Chapter 57 – A Night of Firsts

  Lin Yue gave Jun De a final glance before turning around and ordering the villagers to flee. She rallied them, guiding the wounded guards away from the battle. Talismans flew from her sleeves, covering anyone who was in danger from the fire as she cleared a path to safety.

  Jun De waited until she was gone from sight, her blue robes vanishing beyond the trees, and the last of the villagers had fled, before reacting.

  He rolled his shoulders slowly, the golden Qi pulsing faintly from his Dantian as the Dawnheart Flame stirred, sensing his intent to fight.

  The Demonic Cultivator Leader was grinning madly through cracked lips, while his hands trembled. His bone sword vibrated slightly on the ground next to Jun De before flying through the air to return to his grip.

  “I appreciate you waiting until they left. I didn’t want to get them involved, and I’m not used to holding back. Truth be told, I’m not much of a fighter.” Jun De admitted, and the Demonic Cultivator laughed.

  “I’m going to enjoy grinding your bones to dust and drinking your blood. I’ll use your Qi to strengthen my foundation, and then I’m going to hunt down that girl of yours and do the same!”

  Jun De frowned, and the air began to shimmer around him with rising heat as golden fire began to wind around his body, his aura expanding outward in waves of brilliant radiance.

  “You won’t get the chance.”

  Jun De shot forward like a comet, his body a streak of golden light as he activated Luminous Step. Each footfall left behind a smouldering golden flame, seared into the earth and lighting the battlefield with radiant afterimages.

  He closed the distance in an instant, his palm already glowing with a spiralling light of Qi and fire.

  “Falling Star Palm!”

  His hand slammed forward, crashing into the Leader’s bone sword that he had raised just in time to block the attack. The impact sent a thunderous shockwave through the air as golden flames roared outward.

  Although the strike was blocked, the sheer force of the blow sent the Leader skidding backward, his boots gouging trenches into the dirt as he fought to keep his balance. Blood sprayed from his lips, spattering across the cracked ground.

  The Leader snarled and responded to the attack by biting his thumb to draw more blood, then pressing it against his chest. His Qi surged violently as he burned his own blood essence. The veins on his face blackened, while the spiritual energy in his body writhed around him.

  With a roar, he slashed his bone sword through the air, sending a jagged wave of corrupted Qi screaming toward Jun De.

  Jun De’s expression remained steady, as if he weren’t worried at all about the massive amount of Qi heading toward him.

  With a flick of his sleeve, he pulled the Warflag of Dominion from his storage bag and planted it into the ground in front of him with a single motion. The flag unfurled, glowing white and gold, and a wave of righteous power surged outward.

  The demonic Qi slammed into the barrier it cast, but instead of piercing it, the dark energy recoiled. It hissed and sizzled as it made contact with the flag’s aura, quickly shrinking like fog burning away in the face of the morning sun.

  Golden light washed over Jun De’s body from the Flag of Dominion that stood firm in front of him, as if it were an unshakable bulwark.

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  The demonic cultivator shouted in anger as he saw his attack fail to kill Jun De. His body was trembling from the strain of burning his blood essence. Black mist coiled around him like serpents, and the bone sword in his hands seemed to scream as he lunged forward.

  The Warflag of Dominion flared to life beside Jun de once more, casting a brilliant white and gold light that swallowed the tendrils of black mist. As the blade neared Jun De, he used the Heavenly Deflection Art to redirect it.

  The bone sword paused in midair for a moment before shattering into pieces. The demonic Qi buckled and evaporated under the influence of the Flag, leaving only a few sputtering fragments of power behind.

  “You should have stayed home.”

  Jun De’s voice rang out calm and cold. In the same breath, his palm glowed with golden light.

  “Falling Star Palm!”

  A concentrated explosion of light and heat erupted from his hand and struck the Leader in the chest. It bypassed his weakened defences and sent him flying backwards once again.

  He crashed onto the ground, coughing blood violently, while his bones fractured under the impact. In desperation to succeed in killing Jun de, he screamed and stumbled to his feet again. Pouring the last of his energy into his legs, he recklessly charged forward.

  What remained of his Qi flared to the 6th Level of Qi Condensation, but it was incredibly unstable. His Dantain was cracking like ice in spring, and his Qi was rampaging wildly through his meridians.

  Jun De met him head-on, moving gracefully with the certainty of someone who knew he had already won. The Luminous Step carried him forward, leaving afterimages behind him. Another palm strike landed, and the final blow sent a lance of golden flames straight through the Leader’s chest.

  His scream was cut short as Jun De’s Qi silenced him forever.

  The corrupted Qi unravelled, and the fragments of his bone sword shattered into dust. His body began to crumble, flaking apart like dry ash.

  The remains of the demonic cultivator were gone after only a few seconds, burned away by Jun De’s attack and the purifying energy of the Warflag of Dominion.

  Jun De stood there quietly, the flag fluttering gently in the faint breeze. He was unharmed by the intense battle that had just happened, and even his robes were still pristine.

  “Elder Hua was right, having a solid foundation is the most important aspect of cultivation.” Jun De’s victory had come because his Qi was more stable than his opponents.

  While the last cinders of golden flame faded into the night, Jun De was feeling conflicted. His hand slowly lowered to his side, while the only thing that broke the silence of the night was the distant crackling of burning wood and the rustling of the wind through the trees.

  The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon, dying the sky orange and red to match the fires below.

  He looked down at the scorched path of earth where the demonic cultivator had stood moments before. There was nothing left of him now, no corpse or trace to mark his passing.

  Jun De exhaled shakily, and for the first time since the battle began, a tremor ran through him.

  “I killed someone.” Jun De whispered.

  He hadn’t just struck down a Corpse Puppet that wasn’t a human or fought a shadow in a duel. He had truly ended a life.

  Even though he knew that the man had been twisted by his demonic cultivation method, that he had killed innocents in the pursuit of cultivation, it still sat heavy on Jun De’s chest. The tremor faded after a moment, but there was a tightness in his breathing that refused to leave.

  “He deserved it, didn’t he?” Jun De whispered to himself after a long moment. The answer didn’t come, but Jun De was sure that the man did.

  Jun De closed his eyes briefly and thought of something else. The heaviness faded when he pictured something softer and warmer. Lin Yue’s face in the moonlight, her hesitant knock on his door. The quiet smile they had shared, and the warmth of her finger brushing against his arm.

  Tonight had been the first time he had killed someone, but it was also the first time that he had ever been intimate with someone.

  The world he lived in now was filled with violence and cultivation, with danger and people willing to kill for power. But there were also people like Lin Yue and Mei Lian, and wonderful moments like those he had shared with them.

  Jun De turned around and left, walking quickly to the edge of the village. The morning sun was rising quickly, and the fires had begun to die down now that there were no demonic cultivators to spread them.

  “Lin Yue may need my help.” Jun De said to himself. He wasn’t sure how far she could have gotten with the villagers, but he wanted to be there in case something happened. He doubted they would be able to return to Green Willow Hamlet while these demonic cultivators were abducting people.

  With a rush of qi, Jun De used the Luminous Step to leap into the air. He vanished down the road, turning into a streak of light as he chased after Lin Yue and the others.

  It didn’t take long before he found them. The villagers were making their way down the dirt road, weary but alive. Lin Yue walked at the front, guiding them, while her grandparents walked beside her.

  Jun De let out a relieved breath that he hadn’t realized he had been holding.