Chapter Seventeen: Trump Card
The azure dragon swooped downward.
In the face of this colossal dragon, Bai Qiu’s Black Tortoise seemed pitifully small. The dragon opened its massive jaws, unleashing a torrent of blue dragon breath that blasted straight toward the four of them.
“Hold on!” Bai Qiu shouted, channeling every ounce of true energy he possessed.
But the difference in their strengths was simply too vast. The Black Tortoise lasted only a few heartbeats before being incinerated by the overwhelming force of the dragon’s breath.
A mouthful of blood spurted from Bai Qiu’s lips; his true energy scattered, and he fell to his knees.
Next to bear the brunt was Shi Qi’s water barrier. Though her demon core spun at full force and true energy poured relentlessly into the shield, it could not withstand the destructive might of the dragon’s breath. In just a few seconds, the barrier vanished completely.
Shi Qi turned pale, powerless to resist.
The next layer of defense was Yuan Wu the young monk’s brocade kasaya. Its material was unknown, but it was incomparably tough—unscathed even by Bo Yunxin’s sword aura only moments before. Yet, under the dragon’s breath, it too quickly dulled, lost its luster, and returned automatically to Yuan Wu’s side.
“Amitabha,” Yuan Wu intoned, his face ashen, clearly suffering a severe blow.
The final defense was Sun Fanbai’s earthen wall. It, too, lasted no more than a few heartbeats before it was obliterated.
The dragon’s breath tore through all four barriers, its energy diminished by half yet still formidable as it surged toward them.
With a thunderous crash, the blast struck the group, hurling them away and raising a cloud of dust.
When the smoke cleared, all four lay sprawled on the ground, propping themselves up with trembling arms, blood streaming from their lips—they had all been seriously wounded.
The azure dragon slowly alighted on the ground.
Looking up, the group saw a man in black standing atop the dragon’s head. He wore a black cloak and a wide-brimmed hat, his face obscured.
Bai Qiu coughed. “Who are you? How do you know the Bai family’s secret art of talismanic escape?”
The man in black glanced at Bai Qiu and replied coldly, “The Bai family? What a joke.”
He swept his gaze over the group and continued, “I hadn’t expected to wipe out the so-called four young geniuses of the Central Plains’ righteous sects today—and gain an unexpected prize besides.”
A chill swept over the four. Was this truly where their lives would end?
Bai Qiu grasped his universe pouch tightly.
Sun Fanbai slipped a hand into his robe.
Yuan Wu pressed two fingers to his brow, forming a mudra.
They were preparing to fight with everything they had.
Shi Qi gave a bitter laugh. “All of you come from prestigious families—so I’m the only one with no trump card?”
Bai Qiu said, “To die alongside you all is fate, I suppose.”
Sun Fanbai added, “Forgive me for dragging everyone into this.”
Yuan Wu intoned, “Amitabha. All things move according to karma.”
Atop the dragon’s head, the man in black watched as the dragon opened its jaws again, energy coalescing at its maw. The second blast of dragon’s breath was about to be unleashed.
Bai Qiu shouted, “This is it, everyone! Give it your all!”
Just as the three were about to use their trump cards, the Biyun Parasol—dropped by Shi Qi—began to float upward. It hovered in the air, spinning gently, its leaves unfolding. A streak of rosy light shot from the parasol, floating above the four.
“Let’s see who dares harm my disciple.”
A clear, familiar voice rang in Shi Qi’s ears. She stared wide-eyed at the sky.
A beautiful young woman, no more than seventeen or eighteen, elegant and ethereal, floated above. Shi Qi gazed at the familiar silhouette and murmured, “Master…”
The rosy light that emerged from the Biyun Parasol was none other than Shi Qi’s master, the Immortal Egret.
The man in black frowned, sensing the formidable aura she exuded. “Who are you?” he demanded.
The Immortal Egret replied impatiently, “What does it matter who I am? Are you the one threatening my disciple, riding around on that sorry excuse for a dragon?”
The man in black observed her warily, then suddenly laughed. “Ha! So it’s only a projection—I almost thought you were someone important.”
Only after passing the Minor Heavenly Tribulation can a cultivator create a projection—a true duplicate, not mere illusion. Each cultivator may possess only one; though it has only sixty percent of the original’s strength, both bodies train together and fight as one, their power more than doubled. Yet if the projection dies, the original suffers and must spend a long time recovering and training a new one. If the original dies, the projection perishes as well.
The man in black sneered, “You’re in the Minor Heaven realm as well—why should I be afraid of a mere projection?”
Beneath him, the azure dragon had finished charging. The next breath attack was imminent.
The Immortal Egret sighed lightly. “Ever since that man vanished, people have forgotten so much… Still so obsessed with judging strength by realm alone.”
As she spoke, the dragon raised its head to unleash its breath.
“Master, look out!” Shi Qi cried, seeing her master distracted.
There was a loud crack.
Shi Qi heard the noise but could not react in time. The Immortal Egret had vanished from her place.
The man in black, hand poised in a spell to command his dragon to attack, suddenly saw a flash of pink—and the Immortal Egret appeared before him.
She raised her hand and slapped the dragon across the face.
The small, delicate hand seemed powerless, yet the blow echoed thunderously. The dragon’s head snapped to one side.
With another sharp crack, the Immortal Egret disappeared and reappeared on the dragon’s other side, striking again. The dragon’s head was knocked the other way, its breath energy destabilizing until it exploded in midair, dissolving into a flurry of talismanic papers that drifted down.
Bai Qiu’s pupils dilated in shock. “She… she shattered a Minor Heaven realm dragon talisman with just two slaps? Shi Qi, it turns out you hold the strongest trump card of all. Just who is your master?”
Shi Qi replied, “I… I don’t know.”
It was no exaggeration—after ten years together, Shi Qi still did not know her master’s true cultivation, and never imagined her projection had been hidden in the Biyun Parasol all along.
Sun Fanbai and Yuan Wu stared at the Immortal Egret, equally stunned by her display.
The man in black was even more shocked; the harmless-looking girl had dissipated his dragon talisman with two blows!
“You—!” roared the man in black, producing a talisman from his sleeve to attack the Immortal Egret.
“What do you mean, ‘you’?” she retorted, instantly appearing before him and slapping him across the face.
The man in black felt a violent jolt, lost his balance, and crashed from the sky, creating a massive crater as he hit the ground.
Dazed, he slapped his own head to clear it, then pulled a “Thousand Mile Escape Smoke” from his universe pouch and hurled it out of the pit.
A cloud of white smoke billowed up.
“Thousand Mile Escape Smoke!” Bai Qiu shouted, recognizing it.
When the smoke cleared, both the man in black and Bo Yunxin had vanished, a final message drifting to their ears: “My projection wasn’t here, so I wasn’t at full strength. Don’t let me catch you again!”
The Immortal Egret smiled faintly. “Not much of a fight, but quite nimble at running away.”
She landed before the four, waved her small hand, and immediately they felt refreshed—their wounds more than half healed.