Chương 14: Chapter 13: TO ACCUSE

Qingshi was a mostly known element (blind, sword artist, very skilled, Gleaming Stone Containment bondskill) but the two inner disciples with him were pure unknowns. Both men. Black-haired and black-eyed, so probably not Liangshibai, unless they were doing whatever it was the Liangshibai did to make their eyes look normal. Neither had their weapons unsheathed, though they were both wearing armor.

The one to Qingshi's left was only carrying a single sheath, one with a thin body, so either a sword or a saber artist. The one to Qingshi's right, on the other hand, had two long sheaths on either side of his waist, and jutting out from them were thin, cylindrical pieces of steel. That should be a split polearm; fifth-step Redrealm polearms and above usually had a spiritskill that allowed the user to split and connect them at will, making them easier to carry and draw. A polearm artist, then.

Likely a spear artist. Other polearms were significantly rarer among cultivators, at least in the Gleaming Stone Sect.

"Meiyao, Jieyuan," Qingshi said as he approached in a slow but easy stride. Like the two inner disciples with him, he had his weapon sheathed. But while his two friends had hard looks on their faces, Qingshi looked perfectly at ease. Jieyuan was once more surprised by how expressive the inner disciple could be with the blindfold covering so much of his face." Daojue," Qingshi added as he turned his head to nod at Jieyuan's teammate. Qingshi spoke the name slowly and heavily.

His voice was charged with intention Jieyuan couldn't place; it set him further on edge. Jieyuan walked up so that he was beside Meiyao. On Meiyao's other side, Daojue did the same. Meiyao stayed where she was, glaring at Qingshi and his group, her gleamstone saber still held in front of her." Qingshi," Meiyao said, and she packed almost as much power and intent into the name as Qingshi had done earlier with Daojue's.

"What are you doing here?" Before Qingshi could answer, she took two quick looks at the two inner disciples.

"You two… Geshihan Liangjie and Fusongshi Sunqiu, right?" Jieyuan gripped his spear tighter. Another Geshihan, just like Elder Weiming. And Fusongshi was the Gleaming Stone Sect's other noble clan. Well, this answers some questions, Jieyuan decided. But also raises new ones. After Weiming had seemed genuinely unaware of Qingshi's involvement in whatever conspiracy she was part of, he'd assumed that maybe Qingshi's matter with Daojue was a separate issue.

Daojue had never elaborated on his feud with Qingshi, so Jieyuan didn't know any details about their circumstances. But now Qingshi had found them in the Inner Valley, long after the Inner Hunt was over, accompanied by two nobles. Jieyuan didn't believe in coincidences overmuch. But if Qingshi was working with the same folks that had sent Elder Weiming over, what in the Heavens were they thinking, sending three disciples after them when an elder hadn't sufficed?

Qingshi halted his steps, the two inner disciples with him—Liangjie and Sunqiu—likewise stopping. Jieyuan took note of the distance between them. Over thirty feet. Outside the range of a fifth-step Redsoul's soulsenses. Sword still sheathed, Qingshi clicked his tongue loudly, then said, "Well, Meiyao, I won't insult your intelligence and pretend we're here on a walk."

"Is that so?" Meiyao wore a hard smile.

"Should I insult yours, then? Because what makes you think that you will be able to do the job a tenth-step Redsoul couldn't?" Qingshi clicked his tongue again but still seemed utterly relaxed, Meiyao's accusation just washing over him. The two inner disciples, Liangjie and Sunqiu, had more interesting reactions. They shifted a bit at Meiyao's statement, looking confused, like they didn't know what Meiyao was talking about.

"Tenth-step Redsoul?" said the inner disciple on the left. The one with the polearm. Jieyuan wasn't sure whether he was the Geshihan or the Fusongshi; Meiyao had named them both at the same time. Meiyao glanced at the polearm artist, looking confused for a moment herself. Then her eyes widened. Her smile followed suit, also widening.

"Wait. You don't know? Geshihan Weiming. She came after us two weeks ago."

"Weiming?" The other inner disciple, the one to Qingshi's right, stepped forward. The sword or saber artist.

"Cousin Weiming?" So that one's the Geshihan, Jieyuan determined. Geshihan Liangjie. Meiyao glanced between the two inner disciples, then focused on Qingshi." You know, don't you?" Another tongue click, then a sigh from Qingshi.

"Well, I guess I can't fault you for cutting straight to it. And it's probably my fault for keeping some details to myself. Liangjie, your cousin Weiming was sent to deal with them about two weeks ago. I'm afraid she was unsuccessful."

"Wait." Liangjie took a step forward. He looked from Qingshi to Meiyao.

"You're saying they, what, killed Weiming? She was a tenth -step Redsoul."

"Given Meiyao's earlier remark," Qingshi said dryly, "I do believe they were aware of that fact."

"I…" Liangjie turned to look fully at Meiyao." How?" If Meiyao felt bad in any way, shape, or form for having killed Liangjie's cousin, she didn't show it. She raised her gleamstone saber—which was previously Weiming's saber, now that Jieyuan thought of it—and waved it slightly.

"Would you like me to show you?"

"You…" Liangjie stared at Meiyao's saber for a moment, took another step forward—which, judging by the distance, would put the tip of the saber within his soulsenses.

"That's a tenth-step saber. That's Weiming's saber, isn't it?"

"Guess," Meiyao said. She really wasn't in a charitable mood, was she? Jieyuan guessed that he wasn't the only one who'd been rather stressed by the last two weeks. In a blurring movement, Liangjie had his weapon out. Also a saber.

"You—""Liangjie," Qingshi said, and the other inner disciple froze.

"You'll get your time later, but I'm not quite done yet." Qingshi's tone was light, more suggestion than command. Reprimanding, but only lightly so, like how you might admonish a child for putting their elbows on the table." What?" Liangjie whirled on him.

"Qingshi, they—""Killed Weiming, yes. That's been made abundantly clear. And I am sorry for your loss. But maybe before you rush into the fight, don't you think it'd be a good idea to stop and consider for a moment how a trio of third-steps killed a tenth-step?" Qingshi clicked his tongue again. He was doing that quite a lot, Jieyuan noted. Jieyuan remembered Qingshi also doing that when they first met. Was it really some sort of nervous tick? Qingshi didn't strike him as nervous in the least, though.

"You even asked that very important question before," Qingshi said.

"Just because Meiyao wasn't forthcoming with her answer doesn't mean you should just forget about it, yes?" Liangjie looked just short of mutinous, but he eventually stepped back to stand beside Qingshi again. Only, he was glaring at Meiyao now. Glaring hard. Murderously so. Jieyuan wondered how Liangjie would take it if he found out that it wasn't Meiyao who'd killed his cousin, but Daojue.

But he was mostly concerned about how calm Qingshi was about this whole situation, since the inner disciple clearly knew they'd killed an inner elder and understood all the implications of it. Knew that they now had the artifacts of a tenth-step Redsoul, and that even before they had gotten those artifacts, they'd still been able to kill one. Sunqiu, the other inner disciple, looked wary now, tense, which was a more appropriate kind of reaction.

He'd also unsheathed his weapon—which had turned out not to be a spear, after all, but a glaive, the blade longer and broader than a spear's and single-edged.

"So, let's see," Qingshi said, still in a conversational tone that was entirely at odds with this entire situation.

"I don't think anybody here harbors any doubt that this won't come to a fight. I also don't think there's any of us interested in solving this peacefully, not that such an outcome was ever in the cards. But before we all get on with the inevitable, would you mind satisfying a curiosity of mine?" Something in Qingshi's posture shifted. He stood taller—almost bigger—and there was a different air about him. A dangerous one." How did you find the cave?" Jieyuan gritted his teeth, feeling a spike of tension.

How did Qingshi know about the cave? Had he somehow tracked the location of Elder Weiming's body? Behind Qingshi, Sunqiu and Liangjie looked a bit confused. Only Qingshi went to the cave, then. That added up; if Liangjie and Sunqiu had also been to it, they'd have known about Elder Weiming. Jieyuan said nothing. Nor did Daojue, which was par for the course. And Meiyao, for once, also remained quiet.

She shifted her stance slightly, like she was getting prepared for an attack. Or to make an attack. Both were equally valid.

"What? Nothing?" Qingshi said. He still had that dangerous intensity to him.

"Well, all right. Allow me a guess, then." He oriented his head straight in Daojue's direction.

"It was Daojue, wasn't it? He was the one who found it." Narrowing his eyes, Jieyuan tried to think of how Qingshi could've made that assumption. Qingshi probably had some grasp on Meiyao, and it was common knowledge that Jieyuan was a mundane-born. Daojue was the only one here with a mysterious background—so it wasn't too much of a stretch that if something odd were to happen, it had to do with him.

That would still be a bit of a stretch, though; Qingshi had made his claim with too much conviction for it just to be just an educated guess. Again, none of them answered.

"More silence, I see. Well, I'll be taking that as a yes." Qingshi still hadn't turned his head away from Daojue. He was still clicking his tongue. More often now, even.

"Then just one last thing. That's an interesting spear you have there, Daojue. Does it have a name?" That … That's not right. Jieyuan checked the distance between them again, confirming they weren't within the range of Qingshi's soulsenses. How had Qingshi known about the spear?

Even if they had been in the range of Qingshi's soulsenses, Gleaming End was wrapped in a spirit-shroud; Qingshi would've been able to tell it was a spear given the outline of it, but he shouldn't have been able to tell it was anything special. And, again, Qingshi's soulsenses shouldn't extend that far, so even telling it was a spear should've been impossible.

"More silence? That seems like another yes to me. Are you wondering how I knew about it? I've been to the cave, and I can guess who the statue there is. I also know what she was supposed to have with her. And between the three of you, the one most likely to claim that spear is Daojue." Qingshi clicked his tongue again. And just as Jieyuan once again found himself wondering what was up with that, he finally made the connection.

It came almost like a shock as he drew the dots, realizing just why Qingshi kept making that sound and how he could perceive the world around them so clearly despite being unable to see. Echolocation. The knowledge of it came from Amyas's memories. It was an ability some animals had, especially bats. The ability to create a three-dimensional mental map of the world around them through sound alone. Jieyuan hurriedly dove into his memories, digging up everything Amyas knew on the subject.

Qingshi drew his sword, sliding it slowly, almost gently, out of its sheath. It was a plain steel blade, unadorned, utilitarian. Jieyuan pushed himself to think as fast as he could. Amyas had read that some humans afflicted by blindness could develop that ability and how clicking your tongue was something those who'd developed the ability often did to get a more accurate read on the space around them. That information had stuck with Amyas; he'd always been fascinated by the extremes of what humans were capable of.

It all adds up. Echolocation could be used with any sound, so just by speaking Qingshi would be able to use it. But to get a proper read, you'd need louder and more distinct sound. Back when they'd met in Ruby Square, Qingshi had been much closer to them, so he hadn't needed to click his tongue as often. They also hadn't been surrounded by crystal back then, something that Jieyuan suspected impaired his ability.

"Now, before we start this in earnest, I'd like to make a request," Qingshi said.

"Daojue, please don't underestimate me, yes? I've been looking forward to this for a while now, and I'd hate for it to be over too soon." A chill gripped Jieyuan by the spine. He'd been prepared for tenth-step Redsouls. That was what he'd spent the last two weeks watching out for. Three inner disciples were nothing compared to that. But there was just something about Qingshi that somehow got him even more alarmed than even Weiming had.

There was also his confidence; he knew they'd killed Elder Weiming but still didn't seem at all concerned about fighting them. Jieyuan tensed, readying himself, even as he resumed his previous line of thought. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Echolocation meant that not only could Qingshi see the world around them in his own way, but that he could see in all directions at once.

If Qingshi had taken this ability to the absolute limit, and Jieyuan was sure that the man had, then Qingshi probably had an even better grasp on his immediate surroundings than someone with eyes did. Even more so when paired with his soulsenses. If anything, chances were that echolocation made Qingshi a better fighter than someone who relied on their eyes. That was how he beat all the other contestants in the sect's entrance trials, years ago, Jieyuan realized. Echolocation was a mundane ability.

People had wondered how Qingshi had been able to perceive the world around him before he'd unlocked his soulsenses, and now Jieyuan had the answer. The question, then, was what he was going to do about it. How he could use that information in his favor.

"Liangjie, Meiyao's yours," Qingshi said. He still sounded casual, but his voice was firmer now.

"As you already know, she has your cousin's saber, so watch out for that, yes? Now, Sunqiu, that leaves you with Jieyuan. I believe he's wearing Weiming's armor. He might have even gotten her bondskill. So don't underestimate him just because he's a third-step, yes? I want both of you to take this seriously." Both inner disciples nodded. Jieyuan found himself locking eyes with Sunqiu, who was already directly opposite him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Liangjie moving slightly to the side, while Meiyao glared at Qingshi for a moment before following. Slowly, warily, Jieyuan and his opponent moved in the opposite direction from Meiyao and Liangjie. Qingshi and Daojue stood where they were. Qingshi pointed his sword at Daojue.

"And that leaves the two of us. Seems fitting, doesn't it? A mute for all effects and purposes, and a blind man." Qingshi gave another wicked smile.

"Let's have a good fight, shall we?" Out of the corner of his eye Jieyuan caught Qingshi lunging at Daojue. Fast. Space-haster fast. —∞— Over to Jieyuan's left, Daojue and Qingshi began a battle that, by all accounts, seemed to be long-awaited on both sides. Even further over to his left, Meiyao and Liangjie got up to some bloody business of their own. Liangjie, Jieyuan noticed, was even faster than Meiyao, moving so fast his body blurred. And I thought space-hasters were rare.

Jieyuan eyed Sunqiu warily; it should be safe to assume his enemy could also space-haste. Jieyuan didn't activate his just yet; the more chroma he could save, the better. But he focused on his haster ring's spiritskill so he could do it at a moment's notice. They both observed each other as they kept distancing themselves from the other fights going on. They came to a stop almost at the same time by unspoken agreement. It was like they had paired off for a dance.

Which wasn't too far from the truth, except their blades would be in charge of the singing, and if either of them ended up swept off their feet, it'd be a fall they wouldn't be getting up from. They started circling each other. Sunqiu remained just outside the range of Jieyuan's soulsenses, wary, hawk-eyed. Jieyuan could feel the inner disciple's gaze boring into him, scrutinizing him. Often it'd flit to the armor Jieyuan had on, the greaves and gauntlets he'd gotten from Elder Weiming.

Even if it hadn't been for Qingshi's warning earlier, Sunqiu would've still known about them. Jieyuan was guessing Sunqiu was a fifth-step Redsoul, giving him a soulsenses range of about thirty feet, meaning that though the inner disciple was beyond Jieyuan's soulsenses, Jieyuan wasn't outside his. For his part, Jieyuan was mostly concerned with Sunqiu's glaive. It was made entirely out of steel.

A sleek metal shaft and a broad single-edged blade at the top, with some intricate patterns and designs that only served as adornments. Did it have a spiritskill? That was something Jieyuan would have to watch out for. Chances were Sunqiu had a bondskill, too. Jieyuan held his spear in front of him, but didn't fall into a specific stance, keeping his form fluid, reactive. He didn't have much experience fighting with glaives.

He did have an idea of what it'd be like; glaives were to spears what sabers were to swords, one-edged rather than double-edged, less stabbing, more cutting. But he'd never fought a master glaive artist before. And he didn't expect a noble inner disciple to be some half-trained novice.

"So," Jieyuan said, affecting a conversational tone not unlike Qingshi's earlier.

"Sunqiu, right?" Sunqiu had no reply, only narrowed his eyes at him. But Jieyuan was undeterred; Qingshi had dominated the conversation earlier (Jieyuan had been too wary to try anything), but now that it was just him and Sunqiu, Jieyuan felt like he could probe a little.

"Since you're here to kill me and all, would you mind letting me in on what exactly this is?" Still moving his feet, Jieyuan gestured vaguely with his spear.

"You know, this whole killing me and Daojue, capturing Meiyao business?" Sunqiu said nothing and just kept glaring. Jieyuan wasn't discouraged. If anyone had experience talking to the human equivalent of a doormat, it was him, and he had Daojue to thank for that. Try as Sunqiu might, Daojue was on a level of uncommunicative all on his own.

"Given you're here, I'm guessing that the Fusongshi Clan is involved," Jieyuan continued.

"So is the Geshihan Clan, given we've already had two Geshihan knocking on our door. So that's the Gleaming Stone Sect's two noble clans together, colluding in some sort of conspiracy. Am I right so far?" Still no answer, but Sunqiu narrowed his eyes further, tightened his lips, got visibly more tense; Jieyuan felt it was safe to take that as indicative of a yes.

"Now, I'll go out on a limb and say that the Liangshibai Clan isn't involved," Jieyuan said.

"In fact, I'd say they don't know about this funny business of yours, whatever it is." Over the past few days, Jieyuan had pondered the subject further, mostly in talks with Maeva, and it had occurred to him that there was a chance Meiyao's fall-out with her father and surrogate grandfather might be related. It didn't strike him as likely. If the sovereign protector and the chief elder of the sect wanted something done, they wouldn't need to go through all this trouble.

They'd just take action directly, while this stank of subterfuge. And if Meiyao thought that there was any possibility her family drama was related to this whole situation, he'd like to think she'd have had the grace to share her suspicions, at least with him.

"Now, the question is, what do the two noble clans stand to gain from me and Daojue dead, and Meiyao captured?" Jieyuan pressed on.

"Even more so considering that if they are found out, that'll very likely mean a rather significant squabble with the Liangshibai Clan and the rest of the sect." Jieyuan shook his head.

"As powerful as you nobles are, I don't imagine you've got the leeway to just go around killing disciples like Daojue and me as you see fit. Not to mention kidnapping the daughter of the chief elder, who's also the surrogate granddaughter of the sovereign protector." Sunqiu had his brow furrowed now.

"So whatever it is you nobles think you'll get out of this, it should be worth the risks. Worth upsetting the Liangshibai Clan. Worth upsetting a status quo that's been around for thousands of years. So what is it?" Sunqiu still didn't speak, but Jieyuan thought he was close. Time to switch approaches. Casual didn't work, but taunting might do the trick.

"Come on. Don't tell me you don't know. Or are you being kept in the dark? Are you some mindless, unthinking pawn to be moved by your superiors as they—" Sunqiu moved, blurring forward. Jieyuan activated his haster ring without a second thought, but even then, he barely had time to register, as the inner disciple got within range of his soulsenses, that both he and his glaive were indeed at fifth-step Redrealm, before Sunqiu was there, right in front of him, swinging his glaive in a sideways arc.

Forced into retreating, Jieyuan stepped back even as he brought his spear to his right to meet Sunqiu's attack. There was a sharp, cringing noise as blade met blade. He'd hoped to bat aside Sunqiu's glaive; his spear got thrown to the side instead. It did allow Jieyuan to avoid the attack, but Sunqiu didn't pause. Relentless, the inner disciple pressed forward, this time swinging his glaive down at Jieyuan in an overhead slash, moving blurringly fast.

Aware he wouldn't be able to pull his spear back in front of him in time, Jieyuan brought his right arm up, meeting the attack with his gauntlet. As the blade struck, he flicked his arm to the side, parrying the blow. Jieyuan's arm throbbed from taking the hit, but the tenth-step gauntlet was undamaged. Heavens, but he's fast. Both of them were space-hasting, but the inner disciple's higher step meant he could summon significantly faster hastespace.

Sunqiu was also strong; the augmented strength he'd get from his mantle was also greater than Jieyuan's by more than half. If Jieyuan hadn't gotten plenty of practice fighting someone overwhelmingly better than him, he'd have probably been killed already. Dying to Daojue in his head again and again sure was paying off if it meant not dying when it'd actually count. As the inner disciple brought his arm back to reorient his weapon, Jieyuan seized the opportunity and thrust his spear forward in a stab.

The timing was near perfect, but Sunqiu still managed to react and angle his body away from it, and instead of piercing Sunqiu's chest, the spearhead burrowed into the inner disciple's shoulder instead. Worse, just as the spearhead pierced flesh, Sunqiu reacted, jumping back. Jieyuan didn't give chase; instead, he eyed Sunqiu's shoulder, where he'd just landed a hit. A small hole, barely bleeding, the torn cloth around it only barely dyed red. Jieyuan gritted his teeth.

He had known that the odds were stacked against him, but he hadn't thought it'd be this bad. Sunqiu's faster hastespace gave him the overwhelming advantage in speed, and his mantle also augmented his body's durability more than Jieyuan's could augment his strength. Even if Jieyuan got a hit in, Sunqiu's higher durability would buy him just enough time to use his much higher speed to avoid a damaging blow. Still keeping Sunqiu well in his line of sight, Jieyuan thought hard for a moment. Hard and fast.

What were his advantages here? His armor was tenth-step, sure, but that only helped with defense. His remaining Cultivator's Agony Beacon… was only at third-step; its effects would be greatly reduced against a fifth-step Redsoul. Their potency would be so diminished by the step gap that, given a cultivator's natural resistance to pain, it wouldn't have much of an effect. What else? His bondskill. But he also wouldn't be able to use it to great effect.

It was also a question of step gap; from his experiments, Jieyuan had found that Absolute Will Command scaled strongly with the step gap between him and his target in both directions. It was much stronger against targets at a lower step, but much weaker against a target at a higher one. Still, Sunqiu couldn't know he had the bondskill; that was something Jieyuan could take advantage of. No commands targeting the conscious, Jieyuan quickly decided. Subtle was what he should go for. Subtle and clever. Sneaky.

And there was a particular application of his bondskill that Jieyuan had gotten a lot of practice with. Something shifted in Sunqiu's posture, and it gave Jieyuan just enough warning to move out of the way as Sunqiu lunged at him. The next couple of attacks, Jieyuan dodged, giving up the offense altogether, as he tried to come up with a plan.

Sunqiu was no slouch with his glaive, but Jieyuan would say he had the edge in skill; if they had been evenly matched, the fight would've already been over given Sunqiu's significant advantage in speed and strength. But being more skilled meant nothing if, when Jieyuan landed a hit, it wouldn't do much damage. Even as he evaded Sunqiu's flurry of swings, barely weaving out of each one, getting a nick or two on himself as the flashing glaive's blade brushed cloth and skin, he eyed Sunqiu's black-shrouded neck.

Jieyuan didn't know how it was in other parts of the Chromajie, but at least in the Radiant Gold Province, and as far as he knew in Incandescent Serenity Island as a whole, there was this whole taboo around the neck. It was viewed as the single most fragile, most mortal, location of the human body. And so it was always covered in public, either by cloth or metal, and you'd only bare it around someone you really trusted—because doing so was tantamount to saying you'd trust them with your mortality, with your life.

The only reason cultivators didn't wear armor over it was because it'd completely skewer their soulsenses. In more practical terms? What that meant was that if you wanted to put someone down, the neck was a fairly good place to get a hit in. And that was what Jieyuan needed right now: somewhere fragile he could target for a killing blow. Jieyuan was still coming up with a plan when something struck him in the legs, and he tripped, falling.

In a blur, Sunqiu's glaive was swinging down at his head, and Jieyuan gave himself fully into his instincts as he pushed off against the ground and rolled out of the way. The blade struck the gleamstone floor on the spot he'd just been, and Jieyuan immediately pushed himself into a crouch and then jumped back, dodging another strike. He noted, near where he'd been standing earlier, a floating slab of gleamstone. Gleaming Stone Containment.

So it turned out Sunqiu also had a bondskill, and it was the same one Elder Weiming had. As Jieyuan put some distance between them, with Sunqiu advancing and gaining ground, he tried to recall everything he had on that bondskill. Its first form was Gleaming Stone Impediment, and it gave the user the power to temporarily manifest powers out of gleamstone. Barriers couldn't be moved, but they were fixed in place, even if manifested in air, so they could even be used as platforms.

Because they were made of gleamstone, they were harder than diamond; you'd need either gleamstone at a much higher step or some special offensive bondskill or spiritskill to damage it. Gleaming Stone Containment was a rather straightforward bondskill, but given how Sunqiu had used it just now, Jieyuan would say the inner disciple was clever with it. That didn't bode well for him. When another barrier appeared, this time between his legs, Jieyuan was prepared for it; he managed to weave his way around it.

But in the process, Sunqiu managed more than a glancing blow, his glaive cutting a line on Jieyuan's arm. Still superficial, but deeper than all other nicks he'd received so far. Jieyuan needed to finish this. He needed to finish this fast. Sunqiu wasn't playing around anymore, and Jieyuan could hardly afford to let this go on for long. One slip, one wrong move, one surprise, and that could very well be the end of it. He had his target, the neck.

And he had the means to give himself the opportunity to get a blow in, his bondskill. Sunqiu couldn't see the attack coming; if he did, he could just summon another gleamstone barrier. It was a good thing, actually, that Sunqiu had played his hand like this; otherwise, Jieyuan wouldn't have known to account for his bondskill. What to do? He needed to use Absolute Will Command to distract Sunqiu. Or… he could be even more direct.

Still busy dodging and retreating, Jieyuan reached for Absolute Will Command and tried a command in his head, imagining Sunqiu as the target. Immediately he got a sense of what it'd cost. It'd be steep. Half-his-soulprism steep. But it'd be worth it. Absolute Will Command had a couple of limitations. One of them was vocalization. The target didn't need to hear the command, but it needed to be spoken aloud. He could whisper it so quietly Sunqiu wouldn't hear, and it would take.

For what he had in mind, though, Jieyuan wanted to be heard." See DAOJUE!" Jieyuan commanded, looking behind Sunqiu. Half his soulprism vanished on the spot. Jieyuan couldn't tell exactly what Sunqiu was experiencing, what he was hallucinating, but together with his shout just now, it was enough to get the inner disciple to rapidly turn around, bringing up his spear as if to defend from an attack. Without hesitation, Jieyuan stabbed his spear through Sunqiu's neck, straight through the side of the throat.

It went in cleanly, all the way through, the spearhead sinking out of sight into the inner disciple's flesh; Sunqiu's mantle might have made his body much tougher, but not that tough. Impaled through the neck, the inner disciple dropped his glaive. Jieyuan dropped the command and snapped his spear back just as cleanly as it had gone in. Jieyuan felt warm spots on his face as blood gushed out of the large, gaping neck wound. Sunqiu dropped to his knees.

With the command gone, the inner disciple was looking at Jieyuan now. And much like Weiming hadn't taken her eyes off Daojue as she collapsed, Sunqiu didn't take his gaze off Jieyuan. Even as he clutched at the ruins of his neck, he stared straight into Jieyuan's eyes. It wasn't pain Jieyuan saw on Sunqiu's face, though, but bewilderment.

That confusion soon faded; still kneeling, on the verge of collapse, all of his body's blood evacuating him through the gaps between his fingers holding his neck, Sunqiu took on a hard look of grim acceptance. And Jieyuan understood that what he was looking at—what he'd just faced—was another cultivator. Someone who would suffer indescribable pain, over and over, in exchange for power. Sunqiu's stare was only broken when he toppled over, collapsing.

Jieyuan stared down at the inner disciple's still body as more blood bloomed beneath him against the crystalline ground. And with his soulsenses Jieyuan watched as the inner disciple's life lingered, his soul still there for a moment, then two, three, four… And then it vanished. Claimed by the Silver Stream. Jieyuan kept on staring at the corpse he'd just made, heart beating like a drum in his chest, still high on the thrill of battle but coming off it. His first kill.

He'd been connected to murder before in some ways, but even with Rongkai in the Fatebloom Woods, all he'd done was bury the spear in his back. The one who'd dealt the killing blow was Daojue. This was different. This was all him, all Jieyuan. He considered it, for a moment. Searched his feelings. Had he been Amyas, he reckoned he'd have felt guilt or remorse. Even as practical, as pragmatic, as he'd been as Amyas, death and murder had never been part of his reality.

They'd been something distant, something he'd had no business with and probably never would have, not by choice nor by need. But he wasn't Amyas, not anymore. He was Jieyuan, and Jieyuan had grown up in a world where death and murder were commonplace among mundanes and cultivators both. Where killing was simply part of living. And so what Jieyuan found in himself was grim satisfaction. Of a fight won and an obstacle overcome. Of having lived while his opponent didn't.

"Well fought," Jieyuan said to Sunqiu, meaning it. Then he turned and left. There was still more to do.