Hunter surveyed the blood-drenched battlefield, matching pace with He Xiangu. Her eyes, ablaze with a crimson fury, fixed on the advancing wave of warrior cultivators bold enough to challenge her father's demonic legion.

The sheer scale of the carnage unfolding before him was surreal. It was hard to believe what he was witnessing began centuries after his own birth. Traveling through time and space bridged that gap, but the journey jarred his senses, taking time to adjust.

That wasn’t the biggest challenge he faced.

He Xiangu's father was a demon emperor, and she was far from the trusting type. It would be an uphill battle to convince her that he really had traveled to the future to recruit her on behalf of a god named Claude.

At the ripe old age of eighteen years, this was Hunter’s first, real taste of battle. Back alley brawls weren’t the same. Clutching the glaive he'd taken from a fallen warrior, Hunter counted his blessings that he’d found it so soon after he arrived.

Chi swirled in his core, flooding into his limbs, powering his movements as he sped towards the seemingly impenetrable wall of ‘enemy’ warriors.

He Xiangu flicked him a withering glance. “Let’s see how long you last, paper tiger.”

Swallowing his dread, Hunter kept up his momentum, his aura pulsating with a fierce determination. This battle, his first, could well be his last, but he was resolved to meet his fate head-on.

He reminded himself of his journey, from a novice cultivator to surviving the trials of the Refiner Gate and ascending through the ranks by vanquishing Tower Monsters. He’d used brains over brawn to survive before.

It made his sister Jo proud.

Relief washed over him as he identified the enemy's armaments. They were mostly Common tier, despite their superior cultivation levels. Hunter’s Divine Durability skill, he estimated, would give his glaive an unmatched edge.

With a confident smirk aimed at He Xiangu, he cursed as he stumbled on an unseen stone but swiftly regained his footing, keeping the grin as if the fall was all part of his movement and fighting technique.

Dashing ahead, smoke billowed around He Xiangu. “Better watch your step, boy.” She sneered. “Hate for you to fall flat on your face before you draw blood.”

“Don’t worry about me.” Hunter shrugged, then spun the glaive in a deadly arc, funneling Wind chi in a storm around him. Flecks of bloody earth raised in his wake, flying in all directions like deadly thorn birds.

If He Xiangu was impressed by his display, she kept it well hidden, her face like stone. Her jaw set in a hard line as she set the ground-eating pace.

A sudden, ominous quake caught his attention, a prelude to a threat He Xiangu was oblivious to. Hunter sensed it before it erupted—an Earth chi spike thrusting forth from the bloodied soil directly in their path.

Activating Wind Fall technique, he leapt sideways. His increased speed caught He Xiangu by surprise and disrupted their advance. She growled in anger as they tumbled onto the battlefield together.

An explosion of stone clods and earth flew at them in a shower of dust and debris. Activating Divine Durability, Hunter strengthened his glaive, using it as a shield while he whipped it into the dust storm technique to counter the vicious earth spikes fallout threatening to engulf them.

No surprise that He Xiangu was on her feet in a blinding blur; she dusted herself off, whipping her weapon forward. She barely looked startled; But there was a hint of something different as she glared at him.

Begrudging respect?

“What the hell was that?” She took off in a sprint, not waiting for him to catch up. Still under the power of Wind Fall, he matched her pace with ease. “I have level one mastery of Wind chi movement technique. Once I reach level two, I’ll be even faster.”

Updated stats appeared in his vision.

[Level 2 Mastery—Acceleration Burst: Learns to use Wind Chi to enhance physical movements, providing a burst of speed or agility.]

Hunter laughed.

Looks like saving He Xiangu’s life gave him a level-up reward. He knew by her killer look not to flaunt the fact she owed him a life debt.

Confident he had enough stores of chi in his Peak Star Refiner stage core, he activated Divine Durability, extending his chi through the shaft of his glaive right to the glinting edge of its blade.

It blazed a ghostly glow, promising death and dismemberment; no armor could resist such a powerful force. Battle cries from the golden-armored warriors shook the air as they crossed the final stretch, closing the distance with supernatural speed and agility, a display of their advanced cultivation.

Matching their pace demanded every ounce of Hunter's concentration, his weapon meeting theirs in a clash of metal and might, a dance of death amidst the demonic ranks rallying under He Xiangu's banner.

As the battle raged on, Hunter heard a general clad in gold armor rallying his troops with a thunderous command. "Rip out their black hearts!" His voice cut through the chaos, igniting a fervor among the warrior cultivators.

"I will ensure you yearn for an honorable death," He Xiangu snarled, gripping the hilt of her sword. "One you do not deserve." All this was said in a breath as she leapt high into the air, swinging her weapon down to meet the general like thunder clashing with lightning across the sky.

The expansive boom rattled Hunter to his core. He found his own rhythm, his glaive finding its mark through the open defense of a well-armored warrior with movement techniques as fast as his own.

The cultivator thrust his weapon but he was still not fast enough, nor his armor strong enough, to resist the deadly sharpness of Hunter's Divine Durability enhanced blade. It punched through the armor and straight through the warrior's heart.

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Blood spurted in sickening crimson ribbons from the gaping hole in the gold chest plate. Hunter yanked the glaive out as the warrior fell to the ground, eyes wide and sightless, his face frozen in a grimace of death.

Darting past him to counter a sideways attack, He Xiangu grunted. "You have my attention now. Glad to see you can fight. I wagered you'd be dead already." She barely looked at him or took a breath as she hacked and slashed her way through an attacking warrior without sparing him another sideways glance.

Hunter repressed a scowl and grinned at her instead. "Sorry to disappoint you. I'm tougher than I look; we start fighting young where I'm from."

There was no time to gloat as battle cries resounded, more golden-plated warriors looking to end his life. Behind the first wave of ground assault, Hunter sensed more powerful auras as warriors in red-feathered helmets leapt into the air.

Not just leapt, but glided, as if Wind chi powered their strides in the sky. It took everything in him to keep up with their speed as they lunged towards them.

One warrior, in a blazing golden glow, came at him like a fallen angel. He wore lighter armor and was far faster than the ground warriors. With a snap of his arms, he unleashed deadly whip swords towards Hunter, their green snake eyes locked onto him.

Hypnotized, Hunter froze.

He Xiangu's warning, "Deadly Viper Whip!" snapped him out of the trance, and he tumbled to the ground, narrowly missing the whip as it hissed by his ear.

Planting the butt of his weapon, he jumped back to his feet as the whip snaked back around, seeking to end him with flesh-searing speed.

Hunter bent like a willow, barely escaping its venomous spikes. He countered with his blade, activating Divine Durability. Shockwaves rippled up his arm as his blade swirled around in a vicious arc, catching the tail end of the whip. Once caught in his snare, Hunter dragged the whip down, forcing the lightning-fast warrior to the ground, landing hard on their knees.

Using all his might, the warrior struggled to free the whip, but it was no use. Hunter held his grip tight, refusing to release his hold. Realizing the futility, the warrior looked up at him in defeat, head hung low, exposing his neck in light armor.

Hunter hesitated, not willing to release his hold but not ready to land the killing blow on a defenseless warrior.

A booming voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "What are you waiting for? Finish him!" He Xiangu yelled.

Hunter shook his head. "He's surrendered; I can't kill a defenseless man."

He Xiangu looked at him with disgust. "Do not dishonor his clan by leaving him defeated on the Blood Lotus battlefield. His blood shall satisfy the thirst of this hallowed ground."

Without waiting for his response, she swept in like an angel of vengeance, her blade singing the warrior's death knell in one clean stroke.

The finality of the act left Hunter disturbed. He Xiangu snarled and darted back, setting off to destroy her next opponent, eyes blazing with killing intent.

Hunter stood there, in the timeless moment as the warrior's head rolled away and his body fell forward with a heavy thud. Blood poured from the clean cut.

It stained the earth a deep crimson.

It reminded him of home. Memories of Pheres fighting Vassilus’ henchmen surged through Hunter. Pheres’ determination to kill and destroy anything in their threatening path mirrored the relentless combat. The blood on his hands was a stark reminder, though he hadn't dealt the final blow; he needed to prove himself to He Xiangu and earn them both a return to the Tower.

He moved the hair out of his eyes, wiping the cool sweat along with it and imagining if this was how his father felt during his first battle. The cool metal of the storage ring against his temple reminded him of his father's absence and that since his arrival, there wasn't anything left in his inventory.

He groaned at the lack of his Divine weapons or items from his storage ring—that was something he needed to talk with Claude or Tower about when he returned to his own time with He Xiangu.

He ground his jaw, determined to make that thought a reality.

Blinking his eyes, Hunter gripped the glaive's hilt, turning toward another warrior hidden behind armor and a red-feathered helmet. Without hesitation, he lunged with the Wind Fall technique, piercing through the metal armor, his glaive strengthened with Divine Durability punctured like clay.

Turning toward He Xiangu, awe struck him as she relentlessly struck her sword through a warrior’s back, landing with one knee to the ground as though she cursed him to hell’s court.

She tilted her head back and glanced up at him. "It's taken a battle, but you have my attention." She stood, raising her sword at Hunter, her eyes narrowed.

He tensed and raised his shield ready to engage in a challenge to prove his final worth.

He Xiangu charged at him and kicked off his shield, landing on the other side of him, her blade deflected an Earth chi construct and sliced through the forearm of the warrior who he’d thought he’d slain.

“Never let your guard down in a war.” She lifted her helmet, the battlefield swarming with the demon clan conquering their golden armored enemy.

Hunter couldn’t show any sign of weakness or misstep if he wanted to impress her. "I knew how much you liked to finish them, so I saved this one for you."

Her eyebrows scrunched as she sheathed her sword. “Where did you learn to fight?” Her tone held back how impressed and surprised she was—at least that’s what Hunter hoped.

He needed to let her know that he had more to his fighting style—that he could more than handle himself especially after hesitating with the defenseless warrior.

Hunter’s gaze shifted to the cultivator who still held a shallow breath. With a deep lunge, he cut through him with the glaive, acknowledging the death coating his hands. A sickening nausea churned, almost as bad as eating mourn berries, but he swallowed and bit back the sensation.

With a slow exhale, Hunter tried to appear relaxed. “I've been taking it easy—pacing myself since I didn't know how long this battle would go on.”

He Xiangu placed a hand on her hip, shaking her head. “The last one Father led…it was decades. Hold your own in battle, and I'll listen to you, but you have to prove to me more than anything why I should trust you.” She tilted her head back, eyes narrowed on Hunter’s face. “You look pale. Is the bloodshed getting to you, paper tiger?”

His chest tightened at the thought of getting so close to proving himself on the battlefield, yet having it slip away in an instant. It left him shrouded in concern.

Biting his cheek, he knew the only way to gain her trust was to share a part of himself that she could recognize in herself. He shook his head thinking about his childhood on Death Island and cleared his throat before speaking.

“I saw my first dead body when I was eight years old. It was the first of many people I helped bury.” He Xiangu’s expression softened with his words—he’d hit a sweet spot. “I've seen my fair share of death and disease. Where I come from, it's hard to avoid. I grew up surrounded by death.”

Although He Xiangu’s expression had completely changed from the hardened warrior to an approachable initiate, a resistance in her eyes still remained. “So what's your ailment?”

Hunter shrugged, surprised at the numbness he felt when speaking of his childhood. “There's nothing I can't manage. Let's focus on more important things, like how you said you'd hear me out once I survived the battle.”

He Xiangu raised a finger. “One moment.” In a wisp of black smoke, she leapt into a twirling jump kick, ravaging on top of a rampaging warrior. She growled as she wrestled him to the ground with a knee to his throat. Tearing off his helmet, she gripped both sides of his head and roared, ripping off his ears with a loud grunt.

Hunter’s eyes widened at her brutality. If she were this strong now, she could gain so much more from training in the tower.

He Xiangu stood up and kicked the cultivator across the dirt. The body rolled, feeding the thirsty soil with his blood. She clenched her fists, blood dripping from them.

She turned to Hunter displaying a savage grin. “Say what you need to say; I'm all ears!”