Cool night air whipped past Su Xiang's face as she sprinted through the dark forest under the light of a nearly full moon. High above her head, the golden-winged form of Hou kept her company as she pushed her Radiant Flash Steps to their limit.
The trip that had been planned to take four days had, in the end, taken six. While they were able to reach the opposite lakeshore as quickly as they expected, the search for the Blood Moon Mist Wolves had taken two full days and never would have succeeded without the combined efforts of Hou, Yu Jinqi, and Xiong Dahuo.
Despite the delay, no one complained about the extra time to prepare, Su Xiang least of all. For the past six days, she had immersed herself in the Heart Warding Sword Canon, training its physical techniques while they camped and contemplating its scripture as they hiked. Thankfully, Sister Jin Wuya had been willing to walk beside her and kept the deeply contemplative swordswoman from wandering off the trail.
For more than a decade, Su Xiang had dedicated herself to the Illuminating Flash Style of the Shining Blade Hall. It was one of the four core arts of her sect and emphasized speed over power to always land the first and frequently final blow.
The uncomfortable truth was that as long as ten years ago when her father first introduced her to this sword style, a path leading to the Light of Inquisition was already being prepared for her. As hunters of the wicked, the speed that currently propelled her through the tick forest surrounding the mountain lake was used by many Inquisitors to chase down suspects and fugitives.
It was only when she stepped out into the world, however, that Su Xiang found the sword style that she'd honed all her life to be increasingly unsuitable for the life she intended to lead. Flash Cut and Flying Crescent were both techniques that could incapacitate or kill a person of lesser cultivation before they could defend themselves, but therein lay a truth that made Su Xiang increasingly uncomfortable.
The Light of Inquisition didn't seek out wickedness that was stronger than them, rather, they aimed to be the strongest hunters who preyed upon weaker cultivators who had gone astray from a path of righteousness. Members of the Inquisition might work in groups, but even when they were alone, they rarely crossed swords with someone who matched or exceeded their own cultivation.
Soldiers hunted Brawlers, Warriors hunted Soldiers, and all the way upward, the Inquisition maintained its advantage over its targets. The Inquisition had a reputation for being merciless in hunting down the wicked who hid in darkness, but the closer she came to it, the more Su Xiang felt like it was a fragile order that couldn't exist without having superior strength.
Su Xiang, however, constantly challenged herself against greater foes. Whether it was the gang leader Fenglun, the empowered pack of Red Mist Wolves, or even the physically dominating combat styles of her current companions, the Illuminating Flash Style favored by the Light of Inquisition lacked the hard, stopping power to threaten the enemies who put her loved ones in harm's way.
Yun Kong evidently faced a similar struggle with his own Radiant Wave Style. While the Radiant Wave leveraged a long-hilted longsword, it had been refined as a tool of Justicars to exhibit considerable restraint and frequently functioned as a dueling style used to resolve matters of honor. In many places, trial by combat and the appointing of champions still played a significant role in resolving disputes and Justicars were expected to engage in fair and honorable combat.
"There is nothing more cruel to your loved ones than playing 'fair' when those who would do them harm refuse to," Yun Kong had written. Wu Ling's father had chafed against the restraint of his sword style and sought ways to free himself and turn his sword into a blade that stood between his loved ones and harm. To that end, he'd built the style espoused by the Heart Warding Sword Cannon to exploit every advantage offered by a larger weapon.
The nameless blade on Su Xiang's back had yet to become as familiar as the sword she'd carried since Awakening but already she'd begun to feel the advantages it offered her. Two hands on the hilt gave her both greater power to resist the heavy strikes of foes like Xiong Dahuo and to cut more powerfully into sturdy foes like Zhang Buyan.
The extra reach offered by the longer blade gave her distinct advantages in not only attacking but in defending people other than herself. It was this ability that she prized more than any other as she practiced protecting Wu Ling while he painted and others attempted to slip past her to disrupt him. It was still too early in her practice to have confidence in her ability to protect her sworn brother but already she saw potential that resonated with her martial heart.
Yun Kong's ambition when he wrote the Heart Warding Sword Canon hadn't been small. While it was rough, it was clear that he was thinking about how people other than him would fight when using his manual. He didn't create a personal sword style, he was creating a style for others that shared his dedication to Love as a Virtue.
The real proof of this, however, didn't present itself to Su Xiang in the pages of the manual. It showed up when she squared off against Xiong Dahuo in practice. While the aggressive saber wielder preferred a heavy nine-ringed saber, he was familiar with techniques for the longer sprout saber and some of those techniques showed up in Yun Kong's sword style.
The realization had shocked Su Xiang. Yun Kong's sword style had clearly been influenced by Hong Xuefeng, his lover from the Sanguine Saber Sect. Once she knew to look for it, she also found elements of Wu Ningli's sword dancing in the way the sword style used fluid movements to deflect strikes from foes with greater strength.
She hadn't told Wu Ling yet, but the sword style she was working to inherit wasn't just a manual for the Shining Blade Hall, it was the legacy of the Yun family that Yun Kong had hoped to build. Tonight, with the nameless sword Wu Ling had given her, that sword style would finally draw blood. She only hoped that she was strong enough to live up to its potential.