609 Bloody Bits

[POV: Da Wei]

“That’s the thing about youth,” remarked the Supreme Heart. “It makes you brash. The lack of wisdom is another. Look at your champion, flailing at the sight of her disciple dying in front of her. I pity her, since she got you as an example and a teacher.”

I glanced toward the scene unfolding in the distance before looking back at him.

“I imagine you didn’t take any disciple?”

He nodded.

“Yeah. I already got my children, after all.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“And I imagine you taught them well, helped them grow into the best versions of themselves, and bonded with them like how a father would with his children.”

He laughed.

“I can hear the sarcasm in your voice, but I understand why you think so little of me in this regard.”

His smile faded slightly.

“My relationship with my children wasn’t always like this. So... transactional. Use and be used. Some things change with the passage of time. That is what it means to grow.”

I listened quietly.

“The champions you chose are too young as immortals,” he continued. “They haven’t seen the world that immortals walked through. They were naive in many ways, just like your champion.”

I didn’t look away.

“You talk like youth is a bad thing. I don’t think that is the case. What you call brash could be bold. The lack of wisdom a filling of bravery. The flailing you see? It’s about never giving up even in the face of your worst adversity. Youth is passion, and I’ve never been younger. I know, because I am.”

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[POV: Tian Mei]

When the wolf appeared before Tian Mei, his claws were already right in front of her face. She could see each individual claw hanging over her eyes.

The wolf was Lai Lan.

According to the intelligence their group was provided with, he excelled at mid-range and close-quarters combat. His greatest peculiarity was his manipulation of world force, which he had developed into techniques resembling an enormous wolf, either as a summoned creature or as a component of his spells.

Tian Mei leaned sharply to her left.

The claws swept past her.

One of them still caught her right eye.

Pain erupted through her face, but Tian Mei didn't have time to react. She could still see through her remaining eye, and that was enough. Through her peripheral vision, she noticed a faint feral force manifesting behind her. An enormous wolf emerged from the air. Tian Mei immediately lashed her whip backward.

The weapon tore through the creature. The enormous wolf was cut cleanly in half before dissolving into fragments of world force.

Tian Mei didn't stop there.

Her whip danced forward, snapping toward Lai Lan's body. However, he caught it with one arm. His claws wrapped around the weapon as his muscles tensed.

Then the demon moved.

The woman had recovered from the Divine Word and was already advancing toward Tian Mei. She now wielded a staff containing an infernal core, the object radiating a sinister heat that made the surrounding air distort.

Her name was Wu Yong. They have actually little known about her, except she was a demonic hybrid specializing in curses and all manners of sorcery. Wu Yong was also capable of wielding hellfire. She took several quick steps and flanked Tian Mei.

“Hellfire Orb.”

A sphere of crimson-black flame appeared above the infernal staff. It multiplied. One became two. Two became four. Within moments, numerous orbs filled the space around Tian Mei, each one carrying enough destructive power to threaten even an immortal.

Tian Mei's expression remained calm. She swung her whip. The weapon moved in a sweeping arc, striking each orb in rapid succession.

The hellfire detonated and flames erupted from every direction. The entire area was swallowed by fire. Tian Mei's vision disappeared beneath a curtain of hellfire, while the wolf was engulfed alongside her.

Pain spread through her body. She immediately invoked the Divine Word.

“Life.”

Divine power surged through her. Her injuries rapidly closed as she wrapped the whip around her arm, securing it against her body.

Then she heard laughter.

“Ha ha ha ha~!”

Lai Lan's laughter came from within the flames.

Despite the burning hellfire surrounding him, the wolf forced his way through the curtain. His fur was scorched in several places, but he showed no signs of slowing down.

Tian Mei's eyes widened.

Lai Lan reached her. His enormous hand closed around her throat. The force behind his grip was tremendous.

Tian Mei immediately struck him with the handle of her whip. This wasn't an ordinary blow. She directed the attack toward his soul.

Hitting the soul was far more difficult than striking the body. It required tremendous precision and absolute concentration, especially against an opponent who was actively resisting.

Fortunately, Lai Lan had given her something she needed. He had held her in place.

Tian Mei focused. Her strike connected. The wolf's soul shook.

Lai Lan's grip loosened for an instant.

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That was enough.

Tian Mei concealed her existence. Her Soulshroud spread over her body, masking her presence from perception. She vanished.

Lai Lan's expression changed. He sniffed the air.

“I can smell you.”

His body suddenly lunged forward.

Tian Mei had already begun moving. She held both arms against her chest as she ran directly toward him. Her Soulshroud concealed her presence, but apparently it could not completely erase her scent.

Lai Lan's claws swung toward her.

Tian Mei twisted. The claws failed to connect properly. Instead, his palm struck her. The impact launched her away. Tian Mei flew out of the hellfire's proximity and crashed into the ocean.

The surface exploded beneath her. She skipped across the water once, twice, and then again. Each impact sent her farther from the shore until she finally plunged beneath the surface. The cold seawater swallowed her.

Tian Mei coughed violently, a mouthful of blood escaping her lips. Her body continued sinking. She immediately pulled her Soulshroud over herself again.

This time, she pushed it to its fullest extent.

Her existence disappeared beneath the ocean.

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[POV: Mai Duyi]

The champions of the Supreme Bearer were outnumbered two to one.

That alone would have made splitting up an absurd decision for most people. Mai Duyi, however, had never believed in relying solely on numbers. If they were going to divide their forces while facing a superior enemy, then they needed contingencies in place before they did so.

The Guardians stationed in the Workshop was one example.

There were only a handful of Guardians posted there, precisely because secrecy was more important than manpower. Their presence had to remain concealed, and that meant they could not afford to have a large force moving around the Workshop at all times.

Because of that, they had developed a method that would allow the others to know if one of them came under attack. Or worse, if one of them had been silently taken down. It came in the form of a cursed doll.

The doll was one of Lady Zai Ai's earlier creations, something she had originally designed to monitor the well-being of her disciple. The doll possessed a connection to its target that allowed it to respond to changes in their condition.

Mai Duyi had always considered it a strange little thing.

Now, he was grateful for it.

When the doll bearing Tian Mei's likeness suddenly began vibrating, Mai Duyi had immediately understood what that meant. Something had happened to Tian Mei. He had abandoned whatever he was doing and headed straight for the He Nation.

Since Anna possessed dolls made in the likeness of the others as well, Mai Duyi assumed she would be on her way too.

When he arrived, the first thing he saw was fire.

The shoreline was engulfed in flames.

The infernal blaze stretched across the coast, turning the surrounding sky red and black. Even from a distance, Mai Duyi could tell that ordinary fire was not responsible for this destruction.

He immediately raised his sniper rifle.

The weapon's scope allowed him to peer through distances that would have made ordinary vision useless. He swept it across the burning shoreline, searching for Tian Mei. However, he found nothing.

He adjusted the magnification. Still nothing.

“Where are you...?”

His finger remained away from the trigger. Tian Mei's doll had not turned to ash. That was the important part. If the connection between the doll and its target had been completely severed, he would have known immediately. Since the doll was still intact, Tian Mei was alive.

Another presence appeared beside him.

“It looks like hellfire.”

Anna stood there, her expression grim as she stared toward the burning shoreline.

“How do you want to do it?” she asked. “I sense two immortal-level existences within the hellfire. I believe they're the enemy. One of them has wolfish features. This must be Lai Lan. The other is a demonic woman. That should be Wu Yong. I'll share my senses with you.”

Anna placed a hand on his shoulder.

The sensation was strange.

Mai Duyi had expected something resembling another person's vision being overlaid onto his own. Instead, Anna's wind elemental energy seeped into his spiritual perception and began explaining the battlefield to him.

It wasn't truly sight.

It was closer to having someone describe the exact position of everything around him directly into his mind, giving him an understanding of where the two enemies were without relying on his physical senses.

Mai Duyi closed his eyes for a moment. He could feel them. Two presences. One was savage and feral. The other carried a demonic aura that burned like an open furnace.

“Hm.”

Mai Duyi opened his eyes.

“This could be tricky.”

He looked toward the wall of hellfire.

“I'm still shooting blind like this. The line of sight is completely blocked. I'll have to make estimates.”

He adjusted his rifle.

“If I fail to kill even one of them, we run.”

Anna gave him a flat look.

“Then don't miss.”

Mai Duyi almost laughed.

She continued before he could respond.

“This is a golden opportunity. Tian Mei should still be alive, and we have the initiative against two enemies whose positions we now know. I've already done the preliminary scouting. We're clear.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“There's only the two of them.”

Mai Duyi understood what she was implying. Their enemies had been careless. They had exposed themselves. They might never receive an opportunity this clean again.

“The next time, we might not be so lucky,” Anna said.

Mai Duyi took a deep breath. He lowered himself into position and rested the sniper rifle against his shoulder. The weapon had been modified specifically for opponents like this. He reached into his ammunition case.

Four bullets.

That was all he needed. One pair for the heart. Another for the head. Four shots in total, with two bullets assigned to each target. The difficult part was not simply hitting them. He needed the bullets to arrive at nearly the same instant.

If he struck the heart first, the enemy might react before the second bullet reached the head. If he struck the head first, the same problem could occur in reverse.

The timing had to be perfect.

Mai Duyi selected his ammunition. The bullets prepared for Lai Lan had been made from the remains of the vengeful ghost of a wicked poacher. It was a fitting weapon for a creature that hunted others. He loaded them into the rifle. For Wu Yong, he prepared bullets blessed by the Holy Emperor himself.

Mai Duyi closed his eyes.

He breathed in, and then out. His heartbeat settled. His fingers relaxed. The world around him seemed to disappear. There was only the rifle, the target, the distance, and the invisible trajectory connecting them.

Anna remained beside him without speaking.

Mai Duyi's senses reached through the information she had shared with him. He calculated Lai Lan's and Wu Yong's positions. He adjusted the rifle by the smallest possible degree. His cheek rested against the stock. His breathing stopped. He pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The first bullet left the barrel.

A fraction of a second later, the second followed.

Bang!

Mai Duyi immediately adjusted his aim. It was not enough. He needed a slight correction, and then a new angle.

Bang!

Bang!

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[POV: Wu Yong]

Wu Yong was furious. Their quarry had escaped. She turned toward Lai Lan, her expression darkening as the last traces of hellfire continued to burn across the shoreline. “You had her in your grasp, and you let her escape!”

Lai Lan glanced at her. “How was that my mistake? I hit her, didn't I?”

Wu Yong's eye twitched. She couldn't believe she had brought this laggard with her. Of all the champions she could have chosen to accompany her, why had she picked Lai Lan?

Nongmin certainly wouldn't approve of any of this.

Wu Yong despised the youngest member of their group. As far as she was concerned, he was little more than an outsider who had been given a place he didn't deserve. Her respect for her father, however, was greater than her dislike for Nongmin.

That was the only reason she could tolerate him.

Lai Lan suddenly stopped arguing and sniffed the air. “I can't track her anymore.” His nose wrinkled. “The salty ocean is messing with my senses, and this damn hellfire isn't helping either. Remove it.”

Wu Yong looked toward the flames. “I'd rather not.”

She wasn't convinced they could catch their quarry anymore.

Being unable to breathe might be uncomfortable, but most immortals could endure it for quite some time. Combined with the stealth ability that woman had demonstrated, the ocean was practically the perfect place for her to disappear.

Wu Yong had complete confidence in Lai Lan's senses.

Unfortunately, the sea was not his domain.

She clicked her tongue, glaring at the nation she thought was her toy not long ago. Clearly, that wasn't the case as demonstrated by that woman's disciple. “Forget it. If we can't find her, then let's just destroy this damn country to get something out of this excursion. We'll make an example out of these mortals who still haven't bent the knee. At the same time, we'll send a message to our enemies.”

She raised her staff, letting the infernal core glow ominously.

“They want to play this game? Fine. We'll show them exactly how far we're willing to go for victory.”

Lai Lan looked completely uninterested.

“Do whatever you want.”

Wu Yong snorted, since that was exactly what she intended to do.

Suddenly, something struck Lai Lan. His head and chest exploded. Blood and gore erupted outward, splattering across Wu Yong's face. She froze. His head was reduced into bits, while his torso burst apart in a violent spray of blood.

Wu Yong stood completely still. For a moment, she couldn't understand what she was seeing.

Lai Lan's now headless body collapsed beside her.