Fudo Myoo

Fudo Myoo

She had actually... made use of materials at hand?

Her target was not the weeds, but the fireflies hidden in the grass.

The Talisman, combined with a catalyst, had turned Moonlight Radiance into a complete Triple Technique. Even though Qian Art was not the Fox Demon's forte, it still plunged Ba Xingtian into brief blindness.

What a clever scheme!

Following the route he remembered, he forcefully clapped his arms together, only to catch nothing.

Then came a whistling sound of something tearing through the air behind him.

It all happened in the blink of an eye; an ordinary person would not have had time to react at all.

Ba Xingtian turned almost on instinct and threw both fists toward the source of the wind!

Another thunderous crash rang out.

But this time, his opponent was not sent flying.

Instead, Ba Xingtian felt an immense force strike the front of his arms. Even Fudo Myoo gave off cracking sounds as it began to fracture.

As the white light faded and his vision had barely returned, he saw an enormous palm.

The woman had vanished, replaced by a gigantic fox more than half a person taller than a human. Its claws were as sharp as blades, already lightly embedded in his stone-like skin. Had he not blocked the blow with his reflexes, the outcome might have been completely reversed.

Even so, he no longer held an advantage in strength before the Fox Demon. Having returned to her demon form, she could no longer use illusions to disrupt one's consciousness, but her strength and speed had both risen across the board—by an extent that somewhat exceeded Ba Xingtian's expectations.

Feeling his Sorcery Art beginning to collapse, he no longer held back. He suddenly rammed forward, knocking aside the pair of giant claws with his shoulder, then drew the heavy sword from his back.

A rising reverse slash forced the Fox Demon back.

"Didn't you say that your two palms alone were enough to deal with me?"

Li let out a breath of foul air and slowly spoke in a distorted voice, inwardly astonished as well.

This man was far too strong. So strong that he did not resemble a sorcerer at all. That palm strike just now could have shattered even rock, yet he had blocked it with his flesh alone.

And what was with that sword? Didn't ordinary sorcerers all use peachwood weapons to deal with Wangliang and monstrous spirits? Why was this fellow carrying an iron sword, one whose length and width rivaled an ordinary person's...? Was this how he usually expelled evil?

"I admit I underestimated you," Ba Xingtian said frankly. "Trying to control my strength with the aim of capturing you alive is indeed a little difficult for me alone."

"Empty bluster!"

Li swept sideways with her front claws, only for him to forcibly block them where he stood.

"Again!" Ba Xingtian shouted.

Gritting her teeth, she struck repeatedly from left and right, but still failed to break through his defense. The heavy sword that looked incomparably solid and weighty flew up and down in his hands as though it weighed nothing. And after admitting his earlier setback, his momentum had not diminished in the slightest. Instead, it rose ever higher.

"Now it's my turn. Watch carefully!"

With that warning, Ba Xingtian delivered his first slash.

It was plain and unadorned, yet impossible to evade. This strike had not been swung casually; it had been timed precisely between the moments she struck with her claws. She had no time to leave the heavy sword's range and could only block it head-on!

Her claws met the blade, then shattered one after another. Piercing pain instantly shot into her mind.

If that sword had been sharpened, her entire foreleg would likely have been severed.

Ba Xingtian did not pause in the slightest. His second slash followed close behind!

This time, her leg was injured. Though she barely managed to knock aside the sword edge with her tail, it still left a bone-deep gash in her fur.

When he raised his heavy sword and was about to bring down the third strike, Li suddenly realized that she had fallen into a trap.

His rising momentum, as well as his willingness to let her attack first, had all been part of his scheme. He appeared rough and forthright, yet in truth every link had locked into the next. By letting her attack again and again, he was not only searching for openings, but also making her believe that he intended to fight her in strength to the bitter end. The instant he caught a moment when she could not change her move, he would launch his counterattack.

Such broad attacks could not be avoided, yet they left her a sliver of room, forcing her only to choose between injury and death. Once she chose injury, she would inevitably be driven step by step into a desperate corner until she could no longer resist.

His claim that she was "difficult to capture alive" had merely been a smokescreen. What he still wanted was to take her alive—only the means of doing so had changed from his palms to his heavy sword.

If she took a few more blows, she truly would be left lying on the ground at others' mercy.

In the flash of a thought, Li made her decision without hesitation.

Facing the third slash, she did not dodge her vital points. Instead, she lunged into the blade, aiming her sharp claws at Ba Xingtian at the same time.

It was a desperate counterattack that would leave both sides injured.

It was also her answer!

Her claws slashed down past his head, while the heavy sword cut into her waist and abdomen at the same instant. This time, he could finally no longer pull the sword free so quickly.

Using the last of her strength, Li turned and lashed out with her tail, sweeping Ba Xingtian to the ground. Then, taking three steps as two, she leaped fiercely toward the outskirts of town. After clearing the bottomless cliff, she staggered into the dense forest.

"Did you see through it...? Impressive." Ba Xingtian brushed the bloodied coarse fur from his body and slowly pushed himself to his feet.

At the same time, a straight crack appeared across his silver mask and rapidly spread. In the end, the mask split in two and fell to the ground with a clang.

He admitted that in their final exchange, he had taken a step back first. That was precisely why the third slash had failed to kill the Fox Demon on the spot. As a Sentinel of the region, he had never intended to trade his life for that of a demon, yet her judgment and decisiveness still made him praise her aloud.

Using the power of Fudo Myoo to launch an unbroken barrage with his heavy sword, making his enemy run themselves ragged between defenses until they died from accumulated wounds—this was his most frequently used technique.

Many could notice the trap halfway through, but those with the courage to face desperation head-on and stake everything on a counterattack were few and far between. Even if they knew it might be their only path to survival, few could do it as well as the Fox Demon. The key to fighting with one's life on the line lay in the word "fight." If fear and panic were mixed into one's moves, one naturally could not force him to yield. An attack that looked like a desperate gamble was, once it lost its focus, nothing more than suicide.

It had been a long time since he had encountered such a thrilling opponent.

Though she still lacked combat experience, this spirit alone was worthy of praise. Given time, perhaps she might even have become an enemy remembered by the Bureau of Military Affairs.

But... that possibility no longer existed.

Though the third slash had deviated, it was still a fatal wound. There was not even a human shadow in these desolate mountains, much less a clinic willing to treat a demon's injuries. Her regenerative ability could not sustain her for more than a few days.

After demons died, they were no different from ordinary people. Their corpses would gradually decay, while their qi returned to heaven and earth.

These Green Mountains would be her grave.

Ba Xingtian picked up the heavy sword and fragments of his mask, then turned toward the suspension bridge.

So this was... the strength of the Bureau of Military Affairs?

Li felt a powerful wave of dizziness wash over her. Unable to maintain her enlarged form, she changed back into a human.

The wounds on her hands and legs were still barely tolerable, but the torn gash running across her waist had already let her smell death.

Anyone who could appear in Qingshan Town clearly would not be the Bureau of Military Affairs' strongest sorcerer. Yet even so, she had not seen the slightest hope of victory.

Not to mention that the Bureau of Military Affairs had more than one Sentinel, as well as Azure Blade and Feathered Garment, whose official ranks stood above the Sentinels.

No wonder "Master" had repeatedly warned her never to become enemies with the Bureau of Military Affairs, and never to draw their attention.

"I have no other wish. I only hope you can live well. Do not come looking for me, and do not avenge me. Pretend you have never met me."

That had been the last sentence "Master" left behind before imprisoning her.

But how could she possibly forget everything that had happened in the past?

For most of her life, ever since she could remember, that woman in blue had been there. She had taught her to read, write, observe etiquette, and understand the rules of the world. Though the other woman had never acknowledged any master-disciple relationship between them, Li had long regarded her as her only master.

Li had once thought such days would continue forever, until the Bureau of Military Affairs came knocking.

The woman in blue vanished without a trace, and Li was left alone.

"Master" had taught her many things, but never how to fight the Bureau of Military Affairs.

She had to seek her own way.

But now... everything seemed to be drifting farther and farther away from her.

The searing pain nearly left Li unable to breathe. Swaying, she leaned against a large tree and sat down. The hand clutching her abdomen had already been soaked through with warm blood.

She was not afraid of death.

But before she achieved her goal, she could not die like this. Once she was gone, no one in the world would remember that woman's name, nor remember that she had found a newly born Fox Demon in a bamboo grove.

If she died, then Master would die with her.

That realization allowed Li to regain control of her body, and her thoughts seemed to clear somewhat.

No. She could not remain in the mountains. Even if Ba Xingtian did not come searching for her, she would certainly die. With her body so weak, forget sorcerers—even the wild beasts drawn by the scent of flesh and blood could take her life.

But where could she go now?

Treating her wounds required clean water, food, a place to rest, and perhaps a heap of medicinal herbs.

The nearest town was at least five hundred li away. She could not walk out of these mountains on foot.

"If only I hadn't... thrown away that beef..."

For some reason, Li suddenly thought of that strange young sorcerer.

Forget it, she told herself. Hope at a time like this was merely a parasite of weakness. His attitude had been built upon the difference in their strength. If he discovered that she had lost all ability to resist, would he still sit down and speak with her as he had before?

The possibility was vanishingly small.

Humans were fickle creatures by nature.

Perhaps the only thing she could do was tell him Master's story, so that her name would not vanish from the world.

As for what would become of herself, that was no longer something she had the strength to worry about.