004: Confusion

San Chanji withdrew his attention inwards grasping hold of his ever decreasing reserve of qi and channeling it downwards to his legs. Letting it pool before he pushed off against the ship. Flying forward. One leg landed on a nearby railing and with another burst of qi it shattered as he pushed off it as well.

He crashed into the main mast of the cloudship, his movement technique surged up to its full height, waves appearing underneath him. Swirling him around the mast as he kicked off from it.

Below he saw Elder Song Yui and his senior brother with a cohort of bloodied inner disciples fighting.

Flaring his movement technique, another set of of waves appeared. This time arresting his momentum. He dropped down. Straight at the enemies gathering at his senior brother's back like an anchor dropped at sea.

His movement technique gathered his momentum as he fell. Building it up into a looming tsunami behind him that stretched out behind him like a billowing cape. He hit the deck and the wave exploded outwards around him in a circle. All his gathered energy buffeting the approaching enemies sending them all staggering back.

_The ocean is never still.

He capitalized and swept in behind his wave. The momentary destabilisation the only ingredient he needed for a healthy serving of death.

A wide slash killed two cultivators. His blood boiled with the amount of qi he channeled through it. A swirl of his sword and the blood that spurted out of their necks flowed down his sword and gathered at the tip.

Twisting his wrist a wave of blood erupted from the tip of his sword. Splattering an enemy in the face.

Dodging below their frantic blind swipe, he stepped forth again intent on finishing it before he managed to switch to his spiritual senses. Slamming his sword into the chest of the man next to him. He swirled around, ripping his sword free with a sicking squelch and chopped off the head of the man with a bloodstained face.

Ebb and flow.

He heard his master even now guiding him ever forward. And unlike then, this time, he listened.

Retreating, he fell back. The momentum of his onslaught collapsing around him. Chaos turning to order as the enemy cultivators reorganized themselves in the wake of his sudden and brutal attack.

Standing back to back with his senior brother. He assessed the situation.

His other hand reached to his belt and unsheathed his parrying dagger. San Chaji flexed his arm as if to throw it. The qi in his body however went to his feet. In an explosion of motion, San Chaji dashed across the deck towards a nearby cultivator who fell for his feint.

Mercilessly stabbing him in the stomach. His dagger parried a weak retaliatory strike and with a twist of his wrist, changed the angle of attack.

His enemy was now wide open. San Chaji carved a canyon into the cultivator with his sword. The sword cut like a knife through butter. A steak of human flesh fell onto the deck- still beating.

Ebb and flow.

A jump later and he was back, swirling his sword around. Blood flowing off it into a blob of blood that floated in the air.

"They are all foundation establishment cultivators." He frowned. It was a slaughter.

It made no sense. Lake Grass Sect was an equal to their Sapphire Lake Sect. Where were their inner disciples?

He swept backwards with his spiritual sight keeping his physical eyes peeled on the crescent of enemies before him. Elder Song Yui burned with qi, a thick miasma of lifeforce bellowing around him like a cloak of smoke as he fought against the enemy Elder.

Around him inner disciples fought against eachother. A whirlwind of death and blood. Flashes of qi impacted eachother, a constant symphony of thunder echoing out on the deck from the shockwaves of the blows.

That was when he heard it. Below deck screams echoed out.

They were not going after the array controls.

They were after the cloudheart of the ship.

It made no sense. Their own ship was minutes from failing. Sending the Sapphire Tear spiraling down into the ground far below would be counter productive. There would be no survivors on either sides. And then the Sapphire Lake Sect would gain the opportunity as these lands were closer to the territory of his sect.

He was missing something. They all were. He wasn't naïve enough to think his opponent a fool. The only question was what were they planning. The fighting resumed around him with renewed vigour. San Chanji steeled himself for the fight and trusted that in his Elders. They would know what their enemy was planning.

They clashed and retreated. A dance of death. With each exchange of blows, the number of corpses on the deck grew. Already San Chanji had to navigate them around as he dodged and weaved, parried and counterattacked. The wooden deck was slick with blood and each step was accompanied by a sickening squelch.

His lungs burned with exertion and his qi reserves were dangerously empty. His passive qi regeneration was channeled straight to his myriad of wounds to keep him in fighting shape. This was no normal fight. The enemy cultivators should have cut their losses and left a long time ago. They were outmatched. The Sapphire Lake Sect would win. It was just a question of when and how many cultivators they would lose in order to secure their victory.

The sky rippled like a lake of water. The fighting paused as everyone retreated and looked upwards. San Chanji could feel it in the air. The electrifying presence. The hair on his skin stood up. The artifact was here. That was the only possible cause of all of this. A heavenfall.

And no one here wanted to die before knowing what it was they were dying for.

Tension hung in the air. A guillotine above their necks as they sprained to witness the arrival of an immortal artifact. A historical event.

The sky cracked like a mirror. The rift widened. One moment the size of a finger and the next a massive gash seemingly stretching from horizon to horizon. Then it vanished, reversing direction. The entire rift closing in a flash of light.

Through the light - San Chanji saw the shadow of a figure falling downwards.

It wasn't an immortal artifact.

It was an Immortal.

The fighting resumed with crazed vigour. Lifeforce burning everywhere like incense.