Clang~

Su Jia and Lord Kai distanced themselves from each other after their last exchange,

Holding an elegant looking short sword, Su Jia had some slight battle damage on her. Her purple dress was torn in a few areas and her hair was slightly scrambled. While there was a small bruise on the right side of her jaw, there was not a trace of blood on her body.

Lord Kai on the other hand, was the complete opposite. The entire upper portion of his robes were completely destroyed, exposing his extremely bloodied chest. His topknot had been cut off during the fighting and his hair draped around his head in a messy pattern.

Breathing heavily, Lord Kai was currently in a very sorry state.

"You deceived us... To think that you were not actually at peak Spirit Manifestation, but Virtue Seeking! It is no wonder you came to us acting so cocky and confident."

"Be grateful that I am not at my full power. If I were, you wouldn't have been able to lay a single finger on me." Su Jia retorted.

Lord Kai let out a wry smile.

"I have said this before, but I'll say it again. It is a shame that you are our enemy. If you were on our side, the Tang would've surely offered you a very prestigious position in the future."

"I offer you one more chance to join us. Even if you're a Virtue Seeking cultivator, from our duel alone, I know you are still not a match for Lord Overseer."

Ting~

Su Jia threw a vertical sword strike towards Lord Kai's head. However, instead of hitting his head, it was blocked by two golden wrist guards attached to his arms.

"What are those wrist guards made out of! My cultivation is greater than yours, but I can't even put a scratch on them."

"These wrist guards are a gift from Lord Overseer, given to him by the Tang Clan himself. All attacks against it will fail unless my opponent is an entire cultivation stage above me. With this being the case, I have confirmed that you are not a peak Virtue Seeking cultivator."

Lord Kai staggered back slightly. Even though he could block Su Jia's attack, the force behind it was still as strong as ever. Given his injuries, defending against just one of her attacks required all of his energy and effort.

Seeing the amount of effort Lord Kai was putting into blocking her strike, Su Jia understood that even if her attack wasn't getting through she was still doing damage. She pulled back her sword and began to deliver blow after blow with greater emphasis on power over speed. While Lord Kai fended every single one of them, his face twisted in pain with each one.

"Give up! Even if you can block my attacks, the strain it will cause on your body will kill you eventually! If you surrender, I'll hear your last words and give you a painless death!"

"Tch... I really didn't want it to come to this, but you leave me no choice!"

Putt~

As Su Jia prepared for another heavy strike, Lord Kai smashed his fist into his own chest. He coughed out a glob of black blood and qi began to pour out of his mouth. This qi was not like normal qi and contained Lord Kai's essence. It was his soul qi!

"Soul Escape..." Su Jia muttered.

"That's right. By sacrificing a portion of my soul, I can trade it for a massive increase in speed. My present and future cultivation will diminish, but at least I will survive."

Su Jia swung at Lord Kai, but it was useless. Before her attack could make contact, he had already put two hundred meters of distance between them.

"I will be reporting to Lord Overseer about this matter. If you are wise, you will take your comrades and leave as soon as possible. As for me, I sense that mine have all been killed. You are young and possess a lot of talent. Even on opposing sides, I don't wish for a genius such as yourself to perish before reaching your full potential."

After leaving those parting words, Lord Kai left the range of Su Jia's spiritual sense.

Shortly after, Yin Hui flew up to her position, carrying Yu Zhuwa on his back.

"Sigh... I dealt with my four opponents, but it seems like you can't even handle one. No doubt our invasion will be that much harder now that they are getting a heads up."

"Hmph! Next time I'll take the lackeys then and you can battle the peak Spirit Manifestation cultivator." Su Jia snorted.

"Fine fine, I guess it couldn't be helped. Should we attack before they have time to prepare then?"

"Of course. If that coward thinks he can escape from me by hiding in his castle he is dead wrong."

-----------------------------

In a decorated palace, an old man with long white hair sat cross legged in the air. His eyes were closed as rich spiritual qi swirled around him, giving him an aura of power.

Crash~

Suddenly, the doors flung open and a young man of about twenty five ran into the center of the palace.

"Elder! Elder!" The man got on his knees before the old man and clasped his hands.

"What is it?"

"We have received a soul message from the young miss!"

The old man lifted an eyebrow, but didn't open his eyes.

"Interesting, what did she say?"

"It appears... That she attempted to get through Coiling Pass and has gotten lost there."

Silent, the old man stroked his beard.

"I heard that the young miss wanted to weaken the Tang Clan's hold on the border. However, the other elders were hesitant. I guess she decided to take matters into her own hands and raid the outpost herself."

"What should we do my lord?"

Letting out a sigh, the old man ceased his meditation and descended downwards.

"Even though her actions violate our laws, it doesn't change the fact that she is a talent that we cannot afford to lose. For our future plans, we need to make sure she reaches her full potential."

The young man looked up with visible joy on his face.

"Elder! Does that mean..."

"I have an idea on which outpost she intends to attack. Putting into consideration her current cultivation, there are very few she can take on her own. However, the young miss has a very feisty and arrogant personality as well which narrows it down even further."

"I will mobilize a team at once to come to the aid of the young miss!" The young man bowed deeply and turned towards the door.

"Wait."

Before the young man could take a single step forward, he felt his entire body freeze at the elder's command.

"Coiling Pass is a maze of tunnels filled with countless spirit beasts. If you were to venture there with a group of your peers you would become just as lost as her. Knowing the young miss, she mostly likely stole a compass before leaving. If even she could not get through Coiling Pass with one, do you think you would be able to?"

"No sir..." The man said dejectedly.

"Do not fret. I will accompany you and act as a guide through the pass. While I cannot guarantee that we will make it to her in the shortest amount of time, I assure you that we will not be lost."

"Thank you great elder." The young man bowed his head.

"Gather your friends, but keep the group small. We do not want the other elders to know about this. If they find out, it will only complicate matters once we bring the young miss back."

Nodding his head, the young man left the palace quickly to search for the best cultivators suited for the rescue operation. After he left, the old man shook his head.

"That girl... Constantly causing trouble for her grandfather. While she is incredibly talented and beautiful, she is also headstrong and brutish. If I wasn't always there to save her from all the trouble she causes, she would most likely have been killed long ago."

"She is right though. If the Tang are to be overthrown, the initiative needs to be taken. With all the benefits the capital provides them, delaying will only weaken our position. If my cultivation was just a bit higher I would be able to force those old men to see reason. Sigh... I'm sure that when we return, I'll have to do a lot of explaining. Whatever, I'll come up with an excuse on the way back."

Despite the windows being closed, a gust of wind entered the palace. When the wind ceased, the palace was completely vacant and the old man disappeared.