Cool calm settled on Fan Ping’s mind as the talisman flew from her hand. Inwardly rivers of mental energy cycled through her body following the well-practiced loop of the ‘Ten minds see all under heaven’ cycling technique. In concept, the technique used by master realm observers was a modified version of the common loop variety.

It required that the martial artist form the first loop of Qi and mental energy as wide around as possible before forming nine more concentrically smaller loops, each one inside the last to form something approximating a disc. With this, observers could vary the amount they were sustaining at any given time allowing for fast advancement during training or reduced loops to free up mental concentration during combat. The only requirement was that two be kept up at all times.

With these two the observer collected neutral heaven and earth Qi with the outer loop and fed it through a conversion Dao rune formed of mental energy to make Primal Mind Qi. This was a combination of body and mind qi as a composite combining the pure physical boost of body qi with the increased mental acuity of mind qi. It was said that once one mastered the first step of the technique there was a second that allowed for a second conversion formation that would increase the efficiency of converting the energies of heaven and earth.

Using a single thought she pushed the gathered Qi into the talisman as a barely perceptible strand of silver light. This was the ‘connection of control and calculation’ technique observers normally ran along the thin strings attached to flying daggers. By controlling the physical properties of the string using body qi and watching every tiny change in it using the accelerated thought process of mind qi an observer could move the daggers about almost as freely as their limbs.

For this, the secret came in the construction of the strings used. Although this secret was closely guarded by the elders of the observer lineage Fan Ping was one of them so she was privy to such knowledge. When an observer initiate first starts training they are made to shave their heads and donate this hair to the lineage before bathing and beginning the first exercises. This is normally explained as a process to purify the individual and a sign they are devoting themselves to the training.

Every observer who makes it to the master realm is given back a loc of this hair as a sign of completing their training and ‘taking back’ what they had left as collateral for the lineage. However, the rest of this hair is used to fashion the strings that serve the observers flying daggers. With this, the hair is woven into the material of the string and forms a physical connection with the user strengthening their ability to use body qi with it as that type of energy is naturally best when used to enhance one's own body.

Fan Ping shook her head slightly and stopped reminiscing about the techniques. As she did a transparent ripple stretched out from the talisman floating in front of her. The paper of the talisman started to burn with a silver fire as the power within was exhausted and soon a transparent haze was covering each member of the legion. Atop the walls of Forest Depths Village figures wearing the proud robes of the legion soldiers appeared just as life-like in appearance as their real counterparts. An eerie chill ran down her spine seeing the sight, there was something unnatural about seeing her soldiers portrayed in such a way.

With a silent nod to the other officers, Fan Ping activated ‘stalker steps’, the movement technique standard for all the observers. Quickly, her mental energy reached out from the eight loops inside Fan Ping’s dantian, gathering Qi and feeding it into the cycle. Powerful energy coursed through her limbs as she gracefully moved over the ground, barely touching it in an almost ethereal way.

Each step carried her a few feet and could have covered almost a dozen had she not been slowing down for the legion to keep pace. Despite the speed and number of warriors moving they didn’t make a sound as the legion exited via the southern gate of Forest Depths village. The assault plan was simple: they would leave via the southern gate and go around the cliff face at the southwestern corner of the wall.

Here, they would hug the line of foliage bordering the open plain outside the western gate of the village until they came to the edge of that clearing. Finally, the force would travel north for a way until reaching the hill bordering the entrance to the camp the elite Wei clan commanders had set up. Scout reports indicated that the haughty bastards had forced a mix of mercenaries and loyalists to guard their camp wall.

As such Fan Ping suspected that those assigned to such a task would be less qualified, with the Wei elite already angering the leaders of their respective allied forces. Time passed quickly and the legion was able to traverse the route with little issue. Standing below the rise of the top of the hill bordering the enemy camp Fan Ping saw that only a handful of six guarded the gate.

It was hard to classify the gate as one as the shabby frame that had been put together barely looked to be standing and had no doors to speak of. Around the camp large logs had been squared and laid atop one another in the low points between the hills, using the terrain to form a natural wall. Inside the camp, only a few dozen tents were set up and most of them seemed to be unoccupied at the moment. In all the camp covered only around a square kilometer and wasn’t large. Looking around she noticed however that it did have shoddy gate frames set up for southern and northern approaches along with the gate for the western approach.

Similar compliments of guards lined the other entrances so in total the camp was guarded by around 18 men. At the center of the camp, a large bonfire was lit in front of which sat a war table with various decorative seats arranged around it. Here the remaining nine elite warriors from the Wei clan seemed to be having an intense debate as one of them was standing and shouting at a man with his back to the fire.

This man was seated and had a spear with a pure white sword laid on his right shoulder. As the standing warrior continued yelling the seated man, who Fan Ping assumed to be the commander at this point, simply stared at him impassively. Using ‘one heaven observed 10000 times' she tried to get a feel for the man's strength.

It was then that Fan Ping noticed the levels of the two sitting beside the leader who were sneering at the yelling man. These two gave off master realm energy that slightly fluctuated the air. As her technique worked the mind and body aspects of Primal mind Qi came into effect allowing the mind aspect to make each fluctuation as apparent as the sun while the body enhancing aspect outlined each small movement as it enhanced her eyesight.

Each of these men had piercing green eyes and carried swords that radiated the power of mortal magical treasures. To the right, the man had rust-red hair and wore a traditional emerald martial arts robe emblazoned with the Wei clan crest. He stood slightly shorter than most men and had a scar running down across his face that went from the top of his right eye, through his nose, and ended at his jaw.

Staring at the man’s face gave one the feeling of a cruel man, someone who took pleasure from inflicting pain. However, the sternness of his gaze also spoke of temperament and discipline. Obviously, the Wei had trained the man well and he had to overcome much to reach the master realm.

To the left of the leader, another pair of piercing green eyes could be seen. This man had stark white hair the color of bleached bone. From his gaze, one felt the impression of an upright noble, someone who was righteous and would purge all of those who stood in his path. Resolution sparked in his eyes and as he stood almost a head taller than the average man he looked down on those around him as if to judge their sins.

Finally, the leader was a plain-looking man who had shortcut muddy brown hair and a stocky build. Of all three Fan Ping could tell that they were at least in the master realm. However, although she could see that both of the men sitting beside him were in the initial stages of the master realm, Fan Ping couldn’t see through the leader.

Years of training and observer work spun in her mind as she tried to think of ways to calculate the strength of the man. Many times Fan Ping had worked exercises to see through opponents even up to decently powerful grandmasters, however, today she was failing to see through the exact power of someone in the same realm as her. This vexed her as she was certain the leader was not in the grandmaster realm, the fluctuations of power weren’t correct for that.

Elder Fan Yahui had allowed her on multiple occasions to try seeing through someone more powerful than her and she had been able to. Not to mention practicing with the current clan head, elder Fan Long! Two possibilities raced through her head, the first was that the enemy's power was unimaginable and was above even the clan leader. The second and more likely explanation was that the commander had some sort of talisman or magical treasure designed to protect against such observation techniques. Breathing calmly she tried to come to a decision, the second was most likely however even if that were the case the question remained, could she beat him?

Previously only the Wei elite master that Fan Shun had killed had taken to the field and this commander had yet to deign the battlefield worthy of his presence. If she could defeat him then all was well, however, if Fan Ping overestimated herself it would condemn the entire legion to death. Indecision raced in her mind as Qi furiously cycled through Fan Ping’s body.

Fan Zhong breathed in deeply as he squatted in formation under the rise of the hill outside the Wei camp. They had only just arrived and it had been a relief that the march had gone well. Su fen stood in front of him to his right and the older warrior’s presence reassured him, allowing his mind to stay at ease. There was little question that today would be the deciding battle for Forest Depths Village; the only real question was how that battle would go.

During the entire march, he had been using his mental technique to try to spot any signs of enemy scouts. It was foolish he knew, the veteran observers would notice the enemy long before he could, but it was something Fan Zhong couldn’t help doing. All of the previous missions that Fan Zhong had previously been on had been to defend something or escort someone.

This would be the first time he was actively participating in an attack on the enemy. Nervousness tinged his thoughts, something new to him as previously battle was something that was forced on him, not something he was walking towards. Subconsciously without Fan Zhong’s input, his fingers began drumming the beat of his music against the staff in his hands.

Suddenly something touched his hand and Fan Zhong almost gasped before a hand covered his mouth and he looked up to realize it was Su Fen. With a silent nod, the older warrior stared at him and breathed deeply before exhaling exaggeratedly. He got the hint and started breathing deep and slow once more.

After making sure the young warrior was calmed down Su Fen nodded again before facing forward and repeating the motion to someone ahead. Fan Zhong realized that Fan Shun had been looking back from his position further ahead in the formation. Warmness touched his heart and he quickly looked down in embarrassment as his breathing started to regulate.

Slowly things settled down and the legion waited with bated breath for the orders of their commander.

Resolve solidified in Fan Ping’s eyes after only a few minutes of deliberation, today the legion would fight. Quickly her hands formed a series of seals as she pointed at Su Luixian, her master realm observer officer. With a quick nod, the experienced observer understood. Like a pair of shadows, each of them used their movement techniques to glide between the foliage and down the hill, silent as a pair of ghosts.

As they approached they split up, Su Luixian going to the right of the gate as Fan Ping ran to the left, each appearing like a blur to the third-grade martial artists guarding the entrance. To his credit the second-grade officer leading the six men was able to just barely react, showing a confused expression as he started slumping to the floor. In Fan Ping and Su Luixian’s eyes, silver sparks danced and they could both see the ethereal silver mind qi phantoms piercing the forehead of each enemy.

This was ‘Height of the Sky Overbears the Deep Earth’ delivered with a phantom formed from Primal mind Qi. Qi Phantom attacks are formed from envisioning an attack as one would make it in the mind and then filling the model of the attacking portion, this case the flying dagger, with one's own Qi. With this, the phantom will take on the properties of the Qi and mimic the real attack. These phantoms only amplify what could physically happen so the more of the attack the martial artist physically performs the less Qi is used to form the phantom.

In this way, high-level martial artists' fights look like the fighters are physically twitching in many different directions in quick succession like they are feinting over and over again, at least when they have Qi for techniques. This allows the start of the motion to give shape to the phantom and launch an attack before retracting and repeating the action from a different angle. During this occasion, Fan Ping swiped her hand back and forth with each swipe being the beginning action of a throw with the flying dagger, and then filled the model of the attack in her mind with Primal mind Qi.

After that, the technique was applied as she formed and moved the energy in the right way to amplify the emotions the targets were already feeling. The enemies hadn’t physically died from the phantom attacks, Primal Mind Qi wasn’t good at affecting the physical world by itself as such, instead, she had amplified their surprise at being attacked to such a degree that they had instantly had heart attacks.

With a sigh Fan Ping flicked her wrist and sent out a fan of six daggers from her sleeves, cutting the throat of each enemy. One couldn’t always be sure that mental attacks had finished the opponents and so she made sure they died from purely physical wounds before anyone could recover. As this was happening Su Luixian signaled the legion to advance as shouts went up around the camp.

Immediately, the men from the other entrances rallied and started forming up to engage Fan Ping and her officer. However, they froze as they saw the entire legion closing in over the hilltop.

“Well so much for surprise, I suppose sneaking is more your style than mine at any rate” Kang Song’s voice rang out from beside her.

“Hmph, as if you could sneak up on anyone. Shall we hunt some jackals?” A faint smile touched Fan Ping’s lips, her heart warmed at the sound of his voice and it comforted her that this day that might be her last was spent with a dear comrade.

“I don’t know about that, these bastards seem incredibly surprised to see me here. I suppose we can do something about this jackal problem of yours however, you’ll owe me” Kang Song said, returning her look with a jovial smile.

“Oh? And what would you be expecting? Don’t forget that I am your superior officer, Junior brother Song.” She retorted with a slightly teasing tone.

“Hmmm, dinner and… perhaps we can talk about things. Just so you know, I have elder Yahui’s blessing already. Enough talk though, time to put down some jackals” Kang Song didn’t give her the chance to respond before he charged into the center of the enemy camp bellowing a war cry that reached the heavens.

Fan Ping almost choked at those words before recovering. Quickly, she issued commands to her two remaining officers with hand seals before rushing after Kang Song.

Fan Shun raced at the head of his two squads, directing them to the northern gate of the Wei camp. This would be the gate that connected them to the loyalist camp and he would have to hold the enemy here to give Fan Ping time to end the enemy commander. Determination flashed in his eyes as his movement technique gathered momentum.

Quickly he used the modified version of ‘Ten minds see all under heaven’ that elder Fan Yahui had designed for him. It was called ‘Ten minds burn all under heaven’ and used a combination of mind, fire, and earth qi to form Burning Earthly Mind Qi. With the way his technique worked he needed both earth and fire Qi to advance them; however, after advancing to the master realm he learned more about elemental Qi.

The elements worked in cycles and it just so happened that Earth defeated fire which would cause his qi to be only half as effective as normal heaven and earth qi. This in turn would need him to use twice as much to receive the same results! Luckily, the elders had designed this technique which used mind qi as the primary element with fire and earth as secondary. This formed a composite that still had some of the aspects of fire and earth.

Three loops were needed at all times to maintain this and now Fan Shun reduced his normal six-loop state to three as he poured excess Qi into his body and blade. He sped up like never before and the enemies guarding the northern gate only saw the outline of a blurring brown flame in the shape of a sword as all six of them were cut down. Fan Shun leveled a cold gaze out of the gate as he saw enemy forces marshal up a primitive path that have been cleared.

This was his position, on this day, Fan shun would not yield his ground!

Fan Zhong moved his staff with grace, launching three shifting palm strikes before retreating a step as the new observer in his squad launched attacks in his wake. Three flying daggers flew and one found its mark in a shoulder before the enemy forced the weapons back. No time was wasted and as this was going on Fan Zhong had moved to his right, deflecting an attack aimed at Su Fen’s side with a shifting palm before launching an earth origin palm at the opponent's knee.

Mortal magical treasure met flesh and a sick crunch preempted a shout of pain that was drowned in the din of combat. A brief gaze over the battlefield let Fan Zhong see that Fan Shun had spearheaded into the enemy ranks and engaged the master realm expert from the loyalist. Two short maces met the short sword of Fan Shun as shockwaves rang out from the engagement.

This had a side effect as the enemy force split like water around the fighting experts and pressed down on the Fan legion squads. Fighting continued and Fan Zhong suffered several cuts to his upper arms all the while his mind stayed calm like a cool breeze. It was as if he had acclimated to the fighting by this point, being driven by a grand symphony of martial movements.

In truth, the melody playing in his mind had crystallized and he felt like he was balancing on a tightrope, desperately trying to use the skills gained from this experience while being wary that the lust for battle would overtake his mind. Images of bleeding suns flashed through Fan Zhong’s mind for a moment and a shield rammed into his face.

Cursing he rose and found that the enemy had flowed around the master realm experts and driven the legion warriors so far back that Fan Shun was now cut off from the rest of them. This didn’t mean danger for the experts however, it meant danger for the legion members. The loyalists fighting them mostly had an advantage in numbers and now that they had more surface area to attack the legion warriors this advantage could be leveraged.

Fear stirred in the pit of Fan Zhong’s stomach and he pulled his weapon in front of him, firming his resolve to continue fighting.

Su Fen saw with perfect clarity as the enemy surrounded his battle squad. He could see it in his mind's eye now, all of his comrades dying as they bitterly struggled to the last breath. There would be no rescue as Fan Shun needed at least ten more seconds to finish off the enemy commander.

Most people assumed that Su Fen had the most attainment in ‘Momentum of Shifting Earth’ much like his long-time friend Fan Shun. This was understandable as it was his second best technique and allowed him to use the shifting palm technique to such a high level that he had named it the ‘shifting sands’ style. However, the area he actually excelled in the most was ‘Observing the Roaming Earth’. Yes, he was a warrior that was most skilled in mental techniques.

At a young age, his aptitude for the observer lineage had been incredibly high, and being a member of the Su clan it was expected that Su Fen would become the next core disciple of the lead observer. Honestly, he had thought so as well and had been eager to do so until he met Fan Shun. That day he had observed the man who would become his best friend being beaten black and blue by a pair of Fan clan scions no less.

This had continued and almost every time Su Fen would see Fan Shun he was being beaten or bullied by other members of his clan. What caught his eye every time was that there existed no hatred in those youths' eyes, only the determination and resolve to become better. To prove his naysayers wrong. After investigating he found that Fan Shun was the bastard child of a Fan clan observer who had an affair with a Su clan warrior.

Their relationship had been accepted by the clan however, this warrior wanted to be more than a branch clan member, he wanted to incite rebellion and overtake the fan clan. As such he was thrown out and the observer was shamed endlessly for the faults of her lover. Fan Shun reminded her of that shame and thus he was raised almost entirely on the generosity of those who would spare him time.

After learning this Su Fen was shocked and horrified about the youths' treatment and tried to bargain with his elders to formally adopt Fan Shun into his own family. His words had fallen on deaf ears however and so he decided that he would follow this man, someone who could keep hatred out of his heart even while shouldering the weight of others' sins.

When he found out that Fan Shun was destined to be a warrior he decided to be one as well! This is how the youth who was once considered a potential prodigy of the observer branch became a clan warrior. Over the years many had scorned him for this choice however, Su Fen had never regretted it once.

Without the weight of such responsibility on his shoulders, he had found a new freedom and enjoyed a newfound love of just living life. This was why he always wanted to appear lazy and carefree, for this was Su Fen’s ideal state! Staring at the impending death about to fall on his squad he once again donned that lazy smile and swept his staff out, pushing all of his comrades back behind him in just a few motions.

“Junior brothers and sisters, remember to always face life with a smile. Every day is a gift, cherish it and you’ll meet your ancestors with no regrets.” Su Fen’s tone was jovial and he spoke as if he was taking a stroll through a tranquil park

One step, five spears came down on him from all sides. Shifting sands called to Su Fen and he answered two sweeps of his staff knocking the blows aside, a knife stuck in his gut. More winds whispered to him as half a dozen blows rang across his weapon, the knife wielder dropped to the floor as blood oozed from his eyes and he struggled to breathe. Shift and strike, a cut to his arm. Block and counter, his left eye was bashed in.

Su Fen’s figure wove a dense forest of after images as his staff increased in speed. First, one enemy fell, then two, and then four. Blood flowed from wounds on him as water flows in a river but no attack seemed to stop him, nothing could stop the song of shifting sands. One, two, four, eight, a dozen, tens of dozens, the strikes increased as weapons approached him and in turn were smashed apart. Finally, after a dozen breaths, all was still as that ever-moving staff slammed end first into the ground.

A shockwave of dust ran outward and everyone who was second-grade or higher could feel the focused mental energy resonating in Su Fen’s staff. His body stood rigid and resolute, an iron bulwark between his enemies and comrades. At that moment his face was calm and he wore a lazy smile.

Fan Zhong looked at the figure of Su Fen, astonished that the veteran warrior could do such a thing. Mental energy seemed to hum in the staff he was wielding and it felt much stronger than Fan Zhong’s own. Eyes widening he realized that the senior warrior must have broken through to the first-grade realm mid-combat, like the stories of legends!

Everyone around the battle squad stared at Su Fen in shock and only the shockwaves from the other squad fighting as well as the master realm duel still rang out.

“Senior, that was amazing. Come and reform the formation, we’ll route them!” Fan Zhong said with courage in his voice.

No reply came.

“Senior Su Fen, Quickly reform the battle line!” Fan Zhong’s voice had panic in it as he rushed to his comrade.

Everyone else stood frozen, still shocked from what had just happened. The enemy looked on with apprehension, not knowing if they should attack or flee for their lives. As Fan Zhong touched the older warrior's shoulder, he gritted his teeth.

With tears forming in his eyes he walked a single step forward to look at Su Fen’s eyes. His mental energy had already told him everything from that touch, there had been no pulse. He had to confirm it was his eyes and as he met the gaze of his senior Fan Zhong saw that no life remained in Su Fen.

Fan Zhong looked toward the enemy with red in his eyes, the killing intent on him so strong that the enemy soldiers would have sworn they could physically feel it clawing at their throats. Hands clamped on Fan Zhong’s shoulders as he let loose an animalistic roar, struggling like a beast to tear the enemy apart.

Just a few moments ago…

Fan Shun skidded back a few steps as his sword sheath deflected a series of three phantom maces that had been aimed at him. His opponent looked worse for wear with a wound on his left side leaking blood as he panted for breath. Narrowing his eyes, Fan Shun generated ten loops in his cycling technique for just a few moments to pull in as much Qi as he could control.

This was his new version of a sword drawing technique, it combined phantom strikes with the illusions of the mental qi that was the center of his style now. Two times his hand twitched and two after images of Fan Shun starting sword draws started before launching forwards as phantoms. At the same time, he executed his drawing technique while layering enough Qi for two phantoms over his blade.

The first phantom was for strengthening the attack, the second applied a transparent shimmer to the blade. This allowed the attack to appear as if it was a few inches in any direction as he approached. All of this happened in an instant as Fan Shun thrust the point of his blade at the enemy, choosing to draw thrust instead of a slash.

A cascade of mace phantoms crossed and met the two flanking phantom attacks canceling them out as the enemy met Fan Shun’s attack head-on with his physical weapons layered in phantom Qi. Elation appeared in the enemy's face as an attack hidden behind his left leg blurred forward to blindside Fan Shun

At the same time, the enemy was sure that he had caught the thrust between his upraised maces. Horror dawned on the man as the real sword passed three inches below his block and a Qi-infused sword tore through his layer of defensive Qi just far enough to pierce his heart. The mace phantom collided with Fan Shun’s shoulder and cracked the swirling defensive energies there managing to move him an inch to the side

With a nod, Fan Shun pulled his blade out and decapitated the enemy before sheathing it. That was when he heard a primal roar echo across the battlefield. He looked out just in time to see Fan Zhong being pulled away from the body of Su Fen.

Fan Ping panted in exhaustion as she raised her two remaining flying daggers in her hands to defensive positions. On the floor lay seven dead elite Wei clan members and six dead legion members. Sadness touched her heart as her senses passed over Kang Song’s cooling body, it seemed that the promised dinner would never come. Among the dead lay the master clan expert with red hair and the rest of the Wei contingent.

Now only the enemy commander and the white-haired master realm expert remained. All three of them were battered with multiple cuts and bruises. Several mind qi daggers were sticking from the extremities of the Wei clan warriors constantly sending bursts of mental manipulations into them to amplify pain, fear, and wariness. Currently, Fan Ping knew she couldn't win, she had almost no Qi remaining.

It was time for one last gamble, one that would bet the lives of her legion on. With a sigh she let one of the daggers go to quickly sign a command to the last remaining member of the legion squad that had accompanied her and Kang Song into combat. Before the weapon could fall even an inch Fan Ping grabbed it and rushed forward, charging straight at the enemy.

Ten phantoms, that's how much Qi she had remaining and that was if they were layered on a physical object. With a smile she layered four on each flying dagger and gripped them by the hilts instead of by the flying string, the last two went into two illusions that were set to trigger manually at command. Both enemies smiled and lunged forward, they saw a worried-looking Fan Ping making a desperate charge.

This was the first illusion as her face was set in an expression of grim determination. She met them headon and each extended forward aggressively looking to bypass the crossed guard of the daggers. One sword went for her lungs as the other went for the gut.

Looks of shock and horror appeared on each man's face as they suddenly realized that a dagger was lodged in their throats as their swords pierced Fan Ping’s body. This had been the second illusion, she had never blocked at all instead choosing to take the enemy with her. Subtly and bombast, a subtle illusion on the face to make the enemy overconfident and a bombastic one to mislead the eyes.

As Fan Ping died she smiled, it seemed that she had truly learned that lesson well. Now she had served the clan and she could go be at peace with Kang Song.

Horns rang to call the retreat of the enemy forces as Fan Shun held the body of his closest friend. Reports came that Commander Fan Ping had felled the enemy commander and that the enemies had indeed retreated. In total only two squads survived the assault along with Su Luixiang and Fan Shun. None of that mattered to him as he stared at the smile on the face of Su Fen. There had been no final heroic speech, no last words while spluttering a mouthful of blood like in the stories. Su Fen had died, in a glorious display of martial prowess to be sure however he had still died.

That day many raindrops fell at the feet of Fan Shun and the remaining legion members, many generations of valley clan warriors would remark about the rain on that clear-skied day.