He Yu watched three legends do battle. At least, that’s how he would have described it had anyone been around to ask. He’d sparred enough with Zhang Lifen to get a taste of what she was capable of. This was the first time he’d ever seen her at full strength, however. As impressive as his master was, she was dwarfed by Kong Huizhong and Yi Xiurong.

The Emissary was just as terrifying as He Yu had been led to believe. The iron-clad giant with four bloody cleavers dripping molten metal strode across the battlefield and burned away all that came close. Zhang Lifen’s water-aspected qi did little to quench Kong Huizhong’s heat, despite the gouts of steam that erupted from every one of her arrow’s impacts. Yi Xiurong was the clear powerhouse, though. She bathed the world in radiant white light, and those golden disks hovering around her blasted beams of brilliance like flashes of a thousand suns.

From his relatively safe vantage point, He Yu watched, absorbing what lessons he could.

One thing that stood out from the first exchange was that Kong Huizhong was a monster. His demon core gave him the same sense of wrongness that he’d gotten from Sha Xiang whenever they’d clashed, but far more intense. Zhang Lifen had called the Emissary “fully pacted.” The description didn’t do the experience justice.

It wasn’t just the sense of wrongness that pervaded Kong Huizhong’s presence, but also the clear marks of the Sunset Empress’s influence. The Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment showed him the truth of Kong Huizhong’s power—he had truly given all of himself to Jin Xifeng. In return, he’d gained the ability to stand firm against a cultivator in a realm above his own.

As much as He Yu’s stomach turned at the feeling of Kong Huizhong’s presence, he could understand why someone could be tempted by such power. Especially after what he’d seen in the wilds. The Empress offered mighty gifts indeed, and her whispers held promises of even more.

Understanding was not the same as accepting, however. If anything, witnessing the effects of a fully pacted demon core only redoubled He Yu’s resolve to resist the Sunset Empress in any way he could.

The fight dragged on, and for all the world it looked as though the combined might of Zhang Lifen and Yi Xiurong would be enough. They wore down Kong Huizhong bit by bit. As the Emissary’s strength ebbed, He Yu thought this would end it. The end of the Sunset Court in the west. The Dawn Palace would be safe. At least, for the time being. He Yu and his friends could train, gather their strength, and ascend the realms. When Jin Xifeng finally broke free of her prison, they would be ready for her.

Then, disaster.

Just as it looked like they’d won, like Kong Huizhong would fall, the Emissary called upon his liege. “Empress! Make use of your unworthy servant!”

Desire, want, and avarice washed over the world. A distant echo of a single word resounded in He Yu’s ears and spirit.

“Mine.”

He Yu activated the Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment. With the benefit of the technique, he saw the truth. Whether it was because of the perceptive qualities of the Peerless Judgment, or the strange way in which it was bound to the Empress herself, he couldn’t have said. He supposed it didn’t matter in the end. The result was the same.

Red-black filaments grew out from Kong Huizhong. Real but also somehow not. Thousands of them extended in every direction, reaching across the ruined land, the flattened hills, the scars of the still-raging battle.

The Emissary himself had increased in power. Now comparable to Yi Xiurong in the intensity of his spirit and the weight of his presence, that wasn’t what worried him. What worried him was the sensation that seeped across the land. It was like that time in the west. In the wilds. The raging of a thousand spirits and beasts, all consumed by the same frenzied will to destroy, to tear apart those who dared stand in the Empress’s way. To tear apart all things that were not hers.

Without a second thought, He Yu blasted off toward the town they’d passed. He released his presence, not caring who or what marked his passing. He poured all the qi he could spare into his body enforcement and his movement technique. The combined effects of the Empyrean Ninefold Body Tempering and the Sky Dragon’s Flight made him the fastest of all his peers. It shouldn’t have surprised him that Zhang Lifen was faster.

When she grabbed him, it was like he’d slammed into the side of a cliff. She didn’t so much as flinch when she swung him around, her grip on his upper arm far too strong for him to break free of. Pulling him nearly nose-to-nose, the anger in her churning black eyes shocked him.

“Are you trying to get killed, revealing yourself like that?” she demanded.

“The town is in danger,” he said. Even though he knew he wouldn’t pull out of her grip, he tried anyway.

“And? Such is the life of mortals, He Yu. I’ve told you this.”

“So has everyone else,” he shot back. “I won’t leave them to die, even if everyone else will.”

“The fight is too far away,” she said

“It’s not the fight I’m worried about.”

Some of her anger faded, giving way to a hint of confusion. “They aren’t in any danger.”

“They are. Can’t you feel what’s happened?”

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“The battle continues. Kong Huizhong has tapped into some well of power he didn’t have before, but that’s no reason to worry about the village.” As if to punctuate her words, a column of light and a column of flame slammed into one another, back where Yi Xiurong and Kong Huizhong continued their clash.

“I’m not talking about the emissary,” He Yu said. “The Empress, she’s using him to spread her influence.”

Zhang Lifen frowned, a small crease appearing between her brows. Her eyes turned from black to a calmer blue, although still dark. She released her grip. “Explain,” she commanded.

“I don’t know what it is. It’s like the wilds when we were attacked. Me and my friends.” He Yu struggled to find the right words. Did she not know what the Empress’s influence could do? He’d recounted their time in the wilds to her upon his return.

“This is different,” she said, but much of her earlier certainty was now gone.

“Don’t you have a perception technique of your own?”

For a moment, her features went blank. Her eyes looked as though she stared off into some great distance. Then she was back and her earlier hardness redoubled. “They’re just mortals,” she said.

“I don’t care! Heroes don’t leave people to die just because they’re weak.”

“If you get overwhelmed, I won’t be able to help you.”

“I never expected you to,” he snapped. He hadn’t meant it to come out as sharp or as angry as it had, but when he heard the heat in his words, he was beyond caring.

Something shifted in Zhang Lifen’s face. It was more than just that his words wounded her. She was truly worried about him, he realized.

“I’ll be careful,” he said.

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

Then she was gone. Her presence rapidly faded as she surged back towards the battle with Kong Huizhong with the speed of a Fifth Realm immortal. He Yu turned once more towards the village and let the clash of immortals fade into the back of his mind. He had his own battle to fight.

As he drew closer to the town, beasts and spirits became frequent. Some clashed against one another. Others headed towards the fight behind him. The most moved towards the town ahead. He Yu called forth his guandao and cut down any spirits and beasts he could with his passing.

Many didn’t even have time to react to him. They were of the First or Second Realm. These lands were fairly well-settled, after all. Maintained by the sect and patrolled by the empire’s troops. More powerful beasts would keep to more remote areas. Any Third or Fourth Realm spirits and beasts would take longer to arrive, assuming any were around. He Yu could only ask that heaven grant him fortune. That there were none of the Fifth Realm or above close enough to fall under the Sunset Empress’s influence.

The closer he drew to the town, the more things reminded him of his time in the western wilds. A pack of wolves nearly a hundred strong surged over the land. He Yu landed in their midst, culling half their number with a single strike. Of those that remained, it was even odds whether they continued upon their course or turned to him.

A spirit of earth and metal erupted from the underneath him. It was merely a Second Realm, and He Yu smashed it into rubble with a single strike. An ox in the early Third Realm lowered its head and charged. He turned it aside with the Spring Rain Mirror and opened a mortal wound along its flank. Now grounded and surrounded by foes, He Yu fought his way through the ever-growing horde, pushing ever closer to his destination.

When he arrived at the town, it was already under heavy assault. For the moment, the town’s formation barrier held and the few cultivators that made their homes within had rallied to the town’s defense. They wouldn’t be enough. At least not without him.

The storm broke over the spirits and beasts. Black clouds rolled out from where He Yu slammed down. Heaven’s fury raged around him, and the winds rose to a howl as he unleashed the fullness of his presence. He held nothing back. The whole of his cultivation base poured into his presence as he tapped the certainty of his Wayborn Seed. He let the shining sharp edge of his killing intent seep into his presence and his body enforcement.

The combined weight of it all had the desired effect.

Hundreds of beasts and spirits turned their attention away from the cultivators and the town. Turned their attention to him. The rage and the hatred that washed over him was palpable. The Empress recognized the Heavenly Palace, and she directed her thralls to destroy the piece of it that challenged her once again.

A tide broke over He Yu, and the storm answered. Within moments, he waded through an ocean of blood. Beasts fell before his blade by the dozen. Most were only of the First Realm, after all. About a third were of the Second Realm, and a handful of early Third Realm beasts and spirits were sprinkled throughout. Even those were nothing to him.

A single formation of the Sweeping Wind cut through more foes than he could count, but still they came. Only the Third Realm beasts got close enough to launch techniques, but he turned each one away with the Spring Rain Mirror. On the wings of the Sky Dragon’s Flight, He Yu made a circuit of the town, cleaving through beasts by the dozen. In just under an hour, he’d beaten back enough of the horde that he could leave things to the barrier formation. If only for a few moments.

Upon entering the town proper, the twenty or so local cultivators threw themselves to the ground in kowtow. A chorus of thanks and praise erupted from them. He Yu shook his head.

“Stand up, all of you,” he said, doing his best to sound like he’d imagine someone like Tan Xiaoling or Yi Xiurong would in a situation like this. He needed soldiers, not sycophants. “Anyone capable of formation work, step forward.”

Two of the locals stepped forward.

“You two will maintain the barrier stones around the town. You have no other task than that. If it costs you your lives, you will do everything you can to ensure the barrier formation does not fall. Go.”

As the two he’d commanded hurried off to obey the order, He Yu fought down the discomfort at how easily he’d given it. Now wasn’t the time. The lives of this town depended someone capable taking charge and there wasn’t anyone but him.

“The rest of you, arrange yourselves by advancement.”

As the remaining local cultivators split into three groups, one of them asked, “Lord Immortal, what is going on?”

“You’re under attack. I’m here to do what I can to save you.”

He Yu took stock of what he had to work with. It wasn’t good. There were only two locals who’d reached the Third Realm, and the stronger of the two was still in at early Body Refining. The other seemed to have just broken through. Neither had much of a presence to speak of. They also looked to be in their sixtieth year. Of the remaining locals, nearly two-thirds were at middle or late Qi Gathering. The handful that remained were scattered through Foundation. He Yu realized that should the barrier fall, most all of them would die.

Squaring his shoulders, He Yu looked at each of them in turn. “Stay behind the barrier. Use whatever techniques you can to defend the barrier and attack from within, but try not to cross it yourselves. Especially those of you still at Qi Gathering. I will do what I can to defend outside of it.”

The Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment warned him of an approaching Fourth Realm spirit. He Yu turned in the direction it approached from. “Remember,” he said over his shoulder, “the mortals of this town depend you. Do not let them down.”

He Yu threw himself into the fight once more.