51. Rescue (4)

Sato and Konasi whisper in unison, "Kruren."

Their eyes lift to the sky.

The sect has two guardian beast lineages—Wind Wolves and Cloud Serpents.

And now, the clouds hanging overhead begin to slither and ripple like serpents, revealing their true nature.

From within the clouds, dark figures step forth—people clad in black uniforms marked with a silver sword emblem on the chest.

Among them, two wear the white robes of Sky Sword Sect elders.

Sato narrows his eyes. "Riku is out of her retreat," he mutters inwardly. "I thought only Kruren would come, but it seems Riku followed too."

Kruren's voice rolls down from the sky, sharp with contempt. "First Prince, you planned to kill me once we crossed the bridge, didn't you?"

Taiga stares at Kruren, the urge to kill him burning behind his eyes.

If only I could erase him here and now… all this would vanish with him.

He glances at Kanoru's family.

They watch everything, absorbing every word.

Speaking any further aloud would be like planting venom directly in Kanoru's heart.

He clenches his jaw and sends out a mental transmission to the four Sky Sword Sect elders present and Yumora.

"From this point forward, we speak only through thought. There are ears here that must not hear what comes next."

Kruren, sensing the shift, opens his mouth—but before he speaks, a pulse of mental energy brushes against him. It's Riku. Her message is calm but firm.

"Wait. Hear what he says. Listen before acting."

A moment later, six minds join through their linked spiritual threads.

A single shared space of thought now connects Taiga, Kruren, Riku, Yumora, Sato, and Konasi—each capable of hearing the others in silence.

Kruren speaks into the bond, his tone sharp and mocking.

"So, First Prince. How exactly do you want me dead? Shall I save you the effort and kill myself? Or maybe... you'd prefer it be done discreetly, no body, no evidence?"

A pause.

"But don't think I lack ways to reach that brat Kanoru. If I die, he will still learn everything."

Taiga maintains his outward calm, but his mind races with plans and contingencies.

"Elder Kruren, I never said you had to die. I only need you to disappear."

Riku narrows her eyes, her mental voice sharp.

"Disappear? What exactly do you mean by that?"

Taiga responds evenly.

"You all still don't understand."

Yumora cuts in, voice tinged with insight.

"His Highness wants Elder Kruren to vanish out of Kanoru's reach. If that happens, the rest of us can simply blame him for everything."

Taiga nods.

"Exactly. Among all of us, only one needs to be sacrificed."

Konasi's tone tightens.

"You think Kanoru will believe such a simple excuse? He's not a fool. He's in the Spiritual Master Realm."

Taiga shakes his head.

"No—he only has the strength of someone in that realm. His cultivation isn't there yet."

That stirs a reaction. Mental threads ripple with curiosity.

In just a few days, a middle-ranking samurai had managed to reach power equal to a Spiritual Master. How?

Taiga answers the unspoken question.

"Like us, he was born with something rare. Not beast blood, but mental energy—his is as strong as a true Spiritual Master's. With that alone, he's achieved power beyond his realm. But even with such talent, he won't be able to trace Kruren for a few years. And by then, he'll likely move on… forget."

Kruren snorts.

"What a lucky bastard."

Konasi chuckles faintly.

"We're the lucky bastards, too, compared to the common folk."

Taiga presses forward.

"Then? Do I have an agreement?"

Riku's mental voice slices through the group like a blade.

"We'll discuss it later. Because right now, I can't trust someone who helped kill his own blood ancestor."

Silence falls.

Everyone present understands the weight of her words.

The Blood Ancestor was slain.

And the Owani royal family—descendants who still carry his blood—were among those who orchestrated it.

Taiga replies calmly,

"Over a hundred generations are separating me from the Blood Ancestor. That connection is distant."

Riku's mental voice sharpens.

"Distant or not, he's still your ancestor. How could your family plot his death?"

Taiga locks eyes with her and sends a message laced with quiet fury.

"His own son took part in killing him. Gave up his life to do it. So why shouldn't our family have the right to do the same?"

A pause. Then, colder:

"You mourn his death more than his own bloodline. Even the Eight-Headed Serpent Clan held feasts when they confirmed he was dead. You sound like one of those bloodline-worshippers."

Though the words are conveyed through mental energy, the disdain in his tone is unmistakable.

Konasi frowns.

"Why would even the Eight-Headed Serpent Clan turn against their own progenitor? Without an Ancestral Realm cultivator, their power should be in decline."

Taiga replies,

"Do you know the average lifespan of someone in the Dharma Realm?"

Kruren answers,

"Roughly 240 years."

Taiga nods.

"Then how can cultivators in the Ancestral Realm—the very next realm—live for up to ten thousand years?"

Everyone grows quiet.

In the world of cultivation, the Great Samurai Realm grants a lifespan of 120 years.

The Ascension Realm, 180.

The Dharma Realm, 240.

And yet, Ancestral Realm cultivators—those who aren't killed—still walk the world after ten thousand years.

Everyone present wants the answer, but no one dares voice the question.

A few days ago, an Ancestral cultivator had been slain—only through the combined efforts of multiple Dharma Realm and Spiritual Master experts.

But they, standing here, are only in the Great Samurai Realm.

If an Ancestral cultivator simply exhaled near them, they would die.

At last, Riku speaks—hesitant and soft.

"A gift from the heavens?"

Taiga nods.

"Yes. A gift. It's called the Ancestral Crystal."

The words send a chill through the group.

"By refining an Ancestral Crystal, a Dharma Realm cultivator can step into the Ancestral Realm. The crystal stabilises the soul, and with enough energy—

—They can live as long as they wish."

Yumora asks carefully,

"What kind of energy do they need?"

Taiga's answer hits like thunder.

"Soul energy."

One thought explodes in all their minds: What?

Taiga continues,

"At first, they could absorb the souls of any living beings. But over time, their own souls became polluted. The impurity attracted heaven's wrath, and every battle they fought drained their lifespan."

He pauses, his expression unreadable.

"Eventually, they discovered something. The souls of their direct descendants caused far less pollution."

A grim silence settles.

Yumora speaks slowly, putting the pieces together.

"Three thousand years ago, the Yao beast races began integrating with human bloodlines. That's when the royal families of the Seven Kingdoms emerged..."

Taiga nods.

"Correct. Yao blood is powerful, but their numbers are few. So they procreated with humans, who can produce many offspring.

More descendants meant more souls to harvest."

"And those who reached peak Ascension Realm... they were sent to the clan's headquarters to 'break through' into the Dharma Realm?"

Taiga finishes darkly,

"They never advanced. Their souls were devoured by the Seven Ancestors of the beast race—the true masters behind the royal clans."

Before Yumora can respond, a ripple of mental energy sweeps across them.

All eyes snap to the source, but the space is empty.

Minutes later, a shadow approaches—wings outstretched, gliding through the sky.

He lands lightly in the distance: a red-haired boy with blood-colored eyes and leathery bat wings curled behind his back.

Despite his youthful face, no aura leaks from him.

None of them can sense his realm, but the wings say enough.

At the very least, he is in the Ascension Realm.

Which means... he's no boy.

His real age is likely older than all of them.

Riku, the strongest among them, steps forward warily.

"Who are you?"

The Yao bows slightly.

"I am Vale. Please... I need your help."

They exchange glances.

Riku speaks cautiously.

"What do you need?"

Vale lifts a finger and points at Kanoru's family.

"I want them."

Taiga narrows his eyes.

"Do you even know who they are? Or are you not afraid of death?"

Vale grins, casual and cruel.

"Of course, I'm afraid. But what can he do? Chase me into the Yao Domain?"

"He'd die before he even reached the border."

Riku frowns.

"We cannot give them to you. Leave now, and we'll pretend you never came."

Vale sighs.

"So it has to be the hard way, then."

A wave of suffocating pressure erupts from him.

The air turns heavy, hard to breathe.

The gryphons screech and thrash, desperate to flee.

Kanoru's family collapses like dolls, unconscious in an instant.

Vale dives toward them, faster than anyone can react.

None of the others can move under his aura.

They can only watch—frozen—as death closes in.

Then—

A sharp cry splits the night, followed by a deep tiger's roar.

In a flash, the pressure vanishes.

Vale jerks to a stop, startled.

He turns his gaze to Riku—her aura rising, unstable, ready to burst.

Her body trembles as it flares toward the threshold of the Ascension Realm.

Vale curses. He doesn't want a fight.

He barrels forward and swings—his arm morphing into a claw aimed at Riku's chest.

But just before impact, a whirling dome of wind wraps around her.

The blow slams into the shield with a thunderclap of force.

Riku doesn't flinch.

Vale presses forward, claws glowing, aiming straight for her chest.

But he isn't alone in the field anymore.

As his focus narrows on Riku, the others break free from his pressure—and strike.

Kruren shouts,

"Fire Demon Blade!"

A blade forged of flame and swirling cloud slashes toward Vale.

Konasi unleashes a slicing Wind Scissor, while Sato rains down a flurry of wind blades.

Yumora hurls a spear of green fire, crackling with spirit energy.

From the shadows, the two Night Guards—silent and masked—launch spheres of dark energy that hiss through the air.

Taiga, seeing the battle erupt, acts quickly.

He yells to the guards below,

"Some of you, follow me!"

Then he bolts forward, scooping Kanoru's sister into his arms and sprinting down the slope.

As he rushes past the ascending guards, he commands,

"Bring the others—now!"

Above, the combined attacks slam into Vale—

But a blood-red shield erupts from his body just in time.

Fire meets blood.

Wind tears against cursed flesh.

Dark energy sizzles.

For a moment, shield and attacks wrestle, light clashing in mid-air, neither side yielding.

Kruren grits his teeth, feeding more energy into his attack.

"Protect them!" he roars.

The gryphons lift off with Kanoru's unconscious family on their backs.

The cloud serpents carrying the Sky Sword Sect disciples rise with them, slipping into formation and gliding away into the sky.

Only two cloud serpents remain behind—one beneath Riku, the other beneath Kruren.

The fight is far from over.

Taiga, holding Kanoru's sister in his arms while riding a fleeing gryphon, feels the shockwave of the exploding attacks behind him.

He tightens his grip on both the gryphon and the girl as the beast destabilises midair.

His mind races.

Where should they escape?

He suddenly remembers the Jade Buddha Sect—a hidden sect that follows the Spiritual Way.

He had once heard from an official that the Jade Buddha Sect possesses twelve Spiritual Core cultivators, capable of forming a grand array that could even challenge, perhaps defeat, a True Core or Ascendant Realm cultivator.

"Which direction is the Jade Buddha Sect in?"

He looks around, trying to determine the path.

Behind him, the shockwave fades, the explosion settling, and Vale emerges unharmed.

His clawed hand has pierced through Riku's windshield and now presses against her chest.

Before she can retreat, Vale releases a burst of red energy from his claws.

The force flings Riku off her cloud serpent, slamming her into a hillside.

An instant later, the red energy detonates around her.

Then Vale chants,

"Demon Blood Sword Burial."

The natural energy within a hundred-meter radius begins to stir violently.

Up in the sky, thousands of blood-red swords condense from the air and rain down.

They try to flee the attack range—but it's no use.

The swords strike the ground with deafening force, exploding on impact.

Though the attack doesn't directly target them, its aftermath leaves them gravely wounded, their bodies broken, their mobility gone.

And Vale?

He flaps his bat-like wings once and shoots forward, chasing after Taiga's group.