Li Yu and Spine were closer to the city that Bai Yan was protecting, and as they rocketed through the sky, they could see the signs of a high-level battle long before they arrived. Flashes of brilliant energy lit up the night, and the distant rumble of powerful techniques colliding echoed across the sea. As they neared, they saw that there was already a fight underway. A lone figure in dark robes was unleashing a torrent of attacks against a single defender: Bai Yan.

Bai Yan was being pushed back, her face grim and set with determination. She was clearly outmatched. Her opponent was a man with a wild manic type of energy and was utterly relentless. His every attack was a wide, devastating arc of golden light that forced her to give ground.

But she was a seasoned commander, a veteran of many battles. She wasn't trying to win; she was trying to survive and if she could protect the city behind her. Her Nine-Ringed Executioner's Blade was a blur of motion. Not meeting the attacks head-on but deflecting, parrying, and redirecting the force of each blow, buying precious seconds.

Li Yu, while still injured, took action right away. His battle instincts took over, his hand instinctively flashing forward while he activated his storage ring to pull out his staff. An instinctive move after so many battles.

But his hand faltered as his mind caught up. A jolt of pure frustration shot through him. He had forgotten in his rush that his weapon was broken. ‘Damn it!’ He changed tactics instantly. He raised his hands, gathering the two distinct energies within him and was now launching out javelins to push the man away from Bai Yan.

He had long since advanced the technique to not require any kind of medium, his mastery over his own Koi Qi and Void Qi allowing him to do so. A volley of five ethereal javelins—three of a shimmering, opalescent Koi Qi and two of a pure, starless black Void Qi—materialized and shot forward with blinding speed.

The man fighting Bai Yan sensed the new threat and turned a sneer on his face. He saw the incoming projectiles and underestimating their power moved to swat the closest one aside with his broadsword. The man tried blocking one of the javelins, only to be pushed back by it, shocking him a bit. The sheer kinetic force of the opalescent spear was far greater than he had anticipated, staggering him in mid-air.

This moment of surprise was all the opening the other javelins needed. As the other javelins came, he could only do his best to deflect them with his weapon, a frantic series of blocks and parries that sent him stumbling back even further, finally giving Bai Yan the space she needed to retreat and catch her breath. Li Yu could tell that his javelins were weaker than they normally would be, but thankfully, it was enough.

Li Yu flew off Spine’s back and went immediately in front of Bai Yan, his frame now a defiant shield between her and the powerful attacker. Spine hovered menacingly at his side but knew he wasn’t strong enough to really help.

Bai Yan was looking at Li Yu's back after he went in front of her, her breath catching in her throat. In that instant, as she stared at the back of the young man who had just come to save her was a feeling she had never felt before: the feeling of being protected by another.

All through her long struggling life, she barely had any help. She had clawed her way up from nothing, relying on her own strength, her own cunning, her own ruthlessness. Those she had worked for or worked with in the past had never truly cared if she died or not.

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They would send her off on missions and if she came back, good. If not, oh well. She was a weapon, a tool, something to be used until it broke and was discarded. She had long since accepted this as the reality of her world as she fought.

But now… things were different. As soon as she sent the distress message, Jian and Li Yu had both started charging over as fast as they could to help. Not subordinates, not an army but the two most powerful figures in the entire organization, dropping everything to come to her aid.

She shed a single tear thinking about it, a foreign, salty track on her weathered cheek. She was finally in a place where others cared for her. She wasn't a mere tool; she was a respected member.

A cynical part of her mind, a part forged in centuries of betrayal, whispered it could be that Li Yu was just protecting his investment. She was in this place because he had asked to be afterall. She didn't think that, not really, not after all she had seen of him. But even if that were the case, at least he was protecting her.

He had put his own injured body between her and a Soul Formation expert. All her life, no one had ever done that before and it moved her greatly. As the tear went down her face, she finally came back to the present, her voice no longer just the report of a subordinate, but filled with a genuine, profound concern. “Young Master,” she said genuinely, “be careful. He’s at least a 2nd stage Soul Formation expert.”

The man, now recovered from the surprise volley and glared at Li Yu, his eyes burning with fury. He didn’t bother with talking; he released his martial spirit—a ferocious, six-limbed Golden Ape—and merged with it, his aura flaring to its peak. He then lunged forward, attacking by sending out a torrent of energy attacks in the shape of fists.

Li Yu knew he shouldn’t take a direct hit in his current condition. Instead of meeting the physical charge, he decided to go with his soul. He used his Leviathan’s Strike soul technique. For a brief flash of an instant the spectral image of a colossal, world-devouring leviathan appeared behind Li Yu. The attacker’s charge faltered, his eyes glazing over as the soul attack struck him, dazing the man and nearly knocking him out of the sky.

The man’s attack was already sent forward and continued on their path toward the city. Li Yu, using the moment he had bought, blocked them with his own water arts to protect those behind him. He summoned a massive vortex of swirling water, absorbing and dispersing the golden energy blasts.

Doing all of this tired out Li Yu more than he expected, sweat was already dripping down his face. He was surprised that his attacks took such a strain on him, a stark reminder of just how heavy his injuries had been. ‘That damn old man!’ his anger erupted from within himself again. The attacker, shaking his head to clear it from the soul attack, thought the flash of killing intent was directed towards him and prepared to strike again.

It was at that moment that a silver comet streaked across the night sky, arriving with an aura of unparalleled sharpness. Jian had then arrived. He landed beside Li Yu, his eyes locked on the 2nd stage Soul Formation expert, his battle intent a palpable force. “Subdue him, don’t kill him!” Li Yu said to him.

Jian engaged the man and it was immediately clear that the fight was over. Jian, a 4th stage Soul Formation expert and a peerless swordsman, was clearly outmatching him. The attacker, who had seemed so dominant against Bai Yan, was now utterly on the defensive, his wild and powerful attacks seeming clumsy and slow in the face of Jian’s perfect, economical movements. Just as the man tried to unleash another desperate flurry of attacks, Li Yu threw another soul attack at him. It wasn’t as strong as the first, but it was enough to make the man flinch, which left him wide open.

This second soul attack taxed Li Yu quite heavily, a clear sign that he should stop. It was a good, if painful, understanding of his body’s limits while it was injured. Jian took the opening, his sword moving in a blur, striking a dozen pressure points in an instant, completely neutralizing the man’s spiritual energy and sending him crashing to the ground.