ll make her answer.” Krimin said as he raised his saber to eye level and parallel to his head.

Anissa held her hand out in front of her, the sharpened tip of a stick pointed at Krimin.

He frowned at the sight.

“What kind of provocation is this? Draw your blade.” his face twisted into a scowl as he stared at her weapon.

It was a grave insult to challenge an opponent with a stick in the midst of battle.

She darted in with lightning speed, almost skewering his eye.

Krimin deflected the stick to his side with a flick of his wrist before pushing back on the stick and knocking her away.

There was a hot and wet sensation on the side of his head.

A trickle of red ran down his cheek as he touched his wounded temple.

Blood. She had drawn blood on the first strike.

“What is… a blade?” Anissa replied with an indifferent voice as she got ready for her next attack.

Krimin raised an eyebrow, he noticed her lack of expression, a lack of urgency, of anything. It was as if she had become hollow.

The swordswoman was somehow different here, she had become much calmer.

“You are not the same person I faced before.”