STNS: Chapter 370 (Patreon)

Huo Yulie did not understand what was going on. Who was this man? How had he entered the Realm of Sacred Flames when it should have been blocked off to everyone except the winners of the tournament? While she didn’t understand how this had happened, she understood enough.

“If thou wishes to harm Jian Wu, then thou shalt fight me.”

With that declaration, Huo Yulie released her power; chi flooded the land, scorching hot and brilliant like crimson flames. The sound of a phoenix’s cry echoed around the chasm. Fires immediately sprang up around her. Heat from the fire created an updraft that caused her shimmering hair, like ardent flames, whipped about her head. So hot were these flames that the ground beneath her feet had turned a molten orange. Her mask had also come undone, fluttering to the ground, where it burnt to a crisp.

The older man whistled.

“Well, ain’t you a beauty. I’d love to go a round or two with you,” Shen Yunhai said with a grin.

Huǒ Pànguó growled at Shen Yunhai. “Do not dare think of it.”

Shen Yunhai chuckled. “Relax, little brat. I know my role here.”

“Huo Yulie is incredibly powerful. Can you defeat her without killing her?”

“It’ll be hard, but it’s not impossible. Still, you’re quite impertinent asking an assassin like myself to defeat someone without killing them.”

“Whatever. Just do it.”

“I don’t have much of a choice. I can’t afford to have the entire Phoenix Clan after my head.”

Shen Yunhai slid his feet along the ground, ignoring the bubbling of molten lava under his feet like it wasn’t even there. Huo Yulie felt sweat trickle down her scalp, not from the heat, but from the bloodlust she felt emanating from her opponent. She could tell. This man’s ascent to the Seeker Realm had been an odyssey wrought in blood and betrayal.

“Thou art a follower of the Asura’s Path,” she declared.

Shen Yunhai only looked surprised for a brief moment before he chuckled. “I’m surprised you know what that is.”

“Do not act condescending to me. Mine teacher is none other than Lord Phoenix. He hath taught me much about this world, including how to recognize followers of darkness.”

“Hmph. Should have expected that. He might have taught you how to recognize us, but let’s see if he taught you how to fight us.”

[Serpentine Veil]

Huo Yulie pursed her lips as reality itself appeared to bend to Shen Yunhai’s sinister will. A subtle shimmer like ripples on the surface of a still pond emanate from his form, slowly coalescing into a swirling vortex of darkness that enveloped him. His figure blurred and became fragmented, like smoke dissipating in a gust of wind, and soon, his body became insubstantial, as though he had transformed into an obscure phantom.

No longer able to see him, Huo Yulie did not rely on her eyesight or any of her five senses. Sight, scent, touch, taste, and hearing were all useless. However, while this man could hide his presence, he could not hide his chi--not so long as he stood within these flames created by her will.

“Foolish man! Dost thou think thee can hide from me?!”

[Empyrion Dance]

Numerous fiery strands coalesced from the surrounding flames--dozens of them. She sent them to her left, launching them like whips that sliced the air. Each whip had enough power to leave gashes in the ground. Yet not a single one of them struck her target.

“Just what are you trying to hit?” a voice asked behind her.

How did he--?!

Huo Yulie leapt away from the voice, though she was not fast enough to avoid injury, and pain lanced up her side as something sliced into her torso. She looked down at the gash in her clothes. Blood seeped from a light injury on her side, though it quickly closed up, leaving not even a scar behind.

“Damn, that’s impressive. That might have been a small wound, but my blades are covered in poison.”

Shen Yunhai held up a pair of jagged daggers that oozed dark miasma. Crafted from obsidian-black metal that seemed to drink in the surrounding light, they bore a serpentine motif that wound sinuously along the length of the blades. Hilts wrapped in supple, midnight-hued leather offered an assured grip even in the midst of the most chaotic battles. They were weapons that seeped with the blood of thousands. Huo Yulie couldn’t even guess at how many lives had been claimed by those weapons.

“Poison hath no effect on me,” she stated.

“So I see. Guess it’s that phoenix constitution of yours. Damn. I really want you now.”

[Ephemeral Step]

That’s how he moved into my blindspot without me noticing!

Huo Yulie narrowed her eyes as a presence appeared above her. She leapt back as Shen Yunhai descended, slashing both daggers downward as though to cleave her in half. With but a wave of her hand, she launched flames at him, but he cut those down too, then stepped back and vanished once more.

Shen Yunhai’s combat style was a symphony of shadows and ruthless precision. He was like a phantom, his movements a dance of death, his strikes coming from a veil of invisibility, swift and merciless. Each attack was designed to incapacitate her. He wanted to cripple her. Huo Yulie did what she could to fend off his assault, relying on her extreme talent for manipulating fire to act as both sword and shield.

An attack on her left. Huo Yulie swung her blade. Sparks flew as sword met dagger. Shen Yunhai had only used the dagger in his left hand to keep her sword in place, then drove the one in his right hand straight for her eye. Huo Yulie glared as flames appeared before, creating a thick wall that prevented the blade from sinking in. Once he realized his attack had failed, Shen Yunhai leapt back, then grinned as black chi erupted from his body.

[Asura Doppleganger]

“A cloning technique?!”

Cloning techniques were among the most complex of cultivation techniques. A person created an exact duplicate of themselves by splitting their chi in half, then using one half to produce a physical copy. The clone would not be as strong as the original. However, it did share the origins’s skills and experience.

Shen Yunhai had created six of them.

“Two can play at this game!”

[Phoenix Clone]

Bright red flames erupted from Huo Yulie’s body and split off, shifting like flickering candles. More flames gathered. Then they began taking shape, forming limbs, a head, and a torso. It was not long before six Huo Yulie’s appeared to fight off the Shen Yunhai clones.

“Ha ha ha! So you can use clone techniques too?! What fun!”

The Shen Yunhai clones raced forward and Huo Yulie sent hers to meet them. The clash between the two forces echoed around the chasm. Swords met daggers. Sparks flared to brilliant life before being snuffed out seconds later. One of Huo Yulie’s clones got stabbed through the gut, but another one of her clones removed the head of her opponent. It seemed as though they were evenly matched.

Meanwhile, the real Shen Yunhai battled against Huo Yulie.

[Phoenix Fire Dance]

Huo Yulie’s body burst into vibrant, dancing flames, which followed her movements to create a dazzling and destructive dance. She sent the fire at Shen Yunhai--only to watch as the flames passed through him. She furrowed her brow and kept dancing even as his body vanished like a fading echo and another Shen Yunhai appeared closer. She sent flames at him, but the same thing happened, again and again. Her enemy had closed in before she knew it.

“Hssssss!”

Her robes were cut as the blade passed through her from shoulder to hip. She leapt back, tears in her eyes, as the wound closed up. Even though the wounds healed near instantly, she still felt the pain. Huo Yulie had never been hurt like this before. She was not used to it.

“Awww. Poor little girl. You’ve never been injured before this fight, have you? Well, don’t worry. You’ll get to experience a lot more pain before this is all over,” Shen Yunhai said with a chuckle.

His words irritated Huo Yulie, and so, she decided not to hold anything back.

[Phoenix Domain]

The flames around them became even more intense, hotter, brighter, and filled with the vigors of both life and death, birth and rebirth. A sphere had formed around their battle. Within this sphere, Huo Yulie was all but a reigning monarch. Nothing could escape her notice. She could control flames at will, and she sent them at Shen Yunhai from every conceivable angle.

He blocked him.

His two blades were mere flashes of black light, like moonlight given form. The flames she sent his way were reduced to dying embers. Of course, while he could fend off her fire, he could not fend off the heat. She was increasing the temperature of her domain with every passing second.

Cultivators at the Deva Realm and above were people who had surpassed human limitations. They were accustomed to dealing with the intense energies of cultivation, granting them a higher tolerance for extreme temperatures. However, the Phoenix Domain could still push even a Seeker Realm cultivator to their limits.

Sweat broke out on Shen Yunhai’s skin. His breathing grew ragged. Despite this, he did not appear too adversely affected. The swing of his daggers retained the same crisp, clear power as they had at the beginning of this fight.

“Hah! Not bad. You’re trying to roast me alive like a chicken! I admire your tenacity and planning! But that won’t work on me!”

[Domain of the Asura’s Shadow]

Huo Yulie’s eyes bulged as the world around her was enveloped in darkness, as if the very shadows had come alive to swallow her up. She sent her flames to pierce the darkness yet received nothing in return. The light from her flames struggled to penetrate the darkness of his domain, where shadows danced and writhed of their own accord, and the eerie ambiance created an unsettling sensation within the pit of her stomach.

A sound to her left caused Huo Yulie to spin around and swing her sword. She hit nothing but darkness. Something appeared on her right, just outside of her peripheral vision, and she sent a wave of fire at it. Again, there was nothing. Footsteps echoed behind her. Gritting her teeth, Huo Yulie sent a wave of flames at the sound, but there was no one there.

“You’ll never hit me like that.”

“I’m not there either.”

“Come on. Are you even trying to find me?”

Shen Yunhai’s voice echoed all around her, taunting her. She could not use it to figure out where he was. To make matters worse, attacks came at her from the darkness, blades of black energy, of shadow given form. They struck her body and left trails of blood in their wake. She grimaced and manipulated the flames of her domain, encasing herself in armor that protected her from the attacks. However, such a technique could not last forever, and she knew that.

“ENOUGH!”

[Phoenix Mirage]

Huo Yulie fluttered back as several dozen versions of her appeared. They were all illusions, but they were indistinguishable from the real one.

[Phoenix Ascension]

Her armor melted into her body, which glowed so brightly not even Shen Yunhai’s domain could fend it off. Cracks formed in the domain. One after another, growing larger and spreading, until it looked like a spider had wove a web over the surface. The domain soon shattered. What stood in the center no longer looked human, though it had a humanoid shape. Huo Yulie had transformed into a creature of flames. Her skin looked like molten gold and her eyes were pure white. Red flames trailed from her head like hair wavering in the wind. This was her ultimate technique.

Shen Yunhai stood before her and whistled in admiration.

“Weeeeell now, so you had something like this too? I’m impressed that someone so young can have a technique this powerful.”

Huo Yulie was incapable of talking in this form. Fire did not have a voicebox or lungs. She launched herself at Shen Yunhai without a sound, attacking him with hands shaped like flaming claws, yet her attacks did not hit him. He wove through them like a mirage. When she realized she couldn’t hit him, she sent a wave of flames his way. The wave was so powerful that he could not split it in half, but he was able to divert it by striking with both blades. Spinning around, wings erupted from her back and slammed into Shen Yunhai, who finally showed injury, coughing up blood.

“Damn. You really are strong. Given enough time, I’m sure you’ll surpass me. If it weren't for your spirit crystal, I would have killed you already. Well… straightforward confrontations like this normally aren’t my style anyway.”

Huo Yulie attacked again. She seemed to be pushing Shen Yunhai back. Her attacks came in constantly and he was left with little choice but to deflect them, yet as time passed, it became obvious who had the upperhand.

“You’re almost out of chi. Heh. Now’s my chance.”

[Ephemeral Step]

Just before Huo Yulie could strike him, Shen Yunhai vanished, and Huo Yulie cried out in pain as something stabbed into her left shoulder blade. Her body returned to normal, the flames vanishing, and blood dripped down her skin as Shen Yunhai yanked out the dagger and took a step back.

Tears streaming down her face, Huo Yulie sank to a knee and looked up as her foe appeared before her, smirking.

“You really are quite strong. I actually struggled against you. Take pride in that. Now then, I need to make sure you can’t move so…”

[Crimson Coil]

Huo Yulie felt the tainted chi before she saw the technique. Tendrils of malevolent energy raced up her body and coiled around her, ensaring her, constricting her, and draining her. Her eyes widened as she felt her chi being drained from her body.

“N… no…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll leave enough chi for you to heal, but just sit there for now.” Shen Yunhai turned toward Huǒ Pànguó. “Oi, brat! You about done?”

“Shut up! Let me concentrate!”

Huǒ Pànguó narrowed his eyes as he held out his hand, a tiny sphere of fire hovering over his palm. Though it was small, Huo Yulie could sense how much chi he had put into that, more than enough to shatter her barrier. She screamed at him to stop as he reared his hand back and threw the flaming projectile at her barrier.