A Palm Strike

Through the pitch-black, deep blue seawater, two streaks of light flashed past in quick succession. The lead light was dazzling and magnificent, slicing through the dark waters like a long rainbow ribbon. The one behind appeared far more ordinary, resembling a giant bubble that swiftly pushed aside the sea as it surged forward. Yet it moved far faster than the first, steadily closing the distance. Li Xizhi rode the wind in full flight, his flight light veering further off course to draw a brilliant rainbow streamer. The flight art he cultivated was the fourth-rank Morning Glow Flight, exceptionally fast. His Changxia Mist was inherently suited for high-speed flight, and aided by these multiple blessings, he was barely able to maintain some distance from Dongfang Heyun behind him, keeping from being overtaken immediately. Now, however, Li Xizhi was gradually drifting off course, giving Dongfang Heyun an opening to rapidly close the gap. The youth raised his brows, already spotting the rainbow glow ahead. Dongfang Heyun could not fathom why he had changed direction, but he would not let this opportunity slip by. Pinching an azure bead between his fingers, he flicked his wrist and sent it hurtling toward Li Xizhi’s back. Ahead, Li Xizhi drew talismans, waiting in full vigilance. His severed arm had already been swiftly reattached; though somewhat stiff, it was functional once more, surprising Dongfang Heyun slightly: ‘How could this boy neutralize my magic power so quickly? Did he take some precious herb?’ Dongfang Heyun had used his hand as a blade, and that cleaving strike was no ordinary cut. His magic power should have swiftly invaded the wound, not only disrupting the flow of Li Xizhi’s magic power but also preventing the flesh from healing. Had the feather robe not concealed several bursts of golden light, that single chop would have shattered the severed arm to pieces, never giving him the chance to reattach it. Now, seeing it barely functional again came as a surprise. Li Xizhi only drew talismans to defend, with no leisure to dwell on the feather robe's golden light. As for why his severed arm could be reattached so quickly, it was naturally due to the talisman qi he had received. He had received the talisman Radiant Clouds Across the Sky, which could neutralize another's spells. As the iridescent light circulated, the pale blue magic power lingering in the wound rapidly dissolved, and the flesh knit together, radiating wisps of rosy morning glow. He was slowly loosening his arm when Dongfang Heyun’s spell closed in without a sound, crashing against the talismans with a succession of roaring booms. Water surged in turbulent waves. Li Xizhi let out a muffled grunt, his breath catching as the dawn light beneath his feet slowed. Dongfang Heyun closed the distance in an instant, yet saw Li Xizhi forming hand seals once more. From his other sleeve, Li Xizhi cast another set of talismans. The white light of the incantations hovered, flickering in the water. But with a series of crisp snaps, countless ice crystals formed across the sea, and Dongfang Heyun breached the barrier, arriving right before him. He unleashed that suffocating, oppressive spell once more. The spiritual energy around them grew heavy, scattering the spell Li Xizhi was preparing. Dongfang Heyun raised his arm again to seize Li Xizhi by the throat. ‘Courting death, are you?’ Dongfang Heyun’s jade-white palm tore through the water. Only the earliest summoned talisman managed to offer slight resistance before being brushed aside; the rest were tossed behind him. Dongfang Heyun landed a heavy palm strike squarely on his lower abdomen, sending Li Xizhi coughing up blood that dissolved into a mist of rainbow light. *Pfft!* Li Xizhi spat blood, taking the strike head-on. A gold-and-blue palm print surfaced on the back of his feather robe, and surging golden light burst forth from the robe once more, rushing straight toward Dongfang Heyun’s face— Golden Fall in the Clouds! Prepared this time, Dongfang Heyun thrust his hand forward with force, shattering the golden light to pieces. But in that brief moment of delay, rainbow mist erupted from all over Li Xizhi, rapidly diffusing and staining the seawater into a brilliant canvas. In this precious breath of time, Li Xizhi placed his left hand above and right hand below, fingertips touching, executing a clone art. The clones he had condensed were released in an instant, leaping in every direction. For a time, dazzling streaks of colorful light darted everywhere, using the cover of the rainbow mist to scatter into the distance. In merely a single breath, dragging his heavily injured body, Li Xizhi unleashed three spells in succession, turning into more than a dozen streaks of colorful light fleeing in all directions. Dongfang Heyun stood where he was, sweeping away a patch of rainbow mist with a flick of his sleeve and shaking his head slightly. The smile on Dongfang Heyun’s face grew broader: “A fine calculation, Fellow Daoist!” ‘First enduring a palm strike to release a spell, using the golden light from the feather robe to block my vision, then using rainbow mist to conceal his movements so I couldn't tell the real from the fake, before fleeing in all directions…’ ‘Yet having taken a palm strike from me, my imprint remains upon it. Scattering like celestial petals may be clever, but it is ultimately in vain.’ Dongfang Heyun flicked his sleeves and reappeared before "Li Xizhi." The figure, perhaps dulled in its senses from severe injuries, was still flying forward with its head down. His movements remained leisurely and elegant, without a frown of doubt. Allowing the figure ahead to struggle as it pleased, he simply extended a palm toward its back. Then Dongfang Heyun’s composed, elegant expression shifted. A smile broke across his face, and with a light wave of his sleeve, he shattered the "Li Xizhi" before him into scattered rainbow light. “Hmm?” “Oh?” The specks of light, tiny as gnats, dispersed densely into the water and vanished. Only a tattered feather robe drifted gently in the sea, the deep-blue palm print on its back still glimmering with shifting radiance. Dongfang Heyun nodded, a trace of appreciation in his eyes: ‘Good… very good… So he deliberately took that palm strike just to slip the feather robe onto a clone. So that was what the rainbow mist was for… Humans truly are crafty after all…’ Dongfang Heyun watched for two breaths, tucked the feather robe into his sleeve, joined two fingers together with the pads facing inward, and exhaled softly. A deep azure light lit up at his fingertips as he whispered: “Heyun requests the Venerable One’s power; obeying the Palace’s mandate, to tread the Great Void…” The seawater before him churned, boiling and sinking like the gaping maw of a whale to reveal a pitch-black rift. From foot to head, he dissolved into billowing cloud and mist, flowing into that speck of light on his fingertip before plunging into the Great Void. * * * Elsewhere, golden sunlight rose above the sea surface, leaving only gold and blue between heaven and earth—a rare and breathtaking morning scene. Yet Li Xizhi had no time to appreciate it, coughing violently. Dongfang Heyun’s technique dealt primarily magic power damage, and azure magic power continuously corroded his body. Fortunately, Li Xizhi was not particularly afraid of such arts; Radiant Clouds Across the Sky could neutralize foreign magic power. The morning glow on the horizon grew brighter. Li Xizhi forced his mind to remain clear, conjuring a colorful light in his hand to press against the wound on his chest. Every bit of magic power in his body surged wildly toward the dawn light beneath his feet; every drop in his sea of qi acupoint was squeezed dry, channeled entirely into fueling his flight. Li Xizhi had seen at a glance that Dongfang Heyun was confident in himself. That trick had fooled him. He had released over a dozen clones, and since Dongfang Heyun had failed to distinguish the real one from the start, he would have no second chance. “Dongfang Heyun took the bait.” Yet Li Xizhi dared not relax, nor did he dare show any sign of triumph. He remembered clearly that this was never a genuine hunt, but merely a punishment from a Violet Palace great demon; Dongfang Heyun bore no deep murderous intent toward him. If he showed smugness and laughed aloud, the situation could very well veer toward an entirely different outcome. Thus, even though he had seemingly escaped danger on the surface, he remained full of caution, fleeing into the distance with all his might. ‘Even if he can use that space-traversing spell, there must be restrictions. Not to mention the long preparation time, he cannot traverse directly before me without rhyme or reason or some medium. Strictly speaking, I should have escaped danger.’ ‘If the Violet Palace does not intervene… Dongfang Heyun will most likely summon the sea clans to inspect the clones one by one. If so, they won’t last long, though I don’t know what it takes for this to finally end.’ He flew on in silence, the colorful light beneath his feet reflected in the blue seawater, appearing exceptionally beautiful. He coughed twice—and his pupils suddenly dilated. In the air before him, the pitch-black Great Void emerged. The youth straightened his robes and stepped out, looking at him with gentle elegance, murmuring: “Your deduction was not half bad.” ‘Traversing the Great Void! This… how can I escape this?!’ Greatly terrified, Li Xizhi cast out five or six talismans hidden in his sleeve. They transformed into several massive barriers in the air, multicolored incantations hovering with formidable majesty. The sea roared. Dongfang Heyun’s figure instantly dissolved into cloud and mist, dispersing and reforming right before the rainbow light, blocking him dead in his tracks. Only because Li Xizhi was most skilled in flight arts among all his techniques could he, even in his dazed state, still tread upon that golden light. His figure dispersed like iridescent mist, leaving several brilliant streaks of light in the air as he appeared more than a hundred feet away. All around within that distance, figures of Li Xizhi took shape in unison, sweeping their sleeves to shed dawn mist that slowly drifted like wisps of silk before streaking away on rainbow light. Golden Fall in the Clouds! At the same time, taking advantage of this single breath, colorful radiance rose from Li Xizhi’s feet once more as he scattered into iridescent mist, leaving several brilliant streaks of light in the air. The youth watched with keen interest, seemingly waiting to see if he would use any more novel spells, yet finding the seals in Li Xizhi’s hands quite familiar, as if he had seen them before. Dongfang Heyun struck a palm through Li Xizhi’s lower abdomen and drew back his arm; the blood on his snow-white, jade-like palm was rapidly turning into rosy morning clouds. When Dongfang Heyun had torn through the Great Void to arrive, it had genuinely terrified Li Xizhi. But once that palm struck down into his lower abdomen, sixty to seventy percent of the anxiety weighing on Li Xizhi’s heart lifted. If Dongfang Heyun could kill him by tearing open the Great Void early on, why wait until now? It was merely that Dongfang Heyun needed to inflict enough deterrent damage within a limited time. Having been outmaneuvered once and running short on time, he was forced to go all out. Dongfang Heyun did not want to kill him. The disparity in their strength was huge, to say nothing of the ability to traverse the Great Void. By now, the truth was obvious. That being said, Dongfang Heyun had shown no mercy within the scope of the strength he displayed. This was clearly a screening. If Li Xizhi truly had not met the mark, he would simply have died; his life or death would bring no change to Qingchi or the dragon clan. Dongfang Heyun slowly released his grip, suspending the immobilized Li Xizhi in midair. Raising his jade-like arm, he straightened Li Xizhi’s robes. He looked closely at Li Xizhi, sudden realization dawning. From his sleeve, he retrieved the tattered feather robe, which had already been folded neatly, and gently hung it over Li Xizhi’s arm. Only then did he nod with satisfaction. Earlier, his smile had faded as he held the feather robe with five snow-white fingers, examining it back and forth twice until he discovered a small seal character in the corner: “Yang.” The script was not of the contemporary style, resembling an ancient script. Being quite old, Dongfang Heyun recognized the character and nodded in understanding: “So he is a descendant of Yang Jinxin! No wonder.” “To think that the dignified Yang family has fallen to such a state today, without even a single Violet Palace cultivator left!” “Yet after all, they have connections in the Netherworld… Even Sui Guan wouldn’t dare do much.” Dongfang Heyun stepped back courteously, bowed respectfully, and said in a warm voice: “I am Dongfang Heyun, formed from the Dragon Lord’s first breath upon condensing his core, born of cloud and mist. You and I share quite an affinity. Might I know Fellow Daoist’s name?” Li Xizhi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and rasped: “Li Xizhi of Qingsui Peak.” “Good.” Then the elegant, composed youth suddenly paused. He blinked with a smile, his pitch-black eyelashes conspicuous against the morning glow. Dongfang Heyun glanced at the sky and said: “The hour is up.” “Having received the Immortal Decree to execute the punishment, I have offended you greatly. I hope Fellow Daoist will forgive me.” With that single word, Dongfang Heyun’s figure dissolved like mist and vanished into the distant morning glow. Li Xizhi’s legs went weak, and he nearly tumbled into the sea. * * * After gasping for breath several times, he finally managed to steady himself in the air, landing on a small island. Li Xizhi coughed out a puff of colorful mist and murmured: “He wanted to harm me…” He could not remember how far he had flown in that time. He only with trembling hands took several medicinal pills from his storage bag, hastily shoved them into his mouth, and slapped a few flight-assisting talismans—better than nothing—onto his body before finally having the leisure to inspect his surroundings. Even so, taking a direct palm strike from Dongfang Heyun without any dharma artifact to protect himself was no small matter. Li Xizhi slowly sat down, feeling the internal injuries caused by that strike, quietly pondering. That palm had pierced through his abdomen, added to the injury of his severed arm; the damage was severe and could not be taken lightly. Sitting quietly, Li Xizhi finally had the opportunity to deduce the causes and consequences, sorting through his thoughts. Hanging on his arm was the feather robe Yang Xiao’er had given him. There were still secrets to this garment that he had no time to investigate. Breathing heavily, he hurriedly took several more pills. ‘This sliver of life today was fought for bit by bit after all…’