The assassin leader was a Saint Realm. Reeling from the shockwaves emanated from the release of his treasure weapon, I tried to right my stance and brace myself. Fortunately, I was spared the worst of the effects when Lan Bei Er intervened.
"Santen Kesshun! I reject!"
A gleaming triangular barrier formed right in front of me, shielding me from the black qi that billowed from the assassin's Death Blade. And not a moment too soon, for he stabbed the barrier, only for his zanpakutou to glance off harmlessly.
Wait, what?
Zanpakutou? And what the hell was Lan Bei Er doing?
"Since when was your technique called Santen Kesshun?!" I yelled. Lan Bei Er shrugged, still holding her staff and looking indifferent.
"Ever since you decided to start ripping off Bleach."
"Are you messing with me?!" The lead assassin roared and slashed the barrier again. Lan Bei Er winced when cracks appeared over the surface of her technique, but she maintained it. The defense held against a few more blows, but by then I was already prepared.
Holding Hou Yi bow, I took aim and fired a black arrow that blasted the lead assassin back. A huge explosion engulfed him and hurled him away, but he slashed the projectile apart with his shadowy dagger. Black qi swirled around him, some of it his and some of it mine.
"What the hell was that?!" he snarled, glaring at me. "Since when were arrow techniques this strong?"
Oh, right. People normally looked down on archers, claiming that the sword was the strongest weapon. They would never expect to be blown back by a single arrow.
Narrowing his eyes, the lead assassin sprang at me once more, only for another person to intervene.
"Your opponent is me!"
The commander of the royal guard, a middle-aged man in full armor, swung his saber. His hair was silver or dark gray, with a neatly trimmed beard that framed a square jaw. His imposing frame was majestic, full of strength and vigor. His dragon-shaped saber collided against the lead assassin's Death Blade, triggering an explosion that smashed a crater into the courtyard.
"Leave this to me," he said. Even though he didn't glance at me, his attention entirely focused on his opponent as they traded multiple violent blows that resounded across the inner palace, I knew he was talking to me. "You should go deal with the other assassins."
Right. The assassins came in a group. The other royal guard was trying to deal with them, and even Chi Yan, He Shan Jie and Hong Yao Yao had joined the fray, embroiled in a furious struggle with them. Weapons clashed and opposing qi flared, the two groups of cultivators dueling almost desperately as one side strove to reach the emperor and the other side sought to deny them.
One of them broke free, and I intercepted him. He snarled, swinging his sword, but I parried it with Abyssal Edge.
"Get out of my way!" He roared, pressing his sword down with such strength that I was momentarily driven back. I deflected his next blow and counterattacked with a riposte that he blocked. He smashed my next attack aside with his elbow and whirled around with a decapitating strike that forced me to duck.
I then kicked him in the knee, causing him to stumble. With a snarl, he slashed at me, relying on raw power to knock me back. Even though he wasn't Saint Realm like the lead assassin, he was peak Innate Realm at least.
In other words, same as me.
On paper, I should have more spiritual qi than him. However, in terms of physical strength, he was superior. That was why he was driving me back. It might be weird, but just because we were at the same cultivation realm and level didn't mean we were identical in terms of strength or quantity of qi. The levels were just…guidelines. Rough estimations of a cultivator's strength. There was no such thing as an exact or absolutely accurate measurement. Two cultivators at the same level of the same cultivation realm would still have several differences in their fighting styles, speed, strength, quantity of qi, reflexes, skills, etc. It usually depended on what the individual cultivator specialized in.
This guy clearly specialized in strength, or so I thought.
Parrying his next blow, I infused my sword with black qi and unleashed a Shadow Dragon at pointblank range. The assassin howled in agony when he was swallowed by the dragon-shaped blast, hurled bodily into the air. He fell, blood streaking from wounds and his black robes now torn and ragged.
Cursing, he lashed out in an almost petty manner, his sword curving through the air. I dodged it and skidded a few paces back, watching him warily. The assassin didn't pursue me, however. Instead, he kept his distance and held back.
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, he stabbed the ground and left his sword there, raising both hands to conjure something. I watched as a gryphon materialized behind him, a gargantuan creature that towered over him. A lion with the head and wings of an eagle and four legs, each ending in deadly claws, it spread out its huge wings and bellowed ferociously. Gusts of wind manifested, tearing up gravel and tossing them into the air.
"Hah! Didn't expect me to be a summoner, eh?" the assassin crowed. He pointed at me triumphantly. "Get him, Gryphon!"
Shrieking, the gargantuan spirit beast lunged at me, raking the ground with its massive claws. I parried the first strike, but the raw strength of the great beast flung me to the side. I hit the ground and rolled, winded from the brutal blow.
Sliding against the rough ground, I desperately lashed out with my sword and sent a Shadow Sword Strike arcing toward the gryphon. It simply swatted my technique away with a claw in a condescending manner, snorting as the black qi dissipated ineffectively against its talons.
Already I was moving to launch another technique. This time, I executed Shadow Dragon. Roaring silently, the dragon formed entirely out of black qi charged and crashed against the growling gryphon. For a second, I thought it might work. However, the grypon flapped its wings once and tore the Shadow Dragon apart with a hurricane-like gale.
Even from a distance, I could feel myself being blown off my feet. The gryphon was not one to miss an opportunity. Exploiting my moment of weakness, it closed the distance and slashed at me. Once again, I reflexively parried the blow, only to be hurled aside by the sheer force. Innate Realm or not, I was no match for the raw physical prowess of a spirit beast.
Hitting the ground with tremendous impact, I coughed out a mouthful of blood and bounced about before skidding to a stop. I choked and shuddered, trying desperately to get back to my feet. For now, my body rebelled, refusing to listen to my mind's commands. My vision swam, bathed in a sheen of red. That must have broken a couple of ribs at least.
Actually, I was surprised I was somehow still conscious after taking such a beating. Not that it was going to help me much.
The gryphon pounced on me, slashing and tearing with its claws and hooked beak. Its wings batted the air, conjuring more winds. Before its talons could rend me apart, however, a shimmering barrier appeared between us.
Lan Bei Er had saved my life again.
"Thanks," I called out to her. She nodded, and returned to defending the other royal guard or members of our party with glowing shields or providing healing support.
The assassin clicked his tongue in frustration, but his glee grew when he watched his gryphon batter the barrier, creating cracks across its surface. His lips curled into a sneer.
"You won't be able to hide behind that barrier forever!"
"Not that I intend to," I said with a shrug. That said, he was right. The gryphon was far too strong for me right now. At least, it was too strong for me wthout using Heaven and Earth Strike. And that was a last resort – obviously, using Heaven and Earth Strike right in front of the emperor, the royal guard and the royal family would be a disaster. They wouldn't care if I had just saved the West Gate City from the spirit beast of Mount Sunset or that I had just thwarted an assassination attempt on the emperor's life. I was a demonic cultivator. That probably took priority over everything else.
Fortunately, it wasn't as if I was out of options. I still had one other card to play.
Closing my eyes, I reached into my personal soul space. As I suspected, the Divine Dog waited inside, his expression fierce and eager. I could see the gloating glint in his yellow eyes.
"I didn't expect you to come so soon," he said with a leering grin. "Run into some trouble lately?"
"Yeah." I shrugged nonchalantly, not at all offended. He was right, after all. "I figured that you might want to start earning your keep."
"Earning my keep?" The Divine Dog's lips rose in ridicule. "You're the one who enslaved me. You are the one who forced this damned spirit contract on me."
As if to emphasize his point, he yanked on the shadow chains, which rattled incessantly with each movement.
Instead of objecting, I smirked.
"Exactly." I pointed at the bound Divine Dog, then shook my finger. "Why do you think I enslaved you? Why would I bother placing a spirit beast contract on you if I never intended to use you? Of course I am going to put you to good use. What use is a 'slave' if all he does is spend all day chained up in a dungeon? That simply makes you a prisoner, not a slave."
"You…!"
The Divine Dog spluttered. His rage rose, taking the form of white and crimson qi that saturated the entire dungeon. I could see a fiery aura wreathe his immense silhoute, as intense as the sun. This was the Divine Dog who devoured the sun, after all. A divine spirit beast…even though he currently only had a fraction of his power, he was already this powerful.
Not bad.
I decided to try the carrot and stick approach. I was aware of how ineffective it would be to merely threaten and intimidate him. Keeping a contracted spirit beast full of resentment would only reduce his combat power and increase the chances of betraying me in future.
I should give him a good reason why he should fight for me…and obey me for now. One that I knew would appeal to him and convince him to shelve his grudge for now.
"Don't you want to restore your power?" I asked, folding my arms. "I'm giving you a way to restore your power."
"What do you mean?" The Divine Dog asked warily, though I could tell that I had captured his attention. I smiled.
"The gryphon, I'll let you have it. You can eat it. The more high-level spirit beasts you consume, the more of your strength you will recover. Am I right?"
The Divine Dog watched me sullenly for a moment before finally conceding grudgingly, "You're not wrong."
"Then I'll give you the opportunity to feast on the gryphon." I saw his eyes light up in delight, and I pressed on. "And I'll continue to seek out strong and high-level spirit beasts for you to eat. That way you can recover quicker."
"Hmm…a tempting proposition." The Divine Dog licked his chops greedily, his eyes shining with a demonic hunger. He then pulled at the chains that bound him tightly. "But surely you don't expect me to fight like this? Even for a divine spirit beast like me, fighting a high-level spirit beast with such a handicap will prove…debilitating."
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," I said and pushed my glasses up my nose. "I know what you want…and I'll grant it to you for now."
With the spirit contract, whatever freedom I granted the Divine Dog would be temporary. Both of us knew it. But to the Divine Dog, even a few seconds' worth of reprieve was precious. I wasn't sadistic enough to deny him that.
So I raised my right hand and clenched my fingers, intoning the word that would set my contracted spirit beast loose on my foes.
"Unleash."