Chapter 393: Purity (Patreon)

"How shameless can you be?"

~~~

This can only end in seconds.

The state Xun Huwen has achieved cannot even be called a crude imitation of [Art of the Roaming Thief]. It is made possible only by the strength of his Dao and the madness of his mind. He is erasing his presence by continuously destroying it, but that act is like a person stopping their heart by shoving their hand into their chest and squeezing it.

In a few moments, Xun Huwen will be forced to drop his technique or die. No, even before that, Great Mother will sense their battle. When that happens, the Scribe will either support Xun Huwen or feign ignorance of his deeds. Liu Jin hopes for the latter, but even if the former happens, Great Mother will stop him. Then, Lord Feng Shang will sense that debacle and come to protect his son.

However, all of that is still seconds away, and a dying Xun Huwen is still a cultivator in the Seventh Level of the Heaven Realm. That puts him five levels of cultivation above Liu Jin. Feng Zhuo is just a few feet away from them, but he cannot perceive them. To make him aware of their presence, Liu Jin would need to drop [Art of the Roaming Thief], and that means losing sight of Xun Huwen for one instant too many.

He must face Xun Huwen alone.

[Hollow]

A world of inky blackness without a sky or horizon swallows Xun Huwen and Liu Jin, leaving Feng Zhuo behind and removing the possibility of Xun Huwen trying to attack him. The world made by Liu Jin’s Dao is completely empty save for the ankle-deep waters that ripple due to their sudden appearance and a small tree growing in the shadows.

“You are a blight,” Liu Jin says, his voice echoing in the hollow world. “A mistake. Destruction without goals. Destruction without reason. I cannot imagine something more worthless. The time has come for you to be put to an end.”

His words are like blows that slam into Xun Huwen. The water quivers as his Dao makes his judgment known. This Hollow world exists for Liu Jin to reject that which he cannot stand, and there is nothing easier to reject than Xun Huwen’s entire being.

“Do you remember our conversation during the ceremony?” Xun Huwen asks, seemingly unconcerned. “We spoke about wisdom and truth.”

Liu Jin narrows his eyes.

“It is funny. Your Dao relies entirely on your perception. It is as subjective as a Dao can be,” Xun Huwen says, chuckling. “By your own standard, you are as far from the truth as possible. Isn’t that hilarious?”

A massive Qi snake made of pure lightning is Liu Jin’s answer. The construct speeds towards Xun Huwen, jaw unhinging to swallow the rogue cultivator whole and bathe him in crackling purple energy.

Fire flickers in Xun Huwen’s hands before he unleashes a torrent of blindingly white flames. They roar in the void before coming to a sputtering stop in front of Liu Jin’s lightning. Normal flames, no matter how potent, are no match for divinely inspired lightning. The smallest sparks cut through the fire and tear it apart like paper.

Xun Huwen leaps out of the way and takes off running.

Even weakened, his cultivation surpasses Liu Jin’s. His steps are so fast that gravity lacks the time to properly root him to the ground, letting him dash over the water instead of through it, skipping across its surface like a maddened stone. Liu Jin tries to give chase, but he is still not used to moving while in the Sixth Step. His surroundings are hazy, and it is hard to feel his own body moving.

Purple lightning dims. The darkness of the hollow world becomes more complete.

“Do you think you can hide?” Xun Huwen laughs as he looks around, finding nothing but darkness everywhere he turns. “As long as I hold this state, I can still sense you.”

“Of course you can.”

Liu Jin’s voice comes from everywhere.

“This is my domain. My Qi is everywhere."

Instinct compels Xun Huwen to look down. Hundreds of snakes the size of worms swim around his ankles. A brief flash of purple sparks is all the warning Xun Huwen is granted before roaring energy is unleashed in a lightning bolt that rises from the ground to strike the hollow sky. Even so, that is still enough time for Xun Huwen to jump away. He sways steadily on one leg as he lands, twisting in a mockery of a pirouette as he regains his balance. His hair stands on end from the ambient energy.

He coughs.

His knee hits the water, and his vision sways as odorless, colorless poison finally does its work. The fearsome monster is finally defenseless.

Liu Jin attacks.

Purple lightning shrouds his body as Liu Jin dashes with all his speed. [Ground Contraction] accelerates him further, and Liu Jin uses the momentum to better sense his own movements. His target is Xun Huwen’s back. His hand is the tip of the spear. Inches separate Liu Jin from Xun Huwen when his every instinct suddenly screams at him. The aura around Xun Huwen changes. The gap in his armor is no more. Something that should not be materializes in Liu Jin’s hollow world.

Destruction.

It twists the space around Xun Huwen’s body before roaring with devastating force. Liu Jin’s body is swallowed and destroyed, leaving behind nothing but a deep gouge in the empty world.

At least, that is what would have happened had Liu Jin truly committed himself to the attack.

“That almost worked!” Xun Huwen says, smiling and clapping like a little kid as Liu Jin’s mirage fades away. “I think both of us would have been disappointed if it had, but just imagine!”

“Did you think I was an idiot?” Liu Jin asks, reappearing far away from Xun Huwen.

“Oh, everyone is an idiot. It is all a matter of finding them at the right moment,” Xun Huwen replies, his smile the sunniest thing in Liu Jin’s spatial realm. “What gave me away?”

“As you so kindly pointed out, you can still perceive me,” Liu Jin says. “You are still destroying your presence. That wouldn’t be possible if I had completely countered your Dao.”

“Ah, yes, that would do it.”

“How?” Liu Jin asks, his mind running through dozens of probabilities in the space between seconds.

In this world, that which he deems hollow is weakened and neutralized. It depends on the strength of Liu Jin’s Dao, the strength of his enemy’s Dao, and a thousand other factors. However, against a weakened Xun Huwen, Liu Jin’s Hollow should have rendered Xun Huwen’s Destruction nearly useless!

“Haven’t you been paying attention, Junior?” Xun Huwen asks him, arms spread wide. “Your Dao relies on your judgment. You cannot affect that which you approve of!”

Liu Jin stares at him.

“I reject you entirely.”

“You reject my character,” Xun Huwen corrects him, poking his own chest repeatedly. “My Dao is another matter entirely. Haven’t you noticed it, Junior? Haven’t you realized it? Don’t you understand where we are standing?”

Angry white sparks and crackles around Xun Huwen, a physical manifestation of his Dao. Unlike years ago, Liu Jin can see it now, pure destructive energy. It shrieks and whines like a berserking tea kettle. Orbs of white light up Xun Huwen’s face before they are fired like arrows. Liu Jin’s body flows like water. He feels his surroundings blurring as he dodges them one after another. Lightning flashes in his hand—a spear of deepest purple speeds towards Xun Huwen.

It never even gets close.

“This is a stomach,” Xun Huwen yells, not bothering to dodge as Liu Jin hurls lightning at him. “Your Dao is a monster that merely awaits your judging eyes to open its maw and gorge itself.”

He inches forward. Space shatters under his power, and he is suddenly right in front of Liu Jin. His hand wrapped in white closes in on Liu Jin’s face.

[Ground Contraction]

Liu Jin’s Qi explodes in front of him, pushing him away from Xun Huwen.

“It doesn’t matter if you reject me!” Xun Huwen shouts. His arm slashes through the air, unleashing an angry white wave. “You have already embraced Destruction! Reasons? How shameless can you be? You’re just waiting for an excuse to drag the entire world here!”

Liu Jin grits his teeth as he counters Xun Huwen’s attack. Lightning flashes around him and rises into the sky, breaking into hundreds of spears that come crashing down on top of Xun Huwen.

They all miss him.

[Burning Path Manifestation]

A high-level skill unique to those who have a high affinity towards destruction. It works by destroying every path of attack toward the user. Attacks cannot land on Xun Huwen because there is no direction they can take that will lead to him. Xun Huwen shouldn't be able to use it if his Dao weren’t operating at a high level, which means…

There has to be some truth to his words.

“You are wrong,” Liu Jin says regardless. “Even if you were, it wouldn’t be your brand of destruction.”

“You are not listening, Junior,” Xun Huwen says, leaning forward. “You all keep saying things like without reason or without motive, but do you even understand what that means? An action without context is pure. That is my Dao. Your Dao needs context to reject, but that means you will approve of it as long as it happens under the right circumstances. The man who cuts down the bandits attacking the town is praised. The tale of a man avenging his dead parents is passed down for generations. Poisoning a traitor before he can act can only be a good thing. There are thousands of scenarios in which Destruction is praised, and the purity of my Dao can resonate with every one of them!”

White and purple meet and explode violently between the two fighters. Xun Huwen chuckles, his shoulders almost vibrating. By contrast, Liu Jin might as well be made of stone.

“And you want to destroy so much that you will eagerly embrace all those things,” Xun Huwen says, smiling from ear to ear, head tilting left and right as if in tune to a melody only he can hear. “I hear it all around me. Don’t bother lying to yourself when your soul cannot stop trying to drown it all in blackness!”

He flicks his finger at him, a parody of their first meeting. White destruction bursts forth.

Liu Jin stands his ground. Purple flashes in his eyes. His lightning rages in the dark and pierces through the white wave. Darkness blurs as he accelerates. Xun Huwen rushes to meet him, space sundered as the two are suddenly in front of each other. Liu Jin tilts his head left just in time to avoid Xun Huwen’s white fist. His own hand surges, wrapped in purple.

At the last moment, Xun Huwen dodges.

Blood flows from his cheek.

Surprise melts into delight. Liu Jin does not give him the opportunity to laugh. His lightning spreads, a cloud made of countless tiny strands that stuns Xun Huwen and boils his skin. His Destruction fights back, refusing to be cast into the void. A loud impact rings out as both are knocked back.

“You are not the only one who has done his research,” Liu Jin says, wiping some blood from his lips. “[Burning Path Manifestation] requires continuous destruction to prevent any path from reaching you. Imbuing the space with Permanence throws off the whole thing.”

“Ah, the draconic refusal to accept change,” Xun Huwen says, breathing heavily as steam rises from his wound and seals it shut. “Weaponizing your own arrogance is so convenient.”

“You are not in any condition to complain about that,” Liu Jin says, his face emotionless.

However, the way his hollow world trembles and the waters ripple betrays his rage. He’d been certain his Dao would have completely rejected Xun Huwen’s. He had been unable to see what had been completely obvious to Xun Huwen from the start, probably since the Dead Plains. His rage toward him is not mere rejection.

It is shame that a part of him might resonate with such a wretched person!

Liu Jin’s red eyes shine with perfectly controlled power, his every muscle ready to strike. He understands now. If his nature prevents him from completely rejecting Destruction, the answer is simple.

He needs to be more selective.

[Ground Contraction]

Liu Jin is in front of Xun Huwen in an instant. Purple sparks course throughout his body as he kicks Xun Huwen. A raised forearm blocks the attack, but the energy around Xun Huwen dims and weakens, pure white reduced to something almost gray.

“The ceremony is a time of unity,” Liu Jin intones, stepping back and pivoting on his heel. A low kick catches Xun Huwen’s shin. “All grudges are put aside. All feuds are laid to rest. Destroying it for your own amusement is pitiful.”

Liu Jin’s fist strikes Xun Huwen’s chest, sparks burning his skin.

“Pitiful?” Xun Huwen echoes, his fist catching Liu Jin’s cheek. “Let me tell you what is pitiful, Junior. A master takes an apprentice and decides to make a meal out of him for the sake of his progress. A young heir sees a new disciple and kills him before his potential makes him a threat.”

His hand surges and grabs Liu Jin by the neck. His legs slide close, their knees almost touching. A mouth opens wide, almost taking a bite out of Liu Jin’s throat. It meets Liu Jin’s fist instead. At the same time, Xun Huwen’s knee strikes his stomach.

Liu Jin exhales, a thick cloud of poison coming from his mouth. White energy burns it before it can touch Xun Huwen.

“A wife sees her husband’s potential and judges it as worthless, so she conspires with his rival to destroy him. A man abandons his childhood love for the sake of a more proper match,” Xun Huwen continues, his white energy shining brighter. “Brothers turn against each other. Centuries of friendship are cast aside in an instant for the possibility of power.”

Purple and white meet once more. Xun Huwen and Liu Jin grit their teeth as they pit their muscles and Qi against each other.

“Do you still not realize how pathetic they all are?!”

The energy explodes. The two of them fall.

“Every single person you are speaking so highly of is just another one of those petty hollow shells you hate so much,” Xun Huwen says, standing up with his face bleeding. “The Temple of the Thousand Shadows didn’t hesitate to try to turn my deeds to their advantage.”

Liu Jin stands, his blood tainting the dark waters. 

“Two things can be right. Their cravenness does not make your Destruction good.”

“Good? No. That’s not it, Junior,” Xun Huwen says, smiling with bloodied teeth. “Pure!”

White orbs light up above Xun Huwen by the dozen, growing in number until they are a sea of stars in a previously empty sky. Light bathes the world for an instant, revealing the bloodied and beaten forms of the two fighters.

“In a world that constantly reaches for Eternity, the only pure action is Destruction!” Xun Huwen yells as the stars come down.

Liu Jin is already moving, his body blurring as the stars fall. Qi hardens around him, taking the shape of a snake. The construct grows to protect his body, enduring the hits from Xun Huwen’s attacks. Liu Jin’s mouth is set in a thin line, but his mind keeps repeating Xun Huwen’s words—the truth of his soul and Dao.

The only pure action is Destruction.

“I can never accept that,” Liu Jin says.

“That is why you will never be happy,” Xun Huwen replies.

The two collide with an explosion that threatens to collapse the spatial realm. Xun Huwen’s energies shatter Liu Jin’s construct, but Liu Jin pushes through. His hand breaks through the white and pierces Xun Huwen’s chest. His fingers are centimeters away from his heart before a white fist catches him in the stomach. Liu Jin feels his bones shatter as the hit launches him back. Blood flows from his mouth.

“...This…really…hurts…” Xun Huwen says. Steam rises from his chest as he tries to destroy the wound, but he’s already far too wounded.

However, it is Liu Jin who has to roll to the side as Xun Huwen leaps at him. His leg lashes out, hitting Xun Huwen in the heel and making him fall right on top of Liu Jin. The two struggle against each other in a tangle of limbs. One of Xun Huwen’s teeth goes flying as Liu Jin’s elbow hits him in the jaw. Xun Huwen throws the blood from his own wound at Liu Jin, blinding him and using the opportunity to hit him right in the throat.

Liu Jin gets up first, but Xun Huwen rises with an uppercut that leaves his world shaking. Liu Jin blindly brings his forehead forward and manages to hit Xun Huwen, but the hit is shallow. In a pure brawl, his inability to be aware of his exact dimensions is hurting him too much. His follow-up punch misses his target while Xun Huwen’s fingers try to dig into his eye.

Purple sparks manifest around Liu Jin, stunning Xun Hunwen just enough. His fist goes for the wound in his chest with merciless precision. Xun Huwen catches his arm and holds it there, pure white flashing in his palm as he tries to destroy his arm. Liu Jin’s knee rises to strike his side. At the same time, Xun Huwen brings his forehead forward.

The twin impacts knock them back half a step. Even so, the two move to attack. Lightning roars in Liu Jin’s hand. At the same time, white blooms in Xun Huwen’s fist as he aims directly at Liu Jin’s heart.

He trips.

A single exposed branch on the ground from the one tree in Liu Jin’s hollow world is suddenly there. Xun Huwen’s attack misses.

Liu Jin’s does not.

Purple lighting chars Xun Huwen’s chest and blows him away.

“It is…over…” Liu Jin says. His vision blurs, but he manages to bring his leg forward, taking a step toward Xun Huwen. Then another, and another. Weak sparks of lightning rise around him.

“It really is…Ha!” Xun Huwen says. Even now, he remains smiling. “Junior, let’s…do this again…”

“There will be no next time!” Liu Jin says.

Xun Huwen raises his hands and brings them together in a circle. Space twists.

Liu Jin’s blood freezes.

“No…”

Between Xun Huwen’s hands, in space where nothing was, there is now a tiny bluish needle.

Liu Jin knows that needle.

The air around Xun Huwen's palm is distorted as he moves his hand in a loose arc. However, nothing else happens. Xun Huwen frowns.

"I see... but what if I do...this?"

The distortion twists. Liu Jin's needle vanishes into nothingness.

"Interesting. That could be useful."

The needle bathed in Nine-Headed Snake God’s venom.

He hadn’t destroyed it.

Liu Jin starts running before his body has finished processing the information, muscles screaming in protest. However, it’s too late.

Xun Huwen brings the needle down.

Liu Jin’s hollow world shatters, bringing them back to House Without Corners.

Back to the chamber of renewal.

The potent poison of a divinity pierces through the jade floor. Angry cracks spread through it like a disease. Liu Jin tries to draw it into himself, but he’s too wounded, too weak, too dizzy.

Jade shatters.

The podiums, the floor, the walls. Everything is cracking and bleeding purple. Barriers that have protected the tower for millennia suddenly succumb. The room meant to power the continental barrier now poisons it.

Liu Jin catches Xun Huwen’s fist mere inches from his face.

“You could have done that from the start!” Liu Jin yells, the last embers of their energies clashing against each other. “For what purpose?!”

“Because that wasn’t what I wanted to destroy!” Xun Huwen yells back with maddened glee.

Brilliant gold flames fill the room. With the tower’s mechanisms failing, Feng Zhuo is suddenly free. Xun Huwen and Liu Jin are completely visible. There is no need for him to ask questions. He takes aim and fires.

Alas, he is not fast enough.

The continental barrier shatters above their heads. Space twists and collapses. Liu Jin and Xun Huwen fall into the void.

On that day, the two disappear from the continent.

~~~

Mini-Character List

Liu Jin: Our Protagonist. Nettled.

Xun Huwen: “Disciple” of the Peerless Heavenly Sword Peak. Pure.

Feng Zhuo: Disciple of the Eternal Flame Clan. Is going to replay that last instant in his mind for some time.