"Shao Yating!" Jun shouted, bracing herself.

"At least you aren't stupid and unlucky. Maybe I will enjoy this more than I suspect, though I doubt you can entertain me any longer than a pitiful servant or two. Unlike them though, I can still devour your core and cleansed flesh—"

Jun knew she had only one opportunity to get a real hit in. A single chance while he was busy regaling her about what he was going to do. The suffering he would cause her. Her Ancestor had mentioned something like this before in his many lessons and conversations with her and Shui. Teachings she had carved into her chest.

About villains and their monologuing. A habit they simply could not break regardless of their background.

The wind whispered between them. Almost as though it spoke words to her and Shao Yating. Insistent breeze that did not affect the shadows in the slightest. Jun ignored it to focus on the foe before it. She could not take her eyes off the monster that was Shao Yating for even a second—

Jun lunged to the right. Qi filled her limbs and her sword. She swung behind her blindly, but tight and controlled. Torquing her hips. Qi sending a wave of sharpened energy. She felt resistance for a second before it disappeared.

She turned. Looked around her, unable to find what had assaulted her.

Yating laughed.

Jun felt the world shift around her. Corrupt Qi behind her again gathered. She swung. The shadows shifted. Purple energy faded around her. She was swinging and hitting, but unable to see what she was fighting against. All she could rely on were her instincts, honed for months under the care of her Ancestor and his rigorous trainings.

The wind whispered again.

She lunged to the left this time. Copying her previous sequence and finding the same result. Ducking after like a boxing combo. L-stepping out of habit. This time something from the other side barely missed her face. A black sword stabbed from behind her. Cutting hair, nicking skin. But barely missing her skull.

It faded into fog quicker than Jun could react. She ducked late and pivoted. But knew better. Her training and the muscle memory ingrained into her saved her. The lessons not her own competence. For that she was grateful.

"Interesting, very interesting," Shao Yating said as he walked around her. Studying her. "Such strange movements. Slow measured steps. As though you knew what I had planned from the start. Is it a movement technique or a technique to read Qi?"

Jun sneered, doing her best to hide the storm in her mind. The chattering of her teeth.

She had almost died. It hadn't even been a few seconds since the start of their battle and it had almost ended. That was the gap between her and Shao Yating. It was an order of magnitude above what she was capable of even with her master's miraculous boosts and items. Levels of cultivation.

If Shao Yating had truly wanted to kill her, he would have simply flooded the entire area with Liquid Qi. Touching upon the Nascent Domain he formed and suffocated her. She had no ability to fight back. She wasn't her Ancestor, shrugging off Domains without even noticing their existence. Jun needed to deal with them like any normal cultivator. Struggle against the levels.

"C'mon. Entertain me. Speak to me. Say something, little Hu. How about this, give me the cultivation manual for what you just did and I'll let you live. How about it? It's a fair trade."

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Shao Yating tried to get closer to her slowly, but Jun did not allow him. Backing up and keeping space. Her eyes trained onto his frame, Qi and Dao locked for any iota of energy around her in the darkness. Noticing every minute shift he made towards her while speaking and lying straight out of his teeth. Yin Hu had been clear about tricks and ploys. To never let her foe get an upper hand because her senses were distracted.

"You speak nothing but lies, Demon."

Yating sighed. "So much hate filling your heart. You'd think a Righteous Cultivator would not be so angry and full of hatred. Leave that to us, little Hu."

Jun grit her teeth. Hating the tone he spoke his irritating names. Always calling her little. Demeaning her family name with his corrupted speech. She would beat it out of him if she could. End his life without hesitation if her blade could reach his throat.

They killed Mama. They killed Pa. They killed everyone I loved!

Wind whispered into her ears.

She dove, slashed, ducked, lunged, jumped, twirled. Dancing as a series of unending attacks struck towards her. Nicking her skin. Cutting shallow bleeding cuts that did no real damage. But the surge of attacks never ended.

At some point, Jun started to see the demented dead that she was fighting and dodging. Missing heads. Purple veins that glowed. Demonic things that were unliving and cold. Fading into the ink-like shadows that surrounded them, but incapable of truly hiding in them. The darkness did not accept their existence. Slowing them. Grabbing at their limbs for brief moments.

Giving her a chance at survival.

It dawned on her in that moment of chaos. The constant harassment. Dodging the wayward Qi blast Shao Yating threw at her, hidden by his summons. This was all a test. A method her Ancestor had orchestrated from the very beginning to prepare her. Forcefully grow her potential and skills. Change her from the child she was to an adult that would be capable of defending her loved ones.

He was watching over her. The shadows were under his control and helping her out exactly when she would be outmatched. Allowing the fight to only be slightly above her strength. Limiting Shao Yating. It was all his plan.

What is he trying to teach me? What's the point of fighting someone so much stronger than I?

The wind whispered into her mind once more. Louder this time.

Jun circled the battlefield. Channeling Qi into her legs and into the movement technique her master had taught her. Surging forward with speeds she had not thought possible. Drawing herself directly in front of Shao Yating.

The world slowed. Jun could see his bright white eyes, widening in shock. The expression on his face. Arms moving in slow motion to protect himself. A sword materializing out of thin air in his hands. A spacial pocket. Her theory proved correct about the whip Yating had dropped in this instance. No serious cultivator used a whip.

She struck. A viper in the bushes.

A flash of metal on metal brightened the clearing for a moment. The sound echoing strangely. Sparks showered her and Yating.

Jun swung again with every ounce of strength she could muster. Darkness surged. Yating disappeared from his spot. She struck nothing but air and a summon that fell to the ground dead. Decapitated. It faded into dust and disappearing.

This was the first she had gotten a chance to see what it looked like when she killed it. The rest had been ignored in the haste of escaping the army that chased after her. Intent on killing Jun.

Her wind whispered truth to her. Everything it had imparted had worked exactly as it said. Yet she was too weak to take advantage of it. Too slow. Not decisive enough. Not strong enough. So much she could improve on. She felt the feeling of superiority from her blade fill her being. It did not feel right, but it was what had gotten her here.

A moment of enlightenment she had not expected.

My Ancestor knew this was going to happen? How is that even possible? Could he induce enlightenment whenever he wanted? Was what happened in the clearing of the cave not a fluke?

"You bitch!" Shao Yating screamed something shrill and high pitched. "I'll kill you! You dare mark me? You're nothing! Worthless! No! Even shit is worth more than you! I swear by my name you will suffer for this insult! You will regret meeting me today!"

He held his neck. It dripped blood from a long menacing wound that barely missed something vital. His hands trembled. Face snarled and jaw tight. All his posturing and fake calmness shattered. Now he showed his true self.

Jun smiled. "How does it feel to be out matched, Demon? How does it feel to be a dead man walking?"

She bluffed. Swept away in the arrogance that was the spirit of her weapon.

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