Chương 45: Chapter 21 part 2

High above the slumbering, rain-swept continent, the dark night sky was violently disrupted by a rhythmic, echoing series of sonic booms. Ming Xuan Ji was not flying. She possessed no wind-affinity magic, nor was she riding a tamed wyvern. Instead, she was aggressively, forcefully conquering the airspace through sheer martial prowess. Holding Evanthe securely in her arms, Xuan Ji was employing a supreme, high-tier movement technique known as [Cloud-Stepping Dragon].

With every devastating stride she took, she channeled a massive burst of kinetic Qi through the soles of her silk boots, violently compressing the ambient atmosphere beneath her feet into invisible, rock-solid platforms of hardened air. She kicked off these platforms with enough concussive force to launch herself forward at a terrifying velocity, tearing through the storm clouds like a human meteor.

To protect her fragile cargo from the lethal, sub-zero temperatures of the high altitude and the flesh-tearing friction of their speed, Xuan Ji projected a streamlined, aerodynamic dome of pure Yang Qi around them. Inside the dome, the air was perfectly calm and comfortably warm, smelling faintly of the crisp, clean ozone that constantly rolled off Xuan Ji's skin. Evanthe rested her head gently against her master's shoulder, her small arms wrapped lightly around Xuan Ji's neck.

For the first time since she was a little girl practicing wooden sword forms in the courtyard of House Valerius, Evanthe felt... quiet. The agonizing, suffocating weight that had sat on her chest for weeks was completely gone. Her Dantian was flash-frozen in a cryogenic stasis. It wasn't permanently cured yet, but the boiling, violent pain of her meridians tearing themselves apart had finally ceased. But while her spiritual core was temporarily silent, her mortal body was profoundly exhausted.

The absolute-zero Yin required to hold her core together was aggressively sapping the latent heat from her blood, causing her lips to turn a dangerous, faint shade of blue. She was shivering uncontrollably, hovering precariously on the edge of spiritual frostbite just to avoid complete spiritual immolation.

"Master," Evanthe spoke softly, her voice weak but carrying clearly inside the silent Qi dome.

"Are we heading straight to the Vael estate?"

"We are," Xuan Ji replied, her dark eyes fixed on the distant, glowing, rain-blurred lights of the Royal Capital on the horizon.

"I am dropping you off with the Apothecary. I have bought you time, but you still need the Abyssal Frost Marrow properly administered. As you well know by now, I am a destroyer, not a healer." Evanthe nodded slowly in understanding. She watched the dark, jagged peaks of the landscape blur beneath them for a long moment before the icy tendrils of anxiety began to creep back into her chest.

"After you drop me off... are you going to stop the dragon?" Evanthe asked nervously, her fingers tightening slightly against the silk of her master's hanfu.

"Elder Derry and the cultists were so confident that the beast would completely level the capital." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"That so?" Xuan Ji asked, maintaining her rhythmic, booming strides across the sky.

"I don't understand how that is possible. The Zareth Kingdom is a major continental power. A single Ancient Dragon is an apex monster, yes, but a unified capital city of Elyndria's size should easily possess the martial strength, Archmages, Sword Saint, and magical siege ballistas to hold it off." Xuan Ji glanced down at her shivering disciple. In her past life as a gamer, she had participated in hundreds of massive city-defense raids.

She knew that if a server's player base unified, they could take down a literal god.

"A valid tactical assessment," Xuan Ji continued.

"So, what makes them so inherently vulnerable?"

"Because they aren't unified, Master," Evanthe answered, her noble education forcing her to confront the grim realities her father had taught her before the tragedy.

"The capital is completely fractured. Crown Prince Theron is ruling in his sick father's stead, but his loyalists, the 'Royalty Faction', are completely exhausted. The Sword Saint isn't even in the capital; he is stationed hundreds of miles to the east, holding the border against the zealots of the Aethelgard Theocracy." Xuan Ji's eyes narrowed as the political landscape clicked into place.

"And what about the rich nobles living inside the capital?"

"The 'Nobility Faction'," Evanthe spat the word with a rare, bitter venom that warmed her freezing chest for a brief second.

"They are incredibly wealthy, but they are arrogant and selfish. They hoard their private mercenary armies, their elite mages, and their gold inside the inner rings. They constantly refuse to send troops to help the Crown Prince secure the borders, citing ancient territorial rights." Xuan Ji digested the information effortlessly. In gaming terms, the server's player base was fatally divided.

The Royal guild was entirely depleted from grinding endless border events, and the wealthy Noble guilds were actively griefing the leadership instead of preparing for the actual raid boss. It was a doomed server.

"So, let me guess," Xuan Ji surmised, her eyes locking onto the rapidly approaching pale-blue glow of the capital's Aegis Array.

"When the Ancient Dragon arrives, the Nobility Faction won't mobilize their private armies to man the city's ballistas. They will simply barricade their own opulent estates, pop their magical shields, and let the lower rings burn."

"Exactly," Evanthe whispered, a profound sadness dulling her eyes.

"The Royal Guard will be completely overwhelmed trying to protect the commoners. The city will be destroyed, and the Nobility will likely use the chaos to finally usurp the Crown Prince."

"Not on my watch," Xuan Ji muttered, a dark, terrifying thrill igniting in her Dantian. Moments later, they descended rapidly over the wealthy district of Elyndria. The freezing rain was falling in blinding sheets, but Xuan Ji's aerodynamic dome parted the water flawlessly. As they approached the airspace of the Vael estate, Xuan Ji noticed a massive tactical shift from when she had left. Ringing the entire outer perimeter of the ruined manor was a literal, unbroken wall of dwarven-steel tower shields.

Hundreds of the Crown Prince's most elite heavy infantry, the First Battalion, had surrounded the property, their spears locked outward, entirely securing the apothecary's makeshift laboratory from any further incursions. Xuan Ji didn't bother using the heavily fortified front gate. With the sheer dampening of her movement technique making virtually no sound upon impact, she bypassed the shocked, hyper-vigilant infantry completely.

She dropped gracefully out of the sky, landing softly in the acid-scorched inner courtyard. It was time to cure her disciple.