“Use my power. This world will cry at your finger tips. Never would an insect as weak as this dare to stand before my leviathan aura. Wield my power–”

“I don’t fucking know how!” Xinyi screamed.

Zexian stopped. “What?”

Xinyi’s shaking hands formed fists. The wooden sword fell, too heavy for her limbs. “Are you satisfied spirit?! Do you relish my ineptitude? I am not worthy of you–”

“What is up with people speaking to invisible things around me? Does it come with my spirit treasure?” Zexian said to himself.

“–I am not worthy of the Ancestor’s trust and the mountain of resources he’s already used on me.” She felt hot tears stream down her face. There it was. Her fear, her worry ever since their ancestor appeared.

Would he dispose of her? What was her role? Why was she still here?

Hu Shui no longer needed her. Xinyi’s pathetic strength wasn’t enough to protect herself. All they ever did was hide and become poor beggard vagrants. A far cry from the illustrious Hu Family they had been part of.

But she was too weak to carry that name!

And now that Yin Hu had come. The world would kowtow like her struggles and suffering had been nothing.

No one would know.

No one would fucking care.

“I am worthless now.” Xinyi closed her eyes and started to fall.

The wind surged.

Zexian stepped back for the first time. His eyes flitted across the forest.

The wind held Xinyi before she fell. Merely inches away from the cold ground. Xinyi looked around in confusion. It pulled her up forcing her to stand.

The blade disappeared from her back. Reappearing in front of her still wrapped in the green cloth of her Ancestor. The wind began to pick up, a storm brewing into something massive. They screamed and howled, the trees shaking and threatening to break.

“Let me lead you. Guide you. Become one with my Blade.”

Zexian heard. He called upon his core. A mountain of shadows greater than anything he had called before rose from the ground. He burned all his reserve Qi, noticing something was wrong. He lunged forward whips cracking in the air trying to stop what he instinctively knew dangerous to him.

Xinyi looked up. Behind the blade stood a noble lady filled with valor and glory with a hand held out to her. She reached out. Fingertips touching the blades pummel.

Xinyi gasped as the spirit converged into her. Body moving on its own. Her aching back straightened. Chin rose to the heavens. A disdainful frown graced her face. She stood sideways, the movements being etched into her mind. Sword held loosely in her palm, pointing downward.

The movement of Qi. So much Qi. A surging tide as great as the largest oceans. Enough to cover the world, but weakened due to Xinyi’s realm. The thought of what this could be at full power truly showed Xinyi the height of heavens.

Was her ancestor that power? Didn’t this spirit call him master without question? How strong does someone have to be for something this indomitable to bow their head willingly?

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The Qi surged through her meridians, widening them, and creating channels she never knew existed. All into the tip of her finger and into the pummel. Then along the edge of her blade and not the entire thing.

Zexian was in mid air, eyes widening as he noticed the power gathered so suddenly. The shift in her posture. The arrogance in her eyes only those at the very peak of the cultivation world dare to embrace.

Her body moved. It swung, like the blade was attempting to wave away a fly. The world turned green. Xinyi’s Mortal Realm eyes were blinded. Body screaming to run at the sheer terror her mind felt.

She worried there would be no forest past where she stood. Would she inherit the endless evil Karma? Would she be punished for destroying the countless–

An explosion occurred. She was blown away like a rag. All she could hear was the whooshing of flames and the shaking of the earth beneath her. Long moments of terror she would suddenly fall into a crack a thousand meters deep.

Xinyi huddled into a fetal position, covering her head. Hoping the majority of it would pass her by.

But no matter how hard she tried, her body stood again. The arrogance and confidence of the spirit forced into her mind. Etched into her very soul. The same posture before the attack.

“Even at the very end. When the world itself conspires against you. When death reaches your doors! Never bow! Never kneel! Face it like the knight you so claim to be. Stare into the eyes of your foe and let them know you fear them not, progeny of my master. Dare not shame him, or I will search for your soul until the end of time. I am not as kind as these ‘evil cultivators’ you are so terrified of.”

Xinyi shook. But never wavered in her form. Her eyes ached trying to squint past the dust and fog. She took a haggard breath and resolved herself. The spirit was right. How dare she shame her ancestors. Her mother. Her father. Everyone that had sacrificed themselves so she could be here today.

How close was she to making everything they had done be worth nothing. How would she look them in the eyes when they finally met in the world after this?

With a clap the fog dispersed. Her torn robes struggled to keep her modesty, but a hidden wind made sure to keep her in the best condition given the situation.

An older man stood before a pale Zexian. His salt and pepper beard and hair was perfectly combed. He stood with his hands pressed behind him acting nonchalant, but even Xinyi with her limited vision could see the strain in his forehead.

It took a great amount to have stopped the attack.

“A dragon only breeds dragons,” said the old man.

“F-father! She tried to kill me! Get her!” Zexian pointed at her from his sprawled form.

Xinyi gulped, but couldn’t sag her shoulders or body even if she wanted to. Her chin only rose more. She had to look down to see them.

The Dark Gate Palace elder looked down at Zexian with a frown. “Am I your dog to command?” His voice was dangerous.

“I-I… Never, father. I..”

“Enough.” The elder waved him away. Turned to her. “Your Ancestor has taught you well. Even before me, you do not cower. I could expect nothing less from such a being.”

“Father? Y-you know them?” Zexian asked. He had stood up and hid behind the massive frame of the elder.

“Ah yes. A Hu Daughter.”

Zexian’s eyes widened. “Those Hu’s? The ones my father and almost every evil sect gathered to destroy and nearly lost? The ones we fought for nearly sixty years?”

What? That was news to Xinyi. Hadn’t the entire fight lasted days? It passed so quickly? Had her Hu family been fighting for so long? Why hadn’t she noticed?

“W-we can’t let them leave, Father-in-law. The Major Clans would only gain another pillar. We must destroy them.” Zexian held tightly to his whip and stepped forward.

His elder grabbed his shoulder. Zexian looked back in confusion.

“Son. Sometimes fate is beyond the scope of our limited sights.” The elder took a few steps away and looked to the sky. “We conspire and plot, and the heavens conspire and plot. But they are the greatest of plotters. We are but children playing an adult’s game. It is beyond our ability.” He laughed, a reminiscent smile on his face. “How long has it been since I’ve burned to grow stronger? I don’t even remember. Let us hurry, I must return to cultivate and grow more powerful.”

“Fath-”

They disappeared in a gust of wind.

What the hell just happened?