Ch 16

'Huh! This bloody is so exhausting.' Mujo couldn't help but think so as Xu Nian remained inside his carriage while he and Min had been carrying the brunt from all the fighting. He knew Xu Nian was strong but was puzzled about why he didn't use his power to protect their fleet. He mumbled curses under his breath as he fought the turban wearing Mongs who were colluding with the slave traders. They were sharp. They understood his language. Mujo got confused about how come they ended up fighting them while fighting the slave traders. The Mongs of the desert were in war with the Shang Dynasty. Does that mean the slave traders were in their side! That would make sense as the slave traders had connections with the courtiers, too. They had initially thought the war between the Mongs and the Shang Dynasty had ended last month. But the Mongs had already infiltrated the core of the kingdom. The Shang was doomed. The king and he must be of the same age and yet couldn't foretell the scenario. It was right to assume he was a puppet of the Prime Minister. There were inside rumors about him that he was well connected with the Empire. Meng Chi! the Prime Minister was the Chi family head.

They had long since left the Fenan region and were heading for the southwest. The border of the Shang Dynasty was close, but they couldn't simply leave by the main road. It was heavily guarded. They had taken a different route. Mujo and the lot were crossing a nameless forest it was so dense that light hardly reached the bottom. It was said that the forest stretched from the Shang to the Empire to the end of the Eastern continent. It was massive. Hardly a mortal would dare travel through it. But was nevertheless bustling with cultivators. Their fleet had encountered the mongs at the start of the forest. They were barbaric in the sense that they fought using their dead companions as shield. Min was struggling while fighting. The Mongs were huge burly men. Their sword style was heavy. She was still commanding the situation well. Giving Wang and him directions to fight. She was beautiful with two plaited hair woven into a bun. Her black robes fluttered, shimmering in the dark as she used Qi to reinforce it to reflect attacks. She was graceful. Two daggers in each hand swinging magically as it returned to her whenever she threw it to kill. Mujo thought he was weak, weaker than her, which he didn't mind. But he wanted to catch up to her soon and fight alongside her. He just rose to the second level of void refining. He couldn't say it before due to the chaos, but his core was unstable. He had to rest but couldn't leave Min's back empty.

They were two enemies at the final stage of body fusion. It didn't look like they would rise up any higher than that. It was the limit of most second-class cultivation arts. But they were still at the final stage of body fusion. Min was at the second stage. While Wang at the first stage of Transcending Tribulations. Their growth was comparatively faster than his.

Mujo had succeeded in dealing with the low rank cultivators. While Min fought two men whom she started calling by their name Batbayar, the leader who was blind from a sword attack that had completely destroyed his eyes. He was an enemy worth acknowledging he had been fighting by using Qi sight, which is really exhausting. Min was screaming while calling him 'Bayar' and the other Body Fusion expert named Bolgoon whom she called 'Goon'. He was fat. He deflected most of the attacks by using his stomach. His sword was huge. It cracked the earth every time he swung it. Min took a few heavy blows, disrupting her movements. But survived as her grip on the 'Sun and the Moon arts' were impeccable for her cultivation level. She regulated her energy in such a way that it formed a yin and yang sphere of Qi. She condensed her Qi into the surface of the daggers, making it malleable and formless. Often, the enemy had no clue that there was dagger thrown at them. She threw at a speed that was undetectable by the human sight. Using the yin Qi to supplement her Moon battle form to completely hide her presence. Still, Bayar and Goon were overpowering her by their combination. They clearly had more experience in battle. Min used much of her energy unnecessarily. The situation grew worse as Bayar used his Qi to extend the sword at an unbelievable length and cut Min's navel, making Wang jump, screaming at Bayar, threatening to kill. While Mujo, after recovering from the shock, ran towards Min to assist her. It was her first serious injury from battle her pride was hurt, but Wang was already in the move and had killed Bayar, leaving Goon at the deaths doorstep. He was beyond angry as if someone had tried to steal his world. He ran towards Min, seeing her somewhat displeased expression he said, "Sorry!".

Min's stomach was cut open. Mujo had hurriedly performed a first aid, wrapping her stomach to stop access bleeding. He used a medicinal concoction to stop any infection from spreading. But as the night passed and they continued their journey deeper into the forest, Min's situation grew worse. It didn't get any better as she had a high fever. Wang desperately held onto her hand, trying to cool down her burning skin by using cold Qi. But it was of no use. Apparently, her immunity had been poor since birth. Whenever she got sick, it carried on for weeks. Wang and Mujo were tensed with fear. They were insomniac after a week had passed, but the situation didn't improve. Min vomited everything she ate or drank. At first out of helplessness Wang had approached Xu Nian calling, asking him to help. But the carriage was silent as if there was no one inside. He feared that possibility and tried to forcefully open the door, which he couldn't. He was baffled. The only person who could do something and cure Min was Xu Nian, but he wasn't responding.