Burning feathers fluttered in the air as the two peacock wheels were flying toward the filial of Gui Bei's dark pagoda. Surprised and shocked by what appeared to be Qi Manifestation from a Mortal, Gui Bei did not know how to react. From every pore of his skin, his Qi left his body in the form of a black mist. Below him the pagoda became more and more corporeal. The chains of his weapons circled the monument as all its doors opened.

From every opening in the dark pagoda, the chains shot out toward the sky. The base of the pagoda also extended to devour almost half of the East Hall. 'Nine Mu Iron Podium'. From all over the base, even more chains shot upward. But the two wheels went through them as flames melted them one by one.

'Nine Cycle Sweep'. Gui Bei spun the chains in his hands. Both weights formed circles all around him as the chains were revolving with the pagoda as their axis. The dark pagoda looked like the center of the world. And the world was an infinite wheel made of chains linking everything and everyone. The two wheels of fire collided with this rotating wheel of fate. Both rotations opposed each other. The flames were spreading and the chains were becoming redder and hotter. But the sheer amount of metal was absolutely incredible. Gui Bei had used almost all of his Qi to manifest those chains. On the other hand, Huang Cixi had used nearly none of hers. Indeed, her 'Qi Manifestation' was due to her True Fiery Drops and her blood, not her Qi.

However, the blood in her veins was moving at an incredible speed. It had also pushed her Qi to do the same. Thankfully, she had a Pure Golden Dantian and it didn't cause too much damage. However, just like when Cao Yun was using his 'Dragon's Heart', she couldn't keep it up indefinitely.

Unfortunately, Gui Bei, with every ounce of Qi out, was beyond Huang Cixi's attack. The black Qi from the chains slowly corroded the bright flames. And the two wheels of fire ceased to spin when their fire got extinguished.

The backlash was felt in Huang Cixi's heart when the two True Fiery Drops she had activated instantly stopped moving. Using her mind cultivation, she was able to prevent her blood and Qi from stopping too abruptly as well but her body still felt the pain of it.

Now that Gui Bei was at his limit, he decided to go all out with one last attack. The chains he had manifested all condensed around the pagoda's first floor. Slowly, Gui Bei descended from the top and touched back the ground. 'Karma Chains Bind All'. From everywhere around Gui Bei, the chains flew toward Huang Cixi to completely surround her. There was no escape for the young woman as she couldn't fly. Slowly, the chains got closer and closer. Even the dark pagoda was gradually fading away as Gui Bei had consumed all of his stamina. This was most likely his final attack. Huang Cixi had still much Qi in reserve, but she couldn't manifest it at all. And her True Fiery Drops had been strained by the effort. Moreover, she had lost her weapons.

For the first time during the fight, Matriarch Huang Yufeng was unsure. She knew that Huang Cixi still had a card up her sleeve, or maybe more than one. However, this didn't mean that everything would end up fine. Just to be cautious, she sent a telepathic message to Huang Liyue.

"Wait until the very last moment, but if Huang Cixi can't get out of this unscathed, protect her. Even if we have to admit our defeat and lose face, we can't risk losing such a talent."

"I understand, Matriarch."

Huang Liyue focused all her spiritual senses on her young mistress, ready to act at a moment's notice.

"Huang Cixi, admit your defeat and I won't crush you. Persist and you will know pain! Your choice! Kneel before me and admit that your Huang family is nothing."

Gui Bei's words helped Huang Cixi to focus back on the fight. There was much turmoil in her body after the sudden halt of her True Fiery Drops but it was mostly under control. From her sleeve, Huang Cixi took out a new iron fan. Those weapons were very easy to carry and to hide. And since they tended to be thrown and more easily broken than other weapons, martial artists who used iron fans often had several of those on them.

Knowing that Huang Cixi could not fly, Gui Bei had not blocked the area over her head. With all her might, instead of using it to protect herself, she threw her new iron fan into the air. As her two True Fiery Drops were in a poor state, Huang Cixi decided to activate the third one. 'Blazing Rain'. The black piece of metal that was the closed iron fan whistled in the air. It became surrounded by flames as its speed increased. And suddenly, it fell back toward the ground aiming for Gui Bei. The closed iron fan almost looked like a feather as the fire was engulfing it and taking an elongated shape in its fall.

Completely exhausted, Gui Bei could not dodge it in time. Usually, a Mortal Warrior was not fearful of a Mortal's attack. Not only could a Mortal Warrior manifest his Qi, but his Wei Qi was naturally denser and richer. However, Huang Cixi could mimic Qi Manifestation thanks to her bloodline. Furthermore, Gui Bei had used almost all of his Qi to attack her in one last desperate move. And now, he was defenseless. Even an average late Mortal would have been able to breach his defense. So the attack of someone like Huang Cixi could clearly be lethal to him.

Thanks to his attempt to dodge, Gui Bei was not struck in a vital spot. The iron fan literally pierced through his right shoulder. The impact was so powerful that Gui Bei's arm was almost torn apart though. Fortunately for him, his bones were strong enough to resist the blow. But most of the flesh around it got utterly destroyed and charred. Even his nerves were burned away. Although he had kept his arm attached, it would take him a lot of time and resources to heal from such an injury.

Rebuilding a lost limb required legendary medicines, on par with the Life Boiling Cradle pill, this wasn't something that could be bought. But if it was just healing damaged nerves, muscles and skin, the medicine would be terribly expensive but it could be bought. Also, a cultivator could consume a bit of his Jing, his vital essence, to promote the healing process along with his Qi. But this would have adverse consequences on both his cultivation progress and his lifespan.

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In shock, Gui Bei completely lost control over his attack. Most of the chains simply disappeared the moment he got hit. The young boy was shaking like a leaf. A few moments ago, he had seen his life flashing before his eyes. The truth was that Huang Cixi was not hell-bent on killing Gui Bei, but in the heat of the moment, she had not the luxury to hesitate. She knew that if she hadn't aimed for his life, he could have won. Huang Cixi was not a fighter, consequently, she had not that many means to end the fight without seriously injuring or killing her opponent. But after many considerations, she thought that it would be more beneficial to her if he stayed alive.

In her mind, Gui Bei still reminded her a lot of her first brother and of his arrogant stupidity. Just like him he was a brute in search of more power. But she had realized, after looking at his history, that Gui Bei was not really like her brother. Apparently, even though she had disliked Huang Longwei, she still longed for him a little and just like she had seen Huang Lixin in Cao Yun, she wanted to see Huang Longwei in someone else as well. However, Gui Bei was just a sad little boy. His entire life, he had wanted to prove that he wasn't a pathetic loser to the people around him. In his mind, everyone ridiculed him because the truth was that he was the one who hated himself. And he just wanted to hurt others as much as he was hurting from his own self-loathing.

Such a man was dangerous as soon as he got a little bit of power. Because no matter how powerful he would become, he would always feel inferior to everyone else and would always try to prove himself through the only means he knew, violence and destruction. However, Huang Cixi had several reasons to want to keep him alive. The first one was her own reputation. It was more beneficial for the Huang family not to kill someone who had insulted them within their own residence without any witness. Otherwise, baseless rumors could be spread. Since he was still alive, no one would doubt the version of her family.

Then, she truly wanted him to apologize to her deceased family members. This was a way to force the Huang family to also acknowledge them. The man who had crystallized their hatred through his insults would create a sense of belonging once he apologized to her father and her brothers. Deep down she knew that the three of them could never enter the ancestral hall, but their names would be remembered by all after this day.

Finally, the last reason was rather practical. Huang Cixi still wanted to find out how and where Gui Bei had obtained his newfound cultivation. He had progressed even faster than she had thought possible. Huang Cixi had no spiritual senses but she still felt that Gui Bei's cultivation was unstable during their fight. No matter what secret he had used, he had gone too far too fast. But if she could find it, maybe she could use it for herself, for others, or just use it as a bargaining chip with Governor Leng. There was also a small possibility that this was linked to demonic cultivators considering his incredible cultivation speed.

Huang Cixi was almost as exhausted as Gui Bei. Under the dumbfounded expressions of her own family, she walked toward the bleeding man. After the strike, he had gone into shock and had stopped processing what was going on around him. Even the pain in his arm had not been registered by his senses.

Taking back an iron fan on the floor, Huang Cixi put the blade that was at its extremity directly on Gui Bei's throat.

"You cannot fight anymore. Admit your defeat!"

Without thinking at all, Gui Bei fell to his knees. All light had left his eyes and his face was as pale as a ghost.

"I admit..."

Suddenly, the dam broke. All the young members of the Huang family erupted in cheers. None of them could comprehend how Huang Cixi had reached such a level. Her blood cultivation had been powerful enough to fight against Qi Manifestations. Huang Lü was the loudest of them all. But she thought back on her comment. She had said that she wanted to fight Huang Cixi... That would be insane right now. She would need a couple of years to catch up on all the training she had neglected when she was vying for the position of matriarch. But excitement had completely overtaken her mind. When both of them would fight, this would be epic!

Huang Si was probably the most reserved. In a sense, she was happy that Gui Bei had lost, but she would have preferred for Huang Cixi to shine way less than she had.

Now that Gui Bei had admitted defeat, Family Head Huang Yi ordered some elder to stop his bleeding. Most of his shoulder's muscles were gone and it was possible to literally see through his flesh. Of course, he was bleeding profusely. That, added to the shock of the attack, Gui Bei was still in a daze. Nothing seemed to happen around him and he simply acted as asked.

Thanks to his sorry state, Huang Cixi had him kneel in front of the altar where the three memorial tablets of her family were. Then, he apologized to them.

In fact, Gui Bei only went back to normal several hours later. He had been attacked by Huang Cixi and he was certain that he was going to die for sure this time. And the next moment, he was back in his room. Suddenly, the pain washed over him and he fell to the ground while grabbing his right shoulder. Many bandages had been applied to his wounds. Some balms had also been used to try and at least close up the tissues. Cultivators, especially Mortal Warriors, healed way faster than mere mortals. However, his nerves were still not reconnected. For that, it would require a few weeks or even more than that. But he could still feel the pain from the nerve endings in his shoulder that had been burned away.

With the pain, the humiliation also resurfaced. He saw himself kneeling in front of the entire Huang family as they were laughing. No one had actually laughed of course. They wouldn't have laughed in front of memorial tablets from their own family... But in Gui Bei, the scene was vivid. He saw them all insult him and ridicule him while Huang Cixi was laughing like a devil. Shaking all over his body, it wasn't the physical pain that overtook Gui Bei but his emotional instability. Deep in his Shen, the slumbering inner demon woke up.

Just as he did, a searing pain put Gui Bei even lower to the ground. Now, he was literally lying, his face down on the cold and dirty floor. In his sea of consciousness, an abomination had been born. It hadn't even the face or shape of a human. Usually, an inner demon would perfectly mirror the cultivator who had given birth to it. However, it was truly a monster. That thing had several horns on its head and shoulders. From its deformed and atrophied arms, lumps of skin were hanging, like failed wings from a bat.

But within the sea of consciousness of Gui Bei, something else was present. As soon as the inner demon woke up, a black flame surrounded it and began to consume the abomination. Such a spectacle was absolutely horrendous. Luckily, Gui Bei could not see in his own sea of consciousness. The boy only felt an immense pain in his mind. After the defeat he had endured, he tried as much as possible to stay conscious. And he did.

After more than two hours of indescribable torment, Gui Bei finally had some peace. What had happened in his mind had completely wiped out everything else. There was no energy left in the boy to care for anything anymore. That was the moment when he heard the voice he had never understood. But this time, he did understand it.

"Do you want to get your revenge?"