"Pale Soul Monarch, you bastard! I'll make sure you pay for what you did to me!"
The voice echoed through the air, causing the Pale Soul Monarch to pivot and direct his gaze towards its source. A towering figure, standing at about seven feet, commanded attention. His cascading, vibrant brown locks framed a face etched with raw emotion, his thick eyebrows furrowed in a display of unyielding rage. His clothing comprised cloth and metal, long, vibrant, red robes that flowed like fire in the wind, contained by cold plates of metal that only reinforced his commanding stature.
"This one pays his respects, Human Fire Swordmaster."
Pale Soul Monarch's voice was cheery, mocking even, had anyone else seen him like this, they wouldn't have suspected that he had just killed the leader of the Heaven Scorching Sect. His tone was too much for Human Fire Swordmaster to bear, he gritted his teeth, the veins on his face bulging as he failed to contain his fury, culminating in a booming roar!
"You bastard! Today I avenge my elder sister, Heaven Fire Saintess!"
While Human Fire Swordmaster made his declaration he pulled his sword from his sheath, the straight sword he wielded was nothing to be marvelled at, on its own, it had a dingy sheath and handle, and the blade was rusted and chipped. Yet, Pale Soul Monarch knew it wasn't to be trifled with in Human Fire Swordmaster's hands.
"For your impudence, I shall show you the pinnacle of my techniques from pursuing the essence of Humanity's fire…"
Human Fire Swordmaster, held the sword out in front of him, the blade laying flat against the air. Holding the sword in one hand, he closed the other so only his middle and index fingers remained pointed out. He pressed his fingertips on the sword's flat, slowly dragging them across the sword as blood trailed along the metal. The blood slowly bubbled before steaming bursting into a roaring flame as he held it above his head, his angered expression contorting further, almost as if it were fueling the attack itself.
"Face my technique! Three Heart's Anguish Sword!"
The brief memory of his clash with Human Fire Swordmaster in his previous life faded out as he came to, his vision returning to the scene of the plum forest and the large bear that sent him flying towards the tree. Only, there was a new sight, the bear was tangled up in roots and branches, further observation showed Mei Lin, palms pressed against the ground, with her face set in an expression of difficult concentration. Kang Shan was still slumped against a tree of his own, though, a branch hung over his head, dripping small, white, globules, which seemed to be improving his condition, down onto him.
"C-Chang Yu, y-you're awake!"
Mei Lin's voice was shaky, whatever technique she used to bind the bear, required near-total concentration. Chang Yu felt a dull pain in his body as he stood up, his head hitting a branch similar to the one healing Kang Shan, Chang Yu gripped his sword again, holding it out in front of him as he extended his index and middle fingers.
There has been no better time for me to remember our bout, Human Fire Swordmaster!
As he dragged his fingers across the blade, his blood would the flat, it bubbling before quickly dying down as Chang Yu expended more of his soul cultivation, another 10 men's worth of souls, the bubbling would quickly evolve into steaming before it ignited into a ghostly, pale purple, flame.
My newest technique! Phantom's Anguished Spirit Sword!
Chang Yu raised the sword above him as the ghostly fire continued to swell and swirl around the blade, as it grew, in its roiling waves one could make out vague faces of the souls that had been sacrificed for this attack!
"Damn beast, die!"
Chang Yu rushed forward with his sword. When he brought it to a low angle, the fire burned away the grass, leaving the dirt beneath it barren and bleak. When held high, it would cut through a branch, causing the tree to rot as he continued to advance ever closer to the bear. His pace quickened as the fire grew, going beyond what Chang Yu expected himself to be capable of. Its cold heat started to affect Chang Yu as he felt his hands grow numb and shaky.
It took only a second, once he was close enough he brought down his sword, the spectral fire snuffed itself out as the sword cleaved through the bear's side.
BOOM
After the sword passed through the bear's flesh and clanged against the ground, the incision would explode with the same phantasmal fire that had previously surrounded the sword's edge, the burst of fire consuming the bear down to its bones, the remains bleached as if left for days in the sun despite having only been burned but mere moments prior.
"Mei Lin, it-"
Chang Yu turned his head to call out to her, but only to see she had fallen unconscious, she was still breathing, which was a relief given the situation. He sighed to himself, looking back at the burnt-away corpse, noting a pulsing, pale blue, orb that sat within its ribcage.
"Oh, good, its soul is intact, I didn't expect it to survive Phantom's Anguished Spirit Sword"
He slid his hands through the gaps in its ribs, grabbing the bear's soul.
Soul Devouring Technique
The bear's soul unravelled before energy faded towards Chang Yu's chest. This one technique was the balm to his massive losses in terms of his soul foundation, though, once it was absorbed, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. As he fell to his knees, he dropped his sword, looking into his inner world he noticed something strange, although it felt like the most negligible of changes, Chang Yu felt as if his soul had groaned the tiniest amount denser, like, if he could take his soul out of his body, his spirit could touch the world around it.
Thankfully, despite the pain in his chest, he felt that his soul foundation had replenished back up to 95 Man Soul, it wasn't as great as he hoped, but, actually getting his soul foundation restored was enough of a relief. He got to his feet, walking to check on Kang Shan first and foremost.
Perhaps if I ca-
Just before Chang Yu could finish his thought he fell back to his knees, the world spinning around him as he fell to his side, his vision going dark.
"D-Damn you, Pale Soul Monarch…"
Human Fire Swordmaster sat in the rubble of Sun's Edge Hall, once the largest and most vibrant building of his Human Fire Sword Sect, now it was in rubble, his enemy's foot pressed against his concave chest. His voice was weak, more akin to a gurgling mumble as his words were barely legible past him spitting up his blood.
"Earth Fire, Human Fire, Heaven Fire…"
Pale Soul Monarch held Human Fire Swordmaster's sword in his hand, the metal withering as he tossed it to one side, his intrigue refocusing onto his dying opponent.
"Earth Fire: the fires of the natural world, Human Fire: the fires of mankind's spirit and emotions, yet, the meaning of Heaven Fire continues to evade me… It doesn't matter, Heaven Fire Saintess has already perished. If I find whatever inheritance she could've left behind, I'm certain I'll figure out what 'Heaven Fire' actually means."
"What's… who is next…"
"Simple, next, I'll slay your younger brother Earth-Fire Ancestor and devour those descendants of his Su Clan."
"Y-yo- AAH!"
Before he could speak, Pale Soul Monarch pressed his foot through Human Fire Swordmaster's chest, killing him as his organs were crushed. In a final defiant act, the crushed corpse of Human Fire Swordmaster sprang forward, veins of fiery qi spreading across his body as glowing cracks flowed across his skin. A loud bang echoed for miles as a pillar of searing light many miles across burst upwards, piercing the sky of the Upper Realms.
When it subsided, at its epicentre, was a dark purple chrysalis that slowly cracked and flaked apart revealing an alive, if injured and burned, Pale Soul Monarch. He fell to his knees, looking at his Soul Foundation, it had dropped significantly, not enough for him to be exceedingly vulnerable, but enough that a massacre of Earth-Fire Ancestor's Su Clan stopped being a possibility and became a certainty of the near future.
"Tch, Human Fire Swordmaster, I should've expected one of you to have a trick like this up your sleeve… I suppose this is your win, for what little it matters."
A shadowy cloud, black as night, formed under Pale Soul Monarch's feet, slowly forming up to his hips, as he slowly lifted off the ground and took flight eastwards so he may lay siege to the Su Clan.
"W-What…?"
Chang Yu's eyes fluttered open as he heard the gentle rhythm of steps against the plum forest's dirt path, paying closer attention he found himself being carried on the back of Kang Shan
Lord, are you alright? You've been out for nearly 3 days
3 days? What happened, Kang Shan?
After you used Phantom's Anguished Spirit Sword you collapsed, you must know it too, right?
How could I not, even a phenomenal talent with fire techniques couldn't make something that strong, especially at the Lower stage of Qi Condensation,
I think I might know, the reason, but, I'm just barely holding out myself, I'll speak on it more when we make camp for the night
And Mei Lin?
Kang Shan didn't say anything, instead, he moved his head so Chang Yu could look over his shoulder, what he saw surprised him. Kang Shan took Mei Lin and tied up her colourful robes so it was more akin to a newborn's swaddling, from there, another stretch of cloth was used to secure the swaddled Mei Lin to Kang Shan's chest. Were it someone without the strong physique of Kang Shan, such a thing likely wouldn't have been possible,
Don't laugh, Lord.
No no, I won't.