Book 2 Chapter 65

Lightning crashed down upon the flaming centaur, only to fizzle out inches from its golden form. Every bolt that came close ignited instead, golden flames racing along the lightning like fire climbing an oil-soaked wick. The blaze surged upward through the bolts until it reached the storm clouds themselves. They caught fire. Black clouds melted away into nothingness, the tempest unraveling in mere seconds as a perfect circle burned through the heavens, streaming moonlight pouring down from above.

Mo Jian watched the skies clear in a flawless ring, the flaming centaur haloed beneath the opening, and thought, This just became troublesome.

The centaur wasn't finished. Composed of a hundred Yuan – ninety-nine forming the body and one the head – this incarnation was no weaker than the taotie. If anything, it was better suited to facing a single opponent. The centaur raised a hand the size of a tower, and golden flames gathered around its palm. They condensed into a massive scimitar, broad near the tip and tapering toward the hilt, its blade blazing like a fragment of the sun.

With a thunderous roar, it swung.

Mo Jian was already moving. The instant he saw the weapon taking shape, he split off another copy of the ding, transforming it into a sword. A colossal azure blade materialized in the air, matching the scimitar's immense size until Mo Jian himself seemed no larger than a fly beside it. The sword swept upward to meet the descending strike. Pale, ghostly flames danced along its edge, invisible to everyone but him, and the two weapons collided with an earth-shaking explosion.

The impact split the night. Sound ceased to exist for a heartbeat, swallowed by the violence of the collision. Then it returned all at once. A shockwave erupted from the point where blade met blade, flattening the tall grass for miles in every direction. The already scarred ground groaned anew as cracks raced down newly formed slopes. Trenches formed and burst below, walls of soil and mud thrown into the air before crashing back down in a torrential rain of dirt.

The golden scimitar shuddered, mirroring the shaking of the azure sword. For an instant, neither yielded. Then pale ghostfire crept onto the golden blade. It did not burn with heat, but rather devoured whatever it came in contact with. Wisps of translucent flame spread across the scimitar's edge, silently consuming the spiritual power that sustained it. Wherever they passed, the golden fire dimmed, its brilliance fading into dull embers.

The centaur's eyes flared, and it released its grip. The scimitar vanished before the ghostfire could consume it entirely. Mo Jian's expression remained unchanged since he had expected as much. What he hadn't expected was what came next. Instead of pressing the attack or conjuring another weapon, the colossal centaur reared onto its hind legs, wheeled around, and galloped away. Its blazing hooves pounded empty air as though it were solid earth. The giant accelerated with terrifying speed, becoming a streak of gold that tore across the horizon, so fast that the distance between them seemed to blur.

"It's actually running...?" Mo Jian muttered aloud, hanging in the night beside his towering azure sword. Smoke and dust choked the air around him. The scents of scorched grass, charred earth, and ozone drifted on the wind, while the devastation below was softened into silver edges and black silhouettes beneath the moonlight. "That was eas-"

He stopped himself. Not because fate had chosen that precise moment to prove him wrong, but because the centaur had halted at the very edge of his perception. It turned. Facing him once more, it raised an arm. Golden flames burst into existence, twisting and condensing around its forearm. Mo Jian frowned and reached into the mirrored interior of the Heaven Enshrouding Ding. The distant scene sharpened instantly, as though he had been transported beside the centaur himself.

His eyes widened. A massive crossbow had formed along its arm, large enough to dwarf its gigantic arm. A single flaming bolt rested against the string, while torrents of qi poured into it without end. The arrow grew brighter and brighter, its golden radiance intensifying until the surrounding space began to warp beneath the unbearable heat.

Mo Jian's mouth slowly fell open. Have I really angered the Yuan warriors this much...?

No wonder it had fled first. If he had possessed a weapon that required this much preparation, he would have retreated as well rather than risk having the attack interrupted. Unfortunately, that opportunity had already passed. The horizon bled gold. Heat shimmered across the world, distorting heaven and earth alike. Regardless of how absurd the sight seemed, the centaur was about to loose that arrow.

Mo Jian did not hesitate. His body dissolved into crackling lightning. A blue bolt shot skyward before breaking into an erratic corkscrew, weaving through the heavens in sharp, unpredictable arcs. If the centaur wanted to hit him, it would have to predict the path of lightning itself.

The arrow released. The world turned to day. A beam of blinding gold erupted from the crossbow, so brilliant that the space between the centaur and the Wall seemed carved from the sun itself. The world shook and Mo Jian was ripped out of his lightning form. His body reappeared high in the sky, flesh replacing lightning as a wall of scorching wind slammed into him. He was hurled backward, tumbling helplessly through the air while heat intense enough to blister his skin washed over him.

The arrow had missed him by nearly a mile. It had never been aimed at him. It struck the Wall, making the colossal defensive formation shudder. The talismanic characters racing across its surface ignited at once, burning away like paper thrown into a furnace. The barrier groaned, cracks spreading across its shimmering surface before it finally gave way. The golden arrow did not slow. It punched through the collapsing formation and descended toward the Wall itself.

A giant rice-paper fan unfolded in its path. It opened in an instant, expanding into a shield that spanned the battlements. The moment the arrow struck, the fan glowed cherry red. Its center blackened, smoke pouring from the paper as the golden flames battered it with the relentless fury of a miniature sun. The clash continued for long moments. Only after the torrent of fire finally dispersed did the night begin to reclaim the sky. Smoke and steam rolled through the air in dense clouds, slowly parting to reveal the fan still standing. It smoldered quietly, its once-pristine surface scorched black at the center but unbroken.

Darkness seeped back into the heavens, timid and insubstantial after the overwhelming brilliance the arrow had unleashed. Compared to that impossible daylight, the returning night seemed almost fragile. Mo Jian steadied himself in the air and looked toward the Wall. Behind the smoking fan, soldiers cautiously emerged from cover. One after another, they rose to their feet, many letting out long breaths of relief. Sisi blocked it. Only because the formation had drained away much of its power first.

Even so...

Mo Jian's gaze lingered on the still-glowing fan. That single shot had rivaled the strongest attack he could unleash if he exhausted every last drop of qi in his body. A late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator might have released such an attack without much effort. Now, a mere hundred Yuan, all still at the Core Formation realm, had nearly done the same. The math did not work. Mo Jian knew the Yuan could pool their qi without any apparent limit, but a hundred of them should not have been capable of unleashing an attack on that scale.

There was only one explanation. "A Khan..." he murmured, his gaze returning to the flaming centaur on the horizon.

The centaur, seeing its attack fail, did not attempt another shot. Instead, it wheeled around and retreated once more. This time it put enough distance between them that even Mo Jian struggled to follow its movements. Only the Heaven Enshrouding Ding allowed him to keep track of it. Through the mirrored world within the artifact, he watched the centaur race across the grasslands, leap over a mountain range, and descend into a vast gorge threaded with winding canyons. There, the blazing construct came apart. Its golden body dissolved into individual Yuan. Most were four-legged chimeric creatures, while others stood on two legs, their bodies covered in emerald scales ending in cloven hooves. As one, they dropped to a knee before a single figure.

He wore overlapping green scales like an ornate, jewel-studded coat. His legs ended in hooves, but the scales stopped at his neck, leaving a human face framed by a neatly trimmed beard. Two short horns rose from his forehead before disappearing into hair made of living golden fire, flowing down his back like a lion's mane. Mo Jian did not recognize him, which was reassuring. The only Khan whose face he had committed to memory was Tayang Khan. That man, above all others, could not be allowed to die.

The rest...

They were enemies now, whether they knew it yet or not.

A familiar qi signature approached. Mo Jian shifted his attention away from the Ding's mirrored image. Commander Sisi had ridden up beside him atop a horse of condensed golden light. Her cloud-cloak streamed behind her, and her helmet now concealed her face, lending her an unmistakably martial presence. "A Khan," she said instead of greeting him.

It was less a question than a confirmation. Mo Jian nodded anyway, though part of his attention remained fixed on the retreating Yuan force as it disappeared deeper into the Steppes. "Didn't General Lou say there wasn't one among the initial attackers?"

Even through the helmet, he could hear Sisi's grimace. "His qi wasn't woven into the first wave. Even near the end, he stayed hidden, striking only at the flank before withdrawing." She shook her head. "My guess is that he was looking for an opening. Had he broken through our defenses, he would have fallen back and returned with a proper army." She shook her head before continuing. "General Lou has already confirmed that there are no Khans leading the other two prongs. This is likely a newly ascended Khan, impatient and eager to prove himself, and far more reckless than the old monsters."

Mo Jian cared little for the broader implications. Whether this revealed divisions among the Yuan or hinted at shifting politics meant little to him. The important part was that the Khan had been driven back. If he had chosen the right flank instead... Mo Jian frowned. The commanders stationed there would likely have held him off just as Sisi had, and General Lou could always have intervened if matters became dire. Still... the thought lingered.

Sisi's next question caught him completely off guard. "Can you keep up?"

Mo Jian turned toward her. "You're going after him?"

She nodded without hesitation. Beneath her, the horse of golden light pawed impatiently at the clouds. "We can't allow him to retreat after breaching one layer of our defenses. Even a small success like this will spread through the Steppes. More tribes will rally beneath his banner, emboldened to test our borders. A response is necessary."

She looked toward the distant horizon where the Khan had vanished. "I'll pursue him into the Steppes and make sure he learns that anyone bold enough to knock on our gates should expect a rap across the knuckles in return."

Then she glanced sideways at Mo Jian. "That's why I'm here. General Lou asked me to see whether you'd be willing to come along." Her eyes flicked toward the ding floating next to him. "Two people can hunt better than one and you strike me as someone who's eager for a real fight."

Was he? Mo Jian wasn't so sure. Whatever his reasons, though, this was too good an opportunity to pass up. "I'm in." He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's just..."

He felt faintly embarrassed having to admit it. His speed wasn't enough. The Divine Water Lightning Technique allowed him to transform into a bolt of lightning and traverse vast distances. At his current cultivation, few beneath the late stages of Nascent Soul could rival his speed. There had been a time when the technique had let him keep pace with cultivators an entire realm above him, but those days were long gone. The gap between Core Formation and Nascent Soul was immense. The gap between the stages of Nascent Soul was greater still. The Khan already had an enormous head start, and the Yuan were renowned for their speed as much as their toughness, both conferred through the unique beast cultivation they practiced. Even if he exhausted himself, Mo Jian wasn't confident he could keep the Khan within sight.

Commander Sisi seemed to read his thoughts before he could voice them. "Then get on." She patted the space behind her on the golden horse.

Mo Jian blinked. Then he shook of his surprise and floated lightly onto the horse behind her instead of climbing into the saddle. His qi held him comfortably aloft a finger's breadth above the glowing back, avoiding the cloud-cloak that spilled behind her like a river of mist. Before he had fully settled himself, Sisi spoke again. "Hold on."

Mo Jian frowned. "Is that really necess-"

The horse exploded forward, turning the landscape below into a smear of color. Mo Jian's unfinished sentence vanished into the wind as the golden steed tore across the heavens with such impossible speed that the air itself detonated behind them in a rolling thunderclap. Instinct took over before pride could object. He grabbed onto Commander Sisi's shoulders, feeling as though the wind was trying to wrench him free.

With considerable effort, he forced qi through his body until he could crack open his streaming eyes. More qi reinforced his jaw so it wouldn't flap uselessly in the gale. Ordinarily, he could have wrapped himself in a cocoon of qi, but not while riding someone else's movement technique. "Do..." he shouted, each word a battle against the wind, "...you... have... a... way... of... tracking... him?"

Sisi's reply fared little better. "...Yes... horse... sense..."

Most of it disappeared into the roaring air, but Mo Jian caught enough. She could track the Khan. That was all he needed to know.

He ducked lower behind Sisi's back – an awkward feat considering he was a head taller than her – and focused all his attention on not being blown off. The Light Wrought Horse galloped through the heavens with impossible momentum. Every stride carried it ten thousand li, clouds blooming beneath its hooves just long enough to serve as footholds before dissolving into wisps of vapor. The world became an abstract painting of green plains, brown mountains, silver rivers, and black canyons, all smeared together by overwhelming speed.

Within moments they had crossed the mountain range the Khan had passed. The maze of canyons lay ahead. The horse abruptly eased its pace, but only for a heartbeat, before plunging toward the earth. The wind screamed louder than before as the golden steed dove almost straight down, weaving effortlessly between towering cliffs without sacrificing an ounce of speed. Canyon walls flashed past close enough that Mo Jian could make out individual fissures in the rock before they vanished behind him. The ground rushed up to meet them. Then, as effortlessly as taking a single step, the horse went from hurtling downward faster than a falling star to standing upon the canyon floor, its golden hooves touching the stone so lightly they stirred no dust.

Sisi's gaze swept from side to side. "We're close," she said quietly.

Mo Jian reached with his mind into the mirrored interior of the Heaven Enshrouding Ding. The entire gorge unfolded before him. Towering canyon walls hemmed them in on every side, their layered faces stained crimson and black by countless ages. Wind whispered through the narrow passages, carrying no scent of life. The image narrowed, showing a slender ravine that split the canyon wall directly ahead. Beyond it lay an enormous cavern hollowed out beneath the mountains. Hundreds of Yuan waited inside, and-

"Back!" Mo Jian roared. "Get back! He knows we're here!"

He had barely finished speaking before the mountain erupted. Golden fire burst from the hidden cavern as the concealed Yuan exploded from the ravine in every direction, scattering like sparks from a forge.

Sisi reacted the instant his warning left his mouth. The Light Wrought Horse bounded backward, while her spiritual sense surged outward without reservation. Golden ripples raced across the canyon floor before expanding through the surrounding cliffs. Her head snapped sharply to the east. "There," she barked. "He's running!"

The horse launched itself skyward. The force of the leap nearly tore the breath from Mo Jian's lungs. In a single bound they climbed ten thousand li, leaving the clouds beneath them like a blanket spread across the world. The sky darkened from deep blue to an endless, inky black, until even the moon seemed far larger. Without pausing, the horse lunged forward and down. The world became a blur once more as they chased the fleeing Khan.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mo Jian glimpsed movement. Something immense glided through the upper heavens. It was little more than a silhouette, yet it eclipsed the stars around it. His spiritual sense instinctively recoiled, shrinking back as though faced with a natural disaster. A vast pair of wings swept through the darkness. An ear-splitting screech followed. The sound alone made Mo Jian's vision swim as a pressure equivalent to a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator crashed over them. The creature struck where they had been a heartbeat earlier. It missed, barely.

"A rank ten Kun Peng-" The wind tore the words from his mouth. There was a reason no cultivator willingly ventured this high or lingered too far from civilization. The upper heavens belonged to the Heaven Roaming Kun Peng. The colossal birds wandered the skies in flocks numbering in the millions, every single one a rank ten beast. They regarded anything that entered their domain as prey or an intruder to be driven out. Mo Jian shot Sisi a sidelong glance. She had deliberately leapt into their hunting grounds. She's completely insane.

"...I'll... chase... herd... him..." she shouted over the gale, only fragments of her words surviving the wind.

"No need!" Mo Jian bellowed back, flooding his voice with qi in the hope it would carry.

The moment the Heaven Enshrouding Ding had revealed the Khan inside the cavern, he had released the Netherworld Scorpion. As long as he could perceive his target, he could command it to hunt. The tiny creature had vanished from his shoulder in a flutter of translucent wings, disappearing so quickly that even the Light-Wrought Horse had been left behind. Unlike them, it cared nothing for mountains, canyons, or the curve of the earth. It simply flew toward its prey. Through the connection between master and artifact spirit, Mo Jian followed its pursuit.

The Khan never noticed it. One moment the green-scaled ruler was fleeing with every ounce of his strength, and the next, the Netherworld Scorpion's stinger passed through scales as hard as adamant as though they were no more substantial than mist. Death followed immediately. The blazing fireball they had been chasing winked out. Far below, the Khan's lifeless body began its long fall toward the canyon floor.

Sisi immediately reined in the Light Wrought Horse. The golden steed slid to a halt in midair while the skies ahead remained alive with ninety-nine smaller streaks of fire, the surviving Yuan scattering in every direction. Without the Khan leading them, they were noticeably slower. Not that anyone was pursuing them now. For several long breaths, only the rushing wind filled the silence. Then Sisi slowly turned her head. Even through her helmet, Mo Jian could feel her staring.

"...That..." Her voice carried a rare note of genuine disbelief. "...That was your doing?"

Mo Jian nodded, offering no explanations beyond that.

Sisi stared at him for another heartbeat before looking down at the falling corpse far below. The remaining Yuan continued to flee in every direction. Without their Khan to unite them, their retreat had become a rout. The two of them watched them disappear across the endless grasslands.

"We've achieved what we came for. Chasing the rest isn't worth crossing half the Steppes."

Mo Jian had no objections. Sisi waved a hand and the body of the Khan rose into the air and vanished into a long jade box, serving as a coffin. It shrank and returned to her storage pouch. Then the Light Wrought Horse turned back toward the distant Wall, which was already a thin line against the horizon.

Behind them, the canyon fell silent once more, marked only by the silence of a dead Khan and ninety nine leaderless Yuan vanishing into the night.

...........................................................................................

AN:15 extra chapters are up on Patreon for anyone who wants to read ahead or support me. Thanks for the support!