“Sixteen guards, six by the mairaen patrolling in pairs. Sloppy though, their course looks random at first gnce, but it’s actually patterned and therefore predictable.” Wei Feng decred, the sea breeze blowing off the mountainous cliffs causing his hair to ruffle around his handsome face. The air smelt of salt and ozone, and Daiyu was once more reminded of how she preferred her own home, deep in the mountains of Shaanxi Provihere are mountains here, yes, but the sea encroaches on them unpleasantly…

  As her attention wandered, Brother Wei frowned. “Daiyu-er, are you troubled?” He asked, the other Cultivators they had gathered for this important task looking equally nervous, as she was the trump card in their assassination attempt here. Troubled? Me? No, I just have a portentous feeling, as if something is going to happe food or ill… Looking up at the moon overhead, she forced her features to her usual mask of beautiful, calm stillness.

  “It is fine. I was just… just extending my senses. Carefully of course.” With her Foundation realm, she was most suitable for deteg the Qi of other Cultivators without beied, so it was irely a lie. With o g the moon, she exteendrils of Qi outwards, the invisible threads spreading out like ahereal spiderweb.

  “I feel three.” She said at st, puzzled. “That seems at odds with the information we had gathered.” The favoured Chosen of the Heavens that we have uncovered at great risk, he should not be so unguarded. The information that we extracted from the disciple of g Gui, that vile traitor, advised that there would be at least five, from the Unquenchable Sun, and the Emerald Lotus sects, the two Great Sects that had betrayed the Cultivators of a and sided with the Party.

  “Surely that is to our advantage. We brought eight to ensure we could overpower their five, and we should surely be superior in skill, should we not?” A woman said arrogantly, her twin sister beside her eg those ses, nodding her head, short brown hair framing attractive features, though the cast of her dark eyes was harsh. “My sister speaks true! When fortune offers favours, only a fool dees out of cowardice.”

  “Now, don’t be so rude to Beautiful Daiyu’er, Min’er.” Brother Wei interjected, causing the two sisters to pout, irritated, and Daiyu wished she could show sunoyance herself, but as she was in charge of this delicate operation, she was allowed no such luxuries. “I too am suspicious of such good fortune. Whe buns fall from Heaven, only a fool eats them without cheg for poison.”

  “Perhaps when we disposed of that treaember of the Unquenchable Sun they ged up their defences? But why weaken them?” One of the Cultivators from her ow said, scratg at his head, puzzled. “Uhey have an art or teique to mask their Qi from even our Daiyu’er, and are lying in wait somewhere. But how would they even know when we po strike?”

  “There’s no traitors here.” The other twin sister snapped. “If there has been a leak, it hasn’t e from the Mountain Fa, look to your own!”

  “Peace, Mei’er.” Brother Weng interceded again, and Daiyu was finding her patieh the two sisters slipping. They are both Bde Cultivators, well known for being hot-tempered. Still, they do raise a good point.

  “None of my people would betray us and leak information. My Honoured Patriarch would surely dispose of them, but not until they had suffered eorments, as befits a traitor.” The breeze off the sea up the mountain roared, snatg at her words and fluttering the deep bck dress she wore in lieu of her usual white gowns, the materials made from anti-ballistic fibres, a teology that was an affront to the of Cultivation. Divination, Formations, Refining, Smithing, Talismans and Taming. Though I suppose one could argue that it could t as smithing, though no Qi or arts has goo the crafting… “If there is a leak, it must have e from Golden Starfall, after all, did not Tang Bai assist us in luring out and capturing that swine? Even so, what merits would it have for him or his seo… it is either ce, or…” she looked up at the moon again, biting her lip in a rare dispy of nerves. Some of the members of her sect held in their surprise, to see the fearless, intimidating Ever Beautiful Bck Jade so animate. “.. well, if you do not trust ce, as I do not, then it is either the Dao showing us the way to strike, or something else uo us has happened.” g’e, Goddess of the Moon, why do you watch us so? And what will you see? Our victory, or…

  “So, do we turn tail and run, missing our ce?” Mei’er demanded, and her sister Min’er echoed her, the long, heavy curved Bde she carried shining dully in the moonlight. “We o cut the head of this chi, to show the monkeys of this CCP that we have no iion of being bullied! Our sect may not be of the new Six Great Sects, but our founder was still from Kunlun!”

  “Enough.” Daiyu said, her tone harsh. “Keep calm, or you are no use to us. My honoured Patriarch has decreed this Heaven-blessed who knows too much must die. But we shall leave no evide was us. After all, Qi ot stop steel, even now.” Not without… no, I must not think of that.

  “Yes, we o stick to the pn, but remain vigint.” Brother Wei agreed. “So, Daiyu’er, your sect brothers and sisters will take the guards patrolling in pairs and those at the gates to the mansion. Silent and deadly. Bodies go over the cliffs into the water. We leave no traces. The four of us who have the best bat skills will infiltrate, kill any enemy Cultivators or Heaven-chosen we enter, then make sure that the worm who sold us all to the gover meets a just end.”

  “Then the mansion shall be destroyed in fire. I want o dis what happened here. If however, the target is not here, or it is a trap… well, you all have the pills, I believe?”

  “That we o resort to such methods is a great shame on us all. I would rather die drowning in the o, but… yes, we ot leave proof behind that damns our sects. That bitch from the Emerald Lotus would certainly see us destroyed if she had evidence she could use.” Mei’er cried.

  “Enough then. We all know what we must do, and what is at stake. Begin!” Daiyu anded, with o g the moon. Food or for ill, the eyes of the enemy must be blinded. Father, pray for your daughter. Perhaps the Gods will listen…

  *********

  “How did you get in… argh!” the soldier cried out, head bisected from his neck by a single ssh from Mei’er, her heavy, thick bde cutting through flesh and bone like butter. A sed fell to a ssh from her sister, and Brother Wei had his sword out, Qi glittering around the edge of the bde. One soldier raised the on they carried, an automatic rifle, a vile and crude on, that robbed one of the o horength, to improve, to Cultivate. It was worthless in the faithed steel wreathed in Qi wielded by a Sword Cultivator though, aal and pstic were severed, before the severed arms and head of the soldier hit the ground, blood spraying.

  Sword Cultivation is effective, I must cede. But I abhor the inelegance of it. The st two soldiers were bag off, one reag for some sort of unication device, a phone or a radio. Dodging the spreading droplets of blood that were spshing as the sisters and Brother Wei did their grizzly work, Daiyu trated, unleashing two lethal palm strikes. The first guard staggered, Qi forced into their body detonating within his meridians, instantly rendering him unscious and dying, while the sed was stru the throat, and with her training and newfound strength, even a slender girl like Daiyu could crush a throat and snap a neck with ease, flesh and bone giving under her fist.

  Not the first I’ve killed, but it never feels good. Especially not when they are merely hired soldiers, doing their duty. Still, mercy is a luxury for the strong, and right now our position is one of weakness. “None of the Cultivators have noticed us yet.” Daiyu frowned as she extended her sensing Qi. “That seems… odd. Still, it will only be moments before they react. Your sword Qi was very… noticeable. I must gratute you oeique, by the way. Is it a lost art?” She said as they raced for the stairs, asding rapidly. As they did so a blearily blinking face peered dowhe ba them, an older woman in a ightgown, her face bare of makeup.

  “Intru…” she began, eyes going wide in arm, before a pair of thin throwing bdes took her in the eye and throat. Her body jerked and spasmed, hand scrambling at the sharp edges, cutting her fio the bone, before she was beheaded by a swing of Brother Wei’s sword as he crested the stairs. The headless body fell, and Daiyu caught it, the spray of blood soaking her hands.

  Disgusting. She fought the urge to wipe off the blood as she lowered the body to the grouly. The twins were looking proud at their first strikes, rows of throwing ons visible is over their dresses. Well, they did act fast. She was a Cultivator, though only Qi Refining, not even at the peak.

  “Yes, now I have mao master the art of projeg interh Qi into other objects, though due to my Dao, it only seems to work with swords.” He grinned. “Being blessed by the Heavens and the Dao is a great opportunity for us, ohat these dogs are determio snatch from us, like curs snatg a bloody bone from our ptes.”

  “Less talk, more speed.” Daiyu cut him off, her sensing Qi pig up the remaining two Cultivators, though they seemed… dull, barely scious. This is disturbing indeed. Still, we must succeed!

  The polished wooden door to the master bedroom was locked, so Daiyu merely kicked at it, her slender leg extending from the hem of her bck dress, smming the door violently, the lock shattering and the hinges breaking. As the door fell inwards one of the Cultivators staggered weakly towards her, and she paid him no mind, leaping forwards and hitting him with multiple lightning-fast palm strikes in the soft style, iing torrents of her Qi to lethal effect. Brother Wei was i, the sed enemy dying under his sword with barely a struggle.

  “What is going on here?” He said, puzzled, Qi flig the blood from his bde, another show of how his Cultivation had advanced since he was chosen by the Heavens. “I’m not sensing any life from the… by the Dao!” He swore, shocked, and Daiyu boo, blood draining from her face. He matches the description of the target, but… There was a man in bed, older, perhaps in his te twenties or early thirties, somewhat ht, but still with sharp, patri features. Yet now those features were twisted into an expression of terror, mouth locked open in a soundless roar, eyes staring and dead. A fly buzzed slowly, drifting zily from the open eye, and Daiyu felt the urge to gag. There were others in bed with him too, a pair of young female Cultivators, who were also dead, it seemed, simirly tortured. One had vomited copious amounts of blood, and had suffered numerous blooms of bruises aions internally, her skin bck with damage. The other was twisted as though her spine had shattered, and her legs were distorted and deformed, the muscles having knotted cruelly. She had bled too, her eyes crusted with blood and filth.

  “He’s… already dead?” She pulled down the sheet he was ed in, the silk stained with blood, vomit and other fluids, careful not to touch the filth. Their target was ruioo, and he had several rge clusters of internal bleeding around his lower body, another tred on the heart.

  “We should go. I don’t like this. It smells of a decoy, or worse.” Brother Wei reading his own Qi, trying to sense dahough as he had still not breached Foundation realm, his perception paled pared to Daiyu’s. “I suggest we just burn down this pce. Let nothing of what happened here be known.”

  “I agree.” Mei’er agreed, and her sister chimed in her approval too.

  “Start preparing the alchemical fmes.” Daiyu decred. “I o be sure…” she pced her hand on the forehead of the deceased man, feeling bruising starting to form underh her touch. Qi flowed from her, iigating the corpse, and she was immediately struck with the absence of life. There was a little Qi remaining, but far too little for a body that was only just starting to cool ih.

  Behihe twins were spshing around the sickly-smelling, aromatic liquid from several fsks. It was a modern co, though from the old recipes a few things had been added, meaning it would be harder to extinguish and would burn even if doused in water or starved of air, at least for a short time. “You o hurry. We have to meet up with the others and make our escape soon. He’s dead, we succeeded.” Brother Wei said urgently. “It is too much of a risk to…”

  “Be quiet. I am trating.” Daiyu waved him to silence, ed and irritated. Such delicate Qi manipution was hard even at the borders of High Foundation realm, and required immense focus and tight Qi trol. I feel the residues. Yes, he was not a Cultivator, there’s no refined Qi anywhere, but some crude Earth Qi that has been pulled in through an alterhod. He was definitely a Heaven’s Chosen, but… even ih, there should be more lingering traces… the flow of Qi passed down to the entry point of the body, the meridians often called the roots of the spiritual form. No, that’s… nht, not at all. Fmes were starting to flicker as the first sparks were lit, the alchemical fluids slow to burn, but unstoppable ohe fgration was established, and the light cast grim shadows over her face as she sidered the possibilities. His… it seems like everything spiritual has been torn from him, leaving only a damaged, dead husk. Her gaze went to the two beside him, the dead Cultivators. Them too I suspect…

  “e on.” Brother Wei took her arm, as the fmes started to burn, brilliant in red, e and yellow, tongues of blue and white starting to creep into the fires as drapery and wooden furniture ignited, filling the room with oppressive heat. “Dead is dead. I doubt very much he knows of any a e teiques, or could evehem to work if he did! We’ve won!”

  Daiyu nodded. With o regretful look back at the bodies, the edges of the bed starting to burn, she turo the door. The twi through it first, bdes in hand, and she followed them, Brother Wei in the rear.

  “So, do you think some other sect got to them first? I’d imagihere would be no she of others who wish the eyes of this Department for Managing of Divine Mysteries blinded, even if for reve their ows being discovered.”

  Daiyu shook her head as they desded the stairs, passing by the headless body from earlier. “No, this was not the work of a Cultivator. A Heaven’s Chosen perhaps, or something worse. It was as if their very souls had been devoured. There was a dark Qi lingering too, perhaps why the other Cultivators were so…” before she could finish her thoughts, she tensed. She had beeending her Qi instinctively, searg for danger, and now multiple signals were shining in her inner vision. Worse, sounds of gunfire and explosions could be heard…

  “Shit, is that enemies?” Brother Wei decred, sword ready, and Daiyu agreed. “Four Cultivators. Three Peak Qi Refining, one is Lower Foundation.” She grimaced. “And worse… I ot sehe Qi of most of the members of my sect.”

  The door to the mansion burst inwards, and stepping over the bodies were a pair of robed Cultivators, one man, and one woman, as well as a dozen Ministry soldiers, equipped with modern armoured bodysuits and holding top-of-the-range assault rifles, as well as grenade unchers and more. On seeing each other, the groups froze, but it was the newers that spoke first, the girl saluting in Cultivator fashion, fist over her heart. “Well, isn’t this a surprise? When the life-signal in our lusty little Vice-Minister went out a few ho, we raced over. To think it would be the famous Zhao Daiyu, the Bck Jade that is Ever Beautiful. One of our own.” She shook her head, sadly, and at the colour of her dress, which was a vivid, luxurious green, Daiyu already had suspis as to who sent her.

  “Life-signal? I thought Life-dles were a lost art, uo fun since Kunlureated?” Brother Wei said, buying them a moment to think, but the woman in green merely snorted derisorily.

  “This is the modern world, a fact that most of you sects have failed to grasp. Teology. He simply had a smart-watch reying his heartbeat to us.” she scoffed. “I get why ygrieved, Cultivators just love secrecy. But that is why we are weak! The old ways are dead, we he best of both the old and the new. You are too te anyway. Our poor dead Vice-Minister had already used his gift to identify most of the Chosen in a. A few might escape us for now, but they’ll be brought into the fold or killed iime, should they prove relut.”

  “Who are you?” Daiyu asked, assessing the situation. Four versus fourteen were bad odds, even if they had twice the Cultivators. The only blessing was In these close quarters, the firepower of the soldiers would be limited, and three of them were on Cultivators, specialised in close brutality. “And why…”

  “Well, I wouldn’t expect such a prodigy as you to know me, miss Bck Jade.” She smirked. “I am Sun Lisha, of the Emerald Lotus sect. Since I only retly made Foundation realm, I am far from a famous prodigy like you. But I digress. My sister Lihua agrees with you. She thinks these modern tools make us weak. But Cultivators should grasp power wherever they , right? You uand, miss Bck Jade. Not all of us are a blessed as you, so we must take help where we .” She shook her head sadly. “To think you’d have murdered the Vice-Minister. We were going to use him to ferret out all the other Chosen worldwide ahem see serving a is the only real choiow we ’t. Have you no patriotism, no love for anything but your sed your own power?”

  “We didn’t kill him.” Daiyu sniffed, looking around for a way out. “He was dead whe here.”

  “A likely story. Even if I believed you, then why are you here in force, when no-one is supposed to know about this lonely clifftop mansion? And with suumbers too. Your sect fought well, but in the end, they died. One of them gave me a nasty shock too.” She giggled, gesturing down to the burned hem of her robes. “Well, that doesn’t matter. Your sect is over now. I guess we will see just how incorruptible your jade is, Zhao Daiyu!”

  Bdes fshed out then and several soldiers died, pierced by the sharp darts in vital spots. Brother Wei leapt forwards, and his Qi-ed bde cleaved another, before the male Cultivator moved to block him, a heavy iron rod his on of choice. Metal met metal with a ringing ch, Qi dang in the air. More bdes flew, dropping several more soldiers, before the survivors began to fire back, their discipline holding even in the face of suddeh.

  Qi ot stop steel yet. Though perhaps… she thought of the moon once more. Numerous impacts shocked her, her bare arms being sliced open by trailing bullets, her dress blog other hits, though her speed, already surpassing those who cked the will to Cultivate, had been boosted by her blessing from Heaven and the Dao. She did not like to use such, as power that was not her oower she could not trol, but even so… I must not fail here, else the sect will be targeted!

  “’t you fools do anything right?” The man shouted, pushed back by Brother Wei. He suddenly swelled, muscles bulging grotesquely, and his blows increased in power, his metal rod pushing Brother Wei back.

  “e now.” Sun Lisha smiled, meeting Daiyu in a flurry of blows, her own style relying on poisoned bdes that were ed around her knuckles, as well as using her Qi to rejetrusions. “We are up against some tough oppos. Bde cultivators, huh?” she smiled at the twins, who had cut down most of the soldiers. “We should have waited outside.”

  “Regret your folly in your reination!” Daiyu decred, finally nding several blows. Her cheek stung, poison already seeping in, but she forced Qi to the site to ralise it as best she could, stimuting her natural healing. Sun Lisha staggered backwards and out into the open air, followed by her male panion, who despite his sudden massive strength, cked skill, and one arm went flying, Brother Wei slig through it with his sword, bone and all severed.

  “I’m not sure what sect yht these on Cultivators from, but we’ll find out when you are captured!” Sun Lisha grinned, despite the pain of fn Qi from Daiyu’s blows that was seeping into her. “But that means we only need you alive!”

  Miaggered, blood blossoming. Then a mighty roar souhe bullet from the distant sniper having exceeded sound. Her sister howled out a cry of pain and fury, rushing towards her, but Min’er waved her away as a sed and a third bullet pierced her torso, the wounds clearly fatal, even for a tough on Cultivator.

  “Sister!” Mei’er howled, her bde cutting dow of the soldiers, and she threw her small bdes at the one-armed man and Sun Lisha, though they both evaded.

  “I’m done…” Min’er coughed, blood streaming from her mouth, as well as soaking her legs and the clifftop beh her. Bright fmes from the bzing mansion were reflected in her dark eyes as she made a decision. “No honour, you have no…” she fumbled a bloody hand and was swallowing something. The eyes of Sun Lisha widened as she leapt backwards. More bullets were ing in, and Daiyu felt a siing impa her shoulder, the fabric stopping the bullet from peing, but the forough to crack her colrbone and gouge a crater in her flesh. Even so, she ook her eyes off Sun Lisha, knowing she had to die, no matter the cost.

  “Farewell, sister!” Min’er had swallowed, and all those who could feel Qi recoiled as the treasured pill, a rare, precious legacy of Kunlued withiriggering a wild cascade of Qi energies, raising her body temperature explosively, creating human bustion. Qi Fme Cascade Pills. Father gave me these to ensure we would never be taken alive, and any evidence of us would die with us. Even so… Sun Lisha knows me!

  Even ih, the fming Min’er leapt, her legs carbonising and shattering below her. She flew at the one-armed man, and even as bullets pierced her disiing body, she distracted him enough that Brother Wei was able to use his most secret skill, Puppet Sword. Strings of Qi held his bde at a distance, and such a feat was only possible now that he had grown stronger after his blessing, and it was still a mere shadow of the arts of old. Even so, ara metre of reach was enough to send his bde scything through the neck of his distracted oppo, and the man died, choking on his own blood, before the weight of his head tore it free.

  “Well, this didn’t go to pn, did it?” More sniper rounds rang out as Sun Lisha hopped backwards. “We’ve suffered far too many losses trying to capture you alive. I am in for quite the scolding. Perhaps they’ll dock my allotment of pay and spiritual resources for this.” She smiled. Daiyu had taken a sed hit, and some of her ribs were broken, and her dress was torn. “That one should have killed you though.” She noted. “You have grown strong, miss Bck Jade. A shame. Why couldn’t you and your sect just be happy with what you had? Is it such a hardship, sharing your talents with the Ministry, for the good of the try, no, the world?” She raised a fist and the bullets stopped, which was timely, as Brother Wei was barely able to stand, a bullet having bsted through his thigh, only his Sword Cultivator training and Qi restrig the pain and blood loss keeping him upright, and Mei’er was wracked with grief, her eyes dead to all but rage and revenge.

  “Are you all so selfish that you would drink from this blessing aloil you were full, denying others even a drop? Already, several of us have reached the Third Circle, as the Ministry calls it. Far better we have fewer, stronger Chosen, tha everyone serve only themselves. It leads to this. Four chosen dead, plus how many Cultivators? A waste.” She shook her head, and several armoured vehicles drove up, heavy mae guns poi Daiyu and the others. “So, you might as well surrender. Your sects will be saned, but if you agree to be bound by one of our Chosen who has a suitable divine mahen you live and pay for your sins against the Party, a and the World!” She gestured to the mansion, which was now fully abze, the heat scorg their skins in the cool night.

  I see. Divine mandate. Yes, this power has e from the Heavens, but I do not trust it. Power I ot dominate is power worthless to me. But right now… I will grasp at any sword, evehout a hilt, ohat cuts me deep, so long as I survive this. g’e, give me your strength!

  “Die, murderous bitch!” Mei’er cried, rushing forwards, bde in hand, and Brother Wei threw his sword, pierg Sun Lisha in the shoulder. He thereated, hobbling desperately on his ruined leg, calling out for Daiyu to run.

  “Fine. Damn, that hurts.” Sun Lisha cried. “They chose death. A shame…”

  You run, they don’t know your sect, though I do. Still, there is reat for… Sounding like a buzzsaw, the mae guns opened up. Mei’er was down, both legs sawn off by the bsts, and before she could fumble for her pill, Sun Lisha was there, poisonous blows striking her arm, numbing her.

  So fast, unstoppable. And I am slowing from that poison too. Even my Qi ot fully ralise it. Even with her boosted kiic vision and speed she was helpless, the numerous small calibre rounds battering her, shredding through her armoured dress. Qi and the power of g’e held her body together, but even so, she was losing blood too fast, her Qi almost entirely depleted. If it wasn’t for the blessing I would be dead already. She stumbled, knees hitting the grouo the edge of the cliffs, the waves crashing on the jagged rocks below sounding almost soothing, as if to lull her into the world peacefully. Her mouth tasted iron and bile, and she tried to turn her head to see if at least Brother Wei could escape, but everything hurt too much.

  “Oh well. Your corpse is proof enough, I suppose.” Sun Lisha said, having yanked out the sword, looking pale from her own blood-loss. “Or you have o try at killing me, I know you want to. But my fellow Cultivators are back from killing the rats from your sect.” she gestured to the two robed men, apanied by more soldiers and armoured vehicles, ing across the clifftop.

  It’s over then? Her hao her dress, where her pill remained. Going out in a bze of fming Qi erhaps a better fate than this, her life draining away. g’e was supposed to be immortal, having stolen the elixir of immortality from her first husband… well, it seems she chose poorly in me. For here is where my jade shatters. Incorruptible? Hardly. For a moment thehoughts strayed to Jang Huifen, the poor businesswoman who had no clue of the world she was thrust into. She had proved surprisingly good pany, and mercifully she would not be implicated by this disaster. If she tio support the Ministry, our defeat will not touch her. With a bright, bloody smile, she coughed, messily scattering a rain of red.

  “Well, down on your knees. How the haughty have fallen. My sister should take note. Qi ot stop steel, right?”

  “Fuck off.” Daiyu spat ahet, most unlike her. “I stopped plenty of it.” Her hand moved towards her pill, and Sun Lisha paused, unwilling to be burned along with her. She raised a hand to signal another barrage, but Daiyu merely leaned backwards, her body tumbling off the cliffs towards the inly blue water below. Jagged rocks passed by her fading vision, and then there was an impact, and she was sinking, the night skies above fading away, only the shining moo in her eyes…

  ShipTeaser