Chapter 52: Meeting Again |
[July 18, 2023]...
Shěn Lí had experience fighting the beastly men, but she didn’t know if they had gotten stronger since her battle with them. Just in case, Shěn Lí brought three generals with her. All three had fought against the enemy during the invasion of the capital and were more experienced and powerful than the other generals.
“The purpose of this trip is not to kill the enemy, but to capture them alive. It will be beneficial if we can study and learn their weak points, so even if we only capture and bring one back to the capital, it will be good. We can prevent the catastrophic attack from a few days ago from happening again in the future.” Before setting off she said one last thing, “Don’t act recklessly.”
General Dāo Mù smiled. “Does Your Highness think we are fresh recruits? The most important thing on the battlefield is to not be impulsive; we know that.”
“Generals, you are all elites in the army. We must not lose a single person.” Shěn Lí said.
Shěn Lí sighed. She was already wearing her armor and didn’t need to return home to change. Equipped and ready to set out, the four left.
They made good time traveling on clouds as a small group unencumbered by a large army. They were in a hurry, so even though they saw glimpses of destruction left behind by the enemy, they didn’t stop to investigate. Soon, a fire could be seen burning fiercely just north of the Ruins. They rushed forward intent on stopping the enemy from advancing any farther.
Shěn Lí had sharp eyes and saw one of the monstrously strong men gripping a child with both hands. The man’s mouth was open wide, as if he wanted to tear the child up and feast. The child, paralyzed with fear, could only stare at the bloody mouth.
Like a flash of lightning, a silver spear suddenly cut through from the right. And like the blade of a knife, it sliced the man’s hand clean off. Shěn Lí knew how strong their bodies were, so she didn’t hold back when she shot her spear out. The blade hit the ground with a ferocious thud that made the surrounding vegetation tremble and the ground hum with vibrations. The man raised his head and screamed as blood gushed from his arm. The child raised his head, now splashed with blood, in a daze, to look at Shěn Lí’s back. It was as though it hadn’t yet sunk in that he was saved.
Shěn Lí knew it wouldn’t be enough to kill him, but that wasn’t her intention. What she wanted to do was to immobilize him. Before she could pull her spear out, a shout of, “Be careful Your Highness!” came from above her.
A sharp wind was aimed at her back. Shěn Lí dodged the blow, yanked her spear out and swept it across behind her in one smooth motion. She managed to slice into the neck of the man attacking her from behind. The blood from his wound gushed out and instantly stained her red.
Sounds of fighting echoed in the air. Shěn Lí looked up and saw the generals were fighting the enemy. She was surprised. When did these guys learn to fly on clouds? Were they really getting more powerful? Suddenly, she felt a strange movement behind her.
“Azure Sky king, I trust you have been well since we last met?”
Shěn Lí didn’t even bother turning around to look. She clenched her spear tightly in her hand and swept it back with intent to kill. But her spear failed to cut through anything. It felt like she was slicing through cotton; there was no momentum or force. Shěn Lí pulled back and darted ten feet away.
Once she had some distance, she turned around to look at who was behind her. The person was dressed differently, now in green, but the face remained the same. “Fú Shēng?” Shěn Lí called out coldly.
“Hm. Truly a blessing to be remembered by the Azure Sky king.”
His words were polite, but Shěn Lí knew Fú Shēng was a deep schemer. There had to be some kind of conspiracy if he was here in person. Shěn Lí’s brows sank. She could hear the battle between the generals and the enemy still going on. There was no need to confront him head on and create needless casualties. Just as she was thinking of retreating, Fú Shēng spoke.
He said, “To be honest, I came to see the Azure Sky king in person because there’s something I want to request from you.” At this, Shěn Lí sneered, but before she could say anything, Fú Shēng continued. “However, I do not believe you will agree. . . ”
Killing intent suddenly thickened around him and his eyes became cold. “I will have to trouble Your Highness to leave your life behind here.”
“Dream on.” Shěn Lí’s eyes turned even colder in the face of such naked provocation.
Neither made a move, but the temperature around them gradually dropped until it was bitingly cold. The vegetation between them was torn silently to shreds then crumbled to ashes. As their auras expanded farther outward, the trees became affected. Branches swayed and leaves trembled left and right, left and right. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before all the leaves scattered and the branches became bare. Then, with a violent pop, the tree trunks exploded.
“Ah!” The child hiding behind a tree screamed in pain and was shot two feet away by the explosion.
Things couldn’t continue on like this!
The child’s cry was like a switch that ignited Shěn Lí’s nerves. She held her spear in her hand as she kicked forward with her toes and shot forward like an arrow. Fú Shēng didn’t dodge to avoid her, instead he waited for her attack.
A strong aura pressed down toward the ground forcing Shěn Lí’s spearhead to go off course a little. Fú Shēng sidestepped, and with his hands turned into claws, reached out for Shěn Lí’s heart. But it was like Shěn Lí had eyes in the back of her head; she pulled her spear back and slammed the butt end into Fú Shēng’s hand. It didn’t look like a hard hit, but it burned his skin on contact and left behind a charred mark.
Shěn Lí had made her spear extremely hot with a fire spell sometime earlier.
The child looked at Shěn Lí with bright eyes with worship and admiration. And when she waved her hand at him, he was clever enough to understand her meaning and obediently ran away.
Shěn Lí turned around, then jumped ten paces away from Fú Shēng. Her spear glinted. “A present for you.” She still remembered being burned from the attack in the Immortal realm.
Fú Shēng raised his head up and laughed after looking at his scorched hand. “Interesting! Interesting! You are indeed worthy to be my opponent.” He didn’t even pause; as soon as he finished speaking, he was on the move and was ten times faster than before. He rushed forward and fought Shěn Lí without a blade or sword, but empty handed with just his claws.
Their figures blended together, sometimes they were like the wind struggling in the sky, sometimes they were like twinkling lights trailing away before fading out.
It only took Shěn Lí an instant to use over a hundred moves on him. The longer she fought, the stranger she felt. Fú Shēng’s movements were similar to her own. The subtle differences were only discernible upon closer inspection. The opening moves, the closing moves, they should have been resolute and clear, but when he used them, they were devious and treacherous and quite hard to guard against.
“Azure Sky king, are you taking this seriously?”
The two stood apart on opposite sides. Fú Shēng smiled strangely, “I think your subordinates are working harder than you.”
Shěn Lí looked down when she heard this. Below, she saw the three generals fighting. Initially it was three against three, but now it was three against four. The man whose neck she sliced earlier had joined in the fight below. The generals were already struggling when it was an even fight, but now with the odds against them, their position was even more perilous. Two were injured enough that they couldn’t fight well. Shěn Lí saw how critical the situation was.
Panicked, she made to rush down. But was Fú Shēng going to let her? Of course not. He followed closely behind and hindered her movements.
“Get out of the way!” Shěn Lí was furious.
“Forgive me, but I can not obey that command.” Fú Shēng stretched his hand forward and his nails grew longer. He closed his fingers together and used them like a knife cutting in front of Shěn Lí. “Your Highness will be my opponent.”
As he was speaking, one of the men below hit General Dāo Mù in the abdomen. Shěn Lí grew even more anxious when she saw the general spit out a mouthful of blood. Red light surged deep in her eyes as demon aura surged around her body.
“I said, go away!” She waved her spear, and Fú Shēng raised his hand to block. Fú Shēng’s nails were harder than Shěn Lí imagined, and Shěn Lí’s spear was tougher than Fú Shēng expected. They fought fiercely in close combat. Both were shaken by the other’s strength and forced several feet apart. Shěn Lí grabbed the chance and rushed toward the generals without hesitation, while Fú Shēng stood still looking at his nails; his eyes flickered. Then he chased after Shěn Lí again.
Shěn Lí let out a low guttural shout before using the blade of her spear to cut the head off one enemy. It created an opening for the generals, and they fell to the ground. Shěn Lí’s spear embedded into the ground and red flames surrounded them, acting as a protective barrier.
“Earth Escape Technique! I’ll take the rear!”
Before the generals could say anything, five sharp nails penetrated the flame barrier and tore it open. Shěn Lí clenched her teeth and the red light in her eyes shone more intensely. Where ever she moved her spear, heat waves followed. She managed to force Fú Shēng back several steps. In the pause, she shouted, “Retreat!”
This way she could find a way to escape without having to worry about the generals.
The generals understood the situation. The most troublesome factor was the young stranger in green and not the men they were fighting earlier. The generals were already injured; delaying any longer would only drag Her Highness down. They looked at each other, then began chanting the escape spell. Suddenly a roar interrupted the spell. Two more enemies rushed out of the bushes toward them.
The two generals stood in front of the injured General Dāo Mù to protect him. They were in front and no one noticed another enemy come from behind. It was the same man Shěn Lí had earlier cut a hand off and stabbed through the heart. Unexpectedly, he had been laying low the entire time. Now he climbed up and bit General Dāo Mù’s calf. General Dāo Mù clamped down on his teeth to endure the severe pain. He raised his blade and slashed downward, cutting off the attacker’s head entirely. He didn’t want to risk not completing the job.
The enemies they were fighting in the sky earlier dropped down and surrounded the generals. It was too late. The two generals couldn’t protect General Dāo Mù. They only heard the scream in time to watch as General Dāo Mù was dragged away and torn apart. Blood splattered on the ground. Bite after bite, his flesh tumbled into the enemies' bellies.
Shěn Lí, who was leading Fú Shēng away, ignored the screams and only caught a glimpse of the scene from out of the corner of her eye. She was so dazed by the sight, she didn’t even feel Fú Shēng’s five fingers slash across her back.
It turned out. . . they did eat people.
It turned out. . . the generals of her world were killed in a bloody field like this.
Fú Shēng laughed wildly. “This scene, isn’t it beautiful? My lovelies can eat their fill in these battles!”
The generals she valued so much, the people who fought with her to protect the land, they became food. . .
Shěn Lí lowered her head and gritted out, “You bastard. . . ” She gripped her spear so hard her fingertips turned white. “You absolute bastard.” She was about to step toward the generals when Fú Shēng reached out to stop her.
“You are not allowed to save anyone before we finish our fight. . . ”
Fú Shēng was startled when Shěn Lí raised her head sharply at his words. Blood trailed down from Shěn Lí’s eyes, coloring the white of her eyes and her pupils nearly crimson. Bright red liquid built up like a sticky pool before sliding out the corners of her eyes and down her cheeks and eventually dripping to the ground. And in an instant, the air became turbulent, like a hurricane swirling and sweeping in. Shěn Lí’s golden headband broke and her hair scattered about in the powerful wind. Her hair slowly turned red, as if magma was coming out of the roots to the tips.
Shěn Lí felt an extremely hot qi surge in her abdomen, slowly boiling her blood and burning dry her rationality. Her spear rose from the white mist and the turbulent air around her abruptly stilled. She moved suddenly, and in the blink of an eye, disappeared from her spot by Fú Shēng and appeared amid the men. She didn’t use her spear, but instead used her palm to slap one of them on the head.
The man’s head instantly erupted in flames.
His scream was harsh enough to pierce eardrums, but it was as if Shěn Lí didn’t even hear it. She turned and slapped another one in the chest, and he also ignited.
It took her less than three moves to touch all enemy men. Each burned. And when they became cinders, she turned to a general and waved her palm as though to hit him as well. But her palm stopped just three inches shy of her target.
Shěn Lí bowed a little and shook her head confused, as if she was trying her best to regain her senses. Finally, she turned and glared at Fú Shēng with bloodshot eyes. It only took an instant for her to land in front of him. “Damn you, die!” The words came out with difficulty. As soon as she finished, she swung her claws at him.
Fú Shēng tried blocking with his hand, but his nails, which were as hard as iron before, were suddenly soft. As a result, there was nothing to stop Shěn Lí from slapping his cheeks. The sound was extremely loud. Fú Shēng retreated several feet away and immediately used an ice technique. He held his hand to the cheek Shěn Lí hit and the ice and fire clashed. He didn’t show discomfort from the pain, but his eyes were even colder.
“Truly worthy to be called. . . Phoenix.”
His words were mumbled and vague. Before he could heal his injured cheek, Shěn Lí charged forward again. Her spear gave off a dazzling light and was unstoppable as it came forward with thunderous momentum. Fú Shēng was dumbstruck. He was being suppressed completely. Forced to retreat, he found an opening and summoned a cloud, then turned around and fled.
Shěn Lí chased after him.
A general shouted up to her from the ground, “Your Highness! Don’t give chase! It’s probably a trap!”
Shěn Lí didn’t hear his words, and she disappeared as she chased after Fú Shēng’s vanishing figure.
The two went all the way to the Human world where Fú Shēng escapted to the sea. Shěn Lí was struck by how heavy the moist air was. Fú Shēng took advantage of her distraction and sent a signal to the sky. A short moment later, several men in black appeared beside him.
When Shěn Lí turned and swept her spear through the air, sending billowing flames toward them. Two of the men in black didn’t have time to react and were instantly burned to ashes. The others dodged and split up in four directions, chanting a spell in perfect unison as they did so.
The humid air instantly turned icy cold and solidified into sharp tiny slivers. They clung to Shěn Lí’s body as if to envelop her inside. Shěn Lí smirked and the heat in her abdomen became even hotter. Steam came from her body and rose to the sky. Heat circulated and formed clusters of flames on her skin that burned away all the moisture on her body.
Shocked, the men in black said, “My Lord, the Water-Stop technique has no effect on her!”
Water-Stop...?
The familiar term pierced Shěn Lí’s eardrums and conjured the image of a figure in white. In her chaotic mind, she seemed to hear him sigh softly saying, “You put yourself in an awkward situation again.”
How could these guys know a god spell? It was clearly a god spell. . . Shěn Lí was dazed. Fú Shēng saw it and took advantage of it, shouting, “Call all the men here!”
With the one order, a man in black took out a strange musical instrument and blew into it a few times. A roaring hiss responded from a distance. Fú Shēng waved his hand and threw arrows of ice made from the water waves at Shěn Lí.
The approaching murderous aura brought Shěn Lí back to her senses. She didn’t dodge or hide and the flames on her body expanded up and burned all the ice arrows instantly. Fú Shēng missed her movements completely. By the time he felt anything, Shěn Lí was already there and had a hold of his shirt. “You scoundrels, tell me, how did you learn the art of Water-Stop.”
Fú Shēng smiled. “Your Highness seems to be very concerned about god’s affairs.”
Shěn Lí stared at him coldly, then she put her hand on his chest over his heart. It would only take a little effort to burn his heart completely.
Between the lightning and fire, a thunderbolt fell from the sky. Shěn Lí tossed Fú Shēng aside and darted back several feet. The young man with raven hair and dressed all in black couldn’t have been more familiar to her.
“Mò. . . Fāng. . . ”
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