~~~

When Liu Jin found Yi Jiao in front of his door, he resigned himself to having an awkward conversation where he inevitably involved himself further in her tumultuous relationship with Huang Shing. Sure enough, that is more or less what happened.

What Liu Jin did not expect was to gain some insight into Feng Zhi’s mind, insight that seems rather obvious in hindsight but insight all the same. Insight that leaves him feeling very awkward and unsure of how to proceed. Fortunately, he is spared from having to say anything on the subject.

Unfortunately, that is because a strong tremor rocks the entirety of Ox Storm Fortress.

“Brother Qing!” Yi Jiao shouts as she grabs the wall to steady herself.

“I sense it,” Liu Jin replies, narrowing his eyes.

There are five hundred men right outside Ox Storm Fortress. The tremor is not a natural phenomenon but an attack by Murong Bang’s raiders.

And that just doesn’t make any sense.

Liu Jin is good at sensing Qi. He is so good that he can sense Ni Cai has just woken up, that the people of Black Stone Village are scared because of the tremor, and that the commander of Ox Storm Fortress is livid. Liu Jin is so skilled that, even while talking with Yi Jiao, he was perfectly aware of everyone inside and around the fortress.

And yet, despite being so good at sensing Qi, Liu Jin had flown many miles on Soaring Feather’s back and sensed not a single enemy. Only now that they are at the gates can Liu Jin sense the five hundred men. Only after their first attack struck did Liu Jin even notice their existence.

“Go to Ni Cai,” Liu Jin orders Yi Jiao before the tremor has fully stopped. “He’s in the barracks. Tell him to take command of the men and aid the defense of the fortress. You’ll find Old Qing on your way there. Tell him to advise Ni Cai, and tell Ni Cai that he is to listen to his advice.”

From what he has seen so far, Old Qing would probably make a better leader, but there is no guarantee he will be listened to. The more inexperienced Ni Cai is the stronger cultivator between the two, and he commands far more respect from the disciples of the Eternal Flame Clan.

“What about you, Brother Qing? What will you do?” Yi Jiao asks.

“I will reduce risk factors,” Liu Jin says before he disappears in a blur of speed. Five consecutive uses of Ground Contraction take him out of the building.

The sight that greets him is not exactly a hopeful one. The suddenness of the attack has left the soldiers rattled. They are running around, trying to gain some semblance of order while the enemy keeps attacking. Thankfully, there is a shimmering blue dome around Ox Storm Fortress, a protective barrier of some sort that activated when they were attacked.

None of the attacks hitting the barrier are as strong as the first one, but Liu Jin doubts this is because the enemy lacks the ability to replicate an attack of that magnitude. He can sense the Qi of the person responsible, a cultivator in the Eighth Level of the True Realm. The man, most likely the enemy commander, is not even winded, yet he is allowing his men to attack in his stead for some reason. He must be waiting for something.

“Fools! What are you doing?” The Commander of Ox Storm Fortress roars as he steps outside. “You are men of the Storm Dragon Empire! Why do you cower like rabbits? You are the claws and fangs of the dragon! Any enemy before us is already dead!”

His fury, the passion behind his words, and the certainty in his Qi are enough to rouse his men. They raise their arms and weapons and roar as they prepare to fight.

That is exactly what the enemy has been waiting for.

The moment uncertainty and hesitation fade from the soldiers’ Qi, the commander of the raiders launches a blade of Qi at the fortress. It is dozens of yards tall yet thin as a sheet of paper and moves at an unimaginable speed. If the attack hits, it could seriously damage the barrier. Two or three more might even shatter it and greatly damage the soldiers’ morale.

Liu Jin cannot allow that.

He jumps and leaves the safety of the barrier to face the incoming attack. Various startled cries rise from those who see his actions, but Liu Jin pays them no mind. All his attention is focused on the incoming attack.

[White Venom Fist - Nine Branches]

Liu Jin’s aura flares brightly as nine giant snakes made of white, poisonous Qi rise around his body. They unhinge their jaws and advance on the incoming attack. The two techniques clash meters away from the barrier and create a huge shockwave.

Three of the snake’s heads are lopped off.

The blade of Qi shatters.

However, that is not the end of it. Another Qi blade is launched almost immediately after. Liu Jin hones in on the position of the raider commander and accelerates with [Ground Contraction]. He loses three more snakes as they shatter against the second Qi blade but manages to get within mere feet of his enemy.

Contrary to his expectations, the commander of the raiders is not some old, grizzled soldier. He is a young man, probably close to him in age. His hand is raised and glowing with Qi. There is something oddly familiar about him and his stance, but Liu Jin has no time to think about such things.

Liu Jin’s remaining three snakes pounce on the raider before his hand can come down, forcing him to jump away. Liu Jin’s poisonous Qi rips through the earth and melts it, even as he does his best to prevent it from spreading in the direction of the village. His Qi blazes around him as he announces himself as a threat to the raider commander.

True Realm, Seventh Level.

Liu Jin uses [Ground Contraction] again to dash towards the raider. A single Qi snake rises from Liu Jin and opens its mouth to swallow the raider whole. The man flares his Qi and holds out his hands to stop the snake in its tracks. He winces as its poisonous Qi begins melting his gauntlets and damaging his skin.

It is the opening Liu Jin needs.

[Ground Contraction]

Putting as much Qi as possible into the technique, Liu Jin accelerates far beyond what he has ever managed before. He moves not just himself, but his Qi construct and, by extension, the man holding it across several miles. The raider grits his teeth as he tries to anchor himself to the ground by digging his feet, but it’s no use. He only succeeds in leaving a large gash on the ground, marking his path as he’s pushed far away from the battle. Another wound on this land.

As Liu Jin’s acceleration fades, the raider commander finally gathers the strength to push back his snake and slice its head off. He glares at Liu Jin as he tries to get his breathing under control. Liu Jin has effectively taken them off the battlefield.

There is no one around them for miles.

As the moon shines down on them, and they meet each other’s eyes, an old memory is triggered in Liu Jin’s mind. A much younger face appears superimposed over the face of the raider.

“Yun Han?”

~~~

Attacking the fortress should have been a simple job, if not necessarily an easy one. They’d break the barrier, kill some soldiers, preferably all of them, and retreat.

Instead, his attacks were stopped one after another by an enemy far above what he’d expected to find here. He’s been separated from his raiders and removed from the battlefield. If he does not return soon, it might just be his raiders who end up overwhelmed. The general would not be happy about that.

“Yun Han?”

He freezes.

The name that should never be spoken reaches his ears, and the world stops. He is completely open, and the only reason his enemy does not take advantage of it is that he is in a similar state. For a moment, the battle is completely forgotten. His eyes take in every aspect of the man he is fighting. The hair is different. The face is obviously older, but the eyes...

“LIU JIN!”

Han roars. He does not know how or why, but a specter of the life he had cut off so long ago has appeared before him.

It cannot be allowed to live!

~~~

Liu Jin hears his name screamed with rage and knows he is right. Yun Han, the Young Master of the Yun Sect of Eastern Port City, is somehow standing in front of him as a member of Murong Bang’s army. There are many questions he wants to ask.

The seething rage emanating from Yun Han makes it clear he is not interested in talking.

Yun Han’s hand comes down, and a blade of Qi speeds erratically toward him, tearing through the landscape.

“Impressive,” Liu Jin says, dodging the Qi blade after calculating its trajectory. The technique will touch neither the fortress nor the village. “I recall you couldn’t make your Severing Palm fly when we last fought. Your cultivation has improved greatly. Congratulations are in order, Yun Han.”

“Shut up!”

Another Severing Palm flies towards him. Liu Jin leaps over it and tries to strike back with one of his snake constructs, but it is almost immediately sliced in half. Before Liu Jin has even landed, Yun Han boosts himself with a movement technique and meets him in the middle of the air.

“Do not speak of the past to me!” Yun Han roars as he unleashes countless attacks at Liu Jin. The earth within hundreds of yards around them breaks apart and is sliced to pieces.

“That life! That name! I severed myself from them a long time ago!”

Yun Han’s attacks are so fierce there is not a single opening for Liu Jin to exploit. He can only keep dodging. Compared to Yun Han’s simple and direct movements, Liu Jin looks downright graceful, which further incenses Yun Han.

“Insolence!” Yun Han stomps the ground. The impact creates multiple small Qi blades which fly in all directions, forcing Liu Jin to leap back. “Do you think this is a dance? Do you think you can win just by dodging? That you can afford to fight without taking risks or getting any blood on your robes? This is a real battlefield! Beauty! Grace! Those things do not exist here! Surrendering does not exist here! If you mean to keep dancing, then die!”

Liu Jin finds he does not care for Yun Han’s views.

However, his anger is something he can use.

"Is that so, Yun Han? How gracious of you to tell me, Yun Han. For someone who claims to have left behind the past, you seem keen on bringing it up, Yun Han.”

Yun Han explodes. His aura blazes around him, cutting everything in his path to Liu Jin. The young cultivators are soon locked in a fierce struggle once more. Their Qi lights up the night and makes the earth rumble. Anyone watching would say they are evenly matched.

And yet, something is wrong.

Liu Jin tries to strike one of Yun Han’s acupoints, but the latter manages to move just in time, causing Liu Jin to miss his mark. He only manages to bruise Yun Han’s arm, while Yun Han leaves a cut on his face.

That shouldn’t have happened.

Liu Jin frowns. As the battle continues, his attacks keep missing by millimeters. He leaves wounds on Yun Han, but they are never as damaging as he wants them to be. Meanwhile, the number of cuts Yun Han makes on him keeps growing. His regeneration ensures they heal seconds after they are made, but that is not the issue.

Yun Han might have been his superior in Eastern Port City, but the current Yun Han is not beyond him. Something else is at play. Something is hampering Liu Jin by millimeters, slicing away at his odds. He feels it chipping away at him the longer the fight goes on.

Something needs to change.

[White Venom Fist]

Yun Han leaps back as Liu Jin’s poisonous Qi surges with renewed potency. Liu Jin punches the ground and lets his Qi flow into it. The terrain, which had already been damaged by Yun Han’s attacks, melts and crumbles. A deep hole with a diameter of over a hundred yards opens up and swallows everything.

Yun Han gets out of the area in time.

Liu Jin lets himself fall.

“I do not know how or why you are here,” Liu Jin says once he reaches the bottom of the pit. He looks up at Yun Han, who is looking down at him from the edge. “I am sure you must have gone through many things. I have gone through many things as well.”

“I have no interest in the past.”

“And yet, your anger is born from it,” Liu Jin counters as blue lightning starts crackling around him. “However, I am glad you are the one I am facing right now since you seem to have taken a step I have not.”

Liu Jin grunts. Blue lightning crackles and changes to white.

“Guide me well, Brother Yun.”

~~~