Upon confirming that he had won the battle, Jianyu sighed with exhaustion. He slumped to the ground, both in awe that he had won the battle and suffering the side-effects of overexertion. Opening his storage ring, he pulled out several Sky tier Qi Restoration pills of middling quality and placed his well-crafted jian inside. After consuming the pills, he sat in the lotus position to cycle the energy through his meridians, healing his aching body. He could do nothing about the damage to his meridians, as they would only heal time or expensive elixirs, of which he had neither.

Jianyu’s blood was still racing, and he knew he had to hurry to assist his fellow disciples. However, he also knew that rushing would lead him to a quick death, and so he anxiously but meticulously rejuvenated himself. After half an incense time, he was ready to continue. He wasn’t at full strength, but he could go into combat without exacerbating his relatively minor injuries.

Jianyu rose to his feet and began to run towards the inner courtyard, ignoring the carnage around him. He stepped around the bodies of fallen disciples and assassins alike, completely focused on stopping the assassin with the gold mask before it was too late.

When he finally reached the inner courtyard, he saw that only 5 exhausted disciples remained, Zhaohui among their number. In contrast, almost a dozen assassins remained, their movement not betraying even a semblance of fatigue. Zhaohui’s signature technique, the Walls of Heaven, was visible, causing bright flashes of white light whenever the assassins broke through the disciples’ defense, sparing their lives at the cost of most of his dantian’s reserve. Seeing this, Jianyu immediately acted, pulling his sword from his storage ring and immediately decapitating two assassins with a single horizontal slice.

As the element of surprise was no longer on his side, the other assassins began to defend themselves. But they were no match for even a fatigued Jianyu, his sword cutting through limbs and torsos alike faster than he could blink. Before he knew it, there were only 5 assassins left, and he moved to eliminate the rest of the bunch.

Suddenly, an oppressing aura froze Jianyu’s movements, and the assassins all dropped into the lotus position. Zhaohui and his fellow disciples fared no better, collapsing to the ground as they struggled to resist. One of the disciples couldn’t take the pressure, and his neck broke with a loud crack, disturbing the relatively quiet battleground.

After 10 heartbeats of resisting the antagonistic aura, Jianyu was finally able to move his body to face the source of the aura, grimacing at what he saw. The gold masked cultivator was seemingly seated on the air itself, hovering above the ground. After Jianyu gazed upon the ornate mask of the new threat, the menacing aura around him suddenly stopped, causing Jianyu to stumble. He heard the wheezing of his fellow disciples as they struggled to catch their breath. A nondescript voice began to emanate from the mask of the elite assassin, low and distorted.

“What a surprise. Our scouts didn’t report any remaining threats after surveying this backwater sect. Name yourself, so you may meet your ancestors with honor,” the voice asked, emotionless. Even though the assassin didn’t turn his head to face Jianyu, it was clear who was being addressed.

Rather than respond, however, Jianyu summoned rage and directed it towards the new threat. His eyes began to faintly glow the color of blood, though he was not aware of the change. He spat with a grimace, knowing that assassins knew nothing of honor.

“It would appear that you would rather rebel than answer my question. Very well, I shall give you an ultimatum. Answer my question, or your fellow disciples die.” It was clear the threat was not empty, as the lesser assassins moved from their lotus positions and placed their blades at the throats of his brother and the surviving disciples.

“My name is Lei Jianyu, and on my honor as a cultivator, I will be your end.” At this, the heavens thundered once as if accepting his oath. Jianyu now had to either kill his opponent or suffer an agonizing death as his cultivation detonated inside of him.

“What a pity. Your oath has prevented any chance of your survival” The gold masked assassin shook their head as if lamenting this loss. Then, he began to walk on the air itself, the signature ability available to Core Formation cultivators. Things were not looking good for Jianyu, as his opponent withdrew two long daggers from the sleeves of his robes. Unlike the daggers of the other assassins, these were solid black and reflected nearly no light at all. No poison dripped from their tips, and it appeared that the daggers themselves were poisonous. “No matter. Lei Jianyu, prepare to die.”

The words of the gold-masked assassin sent shivers down Jianyu’s spine. It was clear he was at a disadvantage. His opponent was at least initial-Core Formation, if not higher, and possessed a body cultivation at the level of Bone Forging, higher than his own Organ Tempering stage. His only hope lay in his skill with the jian.

He had no time to set his feet in his favored bow stance. Before he could blink, his opponent was upon him, opening with two slices diagonally across his torso. Thankfully for Jianyu, his opponent’s strikes were fairly easy to block. However, before he could counterattack, his opponent was already in motion, quickly stabbing with daggers the length of one’s forearm towards his right elbow, left thigh, and solar plexus. Jianyu could do nothing but retreat, for his strikes took as long as 3 of his opponent’s.

Another thrust towards his torso made Jianyu contort his body in ways he hadn’t thought were possible. For all his skill, he simply couldn’t keep up with his opponent. His opponent moved faster than his eyes or brain could register, and he could only act on instinct. But it wasn't enough.

He found himself flying towards the wall, his figure making an indentation in the stone. Only after the impact did he register that he'd been kicked. As he coughed up blood, he wondered how this level of power was possible. Unable to pull himself from the wall, Jianyu was at the mercy of his opponent. But rather than finishing him off, the assassin attacked with blunt force, sending Jianyu’s body flying through the rest of the wall, mortal stone unable to resist a battle between cultivators. With his reserves only a quarter full, he was in dire straits. From the pills he'd taken earlier, he was on the verge of poisoning himself and couldn't risk taking another. While the circumstances were grim, this was the first break he'd received in the entire battle. Without hesitation he activated Cloud Puppeteer.

After their initial exchange, Jianyu vaguely understood the style of his opponent. There was very little skill in their technique, which relied on overwhelming force to quickly overpower the opposition. In fact, the opponent was so unskilled that it disrupted Jianyu, preventing him from predicting his opponent. Despite this, their attacks were rarely lethal, and as long as he didn't get hit, he'd survive.

Unfortunately for Jianyu, this wasn’t enough to change the course of the battle. After going on the defensive once more in an attempt to fend of the elite assassin’s attacks, he decided to try something new. In a display that clearly shocked his opponent, Jianyu threw his sword, quickly retreating as his opponent tried, and failed to react. At first Jianyu was surprised. It was a direct hit to the torso, and his opponent wasn’t moving. A moment passed, then two. He saw that his sword had struck true, stabbing through his enemy's physique. But then his opponent began to twitch, rising from the ground to face a defenseless Jianyu.

In a display of extreme mental fortitude, the assassin withdrew the blade impaled through their chest and threw it to the ground. The hole in the black fabric of their attire didn’t reknit itself, but the flesh underneath did so at a visible rate, shocking the surviving disciples. They were all thinking the same thing; how could one defeat an opponent who wouldn’t die?

The assassin accelerated from a walk to a sprint towards Jianyu. While his demeanor was expressionless, Jianyu smiled internally. The assassin had made a mistake in throwing his jian to the ground. With an effort of will, he recalled his blade, to impale the assassin once more, returning to Jianyu’s outstretched hand. But this still was not enough to stop his opponent.

“At least they bleed,” thought an exasperated Jianyu, taking a offensive stance for the first time in the duel. Jianyu once more activated his Soul Sight, attempting to discover the reason for his opponent’s monstrous vitality. Even a Bone Forging body cultivator should have been hard pressed to heal from a Qi augmented attack directly to the heart, let alone twice in short succession. In the brief moment before his opponent resumed his attack, Jianyu identified the cause of the problem; the assassin was drawing upon the toxic death Qi left behind by the bodies of his fallen comrades. This further enraged Jianyu, and for the first time in the battle, he struck first, slashing towards his opponents left hand in a disarming strike that was barely avoided, before following it up with a low slash at knee-height.

The assassin was fast, but clearly not skilled. Instead of retreating, they jumped into the air, opening themselves up to what should have been a lethal bisection. But even this wasn’t enough, the tendrils of flesh knitting together once more, before the assassin directed his right knee into Jianyu’s left elbow, making his arm go numb.

The battle continued. Jianyu's technique grew sloppier with time, the blood on his blade mixing with his sweat to loosen his grip just as fatigue slowed his movements. Every exchange saw him pit his strength against an opponent far above his weight class, and his body couldn't keep up.

Zhaohui was the only disciple skilled enough to even see his brother and the enemy cultivator crossing blades. Despite all of his talent and all of his skill, it was clear his brother was losing. After landing more than a dozen killing blows, Jianyu was beginning to fatigue, and it was showing. Even though the assassin never landed a killing blow, small injuries began to accumulate on Jianyu’s body; first he sprained his left ankle, causing him to be less mobile. A blocked strike hyper-extended a tendon, causing him to wince in pain. A devastating kick to the chest shattered a rib. Zhaohui was both surprised and proud his brother was still even standing with this many injuries.

The assassin was clearly faring much better. He had suffered minimal injuries, and even those were visibly healing. Though his robe was in tatters, he was in good condition, although he had slowed his speed considerably since the onset of the battle. Even trained cultivators couldn’t continue at such a pace indefinitely.

But despite all this, Jianyu was still losing. And in this moment, Zhaohui knew what needed to be done. With a knife at his throat, he knew he would likely not survive this, but he had to try. Jianyu had always been the stronger of the two brothers, and it would be better for one to live than neither. Using his unique bloodline technique, Zhaohui used his lifeforce to power the strongest shield he had ever used. Using the quickest incantation he knew, Zhaohui saw the telltale purple shield spring up around his brother before he felt a cold knife slit his throat, his body growing cold as his lifeblood gushed out of his neck.

This casting coincided with Jianyu once more decapitating his opponent. However, as he was still using his Soul Sight, Jianyu felt his brother’s Qi weaken. Without a second thought, he disengaged from his opponents and quickly slew the 5 lower assassins guarding the remaining disciples. Kneeling besides his brother, he checked for signs of life.

“Zhaohui, come back, this isn’t funny. I know you had another charge of your defensive technique, stop messing with me.” Jianyu cradled his brother’s head as it gushed blood, staining his once pristine sky blue robe crimson. Zhaohui attempted to respond, but couldn’t, as his vocal cords had been slit along with his throat. He just smiled a sad smile at Jianyu, his neck crying red rivers. Before he knew it, the light had left Zhaohui’s eyes. Jianyu looked at the sky and wept loud heaving sobs.

Any self-respecting assassin wouldn’t miss the opportunity to strike an opponent while his guard was down, but it appeared that his opponent was either stupid or truly retained some semblance of honor. For an incense time, he didn't move, allowing Jianyu to grieve his loss.

When enough time had passed, Jianyu faced his opponent with vengeful rage, his eyes red as qi leaked through his pores, permeating every cell of his body. His opponent recognized the telltale signs of Soul Wounds, and assumed the duel to have a forgone conclusion. He lazily drew his knives out before flickering out of existence.

Even Jianyu's Energy Vision couldn't detect his opponent, but it was predictable how anyone would act in these circumstances. Without warning, a rip in the fabric of reality opened behind him, alarm bells ringing in his mind as the assassin's blade exploded towards the back of his head.

To the assassin's surprise, the blade didn’t impact. In fact, Jianyu was nowhere to be seen! Suddenly, the assassin's body fell into a dozen pieces, collapsing to the ground. But before he could follow up, the pieces of flesh fell through a dozen portals back into the void. Even dismemberment wasn't enough.

Jianyu stood lying in wait. His hair began to visibly gray, as he had just spent 20 years of his life in that single attack. It was common knowledge that any Organ Tempering or higher body cultivator could sacrifice their lifespan in exchange for short bursts of power.

As his opponent emerged, this time at a distance, Jianyu didn’t wait to press the attack. He began thrusting and slicing without giving his opponent a chance. First, he decapitated his opponent before bisecting him horizontally, and then vertically. He stabbed his opponent's left eye, amputated both arms several times, and finally stabbed through the assassin. Each strike encountered fierce resistance, as his blade attempted to cut through energy itself. After ten such strikes, he couldn't carry on. He tried to withdraw his blade, but his opponent countered this, their hand gushing blood as they held the blade inside themself. After a heartbeat, their flesh had sealed around the jian. Despite Jianyu's efforts to dislodge his sword, he was powerless.

“You fought valiantly,” the voice emanating from the assassin said. “But the Void Sect never misses a mark.” Jianyu continued to struggle, kicking and punching his opponent to no avail. Finally, the assassin let go, but it was too late. With a deceptively easy thrust, the assassin’s dagger punctured Jianyu’s solar plexus and exited his back, fracturing one of his vertebrae in the process.

With the last vestiges of his strength, Jianyu pulled his blade up through his opponent. But it was all for naught, as his opponent easily regenerated.

As the assassin's mask split in half, a trail of blood began to form diagonally across his face. The last thing Jianyu saw was his opponent’s face, domineering and victorious. And then, the darkness of the void welcomed him in a cold embrace.