Tao Yun shot up from the bed where he’d been pretending to sleep and Shao Qing took advantage of the chaos to pull something out of his interspatial pouch, the camouflage around him flickering as he did so.

Once the killer crashed through the window, Tao Yun activated one of the formations to counter him. A series of previously hidden lines lit up the ground, and a mass of qi was stirred up as the slaughter formation came alive. A cache of spirit stones that had been left in the bathroom cracked apart as they helped feed the formation.

The qi within the formation dropped slightly as it launched several light-blue blades of energy towards the killer. Instead of dodging the attacks the killer forcibly resisted them, allowing them to cut into him as he launched an attack on the formation itself. There was a cracking noise as the lines on the ground dimmed from the force of his attack, the formation weakening.

“What the hell! Is this bastard at Half-Step Soul Foundation?!” Tao Yun sent out a voice transmission. “Can’t tell. Either way we need to prepare. I’ll raise a fog from here, you take the lead.” The response took a moment to arrive. “Alright. Be quick about it.” Tao Yun placed his hand on the edge of the formation and managed it directly, changing the flow of the energy to defend against the killer’s attacks.

Despite this active defense, it didn’t do much. The killer was injured in a few places from the slaughter formation’s attacks, but as it began to fall apart its offensive abilities were the first to go. After two attacks against it they were gone completely. Another two and the previously clear formation lines were blurry, and the energy within the formation was getting hard to control. It was about to fall apart.

Tao Yun glanced around as the slaughter formation was forced to its breaking point. A thin fog had filled the room, and several blurry figures could be seen rising up and fading back into it. As for Tao Yun, a roughly three-foot long sword of ice had formed in his hand, guard and all. Currently a thin layer or dark-blue ice was condensing around his body, serving as a sort of armor. “Should I activate the restraint formation early?” “No need. I’m almost ready. Just hold him back for a bit.”

It’d be easier with the restraint formation, but if Shao Qing thought it’d be fine without it then they may as well leave it. Tao Yun didn’t consider himself a battle expert, but even if this monster was at Half-Step Soul Foundation, he should be able to stave him off for a while. He wasn’t that weak.

As the fog continued to roil and fill the room, the formation shattered to pieces. The lines faded, and the killer charged out of it and towards his only visible target-Tao Yun. Tao Yun calmly pointed his sword forward and prepared to defend. While the killer approached Tao Yun held a blueish-grey rock in his left hand, rapidly sucking the ice qi out of it to form a shield out of the same dark-blue ice as his armor and sword. Once the shield was fully formed the rock cracked apart, and he tossed it to the side.

The veins protruding out of the killer shot towards Tao Yun from odd angles, but the man himself came from the front. Unable to defend against every attack at once, Tao Yun allowed the veins to whip against his armor as he intercepted the killer with his sword and shield. Several short, crimson blades of qi formed around the killer’s hands in the shape of a claw and smashed against Tao Yun’s weapons.

It only took a few moment’s for Tao Yun to exhaust the qi of the attack, but in that time the claw had rapidly chipped away at parts of his sword and shield. A cloud of innumerable tiny shards of ice filled the space between the two, and combined with the fog it was quite the lovely sight. ...If you ignored the people fighting around it.

Tao Yun calmly took out another rock from his interspatial pouch and used the ice qi within to repair his sword and shield, as well as thicken his armor. In the middle of this process several blades of qi flew towards him, forcing him back and chipping off more ice before he was finished with his repairs. Stalling wouldn’t be easy.

While Tao Yun stubbornly served as a wall for the killer’s attacks, Shao Qing finished his preparations. A thick fog filled the room, obscuring both Tao Yun and the killer’s vision- if they weren’t already in close range combat, it’d be difficult for them to find each other, even though they were in the same (admittedly rather large) room. The main reason Shao Qing could tell what was going was through the qi being flung around. Shao Qing probed by sending several figures of fog towards where the killer should be, paint brushes at the ready. From each paint brush a narrow needle of qi was shot out, aiming to pierce through his defenses. Shao Qing felt the needles land, but a moment later the figures were all destroyed, presumably by the killer. Despite Shao Qing’s surprise attack, the killer’s attacks didn’t lighten up in the least. ...Guess that wouldn’t be enough. He’d need to act himself.

Tao Yun felt himself being driven back. His weapons were falling apart, and his armor was missing in places. They weren’t major, but he’d also suffered more than a few cuts by now. As a particularly heavy barrage of attacks slammed against Tao Yun’s shield he was sent flying backwards, bursting through a dresser and slamming into the wall behind it, causing the room’s reinforcement formation to shudder.

Just as he was considering setting off the restraint formation early, another wave of figures exited from the fog- the third actually. They were destroyed just like the first two, but along with them came a multicolored needle of qi which pierced through the killer’s shoulder, embedding itself into the wall next to Tao Yun as it exited through the other side. This attack finally elicited a response from the killer, who turned away from Tao Yun and ran in the direction of the attacker.

From there on, the two shared the pressure. Shao Qing attacked from deep within the sea of fog, ice, and broken furniture, launching surprise attacks towards the killer. Meanwhile, Tao Yun served as a restraint to stop the killer from focusing all his attention on Shao Qing. This strategy seemed effective on the surface… but it wasn’t going as well as either Tao Yun or Shao Qing had hoped. They were landing hits, but the killer didn’t seem affected by the wounds he sustained, and every time he was wounded a fountain of burning blood and black maggots would pour out, forcing the two to fall back. The blood was particularly effective against Tao Yun, whose weapons would almost immediately fall apart coming in contact with it.

As the kiting strategy carried on, the killer drew closer and closer to Shao Qing, and managed to push away Tao Yun further and further with each attack. It was almost as if he was getting stronger as the battle wore on… hell, maybe he actually was. Or maybe he was just growing more used to their attacks. As Shao Qing launched another ‘needle’ of qi towards the killer’s knee, it was caught and deflected by one of the killer’s countless veins. Before Shao Qing could react, another vein shot through the fog and tried to intercept him. It pierced into Shao Qing’s hand, causing it to dry up slightly before he tore it out with his bare hands.

While the danger of the vein was neutralized, the killer had succeeded in his goal- Shao Qing was delayed. The killer had caught up with him. Shao Qing could sense that Tao Yun was a ways away, and weighed his options. It’d be easier to dodge the killer’s blows fleeing around the room than to block them, but if he ran it’d take longer for Tao Yun to intervene. He needed to stand his ground. The killer, wanting to launch an attack as quickly as possible, forgoed complicated techniques and simply raised a fist and slammed it towards Shao Qing’s face. At the same time Shao Qing raised his paintbrush, drawing a square in front of him. Qi flooded into the square, forming a wall that intercepted the blow.

While this wall was a good choice given the situation, Shao Qing’s defensive methods weren’t as powerful as Tao Yun’s, The wall was smashed apart, and Shao Qing bore the backlash. His face paled as felt a powerful force smashed against his chest, his body enduring part of the attack. Just as he prepared to raise a second wall Tao Yun came from behind, buying him a bit of breathing room.

Shao Qing disappeared, quickly restraining his qi and camouflaging himself. Tao Yun received a voice transmission. “I don’t care how you do it, but hold him back for around a minute. I have a plan.” Tao Yun didn’t have time to ask what the plan was before the killer attacked again.

...Guess he’d just have to trust him. They weren’t that close, but they both signed soul contracts, so he probably wasn’t being used as bait. Probably.

A minute… against someone rivalling a Half-Step Soul Foundation cultivator the remaining formations wouldn’t last that long. Damn it, if only he’d had more time to set up… or more room to spread the formations over… or more ambient qi to work with. He’d just have to stop conserving energy and go all out then.

Three of the blueish-grey rocks full of ice qi were sent flying towards the murderer, Tao Yun’s qi wrapped around them. The killer raised a hand and went to smack them away, only treating them as hastily-thrown projectile weapons… when the ice qi within them suddenly rushed out and all three rocks exploded. The killer’s hand was pierced through with high-velocity shards of ice, and wounds covered his upper body as he was pelted by the freezing shrapnel. A demented howl exited his mouth in response to the sudden pain, but that too was interrupted by a chunk of ice tearing through the flesh on the underside of his mouth, only dissolving as it began to tear another path outside.

This attack stalled for 10 seconds, and it had used up a sizable portion of Tao Yun’s qi. But, fortunately, it was only one of his trump cards, and for once the opponent actually seemed to be left reeling from their wounds. Even if their burning blood might have weakened the force of the ice-based attack, being caught in the middle of a killer move like that had to hurt.

20 seconds. The lull in the fighting ended. The killer was only more angry than before, and streams of blood dripped from his body as he thoughtlessly charged at Tao Yun in a mad haze. This charge, which had previously been enough to send Tao Yun shooting backwards, was now not a problem for him- the shield he’d previously been holding was gone, absorbed into the now massive sword that he could barely hold with both hands. The ice attribute rocks that Tao Yun had been using throughout the fight rapidly grew dim and crumbled as he fished them out of his interspatial pouch with a single finger, channeling all of their energy to make the sword even larger, and the armor around him thicker and thicker. He couldn’t move quickly like this… but given his opponent’s personality, he didn’t have to.

A casual sweep of the sword stopped the attacker in his tracks, negating all of the killer’s built up momentum. As the side of it slammed into him more blood came flying out of him and came into contact with the sword. Just like before the ice immediately began melting, but unlike then the sword remained intact- it just stopped growing, as Tao Yun fed massive amounts of qi to maintain its size despite the damage.

30 seconds. 40 seconds. The clashes between the killer and the sword continued on, as Tao Yun ran his qi reserves dry. Once, twice, thrice- on the fourth time both parties met, instead of the killer being slammed back as normal, he shot directly through the sword, having mustered up enough force to destroy it in a single blow. Tao Yun would’ve retreated to avoid a follow-up attack now that his weapon was broken, but the hilariously thick armor that had practically served to anchor him while he swung the similarly large sword around slowed him down too much. He gritted his teeth and watched on as the killer crashed into the ‘armor’, sending chunks of ice flying everywhere.

It took a bit for Tao Yun’s armor to break. 50 seconds. Without the ‘armor’ serving to keep him in place against the unopposable momentum of his opponent’s attacks, Tao Yun was sent flying, slamming into the wall to the neighboring room. The reinforcement formation struggled to keep up with the force of the blow, and the wall cracked. When another attack followed it gave in completely, and both Tao Yun and his opponent were launched into the neighboring room.

Tao Yun laid bruised and bleeding on the ground as the killer approached him. A couple sat at the opposite end of the long room, a terrified look on their face, but the killer ignored them. They weren’t cultivators, so their blood wouldn’t help. An endless array of veins raised into the air, ready to suck Tao Yun’s blood. ...Shit. He was sure it had been more than a minute.

Just as he’d resolved to make cursing Shao Qing his final words, someone charged out of the fog that was leaking in from their room- it was him! Shao Qing! Just as Tao Yun was getting his hopes up, he felt something… off. No, that wasn’t Shao Qing… the details were all wrong- it just looked like him at first.

...But the killer either didn’t notice or didn’t care about this inconsistency. He turned back from Tao Yun and sent his veins shooting towards ‘Shao Qing’, who had been attempting to attack from behind. A moment later a triumphant grin appeared on his face… but then it warped into a pained expression. What remained of ‘Shao Qing’ collapsed into a puddle of liquid, clothes, and wooden parts, but part of it had been sucked up already, ‘drank’ in through the veins.

A choking noise came from the killer’s mouth and he suddenly scratched at himself with all his might, as if trying to gouge out the veins he’d attacked with. He wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, but whatever he’d drank wasn’t blood. He felt a burning, tearing pain coursing through his body, chipping away at him. Something was wrong. He needed to get away.

The killer turned away from Tao Yun and tried to run away through the way he’d entered. If he’d been thinking more clearly he would’ve considered the formation from earlier and the fog and chosen a different direction to flee in, but he wasn’t. He was poisoned and affected by the crazed bloodlust his qi deviation had brought about- he was just acting on instinct now. That’s how he’d entered, so it was the exit.

Unfortunately for the killer, his hasty retreat wouldn’t be successful. After a short delay Tao Yun leapt up to chase after him, a several foot long sword of ice in hand, and before the killer made it halfway through the room he was intercepted- the real Shao Qing had appeared in front of him. He let out a pained screech and tried to push through, too scared to use the veins piercing out of him to attack again, but this attempt wasn’t successful.

Shao Qing lifted his paint brush and drew a net in the air, blocking the killer’s attempt to push past him. The illusory net barely held, the lines of qi holding it together about to snap after a few moments, but this delay was enough for Tao Yun to catch up. A restraint formation suddenly leapt to life, locking the killer in place. The killer charged against it, trying to break out, but he was weaker than before. It would take some time.

Time he didn’t have. 20 seconds later, the killer saw something familiar. A massive sword made of deep-blue ice, looking more like a wall than anything else.

SPLAT.

“You really cut it close. What’d you do back there?” “Mixed in poison with a ‘clone’ I had ready. Since they sucked out part of my blood I figured it’d work, as long as they were still mostly human. I guess I was right.”

Shao Qing stared at the wounded Tao Yun for a moment before approaching him. “You took a lot more hits than me, let me take a look.” Since Shao Qing was an alchemist, Tao Yun didn’t resist. Shao Qing only confirmed the injuries were non-lethal before he stopped focusing on them- now that their job was done it was time to deal with his main reason for being here.

“Take these one at a time. If you notice any change, stop.” Shao Qing tossed three Contract-Breaking pills to Tao Yun, acting as if they were medicine. He felt like his heart was in his throat as he watched Tao Yun consume the first one. No change. The second one. No change. And finally the third…

A vigilant look filled Tao Yun’s eyes. He threw a glance at Shao Qing. “The third one did something. Good medicine.” “...It broke?” “...Yes.” The two stared at each other for several several seconds as both tried to figure out what was safe to say. Shao Qing acted first.

“...Up there?” Tao Yun’s somewhat cold tone of voice lightened up. “Yes. Up there.” The next sentence was spoken via voice transmission. “The contract.”

Before the tension was fully released, Shao Qing replied. “Let me examine your soul. I need to check for damage.” Tao Yun reluctantly obliged. Shao Qing spent significantly longer checking Tao Yun’s soul than he had his wounds. Tao Yun would need a soul recovery pill for some superficial damage, but he had no permanent damage and the contract had been broken correctly. The Kang Clan should have had no idea the contract was broken.

“You’re fine.”

Suddenly, they both laughed in the wreckage of their hotel room, the both of them still wounded and the killer’s remains coating the floor behind them. Tao Yun was truly happy to be free. And Shao Qing was happy he was free… or to be more exact, he was happy it had all worked out. Even with the killer being stronger than expected being a good excuse, he had absolutely no confidence in faking Tao Yun’s death if his contract broke incorrectly and the Kang Clan noticed. He also wasn’t willing to turn tail, give up on his heist plan, and flee from the Kang Clan.

Shao Qing was really, really happy that he hadn’t had to kill Tao Yun.