Wind stread past them as Hui flew at his newly-discovered top speed back in the direction from whence theyd ca. Bai Xue clung to him instinctively, startled by the speed. After a mont, she laughed and tossed her hair, exhilarated. Humming aloud, she flicked her fan. Icy traces darted after them, spinning on the air.
Hui looked at her quizzically.
Its fun. And we ought to make an entrance, Bai Xue said, continuing to send ice flying out behind him.
He looked ahead of them. Li Xiang battled a pair of blurry forms in the distance, but even as he looked, they grew much closer. Hmm, I guess she has a point. At this rate, Ill arrive in no ti.
One of the blurry forms peeled away and zood toward Hui and Bai Xue. Bai Xue stepped forward. Imperiously, she gazed down at the form, her gaze icy, long white hair caught on the breeze. She lifted her fan.
The approaching cultivator released his pressure. A wave of seventh-stage force slamd into Hui and Bai Xue.
Before the pressure forced Bai Xue to crumple, Hui quietly put a hand on the small of her back and exerted his pressure over the both of them. The incoming cultivators seventh-stage pressure overwheld his slightly, but only enough to weigh on his shoulders, not enough to crumple him.
The mans eyes widened subtly, but he continued to close in. Even as he closed in, his body remained blurred. Although Hui could vaguely tell the man wore dark robes, he struggled to make out the mans features or proportions. He frowned. Is that a technique hes using to blur himself? Does the Fourth Tier also specialize in disguise and karmic techniques? Or maybe its borrowing power from other tiers of the Eight Tiers Palace.
The man bared his hands into claws. A strange green light swayed from the clawed hand, as the hand itself turned pure black.
Thats poison, if Ive ever seen it!
Fuck! The Fourth Tier of the Eight Tiers Palace cant be underestimated! They truly are dangerous, far more dangerous than I realized! Everything is poison, everything is secret and hidden no, no. I need to destroy them. Completely, utterly, and in whole!
I knew there was a reason for keeping around the resentnt demons. Now that Im alive and susceptible to dying and poison once more, I need to destroy that Fourth Tier as quickly as I can!
Hui fell back, swaying away from the attack as he activated the Hundred and Eight Tiers on himself and Bai Xue.
The mans eyes glittered. He slamd his hand into the Hundred and Eight Tiers. The barrier flickered as his hand made contact, giving way as it was ant to. However, unlike an ordinary attack, the barrier failed to reflect the hand. Where the mans hand brushed, the barrier lted, the gold light dripping down in the monts before it vanished.
Huis eyes widened. A barrier-lting hand? I cant think of anything more horrifying! Hes my antithesis! He must be destroyed, imdiately! He danced back again, pulling Bai Xue with him.
The man charged after them. Frustrated, Hui waved his hand and sent a wave of death qi at the man. The man burst away, using a strange technique to flash back from the pair of them.
Why arent you attacking? Bai Xue asked.
Hui coughed. Elder Sister, Ive been seventh stage for a few hours. My techniques were lagging my stage before I beca a reaper. I have about one usable seventh-stage attack.
Bai Xue humd. Give your qi. I can use it to power my attacks.
Yes, yes, of course! Elder Sister is indeed intelligent, Hui comnded her. Ah! Thats right! Its very common for a main character to be able to use a higher-level cultivators qi to empower their attacks! Clearly Im no main character, but I can assist Bai Xue in becoming the main character!
Hui sent his qi through the hand on Bai Xues back, monitoring her cultivation to be sure he didnt overwhelm it.
Weve done this before, havent we? Bai Xue comnted. She took a deep breath and adjusted her qi flow to match Huis incoming qi. Her eyes flashed, and she waved her fan once. An icy snow leopard ford from the ice particles swirling around them and darted at the man with the barrier-lting hand, fangs bared.
Have we? I cant rember, Hui said. It does feel familiar, though.
Mmm. I think maybe, back with the pill lotuses? Bai Xue comnted.
No, I think youre right. Weve done it a few tis, I believe, Hui said, nodding.
Whether or not weve done it in public before, I will always accept your qi, wherever and whenever we are, Bai Xue humd, her voice like velvet.
Hui squinted at her. Elder Sister why is your phrasing always so suspect?
The man raised his hand, catching the snow leopard in the throat. The snow leopard lted where he caught it, but even as it lted away, it clawed at his dark robes. The fabric shredded under its claws, revealing a second set of ordinary robes beneath and an ordinary, un-blurred cultivator.
Ah, I see. His robes are so kind of stealth treasure. Probably ant to blur his moves in close combat to make it harder to dodge that barrier-lting hand of his. I bet it would be vicious if it landed a hit on or Bai Xue, with the way it destroys qi like that. Luckily, I wisely use barriers instead of attempting to dodge attacks like that! To think, betting ones life on their limbs and reflexes! No, no. Only if all else fails.
Huis eyes locked onto the mans hand. Actually, I wonder what the principles of that attack are? Is it death qi-based? It doesnt seem to have the decay and infection properties that death qi does. Rot qi, then? But no, rot qi creates that smoke, and besides, it has even stronger infectious properties than death qi.
No, I dont think its death qi or any variant-based. Instead, it seems to attack the structure of qi, rather than the qi itself. In other words, rather than destroying the qi, its just destroying the structure the qi is forced into. The qi still exists, uncorrupted, but its dispersed back into the environnt.
If thats the case, then there should be a small pocket of dense qi right about Hui reached out. here!
Dense qi flowed into his hand. Huis eyes lit up. He looked at the mans hand hungrily. I want that technique! Think of the barriers I could rupture with it. The secret realms I could break apart!
And once I understand it, naturally, I can strengthen my own barriers against it! Oooh, I want that hand of his. I want that technique!
A shiver ran down the mans back. Seeing Huis hungry eyes on his hand, he quickly hid it behind his back, then paused. His brows furrowed. Why did I just hide my attack? I should use it, instead!
And yet, sohow, he didnt want to fly forth.
Hui nudged Bai Xue. Lets close in. I want to take that technique of his.
Do you have any immobilization techniques? Bai Xue asked.
No, but Im pretty sure I can figure it out. Its just a matter of hitting the right qi points, right? Hui said. How many tis have I read about striking soone elses qi points to paralyze them? Obviously, its simple to immobilize opponents!
Each persons qi points are in slightly different places. If youre off by milliters, youll kill or be completely ineffective. Usually, one has to deeply study their subject, or otherwise know them well, before they dare use them in combat, Bai Xue comnted.
Hui opened his third eye. Without the blurring technique hiding the mans body, all it took was a mont to focus, and the mans qi passages appeared before him. The qi passages twisted together, so as thick as a thumb, and so as fine as a hair, making a dense yet orderly net inside his body.
Hmm. I dont need to worry about the tiny ones. After all, my objective is to block his qi from flowing. If I focus slightly less
The man darted forth, speeding toward them.
Hui scowled. Pressing a small packet of qi into Bai Xue, he stepped away from her. His hands flickered, drawing another copy of the Hundred and Eight Layers.
Instantly, the man darted toward Hui. His hand flashed forward. Internally, he laughed. This cultivator is clearly newly-ascended, having to rely on his dao companion to help him attack and lacking any techniques of his own! Hes bold to attack, but nearsighted.
His fingers closed in on Huis neck.
Huis own copy of the Hundred and Eight Layers appeared, then lted away in the sa instant. Hui watched it go, his eyes following the qi as it lted away. Yes yes! He is decaying the structure of the qi. If I learn this, I can face any purely-magical attack barehanded! What a technique, what a technique! I praise whatever grandmaster created this fantastic technique!
The next layer flashed up even as the first lted, then the third, the fourth, the fifth. With each layer, the mans hand grew slightly closer to Hui, as the layers failed to properly deflect his hand. As his fingers began to pinch down on Huis neck, Hui smiled. He circulated death qi at his neck, just under the mans fingers. Lets see how he reacts to this.
Unflinching, the man continued to pinch close. His fingers lted the death qi away, though his skin flecked away as he pinched, revealing bloody flesh beneath.
Hmm. He cant entirely negate the properties of qi, but he can still lt his way past, Hui noted.
The fingers landed on his throat and squeezed.
Quietly, Hui watched his own qi inside himself as the mans hand closed. At the sa ti, he reached out and pressed the barrier hed created onto the mans body, hiding the qi-talisman on the mans ordinary robes.
Alright. Now that Im ready Huis qi lted inside his neck. Instantly, the structure of the qi inside his body trembled, falling into total disarray. Except for the qi swirling inside his dantian, his qi began to riot, flowing wildly out of the lted qi passages in his neck and invading his flesh.
Hui widened his eyes. He gripped at his throat and gagged, then struggled.
The man laughed, just once. Its hopeless. He squeezed his fingers completely shut, then dropped Hui.
Qi in chaos, flesh turning purple and red, Hui plunged toward the ground below, dying as he fell
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