Yu Qiang raced through the forest with the head elder. The much older man was in the lead, jumping from branch to branch so quickly his feet barely seemed to touch bark. This man was light on his feet. Despite the situation, Yu Qiang could not help but admire how much control the head elder had over his chi.

“We’re coming up on the battle site! Remember, do not engage under any circumstances!” the head elder commander.

“Yes, head elder,” Yu Qiang said, though reluctantly.

They soon stopped on a branch that was large enough for them to stand comfortably. Nearly a dozen bu away was the massive gorilla. They were shocked to see him lying on his back, and soaring down toward him was a young man wielding a gigantic black hammer. The young man was Jian Wu.

“What in the…” the head elder gasped in shock.

“Unbelievable,” Yu Qiang whispered.

“There’s so much chi packed into that technique. This might be close to a heaven-grade technique, though it’s clear this young man lacks the chi necessary to make full use of it. Even so…”

“Even so?” asked Yu Qiang.

The head elder shook his head. “Even so, I’ve never seen someone at his cultivation unleash such a strong technique. Not even I would be able to survive if that thing hit me.”

“A-are you serious?”

“Very serious.”

Is this technique really that powerful?

Yu Qiang watched in awe as Jian Wu brought the hammer down. For just a moment, he felt hope swell within his breast. This technique might just be enough to defeat that thing. The moment soon passed, however, and the hope died as the gorilla magical beast punched it. An explosion of chi spread across the forest like a shockwave. Yu Qiang would have fallen off the branch were it not for the head elder steadying him. Even so, blood leaked from his mouth as the chi caused internal bleeding. The amount of power in that attack must have been insane to damage him so.

“Are you okay? Circulate your chi to recover from the internal damage,” Head Elder Ma Zedong said.

“Y-yes, Head Elder,” Yu Qiang muttered as he created a hand seal to circulate his chi. He felt better soon after, and so he looked back at the battle to see what had happened.

Devastation greeted him. A several li long trench stretched across the forest, and at the end of it lay Jian Wu. The young man was lying on his back. Yu Qiang was too far away to see the young man properly, but it looked like the mask he always wore had broke.

He’s not getting up. Is he too injured to move?

Whatever the case, the gorilla was not too injured, and he stood to his massive feet and lumbered over to the young man. He glared down at the child with enough hatred to blanket the entire forest. Yu Qiang was shivering and he wasn’t even the recipient of that gaze.

“I never expected a mere human at the Asura Realm to give me so much trouble. Consider yourself honored, human. You are one of only two people who have forced me to fight with all my strength. Die knowing you have accomplished something few are capable of.”

He’s going to kill Jian Wu?! I… I have to do something!

Yu Qiang tried to move, but his body refused to obey him. The primal fear he felt toward that gorilla prevented him from moving. He hated to admit it, but he was terrified of this beast. Even so, he gritted his teeth hard enough to draw blood and slammed his fist into his thigh. The pain gave him enough clarity to move.

“Where do you think you’re going?” asked the head elder.

“Isn’t it obvious? I can’t just sit here and let Jian Wu die,” Yu Qiang said.

“Hmph. What do you think you can do against that monstrosity? Not even I would dare fight the lord of the forest. That creature is at the peak of the Human Limit Realm. He’s so powerful that not even your uncle can defeat him, and believe me, he has tried before. If you go in there, all that awaits you is an inglorious death.”

The head elder’s dismissive attitude angered Yu Qiang.

“Do you not care that one of your brightest new members is about to die?! How can you just stand there and do nothing?!”

Yu Qiang had never spoken to an elder out of anger, but here, now, he lashed out like a child throwing a tantrum. The Shang Kingdom Imperial Academy was supposed to be a place where aspiring young cultivators could be nourished and trained. It was the job of those in a position of seniority to protect those younger than themselves. Doing nothing while one of their own was about to be killed was tantamount to admitting they didn’t care about the lives of their disciples.

“Do you think I am standing by because I like this? Do you believe I enjoy watching as one of our own is about to die?” The head elder’s words brought him up short. He looked down. The older man’s hands were shaking, clenched into a fist. “I’m not standing here, doing nothing, because I like it, but because there is nothing I can do. We will both die if we intervene, and then who will protect the other disciples? Knowing your own limits is also a kind of strength.”

Yu Qiang bit his lip. He didn’t want to admit that the head elder’s words made sense, but he was right. There was more than just Jian Wu in this forest. Head Elder Ma Zedong was the strongest person in the academy, which meant he had a duty to everyone. He needed to protect the students who might come under fire once the gorilla finished Jian Wu.

He looked back toward the battlefield. He could just barely see Jian Wu, who was now blocked by the sight of the gorilla’s massive legs.

Come on, Wu. Don’t die on me. Don’t make Her Highness sad.

***

Sitting up was a struggle. It felt like his entire body had been trampled upon by a horde of dragons. Every bone in his body ached, though luckily enough, none of them were broken. His body had been forged and hardened by training and natural treasures. Something like this would not be enough to break them.

“You still dare to struggle?” asked the gorilla. “You are but an ant standing before a titan. What can you hope to achieve by continuing this pointless struggle? Accept your death with dignity.”

“Sorry, but I have no intention of dying here,” Wu Jian said as he summoned another mask from his storage ring and placed it on his face. He stood up on shaky legs and glared at the magical beast. “Even if it makes me look uncool, I’ll squirm and struggle with all my might. If you want to kill me, then you’ll have to earn that right!”

“Foolish human! Fine! Go ahead and die!”

The gorilla lifted his hands above his head and clasped them together. Wu Jian had noticed early in their fight that he didn’t have much in the way of techniques. It seemed his strength was entirely physical. The only technique he needed to be weary of was that chi-infused roar. It damaged his organs and rattled his bones, but he had already thought of a way to deal with it.

Roaring, the gorilla brought his fists down. At the same time, several shadows burst from the trees behind it, wrapped around the wrists, and tried to stop the fists' descent.

“This won’t be enough to stop me!!”

Muscles bulging, veins popping, the gorilla continued bringing his fists down. He was right. Yōuměi’s shadows were not enough to stop this attack, but they had slowed it down.

Wu Jian took a deep breath, popped several pills into his mouth, and circulated his chi. He wouldn’t be able to recover with the few precious seconds he had, so he decided to focus everything into his attack. He took all the chi he had gathered from the pills and dug deep within himself, his conscience traveling all the way to his dantian, where the drops of Byakko’s blood were stored.

Thirteen golden globules of divine blood floated within his dantian, but only four of them were activated. Wu Jian poured all the chi he had into those four drops. They flared to life within him, burning fiercely like a bright flame. He felt power flooding his body. It was unlike anything he had ever felt. The blood was always passively increasing his physical abilities, but now he was actively using them to increase his strength far beyond what they did normally.

With this power, Wu Jian spread his legs wide, bent his knees, drew his fist back as he poured all of his current strength into it, then punched.

“HAAAAH!”

His fist met the gorilla’s. A powerful shockwave pushed away dirt, leaves, and debris. The ground underneath Wu Jian splintered and cratered. His knees buckled as he gritted his teeth. Blood burst from the pores in his arm, torso, and legs. It felt like very fiber of his body was on fire. Everything hurt, and yet he continued to glare at the fist that he had just barely stopped.

“How… is this possible?! Where did you acquire such strength?!” demanded the gorilla.

“Like I’d tell you!”

Wu Jian summoned more pills, popped them into his mouth, and send the influx of chi back into Byakko’s blood. While only the four remained active, one of them flashed briefly. He felt an intense burst of power flow through him.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

He very briefly reared his fist back, just enough that he could release one more punch, and this time, he released all of the stored chi within his body. The chi was released in a single go. It appeared as a bright light of silver power that engulfed the gorilla’s fist and blotted out Wu Jian’s vision. He heard an anguished roar that sounded more terrified than anything. It was a sound that shook him to his core.

The light died down, yet spots remained in front of Wu Jian’s vision. He blinked several times as his body slouched to the forest floor. His vision soon returned, allowing him to see what had happened to the gorilla.

“This is… impossible…” The gorilla murmured as he looked down at himself.

The gorilla was still alive, but it was obviously not long for this world. One of his arms was gone and there was a gaping hole in his chest. He raised his only remaining hand to the hole and blinked several times like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Then he stared at Wu Jian, who was hunched over and gasping for breath, but glaring defiantly at him.

“That… appearance… I see… you have… inherited… Byakko’s will… dammit it all… I’d have never fought you… if I’d… known…”

The gorilla’s eyes dimmed as he tumbled backward. A loud rumbling shook the ground, knocking Wu Jian off his feet because he lacked the strength to remain stable. Wu Jian sat on the ground, hands behind his back, gasping for breath as he felt the blood in his body burning. He had overdrafted all of his strength to release that last attack. Using chi replenishing pills in such a manner was incredibly dangerous, but he’d not had much choice. That creature was far more than he could handle without aid. He wouldn’t have been able to use Byakko’s blood in such a manner if he didn’t do what he had done.

I need to recover my strength… I feel so weak…

Wu Jian summoned several more Middle-Grade Chi Replenishing Pills, popped them into his mouth, and swallowed. He felt the chi permeate his dried up meridians and flinched. It physically hurt to have that chi flowing through his body. His meridians must have been damaged too. However, he could feel them healing, slowly but surely, so it looked like he hadn’t suffered permanently.

As he was healing, two figures landed before him. He recognized them both. One was Yu Qiang and the other was one of the instructors. He was an older man who radiated power. Wu Jian could sense that he was half a step into the Human Limit Realm, so he was not so strong that Wu Jian felt threatened by him.

“Young man… what you have just done is both extraordinary and extraordinarily reckless,” the instructor said.

“Yeah… I know…”

Wu Jian’s agreement brought the old man up short.

“It seems there are some extenuating circumstances here. Might I ask that you tell me what happened?”

What a humble old man. He kinda reminds me of Grandpa Son…

Maybe that was why Wu Jian informed the old instructor about how he found some disciples who were in trouble, helped them, and moved on to help Yong Hai, who had run afoul of the gorilla magical beast that he just slayed. The old instructor listened without a word. Beside him, Yu Qiang looked like he’d been struck by lightning, such was his shock.

“Haaaaah. Yong Hai. That young man is as problematic as his father. Anyway, it seems you did what you did for the sake of another, so I won’t berate you too much. However, you should understand how lucky you are to even be alive. If it weren’t for that magical beast helping you, I doubt you’d have the time needed to unleash that last attack of yours.”

“Ah. So you noticed Yōuměi.”

Wu Jian’s shadow writhed as a massive panther with black fur emerged from within. Yu Qiang took a startled step back, but the instructor merely placed his hands behind his back and studied the magical beast.

“A black yāomó panther that’s half-a-step into the Human Limit Realm? You have an impressive companion. How did you tame such a beast?” he asked.

“Who says I tamed her?” Wu Jian smiled as he rubbed Yōuměi’s soft fur. The panther nuzzled her face against his. “My friend and I found Yōuměi when she was just a child and cared for her all this time. She’s not my pet. She’s my companion.”

“Hmmm. You must have been blessed by a very lucky star. Black yāomó panther are so rare they’re practically a myth by this point. I didn’t even believe in their existence until I saw it during your fight with the Hell Ape.”

“Hell Ape? Is that what this magical beast is called?” Wu Jian nodded toward the carcass.

“Indeed. The Hell Ape is a powerful magical beast that grows quite quickly. It only takes a mere one hundred years for these creatures to reach the Human Limit Realm. The one you fought was 199 years old. If it had one more year to live, it would have broken through to the Deva Realm.”