CHAPTER 45: BATTLE INSTINCT

Yu Tian took out his sword.

"This group should be manageable. Just remember what I told you and don’t overdo it," he said.

She nodded.

"I’ll also be helping out in the background," he added.

"What? No. It’s too dangerous," she said.

"Don’t worry, I have my ways," he said. "I won’t be attacking openly. I’ll just hide in the background and strike whenever I notice someone let their guard down. Don’t expect much help though," he said, intentionally adding the last part so she wouldn’t worry.

"Alright then," she said.

She then jumped away from their position and appeared before the gathered group.

"You finally decided to show yourself. I was thinking of a way to smoke you out - looks like I won’t need to," Su Jiang said. He then held his chin. "Where’s your boyfriend though? Did you leave him alone somewhere? Poor guy," he said, trying to gauge her reaction.

Xueling didn’t respond, just gathered qi on her sword.

"Nothing huh. Well, no matter," he thought, also gathering qi on his sword. "Don’t let her get away this time," he shouted to his men, and they instantly charged at her.

As they closed in, she closed her eyes, concentrating on her qi circulation. She remembered Yu Tian’s words. She needed to preserve her energy for what was to come. This meant that she needed to avoid abilities that consumed massive amounts of energy like her Snow Phantom Manifestation.

But even without using those abilities, she could easily crush these weaklings. Her pure swordsmanship had been refined almost to perfection thanks to Yu Tian’s teaching. With just this, she didn’t even need techniques.

She thought to herself that she wasn’t getting instructions about the fight from Yu Tian this time, but she didn’t need them. These were weaker enemies - all her training would be for naught if she needed help to fight this.

Through her spiritual sea, she saw the path. She focused on this path. She thought to herself that even if she wasn’t getting help, she saw it... Her eyes opened and she made her move.

The three men who had been first in the charge instantly had their heads roll. She looked at her sword. "Battle instinct?" she wondered.

She had tried to imitate Yu Tian’s way of predicting attacks and had managed to see a path of attack. Elders took decades to be able to activate it, but thanks to seeing something superior firsthand, she was able to grasp it much quicker.

It wasn’t as perfect compared to Yu Tian’s, but it was still something.

"This can also be considered a form of training," she thought with a smile. If she could master this and be able to keep it up consistently, then she wouldn’t be such a burden anymore.

Su Jiang gritted his teeth. This ability was definitely beyond his first layer Core Formation.

To think that she was hiding so deeply. With such monstrous talent, she would soon become a great cultivator. Since he had already antagonized her, he wouldn’t survive when that time came. He couldn’t let her live.

He was thinking of having her on his team if she had some potential, but this was a ticking time bomb.

...

Xueling restricted her power to just the first layer of Core Formation. She thought to herself that she could save energy this way and also practice her battle intent. The remaining soldiers surrounded her in a loose circle, their weapons filled with qi.

She lunged forward, aiming to slice an opponent’s neck, but suddenly felt an attack coming from her back. She ducked instead, and as she did, the one whose neck she was about to slice made a downward attack.

She quickly rolled away, only to find herself before another attacker who was mid-swing.

As she fought, she thought to herself that she couldn’t yet maintain that feeling - it was too faint. This is nothing. She needed to unlock the real thing. This was just a glimpse.

She concentrated hard and continued fighting.

Her sword flowed like a river, parrying strikes from multiple directions while making sure to make strikes of her own.

When two enemies attacked simultaneously from her left and right, she spun between them, her blade carving through one’s chest while her elbow struck the other’s throat.

Su Jiang circled the battlefield like a predator, using his men as shields and distractions. When Xueling was engaged with other opponents, he would dart in from her blind spot, his sword seeking vital points.

Initially confident that he could overwhelm her with numbers and sneak attacks, his expression slowly grew grimmer as his soldier count steadily dropped.

Xueling’s battle intent flickered in and out like a dying flame. Sometimes she could see the perfect path - dodge left, strike upward, spin right - but then it would fade, leaving her to rely on pure skill.

She cut down another soldier, then another, her movements becoming more fluid as she began to understand the rhythm of battle.

Su Jiang made another sneak attack, his blade finding her shoulder. Blood trickled down her arm, but she barely flinched. He retreated quickly, cursing under his breath. Even injured, she looked like she could fight all day.

The last of his regular soldiers fell, leaving Su Jiang standing alone across from Xueling in the midst of blood and corpses. His breathing was heavy from his hit-and-run tactics, while she stood steady despite multiple wounds.

"Dammit, then I’ll use that," he thought grimly.

He formed a complex hand sign, and instantly, Xueling felt a wave of spiritual energy crash down on her.

Her cultivation was being forcibly suppressed.

"This was so expensive to get, but using it on you isn’t a loss at all," Su Jiang said with a smile.

Xueling watched as her cultivation actually dropped to Foundation Establishment peak. The suppression was overwhelming, like chains wrapped around her core. She looked at the person before her, her gaze still unwavering.

"Hmph, so what if my cultivation goes down," she thought. She wondered if this difference in power would help her fully awaken her battle intent. With a fierce cry, she charged at the enemy.

Meanwhile, Yu Tian slowly moved from tree to tree under concealment.

He moved like this until he reached a clearing where three men sat. He calculated their strength to be about Foundation Establishment peak.

He looked at his sword. His time for battle had finally come.

These guys were supposed to be guarding the heart of the formation, but they were relaxed and without a care in the world. Even so, he had to be cautious - they were peak Foundation Establishment cultivators after all.

He exhaled deeply. He hoped Xueling wouldn’t disappoint him and could hold on. He then jumped from his position.