How much suffering and how many years of youth must one endure to reach the eighth grade of martial arts?
An Jiu had only ever taken one thing from others – life itself. Not for gain, but for destruction.
Though unfamiliar with martial arts, An Jiu felt that taking someone else’s inner power was like transplanting an organ into oneself. It might not be compatible, and rejection could prove fatal.
An Jiu never believed in “luck” – those two words had never applied to her.
“I’ve heard the Crane Control Army is the Song Dynasty’s elite force,” An Jiu sneered. “Yet you need to recruit someone without inner power? Forgive me if I don’t wish to be a human target.”
“The Ancient Text fragments,” the Commander said. “I can authorize giving you all the remaining fragments in the Crane Control Army’s possession.”
“Dealing with tigers for their hides,” An Jiu remained unmoved.
“I like that expression,” the Commander closed the distance in the blink of an eye, grabbing An Jiu’s incoming dagger. His protective inner energy shielded his palm, leaving the blade that could slice through iron completely ineffective.
He pressed closer, “But you don’t have a choice!”
“We’ll see about that!” An Jiu concentrated her killing intent. Since entering the temple, she hadn’t encountered anyone with stronger spiritual energy. In this standoff, that was her only advantage.
Sure enough, An Jiu noticed the Commander’s movements falter slightly. She viciously kicked at his groin.
The Commander’s gaze sharpened. Not daring to underestimate An Jiu’s abilities, he shifted to avoid the blow despite his protective energy barrier.
Feeling his grip loosen, An Jiu immediately withdrew her dagger and thrust it at his throat.
The Commander felt a chill on his neck. His prized protective barrier had been cleanly cut by the dagger, its razor-sharp edge leaving a shallow cut. Blood beaded on his skin, staining the surrounding dark fabric.
“Mei Fourteen, I’m losing patience,” the Commander said sternly. “You’d best come with me willingly!”
His pressure and threats seemed to not affect An Jiu’s resistance. Now truly angered, he growled, “You leave me no choice!”
He unleashed a palm strike infused with pure inner power. It roared like a dragon or tiger, cracking the surrounding walls before even making contact. Rubble crashed down around them.
An Jiu dodged with utmost speed but was still grazed. The internal injuries from the earlier crossbow impact flared with searing pain.
Amidst the billowing dust and debris, An Jiu dashed up to the fifth floor.
The walls of the fifth floor were covered in murals. A central shrine held several sarira relics. There was nowhere to hide.
An Jiu had only one arrow left for her powerful crossbow. She hesitated, unsure whether to use it against the Commander. Though he was pursuing her relentlessly, he showed no killing intent. If she used the crossbow and failed to kill him, she’d be making an enemy of the entire Crane Control Army.
Antagonizing an assassin’s force seemed suicidal no matter how she looked at it.
A dark figure emerged from the dust cloud. Before An Jiu could decide, her body reacted instinctively. Fortunately, she only fired the regular crossbow bolts taken from Elder Zhi.
The Commander’s wave shattered the three powerful arrows into dust. The dust maintained the arrow’s shape as it sped forward, only dispersing when it hit his protective barrier.
The Commander lashed out with a rope, ensnaring An Jiu’s waist. With a flex of his wrist, he yanked her towards him.
An Jiu was not one to be manhandled. She used the pulling force to her advantage, wielding both her crossbow and dagger to strike at his vital points.
The Commander, holding the rope with one hand, could only use his other to fend off the arrow and dagger. Needing to avoid killing An Jiu, he couldn’t use more than 40% of his inner power.
The Commander was no pushover. He deflected the arrow barehanded and shifted his body, taking An Jiu’s dagger strike directly.
His protective energy absorbed half the force, but the dagger still sunk halfway into his shoulder.
An Jiu never held back. She immediately applied full force, driving the entire dagger into the Commander’s body!
An Jiu felt a numbness at the back of her neck, and her vision went black.
“Tch—” The Commander sucked in a sharp breath. He yanked out the dagger and poured an entire bottle of wound medicine over the injury.
He tossed An Jiu to the ground and examined the dagger, muttering, “Damned girl!”
Wary of An Jiu’s powerful spiritual energy allowing her to wake quickly, he prepared a cloth doused in anesthetic to place over her nose.
The Commander crouched down and removed An Jiu’s mask, revealing porcelain-white skin. He paused, then inexplicably removed her entire face covering.
A delicate, beautiful face was revealed. In her unconscious state, her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, giving her a vulnerable appearance.
They say the face reflects the heart. The Commander never imagined such a fierce girl would have such a delicate appearance.
“Mei Fourteen,” he murmured, placing the cloth over her nose and replacing her mask.
“Commander,” a black-clad figure bowed at the entrance. “Only about twenty trial participants remain. The Li and Cui clans were completely wiped out. Our Shenwu forces are in a standoff with the enemy on the plank road. That Transcendent State archery expert is using our people for target practice. Ten ninth-grade martial artists are guarding the opposite cliff, preventing us from approaching the archer.”
The Commander had only broken through to the ninth grade last year and was still only at the third level of the Transcendent State. Even if he went personally, he’d struggle to reach the Transcendent archer.
“I’ll go immediately,” the Commander picked up An Jiu. “Let’s move.”
“Yes, sir!”
The two exited the tower.
Heavy snow fell in dense sheets. The Commander carried An Jiu, racing towards the plank road. In the blink of an eye, they passed through the pine forest and temple gates.
The black-clad follower struggled to keep up.
The Shenwu branch of the Crane Control Army was facing a talent shortage. With last year’s mysterious death of the Commanding Officer, they couldn’t find a suitable replacement. When one of the four Shenwu Envoys unexpectedly broke through to the Transcendent State, he was promoted despite the unusual circumstances.
Each of the four branches of the Crane Control Army had four “Envoys”. The Shenwu branch had Shenwu Envoys, the Shence branch had Shence Envoys, and so on for the Yulin and Weiyue branches…
These Envoys were essentially important messengers. Though they belonged to their respective branches, they reported directly to the Emperor, responsible for delivering various “secret orders”. As such, they weren’t fully considered part of their branch’s forces.
This particular Shenwu Envoy was an orphan raised and trained by the Crane Control Institute. The major clans saw him as the Emperor’s confidant and arbitrarily gave him military authority. Few truly followed his orders, forcing him to personally oversee even minor matters like this trial.
If this mission succeeded, all would be well. But if they suffered major losses here, his future leadership would become even more difficult.
The complexities of the situation made the identity of those behind this ambush equally enigmatic.
They arrived near the broken plank road. The snowstorm had intensified, making it hard to keep one’s eyes open. Through the dense snowfall, two forces could be seen locked in combat on the plank road. The ground was covered in blood-stained “mud”, with fresh blood splattering about. Flecks of red dotted the wind-blown snow, while blue-tinged arrows occasionally flew from the opposite side.
The Commander set An Jiu down and removed the cloth from her nose, neutralizing the anesthetic.
In the biting cold wind, the drug’s effects wore off quickly.
An Jiu opened her eyes to find her wrists gripped by a strong hand.
“How are you feeling?” the Commander asked gravely.
An Jiu twisted her wrist, a silver needle from her fingertips stabbing toward his hand. The Commander released her, only to grab her again. In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged several moves.
Ultimately, An Jiu’s lack of inner power put her at a disadvantage, and she was restrained.
“See? In the blink of an eye, a life could be lost,” the Commander said.
An Jiu remained unmoved. Even if the world ended in the blink of an eye, what of it?
The Commander continued, “The situation is urgent. Bringing you here by force was necessary. If you help me this once, I’ll grant any request within my power.”
An Jiu was silent for a moment, glancing at the opposite side before slowly speaking. “Why ask for my help? Anyone here has better martial arts than me.”
The Commander paused, realizing An Jiu responded better to a soft approach than force. The more he pressured her, the more she resisted. He softened his tone, “Archery isn’t the Shenwu Army’s strong suit. The heavy snow and wind make it impossible for us to aim. We’ve heard you can hit targets in these conditions.”
Setting aside accuracy, ordinary arrows lacked the strength to pierce the mountain winds. They’d lose most of their power before reaching halfway, rendering them harmless even if they hit their target.
An Jiu’s bow and arrows, crafted by Elder Zhi, possessed far greater power than ordinary weapons. Combined with her precise calculations, she could achieve 90% accuracy. Even so, that wasn’t enough to overcome a Transcendent State expert.
“Even if my aim is true, I lack inner power,” An Jiu said.
“You can temporarily use mine,” the Commander replied. “I’ll channel my inner power into you.”
An Jiu weighed the pros and cons. She hadn’t expected the situation to be this dire, but it was clear the Crane Control Army was at a disadvantage. The root cause was the opposing Transcendent archer. Helping the Commander might not guarantee his favor, but if the Crane Control Army was annihilated here, she wouldn’t escape unscathed either. Moreover, she was intrigued by the Jingxian technique and welcomed the chance to experience inner power-infused arrows…
“I’ll do my best,” An Jiu agreed after brief consideration.
The Commander secretly sighed in relief. Their earlier confrontation in the tower had shown the vast difference in their abilities, yet she had dared to resist, preferring death to help him. Now she agreed so easily.
He had simply used the wrong approach before.
The Commander released her, still wary she might flee.
An Jiu unslung her bow and quiver, saying to him, “Let’s try it.”
“Alright,” the Commander placed his hand on her right shoulder blade.
She felt an endless stream of warmth flow into her body, initially invigorating. But as the energy grew stronger, her blood and meridians felt ready to burst.
The Commander explained, “Your spiritual energy can handle at least second-level Transcendent State inner power, but your body’s meridians are untrained. It might cause them to rupture. Tell me immediately if you feel unwell.”
An Jiu snorted derisively. Earlier, this man had tempted her with the offer of an eighth-grade expert’s full inner power. If she had greedily accepted, wouldn’t she be dead from ruptured meridians by now?
The Commander understood her meaning and calmly explained, “A deal requires mutual agreement. Had you truly accepted earlier, I would have honored my promise. But it would have been your choice, and any consequences would not have been my responsibility.”
How shameless to explain so seriously while trying to cover up his deception! An Jiu thought to herself.
Feeling her meridians filled with inner power, An Jiu immediately focused her mind. She nocked an arrow and drew her bow, attempting to use her spiritual energy to force all the inner power into her fingers holding the arrow.
An Jiu regulated her breathing, seemingly melding into the night’s endless snowfall.