Kaslana's Way of Survival

But it looked more like a weakened version.

"Whoa!"

Kaino yanked hard on the reins in the horse's mouth, hurriedly bringing the carriage to a stop. Li Sushang reacted as well, grabbed the Xuanyuan Sword, and jumped down from the carriage first. Kaino immediately followed her down.

"He used Tai Xu Sword Qi just now, and I think I met him when I was little."

Seeing the man dismount and walk toward them, Li Sushang hurriedly explained in a low voice.

"There was only one man among the Seven Disciples of Tai Xu. He must be Master's junior brother—my Sixth Martial Uncle, Bai Li Zhu Ju, Ma Fei Ma."

"Are the relationships between you masters, uncles, and disciples always this weird? You greet each other with a sword strike the moment you meet?"

Kaino grinned.

"I don't know. In the ten years I studied the Tai Xu Sword under Master, she never met any other members of the Tai Xu Sect besides my mother... Even my mother only met her once, when she brought me to her."

Kaino silently labeled Li Sushang's master a shut-in.

"Still, my Sixth Martial Uncle is quite famous. It's just not exactly a good reputation."

Seeing that Ma Fei Ma had stopped not far from them without speaking, Li Sushang continued in a low voice:

"Martial Uncle Ma loves challenging people to fights. He has challenged practically everyone in the martial world. Because of that, he has countless enemies and barely any friends."

"Yeah, I can tell."

Kaino replied quietly as he carefully studied the man before him.

The man looked powerfully built, with a full beard and rather messy hair. It was obvious he did not usually care much about grooming himself.

But the most striking thing about him was the broad scar on his face. It began at his forehead, passed between his left eye and the bridge of his nose, and vanished beside the left corner of his mouth. It was clearly a wound that had nearly killed him.

Yet that was far from the only scar on his face. His eyelids, cheeks, forehead... countless tiny scars densely covered nearly his entire face.

"Maybe he just has a bad temper, but it's unlikely he'd slash at our carriage for no reason. And he's been staring at both our Xuanyuan Swords. He probably doesn't mean us well."

With that, Kaino patted Li Sushang on the shoulder and stepped behind her.

"Good luck."

"Hey?! You..."

"Heh, are you two really going to keep talking forever?"

The man suddenly spoke, interrupting their exchange. He then ignored Li Sushang and fixed his gaze directly on Kaino.

"Boy, even if you spoke more quietly, I shouldn't have been unable to hear you... What trick did you use?"

"It wasn't me. I didn't do anything. I don't know anything."

Kaino shrugged and denied everything.

Since this man was Li Sushang's martial uncle and a disciple of the Red Sparrow Immortal, he was surely no weakling. Kaino had no desire to clash with him.

They had no grudge against each other, and Kaino did not want to make enemies for no reason.

"Heh, coward."

Ma Fei Ma snorted disdainfully, then shifted his gaze to Li Sushang.

As Li Sushang grew uncomfortable under his stare, she suddenly felt someone pat her shoulder.

"What does 'coward' mean?"

"It's an insult."

Kaino nodded.

Now they had a grudge.

"Little girl, your master is Ling Shuang, isn't she?"

Ma Fei Ma looked at Li Sushang and grinned.

"What's it to you?"

Though she had probably met him as a child, Li Sushang had no intention of showing courtesy to this martial uncle who clearly seemed hostile.

"Heh, looks like it. And judging by your appearance, you're most likely Su Yi's child. That makes me your martial uncle. You may have forgotten, but I saw you when you were little."

"But first, I have a question for you."

Ma Fei Ma spoke as if to himself, then narrowed his eyes as his gaze flickered between the Xuanyuan Swords in their hands.

"The Red Sparrow Immortal gave each of her seven disciples seven Xuanyuan Swords, one for each of them. That means there should only be seven Xuanyuan Swords in the world."

"Other than Seventh Junior Sister, who already had a child and might have given her Xuanyuan Sword to her child... that would be you, the other senior and junior sisters would never hand over their Xuanyuan Swords."

"And Fifth Senior Sister's Xuanyuan Sword should have been destroyed, so she no longer has one. In that case..."

At this point, Ma Fei Ma's gaze settled completely on the Xuanyuan Sword in Kaino's hand.

"Where did this boy's Xuanyuan Sword come from? Don't try to fool me. There isn't even a trace of martial training on you."

"I picked it up by the roadside."

Kaino answered immediately.

Neither Ma Fei Ma, who had asked the question, nor Li Sushang, who had been making excuses for Kaino, had expected him to answer like that. Both froze for a moment.

"Ha, haha! Good!"

Ma Fei Ma suddenly burst into laughter, and at the same time, a wave of killing intent bore down on Kaino.

Li Sushang's expression stiffened. "What are you trying to do?"

"Heh, little girl, I'm going to have a fight with this Raiken Ghost. If you want to catch up with me, wait until we're done fighting."

Although he was speaking to Li Sushang, Ma Fei Ma's gaze never left Kaino.

"You can't fight him."

Li Sushang frowned and shifted slightly, completely shielding Kaino behind her. "He saved my life."

"Then I'll kill him too." With Li Sushang blocking his view, Ma Fei Ma could only stare at her. At the same time, all the killing intent that had originally been directed solely at Kaino now fell upon Li Sushang alone.

Li Sushang could not help but feel a chill run through her body, yet she remained in front of Kaino, her gaze resolute.

"Can you?"

Kaino lowered his head and whispered into Li Sushang's ear, "Want me to take a cheap shot?"

"No... I'll deal with him myself," Li Sushang replied in the same low voice. "No matter what, he's still my martial uncle. He probably won't try to kill me, but it's different for you."

"Although I don't know why he wants to kill you... do you remember what I told you? Using formless qi to transform into a tangible sword is the mark of having mastered the Spirit Essence of Tai Xu Sword Qi."

"If we really fight him, we can't beat him."

Kaino's expression became somewhat strange.

He was not sure whether he had misunderstood the Tai Xu Sword God a little, or whether Li Sushang had misunderstood the invisible sword in Ma Fei Ma's hand.

"You mean that empty hand of his? If I'm not mistaken, that's just a sword that can turn invisible... Is it possible that it's the Intent Essence you were talking about?"

"Huh?"

Li Sushang froze.

"You intend to stand up for him?"

On the other side, having understood Li Sushang's intentions, Ma Fei Ma narrowed his eyes.

"Your master taught you this, didn't he? We of the Tai Xu Lineage, when we encounter those who have gone mad from cultivation, kill without mercy, regardless of the reason."

"But now, not only are you refusing to kill him, you're even trying to protect him?"

At those words, Li Sushang turned back to look at Kaino. Kaino shook his head.

"He hasn't gone mad from cultivation."

"Heh. Such a massive amount of True Qi should properly circulate through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, yet he lets it run wild throughout his body instead. If he hasn't gone mad yet, it's only a matter of time."

"And do you think you're protecting him? He might even be stronger than you... Enough. Since you insist on protecting him, we'll fight first."

"Fine, then let's fight first!"

Li Sushang nodded.

Now that she knew the truth about the emptiness in his hand, her confidence had greatly increased. Though she still did not think she could win, she should not lose too miserably.

After all, her Sword Heart had already reached the Mirror Realm. Above that was the Tai Xu Realm, and in the present day, only her grandmaster Chi Yuan and her master had attained it. Li Sushang was confident that, in terms of Sword Heart, she would not be inferior to him. In fact, considering that he was a man, she might even have the upper hand.

As for the other Essences, Li Sushang was confident that she would not be much weaker than him either. The only one she did not know, Intent Essence, had already had its true nature revealed by the Raiken man. There was no reason for her to lose too badly.

Perhaps this battle might even allow her to master Intent Essence.

Thus, Li Sushang held Xuanyuan and assumed her opening stance: Activate Sword Form: Rift Sky.

"Then I'll be coming to kill you."

Ma Fei Ma, standing opposite her, grinned slightly and charged forward in an instant with the invisible greatsword in his hand.

Li Sushang was immediately sent flying backward and crashed into Kaino's arms behind her.

Kaino:?

This time, Kaino had not been trying to play the timely savior. Li Sushang had truly seemed so confident, and he ultimately did not know much about Tai Xu Sword Qi, so he had thought she could genuinely exchange a few moves with the other man, perhaps even win.

And this was the result?

Last time, when she fought Old Eagle, she had underestimated him and piled a whole bunch of debuffs on herself. But what about this time?

Speechless as he was, Kaino more or less understood why Li Sushang had been defeated so miserably.

Although he could not see clearly from behind Li Sushang, the breeze on the battlefield was his eyes, so he knew exactly what had happened in that instant.

That Ma Fei Ma standing opposite them, the man who called himself Li Sushang's martial uncle, had shown no regard whatsoever for their relationship in that strike. He had come straight at her with the intent to kill Li Sushang.

If Li Sushang had not truly been superior in her cultivation of Tai Xu Sword Qi, hurriedly changing her stance to block that sword, then...

Kaino would probably have drawn Heavenly Fire.

Letting out a light breath, Kaino quickly placed the Heavenly Fire hidden in his hand into Imaginary Space, then closed the small Imaginary Gate that had been opened behind Ma Fei Ma. He immediately began checking Li Sushang's injuries.

Since she had blocked that sword, no new wound had opened on Li Sushang's body, so Kaino did not need to recreate another set of clothes.

But Ma Fei Ma's blow had been so powerful that it directly shattered who knew how many of Li Sushang's bones, perhaps even injuring quite a few of her internal organs. Blood now spilled continuously from her mouth.

"Don't move. I'll treat your injuries."

Kaino reached out and pressed a hand toward Li Sushang's forehead, but she caught his hand with hers.

"Don't, cough cough—"

Li Sushang spat out a mouthful of blood, then said with a pained expression, "Don't heal me. Save your True Qi. I won't die anytime soon."

"He... he truly came here intending to kill you. There clearly aren't any signs of you suffering a cultivation deviation... cough cough!"

"Xuanyuan Sword... My mother told me that no one from the Tai Xu Sect would ever complain about having one more Xuanyuan Sword. After all, it's a supreme treasure passed down by immortals. He must have set his sights on your Xuanyuan."

"I'm sorry. If I hadn't kept pestering you to..."

Li Sushang clenched her teeth, tears welling in her eyes.

"Alright, alright. No need to make it sound like a final farewell. I've been through far more dangerous situations than this. Fighting him is nothing."

Forcibly pressing his hand down, Kaino circulated Life Force and immediately began treating Li Sushang's injuries.

Kaino was not someone who failed to appreciate kindness. Li Sushang had been severely injured protecting him, so naturally, he did not want her to keep dragging herself along in that state.

Being able to endure it and wanting to endure it were two different things. Kaino had suffered serious injuries before, so of course he knew how awful they felt. Besides, his Honkai energy would be fully restored soon enough.

At the same time, Kaino had not been lying. He truly was confident he could defeat the man opposite him. After all, he had so many trump cards, while the other party...

Based on Kaino's earlier observations, the man's strength surpassed that of the vast majority of A-rank Valkyries. As for whether he had reached S-rank, Kaino did not think so.

Kaino had never seen how his mother, known as the strongest S-rank Valkyrie, fought, but he had seen Big Auntie and his father fight, both of whom possessed S-rank strength.

And conveniently, in Kaino's view, Ma Fei Ma's strength could not compare to either of them.

Even if neither side used weapons.

Sirin, with six Authorities, could suppress all of Schicksal's S-rank combatants. So by a rough conversion, he, who also possessed six Authorities, could suppress Ma Fei Ma. Nothing wrong with that, right?

A perfectly reasonable equation.