Chapter 106: We are professional team at this point

The two blinded demons thrashed wildly in the narrow pass, their crescent glaives cutting meaningless arcs through the thick white fog. Every frantic swing chipped chunks of stone off the ravine walls, creating a reckless racket that threatened to echo down the mountain.

"Keep them quiet!" Jiang Wei shouted from the cave mouth, his voice a tense, anxious whisper. "If they keep slamming those blades into the rock, the main vanguard army will hear it!"

"On it," I murmured.

I didn’t let my aura flare into a bright, visible flash. Instead, I compressed my newly stabilized Meridian Stage energy directly into the soles of my boots, vanishing from the stone path. I reappeared instantly in the blind spot of the watcher on the left, my movements entirely silent in the dark.

Before the monster could even register the sudden shift in wind, I drove a direct, high-impact palm strike straight into the back of his iron collar. The localized kinetic shockwave bypassed his armor entirely, rattling his internal core and knocking him out before his massive body could even tilt. I caught his crescent glaive with one hand before it could clatter against the pebbles, laying it down silently in the dirt.

Right beside me, the red silk of the Fire Empress’s gown flared like a phoenix wing in the mist. Qing Yan moved with breathtaking, lethal fluidness. As the final blinded demon swung his weapon toward the sound of my footprint, she stepped right past his guard. The deep slit of her dress parted as she pivoted on one foot, her long earrings swaying violently as she delivered a swift, fire-coated palm strike directly to his chest plate.

[Sect Technique: Searing Palm Circuit]

The white-hot crimson fire didn’t detonate; instead, it traveled directly through his breastplate like liquid magma, instantly melting his internal armor links and knocking his senses completely into darkness. He slumped forward into the fog, out cold and thoroughly neutralized.

"That’s two," I grinned, tossing a casual wink toward her. "Flawless execution, Fire Empress. We’re practically a professional team at this point."

Qing Yan dropped her hands, her eyes fading back into her soft, clear gaze as her face flushed a embarrassed pink. She adjusted her vermilion robes, looking away to hide her shyness. "Stop calling me that, Barry! Someone will hear you... and I was merely ensuring you didn’t get sloppy."

Seeing the path completely cleared and the terrifying advance patrol taken down without a single signal horn being blown, Lu Chen finally snapped out of his panic. His face was still incredibly pale from his previous mistake, his chest heaving with a mixture of leftover terror and burning jealousy as he watched us standing close together in the mist.

Desperate to recover his dignity and prove his value in front of Qing Yan, Lu Chen drew his serrated sword with a loud, aggressive shring.

"Stand back, Qing Yan! I’ll deliver the final blow to ensure these beasts don’t wake up!" Lu Chen shouted, trying to sound noble and heroic as he lunged forward toward the unconscious demon I had just knocked out.

"Wait, don’t—" I started, but the poetry boy was too eager to show off.

Lu Chen brought his blade down in a overhead chop, intending to pierce the demon’s exposed throat joint. But in his frantic nervousness and lack of battle experience against high-tier armor, his angle was completely off.

CLANG!

His sword didn’t strike the throat; instead, it slammed directly into the reinforced, jagged obsidian pauldron of the watcher’s shoulder. The impact sounded like a hammer hitting an anvil, sending a shower of bright sparks flying into the night air. The rebound violently vibrated straight up Lu Chen’s arms, completely numbing his hands.

"Ah!" Lu Chen gasped, his grip failing instantly as his sword was knocked right out of his palms, spinning through the air before clattering loudly against the rocky ground. The brute force of the rebound sent him stumbling backward, his foot catching a stone as he fell flat on his backside in the dirt, looking utterly ridiculous.

The loud metallic CLANG echoed sharply down the narrow ravine.

Qing Yan’s jaw dropped slightly in sheer disbelief, her hands instantly flying to her mouth. Looking at Lu Chen sprawling in the ground, clutching his numbed wrists while staring in absolute horror at his sword, her serious, guarded tone completely vanished. A breathless chuckle escaped her lips, her shoulders shaking as she tried—and miserably failed—to hide the small, beautiful laugh breaking through her shyness.

I couldn’t help but let out a loud, mocking laugh, leaning my hand casually on the handle of the demon’s glaive. "Wow. Truly impressive swordsmanship, buddy. I didn’t know the outer sects taught the Drop Your Weapon and Fall Down technique. Is that a secret style?"

"Y-You... shut up!" Lu Chen hissed, his face turning an intense, furious red as he scrambled to his feet, grabbing his sword and glaring at me with pure, unadulterated hatred. "The stone was loose! My footing slipped! Qing Yan, don’t listen to his crude taunts! He just trying to_"

"Alright, enough lu Chen," Jiang Wei interrupted anxiously, stepping out of the alcove with a grim expression as he looked down the darkening gorge. "The sparks and that metallic clash... if there are other patrols nearby, they’ll be tracking that noise. Midnight has passed, and the elemental fog is at its thickest. We need to navigate the valley’s ancient rune traps right now before the main army closes the gap."

I looked at Jiang Wei, the teasing smirk fading into a sharp, calculated warrior’s focus as my hand naturally found the Fire Empress’s fingers, locking our hands together once more under the cover of the white mist. "Lead the way, leader. Let’s see what these ancient traps have got."

The white fog grew even denser as we stepped deeper into the gorge. The stone path beneath our boots suddenly changed, transitioning from rough mountain pebbles to giant, interlocking plates of smooth black stone.