In a forest near the Gyuran region, Baek Meng is seen preparing a formation.

'Almost finished with the formation.'

A smile appears on Baek Meng's face as he works.

'No matter what moves you plan, boy. You won't get past this.'

At the same time, Yi Shan is nearly done with his dome of sword energy.

'This attack is now as strong as half a Core Formation cultivator's power. He's finished.'

Yi Shan smirks as he puts the final touches on the dome.

'I'll finally be free of the nuisance that is the Baek Clan.'

He swings his blade one last time to complete the sword dome.

'That should do it. I can't keep upgrading this—other Baek Clan members will be here soon.'

He glances at Baek Meng, who's still busy with his formation.

'What is he doing?'

Yi Shan stares at Baek Meng for a few seconds before deciding to begin his assault.

"Here goes nothing."

He holds his sword in a lunging stance, and using Gang Qi at his feet, propels himself toward Baek Meng.

Yi Shan darts toward Baek Meng like a falcon hunting its prey.

Baek Meng, still working on the formation, looks over at the incoming Yi Shan.

'Damn, I was almost finished.'

Swoosh.

A sword grazes Baek Meng's chest as he barely dodges. Before he can react, another swing comes for him.

Yi Shan strikes at his abdomen again.

Baek Meng dodges, but his clothes are shredded in the process.

'I just need a few more moments to finish the formation. Just a few breaths of time.'

'Where are the other two? Why haven't they shown up yet?'

Baek Meng doesn't have time to finish his thought as he leaps into the air.

Slash!

He dodges, but one of the three jade tablets shifts slightly due to the movement. While airborne, Baek Meng pulls out a wind tablet and uses it to propel himself away from Yi Shan.

He lands near the edge of the forest, close to the Core Formation-level barrier.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

'Damn, the formation's been delayed even more now.'

Baek Meng scratches his head in frustration, glancing at the spot where he landed.

Then, a smile forms on his face as he begins to prepare the formation again.

'I need to distract him somehow.'

Before he can come up with a plan, he notices Yi Shan deep in thought. Baek Meng watches Yi Shan closely when suddenly, Yi Shan begins jogging toward Baek Shen.

'Baek Shen, buy me some time, will you? I spent so much credit getting the Flying Escape Slip from the Grand Elder.'

----------------------------------------

Meanwhile, near Yi Shan:

'I can't use the Eighth Move yet. I need to wait for the others to maximize its power.'

'I also need to save my energy. It'll take too much to finish off Baek Meng.'

"He's one tough bastard."

'I guess I'll deal with Baek Shen first.'

With that, Yi Shan jogs toward Baek Shen. He sees the Tree Giant that Baek Meng summoned to protect Baek Shen.

The Tree Giant, which was sitting, opens its eyes and stares at Yi Shan. It looks humanoid, standing tall on two trunk-like legs, with tree branches for hands and leaves for hair. Its bald head towers over the battlefield.

Yi Shan conjures nine Gang Spheres in his hand and makes them orbit around his body.

The Tree Giant swings its massive arm at Yi Shan, but he ducks and lodges his sword into the giant's arm, riding it halfway up.

The Giant notices Yi Shan and starts shaking its arm wildly.

Shake, shake.

It flails in different directions, trying to throw Yi Shan off. Yi Shan keeps his balance, but then notices a piece of his sword break off.

'Shit! My sword’s starting to fall apart.'

Regret fills his heart, but he keeps moving toward Baek Shen.

The Tree Giant raises its arm vertically, leaving Yi Shan dangling from a branch.

The Giant swings its arm, attempting to grab him, but Yi Shan swings upward, dodging the grasp. The Giant then swats at him again.

Yi Shan dodges by jumping on a burst of Gang Qi and lodging his sword into the other arm. The Giant, now enraged, slams its hand into the ground.

Slam!

Yi Shan jumps onto the giant hand just before it hits the earth and races toward the Giant's head. The Giant swings its other arm to block, but Yi Shan uses a burst of Gang Qi to propel himself over the arm and lands in front of the Giant's face.

Click.

A soft sound rings out as Yi Shan slices the Giant's head clean off.

Thump!

The Giant crashes to the ground, sending a shockwave through the forest.

"Phew."

'The sect must really value their elders if they’re willing to provide them with this much protection.'

Yi Shan wipes the sweat from his brow and moves toward Baek Shen.

In a flash, he appears in front of Baek Shen.

"Eek! Why are you here?" Baek Shen shrieks.

"What do you mean 'why'? Aren’t we best buds?"

"We had a duel before your friend came and saved you."

Baek Shen whimpers at the memory of the duel.

"Fine! Fine! What do you want?" Baek Shen asks nervously.

Yi Shan raises an eyebrow in surprise.

"That fast? Did I scare you or something?"

"N-no, of course not."

Yi Shan chuckles before continuing.

"Alright, here’s the deal. Are you listening?"

"Yes?"

"Great. First, I need you to sleep."

"Wait, wha—"

Before Baek Shen can finish, Yi Shan karate chops him, mixing it with Gang Qi to knock him out cold.

Yi Shan starts rummaging through Baek Shen's pockets.

"He's rich."

A smug grin appears on Yi Shan's face as he pulls out a variety of items, including spirit stones, spearheads, formation tablets, and more.

"Why was he hiding all this? I need to find more cultivators like him to rob."

He pauses, looking back at the fallen Tree Giant. Moving to the spot where the Giant collapsed, Yi Shan searches for the broken piece of his sword.

'Where is it? I don’t have much time.'

After searching for half a minute, he notices a familiar silhouette—the same one he saw while preparing the sword dome.

'Huh? That again?'

Yi Shan blinks, and the silhouette vanishes.

He keeps his guard up, scanning the area, but finds nothing.

Finally, he lowers his guard and goes to the spot where the silhouette stood. There, he finds the missing piece of his sword.

'Why was that silhouette here, and why did it look so much like me?'

Suppressing his unease, Yi Shan pockets the metal fragment and pulls out his sword, now worn and battered from the battle.

His heart aches at the sight of the chipped blade.

"I’ll find all the pieces after this and get you back into shape, okay?"

Thousand Demon Blade (2).