(Author's Note - The bar was previously mentioned as the eatery.)
"...She is using you."
To take so many days in delivering a few sheets of paper, it was clear that only the ones she decided she wanted done, had been sent and not the entire catalogue.
"I am also using her."
—-
"Grandmaster, he has returned from the Dragon's Row as you predicted." Elder Yu stood before the idol of Nufu, the Grandmaster of the Tai School.
"...Then, he is truly cursed. Double your guard, Yu. He will only become a greater disturbance, attracting the ire of the Great Path even more as he continues his path," Grandmaster Nufu spoke icily, "Prepare yourself, for the Tai."
Elder Yu cupped his fists and lowered his head.
"For the Tai."
—-
"Once the Shadow Roc's are wiped out, and the ports grow, trade here will become very lucrative as it is down river from Fengzhou, making it a perfect place to store goods for a lower price." Guo Long sat back within the Shouai Merchant Armada, his face turned to a glass of wine laid out a little ways away.
"Once that happens…" Wo Yiyu who stood by the balcony concealed by Qi Formations, "...This place's foundations will fall completely under my control."
Guo Long's brows furrowed.
"Of course."
—-
"The young lady has escaped once again!" The guards within Shouai rushed out!
They did not know how she had been escaping, but word had arrived from the Head that if she were to escape their sight again, they would immediately retreat back to the Feng clan of Fengzhou for new orders.
Naturally, they knew what was meant by new orders, and so searched for the young lady for the third time since that order had come in.
Yet, as they moved through the town, they began to vanish, their bodies never found.
Feng Luoyu who sensed the disappearances, paled.
Swiftly, she crushed the talisman in her hand and a bright blue light arose around her, and a hand which was reaching for her was directly repelled as she vanished from her spot!
"Tch."
—
Deep within the Baikan, a beautiful young woman bathed in a stream and not far from there, a young man with his back turned to her, sat quietly meditating.
"Hm?" Hair of mud and eyes to match, though surprisingly clear now as though the dew of the early morning became like her, shimmering.
"Indeed." The young man with muddy silver hair quietly looked off into the distance with his one good eye.
The young woman slowly exited the waters, droplets of water flickered as she blinked, a deep burning fire appearing in the depths of her eyes.
Powerful Sword Aura surrounded the aura inundating it in an oppressive sharpness combined with a lowkey killing intent like the sharpness of an eagles eye but the murderous understanding lying just underneath.
Within it, one felt like prey.
"Xin," The young woman who had put on her red robes said coldly, "It's here."
"Wuqing." Shou Xin said dryly.
She nodded, and she turned slightly, a long sharp nail flying past her head and into the tree's behind, leaving a long sharp dugout where it landed.
From the waterside, she glanced up at Shou Xin sitting on his boulder, and he glanced back at her. By the time they both looked back, they'd left only afterimages.
Fukkatsu Kiru.
Alongside a surge of Sanguine Sword Qi whose density could rival the deep sea, there came a long dragons cry as a foggy Flood Dragon seemed to soar close to the forest floor towards the unseen threat!
"Tik-tik-tik-tk-..."
The creature within was cut short and it let out a bloodcurlding scream, rushing out from it's hiding place within it's Innate Ability!
Ears as long as walls and a face almost smushed in looking, it's body large enough to rival a brickhouse and a terrifying physical power to match.
Directly shattering the Fukkatsu Kiru with his skull, the Night Rabbit rushed past directly slamming into Shou Xin, who crossed Fukkatsu over his chest, receiving the impact head on!
His teeth cracked, he bite down so hard.
Yet, in the instant that the Night Rabbit slowed, Feng Wuqing appeared above it, her body twisting as her fist was covered in Martial Aura which felt like a ferocious, unchecked beast!
The Night Rabbit flicked it's ears slapping towards Feng Wuqing!
Precisely as it's attention lapsed away from Shou Xin, he flicked his wrist and Fukkatsu turned from it's broadside to the Shinje-ji, it's blade.
Fukkatsu Koka Kiru.
Tens of swords appeared in the air as though a hundred armed buddha!
The Night Rabbit's pupils shrank as it kicked the ground, but found that it couldn't change it's momentum!
Countless sword strikes reached it at point blank range, it's defenseless face without it's ears to block, was cut to ribbons!
The residual force of it's charge slammed into Shou Xin like a train, throwing him back into the river as he dragged along the ground, the Night Rabbit nailed to ground by Feng Wuqing's fist which landed the instant it died.
"Ah!" Feng Wuqing pulled her now bloody arm out from the back of the Night Rabbit and rushed to the riverside, "This is why I said I would release my aura and take it's charge!"
Shou Xin shook himself, and stood up. Though he was fine, his clothing had been shredded.
"Fukkatsu Koka Kiru is a very close range-"
"-technique, yes I know! But," Feng Wuqing pointed at Shou Xin who had now lost all of his clothing which had been torn to ribbons, "Now look at you! How are we supposed to go back like this?"
Shou Xin looked down, to find that he was completely naked, yet his heart could not stir any embarrassment to the surface.
"So?" Shou Xin shrugged, "It doesn't matter?"
"How would you feel if I walked into town naked?" She scowled at his lack of understanding.
The instant she said it, he thought about it, and his hatred was stoked, but soon it was directly suppressed by he himself.
Nodding, he put on some shorts he had at the bottom of his storage ring, something he didn't think he'd need and pretty much forgot was there for a long time.
He always intended on putting it on, but, with Feng Wuqing's words he did so sooner as he planned to tease her a bit, though her lackluster reaction made him a little sad.
He'd hoped she would scream or blush or something.
Sadly putting on his shorts and sucking in the Fifth Star Night Rabbit into his ring, he looked back at Feng Wuqing who waited quietly, her gaze sizing him up as she crossed her arms.
"...You know, your pupils have a red flame in them when your not blind, right?" Shou Xin said calmly as he noticed this, "Aren't you going to look away?"
Her face, which was calm, instantly lit up with a tinge of red but she did not look away.
"Why should I look away? It's nothing I haven't seen before." The little red tinge vanished as her eyes had a new vigor.
"Ho…" Shou Xin finished putting on the shorts and two brick sandals, "...not fair."
"Nobody told you to turn around." Feng Wuqing raised her palm and slapped down, the earth cracking open and countless small burrows filled with Night Rabbits appearing, crushed to death.
Shou Xin shrugged and took the Night Rabbits into his ring.
"It's boring so tell me how you got those scars?" She looked at him clearing up the Night Rabbit corpses from the side, bored out of her mind.
His upper body exposed, one could see spiderwebbing scars like lightning going through him. Several stab wounds a few cuts and various other small wounds.
"These are from successful tribulations by the Great Path, or sent by those with power." Shou Xin replied evenly, "This one is actually your fault."
"What? Which one!" Feng Wuqing got up to see what he was pointing at on his chest as she could only see his back from her position.
Just as she got close however, his arm turned into a shadow and pulled her in, in a flash he stole her ruby red lips.
A half second later, he caught five knuckles in his gut, not because she disliked it, but out of raw instinct at the sudden movements.
"That… one…" Shou Xin smiled with a drip of blood falling from the corner of his lips, a long ditch dragged open at his feet.
"Ah!" Feng Wuqing glared at him, "You could have asked!"
"But, then it wouldn't have been fair?" His smile was roguish as his ring flashed revealing a shimmering crimson in the depths of his eye.
"...Hmph." She looked away and began to walk, "We should head back. This is the last assignment from them. It's been nearly two months. The Yan heir will be arriving sometime soon."
He quietly appeared beside her.
"The Baikan is cleared now." His Sanguine Sword Qi spread out like a geyser spreads mist everywhere.
As it did so, nothing reacted.
There were no Mortal Chain Realm beasts anywhere within the vast Baikan, even as he searched and searched there was none, they had been completely cleared out by him.
Within his Inner Sea, the waves of Sanguine Sword Qi devoured and destroyed all resistance from the Primeval Qi he had stolen away from the beasts he captured.
Recently, he had managed to even begin stealing the Primeval Qi of Fourth Chain Beasts, however, going any higher was suicide as he could not fight them in life, and could not do so in death either.
His Fourth Stage Physique had grown to the peak through the countless battles over the last two months alongside his Sword Aura which rose a little higher with each battle as his techniques became more and more refined, especially the Fukkatsu Koka Kiru, the greater he improved in it, the worse it became in his eyes.
Because of these things, two of the three energies had reached a threshold. However, his Qi was lagging behind. As the fuel for combat, no matter how much he cultivated he could not regenerate his lost qi and gain more qi due to the closeness between missions.
His thoughts drifted to the Demon Gate.
Yet, his thoughts cut there as he arrived at a secret place in the midst of the Baikan.
Shou Clan. The large red gates overhead sign read, the wood cut in using Shou Xin's very own Qi. Each stroke sharp and uncaring like a free flying dragon!
The guards outside looked sharp, and a lowkey aura fell off them in waves as they could not yet fully control it.
First Chain Experts.
Within the clan, much had changed starting with the size. As more of the Baikan was cleansed of the beast threat, the clan's grounds grew more and more.
The Treasure Ministry which was run by Yui Luo and handled all of the economic affairs of the clan had taken up residence in the old Guo Clan to the western most area of the clans grounds whilst the Warrior Hall lead by Liu Gang had taken up residence in the fallen Shi Clan's old clan grounds.
In total, the Shou Clan grounds were the Baikan, and the Baikan was the Shou Clan. The total room of which it took up being very vast and taking over an hour to go from one end to the other. Though the territory was not full and there were many empty spaces.
However, this was the main Shou Clan residence whilst the Treasure Ministry and Warrior Hall were a ways away, but also close by, paths already beaten down and many homes having gone up within low walls so as not to be seen from over the tree tops.
The ground was paved with tile and the homes made of smooth stone.
The Great Hall where the entire clan gathers for assignments, meetings and other such activities was made purely of smooth stone which ahd been engraved with various images of Flood Dragons upon the pillars and sword battles detailing Shou Xin's epic.
With the Shouai Merchant Armada's help, the success of the ports upgrading and the military force that the Shou Clan could now bring to force even without Shou Xin, the migrating of the hundreds of small villages had gone through without a hitch.
Standing atop the Heart Mind Pagoda which was rebuilt the same, as per Shou Xin's order, not wanting anything fancy, just a nice place to retreat to, he looked at Shouai Town-, nay, Shouai City!
It's walls were no longer cracked and the guards at the gates were serious of their work, people entered and left regularly as the farmers just outside the walls were building ever larger fields.
While he was away, they also rebuilt the slum district into something which didn't look like a slum at all, more a residential district. The old Shou Clan grounds were directly destroyed the materials re-assigned and Shoukin, the underground city had been revealed to the light through certain pathways which only a few knew of.
Standing atop the, at least twice as large, Heart Mind Pagoda, Shou Xin felt that his clansmen had gone overboard with this, but he could feel their sincerity and accepted it.
That said, he didn't even want to glance at the bill for everything.
As the lord of Shouai, he would get a tax off the merchants and business', of which that would go higher up to the External Affairs Ministry which would then do whatever they do with it leaving him with only a portion of the original sum which was his own little fortune.
Grabbing an extra set of clothing, Shou Xin directly put it on and then turned around, hanging Fukkatsu on his back.
"...We're going to the Demon Realm?" Feng Wuqing asked curiously.
He slightly shook his head, but this time her grip did not loosen.
"I'm not waiting for you." Her tone was decided, "The Feng be damned."
The love in his heart soared, but at the name of the Feng and then the thought of the Yan, the hatred rose to the same heights creating a vortex in his body, yet, her warmth reached him and the love won out, settling his mind to an even draw.
"Alright."
It's not like he could stop her.
"Perfect!" Suddenly, a black haired young man appeared at the balcony, "Last time, I was extremely disappointed, perhaps this time you will do better!"
In a moment, the two of them appeared in a destroyed room falling into a familiar gate.
The instant they arrived on the other side, they moved again and were thrown off the shrivelled floating island, falling down fast.
Shou Xin grabbed Feng Wuqing and covered her with his body, but before they could turn into paste on the ground they slowed to a stop.
Umpf.
Touching down was light.
Instantly, Shou Xins other eye opened and his gaze turned into something akin to searchlights!
"Hidden Heart Array."
In the six directions swords rose from the earth and interlocked creating a strong barrier to stop the killing intent and gales from rushing at them directly.
Feng Wuqing felt the conditions however briefly and her eyes shone.
"I'll be up ahead."
Before he could stop her, she had already vanished into the killing fog ahead.
All around him, Undying Soldiers appeared, but as he already knew how to handle them, they didn't get the chance to form links and were directly exterminated.
His strength which he had been restraining slowly spread out like a slow, but steadily expanding lake.
His Sanguine Sword Law began to inhale the killing intent as he did and turn it into Sanguine Sword Qi, increasing his strength, however he felt it almost instantly.
It's too slow.
Much too slow.
Moving forward he rushed into the fog where Feng Wuqing had gone until it was almost unbearable for his mind and immediately stopped.
The killing intent was much thicker here and each of his breaths while labored gave far greater rewards.
Whilst within the Hidden Heart Array, the eyes of the Great Path could be temporarily covered giving him time to quickly increase his strength.
Within what felt like a few days, his Qi had managed to top off by constantly devouring the extremely heavy killing intent, yet, his mind was also suffering.
If not for the harmony of his three energies then his mind may have truly broken under the stress, however with them in harmony and the two powerful emotions in his mind staying afloat, he did not lose himself, but other emotions dulled significantly.
His ears twitched.
Lighting fell.
But it was not for him.
Looking into the distance, he saw the shadow of a Flood Dragon rushing through the bloody fog towards a certain figure which directly took it, and then shot it out the other hand before recieving it again, a fierce battle taking place until only the figure alone stood triumphant.
The figures shadow then began to vanish as it headed deeper.
Shou Xin smiled wryly and closed his eyes.
The Fifth Chain Flood Dragon in his Inner Sea did not seem so terrifying, not because it was not strong, but because he simply did not feel fear… anymore.
It was dulled to a useless thing.
As he looked at the Fifth Chain Flood Dragon, it roared!
But, before anything special could happen, Shou Xin directly swiftly attacked it.
"Fukkatsu Koka Kiru." He was no slow starter.
There were also no words to be had with a being that sought only to impede him.
Sixteen whiskers attacked at once, but one hundred sword strokes came down against them, overwhelming them such that it came to a stand still despite the flood dragon's immense strength.
As it swiftly opened it's maw to devour him, it's eyes glinted and it took off away into the skies of his Inner Sea!
"So you can all see this?" Shou Xin smiled as the hatred in his mind began to rise against the Flood Dragon's which stood in his way.
In the sea of Sanguine Sword Qi, countless swords began to rise.
Sword Field.
An ability he had not used so often outside of his Inner Sea due to the immense consumption of Qi and strain on his soul, was extremely useful within the Inner Sea.
The Flood Dragon looked down at him like a cold wind in the midst of a brutal winter, seeking to break apart his skin and pull him down into the icy lakes below.
Just as it's whiskers were flying back to it, countless scales of it's fallen rbethern which had been reinforcing the Inner Sea peeled off the sides and rushed forward, suppressing the whiskers!
However, the scales began to crack almost immediately, but that was enough!
Hundreds of swords destroyed the defensless whiskers on the Flood Dragon's face, though it did try and escape, but it had nowhere to run nor hide! It's pride soared as it shattered countless swords but, it's whiskers were traded!
Just as it's sanity returned, it's golden pupils shrank!
Shou Xin stood before the very last whisker with a cruel smile.
"Goodbye."
Crack!
The whisker was shattered and the Fifth Chain Flood Dragon… fell.
Looking back at the remaining four Flood Dragon's around the Sanguine Sword Law which had gotten many times stronger now, he smiled coldly, knowing they could see him.
However, he did not continue looking for long as he turned his gaze upwards to the sky where clouds had begun to gather.
With the breakthrough to Fifth Chain, his presence was made known to the Great Path which immediately sent down a terrifying lightning flood dragon!
Yet, as he watched it fall, a hatred filled gaze reached his eyes and he coldly looked back within.
The Lightning Dragon could not penetrate all the way into his Inner Sea this time.
It was directly stopped by the immense power converging on his skin, drawing Fukkatsu he lightly twirled it in his palm and countless swords rushed forward, splitting it into hundreds of pieces in an instant.
In the end, a tribulation was the Great Path's punishment for attempting to steal more of its power; it was a boon to those who could defeat it, but death to those who failed.
Using Fukkatsu as the conduit, and before the Great Path could attempt anything to screw him over, Shou Xin ripped the strength from the lightning flood dragon absorbing it's essence into his body through each of his strikes.
Instead of getting the dregs after barely surviving, he was stealing it's essence such that the wall between Fourth and Fifth Stage was directly shattered in the midst of the battle turning it completely one sided.
His Sword Aura also managed to break through in the midst of the fierce combat with the two tribulations which had taken three days to completely finish.
The lightning flashing within the gorge finally stopped.
Shou Xin turned his gaze forward, letting the Hidden Heart Array fall.
Countless Bull Demons surrounded him, sniffing the air as though they had sniffed something delicious.
"Great Path be damned." He naturally knew what this was, and the hatred rose.
His Hidden Heart Bloodline which was cursed, had caused these Bull Demon's to smell him out even through the killing intent fog due to how heavy the scent was.
Hundreds of these Bull Demons gathered.
Shou Xins eyes shone with an uncaring light as tens of swords arose all around himself.
Sword Field.
Sword Steps.
Rushing forward he shattered every chain he saw, whilst at the same time correcting every useless movement and stupid action he made, his Sword Aura increasing alongside his Primeval Body Art as he was injured constantly by the powerful gale which no longer was inhibited by the Hidden Heart Array.