At a hundred and twelve years old, Du Min Gyu’s star was shining brighter than ever before, but he had precious little time left to enjoy it.

His recent resurgence of fame and glory was all thanks to the Medical Saint, whose expertise and eccentricities made all the more sense now that his status as an Ancestral Hare was known to all, and Min Gyu was stronger now than he had been in the last four decades. Not solely because of his recovery, but also because his many discussions with little Rain had helped further him along the Martial Path than he ever dreamed possible. During these last two years of war against the Enemy, his achievements made him worthy of his status as a Living Legend of the Empire and Sanguine Tempest of Central, but a candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long, and he sensed his end was close at hand.

For not even a Divinity as brilliant and talented as the Medical Saint could reverse the ravages of time.

No, if Min Gyu wanted to live longer, he would have to Shatter the Void and ascend to Divinity himself, but even a hundred years more might not be enough for him to reach such heights. Perhaps he was merely being maudlin again, for this was not the first time he’d felt the hand of death draw near. It started long before he ever even heard of the People, but he remembered it most poignantly during his first journey outside of Central in decades. The Defiled had just begun their coordinated assault on all three provincial walls, and Min Gyu opted to head north so he could support his beloved Disciple, and the rigours of travel nearly did him in. He persevered however, for Cho Jin Kai had been his pride and joy, a young man he helped guide to become a stand-out Warrior of Central. At just over forty years of age, he was already a Brigadier, the highest rank achievable by a Warrior without distinguished merit in military command. When the Defiled threat presented itself following the Society Contests, Kai saw this as an opportunity to accumulate said merit and used his connections to secure a temporary command posting alongside his personal retinue, which had been stationed nearby to discourage the sort of bottom-feeding scavengers the Contest prizes tended to attract.

To think, this was just over two years ago, when Min Gyu’s ailing health and crippling addiction to Dream Smoke left him unwilling to show himself in a public setting. That’s why he didn’t join Kai at the Contests, because even though there was some danger associated with the event, the ‘bandits’ were usually prudent enough not to kill anyone of note. Once Martial Law was declared and word of Kai’s ambitions made it back to Central however, Min Gyu saw this as his chance to do one last thing for his Disciple and help pave his path to success by taking command of the reinforcements dispatched to aid the North. After calling in every chit and favour he was owed however, high command chose Situ Jia Yang instead, a decision that shocked no one save for the deluded Min Gyu himself. Feeling as if the Heavens had been overturned, he set out North to join Kai and watch over him in the field, but his progress was slowed by his poor health and the rugged northern terrain, to say nothing of the ever-present threat of Defiled ambush looming over their head. By the time he caught up to his beloved Disciple, Kai was already dead and cremated, having fallen in battle during an Enemy attack which claimed the lives of many.

After reading the reports in-depth, he knew Kai’s death was no one’s fault, for such was the way of war, but Min Gyu struggled to accept this simple truth. Kai was more than just his most promising Disciple, more than the person who would carry on his legacy and prove to the world that he deserved the title of ‘Great Teacher’. Kai was the closest thing he had to a son, the person Min Gyu doted on the most, and while many unpleasant truths had emerged in the wake of the boy’s death, what was he to do? For decades, he saw this man as his family and heir, loved him like a father loves a son, so how could he simply let go of those fond memories and stop loving him now? The unpleasantness with Kai’s wife and son had since soured Min Gyu’s relationship with the Cho household, but he still missed his Disciple so, even if Kai wasn’t the man he appeared to be, so one could imagine just how distraught Min Gyu had been at the time of Kai’s death.

In truth, Min Gyu had almost given up on life, for he believed he had nothing worth living for any longer. In a fit of grief and fury, he attacked Akanai while her army was encamped in the field, and when the Justicar’s arrival put an end to their exchange, he even considered calling her out for lying and dragging her down to death alongside him. A move that would benefit no one, for she’d lied solely to keep his hide intact, since she could have easily told the truth and had Min Gyu censured at best, if not outright executed for instigating a life-and-death duel whilst under Martial Law in the field of battle. A move which was entirely out of character for him, but at the time, he was ready to go quickly into the arms of the Mother and start his next life anew. His most promising Disciple was dead, and Min Gyu’s best years were far behind him, so what more was there to do except die?

Thankfully, the Mother Above saw fit to inform Min Gyu that his sun had not yet set, and She did so by introducing him to little Yan. From the first day he accepted his mantle as a Teacher and Mentor, he’d kept an eye and ear out for any news of a youth Blessed by Air, but Awakened Warriors were few and far between. Even here in Shi Bei, where so many Peak Experts of the three provinces were gathered, there were at most two-dozen Awakened Warriors present, so for there to be two Blessed by Air was remarkable to be sure. Not only that, but his grand-daughter was a brilliant young Warrior who not only absorbed and processed all of Min Gyu’s lessons, but she also knew how to take from them what she needed to progress along her own Path. The people of the Empire were a simple bunch who celebrated her as having inherited his abilities, but Yan’s Chi workings were entirely hers and distinct from his own, even if the end result was fairly similar to the undiscerning observer.

Hovering in the sky above her, he watched as she launched yet another wave of invisible Wind Blades hurtling up and over the battlements, only to plummet down in an arc to target the charging Chosen, Wraiths, and Half-Demons alike. Though imperceptible to the naked eye, the rippling pressure fronts were clear as day to Min Gyu’s Spiritual Senses, thousands upon thousands of Guided blades all targeting the weaknesses of her foes. How she managed such a feat of extensive control was beyond Min Gyu’s understanding, but if he were to guess, it would have something to do with her superlative Spiritual Senses and Wind Domain both, which combined with her keen perception and nimble mind allowed her to pick out her targets with ease. There was no shame in admitting such a feat was beyond his skills, because each must walk their own Path, and it filled him with pride to see her progress with such remarkable style and confidence. There she stood, calm and collected as could be as she slaughtered hundreds of foes without so much as blinking an eye, a single Warrior stymieing the tides of Defiled and leaving only the armoured Half-Demons with the ability to advance. Her section of the wall was still and quiet as could be, a calm lull in the raging storm of battle as she twirled her battle fan to and fro, slaughtering without blinking an eye while her short hair and stylish clothes fluttered in the wind. A wind which only affected her no less to keep the sand and grit away, which made her appearance all the more impressive to the discerning observer, for it spoke of a familiarity with the Air and wind that went beyond even Min Gyu’s comprehension. So long as she did not focus too much on her Blessing at the expense of the Forms, then he suspected she would be a Peak Expert in less than a decade, if not half that, for she was exhibiting signs of such mastery with her Blessing already, while the rest would come with time.

Of course, seeing her valiant efforts made Min Gyu wonder just how incredible it would be to have an entire corps of Air-Blessed Warriors just like her. If that were the case, then little Rain’s Runic Cannons and massed crossbows would no longer be the future of warfare, and this vision was not so far-fetched as it might’ve once seemed. In the last year or so, Min Gyu grew to believe that there was a secret to Awakenings that the outer provinces were unaware of, because as far as he could tell, the Ancestral Fox Gam had birthed not one, not two, but five or six children with the same Blessing of Earth. Granted, whatever method she used was far from perfect, as evidenced by the fact that there were other half-foxes out and about who did not possess the Blessing of Earth. Marshal Yuzhen was the most prominent of the bunch, but there were at least a handful more Min Gyu had seen scattered about the provinces, an ugly truth which did much to cool his ardour for the beautiful and striking Ancestral Beast.

Not enough to keep him from behaving like a schoolboy of twelve whenever the thought of her crossed his mind, but enough to keep him from actively pursuing any sort of relationship. That, and Exarch Gam’s unwillingness to introduce them, for he was a wily one and had no intentions of ever calling Min Gyu ‘Step Father’.

Regardless, finding Yan was a Heaven-sent message from above which told Min Gyu that his work was not yet done. Not only was the girl talented and hard-working to the extreme, she was also loyal and trustworthy as evidenced by her own actions. Even though she clearly knew who he was and the benefits he could offer her, she still hesitated before accepting him as her Teacher, not out of fear or concern for herself or her future, but because she was worried that leaving would be seen as a betrayal to the People. When Min Gyu made his offer, she responded with disbelief, then glee, then alarm as she looked to Akanai for guidance, which was all he needed to know about the strength of her character. This combined with his grief over losing Kai was why Min Gyu made less than optimal decisions in the following weeks, because even though Yan was talented, hardworking, sincere, and devoted as anyone could be to someone they only recently met, he should have seen the folly of immediately declaring her as his heir and terminal Disciple, a blunder he was still paying for today.

A price well paid however, for it revealed the true face of his so-called family and friends, who even now sought to curry favour and get back in his good graces, but he could not be bothered with them any longer. When his blood relatives turned on him, Min Gyu found his real family, such as Kang Bin’s branch of the Du’s who still supported him, but mostly Yan, Kyung, and yes, even little Rain. A family he found far too late in life, but better late than never. He was so proud of them, for he’d seen them come so far in these past few years, further than he ever thought possible. Kyung was on the cusp of becoming a Peak Expert in truth, and would have long since stepped over the threshold had Min Gyu seen fit to put more effort into guiding him earlier. The boy had all the tools he would ever need and was only lacking experience, and these past fifteen days had seen him progress by leaps and bounds to make more headway than he had in the past two decades.

Even though Yan inherited Min Gyu’s oppressive, wide-scaled attacks which allowed him to hold a battlefront almost entirely on his own, Kyung was the man who inherited his domineering martial prowess. The world knew Min Gyu as the Sanguine Tempest, a title he held not solely due to his Blessing, but because of how he ran rampant across the battlefield to slaughter any and all elites in his path. Though less restrained than he was in his youth, Kyung embodied this mindset as he stood guard over his adopted sister, whom he doted on and cherished in his own shy and reticent manner. It warmed Min Gyu’s heart to see how fiercely Kyung protected Yan from the Enemy Half-Demons aiming to take her head. Each one was akin to a Peak Expert in terms of strength, skill, and mobility, but Kyung was holding his own with help from Min Gyu’s students by keeping true to the mantra of kill or be killed. Every time Kyung swung his sabre, he gave it his all, which sounded simple in theory, but in practice, there was nothing more difficult than this. No matter how skilled or resolute the Warrior, all living creatures possessed the base instinct to preserve their life, which meant that most would not be willing to put their lives on the line time and time again in battle, yet Kyung did so without hesitation. Not because he had nothing to live for, but because he had something worth dying for. That’s how he was able to push forward in the face of death without fear or hesitation and throw everything he had into each and every attack, an almost indistinguishable distinction which gave him the undeniable edge in battle as he cut his distracted foes down time and time again. One strike, one kill, and Kyung was not even a Peak Expert, for he had yet to wholly incorporate his unique Path into the core of his very existence.

That was the thin line which divided Experts from Peak Experts, one which appeared vague and obscure when spoken of in words, but to a Peak Expert, the difference was as obvious as night and day. Kyung was close, but still too reckless and restrained all at once, paying too much mind to his head without paying heed to his heart. Even now, as he ruthlessly cut down his foes in a brutal display of feral savagery, his expression and body-language spoke of a man subdued, too tense and doubtful of his own abilities to truly let loose and just fight. Fearless as he might be, he expected to die with each swing, when instead he ought to fight with the confidence of the dragon he’d become. Against weaker foes, Kyung had no issues doing just that, but against these Half-Demons, he went in believing himself as the lesser of the two despite emerging victorious time and time again.

Slowly but surely that was changing however, and Min Gyu could only hope that his troubled grandson could overcome the traumas of his past. There was a time when he thought slavery acceptable, especially since he himself treated his slaves well. So long as they behaved, then they were fed, clothed, and housed, a simple and constricting life, but there were plenty of free-people who lived worse. It was an exchange, obedience for security, but that was before Kai’s sins came to light, and even then, Min Gyu first saw this as a case of an abuse of power, which again, was not limited to slaves alone. This did not in any way excuse what Kai had done, but it didn’t change Min Gyu’s mind on slavery, it only made him think less of the man he once saw as his son and ashamed of what poor little Li-Li had suffered through. However, it wasn’t until Min Gyu truly came to accept Kyung as his grandson that he saw the damage a lifetime of slavery had done, for instead of the bold and confident Warrior he should have been, the half-cat was a meek and submissive mouse of a man who would rather die than lose what little joy he had left in his life. Min Gyu had thought himself a benevolent slave owner, but the Oaths themselves did far more damage than he ever thought possible, to say nothing of a lifetime spent believing one was inferior due to the circumstances of birth alone.

He hoped little Rain’s dreams of an Empire free of slavery would one day come true, but he feared it would be a long and arduous uphill battle in which he would have precious few allies to call upon. Worse, Min Gyu was certain he would not live to see it through to completion, and wasn’t sure if he would even make it through this battle today, for he was not idle while immersed in his musings and had his hands full keeping his precious grandchildren alive. While Yan was more than capable of fending off approaching Wraiths, this was limited to those below Peak Expert, and Kyung would be sorely outmatched by any Peak Expert of middling strength or higher. Hence why Min Gyu was standing here in plain view, offering himself up as a tempting target for the Enemy once more to keep the more powerful foes from attacking Yan or Kyung instead. Even crazed Defiled possessed that instinct of self-preservation, and truly skilled Peak Experts possessed pride enough to avoid trading their lives for Warriors even weaker than they were, meaning that so long as Min Gyu was present, they would not dare act against his grandchildren without dealing with him first. Already, he’d killed five Peak Expert Wraiths before they could even Cloud-Step into range to throw their knives or fire their crossbows, and he slaughtered six formidable Defiled Half-Stags who fancied themselves more than a match for an ancient old man once they joined hands. It was a simple enough matter to pick out the truly skilled Warriors here, all thanks to little Yan’s efforts to clear the battlements and hold back the Defiled tides, but sooner or later, Min Gyu expected the Enemy to send someone of note to deal with this significant threat she posed.

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Hopefully sooner, for these last fifteen days of constant battle had left him drained and debilitated to the extreme. With the threat of death constantly looming overhead, he was exhausted in a way that no amount of refreshing rain or deep sleep would ever make right, a weary weakness that had seeped down into not only his bones, but his heart, mind, and soul as well. Resplendent though his appearance might be, with his straight back and dark, flowing beard and hair, he knew it for the façade it truly was. Just standing upright seemed so unnatural and exhausting, and his beard and hair were both dyed with their greyed roots starting to show. Were it not for Kyung’s continued insistence and diligent care, Min Gyu would have long since stopped grooming himself and gone to battle wearing only a loin cloth to better escape the oppressive heat, and even his Spiritual Weapons felt heavy in hand, to the point where he’d long since sheathed his sabre in imitation of little Li-Li, who similar to Kyung had inherited his domineering style and made it all her own.

Another brilliant Warrior to match anyone in her generation, and he’d been a fool not to see it sooner, perhaps because he was too busy turning a blind eye to Kai’s darker side. To make matters worse, the girl didn’t resent him for her struggles and even respected him enough to seek out his guidance on more than one occasion. Not that he understood why, because the way he saw it, Akanai was a far more capable teacher than he, having raised an entire army of capable Martial Warriors, including several stand-out talents who deserved to become Living Legends in their own right.

It was a disgrace that Akanai herself was only now receiving her due respect and recognition, because even if little Rain had not arrived in so spectacular a fashion, Min Gyu was confident Akanai would have led the Imperial Forces of Shi Bei to victory.

There was no more time for introspection however as Min Gyu’s senses warned him of a formidable foe approaching fast. Upon determining his foe’s trajectory, he Sent word to Yan and Kyung both to fall back as he himself plummeted down to stand between them and the approaching threat. Deploying his Domain in open threat, he set his Battle-Fan to twirling as he came face to face with his foe, an overbearing Half-Demon who appeared upon the edge of a parapet to look down on them from above. A slender and svelte armoured Warrior of middling height, he wore an arrogant sneer etched across his jagged, porcelain features and held a slim-bladed glaive in one hand while it rested upon his shoulder, so casual and cavalier as if he were standing amidst a crowd of admirers rather than alone on the battlements across from a hostile army. Even more disconcerting were his twin horns protruding out from under his open-faced helmet, two bony protrusions that emerged from the front of his forehead and curved back before jutting straight up into sharpened points, so similar to little Yan’s own half-beast markings which hammered home the point that her Sire stood on the Enemy’s side. Even she wasn’t sure of her origins, but given the recent revelation of the Bekhai ties to the Enemy combatants, it wasn’t difficult to imagine a tie between her and this half-brother here, though it would be a stretch to accuse the Bekhai of colluding with the Enemy given how the Empire might well have fallen if not for their presence.

The horned Half-Demon met Min Gyu’s eyes for all of a second before dismissing him as a threat. A calculated insult which might have worked five years ago, but the current Du Min Gyu was beyond such petty matters of pride. Exhaustion also did much to lend weight to his indifference, as well as his concern for Yan’s future prospects, though that seemed like a silly thing to worry about here and now given how formidable this Half-Demon appeared to be. Difficult to really say how he could tell, but his senses were warning him that this was not a foe to take lightly, for many reasons besides his appearance. The ease with which he made it through Yan’s barrage of Wind Blades for one, without so much as alerting her to boot, and his apparent lack of concern for the fact that he was standing well within range of Min Gyu’s sabre. Difficult to say whether this Half Demon was deserving of his arrogance, but he wore it so naturally it was part and parcel of his character, from the clarity of his cold, brown eyes to the almost palpable killing intent emanating from his presence alone.

For this was a man who slaughtered his way to the Peak, and Min Gyu would be a fool to take him lightly.

Whether the reverse would prove true was still a matter for debate, but the formidable Half-Demon seemed in no rush to engage with blade and fist anytime soon. Fixating his gaze upon little Yan peeking out from behind, he scoffed and said, “So young and talented, but foolish to fight for those who would not fight for you, sister.”

“I am Du Min Yan,” the girl replied, without even a moment of hesitation. “Grand-daughter of Du Min Gyu and sister of Du Min Kyung, meaning you are no brother of mine.” There was no heat in Yan’s cutting tone, only the cold fury of a child scorned, and Min Gyu heaved a sigh of relief. Having grown up an orphan, the girl valued family above all else, but it was difficult to predict how she would react when faced with true blood of her blood, and he was gratified to hear her conviction. Luckily, the Bekhai were well-used to non-traditional families and placed less emphasis on genealogy and lineage than the rest of the Empire, a fact Little Rain had already proven by scorning the Half-Demon who claimed to be his father in so casual a manner. Luckily for Yan, this set a precedent for her to follow without incurring too much criticism from the masses, but Min Gyu was relieved to see little Yan handling this so well.

A weight lifted off of his shoulders, one he hadn’t even known was there, and if not for the presence of this formidable foe, he would have turned around to hug his sweet grand-daughter tight. They’d both been searching for a family to love and cherish, and they stumbled across one another by sheer luck, which he supposed was why they bonded so quickly over a scant few weeks of travel. By the time they left the Northern Province, Min Gyu had already made up his mind to adopt the girl, a decision few could truly understand. It wasn’t his declaration to adopt her that made her family, for she already treated him so, and the declaration was merely an affirmation of their bond, so that others would know it too.

And now, she proved once again that his decision had been the right one, even after accounting for all the trials and tribulations it brought about.

“Say what you will, but you cannot deny the blood we share.” Raising his hand to tap his horns, he flashed a cold smile that was almost a mirror image of Yan’s own, except this one lacked any and all warmth or good cheer. “I am Junta, first blade among the Scions of Surkithyr, our glorious Father who sired us. You were lost, but have proven yourself strong enough to stand among us, so I come to make this offer on behalf of our merciful father. Join us, and he will overlook your ignorance and bestow upon you a true name, one worthy of his scion. Stand against us, and die.”

Yan’s answer came in the form of a Wind Blade, which spattered harmlessly across the Half-Demon’s armour and dissipated before even touching his skin. Good girl, bold as could be, and in doing so, she revealed just why Min Gyu was so wary of this Half-Demon before him. Junta too possessed a Blessing, for that was the only way to negate an Elemental attack so effortlessly, unless there were still more secrets abound. Possibly even a Blessing of Air, though the only proof of such would be the fact that he shared blood with little Yan, which was thin at best but all they had to go on. “I am not so generous,” Min Gyu declared, gesturing for Yan and Kyung to retreat even further just in case there were more Half-Demons lurking about. “So my offer to you is just this: die.”

His quick-draw attack sliced silently through the air faster than he could blink, only to rebound off of the base of Junta’s glaive, but this was merely the opening strike. Willing a Wind Chakram into existence, it bit deep into his foe’s Domain only a split second after his sabre landed home, but to a similar lack of effect. No, Junta was most certainly not Blessed by Air, for there was no stirring or movement about him, so utterly still Min Gyu had never seen anything like it. The Half-Demon’s counter-thrust almost took his head off as he dodged by the narrowest of margins with a tilt of his head, only for a gash to open up along the side of his neck where the glaive passed closest. A shallow cut all things considered, but angled enough to bleed like a stuck pig, and he had no choice but to devote some attention to stemming the bleeding as they fought. Rare for a fight to move past the opening exchange, but Min Gyu was not out of his depth just yet as he brought his sabre around to block the glaive as Junta pressed his advantage. A flick of the wrist was all he could manage in his haste to beat Min Gyu’s sabre to his neck, but the resulting attack was powerful enough to lift him off his feet and sending him flying to the side.

Such power… perhaps his Blessing had something to do with Earth to enhance his Reinforcement, or possibly Fire for Amplification. No matter though, for Min Gyu was well versed in fighting foes more physically powerful than he, yet he defeated them all the same. Though only the Medical Saint could boast dominance of the Clouds, Min Gyu was in his element fighting in this weightless manner, for he spent the better part of four decades labouring to Lighten himself in order to avoid the sharp pains that came from putting any sort of pressure on his hip. Letting his toes drag along the concrete battlement, Min Gyu shrouded himself in Concealment before springing back towards his foe with a diagonal slash, a wild strike powered by his Amplified toes and the Wind pushing along from behind him. Had Junta seen this coming, he could have lined his glaive up to impale Min Gyu as he approached, or at the very least blocked the berserk, unrefined swing that sacrificed poise for power, but the Half-Demon was caught unawares. Though aiming for Junta’s neck, the full force of the strike inexplicably veered into his shoulder-guard instead, but failed to shift him even a bit or cause him to blink. This was not a working of Deflection or Reverberation, but rather something to do with his foe’s unknown Blessing, a subtle and invisible one if Min Gyu had to guess, else the bastard would have used it offensively in a more direct fashion.

This time, when Junta’s eyes met Min Gyu’s, he did not look away again, and instead his eyes narrowed in focused displeasure. “So, more formidable than expected, but still a candle at the end of its wick.”

“Perhaps,” Min Gyu replied, pulling his sabre away with more than a modicum of effort, as if it were stuck in something invisible layered atop the Half-Demon’s armour. “But old ginger is spicier than new.” Rather than take his stance again, he pressed the advantage with a thrust, but his foe was quicker to act, for Min Gyu took the time to message Yan, Kyung, Rain, and even Li-Li. “Watch carefully,” he Sent, and that was all he said, for it was all he had time for. The glaive passed harmlessly in front of Min Gyu’s sabre, which he pulled back the moment he saw the parry take form, only to immediately thrust again once the way was clear to force his foe back. Putting his Battle-Fan away, he made a show of taking his sabre by both hands but instead unleashed a grape-sized orb containing the power of a whirlwind which exploded in his opponent’s face. No longer so calm and collected, Junta snarled as the blast rocked him back on his heels and sent him staggering away, with the Wind Chakram slicing ineffectively against his bared skin as he passed. Even though Junta’s Blessing protected him from the Honed Wind and the bulk of concussive force, the noise and pressure differential was enough to rupture his eardrums as evidenced by the dark red blood flowing down the sides of his head, one of Min Gyu’s favoured tricks to use in combat. From the outside, it appeared as if Junta was weak on his feet, when in fact he was struggling to stand upright solely because he couldn’t gauge where the ground lay beneath him, and Min Gyu was quick to use this to his advantage.

A one-handed thrust slammed into Junta’s throat, but again, his Blessing protected him, shunting the bulk of the impact aside as the sabre skirted across his throat. The Honed edge failed to pierce through the invisible layer of viscous Domain the Half-Demon kept deployed across his skin, but Min Gyu was not one to give up so easily. Ignoring the danger of his foe’s glaive, he stepped diagonally across the front of his foe and used both hands to press harder into the side of the Half-Demon’s throat. All-too-aware of the threat to his life, Junta responded by falling to his knees and rolling away, a response which appeared clumsy and humiliating yet was the optimal choice given his lacking options. A dangerous foe this Junta, a Warrior unburdened by pride or dignity which forced Min Gyu to rethink his next few moves. After escaping near certain death, the Half-Demon rolled back to his feet with his glaive a whirling, wildly fending off the expected follow up attack, only to be sent reeling once more by another Explosive Wind as Min Gyu hopped away from his foe before charging back in again.

How amusing. Junta Healed his ruptured eardrums in less than a second, only for them to pop once again, so Min Gyu could only imagine how frustrated his foe might be as their furious exchange wore on.

Strike and retreat, reposition and resume. This was a key skill Li-Li and Kyung were both lacking, the ability to come and go as the wind blows. Min Gyu was domineering not because he was capable of overwhelming his foes through raw power alone, but because he sought to engage only when he had the upper hand. Keep your foes off-balance and on the back foot and the battle was already half won, though Junta’s sturdy defenses proved more formidable than expected. No matter if it was his sabre or Wind Chakram, Min Gyu found himself unable to pierce through the Half-Demon’s unseen defenses, for they were not firm and hard like steel armour, but malleable and flowing instead. So maybe not Earth or Fire after all, and possibly Water, though there was also the possibility of an Auxiliary or Esoteric Blessing as well. Wood and Cloud were the first to come to mind, but neither one was a perfect fit for what Min Gyu had seen from his foe, which was infuriating to say the least. Difficult to guard against the unknown, but he would simply have to keep hammering away at his foe until one of them was spent.

A most unfortunate turn of events, for Min Gyu knew he was at a disadvantage in a battle of endurance. The moment his offensive should falter, he would likely fall to Junta’s glaive, which meant Min Gyu was in a battle against time itself. Amazingly enough, Luo-Luo’s musical strumming seemed to aid him in choosing his moments, leaving off-beat moments in her melody that made it easy to know when to strike and when to retreat. How she managed such a feat was beyond Min Gyu’s comprehension, but he yearned to explore it even further. There was so much he still wished to learn about the Martial Dao, so much more he wanted to know, like how little Rain was able to wield power enough to strike down a Divinity before even mastering himself as a Peak Expert. This was a fork in the Path that offered so very many possibilities, one the Martial Warriors of the future would need to overcome the cannons and crossbows of commoners. There was also the matter of little Mila’s Blessing of the Sun and the sheer versatility it provided, or Yan’s newfangled grasp of Min Gyu’s Talent that even he himself could not explain, and so much more to learn and discover.

The world was experiencing a rebirth of the Martial Dao and Min Gyu wanted to study it all to understand how it worked, to speak with little Rain, the Abbot, Akanai, and anyone else who would listen to him expound on the Dao. There were still so many lessons he still had yet to teach, like guiding Yan through the process of combining her Blessing with her Martial Abilities, blending the two seamlessly together to create something greater than the sum of their parts, or showing Kyung and Li-Li that the way forward was not always the best way to advance, as he tried to teach them here.

And all this was merely regarding the Martial Path. What of his other aspirations and ambitions? Da’in and Kyung’s ill-fated romance might never prove fruitful, but he still held out hope that his grandson would one day find love. What’s more, even though the betrayal stung, he knew his god-daughter had her own reasons for siding with Shuai Jiao over little Rain, but he’d been planning to forgive and forget once the boy emerged victorious from that struggle. Then there was sweet Kishi who everyone neglected so, a darling pup who wanted nothing more than to curl in someone’s lap despite being too large to fit, and Min Gyu had been so looking forward to riding her about the plains of Central or through the mountains of the Bekhai hometown to see what all the fuss was about.

Alas, there was a good chance none of this would come to pass, for not only was Min Gyu a candle at the end of his wick, he was also burning himself at both ends to keep up his erratic offensive. Soon enough, he would falter and the Half-Demon’s turn would come, and they both knew how this match would end should they every reach this point. That’s why Junta was wholly content to remain on the defensive now, leaving no room for Min Gyu to utilize a more powerful attack and finish this match before reaching the end of his rope.

No matter though, for he could feel the eyes of his grandchildren and students on him right now, watching him as he fought in what might well be his final duel. Even if he were to die here today, his legacy would continue on, something that seemed so much less important now than it did ten years ago. Now, his beloved grandchildren were his pride and joy, and his only regret was that they spent so little time together as one, happy family, but even then, what they shared was more than enough for this old man.

Chapter Meme