The time had finally come. Sha Xiang had waited long enough. Suffered embarrassment enough. She had finally cultivated to the peak of Body Refining. She had struggled against the Four Demon Fists and made it hers. The cracks in her meridians didn’t matter. Emissary Kong had told her that once she advanced to Golden Core, she would be strong enough for the medicines that would repair them.

The demon core, now able to form full thoughts, urged her on. Go for the eyes, it said. The shadow-walker is the key. Ambush, surprise.

It was right. She didn’t like it. She wanted to go after He Yu first, but the core was right. If they attacked anyone but Yan Shirong first, he would get the word out to the others. And besides, He Yu hadn’t been seen for more than a week now. He would turn up sooner or later, and all the better if they dealt with his friends first.

Flanked by Cui Bao and Da Ning, Sha Xiang waited outside Yan Shirong’s home. They didn’t bother hiding; it would have been pointless to try and conceal themselves. Their best bet was to hit him quickly and overwhelm his ability to respond.

“There he is,” Da Ning said, jerking his chin down the path.

Yan Shirong hadn’t noticed them yet, but he would in mere moments.

“Now,” Sha Xiang said, a satisfied grin splitting her lips.

All three of them unleashed their spirits.

Da Ning had increased his cultivation significantly since Sha Xiang had reached out to him. Mostly with the aid of her resources. Now that he was late Body Refining and had benefited from the Court’s gifts, the metal aspect of his presence finally amounted to something. His spirit was that of a gleaming, razor-sharp blade. Not quite the feeling of intense danger that came with a cultivator’s killing intent, but it was enough to mark him as a foe to be wary of.

By contrast, Cui Bao had forged his presence into something worthy of serving her. The flames cascaded off him were suitably hungry. They wanted to consume everything they touched nearly as much as the demon core wanted to possess. Cui Bao himself had become more and more like his namesake. He reminded her of a massive leopard with razor claws and glowing embers for eyes. Such a powerful and dangerous beast suited him well.

Of course, they both paled in comparison to her. As the heat of her spirit rolled over the paths and gardens of the sect, she reveled in her power. In her strength. The earth cracked, releasing great clouds of sulfurous steam and gouts of flame. The stone that encased her fists blackened, then melted, dripping liquid hot rock. She was unstoppable. A force of earth and fire too formidable for these dogs of the sect to overcome. The demon core howled with glee.

The release of their spirits was the agreed-upon signal. Two of the nobles that Mo Zhiqiang had brought over to their side stood from where they’d been sitting a short distance off the path. They unleashed their spirits, both far weaker than Sha Xiang and her two companions, but strong enough for their purpose. They attacked Yan Shirong from behind at the same moment he noticed Sha Xiang and the others.

Yan Shirong, too, had improved since the tournament. He reacted quickly, his presence surging out from him. Sha Xiang could have spit blood at the feeling of it. It was too solid, too developed for a weakling like him. Shadows rose from everywhere, even spots fully in the light. A hundred pairs of eyes opened at once, their combined attention weighing down on them all. There would be no hiding from Yan Shirong. No concealing their intent. Sha Xiang smiled. It was a good thing they had no need of skulking.

Sha Xiang and her subjects rushed down the path as the two lesser nobles attacked.

“Cowards!” Yan Shirong shouted. “Bandits! Resorting to such tactics shows you all for the miscreants you are.”

Even so, he answered them in kind. Sha Xiang had always known he had more to him than he let on, and now that he was faced with five opponents at once, he had no option other than to use everything he had.

Dozens of silver points appeared at the end of shadowy tendrils that had risen around Yan Shirong. More tendrils had already wrapped around the two nobles’ weapons and limbs. The following barrage of throwing daggers hit home, and blood flowed.

Yan Shirong seemed to become one with the shadows that surged around him. He stepped through shadow and emerged behind one of Sha Xiang’s lackeys. A spray of black thorns tore open the disciple’s robes and turned his back into something that resembled ground meat. With his free hand, Yan Shirong produced a bird made of bone and bound together with shadows. He tossed the construct into the sky.

“Don’t let the construct get away,” Sha Xiang snarled. If there was one area where she was lacking, it was that she had no real way to attack at range. Fortunately, the three were almost on top of Yan Shirong, and Da Ning was more than capable of dealing with the construct.

Silver flashed at her side as Da Ning activated his technique. Six blades of metal qi, shining like steel in the sun, shot towards the construct. Bones shattered and shadow dispersed to nothing. Yan Shirong grimaced, but still launched an attack at the second of Mo Zhiqiang’s nobles. That he could take the two of them down said more about Mo Zhiqiang than it did Yan Shirong, so far as Sha Xiang was concerned.

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It had only been the space of several heartbeats, but Sha Xiang and the others had reached their prey. Sha Xiang activated her techniques. The strength of the Eternal Mountain Root surged through her. The Earth Sundering Fist Art layered over her hands and arms, adding earth and fire qi to her already enhanced punches. Finally came her activation of the Four Demon Fists.

The first set of arms matched her own. The impression of bulky, heavily muscled limbs with thorns bursting through skin was more real than it ever had been. An accompanying impression added bulk and power to her legs, giving her strength and speed alike.

The second pair of arms was now almost to the point where she could attack with them as if they were her own. The strain in her meridians at using the technique had faded to a minor irritant. She was only a hair’s breadth away from mastery.

With a roar, she leaped at Yan Shirong. Earth and fire qi warped the air around her fists as she drew back her arm. Shadows surged from nothing all around her, twining around her limbs. A spray of thorns pelted her, followed by another barrage of throwing knives. Her cultivation of the White Mountain Body Art made her tough as stone, and as strong, too. Just for good measure, she activated the Iron Fortress Redoubt and then poured her earthen qi into the technique.

She tore through the shadows. She shrugged off Yan Shirong’s attacks. The demon core howled in exultant delight. She was unstoppable.

Yan Shirong vanished. Sha Xiang’s fist cracked against stone, leaving her in the center of a shallow crater half a dozen feet across.

Then, the world turned black.

“Miscreants.” Yan Shirong’s voice seemed to come from all around her. “Cowards. I’ll make you all suffer.”

She heard the venom in those words and suppressed a shudder. As she shrugged off whatever technique he’d used, she shook her head and blinked. Her eyes narrowed when the world remained black. She cast out her spiritual perception.

The eyes in the darkness opened. They surrounded her, and all of them fixed their discerning sight on her alone. Then, a cold, sharp blade settled over her. Pressed itself into her neck.

She knew that feeling. She’d felt it when facing down Tan Xiaoling. She’d felt it coming from He Yu when he’d fought Mo Zhiqiang.

“How could someone like you have even a shred of killing intent?” She demanded. Her voice sounded a half-feral growl to her own ears.

A thousand thorns of shadow qi pelted her, digging into her reinforced flesh. More shadow wrapped around her limbs, choking the flow of qi through her already damaged meridians. A volley of throwing knives buried themselves into her flesh, even as she struggled to push qi to her limbs and reinforce her body technique. Despite her body enforcement, she could already feel the poison seeping into her. With a roar, she flexed her spirit and tore free.

The shadows faded, and Yan Shirong was well out of reach. Dozens of feet away and above, he was held aloft by more of those damned shadows. His arms were folded within the sleeves of his robes, and he stared down at his opponents with imperious disdain.

“Cowards,” he spat. Another dozen shadowy limbs rose from behind him, each tipped with a gleaming point of steel.

“Where the fuck do you get all those knives?” Sha Xiang shouted.

Yan Shirong’s only answer was to flick his sleeve. His knives traced gleaming lines through the afternoon light. Sha Xiang brought her arms up and winced at yet more poison-tipped blades embedded themselves into her flesh. To either side of her, Da Ning and Cui Bao rushed forward, making good use of Yan Shirong’s focus on her.

Cui Bao’s hatchets traced arcs of flame around him as he attacked in a spinning flurry of embers. His principal art, the Seven Blazing Calamities, was a powerful close-combat art. His body enforcement technique made him fast enough to close in on even a slippery opponent like Yan Shirong. After a brief exchange, Cui Bao opened a bloody gash on Yan Shirong’s shoulder.

The shadow cultivator flitted away from Cui Bao, only to place himself squarely within reach of Da Ning. The noble’s jian gleamed and multiplied. Six blades lanced out, catching Yan Shirong in the side. He retaliated, tossing another volley of his throwing knives as he faded back, but Sha Xiang was already there, waiting for him.

She didn’t have a movement technique of her own, instead relying on the speed and power granted by her body enforcement. Back when she’d been a mere Foundation, she’d worried it wouldn’t be enough, but she’d since learned how foolish that worry had been.

Yan Shirong tried to twist away from her, cloaking himself in an expanding umbra and retreating with the help of his shadow tendrils, but she grabbed him by the neck. She grinned as she saw the fear spread across his features. They both knew that now she’d gotten a hold of him, it was all but over.

With a laugh, she slammed Yan Shirong into the ground. It was a move she’d become particularly fond of since cultivating the Four Demon Fists. There was no technique involved, other than her body enforcement. It was simple, effective, and brutal. She laughed as she lifted Yan Shirong into the air, preparing to slam him into the ground once more. The faintest flicker of moonlight was all the warning she had.

Pain exploded as three frozen blades tore into both her body and spirit. She dropped Yan Shirong and lashed out at her attacker from sheer instinct. She realized her mistake just an instant too late.

Her fist slammed into Li Heng’s jian, and the blade gleamed with silver light. Unlike the times she’d fought him in the past, he retaliated in an instant. She was able to get one arm up in time, but she still took a deep cut for her trouble.

“So you show your true colors,” Li Heng said, leveling his blade at her. “Bandits and cowards all.”

“Should have figured he’d get one of his constructs off,” she said, settling into a more defensive stance. She cursed herself for allowing Yan Shirong to get his shadows up. That must have been when he got the second message out. She also cursed Li Heng’s arrival. Whatever poison Yan Shirong had tipped his daggers with, it was making her qi feel sluggish, making it harder to use techniques. She needed to take some medicine, but there was no way Li Heng would give her the opportunity.

“Go find Princess Tan,” Li Heng said. “I’ll hold these three off.”

Yan Shirong flew into the sky without another word, carried on shadowy limbs.

“Bao, go after him. Don’t let him get help, but don’t try and take on the desert rat by yourself. Get Mo Zhiqiang if you have to.”

Cui Bao rushed after Yan Shirong. Da Ning stepped up beside her, his blade at the ready.

“Alright, pretty boy,” Sha Xiang said, curling her hands into fists. “Let’s do this.”