Beware Of Chicken

Book 5: Chapter 33: Shadow of Intent

Book 5: Chapter 33: Shadow of Intent

Last Night:

Lu Ri was quite impressed when the defenses around First Den had activated. They were old and had nearly crumbled to dust—yet they were wards and defenses from the Age of Heroes. Even after thousands of years of degradation, even after so much damage had been done to them, they valiantly rose to do their duty again, even though they sparked fitfully as they did so.

A befuddling mist rose, ghosting along Lu Ri’s senses. It sought to misdirect and beguile before it recognised him as a friend, disappearing from his mind and sight. Another ward activated some manner of shield, and he felt Miss Yuanlin’s power surge slightly as the formation chose her as its master and the defender of its mortal charges, empowering her.

Then, all at once, that power disappeared. Lu Ri nodded in satisfaction. The wards were subtle. It should be enough for the mortals to simply hide within, along with Miss Yuanlin. They would be safe there, hidden away, and that would give Lu Ri leave to continue scouting the north or return to Hong Yaowu, and ready for the potential demon attack.

He was just letting a small smile come to his face when he noticed a dark shape flying through the air not too far away.Finnd new chapters at novelhall.com

It was a bird. A bird that was looking directly at where First Den was, its gaze unnaturally still and its flight perfect. Its head tilted, and its eyes locked directly onto Lu Ri.

Lu Ri had studied the lives of base animals, as the Honoured Founders had instructed. Animals were desperate to survive, and each action they took was purposeful. Each action they did was for a reason, no matter how absurd it seemed to a human at first glance. In observing base beasts, one learned to look underneath seemingly random actions to find the true purpose for them; this was their first lesson on the path to understanding the actions of men, and then, of cultivators.

So Lu Ri knew well how a base beast’s eyes looked. He knew well how birds flew, how their eyes twitched, and how their wings angled.

No base bird flew like that. No base bird’s eyes were so still.

And a secret hiding spot was only good if it remained secret.

Lu Ri was beside the creature in an instant, black blood gushing over his blade as he executed the demonic scout. Yet his slaying of the beast was not perfect, as a tiny pulse of Qi erupted from the corpse of the enemy. He tried to catch and snuff it out, but the thin line of Qi was already attached to something, and even though he got part of it, whatever was on the other end of that line would have surely been alerted.

Lu Ri grimaced and landed. Miss Yuanlin would have to be warned. If their foe was competent, they would investigate this sudden death of one of their scouts, and while the vision from the prophetic mortal had shown weaker demonic forms, Lu Ri would take no chances.

He had sworn an oath that the mortals of Clan Nezin would come to no harm.

=======================

Miss Yuanlin joined Lu Ri as they scoured the north. This time, they relied upon stealth, a thin mist covering them as they searched for anything that would dare threaten First Den... until, to Lu Ri’s surprise, they found their enemy.

They were five hundred in number, charging through the burgeoning storm directly toward First Den. They were armoured in black chitin and were slavering as they hurled themselves forward.

This proved that there was a demonic assault heading for Lu Ri’s Junior Brother. Lu Ri attempted to send a transmission, but within the storm as he was, the only thing he got was static.

Lu Ri frowned heavily as they retreated slightly. The two of them together should be able to ambush and destroy this force of demons, but...

“That is no main force,” Miss Yuanlin said authoritatively. “Whatever is controlling the scouts is likely controlling them.”

“I concur,” Lu Ri said, acknowledging Miss Yuanlin’s point. “But is this a scouting force, a vanguard... or the reserves?”

That is why they were called the Cloudy Sword Sect: their intent and blades were so shrouded that their enemies could not comprehend what they were going to do next. Even its name was intentionally misleading; ‘Raging’ implied something different than what it actually did.

Lu Ri had discussed the concepts of the formation once with his Junior Brother, phrasing it as a thought experiment rather than the greatest technique of the Sect. That had led to a rather confusing tangent about cats in boxes and a man called Shuding Er... that after several hours of contemplation did make a sort of sense.

Miss Yuanlin’s knives flashed out, spearing the last of the birds in the air and with some thudding into demonic flesh. The demons roared at this, and the pause in their advance ended. The demons charged into the clouds that were being supported by mist.

Lu Ri beheaded the first artificial demon to enter. The strike was made perfectly, from out of vision and with no room for retaliation.

One of the demon’s comrades immediately launched an attack, trying to strike down Lu Ri. But Lu Ri was not there. He never had been.

The demon who had tried the attack was slain. A perfect thrust through the heart—again, with no room for retaliation. Then, Lu Ri was gone again; he had never been there.

He was not Elder Ge, to simply think his formation was full of his blade and make it so. He still had to swing his sword.

Another demon died to a blow that was perfect. Then another. Then another and another and another and another.

Artificial demons did not know what fear was. They were soldiers without compare. Tireless, devastatingly strong, as durable as Spirit Beasts. Yet their minds were not fully developed. They were scarred and traumatized by their horrifying transformations. They could not comprehend what was happening.

And thus, their fates were sealed.

Within the clouds, Lu Ri was rendered unobservable. Indeterminate.

Within the clouds, Lu Ri was in every state he could possibly be at the same time.

Upon attack, his sword swung down in a perfect killing blow. On defense he was simply never there in the first place.

This was the pride of one of the greatest sects in the Empire.

This was the Raging Cloudy Sword Formation.

This was the technique that eclipsed strength. For if an enemy could not comprehend what the practitioner was doing... they would never be able to strike their foe, no matter how hard they tried.

Lu Ri stood with his hands behind his back as the Great Enemy died in droves. There were no earth-shattering techniques. There were no thunderous flashes of Qi.

There was simply perfectly applied force, with no collateral damage.

The Senior Disciple of the Cloudy Sword Sect killed and killed and killed. His blade was everywhere.

Yet still in its sheath.