Chapter 46: Arc 3: Chapter 15

Bianca evaded the ghostflame spear, mostly due to the considerate slowness with which Xue Yaling had thrown it, and settled her feet on the ground, letting the Demonic Tyrant flood energy into her empty hand. It formed crimson claws as she swung her hand, releasing all that power in a ray of terrifying energy that raced towards the kitsune.

However, just as she easily evaded Xue Yaling’s attack, the kitsune was able to step aside from the rushing energy as smoothly as though she was simply walking along without a care in the world.

This brought her closer, so Bianca tried to swing her knife with all the energy that rested within, but it was blocked and deflected just as easily, letting Xue Yaling take a step forward and slap her cheek with the side of her sword, knocking her back by a step.

“Bianca, what did I tell you? Aggression! Rage! Let it all out! Figuring out how to call upon it is the first step to controlling it!” the kitsune shouted at her, disregarding the explosion of energy that occurred behind her thanks to Bianca’s knife slash striking a tree, “If you never unleash all of that energy and that instinct within your body and mind, you’ll-”

 

“- simply be a combatant with effective self-preservation instincts. Anyone who is able to observe this and exploit such traits will be able to overcome her, even if their own power is inferior,” Hua Jun took a step back and held his weapon out in a guard, glancing back at Lei Kai Lian, “That the disciples of the Blazing Skies Sect were unable to do this indicated that they were not yet ready to face a proper opponent. Their training methods ought to be adjusted to prepare them for combat scenarios before they have no choice but to learn or die.”

“But, Master, could she not be putting up a front?”

“You must accept that you may make mistakes. None beneath the heavens are flawless, and perhaps not even they are. It is not wrong to make an assumption when little information is present, nor is it a mistake to trust the word of one that appears to be honest and trustworthy, but you must remember to examine all evidence and adjust your assumptions until you find out enough of the truth to no longer require them.”

He began another bout with the unseen foe, yet that did not stop him from elaborating just as easily as he might have done if he lay in a comfortable bed, his voice lacking any hint of effort or exertion.

Of course, with a foe such as the second realm demon, there was little that could force him to expend more than a drop of effort. The Marked Core realm granted him many benefits, and even without it he was fit and impeccably trained, having experienced far more difficult trials. Most importantly of all, he had a disciple to teach, and he could not afford to be unclear at any point.

“What are the things we can be absolutely certain about when it comes to this so-called demon?”

“She is-” Lei Kai Lian bit back another pointless exclamation and said, “She seemed to be within the first realm when she ended the life of a Xi Village resident, and when she fought alongside another villager and a kitsune against the Blazing Skies outer disciples.”

“With this, we can conclude with near complete certainty that her realm is not false. She was observed by those of another sect to have no hints of a cultivation before they arrived at Xi Village to take in new disciples, and despite being in somewhat perilous scenarios both times, she never showcased a greater force than that of the first realm. This is despite the opportunity to kill all of the Blazing Skies disciples and blame their deaths on the kitsune or some other force, while she could present herself as an unwilling participant that wished to get away from the kitsune yet lacked the strength to do so.

“This would make her rather sympathetic in the eyes of many, and would be a far more effective cover than a woman slowly showcasing more and more of a demonic image, as people such as you seem to believe,” he deflected an invisible punch, then countered a kick, blinking at the suddenness of such a move, “Whether she was in a higher realm before and lost her power or not, she is currently in the second realm. Therefore, there is little she could afford to be hiding, and even if we assume that she has a defensive skill that is yet to be shown, her level of skill would make it more or less irrelevant against, once again, even a somewhat decent fighter.”

As if to prove this, the figure in his mind briefly distorted as he attempted to swing at it, using a defensive skill well enough to block the attack, yet failing to capitalise on any opportunity that it might have presented.

Of course, he couldn’t know what defensive skill such a woman would have, whether it was something she chose or something she just happened to obtain. It was difficult to be certain in such a regard as there were simply far too many defensive skills – and skills in general – out there in the Planar Continents as a whole, including many that have been lost to time for various reasons.

It was entirely possible that she would have acquired a defensive ability that perfectly suited her own lacking experience, perhaps something with a recoil component that would allow her to strike back even if she didn’t understand to do so herself. There were even extremely rare skills out there that would be able to take attacks and transform them into powerful offensive moves in such a manner that a cultivator using them would simply stand amidst foes and take as many strikes as possible, letting their enemies become their own downfall.

‘However, this is improbable. Her skills so far complement her technique, and this suggests that she is somehow in possession of a set of skills suiting her archetype,’ Hua Jun concluded, ‘Her defensive skill will likely be of the same archetype, and thus it would not be so extravagant.’

From this information alone, he was able to determine the vague principle that the defensive method would follow, so imagining how it would be used by the supposed demon was easy enough. Of course, any invocation of this skill in particular would inevitably take away from the realism of this imagined scene, rendering it inaccurate and somewhat useless the longer it went on, but Hua Jun hardly needed perfection at this time.

“In short, her combat style is unrefined and simple, lacking anything but raw strength from her cultivation. As a foe-”

 

“- you are essentially insignificant. If you ever come up against someone with skill or experience – someone that, unlike me, won’t make things so easy for you – they will absolutely destroy you. So come on! Unleash all of those pent-up feelings within you! Attack me properly!”

Bianca would’ve exclaimed that it was easier said than done, especially after everything the kitsune had given her to ponder about, but as Xue Yaling retreated and quickly conjured yet another ghostflame spear, giving her no time to do anything but summon the Abyssal Shield. After a moment of hesitation, she reached out with her hand to empower the sphere, doing so just in time to block the flames, though her aim was hardly ideal.

She managed to condense the darkness of the shield in such a manner that the ghostflame struck the outer portion of the defensive shield. Even though Xue Yaling was almost certainly holding back, striking a weak spot such as that led to the barrier shattering, letting some of the flame splash onto Bianca’s hand.

It burned like any flame would, or at least felt like it. As usual, her skin was nigh unharmed, save for a slight redness that she glanced at before running away from yet another ghostflame spear.

“Why is it that you only ever use these against me?” she asked the question that only popped into her head now, after several days of doing this over and over again, “You have a bunch of other skills, don’t you?”

“Compress Spirit simply amplified my other attacks. Spiritual wave could ruin your pretty little head. Destabilise Spirit is utterly devastating to those with weaker minds or souls. And Detonate Soul… Even if I was proficient in it, you do not want to be the target if you’ve ever wished to be reincarnated some time in the future,” the kitsune replied without slowing down her strikes, flinging ghostflame spears and occasionally leaping in closer to swipe at her with the sword, “Thus, I’ve only got the Soul Spike left for my offensive skills. When I reach higher realms, I’ll have more, though it isn’t common that fights break out where it is vital to keep the opponent unharmed.”

“Right, okay… wait, this is you holding back?”

“… Need I grace that with an answer?”

“But it’s all so painful!” Bianca exclaimed, finally remembering that the Abyssal Shield being broken once didn’t mean that she couldn’t just bring it up again, using it to block Xue Yaling’s sword with far better aim, “Can’t it remove the pain as well as the damage?”

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“Don’t be silly, darling,” Xue Yaling offered a soft, gentle and rather unsettling smile, “What you’re feeling is likely a hundredth of the actual pain I could have inflicted.”

 

“You’ve mentioned that normally, she isn’t especially dangerous… but we know that she has killed at least one cultivator, and in a higher realm at that. What happens if she enters a state like that?” Lei Kai Lian asked, having recovered some courage after she gave it enough thought to avoid any obvious pitfalls.

“She appears to be highly susceptible to emotion. To anger and fear and heavens know what else. When enraged, her hesitation and uncertainty appear to vanish. What’s left is the purest fury a human can muster, and if the descriptions from those of the Blazing Skies are correct and not mere exaggeration, then it seems like her skills are empowered by it as well,” Hua Jun responded, “That is a curious aspect of her archetype, though it’s not unheard of. If she was to be fully enraged, to be driven to the brink…”

 

Bianca fell onto her ass as yet another strike knocked her off her feet. It left little more than a light mark on her skin, of course, but the pain was easily adding up. She didn’t have the chance to recover from it before the kitsune added all the more to it, causing her vision to slowly turn crimson.

It was difficult to hold back the haze of frustration, pain and anger, and the fact that the kitsune began to taunt her after every single strike certainly didn’t help. She knew what Xue Yaling was trying to do, since it had been explained to her a number of times already, but at the same time, she knew what happened every time her mind had been overwhelmed with emotion. It wasn’t a pretty sight, to put it extremely mildly.

She already had issues controlling herself, as she knew all too well from her kleptomania. Now, sure, that wasn’t quite the same as simply losing her temper – or perhaps it was, her understanding of the psychology behind it had never been too great – but most of the time, it didn’t show up during times of great stress, and yet she still succumbed to it nearly every time.

This felt more overpowering, and it was during a time that she couldn’t just stop and think and realise that she was being an idiot. Even her attempts to kick that kitsune brat ended with little more than her falling to the ground – in the best of cases – and no reduction to the mockery.

At one sudden point, it was just too much. She wasn’t sure what was said, if anything, nor exactly what it was that that tipped her over the edge. All she could tell, then and in the future, was that the whole world turned red. The crimson mist overwhelmed every thought and everything before her, and then it felt as if her body stole control of itself and resonated with the Demonic Tyrant, manifesting more strength than ever before.

 

“Then, provided that state would remain for longer than a few moments – a likely thing if she becomes desensitised to killing, or if her foe puts up more of a fight – her combat style would change completely. Gone would be the caution and thought, and instead she would exert the most power her skills could allow, perhaps even more so if she forgets to care for her body and ignores the pain that comes from pushing it too far…” he paused, seeing the blurry figure before him almost begin to glow with a dark and crimson haze, “Perhaps if her body cultivation technique is one to boost her endurance, she could behave roughly like-”

Suddenly, the figure within his mind’s eye moved, dashing forth at speeds far surpassing anything she’d shown before. Furthermore, her energy moved far more quickly and efficiently, manifesting claws at her fingers in an instant before releasing all of that energy in a collision with Hua Jun’s blade.

For the first time, he felt some force attempting to push his weapon back. It was nowhere near enough to accomplish this, but it was impressive nonetheless – and the figure in his mind wasn’t done yet. Unlike the so-called demon’s usual disorganised strikes, where one never flowed into the other, her furious self followed the clawed slash with a kick, flooding her foot with energy before going straight for Hua Jun’s groin.

It was certainly a vulnerable place for men and women alike, though he was able to block it with ease, taking a step back to see how the young woman’s image would respond.

As it turned out, it would be even quicker than before. She leapt forward, slashing with her knife while still in the air, then somehow bounced off the ground the moment she hit it with one foot, flipping in the air and delivering another kick with her downward momentum. When he decided to attempt an attack, she managed to meet it head on, her energy exploding out as her decision to deflect the blade soon turned into an opportunity to evade it by exploiting the burst of energy to leap away.

Again and again, she attempted to throw attack after attack on him, managing to handle most of the simple strikes he returned, and although there wasn’t a shred of proper tactical thinking involved, it still proved a rather fearsome onslaught.

‘If we were in the same realm, whether I was in hers with a smaller set of moves or she was in mine with access to far more versatility, her furious state might be sufficient to pose a challenge,’ Hua Jun realised, feeling extremely tempted to experiment with one such scenario and determine whether he’d be able to win.

However, his mind’s eye revealed a weakness in the so-called demon’s brutal strategy, for her energy quickly faded and turned dim, even as she still did her best to land a blow on his body.

 

“Oh, come on, this can’t be all you’ve got! Where’s all that strength of yours?” Xue Yaling asked as she side-stepped yet another beam of crimson light from Bianca’s weapon, “What if I was to say that I’m the reason you’re in this mess? That I am the reason that you’re here, in this unfamiliar land, being chased around by those that think you’re a villain and a killer?”

Although it seemed impossible, Bianca’s expression grew even more agitated and angry, and the light – or rather, darkness – of her planar energy intensified, almost beyond what it had been at the peak of her raging attacks.

Energy built up all around her, almost forming a second layer of skin over her body, although the figure that it produced felt distinctly differed from her current look. The crimson light around the kitchen knife, Bianca’s free hand and even at her feet became bright enough to turn their entire training area crimson for a moment, until the young woman dashed in, attacking with both hands, unleashing the energy she’d built up within them.

And then… it faded, as did the darkness around her body, as did anything else that might have showcased her might. It only took Xue Yaling a second to understand why.

‘She was able to amplify her energy massively with her anger, but in the end, she still had mere drops left. It is a shame that she cannot recover it with will alone, or else this would be an extremely fascinating topic to study,’ she thought, sighing as she approached the young woman.

Bianca was only able to remain standing for a moment after her energy expired, and fell down almost too soon for the kitsune to catch her. Fortunately, her fall ended up delivering her into Xue Yaling’s arms, at which point her legs gave up completely and left her at the mercy of the mischievous kitsune, to do with as she wished. Luckily – or perhaps not, depending on the perspective – Xue Yaling was not interested in teasing her this time.

“Just so you know – if you’ll even remember any of this properly – I had said those things to anger you. To provoke you to unleash all the strength you had. I don’t actually have a clue how you came to be in your current situation… pure guesses and speculation aside,” she patted the young woman’s head.

There was a groan of some sort, but no response beyond it. Soon, though, she was able to determine that Bianca had fallen asleep, a very reasonable act considering that they had already gone past her bed time and then continued to train for a few hours afterwards. This would be enough to bring her to the brink of exhaustion even if one ignored just how much harder she had tried to fight today, even if it wasn’t her conscious mind that was doing most of the work in that regard. So, she didn’t try to wake her up.

‘She’s lucky she’s light, or else I would’ve left her here and taught her a lesson in this regard… But, perhaps it’s best to tone down the negative approach. She needs something to encourage her, so…’

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