Liuyun's head was completed soaked with sweat as a staring competition occurred between the mysterious girl that had suddenly appeared and Feng Hanyan. He was unsure of what to do at this moment, then all of a sudden he felt a strange pressure, filled with bloodlust and killing intent. His body hair stood up immediately and subconsciously, he created a sword using his death energy and jumped in front of Feng Hanyan as he stared at the bush behind the mysterious girl.
"Who are you?! Show yourself!"
This caused a sense of urgency to appear within Feng Hanyan as she couldn't even sense the person hiding, although she was in a staring match against some random bimbo, she still had sharp senses that allowed her to detect most lifeforms. Yet, she didn't manage to sense the person and even now she still was unable to do so.
Only truly strong people or dead corpses were able to fool her senses, and seeing the panicked look on Liuyun face, she immediately knew it was the former. She did not fool around anymore and summoned out the Heavenly Phoenix Blade, preparing to enter a deathmatch with the hidden entities.
The bush ruffled for a second before a dark silhouette appeared, an unknown man covered in a cloak appeared right before the two and stood beside the mysterious girl. The latter immediately looked at the former with nothing but love and worship, as if he was a god to her.
The man in cloak looked at Liuyun for a moment, but his eyes held disdain for Liuyun and Feng Hanyan. Seeing his cold eyes, a shiver ran up the spine of Liuyun and his battle intent started to soar.
'Who is he... How can he so powerful...'
The man hugged the mysterious lady and opened his mouth to finally start talking.
"Hmph... To be able to sense me even though you are so weak. As expected from you... Liuyun."
"What?!"
"Heh, you are so weak now... You even forgot my face, haven't you... Doesn't matter, now it is not the time for me to begin my battle with you. The souls within you will try to kill me before I even manage to kill you... And we will both be heavily injured."
"... Who are you, how do you know about them."
In front of the great expert like the man before him, Liuyun felt as if his deepest secrets are being pried out of his soul. He felt a sense of fear brooding within him and he couldn't help but take a step back.
"Liuyun! Be careful! He is ridiculously powerful and probably can rival me at my peak!"
Shi Xi Wei's worried voice resounded throughout Liuyun's conscious, causing Liuyun to sink further in despair. His body and instincts were on high alert, roaring as if trying to warn him to run away from the fearsome enemy right in front of him. Yet, he knew he was unable to get away if the expert decided to kill him.
He turned to look at Feng Hanyan, seeing her shivering in fear and her entire body sweating as if she can't handle the pressure given off by the man.
'That's right... In the end, if I can't even garner the courage to fight for her... How can I say I love her!'
The deep feelings within Liuyun overwhelmed the fear that stunned his body still, he gathered the energy within his dantian and channeled it into a one strike attack that he planned to use against the foe in front of him. The Withering sword's edges became sharper by every passing of the time, and a blade of 25 inches appeared within his hands. It was pure black and even slightly purplish in color, yet it seemed to possess a demeanor of a king that will slash apart anything in its path. May it be God or Demons that stands in its way.
The mysterious man in front of him was slightly astounded, his eyebrows curved up slightly and his expression was less relaxed. Though it was only for a split second that he gave off this reaction, it was enough to say that at least his interests perked for a moment and he was actually on guard by the 'weakling' in front of him.
"Ho... I didn't expect you to be able to control your energy this well in just a few years worth of training Liuyun... Hmph, I will give you that at least."
Liuyun coldly looked at the man before him and suddenly he disappeared from his original location. The energy fluctuations around him similarly disappeared as if he was no longer there, he was truly too fast for the eyes or ordinary people to see.
"Hmph, such a joke... Did you think I was truly unable to see you?"
Saying so, the man wearing the black cloak turned around abruptly. He threw a punch and it collided with something invisible midair. After a few moments, Liuyun once again reappeared, his sword colliding with the fist that was thrown out by the man.
"Rhg!"
Liuyun was truly almost unable to bear the weight behind the punch of the man, he coughed out blood yet his will was unwavering as he continued to clash with the man.
'No, I can't lose! I have too much on my back... Yan'er's life, Shi Xi Wei and Jia Yi's life... and most importantly... The revenge for the enemies of the past who harmed Shi Xi Wei!'
"Ahhh!!!!"
The death energy within Liuyun started to churn and become more concentrated on his withering blade. The weight behind his slash also increased exponentially, it was no longer weaker than the man's blow and maybe might even exceed it.
"Hah!!!!"
Liuyun slashed down with all his might, he finally won the conflict between them. The man took a few steps back and surprisingly his skin was hurt from Liuyun's sword strike, he looked at his wound in shock and he started to shiver. Yet it was not due to anger nor fear... But rather excitement and laughter coursed through the veins of the man.
"Hahahaha!!! Finally Liuyun! You are showing some promise in this world! You hurt me despite the power differences between us!!"
Mad laughter resounded throughout the room, the man laughed for a good few seconds before he stopped and walked towards the girl. Carrying her within his arms, his body was covered in energy before he spoke out once again.
"Liuyun, you better become stronger the next time I see you... Or else you can be prepared to die a cruel death..."
After his words, he disappeared into thin air. Yet Liuyun was on guard as he feared that the man was still around...
"He is no longer here Liuyun, he is truly gone. You can relax now..."
Shi Xi Wei's voice appeared within his conscious and he finally decided to relax after receiving confirmation. Liuyun, collapsed onto the floor, his head filled with beads of sweat as he laid there with blood trickling down his mouth...
'That guy... I know him from somewhere... He is probably from the previous world I was in... Did I offend or do something to anyone back then?'
*Plop*
A sudden weight could be felt on Liuyun's chest, he turned to look up and snapped out from his thoughts... Only to see Feng Hanyan in front of him crying and hugging him.
"Yan'Er..."
"Liuyun, let me lie on you like this?"
"... En"
... Time passed and the two enjoyed their brief break of the moment after they had just avoided death, the winds brewing around gently and the grass flowing in the same direction as the wind. The staleness brought about a sense of peace within them as they rested.
"Liuyun, I will be braver... I keep letting you handle everything, I need to be stronger too... So I can protect you and the people I love."
The determination within Feng Hanyan's words was unwavering and it seemed that this experience had caused a change within her to appear.
Liuyun smiled and hugged her tightly, his arms wrapped around her neck and waist as he gently whispered to her ears.
"I need to be stronger too... So I can protect you and the people we care about... And one day take you as my wife."