An intense stream of qi flowed from the center of the formation to Qin Yueshan, rejuvenating her and supplying her with substantial vitality.

  She gave Tianjue a cold smile.

  Instantly, the flying swords that had been holding back Liu Mingchen became far more active. They flared with spiritual light and dove towards Mingchen.

  The three moved like water, twisting and weaving like Yueshan’s tendrils had earlier. They targeted Mingchen from different directions. One swept from below, he boosted higher to avoid it. Another chopped down from above. Mingchen conjured a reflective shield to block the blow.

  Another sword lurked in the shadows, awaiting the perfect time to strike.

  Suddenly, it flashed forward, thrusting toward his heart.

  It missed, but still pierced his elbow. Mingchen cried out in pain.

  Yueshan transmitted instructions to the Wen Family. ‘Yuanfeng, stay at the formation node. Make it difficult for anyone to leave the barrier. Lingling, deal with Mingchen.’

  Tianjue watched all of this with a fiery gaze, his jaw clenched and his nostrils flaring.

  Wen Family dogs! He cursed inwardly.

  Tianjue glanced below at the numerous Wen Family cultivators supplying the formation. They were frightened and panicked, frantically attempting to create something that resembled order.

  He didn’t know what caused the Wen Family to betray him, but he was certain that many of the family members didn’t know either.

  They still live in Xia Prefecture, betraying my Liu Family is truly courting death!

  After dodging an attack from Qin Yueshan, Tianjue cleared his throat and prepared to project his voice.

  His voice enveloped the compound.

  “Members of the Wen Family, your Ancestors have been bewitched and betrayed my Liu Family. Our vengeance will be swift and decisive.”

  He paused, letting the words linger.

  “If you value the lives of yourself or your children, do not contribute to the formation. Those who remain righteous will be rewarded, those who disobey shall die ten thousand deaths!”

  The effect was immediate.

  A woman at a southern formation node stumbled backward, her trembling hands leaving the stone. “I—I have children, I can’t—”

  A young man beside her followed, his face pale. “The elders have clearly fallen under a spell! This is their fight, not ours!”

  One by one, cultivators began to peel away from their positions at the formation. Some ran towards the family quarters, scooping up crying children. Others simply stood frozen, caught between their fear of the Liu Family and their loyalty to their ancestors.

  Below Wen Yuanfeng’s formation node, a number of clan elders fell to their knees.

  “Please, Family Head,” a woman pleaded. “We’ve always been loyal. But the Liu Family—they’ll slaughter us all. Please think of the little ones!”

  The old Wen Peng’s face creased with sorrow. The pleading faces didn’t go unnoticed. Nor did the children being carried away, or the formation lights that flickered off.

  A century of building a Family from nothing… a lifetime of working tirelessly for my descendants…

  As long as Yuanfeng and Lingling can survive, the Family will have hope for tomorrow.

  His hands remained steady as he guided the formation. He took one last glance below.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

  The formation’s qi flow began to stutter. Gaps appeared in the barrier.

  Liu Mingchen was attempting to flee.

  “Hold him off!” Yueshan yelled at Wen Lingling.

  Qin Yueshan felt the power feeding her techniques begin to thin, but her expression remained calm.

  A water tendril shot toward the first woman who had left her node. It wrapped around her throat.

  The woman’s face tilted higher and higher until she was staring face up. Then beyond.

  Her skull arched toward her upper back.

  Crack.

  Blood sprayed on the cultivator next to her, who stared in horror at the stump of bone that perched where her head had just stood.

  He met the same fate seconds later.

  A few others were still running, but the tendrils found them all.

  The compound erupted into screaming. Those who had hesitated now threw themselves back at their nodes, pouring qi into the formation as their hands shook.

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  Wen Lingling’s sword faltered as she watched her family die.

  “Elder Yueshan—” she faltered.

  Qin Yueshan shook her head. “They were betraying your family. Don’t worry, Jingquan will protect the rest.”

  She gave Lingling a reaffirming smile before refocusing on Tianjue.

  She felt the formation regain its strength—not to its peak, but better than it had been moments before.

  This should be fine.

  Tianjue was impressed by Qin Yueshan’s decisiveness. Still, he was pleased that his words had weakened the formation somewhat.

  He took a deep breath, and let his awareness sink down into his dantian.

  A dull metallic clang reverberated through the air as the space before Tianjue rippled.

  Light blew out from Tianjue’s chest in slow lines, gathering before taking their form: a dark bronze cauldron!

  It began to rotate before him. Each rotation produced a hum that warmed the air. Each rotation quickened.

  Liu Mingchen, who was engaged in combat with Wen Lingling, let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the magic artifact.

  The Embermark Cauldron… It’s a good thing his father didn’t let him come empty-handed.

  ….

  As the battle raged overhead, Yuming finally regained his composure, rising from the bushes near the Wen compound’s boundary wall.

  His cultivation was too high for his earlier fall to seriously injure him, but it did leave him dazed for a few minutes.

  Coming to his senses, he immediately assessed the surrounding chaos.

  The Wen Family… what a shame.

  The image of a little boy appeared in his mind.

  Changyi, I hope he’s alright.

  He shook his head and moved forward. Almost immediately, he caught the attention of four cultivators wearing Wen Family robes.

  Three of them moved with the deliberate stride of Meridian Unblocking cultivators, their qi circulating steadily.

  The man in front carried a spear with a dark shaft. To his left stood a broad-shouldered woman with iron-backed gloves and two daggers. Behind them, a younger girl stood with a saber, gripping it incorrectly.

  The fourth was barely worth noticing. A Marrow Tempering boy, small, trailing behind the others with a knife that dangled from his left hand.

  The four noticed Yuming’s crimson robes.

  The spear wielder whispered to the others. “There’s a Liu cultivator, alone.”

  The gloved woman shook her head. "Leave it, it’s not worth the risk."

  The sabered girl nodded her head.

  The man gripped his spear. “We have to prove our loyalty to the Immortal Master! Otherwise—otherwise…”

  The four thought back to the tendrils that had descended minutes earlier, their chests tightening. After a moment of silence, they agreed to engage.

  Yuming glanced up at Qin Yueshan, who was closest to him.

  She doesn’t want me dying, right? Why hasn’t she made a move?

  He looked at the ill-equipped and trembling boy in front of him.

  She doesn’t think I’ll lose.

  The four Wen cultivators spread out into a loose arc. The spearman anchored the center, the knife-wielder drifted right, while the saber girl hung back on the left.

  The Marrow Tempering boy circled wide, unsure of his role in the battle.

  “Talismans!” The spearman yelled.

  Three pairs of hands reached into robes at once in a rehearsed gesture. Paper strips sailed through the air, sending volleys of fire, wind, and pure qi.

  But Yuming had already activated his Mirror-Current steps to move out of the way.

  His opponents were clearly a patched together bunch. The spearman needing to shout ‘Talismans!’ proved it. Yuming reacted before their strikes could even launch.

  And judging by their remorseful expressions, they likely didn’t have many more talismans with them.

  The spearman adjusted quickly, already sending a thrust towards Yuming.

  He was faster than Yuming anticipated. The spear’s tip targeted the hip. Yuming sidestepped and the man rotated the shaft and swept the butt of the spear upwards.

  Mirror-Current allowed Yuming to decipher the rhythm before the blow landed. He let a third thrust slide past his ribs and advanced into the arc.

  CLANG

  A sharp sword cry rang out from above; Wen Lingling’s sword had been perfectly deflected by Liu Mingchen’s mirror. Lingling stumbled back in the air, clearly exhausted. Tianjue gave Mingchen a sharp look, and Mingchen pursued.

  Not good. Yuming thought to himself.

  But he didn’t have the luxury of watching the battle.

  The dagger wielding woman closed from the right, both of her blades low, and slashed the air. Tiny shards of qi sprayed from the arc of each cut, extending the reach of her daggers by nearly a foot.

  Yuming reacted in time, but a shallow cut opened across his forearm.

  The spearman followed her lead, cycling his qi and allowing Earth Qi to condense at his spear’s tip. He slammed the spear into the ground.

  Earth rippled outward from the impact point. When it neared Yuming’s feet it surged upwards, crude fingers of soil clawed at his ankles in an attempt to bind him.

  But Yuming was already airborne. A qi-reinforced step carried him up and to the right. The earth fingers crumbled a moment later.

  But the dagger wielder had timed her approach to the spearman’s strike. She came in fast and prepared to strike, expecting Yuming to be rooted to the ground.

  When he wasn’t, she hastily adjusted the arc of her blade. Yuming let Mirror-Current steps read the correction. Her adjustment was rushed, and her shift in momentum left her trailing arm dangling behind her leg.

  Two Thread-Needles darted from his fingertips and settled within her left shoulder.

  She hissed through her teeth, her dagger dipping and her qi circulation stuttering. She slowed down but didn't stop, retreating three steps and forming a guard with her blades.

  Stubborn, Yuming sighed. He used the brief pause to observe the battle above. Qin Yueshan appeared to have the upper hand, but Tianjue had a cauldron that bright sparks poured out of.

  Qin Yueshan looked wary.

  Yuming’s attention returned to his own battle. The five fell into a rhythm—the spearman would strike, the dagger woman would pounce. Yuming would dodge their attacks and pierce them with a few needles.

  Yuming needed to find an opening to end the battle.

  He glanced at the saber-wielding girl and the Marrow Tempering boy.

  From the start, they had been herding him. Neither had tried to land a real blow—at most, they’d dart in, feint an attack, and retreat before Yuming could respond.

  They weren’t there to fight, they were there to act as walls. Their goal was to funnel him back into the space between the spearman’s binding and the dagger woman’s arcs.

  It had worked to some extent—the dagger woman had managed to scratch Yuming. More importantly, Yuming hadn’t yet found an opportunity to land any decisive blows.

  Yuming circulated his qi, receiving the current of the battle and holding onto the information. Eventually, he noticed a flaw.

  It was the boy. Every time the spearman’s earth technique rippled outward, the boy flinched back to keep his own feet clear.

  When he flinched, the saber girl drifted to cover him, pulling herself too close to the dagger woman’s arc. But she left a slight gap.

  Yuming waited for the spear to hit the ground again.

  Moments later, it did. The earth flinched and the boy seized.

  Yuming was through the gap before anyone could adjust. Two needles buried themselves in the boy’s throat. The boy gurgled for a moment, before becoming surprisingly calm.

  He closed his eyes and slumped down, never to get back up.

  Yuming felt sorry. But he couldn’t be bothered to ask the boy his name.

  The saber girl swung desperately. Yuming stepped around her, planted a needle below her elbow, and drove his palm across her jaw.

  She folded. Only two left.

  The dagger woman gripped her blades in rage, her face turning red.

  BOOM

  The three remaining combatants were interrupted by an Earth-shattering explosion. Tianjue’s cauldron had overflown toward Qin Yueshan, sending her tumbling.

  Wen Peng and Wen Yuanfeng quickly sent her stabilizing qi.

  Tianjue might win. Yuming decided.

  He took another look at the spearman and dagger woman in front of him.

  It might not be time to end this battle.