Of course, my Ice Cutter barely slowed Tao Song down. She must've disliked not having the last word, because a second later I heard the telltale "whoosh" of super-heated air behind me and rolled away from an incoming wave of fire.
I thought I felt the heat even through the Clear Sphere—before it was destroyed again.
The attack flew past me, but it was close enough to set my hair on fire and leave my skin stinging with burns. Only adrenaline suspended the pain I surely was going to feel later.
And despite all my speed, Tao Song easily circled me, blocking my way again.
"Hurrying somewhere?"
But I didn't slow down.
"Yes, I think I left a stove burning!"
Now, I was usually not one to waste breath I could use on running to exchange quips in battle. However, while Tao Song was talking, she wasn't hitting me with another wave of fire in the face.
If my sense of humor will give me even one more second to live, I will gladly start a career of a comedian.
To avoid Tao Song, I dashed to the side. There I recognized another opportunity to live a few more seconds—it was a row of enemy horsemen. This time, it was to my advantage.
I quickly used a Stone Body technique and ran straight at them. Now my second dantian was half-empty… Or half-full.
No, definitely half-empty.
I ran forward, shoving aside those who blocked my way, and ignoring blades and sometimes hooves that fell on me.
To my relief, Tao Song cared enough about her soldiers to not launch area attacks at her own men. It wasn't something I was betting on, but even if she did, the soldiers would've been my meatshields.
Then the Lin clan horsemen reached the area, too, and everybody became too distracted for the good old me. Which gave me just the opportunity to gather some Death Qi and send the activation signal to the nearby Circle of Hungry Spirits.
The results weren't dramatic, or even obvious at first. Misty shapes took form in a circle of ten meters radius, in a couple seconds turning into mostly transparent, ghostly figures. There were about half a hundred of them in total.
And, considering that they were undying while their Death energy lasted, and there was plenty of free Death energy on a battlefield, they were supposed to be quite effective.
The spirits proved their mettle quickly. As soon as they formed, the hungry spirits launched at the nearest targets—the Tao horsemen—with silent howls.
Their appearance scared horses into panic and freaked out the soldiers. Then I saw a spirit lunge bodily into a soldier.
The man screamed and then fell to the ground, convulsing and pulling on his clothes like he was trying to pull the spirit from inside his body.
Another spirit was pierced by several spears. They slowed him down for a moment—then the spirit just shrugged it off and lunged at the nearest soldier, longing for hugs and his life force.
Then, of course, Tao Song had to swoop in and take out two dozen spirits with a single wave of fire, and with them, half of my hopes.
"Keep the formation! Chant the prayers! These things can be killed!" she shouted, rallying her soldiers.
She wiped out another dozen spirits with a fire wave, but the rest got too mixed with the soldiers, forcing her to slow down with the exorcisms.
I was busy circling the spirits at a safe distance. Coincidentally, that placed me closer to the Lin clan's forces again.
A good opportunity to raise battle spirits.
"We are almost there, soldiers! Almost safe inside!" I shouted, leading the charge again. That is, running to safety faster than anyone else.
And I wasn't slowing down even for Tao Song, who crossed my path again. She hovered a dozen meters away from me, safely a meter above the soldiers and horses.
"Sorry, but I can't let you escape," she said with grim seriousness and raised her fans.
Her fan glowed brightly with Fire Qi, but her Proto-Core was dimmer than before. All the big fire waves she had been throwing around had worn her out.
Now she was putting almost all she had left into this attack. More than enough juice to incinerate me, even with Clear Sphere and Dragon Fists. And I knew how well dodging went for me and Fen Kuang before.
There was only one hope for me, as slim as that seemed.
I threw a pair of Ice Cutters at Tao Song, one from each hand. She dodged with a fancy twirl on her flying sword, but it slowed her technique for a fraction of a second.
I spent that time running toward her and throwing more Ice Cutters, not caring that I depleted a second dantian already and was dipping into the third.
Tao Song weaved around them, too, and away from me—keeping her distance. But while she focused on me, she wasn't looking back.
A hungry spirit flew at her, grabbing the comet's leg.
I wish I could say it was all a part of my plan, but no—simple dumb luck. Which I absolutely had skewed toward me by luring Tao Song toward hungry spirits!
She hissed with pain, stumbling, and evaporated the spirit with a flick of a fan before standing tall again—but the moment was lost. This was my chance to live… just a second longer, at least.
I jumped up and grabbed Tao Song's sword with both hands. If not for the Stone Body, I'd lose my fingers.
Tao Song gasped, staring at me in sheer disbelief.
If there was a better moment to shout a technique's name, I didn't know one.
"Blade Breaker!"