Chen Wuya pressed his palm tightly against the wooden sword's hilt. Golden light flowed upstream from the cracks in the ground, pouring through his meridians and into every limb and bone. The true qi within him surged like a river running backward; the paths that had once followed established order collapsed entirely, yet amid that chaotic torrent, an invisible force quietly filled in every gap. All three thousand six hundred meridians lit up one by one. Each defied the common sense of martial arts, yet together they formed a perfect whole.
Tuoba Lie had not yet withdrawn his blade when a second arc of saber qi cleaved down through the air, aimed straight for the heart of the stone platform. Blood Without Trace brought his palms together again, and the crimson vortex in midair spun wildly. Dozens of enhanced blood corpses, their joints blue-gray, stepped out of the mist. Their footsteps were heavy, yet they moved swift as the wind.
Chen Wuya let out a low shout. "Misaligned Meridian Reversal!"
Instead of retreating, he advanced. His wooden sword swept out, its trajectory so crooked it was nearly absurd, yet he used the flat of the blade to meet the saber qi. Golden light wound around the sword. In an instant, it warped the path through space, deflecting that fierce saber qi several inches and sending it recoiling toward Tuoba Lie's shoulder. The latter hastily twisted aside, but a corner of his armor was shorn away. His expression changed sharply.
At the same time, Chen Wuya took a step forward, sending shattered stones flying beneath his feet. He used no known movement technique, yet his figure appeared eerily behind Blood Without Trace. His palm struck toward the dharma seal at the center of the man's back. Before the palm wind arrived,