"You know, I was worried about you guys in that last test... what did you see?" Jie asked as they hopped down the steps of the pyramid.

"It was horrible! She tried to push me out of my own body. Ugh! I could feel the foreign energy moving through me... the whole time she kept taunting me..." Pan Tian said.

"This one had the same experience," Ithilix said and shuddered.

Xue gave a deep mrowr.

"It sounds like we all had the same experience then. But I don't understand what the strange other vision with the mountains of bodies and her saying 'kill me' was for. Did you guys figure that out?" Jie asked.

The others stopped and looked at her. "What...?" Pan Tian asked.

"This one didn't experience anything like that..." Ithilix said.

"Just me? Well, that's not unsettling..." Jie said.

"Hey, don't worry. You're the strongest of us, so it makes sense you'd get the harder experience, right? I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," Pan Tian said.

Jie nodded. "That makes sense... thanks, Pan Tian," she said.

"Always happy to help," Pan Tian said with a wink and a smile.

Jie shook her head but couldn't keep the smile off her face. "You're such a goof," she said as they approached the bridge over the blood lake that led the way back up toward the palace, "what about what she said about us being her disciples when she gets back?"

Pan Tian waved it away. "Don't worry about it. In my notes, the last statue says that every year to whoever finishes first. If anyone does. She hasn't been back in... well... a really long time. It's too bad... I bet she could teach us a lot," she said.

"It's probably just as well... I'm not sure how Elder Shi would react if I moved to a new master in the Acad--" Jie cut off abruptly and stopped in her tracks in front of the bridge. Her friends stopped beside her.

Something felt... off. She scanned their surroundings with her spirit sense again. Something was moving toward them... coming from the tunnel up ahead. But that shouldn't be possible.

They'd cleared the way just to get here... and the aura... it felt... masked somehow. But she could barely feel the outlines of it. Likely only because of the massive surge in her spirit sense thanks to the statue... maybe it had been there before? No... that didn't feel right...

"Jie?" Pan Tian asked.

Xue looked at her too though Ithilix stared across the bridge at the tunnel mouth. Her antennae quivered and she frowned.

"I... I don't know... something is coming this way... it fills the entire tunnel. I can't sense it properly, but it feels dangerous," Jie said.

"This one senses it too..." Ithilix said.

"Let's hold position here then. Fan out. Jie, you take the lead. We'll support you. Maybe we can use the bridge as a choke point," Pan Tian said as they readied themselves around Jie.

The strange aura moved steadily closer... bringing with it the sound of heavy footsteps... and several lighter ones...

Jie frowned.

As the veiled aura drew closer, she sensed it better. It felt cold... so very cold... and murderous. With flickers of other auras within it. Jie told the others what she sensed.

"It's strong," Ithilix agreed, "but clumsy with its aura... this one is unsure how many others are within the aura... four?"

Xue sniffed the air and growled.

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"I can sense it now too..." Pan Tian said, "See, Jie? Told you there were still interesting things to do in the valley."

Jie gave a forced smile as she stared at the dark tunnel mouth across from them. The approaching aura made her blood run cold though she couldn't sense its exact strength. She cycled qi armor and lightning step.

The footsteps were loud and heavy now. Like the steady beat of a drum. A gust of frigid air spilled out of the tunnel. It washed over the stone bridge, stirring their hair, clothes, and fur as frost bloomed upon the stone and icicles sprouted like fangs on the underside of the bridge.

Elder Kanev stepped out of the darkness, carrying his massive war hammer as bitterly cold air emanated from him. His crimson robes were open at the front, exposing his heavily muscled torso and the frost that habitually clung to his skin. The Chen family team followed close at his heels like scavengers following a lion. The look on their faces made Jie's hackles rise.

Elder Kanev smiled and planted his enormous hammer on the stone bridge. The stone cracked beneath it and jagged ice sprouted around it.

"Sensed me, did you? Not bad... though I never was that good at hiding groups," he said as he let the veil covering himself and the Chen family drop.

His sixth star Elementalist aura weighed heavily on Jie and she noticed her friends trembling from the strain. She also sensed the Chen family's auras. It seemed the valley had been kind to them too and each of them had advanced a star.

Chen Huo was at the seventh star of the Expert rank and Chen Ai was at the sixth star of the Expert rank. The other girl that Pan Tian had said was named Chen Lisha was also at the sixth star of the Expert rank. While the boy with the bow Pan Tian said was named Chen Yi was at the fifth star of the Expert rank.

Their auras matched or exceeded Jie's friends and yet they were like puddles standing beside an ocean.

Chen Huo placed his hand on the hilt of his sword while Chen Yi fingered his bow string.

"What are you doing here?" Jie asked, "Come to boost them through?"

Elder Kanev sneered. "You always did have a mouth on you. From the very first moment you stepped on academy grounds, you disrespectful brat. I'm going to enjoy killing you," he said.

"Kill me?" Jie asked as she took a half step back, stunned by his words, "But you're an elder! You're supposed to protect students!"

Elder Kanev scoffed. "Naïve brat. What does that matter? You wouldn't believe how much the Chen family has offered me in exchange for your deaths," he said.

He lifted his enormous hammer, breaking some of the ice that'd formed around it as he did so.

"Though, I would gladly kill you for free," he added.

Jie swallowed hard. She stood no chance against him and she knew it. She wanted to yell at her friends to run for the portal, but the second she did that, Elder Kanev and the Chen family would be on them.

"And how will you spend your reward after the academy kills you for this?" Jie asked.

Elder Kanev laughed. "How will they ever know? Those stones you carry to record your progress? I swapped them out when you registered. They're fakes. Duplicates. Courtesy of the Chen family. I've planted your real stones with false recordings in the valley. How sad that you all died in the lake temple. You just... didn't get out fast enough. It's such a pity when the lives of young geniuses are cut short," he said.

"The headmaster and Elder Shi aren't that easy to fool," Jie said, "they'll track down what really happened to us."

Elder Kanev's smile only grew. "I have water as one of my elemental affinities," he said, "there'll be nothing left of you for them to find. Not even a trace. No, little one. Nobody will come to avenge your death. Not the headmaster. Not Elder Shi. Not your bodyguards. Nobody."

Jie swallowed hard as her mind raced.

"Aww don't fret, little one," Elder Kanev said with a cruel smile upon his lips, "You moved through the trials faster than I anticipated. I was starting to worry I wouldn't catch you. And no wonder... you're a ninth star Expert. Congratulations. You should be proud. And now fate has delivered you to me so you may have the honor of dying by my hand. The heavens are kind are they not?"

The divide between a ninth star Expert and even the first star of the Elementalist rank was something that couldn't be crossed. A chasm, Ming had called it. The sixth star of the Elementalist rank was an unwinnable fight. But... perhaps there was a way to at least buy time.

Jie cycled her qi without restraint and her qi armor surged as did her lightning step technique. She stared at Elder Kanev without blinking, her spirit sense locked on him as well.

"Run and get the elders," Jie said.

Her voice sounded oddly calm to her ears. It surprised her because inside, her heart pounded like a drum. Sweat covered her palms and froze from Elder Kanev's aura even as dragon lightning qi crackled over her.

Her friends hesitated.

"Jie--" Pan Tian began.

"Go," Jie said with that same strange calm in her voice, "use the portal. I'll delay him. The elders are the only chance we have, and you know it."

Elder Kanev smirked. "You? Delay me?" he asked.

Pan Tian nodded. "You'd better be right behind us," she said.

Pan Tian turned on her hoof and charged away, using moon step to turn herself into a speeding comet of moonlight qi as she hurtled away at full speed. Ithilix vanished in a cloud of poisonous qi and reappeared ahead of Pan Tian. Xue crackled with dragon lightning qi and raced after them like a living ball of lightning.

Elder Kanev looked at Chen Huo. "Kill them if you wish. Just ensure they don't reach the portal. I'll deal with Liu Jie," he said.

Chen Huo nodded.