Volume One, Chapter Twenty-Six: A Battle for Life

Another mountain peak was shattered by Mu Qing’s body, sent flying out of control. The next instant, an even more violent explosion resounded from the billowing clouds of dust, and a black shadow shot once more towards Quantu.

With a dull thud, Mu Qing was struck by a fist again, sent hurtling into the distant mountainside, deeply embedded. Quantu slowly withdrew his hand, lowering his head to glance at his abdomen, which had just been struck. The black-and-white mist had already repaired the depressed area completely.

How long had it been since he’d faced such a trial? Since following the Grand Shepherd, how many years had passed without a battle so exhilarating? The woman before him, with only the initial cultivation of the Wishful Realm, could unleash power equal to the late stage, even the pinnacle—surely she was a remarkable master in this land, and so young yet.

“Stand up, genius!” Since unlocking the shackles of the black-and-white mist, Quantu seemed to have shed decades, his voice now deep and resonant, but the madness in his tone only growing. “You are my trial, and I am yours! Stand up, stand up! End everything with destruction.”

“All of this, everything, is the will of the Supreme Power!” Ascending the misty steps, Quantu’s hands struck out like dragons, black mist condensing into pillars that crashed into the crater on the mountain, blasting straight through the mountainside and out the other end.

Invisible mist threads were disturbed. With a flick, some of the transparent strands turned black, sharp as knives, chasing a figure fleeing at speed.

After putting some distance between them, Mu Qing stopped, wiping the blood trickling from her nose. She hadn’t expected the black-and-white mist shrouding her opponent to be so vexing—impenetrable, more stubborn than a tortoise shell. Moreover, many of the invisible threads she’d used to sense the enemy’s position were disguised black mist; a single misstep would allow him to close in, causing her endless trouble.

Since being tainted by black fire, Mu Qing had never fought anyone like this. She’d never underestimated any opponent at the pinnacle of the Wishful Realm, for each was worthy of challenging the third awakening. She had sensed keenly that this adversary was somehow not at his best—perhaps wounded, or using an unfamiliar method to battle her.

With the lightest touch, Mu Qing dodged another black mist spear. Several black spears hovered around Quantu, black mist streaming from his fingertips as he forged new ones. Some of the spears were faintly inscribed with misty runes.

Not giving Mu Qing a moment to breathe, seven or eight black mist spears locked onto her shifting form, then vanished from Quantu’s side in unison.

A powerful sense of peril hammered Mu Qing’s nerves. She smashed a fist into the ground, her body rebounding into the air, twisting at the waist to narrowly dodge the volley of black spears. Landing, she immediately sprang forward again as the spears impaled the rock beside her landing point, piercing through the mountain’s side dozens of meters below. Quantu gave a low hum of surprise. The previous volley had been a feint, yet his second wave had already locked onto her timing and landing point, and still she had dodged.

Volley after volley, the forest of spears around Quantu thinned, and he finally realized the trick Mu Qing was using to evade his targeting. He’d been predicting her movements by watching her legs, hips, and shoulders, but failed to notice her body was full of feints—forward, back, left, right, even in midair she moved like a ghost, her misdirections constantly throwing off his aim.

When the final black spear shot out, barely missing Mu Qing again, Quantu stopped forging new ones, instead fixing his gaze on Mu Qing, who stood amid the ruined, pockmarked mountain. The mountainside, riddled like a honeycomb, began to collapse beneath her. Mu Qing tapped her toes, preparing to leap to another spot.

One hand stretched out, palm down, fingers splayed. The other covered the back of her hand, fingers interlaced tightly.

“Devour, black mist,” Quantu intoned. Both hands pressed down, his body crouched low, as if flipping some hidden switch. From every crevice of the collapsing mountain, black mist surged forth like a monstrous maw, engulfing Mu Qing before she could escape. Obscure runes flickered within the roiling mist.

“Condense, black mist.” As he spoke, white mist closed around Quantu, cocooning him completely in a white shell. Even he needed to defend against the aftershocks.

The black mist, spanning dozens of meters, contracted instantly. A black bead, no larger than a fist, appeared beneath Mu Qing, who had just emerged. Runes shimmered rapidly within.

Mu Qing had no time to dodge before darkness flooded her vision and swallowed her whole.

“Detonate, black mist.” A muffled sound echoed from within the white cocoon. The explosion’s darkness spread faster than the shockwave itself. The mountain’s summit was plunged into night, then, with Mu Qing and the black bead as its center, a tide of pressure and noise blasted outward, ravaging the mountains. Two peaks were blown apart at the waist, and nearby ridges crumbled in the aftershock. The deafening roar echoed through the depths of the Qin Emperor Range, sending distant birds and beasts fleeing once more.

When the blackness cleared, a figure tumbled from the sky amid the rain of shattered stone.

Still within the blast’s reach, the white mist cocoon hung in the air, untouched by rock or soil. Suddenly, a small hole opened at its surface, and a solid black spear emerged slowly.

“Pierce, black mist.” Even before the words faded, the spear vanished into the cocoon.

Mu Qing, in free fall, seemed to sense something—she barely moved before an irresistible force flung her away. The black spear never appeared, yet a bloody hole gaped at her side.

The white cocoon dissolved into thick mist, coiling back around Quantu. With a flick of his fingers, the mist churned, and the black spear was retrieved.

In the sky, Mu Qing’s shoulder was torn open by another gaping wound. Dragged by the black spear, her body plummeted weakly toward Quantu.

Hmph, still playing tricks. Quantu’s fingers danced, and black mist threads materialized, ensnaring Mu Qing midair. He knew she hadn’t lost all fighting strength; his two “piercing spears” had aimed for her vitals, but she’d twisted away at the last moment.

Mu Qing was in a miserable state. Having taken a black mist explosion at point-blank range, her limbs were blasted to a pulp despite curling up defensively, white bone exposed in places. Blood poured from the two gaping wounds at her shoulder and side. The razor-sharp black threads added countless new cuts, blood dripping down their length.

Quantu gazed at the woman, her body wracked with blood and coughing, and the madness faded from his eyes.

It seemed the Supreme Power’s trial had reached its end. He should return to the valley and check whether the twin lotus had bloomed. This battle had drained him greatly; unleashing the black-and-white mist alone was a heavy burden. He formed another black spear aimed at Mu Qing’s head, runes flickering along its shaft. After a brief pause, he conjured a second spear, pointing it at her heart. He was ready to finish the fight.

“Why so cautious? Getting a little closer won’t kill you,” a hoarse, exasperated voice suddenly rang out. Mu Qing, who a moment before hung limp and bloodied, suddenly exploded into motion, crushing a hidden pill between her teeth, forcing her wounds closed and staunching even the gaping ones at her shoulder and side. She tore free from the mist threads, reaching for the two oncoming spears. She meant to shatter them and charge forward, but both spears detonated in succession, sending her flying once more.

“Well, I risked half my life to close the distance, and now you’ve pulled away again. How am I supposed to fight like this?” Mu Qing landed lightly, tearing her ruined combat jacket into strips and, ignoring Quantu’s astonishment, began to bind her wounds.

“Trial, you may be even crazier than I am,” Quantu drew a deep breath to center himself. What astonished him now was not only her extraordinary power and tenacity, but her will and her confidence. Any misstep in her desperate gambit would have killed her outright. Dangling over the abyss, she’d gambled everything just for a chance to get close—she was as pure and mad as he.

“From here on, I’ll fight even more seriously.” The black mist gathered around Quantu, though with less force than before. In Mu Qing’s view, the mass of black mist had already shrunk by nearly a third.

“Shapeshifting, explosion, rapid fire… and there were runes flickering in those explosions.” Mu Qing quickly organized the intelligence she’d gained. This opponent was fiendishly hard to deal with—she’d paid dearly to deplete only a portion of his black mist, not to mention the white mist still streaming over his body. Her life-saving “Great Dragon Tiger Pill” was used up. If anything else went wrong, she might really die young.

Stretching her shoulders and elbows, Mu Qing saw the bleeding had stopped. Except for the two through-wounds healing slowly, the flesh on her arms was knitting together rapidly. The powerful medicine within her was being consumed at a furious rate to regenerate tissue.

From a distance, Quantu saw Mu Qing moving so freely, blood no longer seeping from her wounds, and seemed to realize something. He asked, “A sacred healing elixir, or a self-healing ability?”

Mu Qing only smiled, “Guess.”

“You’re a cockroach that just won’t die… cough, cough…” Quantu suddenly doubled over in a fit of coughing, the mist around him roiling violently.

Unleashing the black-and-white mist to regain peak strength had already taxed his body. If he couldn’t finish the battle soon and return for the twin lotus, he feared he wouldn’t last much longer.

Purple blood trickled down from the edge of his black-and-white mask. Quantu finally stilled his wrenching cough and stood upright again. This trial had delayed him long enough. The mist spirits on the wastelands near the Qin Emperor Range could barely hold back the growing armies. He needed to end this quickly.

Watching Quantu cough blood, Mu Qing’s mind whirled. She recalled the elemental spirit she’d seen earlier, apparently a healing treasure, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief. She spoke again, “Call it off. You’re wounded; you can’t beat me, and I can’t get close to you. If we keep fighting, we’ll both be destroyed. Why not—”

“No Cultist of Catastrophe flees from a trial under the Supreme Power’s gaze,” Quantu suddenly interrupted, raising a hand to remove his black-and-white mask.

“All encounters are arranged by the Supreme Power. All killing is sanctioned by the Supreme Power. All destruction is permitted by the Supreme Power.” His resolute features grew ever more devout as he chanted, blood and filth spilling from his lips.

Seeing Quantu’s gesture, Mu Qing’s smile vanished. She pressed her lips together, ruthlessly squeezing the last of the pill’s power to heal her body, for she knew:

When a Catastrophe Cultist removes his mask and reveals his true face to the world,

The world is about to witness true madness.