At Odds

At Odds

Humans really were clumsy. Even after learning Yinqi Ruti, they were still nothing special.

Li crouched beneath the windowsill, listening to the movements and muffled cries overhead, unable to stop herself from sneering inwardly.

Only after the window had fallen silent did she flick her tail, rise, and leave.

It had only just passed midnight, still the perfect time for dreams—especially for those examinees who had failed to secure rooms at the inn and had no choice but to sleep in the dilapidated thatched huts along the edge of town. They were far more susceptible to nightmares.

Yet for some reason, Li suddenly lost all interest.

Even the braised beef in her arms seemed to have lost its usual fragrance.

A Sorcery Art practitioner who wanted to understand Yao was ridiculous enough. Worse still, he arrogantly believed that prejudice could be erased through understanding and promotion. How was that any different from seeking his own death?

Of course, he could not be blamed. With his meager knowledge, he naturally could not comprehend what the Bureau of Military Affairs represented.

Only centuries of accumulated blood had forged the order of today, along with the Bureau of Military Affairs' standing among humankind. Any act of crossing the line would be regarded as an unforgivable challenge. Even the one who had guided her possessed not the slightest ability to resist that colossal entity, let alone some insignificant Sorcery Art practitioner.

If he failed the examination, so be it. No matter how wildly he ranted after returning to his rural home, people would only take him for a madman muttering nonsense. But if he passed the assessment and became an official Sorcery Art practitioner, then continued speaking so recklessly, his end would surely be a dead end.

By all rights, she should have been happy.

After all, the world would have one less Sorcery Art practitioner, and she would not even need to do it herself. That was undoubtedly a good outcome. Yet unexpectedly, she found that she could not rejoice.

Why... was this happening?

Li could not find an answer.

They had known each other for barely two days. She did not even know his name.

She had met many people and heard many words—fear, pleas for mercy, threats, resentment, killing intent... All that remained in her mind were vague emotions. As for what they had specifically said, she had almost no recollection. Yet every word spoken by that young Sorcery Art practitioner remained fresh in her memory, as though the two of them had talked more than she had in the past several years.

"Could it be... you're also a camping enthusiast?"

That was how their first exchange had begun.

It had been a completely baffling opening, yet it carried an inexplicable sense of familiarity and nostalgia.

Li reached the edge of town, pulled out the cloth bundle containing the braised beef, hesitated for a moment, then threw it toward the bottom of the cliff.

If she wanted to become enemies with the Bureau of Military Affairs, she was destined to become the enemy of every Sorcery Art practitioner. It was better not to see such an exception again.

"I wondered what had been up to mischief. So it was a Fox Demon."

At that moment, a rough voice suddenly sounded behind her.

Li's tail instantly stood on end. She whipped around and saw that, at some point, a figure had appeared ten paces away.

It was a tall human male, nearly six chi in height, his shoulders almost twice as broad as an ordinary person's. Clad in a pitch-black high-collared robe, he resembled a small mountain beneath the dim moonlight.

Such a burly man had approached her without making a sound?

Alarm bells blared in her heart!

And the three red embroidered stripes on his shoulder... Though she did not know the precise ranks of Bureau of Military Affairs officials, this was the first time she had seen a Sorcery Art practitioner with three bars.

"I am Ba Xingtian, Sentinel of the southern lands of Qi State." His voice came again from beneath the silver mask. "What is your name?"

"...You need not know." Li bent slightly, baring the fangs at the corners of her mouth.

"Don't be hasty. That was only the first question." Ba Xingtian spoke unhurriedly. "The second question: what was your purpose in coming to Qingshan Town and disrupting Da Qi's Scholar Examination?"

"And the last question..." He paused. "Who sent you?"

Li gave a cold laugh. "Couldn't I have come of my own accord?"

"Yao rarely set foot in human territory. Living like beasts in the wilderness and forests is what you should be doing. Besides, the location of the Scholar Examination is a Bureau of Military Affairs secret. If no one directed you, how could someone like you have found this place?"

Ba Xingtian extended a palm as broad as a cattail fan and made a grasping gesture. "It is fine if you do not answer now. I can give you time to think. Once I catch you and break your joints one by one, twisting off your fingers, you will be able to speak your fill all at once."

As the Fox Demon stared at Ba Xingtian, Ba Xingtian was also scrutinizing her.

Nine people had been eliminated on the first day, then the number had surged to seventy-four on the second. Though anything could happen during a Scholar Examination, the panicked, unsettled expressions of most of those who withdrew had drawn his attention.

Ba Xingtian vaguely remembered that a similar problem had arisen during the Yinmo Island Scholar Examination three years ago. But that examination had concerned mental endurance to begin with, and at the time he had been unable to bypass the Proctor and directly intervene in the examination, so the matter had ultimately been left unresolved. It was not until this round of examinations in Qingshan Town that he suddenly recalled the connection between the two.

To his surprise, the culprit was actually a fox.

Fox Demons excelled at seduction and illusions, which reasonably explained why every examinee had been so distracted and disturbed. But what Ba Xingtian could not understand was why she had only frightened them rather than directly attacking. It was only natural for Yao to hate Sorcery Art practitioners, especially one who had specifically come knocking. Once she found an opportunity, she ought to have slaughtered them all.

The only possibility he could think of was that she had a deeper purpose.

And such a purpose was usually not something an ordinary Yao's mind could conceive.

Moreover, she had managed to find one of the examination sites in two consecutive Scholar Examinations and cause trouble there. That made Ba Xingtian even more inclined toward this guess.

The Fox Demon looked young, which meant her strength was limited. It would be best to capture her alive, then use severe torture to obtain information about whoever was behind her. That was the prudent course.

"Let me ask you. Have you killed Yao?" Li spoke after a long silence.

"Of course." Ba Xingtian answered without hesitation. "Quite a few, at that."

"What about Yao that had nothing to do with humans, even those that lived apart from the world?"

"What difference does that make? When I crushed them to death, I had no interest in asking about their lives."

"Then... you cannot be counted among the innocent." Li took a deep breath, then drove off with both feet, pouncing toward Ba Xingtian like an arrow loosed from the bow—

She had launched the attack herself!

Since she intended to become enemies with the Bureau of Military Affairs, clashing with high-ranking Sorcery Art practitioners was unavoidable. The man before her was one such high official. If she could kill him here, she would surely weaken the Bureau of Military Affairs' strength considerably.

In an instant, Ba Xingtian felt a towering killing intent crash into him!

The ground beneath his feet seemed to transform into a sea of blood. The pungent stench of gore surged straight into his throat, thick and cloying as though it would choke off his breath. The flowers, grasses, and trees around him vanished, replaced by severed limbs and scattered organs.

Ordinary people would not merely find it difficult to fight in such an environment—they would struggle even to remain standing.

Launching an illusion while attacking to improve her odds? Ba Xingtian could not help silently praising her. It truly was a fine move! Unfortunately, others might be cowed by a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, but it only made his blood boil!

His feet planted firmly on the ground as his body tilted slightly to the side. Drawing his right arm back to its limit, he threw it forward with all his might, striking directly toward the direction from which the Fox Demon charged!

With a thunderous crash, the illusion shattered!

The blood-red light filling the sky broke apart and peeled away like glazed glass. The Fox Demon was sent flying, rolling several times before coming to a stop, while he had merely taken two steps back.

When Li rose again, the five fingers of her right hand were visibly deformed.

"I served in the army for a long time. I have long grown accustomed to battlefields awash in blood. Your technique only excites me further." He raised both hands. Those enormous palms had lost all color, as though formed from granite; their translucent textures were no different from stone. "Against you, these hands alone are enough."

"Gen Art, Gui Shen?" Li frowned.

"Oh? You even know that?" Ba Xingtian's voice deepened. "Sorcery Arts must not be casually passed on, not even among great clans. Not only did someone violate this order, they even taught it to Yao... I want more and more to find the person behind you."

"Then go ahead and try!" She lowered herself and charged again, but this time she did not choose a frontal assault. Instead, she traced a zigzag path.

"Ha!" Ba Xingtian roared, assuming a defensive stance where he stood—responding to all changes with constancy was the style of battle he knew best! Before overwhelming strength, no scheme was worth fearing!

While running, the Fox Demon actually pulled a Talisman from her robes.

What outrageous defiance! Ba Xingtian could not help flying into a rage!

What angered him was not some mere Yao, but the person who had taught Sorcery Arts to Yao! Yao were born able to sense qi and possessed innate techniques that they could wield without instruction. In terms of talent, Yao surpassed humans. Their greatest weakness was that their innate techniques were essentially fixed. Fox Demons, for example, were ever-changing and skilled at disrupting the mind. Once that was countered, they had no other tricks to rely upon.

That was precisely why teaching Sorcery Arts to Yao was an absolute taboo, a consensus shared by all Sorcery Art practitioners. Yet someone dared to brave the condemnation of the world and openly defy the Bureau of Military Affairs' prohibition?

That person deserved death!

Even so, Ba Xingtian had no intention of retreating. Innate Nature was Innate Nature. Because of their innate techniques, Yao already suffered a tremendous reduction in effectiveness when attempting other Sorcery Arts. And he had seen clearly that the Talisman was plainly a Qian Talisman. Even if he did not know its exact strokes, the Fox Demon belonged to "Kan," already one "Xun" position away from "Qian." Even if she successfully activated it, its effect would likely be extremely limited.

Besides, one of her hands was already crippled. A Double Technique guided solely through a Talisman was simply not worth mentioning!

Yet as she passed through a patch of grass, Li swept her tail, flinging a mass of debris toward him.

What kind of trick was this?

Only children fighting would use such a laughable tactic.

Even if dozens of daggers had come flying at him, he would have had no need to dodge while possessed by Gen Art Gui Shen—Fudo Myoo.

Ba Xingtian spread his arms and grabbed for Li—this time, he had decided to break her other hand as well.

Amid the flying pebbles and weeds, he saw her tightly shut eyes.

And several fireflies swept along with the debris.

"Qian Art, Wei Yin! Moonlight Radiance!"

In an instant, a pure white light blossomed between them, filling Ba Xingtian's entire field of vision!