Ren was flying at full speed when she felt a resonance on her wrist. As she raised it up, her amethyst-colored bracelet lit up, and Leinor's voice surged out of it.

  "Where are you? I am coming from the direction of the Capital."

  "You were quick!" Ren smiled faintly, but it was not a carefree expression.

  "Of course. Whoever dares to hurt our Mother has to die."

  "I'll transmit my resonance over, follow it, and meet up with me. I'll slow down!" She said as she held the bracelet on her wrist.

  They were wearing a matching pair crafted by Xendar and given to them on the 3rd anniversary of their marriage. When they infused their energy into it, it would link up with the other and could help them find each other or just communicate at any distance, wherever they would be on the continent.

  "Locked on! I'll be there, five minutes tops!" Leinor yelled as he ended the conversation, and he was on point because he arrived exactly five minutes ter.

  "Here!" Ren hugged him before giving him a Tier 3 energy pill.

  "Are you okay?" He asked, stroking her head, swallowing the pill.

  "Yeah, I'm fine. How's Mom?"

  "Stabilized by Sect Head, Father, and Shaman."

  "And Father?"

  "Calm. From the outside perspective."

  "That's bad," Ren muttered, biting into her lip. "The calmer he is, the worse the situation is..."

  "What are our pns?" Leinor asked, his eyes serious and ready for anything.

  "Find them, kill them. Leave only one alive, preferably the strongest one. He ought to know something."

  "Okay. Where are they?"

  "Not far north from here, in an old fort, where the Empire used to practice siege battles." She pointed with her head. "I already scouted it once."

  "Then let's go! Should we just fly in and start killing?" He asked, letting her lead the way as they flew forward once again.

  "Now that you are here, no. Instead, let's use… that."

  "Oh? Good thing I know you!" Leinor chuckled, nodding at her, "I brought every necessary item to set it up."

  "That is why you are my husband~! How long do you need to make it work?"

  "5 minutes. 10 if we want the area of effect to be very strong."

  "Take your time. They are strong..." She muttered, watching the distance, "So I'll fly in, draw their attention, and start a fight. You set up the formation! I am curious if the schematics sent over by the Sect Head's son really are that powerful…"

  "Okay. I brought the enhanced rods!" He fshed a smile at her.

  "Then there is going to be a thunderstorm…" Ren smiled back with a dangerous light in her eyes.

  .............

  When the old, rundown fortress came into view, Ren just bsted out a loud, booming thunder, her whole body fshing with violet lightning, not restraining anything as she closed in. The gang, in the middle of destroying their camp and ready to scatter, numbering only eight people, was startled that someone found them so quickly.

  Their leaders were dressed in all white, head to toe, shielding them from the hot sun and concealing their identities, as no one, not even their low-level grunts, knew what they looked like. But... When they saw who was approaching, they immediately recognized her as Ren, as they had been warned about her in advance.

  "It's her. Should we fight or flee?" one of them asked.

  "Fight. It's a perfect opportunity! We are also experts, and she is alone. She may be strong, but we have the advantage in experience."

  While they debated, the first attack had already nded as Ren threw out a lightning javelin, so suddenly and so quickly it just went through one of the men, waiting for the order on what to do. He thought himself strong and had been someone who ascended more than a century ago, from the 6th stage of body refinement. It was a proud feat for any solitary cultivator, someone who was not part of any family or organization. Yet the incoming attack went through his body like a hot knife through butter, impaling him to the ground.

  “What… is… this…” He groaned, still alive, trying to stand up, grabbing onto the buzzing, crackling javelin, only to have his hands be skewered by the electricity, frying every nerve inside them.

  It was something so painful he never thought it was possible, as every muscle in his body spasmed, contracting uncontrolbly, yet he was unable to scream. It only took a few seconds to be fully taken over, literally, as the javelin got absorbed into his body, still connected to its owner. Thus, Ren controlled him through it, making the half-dead bandit attack the others like a puppet. Even when the rest mercilessly decapitated him, the body continued to fight until Ren's energy ran out, making it finally colpse.

  By then, in the air, she was facing off against the two strongest cultivators, fighting them simultaneously. As she did so, Ren was wielding a real, physical spear measuring around three meters in length. It was completely silver, without any decoration or fancy markings, just a heavy, sturdy block of metal with a sharp end. In reality, it was an artifact forged by Xendar and her, personally tailored to her specifics. It was acting like a conductor for Ren's affinity, and also, if she wished, it functioned as a lightning rod, drawing down nature's forces from the sky if there was a thunderstorm nearby.

  Ren's spear strikes were fierce and quick, leaving fshing trails behind them as she attacked the one in the front. Her target had to completely focus on dodging if he wanted to stay alive, not even allowing him to try to counter-attack. His affinity was orange-colored, bzing fire, one of the most common ones, as his hands were covered in it, burning away the jumping arcs and sparks from Ren's spear before it could nd on him.

  "Fuck!" the second warrior cried out as he tried to strike Ren in the back, but as she was already switching to him, fluently linking up her attacks as she stabbed out with quick succession, aiming two strikes at him.

  His affinity was the same as Ren's, being lighting, albeit yellowish in color. As the two simir powers cshed, they created a small explosion while he slid backward in the air, arms crossed before his chest, yellowish sparks fighting against violet ones all over his body.

  The rest of the gang was unable to join in, left with nothing else but watching from the ground or in the air, hovering, debating what to do, run away... or fight. If some of them considered joining in, they risked hitting the leaders, which would be a disaster, even if they won. They were known for their ruthlessness, even amongst a group of assassins... Not to mention, seeing one girl going toe to toe with them made the rest realize that even if they called themselves Harmony Realm experts, they were much weaker, and nobody wanted to end up like the first unlucky bastard.

  "Gods damn, that spear…" the one with the fire affinity groaned, blocking another swipe with a fme shield he had just formed, but it was already cracking apart. He was just flexing his arms to try to release the pain and tension, watching as Ren switched off him, attacking his partner, without pause. She was pushing him back, and when he tried to move in... once again, Ren changed her target back to him, trying to run him through with her spear.

  "What kind of speed is this?" the one with the yellow lightning affinity moaned as he had no time to even summon a complete spell. Ren was going back and forth between times like it was a game. "It feels like fighting against multiple opponents!"

  As she fought, this time, Ren was completely silent all the way through, not even releasing a shout. Her moves carried a strange rhythm and elegance, wielding her spear-like part of her body, dancing around it, always switching her targets when they would just happen to gain their footing, keeping them off bance and in pce.

  By now, the two leaders thought they should escape, as this was going to be a fight that would only end in a tie, or it would end when all of them were so exhausted they couldn't fight anymore. Yes, Ren seemed stronger, but they had the confidence to not die to her, as they came to understand that her edge was mostly in her speed, coordinated moves, and the disturbing effects of her affinity. It spread a numbing sensation throughout their bodies and their bodily functions, but as far as they were considering it, Ren's strength did not lie in the sheer power of her strikes.

  In their more than 200 years of cultivation, they reached the 9th stage of Body Refinement and successfully survived the hardest tribution of 9 bolts, ascending to Harmony. Since then, few people have stood up to them, and even fewer have had the power to beat them. They were actual, genuine Harmony-level experts. Even now, when they were facing a teenage-looking girl who pushed both of them back, they were confident in surviving and escaping.

  "No wonder she is so high on the list… but we can't kill her now, it seems. We need to leave," one of them sent a voice message to his partner while Ren's spear just brushed past his face as he nded a strike on the shaft, directing it away.

  "Yeah, she is stronger than expected! But rash, just as it was predicted," came the answer as Ren used the force that hit her spear to follow its course, turning around, and parrying the other's attacks that aimed at her back.

  As they debated how to escape the fight, suddenly, bck clouds began to form in the sky, appearing from nowhere. A moment ter, the wind began to pick up speed, howling like a beast around them as thundering booms roared above the nd... But... this was the desert... By then, Ren just stood there with a smirk, letting herself be surrounded by the falling lightning, coming down the clouds that brought darkness upon the entire region.

  Down below them, Leinor stood straight, panting a little, popping another pill into his mouth. He was right beside a 2-meter-tall rod filled with weird inscriptions, from bottom to top, pulsating in a strange pattern. There were twenty more of the same rods, id out in a circle around the fort, acting as catalysts in a new formation developed by Levictus, Aerthus's first son, sent back just a few years prior.

  "Let me deal with the dregs!" Leinor chuckled, sending his voice over to his wife, finally rushing in to join the battle.

  The arriving storm stunned everyone, as a few minutes earlier, it had still been sunny, but now darkness had descended upon them all. While those who were weaker looked up, watching the clouds and fshing lights inside them, it was their st mistake. Leinor appeared behind one just then, grabbing his head with both of his hands. The man could only let out a weak shriek that sounded like air pressed out of a balloon while his whole body shrank down and became gray... Just like that, he was sucked dry of his lifeforce in a few seconds.

  "Mmm, now I feel truly refreshed!" Leinor smacked his lips as he let him colpse.

  Leinor, just like his wife, held nothing back. He was slower than Ren, but that meant nothing as he faced the remaining five of the simple bandits. Yes, they had an easier time attacking him; however, it was like hitting cotton. The attacks that nded lost all their powers, disintegrating before they could reach his body, being absorbed by Leinor's improved ability. When one of them sent a fist towards him, covered in rocks, like a giant golem's arm, the moment it got near, Leinor only had to look at it. The rocks trembled and crumbled a moment ter, turning to sand as they tumbled to the ground. In the end, only a normal hand reached him, nding on his torso, doing... nothing. He just smiled as the hit felt like it came from a child. Grabbing onto it, the hand's owner screamed out in fear as he felt his life being drained while his hand turned thin and wrinkly. As he struggled, the next moment it got torn off from the elbow, letting him separate himself, still screaming loudly, panicking.

  "Monster! Demon!"

  "Shut it and attack with long-range spells!" another roared, realizing that melee combat would do nothing.

  They formed their spells quickly, sending flying fireballs, wind bdes, and ice spikes towards him. In the end, Leinor absorbed the fire and ice powers, but the wind nded on his torso, leaving deep cuts, spshing hot, red blood everywhere.

  "Yes! Continue!" the owner of the wind affinity shouted, sure of their victory, but Leinor just looked down on his torn uniform and injuries.

  "Huh, that was sharp, but can you repeat it more than once?" He asked, tilting his head as the wound closed up right before their eyes. Smiling, Leinor just tilted his head, and it seemed like nothing happened. "Here is a tip for you guys." He grinned like a demon, pointing at his head. "Aim here! I can't regenerate it yet. If you cut it off, I die. Or... Try to kill me with one attack… that works too!"

  "What kind of monsters are these two…" the two above them murmured, also hearing and seeing what was going down below them.

  They were sweating heavily by now, because Ren's fierceness had risen significantly since the rainless storm had started. It was clear she used the falling lightning as an energy source, boosting herself while the violet lightning from her body fshed wildly and widely, making every swing of her spear produce an area of effect attack.

  "Let's finish this!" Ren thought to herself, holding back her spear, pointing it towards the sky as her body lit up with multiple strands of lightning.

  "Not good!" the one with the same affinity as her screamed as he felt the movement in the air, but it was already too te.

  The next moment, one of nature's most powerful strikes nded on Ren's spear as blue and violet lights intertwined and fused together.

  "Lightning Rain!" Ren shouted, pointing her spear downwards as arcs of electricity jumped from it to literally everywhere, drawing down even more lightning bolts.

  All the rods, inserted into the ground by Leinor, lit up brightly just then, further guiding the electric rain, showering the nd with a crackling, buzzing monsoon of lightning, roaring like an ancient beast. The weaker cultivators quickly found themselves unable to control their bodies, getting zapped by her electricity. They saw nothing but dancing arcs of lightning before their eyes, only feeling the tingling sensation of nature's and Ren's powers running through them. They became human torches, catching fire, burning from the inside out. Their eyes popped out of their sockets, followed by fmes and sparks, melting even their bones. Their skin was fking off, and as they released their otherworldly screams, their throats vomited out the lightning itself. It resonated everywhere around them as they turned to scorched corpses, melting into the ground after falling, only leaving behind bck, nasty, smoking, tar-like remains.

  Watching, Leinor coughed up blood as he quickly rushed out from the technique's circle of influence, seeing it destroy not just the cultivators but the entire fort below them. It simply tumbled down with loud rumbles, snuffed out by the sound of thunder that was even more deafening, just like a dragon's roar in the mythical fables.

  "This is the first time we can test it to its fullest!" Leinor chuckled, watching it py out before him, and could only see Ren's outline, standing in the middle of the fshing storm. "Heh, Poli, you have your work cut out before you if you wish to learn Lightning Rain… tsk-tsk, even she can't perform it without outside help..." he muttered as he looked towards the still pulsing rods that tried to withstand the destructive force, constantly traveling through them. "Two are already cracked… the output is stronger than predicted."

  When the spell finally ended and the sky started to clear up, only Ren was left floating high above, holding onto her spear. Lightning was still fshing over her body as she was breathing quickly and boriously. Looking down, only bck, smoking remains were left behind, nothing more; some just left their shadows burned into the sand and nothing else. The two she fought were also lying down there, their charred bodies twitching constantly, fused together with their clothing.

  "LeiLei!" Ren shouted, slowly descending as he hurried back inside, arriving next to one assassin, but before he could put his hand on him to preserve the little life he had left in him, he breathed his st.

  The second one, who was still alive, was not in any better condition. Even with Leinor's help, he couldn't form any words because all of his vocal cords were fried, just like his nervous system, barely functioning at all. While Leinor tried to keep him breathing, Ren nded beside him, stabbing her finger into his now softer, mushy skull, directly into his brain, searching for information as fast as she could before he succumbed to the horrific injuries of his.

  "It was too powerful," Leinor smirked.

  "No matter. I got what I wanted! Their contact was a noble from the Empire." Ren pulled out her finger, then just stomped on his head, exploding it like an egg with a ruthless look. "The brain was injured, too, but I could salvage some pieces from his memories. I couldn't see the face, but it was a man. These two were from the Kingdom; the rest are… local cultivators, gathered up by them."

  "Hmf, treacherous bastards."

  "Also…" Ren fell silent for a moment. "There were a few more members from the Kingdom of Ten… but they left earlier. Tsk…" she bit onto her thumb, thinking, but it was too te to go after those… but their contact here could not run away. "I memorized the resonance of the aura of the traitorous noble. If I ever come face-to-face with him, I'll know. Also… back home, we still have some bastards to interrogate... That fat fuck should point me in the direction to continue the search!"

  "Take it easy… You are barely standing…" Leinor whispered, picking her up, and as soon as she was in Leinor's arms, her legs went soft. She wouldn't be able to stand again for a few hours, that was sure. "Man… this technique injured some of your energy points! You won't be at 100% at least for a month…"

  "Ehehe, well, you are here to carry me~! Feed me~! And bathe me~! Aaaand-" Ren joked, trying to ease their mood.

  "Okay, okay, I get it, you are okay!" He kissed her forehead. "Let me collect the remaining rods, and let's go back to the Capital."

  "Mmmm, that's good, good." She nodded, blinking her eyes more and more slowly. "How many… got destroyed…?"

  "Only three in the end, and…" but he continued no further as Ren had already fallen asleep in his arms. "Haah… and what if there are still enemies around?" He whispered, but Ren just snuggled up to his chest as an answer, completely trusting him to protect her when she was the most vulnerable.