That night, Xing Yi was on guard duty.
Meditating to pass the time, while looking around every so often to scan his surroundings, the night passed slowly. The white moonlight illuminating the land, and the kindling embers of the fire now but tiny red specks, a peaceful calm had descended.
However, a loud boom from down the mountain shook this quiet, immediately alerting Xing Yi.
Stumbling to his feet, Xing Yi shouted as he ran over to his martial brothers. “Brothers, wake up! There was a loud boom…”
“Huh?” Xing Yi blinked, only seeing Lou Zhou rousing from his sleep. His Senior Martial Brother didn’t even bother to get up from the ground, stretching his arms as he yawned.
“Don’t worry about it, He Yazhu and Ye Hai are probably fighting,” Lou Zhou mumbled, turning onto his side while brushing some hair out of his face.
“What? Senior, why would they be fighting?” Xing Yi asked, confused.
Just then, memories of yesterday came back to him and he had a nod of understanding.
Lou Zhou mumbled, “He Yazhu is a fool, that’s all. And don’t go running after them either. You are to stay here.”
Just as quickly as he woke up, Lou Zhou turned silent and fell asleep.
His head turning to the direction that the boom sounded out from, he momentarily deliberated. Slowly walking to the edge of the mountain top, Xing Yi cast one last look to his Senior before disappearing down the mountain with Southern Dragon Greets the Sun.
Whistling through the air as he descended, he jumped down several layers of cliffs and large boulders, gradually bringing him to a large clearing where he saw two figures intertwined in a close battle.
One seemingly was made out of fire, a glowing red energy emanating from within their body as they blasted fire from their body at their opponent. Just as fast as one would blink, large spouts of fire would be shot from their body, temporarily lighting up the entire area.
Twisting, daunting shadows were cast from trees of black bark, dancing in rhythm to their deadly dance.
Azure blue skies shined within the eyes of the other person as they effortlessly evaded the burning fire, moving with the wind as they silently observed He Yazhu. in response to his attacks, Ye Hai slipped his hand into a leather pouch at his waist, reaching for aged yellow parchments of paper.
With hidden whispers, golden sigils glistened to life on this paper.
Golden Characters shot out, enlarging to the size of a mammoth.
“Imprint of Earthly Woes”
Retracting backwards like a snake bearing its teeth, He Yazhu lifted a leg as he fell down, sending a powerful kick that released a crescent of red fire to match the golden sigils.
Eroding away the golden sigils like rust to metal, the fire entrapped the golden sigils, dimming its golden light.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Ignoring the battle between fire and sigils, Ye Hai slipped into the shadows outside the clearing, sending a curious look to Xing Yi who sat outside the battle on a lone stone monolith that shot into the sky.
Seemingly disappearing from sight, He Yazhu tsked in annoyance and sent an all encompassing circle of fire as he blasted into the air, surveying his surroundings to find a trace of Ye Hai.
Still, his opponent eluded him.
Landing back onto the ground, He Yazhu snorted fire.
“You’re a coward! No wonder Mei decided to pair cultivate with Tan Lei rather than you!”
There was no response. The black shadows remained still, and He Yazhu walked with careful steps as he remained alert for his opponent’s next attack. His sharp eyes flickered back and forth as he did.
Suddenly, He Yazhu seemed to have almost stepped off a cliff as he fell straight backwards, releasing fire out the front of him as he did.
Narrowly dodging He Yazhu’s fire, Ye Hai appeared from thin air and followed up with an azure shuriken that disappeared into nothing as he threw it, arcing through the air to meet an unsuspecting He Yazhu.
Taking the metal star into the side of his stomach, He Yazhu grit his teeth in pain and stomped on his foot. An infinitesimally small red mark that hid amongst the grass, right below where Ye Hai was standing, was suddenly lit aflame.
Fire spouting in a vertical beam, Ye Hai was set aflame.
But just as soon as he did, He Yazhu felt a strange tightening one of his meridians, as if it was being choked by a fishnet. Looking to the side of his stomach, blood dripped down the side of his leg. A large gash was exposed, his robes having been ripped in half by the shuriken that Ye Hai had thrown at him, that was no longer there…
It had disappeared!
Instantaneously entering his mind’s temple, He Yazhu’s eyes widened when he noticed a silk-like, almost invisible blue thread, wounding around one of his meridians.
Instantly dropping to his knees, He Yazhu shouted, “I yield! Stop! Release your thread!”
“So I take that as my win?” Ye Hai asked, stepping out from the shadows.
Grumbling, and his head exploding in irate anger, he spat on the ground. ”Need I say it again? Release me now! Just because my master is friends with yours, doesn’t mean he would be lenient if you crippled one of my meridians!”
Shrugging, Ye Hai released the thread with a wave of his hand. Subsequently, the shuriken emerged from He Yazhu’s side, wriggling out from the gash like a parasite.
He Yazhu screamed in pain as it made its way out his flesh, and when the shuriken finally popped out onto the ground, he fell to his side exhausted and drenched in sweat. Wincing in pain, He Yazhu slowly stood back up.
Heaving for air, He Yazhu was exasperated when he noticed that Xing Yi had been watching the whole time.
“What are you looking at!?” He Yazhu growled, snorting hot flame from his nostrils.
Xing Yi smiled, “Nothing. I merely came out to make sure you two didn’t hurt each other! Isn’t that right, Ye Hai?”
Laughing with his head back, Ye Hai nodded his head in agreement, “Yes! I was originally asking to have witness to our battle but this hot-headed Brother of mine refused! I am grateful Xing Yi came along to take this role. After this battle, our record is 1-1! I finally got revenge for my younger self. At the same time, I’m grateful Brother He Yazhu became egotistical enough to give up his original advantage! Much Thanks Brother He Yazhu!”
He Yazhu’s face turned grim. Turning on his heels and sending one last desperate spout of fire at Ye Hai, He Yazhu vanished into the forest.
“Woah!” Ducking underneath the fire, Ye Hai patted his hair, making sure none of it had been burned by the fire.
Peering into the forest, Xing Yi asked with a raised eyebrow, “Is Senior Brother He Yazhu going to come back?”
“Of course. By sunrise he’ll be back. That prideful fellow can’t even take a single loss. Anyways, let’s get back. Every bit of sleep that you can get is important!” Smiling, Ye Hai retreated back up the mountain.
Xing Yi stayed around a bit longer, but after seeing that He Yazhu wasn’t coming back, he left too.
The rest of the night passed quickly, and by sunrise, He Yazhu, as expected, has quietly returned.
Not exchanging any words between anyone else, he silently meditated underneath an oak tree, seemingly unscathed and not any worse for wear than the day before.
As Lou Zhou woke up, he gave an appraising look to Xing Yi before shaking his head.
“Alright, let’s get going. We still have five more days until we reach our destination! However, we are already a third of the way there. The only problem are the many tribes of demonic beasts and rogue families that inhabit the Western Forest. Past this small mountain pass we are currently on, we will then truly enter the Western Forest. Is everyone prepared?”
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Moving through the forest with trepidation, Lou Zhou led the group through the Western Forest. His right hand resting on the handle of his sword, his yellow eyes kept a watch for any movement.
The strange thing about him was the illusory, rainbow veil covering their bodies. As if they were incorporeal ghosts, reality bent around them as they moved. Their faces were akin to their reflections drawn across the surface of a lake, long, wavy, and blurry.
This was because of a rainbow-coloured talisman that he had cast on all of them. With it, even Foundation Establishment level demonic beasts wouldn’t be able to detect them.
The only way to tell each other apart was the position they held in the formation. He Yazhu was at the back by himself, Lou Zhou leading up front, and Xing Yi and Ye Hai in the middle of the pack.
However, all four abruptly stopped when they heard a deep roar. The sound caused the group to tremble in fear, sweat dripping down their bodies.
It was as if a dragon had descended.