The crowd gasped; their voices carried even from the distance they watched. Seeing a Core Formation cultivator was rare enough, but to witness somebody advancing cultivation realms mid-fight... that was something that only happened in legends.

  “Isn’t that ill-advised?” I asked the Flawless Blade. “I always heard that an unstable foundation can cause backlash, and right now you seem a little… shaky.”

  His handsome face grew red at my question.

  “Silence!”

  I was actually starting to feel a little bad for him. He clearly wasn’t all there in the head, and my regeneration gave me such an unfair advantage against his precise cuts that I almost felt like I was bullying him.

  “Look, Mr Flawless Blade, if it’s that important to you, I can just lie down on the ground and let you have this. Only, you’ll have to let me pass in return.”

  He grew red in the face.

  “No!” he shrieked. “You are nothing! You haven’t even lifted your hand to attack me! You are weak and I am strong!”

  The sky darkened further as clouds roiled out of nowhere to blot the early stars. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed. A cold wind blew down the mountainslope as the Flawless Blade glared at me. Power crackled around his body and blade.

  “I feel it… my pillars are coalescing… my core is forming…” he pointed his sword at the sky. “I have the power!”

  Blinding lightning coiled down and struck his blade; it flowed into him until his eyes glowed. The grass under his feet burst into flame as veins bulged on his skin, before he sent his sword to the side in a slice, dispersing the lightning and adopting an aggressive stance.

  Thunder shook like a hundred drums as the veins on his skin subsided, and he stood there glowing with power. The pressure of his qi flattened the grass and cracked the stone. Trees shook as though bent by a hurricane. Clouds swirled overhead. Tents split and crates burst. Mortals screamed, human and animal voices blending in terror.

  But the Flawless Blade didn’t care about the carnage; his focus was only on the duel.

  “Heavens Severing Blade!” he shrieked as he slashed at me.

  This was getting out of hand.

  Blinding light bloomed and deafening thunder crashed around us as the Flawless Blade drew on his new power.

  He sliced through me before I could even raise my guard. Only the flicker of lightning through my body made me aware I’d even been cut. Steam rose from my wounds as I poured flesh into the regeneration.

  This cut was far more severe than all the others, and my flesh pool drained to make the repairs. I could keep myself together, even if it took a while to heal the internal damage. At least I could smooth out my skin and maintain my facade.

  With the way he was acting, he didn’t deserve to know the impact he’d had with that attack, especially not after hurting the mortals.

  I turned, full of anger, but that faded when I saw him.

  The Flawless Blade leaned on his sword like an old man on his walking stick. He faced away from me, his whole body shaking as he struggled to stand.

  There was so much talent, so much potential… and all of it shoved into the wrong direction. How much could he have helped people if he hadn’t put his pride before everything else?

  I walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “That looked like it took a lot out of you,” I said. “Are you alright?”

  He glanced back at me, saw me naked and unharmed, and his eye twitched.

  “How are you…? Ah!” he coughed up blood and fell to his knees. “What’s… happening…”

  Wind whipped around him as his limbs shook.

  Chen Ai pushed against his turbulent qi as she approached us.

  “You rushed your Core Formation,” she said with a malicious grin. “You’re foundation was unstable, and now you’re paying the costs.”

  “I am the Flawless Blade,” he said with disbelief. “My Foundation was perfect, the heavens have blessed me. I can’t… no… all fall before my blade…”

  I smiled at him.

  “Looks like you’ll have to make an exception this time.”

  “I…” he coughed up more blood. “Can’t…”

  There was a sharp crack, as though of a frozen lake deep in winter, and the Flawless Blade’s eyes rolled back into his head. He went still, and the dark clouds overhead bled soft rain.

  The mortals in the camp stirred and groaned as they picked themselves up now that the Flawless Blade’s reckless qi no longer suppressed them.

  “It’s over,” I said. “Time for us to keep going.”

  “Maybe you should put some clothes on?”

  My cheeks reddened as I hurried to cover myself with my hands.

  “Oh, no! Not again!”

  “Again?”

  “I’m sorry, Chen Ai! I didn’t mean to reveal myself like this --”

  “Trust me, I know it’s not your fault. Also, you’ve been naked for a while now. His attacks cut your clothes to shreds. Here.”

  I almost died from embarrassment, but Chen Ai averted her gaze as she handed me a set of plain robes. She must have bartered them from one of the watching merchants. I hurried to put them on.

  “Thank you,” I said with a bow. “Should we get going now?”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “It’s not over yet,” Chen Ai said as she placed her hand on her jian. “I’m going to kill him.”

  I frowned.

  “Please, don’t.”

  “This bastard would have killed you!”

  “But he didn’t. How many people has he even killed? He let all these mortals live, after all.”

  “I don’t know,” Chen Ai. “I’m sure some cultivators died to his blade.”

  “I’m sure some did, but he’s unconscious right now. Come on, let it go.”

  Chen Ai glared at me, but removed her hand from her sword.

  “You’re lucky that I owe you my life.”

  “I really am.”

  She let out a deep breath, but didn’t look any calmer.

  “Well, even if I don’t kill him, they might.”

  “Who?”

  I turned to see all the mortals watching us: merchants, farmers, travelers… all the people who’d been stuck at the pass. Many of them glared at the Flawless Blade with ill intent.

  “All of you can move on now,” I shouted. “The pass is open.”

  “What about the Flawless Blade?” the bearded merchant shouted.

  “What about him?”

  “Some of us would like retribution for profits lost.”

  I shrugged.

  “Too bad.”

  They looked like they might say something, but I think defeating the Flawless Blade without lifting a finger might have convinced them I was more dangerous than I was. Really, I was just lucky.

  If he’d put more effort into tearing me apart or been able to use more of those lightning-infused attacks, I really might have been in danger.

  As it was, I picked up the unconscious man and threw him over my shoulders.

  “I’m going to take him to an inn or something,” I said. “Somewhere he can heal up without being stabbed in the middle of the night.”

  “Why did you look at me when you said that?”

  “I’m sure I don’t know,” I said with a smile. “Will you still guide me?”

  She let out a sigh.

  “Will you let me keep his sword?”

  I glanced down at the straight, unadorned blade.

  “It’s all yours.”

  “Really?” she asked with surprise.

  “I honestly don’t give a damn, Chen Ai.”

  She bowed mockingly low.

  “All right then, oh gracious one,” she said. “I’ll show you the way.”

  ###

  Chen Ai hiked behind her traveling companion. The bale of snakeskin remained strapped to her back with the slowly decomposing cabbage strapped to the top, similar to how the Flawless Blade remained slung over her companion’s shoulder. She didn’t even have a name for him; she just called him her traveling companion in her mind.

  The slope was getting steeper, and the bridge lay close by. After that, they would be able to get off this mountain and finally reach the Great Northern Mountain.

  There wasn’t much need for directions at this point, but she hadn’t tried to leave. She still owed that man her life, though she was starting to wonder how exactly she could repay that debt.

  The Flawless Blade might not understand what had happened, but she’d seen it all. Every slice, every slash, every impeccable cut had landed, but the wounds healed. Her eyes had barely been able to track the Foundation Establishment cultivator’s movements, but she’d seen enough.

  She wasn’t worried about the Flawless Blade anymore, not after she felt his foundation shatter. If the man even woke up, there was no doubt that he would be as weak as a newborn kitten.

  It still bothered her that she hadn’t been able to get her revenge, but she wasn’t the one to win the fight, so she could understand.

  No, what bothered her, what worried her, was what she saw in the fight.

  What she saw that nobody else did.

  The slight widening of the eyes after every attack. The way the cuts bled for a second before they healed. The shifting of stance happened too slowly.

  Her traveling companion hadn’t seen the attacks coming.

  She could hardly follow the movements, and she was 7th Stage Qi Condensing, with her dantian almost full of precious liquid qi. Anyone stronger than her should have been able to at least react in time ?— yet her companion didn’t.

  Couldn’t?

  Part of her felt vindicated.

  She’d been convinced that he was a fraud from the moment they met. He didn’t carry himself like a powerful cultivator, and the only proof she needed was to compare him to those women from the Storming Tortoise Clan. Arrogant, aloof, and radiating danger.

  But this man felt almost… mortal.

  He reminded her more of the waiters in the restaurant than the cultivators threatening to turn it into a crater.

  So she’d assumed he was faking it somehow — maybe a rare treasure, or maybe a Special Investigator wanting to avoid extra attention — and decided to follow him around. Her honor demanded a settling of the debt, and since she didn’t have riches to throw around, she would just wait for him to get in danger, and then she would save him.

  Easy.

  Except… he defeated the Flawless Blade without lifting a finger.

  Not just defeated, he shattered the Flawless Blade’s ego so thoroughly that the man’s cultivation collapsed.

  She’d never seen anything like it, but the qi ripples from the shattering core had punched her in the gut. That sensation would haunt her nightmares for years to come.

  Her traveling companion hadn’t even reacted.

  Just like he hadn’t reacted to Yun Lin’s terrifying aura. The force that shoved Chen Ai into the ground like a worm hadn’t even fazed him.

  She ground her teeth as the thoughts circled again and again.

  No matter how much she trusted her eyes, she coudln’t figure out the truth.

  She was so distracted that she almost bumped into the man.

  He stood before a long rope bridge. They’d spent long enough walking that the sun set and the stars glittered overhead. Clouds moved between the peaks, and the rope bridge stretched out into the expanse, vanishing halfway into the sliding darkness.

  “This is the way, right?” he asked her.

  “Yeah,” she said. “On the other side of that bridge, you’ll find Mountain Root City, and from there you’ll be able to find the valley with the Azure Tiger Blossom.”

  “That’s great to hear,” he said, and he actually sounded relieved. “Do you know which valley?”

  “I don’t,” she was reluctant to admit that, in case he ditched her, but she didn’t feel like lying after the fight she just witnessed. “By the way, you never told me why you want the flower?”

  He blushed.

  “Oh, I owe somebody a debt. They asked for the flower as repayment.”

  “I can’t imagine what kind of debt would require that flower. It’s exceedingly rare.”

  He chuckled.

  “It’s kind of embarrassing… let’s just say that she was upset after seeing me naked.”

  Chen Ai stared at him. What kind of monster would demand someone fetch an Azure Tiger Blossom because of bad sex?

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “Nobody deserves that.”

  “It’s not all bad,” he replied. “After all, if I never set out on this quest, I wouldn’t have met you.”

  He wasn’t facing her, and she didn’t know what he was implying, but she found herself blushing. Then she remembered why he was chasing one of those flowers, and she frowned.

  “Should we keep going? The town can’t be more than an hour away.”

  “Alright, let’s go,” he said.

  He stepped out onto the bridge, and it immediately creaked and swayed. Chen Ai followed after him, and the swaying only grew worse. It felt rickety, but it had hung for decades, and it would hang a little longer.

  They crossed the abyss and stepped into a passing cloud. Icy droplets clung to them. Not even the stars were visible as they walked through the darkness.

  She couldn’t see her traveling companion, though from the way the bridge swayed, she knew he was there.

  “Hey,” she asked. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Let me guess, you want to know why I spared the Flawless Blade?”

  “No… I mean, yes, I do want to know that.”

  “I don’t have a good answer for you. I just went with my gut.”

  “That’s not the worst answer,” she said. “We’re cultivators. Acting on a whim is our right. The strong make the rules in this world.”

  “Like iron passing through glass.”

  “Exactly… but that wasn’t my question.”

  The bridge slowly stopped swaying, and Chen Ai stopped walking as well. He must be standing still, somewhere ahead in the dark of the passing cloud.

  Droplets ran down her skin, dampening the robe that hugged her curves. Her stolen sword felt heavy at her side, and though she knew she could reach for it faster than the blink of an eye — certainly faster than she’d seen the man react in his fight — she didn’t reach.

  Was this the same paralyzing fear that came from the itch in her wound?

  Was this something else?

  It was pitch black around her as the bridge came to a complete halt. She was so high up, yet couldn’t even feel the wind, nor see the stars…

  What was this suffocating feeling?

  She knew qi, and intent, and the suppression that came from the combination of both, but she felt nothing like that now. She felt something deeper, more intangible, yet when she reached out with her spirit senses, they found nothing…

  Not even the erratic qi of the Flawless Blade.

  It was as though she stood alone on the bridge, swaying between the peaks. The cloud drifted around her, cold and endless, and the wooden planks creaked. The moment dragged on so long she wondered if he was even there… if he’d ever been there at all, when his voice cut through the isolation.

  “So,” he said, startling her. “What is your question?”

  Chen Ai was suddenly very aware that she stood on an isolated rope bridge with a dangerous stranger.

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