The plant monsters are pointed at the people they're holding captive, so they don't see me. Ironically, it was the captives who were the biggest factor, as they could notice him and alert the hag. They don't know I am saving them, and may perceive me as just another invader. I need to find a moment when they're all distracted, I can't afford to coinflip.
The hag approached the new horse, who was nervous but unaware of the full extent of the horrors awaiting it. She patted its mane to make it relax, then mumbled under her nose in Imperial, her creaking voice somewhat gentle:
"Don't you worry, child. You'll be remade, mixed with my fluids. You and me, one." This seemed to calm the animal down.
The nomad horses are smaller in stature, and weigh less than five hundred jin (author's note: 250kg), but she's no physical cultivator, so she'll need a special method to move them. She's going to use the vines, that's when I strike. Xin procured several bolts out of the quiver.
He was right. The woman, who looked more like an evil wood spirit than a human, manifested a bunch of thick vines around the nervous horse, protruding from underground. As soon as they touched the creature, it became spooked and tried running away, but it was already too late.
The creature neighed in terror as it was lifted into the air by four vines, all coalescing and intertwining around its spine, dangling and moving towards the blood pit.
Xin exhaled. A perfect shot is made on empty lungs, even the heartbeat needs to be timed. The first shot is the most important. Can't save the horse, must save everyone else. No one is looking at me, everyone is either staring in shock or looking away from the horse in disgust. He crawled out of the tent, his visage twisting slightly as he couldn't fully focus on the ring's waning power.
The hag relaxed the vines and dropped the horse into the pit.
Now!
Metal infusion, bolt's tip! Wood qi infusion, bowstring!
Twang!
Headshot! The demoness's skull was pierced as Xin's bolt pierced it at the temple.
"Aaagh!" The woman cried out in pain and shock, the relief of a successfully executed technique replaced with sharp pain. It seems that her brain was indeed penetrated, albeit not too deeply, as she could still stand and dangle her arms around!
Fuck.
Reload technique. Infused shot. Neck hit.
Reload technique. The woman was now facing Xin, her neck pierced. Infused shot. Headshot.
The third bolt stuck in the woman's forehead as the bark on her body solidified, and she finally regained composure. She knew that she only had a few breaths before she collapsed, so she executed a compound move.
Bloodhealing tree sap! Wood qi infused blood coursed through her meridians, burning them but restoring the organs. She tore the arrows from her head, stumbling and almost fainting, but her wounds quickly closed! She then cried out and looked at Xin's twisted visage, his ring finally running out and giving way to his true form.
I have the initiative, I need to dictate the tempo!
Reload! Expansion jump! Mercurial greaves! Infused shot! Chest hit. Barely any damage. Fuck. Xin dashed towards the enemy with the speed of a racing horse.
A thick vine burst from underground and tried to twist around him, but he used an expansion technique to leap forward diagonally, dodging and closing the gap even more.
Infused shot! Snap! Xin shot the woman in the chest again, but his trusty arbalest finally broke, unable to take constant qi infused reloading. Both its metal shoulder and wooden frame cracked, rendering it useless and unable to shoot.
Another entangling vine! Xin leaped forward and diagonally again, but this time a vine was waiting for him where he landed.
Woodcutter's Downswing! His glaive, infused with metal qi, made short work of it. It wasn't as thick as the one that lifted the horse into the pit, though, so Xin knew it might not be as easy next time.
"You! It's you!" She cried out in Imperial. She remembered an audacious mortal with a crossbow who chased her away, and his lava spitting friend. It was a great humiliation, being forced to retreat from two mortals, and the day she attacked Xin's squad still haunted her. She killed a rank one master, lost most of her army, and was even forced to burn through her rare resources just to make it away without gains. To think that the kid returned, alone, and attacked her! He seems rank one now!
The ring, Xin. Stay mindful. Xin was in full flow, each of his movements fluid, coming without thought. He was aware of everything around him, and knew that he only had fifteen breaths or so before the plant monsters reinforced the woman. He raised his glaive and charged.
"Aagh!" The woman started growing in height, her limbs stretching and bark thickening even more. He was just rank one, but she wasn't about to underestimate her opponent, especially when she was also surrounded by hostile mortals who could join the fight at any moment.
Xin prepared to swing, when his glaive suddenly twisted and tied itself into a knot, becoming completely limp. Fuck. At least she did it early…
Resonance Palms! Expansion jump! Xin stabbed into the growing plant creature, forcing it to block. His fingers weren't sharp enough to deal meaningful damage, though. Need to target joints and armour gaps.
I still hold the tempo, she'll reach her full strength soon, then I am in trouble! Need to overwhelm her defences before her reinforcements arrive. And some men are running away, hopefully to bring weapons…
Woodcutter's Downswing!
The woman remembered this technique, it killed one of her plant boys while used at a mortal level, now that he is rank one, I should be careful! Damn elemental advantage. She reinforced the bark where Xin's hit would land, pure thickness compensating for the lack of firmness.
That's it, I locked her in place, at the right angle!
Expansion charge. Xin resolutely pushed forward again, opposite to his usual counter-attacking style.
"You're too comfortable playing number two in battles, this might kill you one day. Learn to seize the initiative, this is your weakness!" Thanks, master Xiaodan!
Expansion punch! Xin put all of his body weight, reinforced with wood qi at his hip, arm and shoulder into this attack, then manifested a technique at the end of it.
Iron sting dao shard! A sharp, thin metal shaft protruded from his three middle fingers and stabbed the plant woman in her crotch. This attack would usually land where the opponent's solar plexus is, but she had grown in size due to her shapeshifting.
Roar! Xin and his totem shouted out in unison. Not a cunt I'd like to pierce, boy, but I'll take it! The plant woman almost had her ears deafened by this qi infused sound.
Her bark armor pierced, the plant woman instinctively pushed at Xin with her vinehands, then stumbled and fell, in so much pain that she didn't even ground herself with her trusted wood path techniques.
Finish her! Xin had already infused his legs with wood qi to lunge at the downed hag, but his senses exploded, and he let his instincts guide him.
Iron lung dao shard! His side was almost pierced by a massive thorn missile, an innate technique of one of the plant creatures rushing to reinforce its owner. It was almost fully blocked by his shard and armour, but this still alerted Xin — the previous plant monsters weren't as strong!
Doesn't matter. Finish her, the totem demanded. Xin prepared to activate his steel sting again, when he noticed a suspicious movement of the opponent's "fist", a gathering of vines resembling a head-sized knot.
That's her ring attack! Xin pretended to jump in, anyway, and as he predicted, the "fist" opened up, exposing an old human hand wearing an infused magical ring, pointed right at him. He leaned in, then jumped to the side.
Hiss! The mercury snake launched itself at Xin, and despite his dodging, landed right at his left bicep.
Iron Lung dao shard! Fuck! In mere moments, it ate through the shard's metal qi, penetrated his armour and started injecting its poison into Xin's arm.
This attack is too fast to dodge, even when you know about it! I'm done for! Unless…
Woodcutter's Downswing! Xin sliced his bicep off in one slash. He knew that the snake's "fangs" dug deep, and it was the only way. A piece of his muscle with an armorpiece stuck on top fell to the ground as the overwhelming pain assaulted him, blood gushing from his ugly wound.
Xin, accept my tiger form! I'll reinforce you with Yang qi! Let's slaughter her!
Xin was in flow state, and didn't answer.
He infused his right toe with wood qi, signalling his intention to retreat. The Moss Bush Demoness, now standing again, noticed it and started preparing a vine trap where he'd land.
But Xin heard the subtle rustling behind his back with his heightened senses.
He feigned a backward jump, leaning on his back leg. Expansion jump! His back leg was infused with an unusually high amount of wood qi, and Xin was assaulted with pain again as he severely pulled his thigh muscle. Doesn't matter!
Roar! Somersault! Double somersault! Metal qi heel infusion — Woodcutter's Downswing, axekick version! Instead of retreating, he lunged forward, and delivered an unexpected, powerful attack, dropping at the opponent's chest!
To think that I called you an idiot, Lei! Xin's armoured heel split the demon's bark chestpiece at the centre, then dug deep into her ribs. She was much more physically imposing than Xin, but the sheer pain made her stagger as she fell back.
Mid-flight, Xin also manifested a healing seed in his arm, and now that he landed, he consumed it. He saw that his opponent's wounds were also healing rapidly, and judging by the smell, it was clear that it was a mix of blood and wood paths. No matter how much damage he seemingly did, rank two was no joke, and his attacks would eventually get completely nullified. Need to up the tempo!
The plant monsters crawling up from all sides. Some nomads are already fighting them. Good, but I need more help! A horse approaching from where I came from, must be Erdeni riding it. Hope she manages to rally the other nomads. Five breaths before I have to retreat. Maybe less.
"You dun, little shitter!" The plant woman pointed her arm at Xin as massive thorns grew all over it. Each one of these is at least rank one in strength, need to avoid them.
Take my qi, Xin!
Yes. Xin severed his connection with the healing seed dao shard, freeing up space for a new ability. He then donated his own qi to be converted, and a moment later, he was stronger, his reflexes boosted above human limits.
Swoosh. Dodge. Swoosh. Duck. Swoosh. Iron lung dao shard. In mere moments, he avoided three thorns, and successfully blocked one!
Iron sting dao shard! Chest stab! Expansion jump, upwards! Woodcutter's Downswing! Xin suddenly switched the direction of his attack, and redirected it at the opponent's blocking hand instead of her arm protecting the head.
It sliced the hag's fingers off! Her enchanted ring also fell to the ground, ripe for the taking.
Kill her, the totem demanded! Grab the ring, another voice shouted. A rank two artefact against a rank two wood path master, it will tear her to shreds once you recharge it, her defensive methods are shit! Isn't it obvious?
Xin made a different choice. Expansion jump! He moved away as a massive vine-hand slapped where the ring was lying. The demoness assumed Xin would go for the ring and punished this move preemptively, but he wasn't that greedy.
Expansion jump! Xin's thigh, healed just a moment ago, was injured by his own technique once again, and tears welled up in his eyes, but he managed to retreat. Woodcutter's Downswing! Xin killed an approaching plant monster in one move, slicing at its neck, then rushed behind one of the tents. He knew that he wouldn't kill the demoness on time, and if she pincered him with her minions, he wouldn't last ten breaths.
"Come back 'ere, fuckboy!" The woman manifested two spirit stones from her aperture and munched them, opening a feeding hole in her wooden mask. Xin also ate a spirit stone and scanned the battlefield.
Erdeni just raced into the camp. She'll have to keep herself safe, we'll all die if I help her instead of fighting optimally. The nomads are fighting the plant monsters to keep the retreating civilians safe, but their ranks look disorganised. It seems that the plant demoness is healing at a fixed rate, and keeping her occupied won't disrupt the healing. She's probably stressing her meridians immensely, what's her limit? What's mine?
Healing seed dao shard was very powerful, and his wounds were almost healed. His thigh injury was inconsequential, and the only injury that remained was his bicep. It wasn't bleeding, but it wasn't restored, either, as his rank one healing seed wasn't that strong. It was much easier to stitch flesh together than it was to restore it, afterall. As a result, Xin couldn't use his left arm effectively, the lingering pain excruciating enough to make his ears ring.
At this rate, she'll outlast me, how do I win this?