Clang!
The attack was blocked in an instant.
Wang Gu struck the weapon aside with his blade, forcing it downward. The crimson shard pierced into the ground, embedding itself just inches from Lian's heels.
"Are you okay?" Wang Gu asked, standing back-to-back with him.
"Yeah," Lian replied, eyes still locked forward.
"But what's going on? I thought the whole point was to separate them."
"That was the plan," Wang Gu said grimly.
"But for some reason, she disengaged mid-fight and came straight for you. If I hadn't followed, he would've taken your head."
A soft laugh drifted through the clearing.
"Zha Fune, I received your message. Is it true what you said?"
Mai Fune stepped out from the shadows, a crimson butterfly resting delicately on her finger.
She lifted her hand.
The butterfly floated forward, drifting lazily through the air before melting the instant it touched Zha Fune's body, its essence sinking into him like blood returning to a vein.
Zha Fune exhaled slowly.
"So, you're saying this brat possesses some form of karmic energy?" Mai Fune said, tilting her head slightly, her smile widening.
"Interesting… but it seems he's the only one capable of using it. The other boy hasn't shown even a trace of such power; were you hiding it?"
Her gaze sharpened as it locked onto Wang GU.
"What is this Karmic power they are talking about?" Wang Gu spoke using the whisper frequency.
"I just something I picked up while cultivating it corrodes their Qi, it uses natural Qi against them," he said, taking out his blade.
"So, what do you think, Brother Zha?" she continued lightly.
"Should we use it?"
"Before they escape and go running around, blabbering to their sects?"
As she spoke, her fingers began forming hand seals, one after another—smooth, practised, and far too fast.
The air around her thickened.
Zha Fune grinned, blood slowly crawling out from his body as it seeped to the ground.
"Heh," he said.
"Yeah… let's end this properly."
They interlocked their fingers, forming the final seal.
"Blood Art—Secret Technique: Blood Dorm."
Both voices spoke in perfect unison.
In an instant, everything vanished.
Complete darkness swallowed them as a blood-red barrier expanded outward, sealing the entire area. The air thickened, heavy and suffocating. What followed was laughter—low, distorted, and echoing from every direction at once.
"Watch out!" Lian barked, shoving Wang Gu aside.
A sharp spear of blood tore through the darkness, barely grazing Wang Gu as it stretched from the ground where he had been standing.
"How do you like it?" Mai Fune's voice drifted through the void.
"This is the Blood Demon Art used by the First Blood Demon himself. Even with your karmic energy, there's nothing you can do against us now."
She struck from behind.
Both boys reacted instantly, twisting around and barely managing to block her blood-forged blade with their swords.
But the moment their focus shifted—
Boom!
Zha Fune charged from the front, his fists slamming into both of them with devastating force.
The impact launched them backwards. Their bodies smashed into the blood barrier before crashing down onto the platform below.
"Damn it…" Lian thought as he forced himself upright.
"That attack—"
His eyes flicked down briefly.
"If not for the armour Brother Yung gave me, that surprise strike would've damaged me greatly."
He barely had time to recover before another piercing attack shot toward him. Lian pivoted, intercepting Mai Fune's strike just in time.
Across from him, Wang Gu was already engaging Zha Fune—only for the man's body to suddenly melt into blood and vanish mid-charge.
"Lian!" Wang Gu shouted, bracing himself.
"We need to get out of here—can't you tell? Our Qi is being suppressed!"
"Yeah," Lian replied through clenched teeth, launching strike after strike at Mai Fune.
"I'm working on it."
"Celestial Blade—First Form!"
Lian roared.
His sword stretched, light erupting along its edge, and in a single clean arc, he severed Mai Fune's head.
The head struck the ground with a heavy thud.
"Yes—I got her!" Lian exclaimed,
But his triumph froze.
The severed head melted into blood, dissolving into the floor, and so did the body.
A breath later, Mai Fune reformed behind him.
Her fingers shot forward.
Rip.
They pierced straight through his shoulder.
"Mmm…" she murmured, withdrawing her hand and licking the blood from her fingers.
"Delicious."
"Mmmmm, uuuuwu, you got some really nice blood there." She smiled and revished, holding her face like a deranged person, experiencing ecstasy.
"I need more."
"Tsk… she got me, I let down my guard again." Lian thought, staggering back.
"But what's this? It doesn't feel like they have physical bodies anymore."
His eyes sharpened, swinging his sword through the air in a slicing motion.
"It's like their bodies have become blood itself—intangible and tangible at the same time. And what's more, I can feel my senses growing weaker… as my Qi gets drained."
He clenched his jaw.
"The longer this fight drags on, the worse it gets for us."
Lian unleashed a flurry of slashes.
Each strike connected.
Each one melted.
Every time Mai Fune was cut down, another version of her emerged from the blood and attacked again.
It didn't stop.
They blocked, clashed, and moved at blinding speed. Attacks landed. Bodies were destroyed, again and again—but neither sibling truly died.
"Lian," Wang Gu's voice suddenly rang out, calm but grave.
"Can you keep secrets?"
The question caught Lian off guard.
"What use would I have going around blabbering about other people's business?" he snapped without looking back.
"Hehehe…" Wang Gu chuckled.
"I knew you'd say that."
His tone shifted.
"I'm going to do something risky. It'll leave me vulnerable for a while—I need you to guard me."
Lian glanced over just in time to see Wang Gu sheathe his sword.
"Whatever happens from now on, make sure that those two don't get away from here alive, or a war might befall Jiangsu.
Wang Gu raised two fingers and pressed them firmly against his chest.
"First Seal… Open—"
The words echoed through the blood-drenched darkness.