Yin Long immersed himself in the familiar sensation of his body getting torn and twisted in all directions. The space of this land was fractured so the sensation of the spatial arrays here was unlike anything he had ever felt before. But even if he felt like he was getting torn and stretched in all directions, he couldn't say that he disliked the sensation.

It felt warm, much like when he used normal spatial arrays. It was like he was being embraced by space, covered in a gentle hug to shield him from harm. And perhaps above all, it brought him closer to his sword, closer to that silver sword he had created using this fractured space. He got closer to it, understood it more, and in turn, it allowed him to use it more efficiently.

But that sensation was sadly short-lived, it always was thanks to how fast spatial arrays worked. Once it faded and the world around him returned to normal, Yin Long found his feet quietly sinking into the warm sand beneath him. Well, rather than sand it was probably more apt to call it dust or ash, remnants of torn-up lives that lingered like a curse.

The area that he had chosen as he fled was a ruin, broken houses and half-molten buildings scattered all around him. If what Yin Yu told him was correct then this used to be a completely normal city that housed one or two somewhat large sects. But then the Province Championship happened, then people desperate for quick points arrived here. They attacked, lives were reduced to ash on the ground, and a city vanished from the map.

It was an event that barely got a footnote in history, an event that wasn't too uncommon even in the world outside of this shattered space. Lives were plentiful after all, and with the aid of cultivators, it was easy to build a new city. So few would comment when a city unrelated to them vanished, that was just life after all.

"Unharmed, yeah?"

Yin Long lowered his head slightly as he spoke, Jin Wang hopping away from the spatial array. His golden fur was so caked with blood and intestines that it was impossible to see if he had any wounds, he looked like he had just crawled out of a pile of corpses.

"Hmph."

Jin Wang snorted in a somewhat aloof manner, as if it was impossible for the disciples of a sect like that to actually hurt someone like him. His usual arrogant demeanour elicited a small smile from Yin Long, who stroked the mane that was sticky with blood. Perhaps he was not someone fit to think about how people wouldn't care if a city vanished, he was after all someone who didn't even bat an eye as he drenched himself in blood like this.

Yin Long remained on Jin Wang's back as he moved away from the spatial array, flitting between the ruins while occasionally using his energy to blast away the tracks they left. There was no telling who may arrive here after all so it wouldn't hurt to be a little careful as they moved.

"Alright, this should be good enough."

Yin Long's hand pat Jin Wang's head a short while after they left the spatial array, they had arrived next to one of the smaller, but more intact ruins. It was probably a shop in the past, there at least seemed to be remnants of shelves running down two of the walls, melted by extreme heat.

"I know you don't like it, but come on, it's just for a second."

Yin Long looked at the wide-open entrance as he spoke, tapping Jin Wang. The lion grumbled in protest but knew that there was no choice, his current form was just too big to fit through the door. He had no choice but to shrink down slightly so that he could squeeze through the door, immediately returning to his normal size as Yin Long hopped down from his back, his gaze landing on the small key fragment that still hovered in front of him.

"Alright then. Now, you. Please be nicer than the previous one."

The fragment trembled slightly above his palm, wrapped in the yellow energy belonging to the law of Yin. It was anxious, eager, restless even. It wanted to sink into his body but was held back by the law of Yin, which ironically enough was also the law that attracted it in the first place.

Yin Long slowly pulled back the energy and gave the fragment free rein, allowing it to gleefully burrow into his body, plunging directly into his soul. The fragment dove into the same section of his soul as the previous fragment, the purple one located just a single section beneath the handle of the sword that formed his soul, only the somewhat dim blue section was above it.

The lone eye resting amidst the scaled leaves that covered the handle of the sword looked at the fragment, its weary gaze looking somewhat uncertain, almost trembling. But it could do nothing but watch, its dreary and stilted voice too slow to come out before the fragment merged with his soul.

And as the second fragment merged with his soul and joined together with the first one, the purple section of his soul exploded with light. A low and grating sound slowly emerged from the depths of the purple section, it sounded like massive chunks of metal grinding against each other. And then they rolled out, beautiful chains that looked to be carved from pure silver. At first, it was just one, but then a second came, and then a third, and then a tenth, and then a hundred.

Countless chains rolled out from the purple section, twisting like living beings as they rose, heading for that lone and weary eye. As if to respond to that provocation, the weary eye burst forth with light as well, the familiar and somewhat painful sensation belonging to the law of Yin erupting from it. Silver chains and yellow energy met around his soul, clashing as they seemed to fight for supremacy. And in doing so, they threw Yin Long's soulsea into chaos, Qi splashing everywhere as pangs of pain emerged from the depths of his being.

---

Xiao Yin Yu descended to the ground like a bolt of lightning, her blade carving a path through the body of the attacker that had managed to sneak close to Lang Ru. Her gaze was sharp as she spun on her heel and slashed out with her sword again before it had even finished bisecting the first man. The edge of the blade drew in the air and left behind a small vacuum, the motion of the weapon pushing the vacuum forward with enough force to remove the head of the second-closest attacker.

"... Xiao Yin Yu?"

Lan Yun's voice showed that she was slightly caught off guard by Yin Yu's sudden arrival, or perhaps she had not expected her to jump into the fray this fearlessly when they were surrounded like this. Yin Yu didn't turn to look at Lan Yun, who in turn hadn't even turned to look at her as she questioned. She simply swung her blade again, pulling back the vacuum she had pushed forward earlier and adding it onto the new vacuum her blade created.

"We'll get the chance to talk later, for now, we need to focus on surviving and breaking away. Lang Ru, can I leave one side to you?"

Xiao Yin Yu was strong, she wasn't so humble that she wouldn't admit that. Out of the 180 people that entered this championship through the earlier competitions, she was easily one of the strongest. But she wasn't the strongest. And then there was also the 180 people chosen directly by the Province Emperors, add on to that the people that already lived in this fractured space and you had a plethora of people she had to be on guard against. As such, if she could leave one part of her back to Lang Ru then it would reduce some of the burden she would have to bear, some of the mental stress.

"You already know me? My little brother must be quite fond of you if he even went through the trouble of describing me."

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Contrasting Yin Yu's slightly stern expression, Lang Ru looked rather carefree. She even smiled slightly as she looked at Yin Yu, her crimson eyes curiously roaming across her body. Her attitude was familiar, really, all too familiar.

"He didn't describe you, I happened to see a portrait of you when he and I visited your home."

Yin Yu didn't bother coming up with a lie and simply gave her the straightforward truth, lightning crackling out from her body and pushing back three attackers while her sword deflected the fourth. There was a thunderous rumble from behind her as Lan Yun swung her axe, the earth rising like a tidal wave that pushed back the attackers.

Lan Yun was by no means weak, but there was a reason she hadn't been chosen to take part in the Province Championship, she was still lacking compared to the others. She swung her axe downwards this time, the tidal wave of earth crashing down, imbued with the law of crushing to further enhance its devastating power.

She looked like she was fully focused on the fight, but her ears were slightly perked up. She was definitely more than a little interested in what Yin Yu had just said about her and Yin Long visiting their old home. Lang Ru however just maintained her small smile, a little wave of her hand causing drops of water to appear in front of the eyes of an approaching attacker.

"Ah, that explains it. Did he make sure to meet with Tang Fen while he was home? She'd be quite angry if she learned that he avoided her."

She was calm and relaxed, she didn't burst out with any great amounts of Qi and instead used just enough to deter the attackers by prodding the weak points that all humans shared. Yin Yu couldn't help but glance at her as she blocked another two attacks and killed a third person. Yes, that attitude really was familiar.

"You really are his sister, the way you carry yourselves is almost identical. And don't worry, he had a nice chat with her. Well, eventually at least, he's quite a busybody."

Yin Yu still remembered how she stood there and could do nothing but watch as two people leaned against each other, separated by a door as they emptied their hearts. There had been weight to their words, the weight of time and emotions, time and emotions she hadn't been part of. Yin Yu swung her sword again, the very familiar sound of a clicking tongue and a sigh coming from behind her.

"Ahh, so he couldn't put down his old habits when he first returned. What an idiot, that is exactly why he had to leave to begin with."

Not only was their demeanour almost identical, but even the way they clicked their tongue and sighed was also almost identical. Was this the influence of an elder sister, or was it just a coincidence?

"Oh, you must be the intruders, right?"

A soft voice cut through the sounds of battle, a slight chill creeping up Yin Yu's back. She spun on her heels again and turned towards her rear, her gaze shooting towards the top of the small crater they stood in. A woman had appeared there without a sound, a light blue robe draped around her tall figure. Her emerald green eyes looked down at their group, a few strands of her long golden hair hanging down in front of her face.

"I've heard that I can get a weapon and a pill from Dominion Deity Floodlight if I catch both the intruders, so who among the three of you is it?"

The woman's voice was soft and gentle, almost like a melody carried by the breeze. But Yin Yu's spine still tingled dangerously. From her, she felt a sensation she had only sensed from one other person in this competition so far. Zhao Feng, the undisputed rank 1 among the 180 people who had fought to earn their right to enter this competition. His position at the top wasn't unearned, he had already transcended the Earthen Door realm that they were in, and he had done so at a mere 38 years of age.

"Xue Sha! Get us out of here!"

Yin Yu did not hesitate for even a single second as that sensation washed over her. She used her own blade to slit open her wrist while she shouted, spilling her own blood. But her blood didn't touch the ground, it hovered in the air for a split second before it grew and twisted, forming the same two-headed shark that had appeared when she brought Yin Long away from the Swordsoul Guardians.

The shark swallowed her group and then dove into the blood that the other people had spilt, vanishing from the area with just a faint ripple. The golden-haired woman frowned slightly at the scene, eventually shaking her head with some exasperation before she turned and left.

"How aggravating. But what's done is done."

The two-headed shark jumped out from within a corpse a good distance away from the previous battle, spitting out Yin Yu's group. It then shrank and turned back into drops of blood that sank into the cut on the now pale Yin Yu's wrist. The wound started to slowly close after the blood returned, but Yin Yu still ended up retching, murky black blood spilling from her mouth.

"I'm fine. That's just the price for using something you can't control. It'll calm down eventually...eventually."

She waved her hand as Lan Yun came over, she did not want to appear this weak in front of the sister and lover of the man she had set her eyes on. Lan Yun had no choice but to accept Yin Yu's statement, she was the one who knew her own body best after all. She then cast a glance at Lang Ru, who was wiping away some blood from her face as she sat down on the ground.

"Well, things have certainly become troublesome. Being used as bait really isn't fun. It seems like the stronger people in this place have started to move, or who knows, perhaps it was just a coincidence. But, whatever the case is, defending ourselves will only become harder as time drags on and we keep being besieged. We should contact Little Yin and decide on a place where we can meet up."

Lang Ru knew just how precarious their position was. The enemies would constantly know their general whereabouts so they would be attacked wherever they went. It may not be straight away, but eventually, they would be worn down from the constant battles and keel over.

"Absolutely not!"

"No way."

Lan Yun and Yin Yu answered simultaneously to Lang Ru's plan. There were many plans they would agree to think through, but the one she proposed was perhaps the one they could not agree to. Lang Ru smiled slightly again when she saw their reactions, she was quite happy whenever she looked at the two of them, even if there was something they had become too blind to see.

"Oh? Why are you against it?"

She naturally knew why they were against it, it was so painfully obvious from their gazes and their actions, the little notes in their voice when they spoke. He had done well for himself after leaving, it made her happy as the elder sister. And it was precisely this role of her that made it her duty to set these two fools straight.

"As you said, we're bait, and Young Master is the only thing that ties us together. Someone wants to draw him out, they want to use us to force him to move. We have no idea what they want to achieve so it's too risky to bring the Young Master here."

The fact that they were likely nothing but bait was something Lan Yun was also very aware of, someone was trying to get to Yin Long. But they had no idea for what, and that was the aggravating part. Yin Yu nodded in agreement to Lan Yun's judgment, adding a slight bit onto it.

"I agree with her, the one who brought you in here cannot be a normal person, letting someone like that get what they want is too dangerous for Yin Long. For all we know, they might even kill him. Granted, it's dangerous for us anyway, but at least that's the better option, no?"

The one who dragged the two of them here may not make a move as long as Yin Long didn't arrive, but the other people in this fractured space subscribed to no such niceties. They would keep coming at them, and as long as she insisted on protecting them Yin Yu would be in the same amount of danger. Their gazes were sincere and strong, but that only made Lang Ru sigh ever so slightly.

"Ha~ah, he's really managed to charm the both of you, hasn't he? Mother would certainly be happy if she could hear that. But I must say, you're quite cruel to him for how much you love him."

She could already imagine how their mother would look if Yin Long came home with two beauties. She would definitely have been overjoyed, especially if she had seen Yin Long during the years after their death. He did not deserve to be shackled to the clan like that, he needed his freedom, she was sure that their parents would agree to that. She saw that the two looked rather confused when she called them cruel, so she explained it to them, showed them how they were hurting the one they cared for.

"Think about it, reverse the roles for a second. He's run off somewhere to protect those you care for, but rather than tell you and ask for your help, he goes off and dies along with those he wanted to protect. How would you feel? Left all alone and broken?"

If they died here, which they very well might, then it might truly shatter Yin Long. His sister, his lover, and his other lover(?), all of them died in some faraway place without even contacting him. He wouldn't even get the chance to try to save them, all that would greet him would be cold corpses and an empty existence. For a man like Yin Long, who had lived and willingly died for his family, there was no greater torture.

"To love is to share, both the good and the bad. If you live, then you live together. And if you die? Well, then you'll at least die together."

Living alone or dying together with those you loved? Lang Ru knew exactly which one Yin Long would prefer. He wouldn't smile, he would be sad and angry, furious at the weak him that failed to protect them. But that was just how death was, it was rarely associated with warm emotions. But that sorrow and fury would be a thousand times better than the empty hole he would feel if he couldn't even be there.

Lang Ru wiped away some more blood from her clothes and shrugged her shoulders lightly to ease the heavy atmosphere that had started to settle.

"Well, not that I have any plans of dying, I'm still waiting for the day I get to be an aunt after all. So call him, don't leave him alone and broken."