STNS: Chapter 475 (Patreon)

There were only three elders left plus Qiang Bao, and none of them dared attack right now. From the brief bit of combat they had engaged Hou Jingshu in, Qiang Bao had learned a few things, like how she only attacked when they displayed hostility. More than likely, she sensed their killing intent and her body reacted instinctively to fight it. She was fighting on instinct while trapped within the Luminous Seal Eclipse’s illusion.

Qiang Bao had never met someone like this before. The Luminous Eclipse Seal was a dangerous and powerful sealing array that could trap someone regardless of how powerful they were. Even a Perfection Realm expert would find themselves unable to escape its grasp. This seal was also the reason nobody had ever tried to invade the Sui Kingdom as the Zhou Kingdom and Ming Province had done to the Shang Kingdom. It should have been the perfect weapon to use against this pair.

Should have.

“What should we do, Sect Leader?” asked Elder Tu Yan. Despite the situation, the remaining elders kept their calm. They might have been old and unused to the rigors of battle, but they were still experts at the Human Limit Realm.

Qiang Bao considered their options. “Hou Jingshu is still trapped within our illusion. We’re not fighting her, merely her body running on instinct. Notice how she’s not attacking right now? I believe she only attacks when we display hostility.”

“So it’s our killing intent that she’s reacting to,” said Elder Fei Yun. “That means nothing will happen so long as we don’t display any killing intent, right?”

“That is what I believe…”

Hou Jingshu hadn’t moved after killing Elder Jin Sheng. She stood exactly where she had been, in the same position she had after killing him. Qiang Bao moved around to get a better look at her face. The blank-faced stare that greeted him back was the same look of someone who was caught within the Luminous Eclipse Seal.

Elder Fei Yun walked forward with slow, cautious steps, like a frightened animal who had seen something new and potentially dangerous for the first time and wanted to make sure this new thing wouldn’t bite. It was laughable really. The Undying Sun Sect’s elders were afraid of a girl in her late teens who was trapped within their most powerful sealing array. Qiang Bao wanted to cry.

Fortunately, the elder’s test turned out to be fruitful. Hou Jingshu didn’t attack even when Elder Fei Yun was right in front of her. He waved his hand in front of her face, walked around her body, and yet, Hou Jingshu did not even seem to notice him. However, the moment he tried to grab her, she leapt back. The elder was so startled that he squealed in fright as he fell onto his backside. Qiang Bao was worried, too, but Hou Jingshu didn’t seem inclined to attack.

“It seems her instincts are so sharp they’ve been embedded into her muscle memory,” Elder Shi Yuan said. “Elder Yun, where were you trying to touch her?”

“Eh? Ah…” Elder Fei Yun hesitated and the tips of his ears turned red.

“I cannot believe you,” Qiang Bao muttered harshly. “Four of our elders are dead and you’re trying to touch the chest of the young girl who killed them.”

Being an elder didn’t make one immune to the wiles of women. One could even say that becoming more powerful made you more susceptible. Even Qiang Bao had slept with his share of disciples. That said, there was a time and place for that sort of thing.

“That’s… not why I did it. I just… wanted to see what would happen.”

He was fairly certain that wasn’t it. And his irritation leaked into his chi as he opened his mouth to harshly rebuke the elder.

Hou Jingshu turned to him.

Oh, crap!

The woman blasted forward so quickly that he almost lost sight of her. How did she move so fast?!

[Solar Flare: Quick Draw]

Left with no other option, he channeled sun chi into his sword as he unsheathed it and released all the energy in a blinding slash that radiated outward like a solar flare. This powerful quick-draw variation of his technique was extremely fast and powerful. The heat alone was enough to melt through most forms of metal.

It did nothing against Hou Jingshu’s clawed limbs. The young woman raised her forearms and took the attack against them. Heat sizzled and lights flashed as she plowed headfirst through his attack, which exploded and fizzled out.

“Dammit! Don’t just stand there you three! Attack her together!”

His quick rebuke got the others moving. Elders Tu Yan, Fei Yun, and Shi Yuan quickly released their own techniques, which forced her to divert her attention from him to guarding against them. Yet just like his technique, theirs did nothing against her. The powerful sun chi they were all so proud of was like an ocean breeze caressing this woman’s skin.

There were a few things Qiang Bao noticed as their battle continued. Hou Jingshu never used any techniques outside of changing her forearms into those dragon claws. He concluded she couldn’t use techniques because they required use of her mind. Those claws were likely not a technique but an instinctive defense mechanism, or perhaps an ability that was inherent in her bloodline. There were some cultivators who had special bloodline abilities like the Phoenix Clan and their passive regeneration.

Even passive techniques like this must require chi to use, so we can win so long as we wear her down. The question is how much chi does she have? She’s at the Seeker Realm, so we already know she has a lot more than us. Can we win in a battle of attrition?

The Luminous Eclipse Seal would remain intact until everyone who performed the ritual to activate it was killed, so they didn’t have to worry about interference from Mei Xilan, but that didn’t mean much. Now that Hou Jingshu’s instincts had determined they were a threat, she would not stop attacking. It took everything he and his elders had to keep their distance and launch ranged attacks at her.

There were a few other things he noticed. Hou Jingshu would manuver herself to protect Mei Xilan if they launched an attack at the other woman. Her instincts were honed to a razor sharp edge and good for more than just protecting herself. It was because of this discovery that he and the rest of his elders had managed to stay alive. Two of them would keep Hou Jingshu engaged, while one would attack Mei Xilan, which forced the woman to divert her attention and protect both herself and the young Sui Kingdom princess. Qiang Bao believed the key to victory lay in this weakness.

The question was: How could they utilize this knowledge to their advantage?

He never noticed the necklace glowing beneath Hou Jingshu’s clothing.

***

Hou Jingshu awoke to fresh rays of sunlight pouring on her face and a gentle hand tenderly caressing her hair. She opened her eyes slightly. Everything appeared blurry, but she blinked several times and a familiar face looming above her sharpened into focus. A young boy with black hair, black eyes, and a slightly teasing smile adorned it.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Wu Jian said.

“Eeek!”

Hou Jingshu tried to sit up, but she moved too fast and slammed her forehead into the underside of Wu Jian’s chin.

“Ack!”

Wu Jian went down, chin bruised, and Hou Jingshu cried out in a surprise as her head landed back on his lap.

“Ouch… why do you always do this? My head isn’t made of steel, you know?”

“I-I’m sorry! You just startled me!”

“I’m the one who’s startled! You were the one who put your head on my lap remember?!”

Was that what happened. She couldn’t remember if she was being honest. Her memory before that point seemed to be blank, but… well, if Wu Jian was saying it, then it must be true.

They soon both recovered and decided to leave Hou Jingshu’s residents in favor of the greater grounds of the Shang Kingdom Imperial Palace. The palace grounds were massive and sprawling, with numerous complexes and buildings, each designed with a different purpose in mind. When looked at from a bird’s eye view, the palace grounds were shaped like a dragon. Each complex was also named after a dragon’s part.

Hou Jingshu was the thirteen year old daughter of Emperor Hou Jun, and Wu Jian was her fiance. They had been introduced at a young age as playmates. When they were much younger, Wu Jian would come over and play with her, and she had eventually fallen in love. Her father had noticed that and declared them engaged. She was very happy with this arrangement, and so was Wu Jian, but she always became embarrassed when he got too close or too physical with her… even when she was the one who initiated contact.

“What should we do now? Head over to the training ground?” asked Wu Jian.

“Of course! I wanna see the kingdom’s cultivators in training!” Hou Jingshu declared.

She and Wu Jian loved watching the cultivators train. It was their dream to become powerful cultivators themselves, so they studied the training methods her kingdom’s soldiers used to get stronger. They wouldn’t be able to train for many years, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t study now for when they broke through. Knowledge was power. She didn’t remember who had said that, but she knew it to be true.

And yet the training grounds were empty when they arrived.

“What’s going on? Where is everyone?” asked Wu Jian.

“Hey, Jian. Who is that?”

“Who is… who?”

“That woman in the middle of the training ground.”

“I don’t see anyone? Are you feeling okay?”

“Huh? But…”

Standing in the very center of the training ground was a woman whose beauty seemed inhuman. Her alluring figure was adorned in resplendent robes that seemed ethereal and seemed to invoke a sense of timelessness. She had silky black hair like midnight given form, beautiful eyes the same color as the sky on a clear day, and lush lips like cherry blossoms. Hou Jingshu was entranced.

The woman smiled.

“Is this what you dream of?” she asked.

“E-excuse me?” asked Hou Jingshu.

The woman just continued to smile even as the world around her faded and everything turned black.

Hou Jingshu awoke to the sensation of the sun on her face and a hand caressing her hair. She opened her eyes to find Wu Jian staring down at her with a soft, tender smile. He was older now. His physique had become powerful and strong after he broke through to the Hunger Realm. The dark hanfu with golden dragon scales that he wore suited him so well.

When did he get so old? I don’t remember…

She noticed that something was wrong, but the thought vanished when Wu Jian leaned down and brushed his lips against her forehead.

“Good morning, sleepyhead. Time to get up.”

“Morning, Jian…”

Hou Jingshu sat up and stretched. She and Wu Jian had gotten married shortly after they turned sixteen and became cultivators. Both of them were hailed as once in a hundred year prodigies, having plowed straight through the Hunger Realm and into the Asura Realm. They were currently being trained by Uncle Yu Chenguang.

“Shifu Chenguang is waiting for us at the training ground,” Wu Jian said as he stood up. “Get dressed so we can head over there.”

“M’kay…”

Hou Jingshu no longer felt embarrassed about things like physical intimacy and so her cheeks only turned a mild shade of pink as she climbed out of bed, bearing her naked body to her husband. He admired her for a moment before politely turning away. She appreciated that about him. Wu Jian was nothing if not respectful, and he knew there was a time and place for everything.

They made it to the training ground, but the man that she expected to see was not there. In fact, even the training ground was gone. She blinked.

“Jian, do you know what’s going… on?” she turned to look at her companion, but he was gone too. “Eh? J-Jian?! Where did you go?!”

She was about to begin looking for her husband. However, the world around her suddenly vanished completely. She found herself standing in a space of pure white. The only thing around her now was a massive, towering edifice that appeared timeless, a creation so grand it could not have been built by human hands. Standing before it was a woman, beautiful and ethereal and strangely familiar. Hou Jingshu felt like she should know this woman, but she couldn’t place her.

“Wh-what’s going on? Did you take Jian?” she asked the woman.

The woman did not respond.

“Why does life slumber?” she asked instead.

“E-excuse me?”

“It’s a simple question. Why does life slumber?”

Even though she couldn’t place this woman, Hou Jingshu still felt compelled to answer, and so she thought about this question.

“Life slumbers… because it lets us know that we’re alive and will wake up.”

The woman’s smile became full of affection. “That’s a good answer. Then you know that… it’s time to wake up from your dream.”

“Huh?”

Hou Jingshu didn’t quite understand at first, but then, the fog within her mind, a haze she hadn’t known existed, disappeared, and Hou Jingshu realized that everything she had experienced up to this point was just a dream. And it was time to awaken from that dream.