I felt nothing when I saw most of the cultivators die.
Like I said, I wasn't a psychopathic murderer, but I wasn't a hero either. I didn't want to see people die if I could help it, but I wasn't going to lose any sleep over it if I was unable to prevent it. Additionally, these cultivators had stood by and hung far back, doing absolutely f all while watching Hui Ying, Chi Yan and I fight the winged wyverns off. Not a single one of them had stepped forward to help.
They probably wouldn't shed a tear if we fell to the claws, fangs or fire of the winged wyverns. So why should I weep for their deaths?
It wasn't my responsibility to save them either. That said, I was worried for Huang Qian Jin, but when I glanced over in his direction, I saw that Hui Ying had used Shadow Steps to get to where his charge was, seize him, and then disappear into the darkness. I wasn't concerned for Chi Yan. He could clearly take care of himself, and his attitude pissed me off anyway. A little pain would be a good lesson for him.
Nonetheless, he was defending himself admirably, using his massive black sword as a shield to block the Fire Drake's flames. There was no space for me to hide behind him and his big sword, so I decided to follow Hui Ying's example and dive into the shadows as well.
Emerging from a relatively cooler spot, I swung my sword and used Shadow Sword Strike. The black qi struck the Fire Drake and caused it to stagger, but it was otherwise unhurt. I clicked my tongue and withdrew when it snaked its head about to breathe another gout of flames. Backing off, I then appeared in the opposite side to repeat my maneuver. Once again, the Fire Drake stumbled, but it only seemed more enraged than hurt. Whirling about, it spat another stream of flames in my direction, but I was long gone.
Nonetheless, I had achieved my objective.
While the Fire Drake was distracted by me, its fiery assault upon Chi Yan had temporarily ceased. The Elemental Mountain Sect core disciple kicked off the ground, lifting up his very heavy black sword with his hands and swung it down. Blood spurted into the air and cracked scales flew out, the massive blade biting deeply into the Fire Drake's torso, and it wailed.
However, it was not a fatal blow. The Fire Drake writhed and lashed out, almost catching Chi Yan. The fire practitioner managed to block it with his heavy sword, letting lose more blood and embers when he yanked it out of the Fire Drakes body. The impact was enough to send him skidding across the ground and disappearing when he collided with the mountain wall.
Then Hui Ying emerged from the shadows behind it, his sword flashing downward. Black qi erupted from it and he unleashed Shadow Sword Strike at pointblank range, carving another deep wound into the immense spirit beast. The Fire Drake bellowed in rage and pain, its tail whipping out to catch him. Hui Ying spun away from it before diving back into the shadows, just in time to avoid being stomped on by the raging creature.
Another lotus-shaped flame blossomed, Chi Yan holding out a hand. Blood was trickling down his face, but he was grinning in an almost feral manner, determined to slay the spirit beast before him. Turning around, the Fire Drake exuded its own fiery aura to almost counteract the lotus flame, but the explosions engulfed it, causing it to roar in agony.
Stumbling from the esoteric inferno, the Fire Drake retaliated with a gout of liquid fire, bathing the clearing and forcing Chi Yan to retreat.
Jumping out from the shadows and sliding under its belly, I raked the relatively softer portion of its flesh with my sword, leaving a trail of blood. The Fire Drake snarled and stomped on the ground, attempting to trample me to death, but I was already gone, disappearing into the shadows.
Then I caught sight of Hui Ying in the distance, holding up his hand. After ascertaining that I was clear, he swung his hand down and brought down Shadow Sword Storm, impaling the Fire Drake with a rain of black swords. These were crafted more exquisitely and elegantly than I could ever have. Granted, Hui Ying had probably practiced the technique for years while I only tried it out for a day and only succeeded once.
Despite the damage, the Fire Drake didn't falter. Writhing in agony, it incinerated the dozens of shadow swords with its fiery aura. However, while it was being pinned down, Chi Yan was not being idle. He struck with his triple lotus flames, engulfing the massive spirit beast in another colossal explosion. I shut my eyes reflexively, unable to look into the blinding light, and felt my body battered by the tremendous shockwaves.
Allowing my momentum to push me back, I lowered my hands and watched the blazing body of the Fire Drake. Its ruby scales were cracked and many of them were charred black, but despite the torrents of steaming blood spilling from its horrendous wounds, it was still very much alive.
A single flick of its tail knocked Chi Yan back, even though the fire cultivator managed to block the blow with his sword. Both Hui Ying and I retreated into the shadows to avoid being incinerated by its next wave of fire, though judging from the horrified screams that were abruptly cut off halfway, the other cultivators who were playing spectators and simply watching the fight without helping weren't so lucky.
Even though they had kept to what they believed was a safe distance, the Fire Drake's flames had a long reach. The range of its flames could cover over hundreds of meters, searing the rock from the mountain and burning whatever scant cover the cultivators could find. Vegetation combusted immediately while earth melted into boiling lava, causing more harm to the cultivators who mistakenly believed themselves safe behind stony outcrops and ledges.
Crimson flames and embers sparked and danced about the gleaming silhouette of the Fire Drake, the majority of its ruby scales still largely pristine despite losing many of them to Chi Yan's flames or our sword strikes. The half-step into dragon radiated fiery fury, each of its step leaving a molten print in the earth. Flames erupted from its jaws once more, uncurling to swallow Chi Yan. Once again, he used his huge sword as a shield, but it was clear that he couldn't withstand the blazing onslaught for long.
Both Hui Ying and I struck from the flanks while the Fire Drake attempted to punish the Elemental Mountain Sect core disciple. Our swords carved deeply into its sides, cracking scales and drawing blood. However, its qi ignited and blasted us. Even though we swiftly retreated into the shadows, I could feel my reddened skin sting in the exposure to air, severe scalds covering my body.
"Huff…"
Heaving heavily, I withdrew to a safe distance and watched the Fire Drake. Our concerted attack had pulled the pressure away from Chi Yan temporarily, but there was no doubt that the Fire Drake had correctly recognized him as the greatest threat. If it didn't possess the same resistance to fire-type attacks as its fellow fire-type spirit beasts did, it would have been slain several times by the lotus fires that Chi Yan wielded.
Speaking of which, I had never seen those lotus fires before. Were they unique to the Esoteric Fire Arts unique to the Elemental Mountain Sect? They were rumored to be a sect of ascetics who kept themselves in mountain settlements, building their sect around Mount Kun Lun. One of the seven major sects, they were known for dabbling in mysterious arts that made them masters of the five elements.
Of course, the Elemental Mountain Sect was divided into five different groups, each dedicated to a single element. Obviously Chi Yan specialized in the fire element. I hadn't seen him use any other elements and didn't expect him to. One simply didn't master a bunch of elements. Not only would they cause qi conflicts within your body and tear it apart from the inside out, each element required dedication and unparalleled attention, often for life.
Only Mary Sues and special snowflakes in fictional cultivation stories could master all the different types of elements at once, usually so that the author could show off how overpowered and godly their self-inserts were. That also explained the ever-expanding harems of "peerless beauties" who fell for them for no reason other than because they were the main characters. Speaking of which, if they were all "peerless" beauties, then if they were all grouped together in a single harem, wouldn't they be peers of each other?
"How do we fight this thing?" I asked Hui Ying. I was loathe to use Heaven and Earth Strike, but I would execute it if I was forced to. I just didn't want to silence the two people I had befriended over the course of this journey. And yes, villains could make friends. What? Who said villains were all lone wolves? Bandits gathered in groups, evil clans banded together, and demonic sects were made up of many people. No man was an island, and it was rare that I could find friends I could trust. That was the advantage orthodox cultivators had over demonic cultivators.
He shrugged and did a few hand gestures. I didn't understand them, but fortunately Huang Qian Jin was on hand to translate them for me.
"Hui Ying says you should continue attacking the Fire Drake. You'll eventually wear it down in a battle of attrition. The rate at which it is suffering injuries is not sustainable."
"Huh, okay then." I wasn't convinced, but I didn't have any other alternatives except revealing my demonic techniques. On the other hand, this was an excellent opportunity for me to practice Shadow Sword Strike and Shadow Sword Storm. Raising my sword, I executed the latter, raining a barrage of swords upon the Fire Drake when it attempted to take off.
It roared, unable to take flight when my swords ripped through the membranes of its wings and stabbed into its limbs, pinning it to the ground. With a violent lurch, it yanked itself free of my shadow swords, breaking them back into qi.
However, I had already bought the time I had intended to get. Triple lotus flames from Chi Yan smashed into the Fire Drake and detonated, engulfing it in another colossal conflagration. The plateau almost vanished under the elemental force, the ridge disintegrating from the extreme heat.
And still the Fire Drake would not die.
A jet of flame erupted from its jaws and shot through the hellish inferno, blazing a path through the crumbling clearing. Chi Yan grunted when he was knocked back by it, desperately defending himself with his huge black sword. I was then forced to duck when the Fire Drake's tail whipped out, and I retaliated by slashing it, but to no avail. My blade simply left a small graze across the gleaming ruby scales that decorated them.
On the other side, Hui Ying dodged the claws while countering with a Shadow Sword Strike. The Fire Drake staggered and then turned its attention to him, but he vanished into the shadows before the flames could devour him.
Hopping back, I sent another rain of Shadow Sword Storm, mercilessly bombarding the Fire Drake. It tried to turn its head about to incinerate me, but the crudely crafted shadow swords hammered into its neck, shifting the trajectory of its ranged attack and sparing me. The flames immolated an unfortunate cultivator who was scrambling away, and he screamed before he tumbled off the cliff, his burning body flailing about.
"Hey!"
I turned around when Chi Yan called out to me unexpectedly. He jerked his head toward the Fire Drake even as he leaned on his black sword to stand upright. I noticed the deep gash that was bleeding profusely on its chest, opened up by the constant barrages of shadow swords from Hui Ying and me.
"Buy me some time and distract it so that I can get close to it. I promise I'll be able to take that monster out."
"Okay."
I knew that there was no reason for Chi Yan to lie or attempt to backstab me. He was here for the True Fire as well, so he couldn't possibly run away or rely on me and Hui Ying to distract the Fire Drake forever while he made an attempt for it. The Fire Drake would continue to hunt him down, and without our help, Chi Yan stood no chance of victory on his own.
Currently the Fire Drake was standing majestically before the peak, despite its wounds. The True Fire continued to blaze above, while the Fire Drake loomed below like the guardian it was. Clearly we had to get past it to get to the True Fire. There was no other way.
"All right then."
I hurtled forward with my sword out, black qi coalescing around me. Skidding to a stop, I swung my blade to unleash a Shadow Sword Strike that rocked the Fire Drake. It snarled and turned toward me, flames spewing from its jaws. This time I didn't escape into the shadows. I wanted the Fire Drake to keep its attention on me, so I evaded its fire the conventional way, leaping from side to side or dodging the fiery streams that melted even rock.
Bringing my sword down, I cleaved apart another torrent of flames. The steam and heat scalded my flesh and I winced from the pain, cursing under my breath.
"Ouch, that fucking hurts!"
Despite my complaints, I stubbornly held my ground and cut through another wave of fire. Then the Fire Drake stumbled when Hui Ying landed another blow with Shadow Sword Storm, relieving the pressure upon me for a moment. The Fire Drake roared and struggled to pull itself free, but I didn't give it a moment, adding upon its restraints with a Shadow Sword Storm of my own. Geysers of blood sprouted high into the air, and the Fire Drake bellowed, flames erupting futilely from its jaws and washing over the clearing but way off course because of the black blades.
While the Fire Drake was distracted by me and Hui Ying, Chi Yan had crept in close without it noticing. He kicked off the ground and covered the last distance in the blink of an eye with some movement technique, and then stabbed the open gash in the Fire Drake's chest that was bleeding profusely. The huge sword sank deeply into the Fire Drake's chest and it howled, an inhuman noise of agony and rage that sent chills down my spine.
It tried to paw at the insolent Chi Yan, but its limbs were currently impaled by the black shadow swords and stuck to the ground.
That was all the opening Chi Yan needed.
At first, I wasn't sure what he was intending, and then I understood. Chi Yan unleashed triple lotus flames inside the Fire Drake's body, incinerating it from the inside out. Multiple explosions tore the Fire Drake apart from within, consuming its organs, bones and blood vessels. The red-haired cultivator was thrown clear by the shockwaves, but he tucked his limbs in and rolled to mitigate the impact, landing safely on the ground.
As for the Fire Drake, there was little that remained of it but charred bone shards, singed scales and bits of flesh floating about, consumed by the mystical fires that Chi Yan had unleashed.
"Finally…"
I was about to drop onto the ground and claim a much needed breather when I realized that there was still one last thing to fight for.
The True Fire.
Already Chi Yan was rushing toward it, his injuries all forgotten. Flames exploded beneath his feet and he rocketed toward the peak of the mountain, eager to claim the prize that all of us had come here for.