Chương 439: Tales of Blood (IV)

We stepped out of the tent one by one, back out into the raging desert. Though there was a lot of open space, it wasn't flat and was instead hilly--scratch that, she'd flattened out the entire area roughly the size of a football field. And she did it in the time it took the two of us to leave after her, which was about ten seconds, give or take. I saw Xi Zhao wince at the sight, though he didn't back away, at least. He couldn't, as his Sword Dao--at least the nascent version of it--wouldn't allow him.

Though I worried a bit, I didn't think she'd actually hurt him. In part because she swore an oath, but in part because her anger, though real, was also somewhat performative, as it were. It seemed to come as much from us taking light jabs at her as it did from other shit in her life, so this would probably be a way for her to vent some stuff out in a manner she probably considers healthy.... I could have made a killing if I were, in any way, shape or form, qualified to be a therapist, couldn't I? Oh, well.

Xi Zhao walked in the opposite direction from where she was, about a hundred yards or so away from the tent, marking the distance between the two at about double that. I stayed to the side, watching aptly and ready to jump in just in case she truly throws all caution to the wind, but mostly to enjoy the show. Honestly, any time I don't have to fight for my life and get to enjoy the spectacle of others fighting, it's like the most perfect 3D-immersive movie ever made.

Despite being here for years now, my brain is still somehow adjusting to the fact that, yes, a human body can leapfrog a hundred yards in the blink of an eye and produce so much energy to annihilate a freakin' house. I mean, I can do it, and I have done it, so I really have no clue what's wrong with my brain. Ooh. Better not open those doors. The two looked toward me as they settled into their position, and my brain froze for a second before realizing they were waiting for me to signal the start of the duel.

Hiding away a pair of flushed cheeks, I raised my hand as they both got into position, with Xi Zhao holding the handle of the blade and Liao Xinya standing rather nonchalantly. As soon as I dropped my hand, all hell broke loose. Xi Zhao drew the sword with such eclectic force that Qi storm warped spacetime around him to the degree that I could see him both up and down, as though there was a mirror above him.

As the array gushed off the edge of the blade, it terraformed the world as it slid through it, almost like a strange serpent shaping and distorting the world as it slithered. Honestly? I'd struggle to survive that shit without the mirror. No, scratch that, I'd definitely need my little tortoise savior to survive that. On the other hand... Even with the seeming death approaching her, the woman remained nonchalant for a moment longer before she drew out her sword, too.

She lit it ablaze and casually swung--no, seriously, like she was chopping tuna or something--toward Xi Zhao's array. A cry of the bird rang out like a song as fires swept out in the shape of a wave before hawking out further into wings--though the bird's face didn't fully form, its body was awfully reminiscent of what I think phoenixes look like.

The clash that ought to dismantle the world never quite happened--the fire simply overwhelmed the destructive array of Sword Qi, but not in the sense that it annihilated it. Rather, it seemed to create a 'vacuum' of sorts between itself and the array, displacing Sword Qi in either direction away from its path until it fizzled out like a dying flame.

The actual flame, though, continued on like a tsunami wave, swarming forth toward Xi Zhao who swung his sword a few more times but to no avail--it stopped before swallowing him whole, though, dispersing every which way, leaving him with a partly awestruck and partly contemplative look. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. I nearly whistled at the sheer spectacle of it, just barely holding back.

Even with my own stupid eyes I could see that Xi Zhao's attack packed far more destructive power. In a direct collision, he would have won over her, no doubt. But if fights were all about destructive power, none of the kids would have ever won against those with much higher realms than theirs.

"That was a warning," she called out.

"Next time, I'll singe those eyebrows off so your stupidity can be visible in your appearance, too." She seemed quite proud of that one, but Xi Zhao didn't have a single reaction. Seeing the mist in his eyes, I reckoned there shouldn't be any harm in giving him a bit of a boost--I scantly used the freebie Enlightenment ability that I had, as I realized there really wasn't any need since the kids didn't struggle, and it was best used when they hit a wall. Such as now.

So, I walked up to him and pressed my finger between his brows as light shot up a moment later, his body slowly lifting off his feet as his eyes turned wholly glazed. We were in a fairly open space, which was both a curse and a blessing--curse because everyone could see us from fairly far, and a blessing because there was no way to sneak up on us. Still, I decided to sit near him and act as a Dharma Protector for the duration, though I did kind of forget there was another person here.

As I turned and faced her, I noted that her jaw had just about hit the floor, that her eyes were wider than plates, and that there was now terror present in them when she looked at me that wasn't there before.

"Uhm, mind helping me with protecting him?"

"..." she didn't say anything, simply obediently walking over and sitting by my side.

"I can't do it for you," I said after rather heavy silence.

"... I wasn't asking."

"Hm. You're rather loud at not doing it."

"I... I can pay. I'll give you anything you want."

"You've been discarded by your home," I glanced at her.

"What do you even have?"

"Hah. I plundered those shitheads so much that they'll probably cry tears of blood when they realize."

"... wow."

"So, can... can you do it?"

"No."

"Why?!"

"It takes a while before I can do it again."

"Oh."

"What did you think? That I can just willy-nilly induce Enlightenment any time I wanted?"

"I--""--oh? Were you so impressed by me that you thought I was projection of Dao? Ho ho~ I'm indeed quite handsome and amazing, but that's too much." even from the corner of my eye I could see her face darkening so I stopped.

"Why are you so desperate for it?"

"... do you know how they plan on killing everyone here?" she suddenly asked.

"While killing some kids might have been easy enough, they've dragged some true powerhouses of the world in here, ones that have survived all kinds of things. This realm, beneath the surface opulence, holds an array that nobody else knows about--one that takes the dead and reanimates them into muffled corpses. Anyone who has ever died here has been reborn into a shambled mess of flesh and rot."

"Even so," I said.

"It doesn't sound like it would be enough."

"We are talking hundreds of millions of corpses," she reiterated, though I don't think it was the corpses itself she was pointing out. It took me a second to actually realize it.

"Oh. Death Qi."

"Hm," she nodded.

"It is thin and distributed now, but the property of this realm specifically is that it closes in every eleven days. Eventually, it becomes the size of a small arena, just enough to fit maybe a few hundred cultivators. That was where the fighting was forbidden and participants just waited it out. But even if we all somehow survive until then, the sheer quantity of Death Qi will corrupt even the most resilient ones. Well, maybe not you," she looked at me rather oddly.

"Why do I have a feeling you'd be completely immune to it?"

"..." would I? Only the system knows, I suppose.