Chapter 37

The additional range from the spikes made her a lot more threatening. It turned out that she didn’t actually have to fire those spikes when she punched and could use them as weapons instead if she so wished. Each ended in a needle-sharp point and had torn her outfit in several places.

“I concede.” Fu Yilan jumped back and Qingzhao stopped as well, breathing heavy but not nearly as exhausted as Fu Yilan. The sand spikes crumbled and fell back to the floor, not leaving anything behind. “Guess I still have quite a ways to go.”

“No, don’t beat yourself up over this. I think you’d be able to defeat most sixth-stage fighters of my sect. Especially if you get some more sparring experience under your belt.” She patted her shoulder encouragingly. Fu Yila noticed that it implied, it would take a bit more than just additional experience to beat her though.

They sat on a wooden bench beneath a tree with wide leaves, enjoying the morning sun on their sweaty bodies. Well, mostly Fu Yilan’s sweaty body. Qingzhao was breathing heavier, but she didn’t think there was a lot of sweat on her.

“Well, if I don’t look as pretty as you, I can at least beat you in a fight.” Her tone was more vulnerable than usual. Both just looked at the sky.

“I think your strong body is much more impressive than this soft one though.” Fu Yilan was genuine in that statement and hoped it came through. Qingzhao only chuckled though.

“Yeah, sure. Rather look burly and manly like me instead of like the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid my eyes upon. I almost believe you.”

“Are you serious? You proudly walk your own path letting strength pave it for you.” The air was cooling down slightly, getting tenser. Qingzhao could hear the honest longing, the envy, in Fu Yilan’s voice though. Still, both kept staring into the sky, at the singular cloud floating above them.

“Why are you jealous? You get to wear those beautiful dresses, heels, everything. You’re beautiful, while I’m lucky if I’m not mistaken for a man with this body.”

“You mean making everyone want to possess me? Take my body for their own? My sect made me learn pleasure arts as my body formation art. This wasn’t my choice.” Both their voices were getting weaker now. “Don’t you think those heels, those dresses are too much? Next to you, a fighter, a real cultivator, I feel like a slut.”

Qingzhao was the first to start crying. It started with a sniffle that tore open Fu Yilan’s tear ducts as well. They were now face to face, both having tears run down their cheeks.

“What do you mean, slutty? You’re elegant and beautiful. I wish I looked like that!” Qingzhao pushed out between sobs. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. Keep following your path or choose a new one, both will lead to immortality.” They were hugging now, both crying freely.

“What do you mean, disgusting? Your body is powerful and your face is so cute and pretty. Don’t ever put down your efforts again, okay?” Qingzhao could only nod in reply.

“Seems like we’re both two sides of the same coin, living the extremes.” She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, one that was considerably lighter. “Thanks Yilan.”

“Thanks Qingzhao.”

Fu Yilan decided it was good, having a friend.

…

A few days later, Fu Yilan was quickly getting accustomed to the sparring with someone at her level. No, someone above her level. She had to admit; Qingzhao was stronger than her. She had the suspicion that Qingzhao was not as ordinary as she let on. The muscled woman was a fighting genius, and Fu Yilan would not be able to surpass her easily. Adding to that came the fact, that every cultivation art she’d learned optimized her body for battle. No pleasure arts mixed in. Everything for pure violence.

Still, it was a challenge Fu Yilan welcomed. The Void Lotus Demoness art had given her meridians on par with geniuses seen once in a millennium, as well as muscles that, while not entirely optimized for fighting, could still be used for it. Combined with her body’s sensitivity, she was taking her fighting style in a different direction.  Making it more evasive.

This morning, she’d managed to combine the soft sword art and the movement art. No matter how she tried, doing both the Five Diverting Streams, as well as the Floating Petal Sword art at the same time was impossible, at least at her level. Still, this allowed her to not just evade strikes much more elegantly because she could use the movement art at all times, but also to attack at a greater variety of speeds. Slowly, she was getting closer to seeing Qingzhao’s limit.

As usual, they were in one of the town’s two restaurants that had a cook at the first stage of cultivation capable of preparing meals containing qi. It really made a difference. Even though the price clearly showed that the product was above regular quality. She had the money and could tell the difference. Still, it hurt handing over that much money per meal, even if it wasn’t measured in spirit stones.

“Qingzhao, I’m sure, next time I’ll be able to–“

Clattering plates and the sound of wood breaking filled the afternoon air. They were on the balcony, elegantly carved wooden details underlining the high-class feel of the establishment. Leaning over, Fu Yilan could see a group of four men standing around the broken remains of a table, one man standing up to them despite the shaking of his hands. Two women were cowering behind him. It looked like a father protecting his grown-up daughters. All of them were mortals.

The entire restaurant was deathly-silent as all eyes were on them. Fu Yilan was smirking. Who did these thugs think they were, committing such acts on the turf of the Golden Fang Sect, especially when one of their strongest sixth-stage fighters was in the building. Looking over at Qingzhao, she was ready to crack a joke at their audacity when she noticed the white-knuckled grip on the table and teeth gritted tight enough to bite through solid stone. Fu Yilan narrowed her eyes at her friend.

“What’s going on with you? Let’s beat them up and protect your people.” Her tone already betrayed that she thought something was off about this whole situation though.

“Maybe you’ve heard of the merchant conflicts. This is one of those. The restaurant probably buys supplies from their competitor. If they cause enough trouble, they hope that the owner will buy from them instead.”

“I don’t see the problem. Just jump down and stop three people from getting beat up or even killed.”

“I– I have direct orders by my master to stand down and not engage in their conflicts.” Fu Yilan could hear the anger in her voice, but Qingzhao was listening to orders. Hopping the railing and landing behind the thugs, she spoke up.

“Stop that or perish.” Her voice was calm, as though she was dealing with a pest easily extinguished. Maybe due to her being a pretty woman, or maybe because she wasn’t brandishing her weapon, the thugs didn’t budge. Instead, they sneered at her, having found a more beautiful target.

“Boys, look at this one. A young lady who thinks a single command can make everyone follow orders. Spoiled bitch.” They laughed.

“At least she’s nice to look at,” another one added.

Fu Yilan only glanced up at Qingzhao, to see if she would take matters into her own hands after all. She did not.

The first one stepped forward and grabbed at her arm, assured of his win. Before he could blink, it hung at his side, broken. His screams filled the restaurant as she stepped forward and broke one arm on each of the other men.

“I’m being merciful and only breaking an arm instead of taking your life.” Clutching an arm, each of them broken in the exact same spot, ran out.

It had been so easy, taking care of them. Hurting and killing mortals didn’t even take any effort at this point. Nodding towards the profuse thanks of the three she’d saved, Fu Yilan left the restaurant, not looking back up at the muscled fighter who had done nothing.

Her mind whirred as she tried to grasp why Qingzhao’s master had forbidden her from interfering. Clearly, this was about more than simple merchant houses vying for market share.

“It’s because those merchant houses belong to families of people high up in the sect.” Qingzhao had appeared next to her, clearing up the mystery. Her steps were heavier than usual. Her friend was in turmoil, clearly not happy with the actions she was forced to follow. “This is embarrassing to talk about, but… the money that flows up through those businesses is not so insignificant, that it can be fully ignored by the cultivators at the top. And despite them wishing to cut their earthly ties, some still remain. If I interfere in these struggles and cause one of the businesses to incur a major loss, it could be sent up the ladder and cause consequences for not just me, but my master as well. So, I have been told rather directly to keep my hands away. Especially during this round of patrols.”

Fu Yilan didn’t respond. Those actions seemed absolutely disgusting. But she was not strong enough to actually fix the root of the issue. And there was already a sect on the list of places to stomp into the ground. Only a few stages left and she would be paying her home a visit.