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Gao Shen was the first to die. He was their defender, using his massive and durable body to protect the others while they attacked, so it was perhaps natural that he would die first. Wu Meiying had seen his death seconds before it happened. She had tried to warn him, but she was a second too late. Zhou Xie’e had removed the man’s heart from his chest. The others had panicked when they saw Gao Shen’s still beating heart grasped within his hands.

He’s toying with us.

That was the first thing Wu Meiying thought after his action. He could have killed Gao Shen easily, but instead, he manipulated the Dao of Time to keep the man alive even after removing his heart from his chest. Gao Shen only died when Zhou Xie’e crushed his heart with a simple application of strength.

The battle went all downhill after that. Wu Meiying tried her best to keep them together, but several of them had already lost heart. Luo Feng was taken out when he recieved a kick to the face that launched him off the bridge. Lan Xiu’s throat was ripped out when Zhou Xie’e made a claw shape with his hands and clawed at her.

Soon the only ones left aside from her were Lei Jin, Mei Ling, Wei Ying, and Zhe Fēnglì… and all of them, including Zhe Fēnglì, appeared to have resigned themselves to death.

Wu Meiying didn’t blame them. She really didn’t. Zhou Xie’e was an overwhelmingly powerful opponent. There was, in truth, no way they could win.

The biggest issue, aside from Zhou Xie’e’s much higher cultivation, was his special technique. Zhou Xie’e did not have many. The Dao of Time was a difficult path to master and this man was still fairly young. He had two techniques.

The first was called Temporal Echo. Zhou Xie'e manipulated the flow of time to create echoes of his actions. This allowed him to attack, defend, and counter from multiple points in time simultaneously. It was one of the more basic time techniques, but the fact that he had mastered it to such an extent while still in the Nine Mortal Realms was impressive nonetheless. It was this technique that he used the most.

His other technique was called Fate’s Entwine, and it was a screwed up technique that shared damage. Zhou Xie'e manipulated the threads of destiny with his chi, intertwining his fate to another, which meant any damage he received was shared by the person connected to him. They only found out about this technique when Zhe Fēnglì cut into his hip and Gao Shen had recieved the same wound. They tried to be careful after realizing what happened, but that just gave Zhoue Xie’e even greater initiative.

He hadn’t used any other Dao of Time techniques. Wu Meiying assumed that was all he knew. Given his cultivation, the fact that he could use even two techniques was enough to tell her this man was a genius.

“Mei Ling! Move left and attack!”

[Prism Blade Dance]

Mei Ling reacted to Wu Meiying’s words on instinct, dodging left and unleashing her technique. She channeled chi through her body and blade. Enhanced by her chi, she performed an elegant, dance-like sequence with her sword, which refracted light that created dazzling illusions of her movements. This normally would have confused her opponent. Zhou Xie’e was unfazed.

[Temporal Echo]

The young man of the Zhou Clan not only blocked all of her techniques, but he also countered with palm strikes that rattled the young woman’s blade. The sharp clang echoed around them. Yet just as Mei Ling was being pushed to the edge, Wu Meiying intercepted Zhou Xie’e’s techniques with her own.

[Severance: Radiance of Time]

Zhou Xie’e grimaced as her attacks struck him. His hands became wrinkled as he tried to block them, forcing him to leap away--right into Zhe Fēnglì’s sword strike.

[Echoing Blades Symphony]

The amount of chi erupting from Zhe Fēnglì was impressive. He channeled that power into his sword and performed a series of rapid, harmonious strikes that resonated with the air, each slash building on the energy of the last to create a symphonic barrage that enveloped Zhou Xie’e, or so it appeared at first.

“A-aaaah?!”

A scream came from Wei Ying. The young man had been attempting to sneak up on Zhou Xie’e, to land a finishing blow, but the Zhou Clansmen had already used Fate’s Entwine on him. Cuts appeared all over Wei Ying’s body as he fell to the ground, bleeding from numerous wounds that were deep, possibly fatal. Zhe Fēnglì went pale. He froze, and Zhou Xie’e used that moment’s hesitation to attack.

“Hurk?!”

Zhe Fēnglì wasn’t the strongest swordsman among the younger generation for nothing. He moved with nothing but instinct, dodging the attack meant to stab his heart, but he couldn’t avoid it entirely. Zhoue Xie’e’s hand plunged into his shoulder and came out slick with blood. He tried to attack again, but Wu Meiying and Mei Ling intercepted him and attacked together. While Mei Ling distracted him, Wu Meiying hit him with Severance: Radiance of Time.

“That attack of yours is most annoying,” Zhoue Xie’e said with a grimace. He clenched and unclenched his now wrinkled hand, swirling energy gathering around it to restore his hand back to normal. “The ability to accelerate a person’s aging is troubling indeed. Even though my cultivation is far higher than yours, I can’t afford to get hit with an attack like that.”

Wu Meiying’s time attack was the only thing keeping them alive right now. Her attack ignored cultivation levels. It did not matter if he was two whole realms more powerful than her. Only someone who had ascended past the Nine Mortal Realms could hope to block her technique. Whenever it looked like one of her allies was in danger, she stepped in to assist with her, but that didn’t mean she could keep this up.

Zhou Xie’e smiled. “I wonder how much chi you have left.”

Wu Meiying kept her expression carefully blank. She had used a lot of chi, and while she still had some to spare, she wouldn’t be able to use that technique more than a few more times. Not only were time techniques difficult, she was constantly monitoring the timeline to predict the best outcome possible. Her chi was already being drained at an astonishing rate.

“I’ve heard enough out of you!”

Lei Jin suddenly attacked. He had been waiting in the wings, building up his energy. Lightning skittered along his feet to increase his speed. When he unsheathed his blade, there was a brief flash like a bolt of lightning striking the ground. Thunder rumbled like a war drum as he swung his sword in a cleaving motion that cut Zhou Xie’e in two. That was how it looked, at least, but the Zhou Xie’e he attacked wavered and vanished like a mirage.

[Temporal Echo: Clone]

Wu Meiying had only a little chi left and was unable to predict Zhou Xie’e’s next actions, which was why she failed to predict Lei Jin’s defeat. He was not killed, fortunately, but Zhou Xie’e launched a punch that rattled the young man’s skull. He dropped like a sack of bricks. Zhoue Xie’e might have killed him, but Mei Ling and Zhe Fēnglì attacked before he could land a finishing blow. Sadly, neither were a match for him.

[Temporal Echo]

Using his most refined technique, Zhou Xie’e single-handedly fended off both attackers, then launched a simultaneous counterattack. Mei Ling spat out blood as a fist slammed into her chest. She reeled back, then fell to a knee.

[Heaven’s Mandate: Blitz]

Zhe Fēnglì channeled an absurd amount of chi into his blade before releasing it in a single, powerful strike. The attack was so powerful that it appeared as a flash of brilliant golden light. It tore through the bridge, burning away much of the flooring as it continued on, disappearing into the distant sky.

Unfortunately, his attack did not do anything to Zhou Xie’e, who wasn’t even in the line of fire when he launched it. Zhoue Xie’e appeared on his left, hand shaped like a knife, which he thrust forward. Zhe Fēnglì swung to counter, but the hand vanished.

[Temporal Echo]

Zhoue Xie’e struck the blade’s flat end, sending it careening to the side. He moved with his attack, spinning on the balls of his feet, and launched a kick that slammed into Zhe Fēnglì’s chest. The young man was launched off his feet. A loud crunching sound echoed around them. He struck the floor, conscious, but unable to move. His fingers scratched against the floor as though he was trying to push himself up. However, that was all he could do.

Zhou Xie’e took a deep breath. Then he stood up, turned to Wu Meiying, and smiled.

“You gave a good fight. I’ll admit it, I did not expect to be forced back by cultivators this week, but it’s all over.”

Wu Meiying, despite being all alone now, smiled. “Yes, it is. Over for you.”

Zhou Xie’e looked confused, but then his eyes widened as though he sensed danger. He moved quickly. However, he was not quick enough.

[Slash]

Blood sprayed through the air in an arch as Zhoue Xie’e’s arm was removed at the elbow. The man leapt backward as his arm fell to the ground. He glared at the figures now standing between him and Wu Meiying.

“Jiànkè He… I’m surprised you’re still alive. I guess Zhou Lou wasn’t strong enough to kill you, though you didn’t get away without injury.”

“Was that his name? I never did learn of it before slaying him.”

“Hooo. That’s quite the thing to say. Was he so far beneath you? It’s a little sad that someone not even worth remembering injured you so much, old man.”

The person in the lead of this group was a bald man who cut a distinctive figure. He had striking facial features, eyes like a sly fox, and droopy eyebrows. His expression was normally quite placid like a calm lake. Right now, however, his expression was one of carefully masked rage and cold calculation.

His body was covered in cuts and he was missing his left hand. Wu Meiying grimaced. She had known it would happen, had seen it, but she’d been hoping he would be able to overturn her vision. There had been one in which he didn’t receive such a crippling injury.

There were three other people with him. All of them were men--one who looked young and two who appeared quite old. The young man was Gojun Ming, the leader of Thunderstrike Brotherhood and Lei Jin’s teacher. The oldest among them, who numerous wrinkles made him look like a pug, was actually known as the Ruthless Shadow. He was Wei Ying’s teacher and leader of the Silent Shadow: Mirong Hou. Last among them was a man who looked to be middle-aged, with graying hair and massive muscles. Huo Yang was his name. He was Gao Shen’s teacher and the leader of the Iron Mountain battalion.

While none looked worse than Jiànkè He, all of them had injuries. Gojun Ming was bleeding profusely from a wound on his torso, Mirong Hou had a blood from freshly healed wounds coating his clothes, and Huo Yang’s hands were covered in bruises. She could tell they had all been broken and healed recently. What’s more, they were all exhausted. Whatever battles they had fought had taxed them. While Zhou Xie’e had been a little tired out, he was still relatively fresh compared to them.

There was a moment of tense silence, then a flash of light. Jiànkè He swung his sword down. Zhoue Xie’e dodged it, but Mirong Hou was there, launching an attack.

[Temporal Echo]

Zhou Xie’e blocked the attack with his technique, but even he was not fast enough to block Huo Yang’s powerful strike, which launched him clear across the sky.

“Wu Meiying, take our disciples and go,” Jiànkè He commanded.

Wu Meiying did not need to be told twice. Mei Ling and Zhe Fēnglì had recovered enough to help her carry the others. She gathered them up and directed the students being led by Húndàn Wang to the docking bay. Most of the ships had been destroyed during the assault. There was only one remaining. The disciples at the docking bay had defended this ship with their very lives and many were injured. Wu Meiying directed them all onto the ship and had the people who knew how to pilot it launch the airship without delay.

The ship sailed toward the exit, but it was soon attacked by several vessels that appeared as though they had been waiting. While her fellow disciples all screamed, Wu Meiying remained calm, and seconds later, most of those vessels were destroyed when Jiànkè He appeared before them.

[Cleave]

His single attack was a wide swing that caused a massive cut to appear within the sky, as though he had cut the world in two. All the airships blocking their way were sliced in half. Supplies and people spilled out from the now destroyed ships. Jiànkè He looked at Wu Meiying, gave a single nod, and then moved to block an attack from Zhoue Xie’e, who had tried to destroy the ship she was on.

As the airship flew away, Wu Meiying watched as the four remaining elders of the Heavenly Sword Sect fought against Zhou Xie’e. She wished them luck, but she knew how this would end. None of them would survive.