Chapter Eighty-Nine: Who Wins and Who Loses (A Long-Awaited Fight)

When Yinsu rose into the air, the woods would hinder her movements. Guxin Yu naturally understood that Yinsu excelled at aerial combat, but that did not mean he feared her.

Stepping on the treetops, Guxin Yu climbed upward all the way, rising into the air with Yinsu.

The gale howled. The phoenix behind Yinsu beat its wings, its speed growing ever swifter; even the currents of the air were forcibly altered by her, and gust after gust lashed fiercely at Guxin Yu.

With Tiger Roar gripped tightly in his right hand, Guxin Yu held it horizontally before him, blocking most of the wind. He was defending and not attacking.

Looking at the brother who had once lived and died beside him, the person opposite him had, whether in the past or just now, always been someone he had never wished to hurt. Yet it was she who had repeatedly driven him to raise his hand against her.

A silent duel, without a single word.

The stillness was eerie and terrifying, and the repeated clash of weapons proclaimed the resolve of their masters.

Guxin Yu suddenly surged forward and in an instant came before Yinsu. He raised Tiger Roar, closed his eyes, then opened them again, and with a swift motion brought the blade down, slashing straight at her.

Such a resolute Guxin Yu left Yinsu momentarily dazed, but she still reacted in the final instant. The wings of the phoenix shadow merged into her back and flapped rapidly as she retreated at top speed.

Seeing the phoenix shadow vanish and a pair of wings appear behind Yinsu, Guxin Yu’s gaze darkened and shifted uneasily: she was already merging with that power, wasn’t she?

The phantom tiger body shook and roared at Yinsu as Guxin Yu carried Tiger Roar and gave chase. As Yinsu backed away with fluttering wings, she sent out image after image of feathers. Guxin Yu did not dodge; instead, he used Tiger Roar to split the feather-built wall of defense apart little by little.

Seeing the distance between herself and Guxin Yu, Yinsu abruptly stopped retreating and shot upward. As her wings beat, a small vortex formed around her. She was gathering a tornado.

Of course, Guxin Yu would not give her that chance. Holding Tiger Roar with both hands, he lifted it over his head and hacked down at the vortex before Yinsu.

A fine crack instantly appeared in the vortex, but under Yinsu’s effort it restored itself the very next second.

Guxin Yu did not give up. Again and again he struck at the vortex.

As the裂缝 widened, Yinsu’s movements quickened as well. Leaves broke free uncontrollably from the branches, and the wind that cut across their faces hurt like a blade. Guxin Yu did not care.

Her wings never stopping behind her, Yinsu’s hands moved with seeming randomness. The leaves that were about to fall to the ground all froze in the air. Then Yinsu shaped her hands like claws and seized fiercely downward. The leaves immediately surged upward. Feeling the fullness in her grasp, Yinsu looked at Guxin Yu and smiled faintly.

She swept both hands forward, and the leaves seemed suddenly endowed with life, flying straight toward Guxin Yu. In the previous instant they had looked soft and harmless; in this instant they were hard as blades.

Seeing the incoming leaves, Guxin Yu did not meet them head-on. He turned slowly in the air, murmuring something under his breath. Tiger Roar slipped free of his hands and hovered before him in midair, right at eye level. Behind him, the phantom form gradually faded, finally turning into specks of light that flowed into his body.

Guxin Yu was merging with his power as well.

A tiger’s shadow appeared on Tiger Roar, coiling around the hilt and roaring at the oncoming leaves. Tiger Roar moved in the air while Guxin Yu closed his eyes, sensing it, controlling its motion with his will.

No one could see how Tiger Roar moved. They only saw a silver flash before their eyes, and the leaves had already been cut in half, slowly falling away.

Looking at the leaves she had infused with spiritual power, now all scattered to the ground, Yinsu merely glanced at them without much reaction. They had only been meant to delay Guxin Yu. What mattered was the increasingly distinct tornado before her.

Opening his eyes, Guxin Yu no longer had those tightly interlaced leaves before him. He turned his gaze back to Yinsu. The tornado was almost done gathering strength; he could no longer stop it. He could only concentrate his spiritual power and resolve it the instant it fully formed. That was when it would be at its weakest.

Tiger Roar stood upright before Guxin Yu, motionless, shrouded in a pale yellow haze of spiritual power. At that moment, Guxin Yu once again closed his eyes. Beside him appeared an earth-yellow protective barrier, allowing him to remain temporarily shielded from attack.

At the same time, Yinsu closed her eyes too, no longer watching Guxin Yu’s movements. In her right hand she held the long sword Feather Blade, and her entire body was wrapped in a milky-white mist.

No one knew how long had passed. The trees in the forest had been slowly uprooted, all floating in midair. People around the woods had already been drawn by the disturbance, only to find two figures standing above the forest with their eyes tightly shut. They dared not approach; no one valued their life so little.

Far away in the imperial palace, Ji Muyu had long since sensed the strangeness in the air. He stepped outside and looked toward the direction of Cloud Feather Pavilion, and sure enough, he saw a tornado slowly taking shape there, with two figures suspended in the air.

He seemed unable to believe it. Ji Muyu widened his eyes, and when he saw clearly who was standing opposite Yinsu, he suddenly felt that he had been deceived.

How could it be Guxin Yu? Had he not gone into seclusion? How could he possibly force his way out of it? And even if he had sensed the unrest outside and broken out of seclusion, how could he still possess such formidable strength to contend with Yinsu? Unless—unless he had never gone into seclusion at all.

If Guxin Yu had never been in seclusion, then that could only mean he had been fooled. Was it Yinsu? Impossible. Then there was only one possibility: they had foreseen all of this long ago, or rather, this had been part of their plan from the very beginning.

A fierce light flared in Ji Muyu’s eyes. He was enraged. There was no helping it—just thinking that this was nothing but one of Silver Jade’s chained schemes made his fury boil. Had he been played like a monkey by Silver Jade all this time?

Inside Cloud Feather Pavilion, as the black-clad men brought by Yinsu were about to begin a slaughter, a troop emerged behind them. Their bodies gleamed with a coppery sheen; they were the Copper Shadow Guards. At the captain’s command, the Copper Shadow Guards moved.

At once, screams rose and fell in Cloud Feather Pavilion.

Meanwhile, following Guxin Yu’s orders, the Silver Shadow Guards went to the Hall of Intelligence and escorted the intelligence personnel away from the scene. They were not people skilled in combat.

Outside, the black-clad men facing Yinsu, the captain of the Silver Shadow Guards bowed his head to his brothers. In an instant, the twenty-four Silver Shadow Guards split into two teams of twelve. One team engaged the black-clad men; the other hurriedly led the Hall of Intelligence personnel away.

That night was destined to be extraordinary, destined to be far from peaceful.

Within the Leaving Shadow Sect, Liyue and Yinrou led their men and watched the black-clad intruders attempting to slip into the sect, exchanging a knowing smile.

“Kill!”

Before the black-clad men could react, they discovered that the sect gates had opened and a group of people in dark blue garments had surged out, weapons in hand. Without a word, they clashed at once, and anyone who failed to react in time had their heads taken in an instant.

The Leaving Shadow Sect was destined to have its gates stained with blood.

Nearby, the night seemed tranquil, yet Liyue and Yinrou, looking toward the two figures in midair, both sensed danger. The force of their power collision would surely harm many innocents.

After glancing at the situation within the sect, Liyue and Yinrou left the Leaving Shadow Sect together and rushed at top speed to the ruined woods outside Cloud Feather Pavilion. They exchanged a glance and hurried toward the common people, telling them to leave at once.

By the time the civilians had reached a safe area, Liyue looked up at Guxin Yu and Yinsu and felt a chill in his heart. Yinrou felt the same. Then she sharply spotted more than twenty Silver Shadow Guards fleeing from one side.

With the figures of the Copper and Silver Shadow Guards flashing through their minds, they looked again at Yinsu, hoping it would still be in time.

“Liyue, let’s go!”

As soon as she spoke, the two of them shot toward Cloud Feather Pavilion like arrows loosed from a bow. They both understood that the Copper and Silver Shadow Guards could never escape the shockwave after the collision of those powers.

There was only one way: the two of them had to arrive in time beside them and join forces to forge a protective wall. Only then could they withstand the aftershock.

Trees flew toward the tornado, and everything around it was gradually torn from its original place and drawn inward. That was the tornado’s suction.

“Ah!”

Yinsu threw her head back and cried out, and the phoenix shadow appeared once more, likewise lifting its head and crying skyward.

At the very same moment, Guxin Yu opened his eyes: “Roar!”

The shadow of the white tiger reappeared, roaring at the location of the phoenix shadow.

A duel between two powers—someone seemed already unable to endure it.

The wings stopped beating, and the tornado spun ever more wildly.

Tiger Roar gradually shed the pale yellow spiritual energy that had been surrounding it and trembled slightly.

The tornado began to move from its place, rotating.

Tiger Roar returned to Guxin Yu’s hand, while his own hands were suffused with earth-yellow spiritual power.

Bang.

The enlarged shadow of Tiger Roar slashed into the very center of the tornado. Its spinning slowed. The massive shadow of Tiger Roar gradually vanished, scattering into specks of starlight. The tornado disappeared, and Yinsu staggered backward before steadying herself. She spat out a mouthful of bright red blood, one hand pressed to her chest as she bent at the waist and looked toward Guxin Yu across from her.

He was not much better. Guxin Yu also spat out blood violently, a vivid red “snake” coiling at the corner of his mouth. Once he had steadied himself, he looked at Yinsu and smiled faintly.

The aftershock soon reached Cloud Feather Pavilion. Liyue and Yinrou both exerted their power at once, and an invisible wall of protection was erected by the two of them. The Copper and Silver Shadow Guards who had rushed over all circulated the power within their bodies, placing their hands on Liyue’s shoulders and pouring their strength into him. The aftershock slammed directly into the protective wall.

The wall shattered; the aftershock vanished.

Liyue and Yinrou supported one another, and a trace of red blood slowly seeped from the corners of their mouths. The Copper and Silver Shadow Guards were no better. Each of them was exhausted, and they had just handed over the last of their remaining internal energy to Liyue. Now they could only lean on one another and barely manage to walk.

Yinsu drew out a smile toward Guxin Yu. This time, she had not lost, had she?

Ji Muyu’s figure appeared before Guxin Yu, and he helped Yinsu leave the battlefield. So swift was he that one might have thought he had never appeared at all—if only Yinsu’s figure had not already vanished.

Guxin Yu turned around, and his body trembled. He closed his eyes, and his body fell from midair.

Liyue rushed over at the fastest speed and caught Guxin Yu’s body.

Sensing that there was no longer a gaze from behind upon him, Yinsu closed her eyes and allowed Ji Muyu to take her away. She no longer had any strength to spare.

Yinsu left, and Cloud Feather Pavilion suffered a severe blow. The Leaving Shadow Sect also incurred no small loss, though in Silver Jade’s plan this had already been the most conservative outcome.

From here on, no one had enough strength left to continue playing. They could only wait for the three-month pact.

After such a long interval, Meili was once again writing a battle scene. It has been a little exciting to write, and I hope it turned out all right.