Path of the Ascendant

“I knew it from the beginning, you-”

“Do shut up, darling. You had no clue until I happened to miss the shot,” Yi Fenwu replied, holding an arrow-spear in both hands as she used it as a spear, “Speaking of which, I do have to thank that girl for giving me this idea. Using a bow in close range could get rather exhausting, you know?”

“I have never used a bow before, so, no!” Yi Jiazhi threw himself forward and stuck his finger out, summoning a large globule of magma out of it, aiming directly at his opponent’s face.

Yi Fenwu was not surprised by his attack, easily impaling the mass of flame with her arrow before throwing it off onto a wall, striking close to one of the entrances. The fiery globe splattered onto the stone, some even landing in the passageway, burning and heating up the stone before it slowly melted and dissipated into pure planar energy.

Neither of them paid attention to the fact that it was siphoned off by an unseen entity.

The two were far more focused on themselves, especially on the fact that one was clearly stronger and more skilled than the other. Yi Jiazhi was only in the sixth stage, while Yi Fenwu seemed to be in the eighth, whilst simultaneously possessing a far greater degree of skill.

In order for him to win, he would have to invest his all into the battle.

 

Yi Wei sighed silently as she finished consuming the power of the wayward strike. As she had expected, things had gotten complicated, and if she revealed herself now, she couldn’t be sure who to assist, nor why. For all she knew, this was a personal spat between the two of them, and the others had gotten caught in the crossfire, and if she supported one of them at random, she would get stabbed in the back for seeing something she wasn’t supposed to have seen.

So, instead of barging in at random, she decided to stay out of sight until she could attain a superior understanding of the present situation and decide upon the best course of action.

 

“Magma Spines!” Yi Jiazhi invoked, waving with his free, left hand while he sprinted around the eventual path of the spines, a middle-class artefact guandao in his right hand, attempting to launch two attacks at once in some attempt at tactics, which both of the observers were able to understand immediately through hearing alone.

Indeed, he was not suited for secrecy nor wise decisions, for Yi Fenwu evaded his first attack easily and met his attack with the side of the arrow-spear, deftly deflecting every blow calmly.

“Come now, honey, won’t you use your all to attack me? You know that you won’t be able to touch me when you don’t even have your planar anchor out,” she said, breathing slowly and effortlessly while her enemy was clearly already winded, “You make us middle-class members of the family look bad with your incompetence, and yet you of all people was selected to come along on such an important mission… What a shame…”

“If that’s what you think of me, why did you send an assassin after me?”

“Oh?”

 

‘Oh?’

 

“You are being rather bold in your suggestion, aren’t you?” Yi Fenwu muttered, blocking an overhead attack with a simple movement of her arm, “Let’s say I humour you, darling. Why would I get an assassin, and how does this assassin end up killing three of my own?”

“Naturally, that is simply a trick! If all other groups but yours suffered mysterious losses, wouldn’t anyone get suspicious? Perhaps those three had caught on to your plan and intended to reveal it to the elder observing us! I may not be the smartest out of all of us, but I can still see through your plans! Do you really think the elder will forgive you once your schemes have been revealed?”

“The elder? I wonder where he is. He would have likely entered this place with us, yet all of the deaths have gone unavenged…”

“Don’t try to change the topic!” Yi Jiazhi exclaimed.

 

‘Something tells me this isn’t just a diversionary tactic, but sure, you’re leading the conversation, so you can do what you like… Is she just pointing out the fact that she hasn’t seen him for some time, or is there an implication behind her words? I hadn’t seen the elder for some time, and the assassin did not appear to have any obvious wounds on their body, so either they disengaged, or the elder was defeated…‘ Yi Wei listened in, before an interesting idea entered her mind, ‘Could the elder have switched places with the assassin?’

However, such an idea was naturally silly, as the constant cover of darkness had to be an advanced technique belonging to the assassin, and not something bound to an artefact or a piece of clothing due to the fact that most artefacts cannot display effects of the same cultivation realm for prolonged periods of time, or else most would embed techniques into items instead of cultivating them.

Furthermore, to have both the movement and disguising techniques of the assassin bound to a single item, without any restrictions on who could use it, would imply that the assassin organisation failed to follow the standard that every other group of the same nature had created quite some time ago. In order to prevent others from benefiting from their slain members, all items belonging to an assassin are typically bound in some way, either to them specifically or to the planar energy technique of the organisation. This allows for the items to be retrieved before they can be misused, as someone would have to find and complete the cultivation of their specific technique before using the items, which typically takes more than several years.

To put things a little more simply, unless the assassin and his or her backing were incredibly mentally handicapped, their items would not be so easily used by another.

 

“If you have a grudge with me, or with the rest of us, why did you have to kill everyone else?”

“I haven’t killed a soul – with the eventual exception of you, naturally. The rest perished oh so unfortunately due to the dangers of this space, and I have just happened to attain entrance to the treasury,” Yi Fenwu replied, taking her left hand off of the spear in order to raise that arm and showcase a mark on her wrist – one quarter of a geometric shape that wrapped around her arm, “Maybe you’ve even gone mad and entrusted me to put you down.”

“And yet, you dare deny your involvement!” an enormous planar anchor suddenly crashed down behind him, marked with flaming cracks of magma, before he channelled a great quantity of energy into his blade whilst flooding his empty arm with the rest, causing it to glow like hot metal.

He reached up into the sky, seemingly grabbing something in the air, and cried out, “Eternal Rising Star: Magma Burst!”

A great quantity of earth fire gathered from the air above him, forming an enormous sphere that melted the ceiling that it touched. The great heat could be felt through one’s skin, meaning that neither Yi Wei nor Yi Fenwu had any difficulties understanding what was happening above them, though the first was behind a thick layer of stone and the second was still blindfolded, and only capable of seeing an incredibly faint glimpse of light through the fabric in front of her eyes.

The brilliant sphere released a dozen smaller projectiles of magma, which hovered for a few moments before flying at Yi Fenwu, all but one targeting a different point to which she could feasibly dodge, sealing off all routes of escape.

 

‘Although her words are very incriminating, and difficult to ignore as evidence, she is currently in a much better position than him physically,’ Yi Wei analysed while she continued to hide, making her breathing and heart beat as quiet as she was able to, ‘He did not guide those projectiles, so they must be part of the skill itself. That means that the moment he attacks for a second time, she will notice.’

She would have liked to know what Yi Fenwu had displayed earlier, as she had an idea, but it seemed to be about as nonsensical as the elder having borrowed the items of the assassin.

 

Yi Fenwu infused her spear with a greater quantity of energy, then thrust it forward, right into the path of the magma orbs. As it struck the surface of the one that headed straight for her, the metallic energy placed within her arrow-spear burst out into a large, round shield that blocked their path and scattered the earth flame, but the next volley of attacks struck the next second, breaking the barrier instantly.

However, just as Yi Wei had predicted, she had recognised the pattern in which they flew towards her, and when she blocked the magma bolts again, she only created a shield large enough to break a single mote of earth fire, then remained standing in place as the barrier, which held the same quantity of energy as the previous one, withstood two more volleys without difficulty.

“This was your big attack? I’m disappointed, Yi Jiazhi, I truly am. Furthermore, by the sound of it, this is of your own creation?” she asked lazily, “I remember you bragging about it more than three years ago, and yet, after all this time, all you’ve been able to do is manifest this pathetic thing… Heh… That’s the second pathetic thing you now possess. I’m surprised that you were able to get this one up, and that you didn’t have to rely on charming skills to convince me that you did something impressive. Good job!”

“Shut your mouth, you damn fairy!” he shouted, splitting the enormous orb into three.

Unlike Yi Henghua, who had the support of a forbidden skill, he couldn’t match her level of ability without a far greater degree of sacrifice. The excessive quantities of flaming energy that flooded out of his body scorched his flesh and skin, and his meridian network seemed to ignite with flame.

All three orbs pulsed as they released a dozen smaller projectiles of earth flame, which all locked onto Yi Fenwu’s position.

However, she did not move to respond to the attack, simply nodding at something behind him.

 

‘That feeling… It’s the breaking of a deep concealment technique! The aura it is obscuring matches the assassin!’ Yi Wei realised, and, judging by the location in which the concealment was being broken, she understood who the target was. The instant that she understood that, she made a decision, calculated the best angle and method of approach, and moved.

 

Despite his shortcomings, Yi Jiazhi was observant enough to realise that something was wrong when his opponent paid no attention to his attack and seemed to be waiting for something.

He turned his head just in time to witness an approaching dark blade, heading straight for the planar anchor at the back, aiming at the exact point in the anchor that would cause it to collapse in a single instant, as he had learned from a few days of experimentation that occurred the first time he formed his planar anchor. He wanted to repel the attack, to retaliate with something that would cause this blade to go off the mark, in order to give him the opportunity to recover the planar anchor, but his eyes widened as he realised that he could not nothing.

All of a sudden, the dagger struck a wooden spear, shaped strangely like an arrow, and although the spear broke as a result, it caused the attack to miss its mark completely.

Yi Wei jabbed at the assassin with the broken remnant of the spear, causing them to jump back, before she momentarily looked toward Yi Jiazhi. To her surprise, despite her assistance, Yi Fenwu had somehow crossed the gap between them, and pierced his abdomen with her arrow.

The next instant, she pulled it out and stabbed his heart, dropping him to the floor before pulling out the weapon and cleansing it of blood with an exaggerated swipe. She calmly smiled in Yi Wei’s direction.

“So, I was right to assume that you would be a problem,” Yi Fenwu said, glancing to her side at the same time as the shadow of the assassin appeared there, a dagger in one hand and a featureless blob of shadow surrounding the other. “It’s a shame that you had your guard up the entire time and kept going off to various places, or else you would have been killed a while ago.”

“Are you intending to reveal your entire plan to me?”

“Plan? No, I’m not telling you anything about any plan I might have,” she replied, “However, since I am intending to kill you, I might as well be straightforward about it. If, by some miracle, you evade death or capture and leave this place, or if you somehow succeed in killing me, I wouldn’t want my reputation to be unfairly besmirched by any frivolous claims you might make. That’s not such an insane thing to want, is it, darling?”

‘Don’t sound so calm when you’re intending to kill me! It’s… off-putting. Still, this does confirm a number of things, and it means that I shouldn’t worry about attacking her, as she has killed more than enough members of the family in order to justify her death, even by a servant,’ Yi Wei thought, “I guess not. This is about being the one to succeed in the expedition, isn’t it?”

“You’d want to achieve the exact same thing, if you were in my position. I’m sure that your exact strategy would differ, just like I had never thought of using these things as spears while you came up with it immediately, so perhaps you would be even more vicious…” she paused, reaching for something within her pocket, before she addressed the assassin on her side with a commanding tone, “Kill that girl, and do so quickly. You have two more team leaders to slaughter after this.”

Yi Wei didn’t have a single moment to prepare, as the assassin did not bother with so much as a nod before they acted.

The attack was swift, a knife heading for her abdomen within the blink of an eye, but unlike the time that Yi Wei was attempting to chase her down, this was an attack in close quarters. She launched an immense quantity of cosmic energy into her body, flooding all of it, and activated the principles of Storm’s Edge Dash on her entire form.

For a second, her body flashed, and the next moment she appeared in a different position, her fist heading for the assassin’s chest, targeting the exact place that would allow her to crush their ribcage.

However, her opponent was also not helpless. All of a sudden, the assassin appeared a few steps behind their original position, turning into smoke and then reforming there. They lunged forward with their empty hand, a mass of black energy flying off toward her.

‘Based on the technique, I think- eh, no, might as well be safe,’ Yi Wei decided, and used a wisp of energy from each dawn star inside of her body to trace the circulation pattern of an Elysian Fist, simultaneously coursing the yang physique energy throughout her body in a pre-emptive move to safeguard her body just in the case of the assassin retaliating with a powerful and unknown attack outside of her knowledge.

Before the collision of the two energies, she momentarily switched her energy to its pure planar form, causing the wonderful pure white of the Elysian Fist to blink violet.

The white and purple struck the black mass, and just as it seemed strong enough to withstand the brilliant light of her fist, it collapsed inwards, its most significant point having been targeted by Yi Wei with a technique specifically meant to annihilate planar constructs and similar manifestations of energy.

A flash obscured their vision for a second, and while both acted without any hesitation, the assassin was just an instant slower in their response.

When the bright flash cleared, they saw that a fist was headed for them yet again, this time targeting their head. And yet, this fist suddenly halted in the air, and all that was headed for them was an incredibly compressed and rapid burst of air, which struck their obscured expression to their extreme surprise.

“You- Wait, how do you…?” Yi Fenwu began to say something, but then she saw something far more important, “What is on your wrist?”

Yi Wei did not need to follow her gaze in order to understand what she was talking about, so, before she replied, she retreated via a combination of the Storm’s Edge Dash and Dawn Sunlight Step raising her guard by extending her spiritual will and creating a thin, translucent barrier of planar energy which would block any attack to a sufficient degree to allow her to respond, “I had intended to ask you about this as well. You must have understood that you needed a total of four keys on your arm, so you must have found at least one Lock Obelisk in here. Have others found more?”

“Not so far as I know, but I guess I will need to move on,” Yi Fenwu said, “Goodbye, darling.”

She turned and was clearly about to use a movement technique to escape, but Yi Wei wasn’t someone who would allow that happen just like that. In a single swift motion, she drew two throwing knives, infused them with a fraction of the energy flowing around her body, and threw one directly at her back, where she was least likely to miss, and would be most likely to get the knife lodged into her body.

At the same time, she threw the other at the shadow of the assassin, though this one was targeted not at their present position, but rather at the ground in front of where they would dodge in order to evade her attack, with the intention of surprising the assassin with the subsequent explosion.

However, before it hit Yi Fenwu, she abruptly turned around and parried it, sending the throwing knife flying to the side. Just a second later, the assassin did the exact same thing, causing the knife aimed at them to go in the same direction. They collided in the air with a metallic clang, with that impact causing bright cosmic cracks to appear within both of them. A second later, they exploded into a brilliant, seven-coloured burst of light, which eradicated them and a thin layer of the stone that covered the surface of the cave.

The next moment, Yi Fenwu vanished, while the assassin blocked the passage she had used. Her shadow grew until it completely obscured the cave, though the vague silhouette of their figure remained in place, still wielding the ordinary-looking knife.

‘This person reacted very quickly to my attack, despite the fact that they shouldn’t have been familiar with it. Yi Fenwu could have shared the details of the exploding weapons with them, but I usually filled any weapon I used for this purpose with so much energy that they instantly began to show visible cracks, while this time, likely due to my usage of a middle-grade artefact, there were no such tell-tale signs, nor would they have had any reason to assume that I wanted to throw away such a valuable item for a one-time strike, not to mention the fact that they shouldn’t have known whether or not I can actually destroy middle-grade artefacts,’ Yi Wei filled her mind with cosmic energy in order to further accelerate her mind to its peak, ‘They could have acted just to be safe, though if Yi Fenwu had shared her knowledge of my abilities with the assassin, it would have been strange not to mention my claim of only being able to affect low-grade items…

In short, the person that would be most likely to respond correctly in this situation is someone who knows about my ability by witnessing it, but without relying on Yi Fenwu’s explanation… The assassin, as I had previously considered, doesn’t have to be in her group, and so I should focus on the few who had witnessed my capability to destroy artefacts. The complete list would be Yi Fenwu, those who followed her the first time I encountered her, Yi Bai, Yi Henghua – who is dead, unfortunately enough for my pursuit of learning more about forbidden arts – and Fen Zhi, who clearly had a different set of abilities than this person in front of me.

This leaves me with only one person who isn’t from her group and yet knows about my ability,’ Yi Wei frowned, looking up at the shadow before her, “Please tell me I’m mistaken, Yi Bai.”

She heard no vocal reply, but the smoke around the assassin cleared just enough for her to see a great pair of mountains on their chest, with long, light hair that had the occasional streak of dark colour going through it. Although that particular feature was different from what she remembered seeing prior to entering the Kong Holy Grounds, the rest matched up with Yi Bai’s appearance perfectly, proving that she was exactly who she thought she was.

‘She is an assassin, after all… Every time Yi Fenwu ordered her to do anything, she reached for something in her pocket. Unless that is a coincidence – which, for all I know, it easily could be – then this control is exerted via some sort of item, perhaps a token given to her by an assassin organisation, or collected from a body of someone who was unable to control the assassins with a technique due to lacking strength, or something along those lines,’ Yi Wei theorised, ‘Either way, this means that I cannot recklessly kill her, even if I can, but instead I have to try and retrieve whatever item allows Yi Fenwu to influence Yi Bai’s mind. If no such thing exists, or if it isn’t an item I can take, then I might be forced to employ lethal force… I really don’t want to do that. Even if she had been influenced from the first day that I met her, I still want to give her back her free will…’

“Yi Bai, are you being controlled right now? Can you still control yourself?” she asked, figuring that she might as well confirm her theory before making any decisions as a result of it.

“…” the assassin did not reply for quite some time, but just as she thought that Yi Bai had no will of her own while under control, her lips opened ever so slightly, “Do not waste your time. There is nothing you can do.”

“Why not? Do you not want to be free?”

“You will affect my efficiency,” was all that she said before she advanced within an instant, her immense speed creating a great shockwave in the air as she closed the gap between them and jabbed the knife at her heart. With the same speed, created via the stimulation of her body’s natural abilities, achieved through the perpetual refinement via cosmic energy, Yi Wei blocked this strike with the metal bracelet on her arm, which she knew to be strong enough for someone in the fourth realm.

Regarding the fourth realm, there is a major gap between it and the third realm, just as there is a significant divide between the Energy Condensation realm and Planar Pool realm. While the latter was caused as a result of the ability (or lack thereof) to externalise energy, the former lay in the gap between fluid and solid planar energy.

Even though the battle between Yi Bai and the elder did not display this, the solidified energy of an Active Core cultivator had the ability to completely bypass or destroy the weaker energy of someone in the Emergent Anchor realm, even if the latter utilises the strengthening effects of the planar anchor.

As it was solid, it also had a far greater effect on the material world. Whereas planar energy in the gaseous or liquid form could technically damage anyone or anything, so long as enough force is invested, solidified energy does not require much force to do serious harm to a regular human, with this being especially true for the volatile and incendiary element of flame, which, unless specifically controlled to behave in a different manner, will burn anyone who touched it in much the same way as a real fire would, and with it burning at many times the temperature of regular flame, the planar energy of a fire cultivator could even melt through things that no regular flame can affect.

Since her training set was previously worn by someone who had reached the peak of the fifth realm, it wasn’t unlikely for him to have used it at the early stages of the fourth realm, which would mean that it had been capable of withstanding the devastating power of that realm, even if only for a little while. No dagger, even if it is reinforced with the power that surpasses the second realm, could damage it.

The collision seemed to be instantaneous, but both took it as an opportunity to act.

Yi Wei leapt past Yi Bai, repelling a second attack with a pre-emptive explosive strike, which threw the girl off her feet for a second. As before, she did not attack the assassin’s body, and thus, whatever evasive technique she used did not trigger as quickly.

She did not get far before the assassin caught up, throwing a barrage of six attacks in incredibly rapid succession at various points on her body. Yi Wei dealt with a few via the Living Spear technique, which she reinforced with an internal core of cosmic energy and a thin layer of lightning from Storm Blade Wreathing, before suddenly changing her posture completely to imitate that of Lan Mei Xing. She stomped her foot onto the ground, raising the other and delivering a kick right to Yi Bai’s side.

This attack did connect, but the assassin was not sent flying, instead seeming to transform into smoke before reappearing a few steps behind her previous position.

However, in that brief span of time, Yi Wei was able to disappear behind the corner.