162. Flower Amidst Flames
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Earlier...
At the center of the courtyard, Xu Weiyan remained standing before the dead pine tree, utterly still and surrounded by her flame shield.
A short distance from her, Qin Yuelian raised a hand to her head, a bit disoriented by the trance, and she drew in a sharp breath in realization.
"Not good! They've discovered the Mistress's identity!" She said aloud.
She briefly forgot her rage against Xu Weiyan who had ignored her all this while, standing still within the unyielding shield.
But Qin Yuelian quickly steadied herself and her startling pink sword reappeared in her hand.
If she dared return to her Mistress without killing Xu Weiyan, she herself might end up dead!
"Xu Weiyan..." She began. "Or rather, I should say, 'Yan Liwei'! To think I severely underestimated you. So all along, you were that irritating phoenix, wearing the body of a mortal?!"
She swung out her sword. "Just as well! I will hold nothing back from now on!"
A surge of her aura exploded around her, and a lotus symbol appeared on her forehead.
The prettiest of blossoms bloomed across her arms and on parts of her neck and face, turning her into an unbelievably beautiful entity, with a large double-tiered, six-petal white lotus beneath her feet.
She raised the brilliant pink sword and her qi gathered to the sword in a massive pink wave, causing their surroundings to quake for miles.
"You should be proud before you die...! I haven't shown this form to anyone in almost a Millennia!" She finished, giving the sword a mighty swing and directing all that impossible aura towards Weiyan.
The pink arc of aura slammed into Weiyan's shield which held for a few seconds. But the shield began to crack under the immense pressure, and it shatterered, letting the massive aura fly straight to Weiyan.
There was a huge flash of light as the aura crashed into her, causing a massive explosion, and Qin Yuelian shielded herself from the shockwave and the flying bits of debris.
"Hmph!" She scoffed as things settled down and the light died away, revealing a completely destroyed courtyard.
The pine tree was blown apart into tiny splinters which had flown far and wide, and the courtyard itself was now leveled into mere dust heaps.
The damage would have been much worse if her Mistress hadn't been protecting the city, and Qin Yuelian breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that she hadn't done anything to anger her Mistress.
"That hit can even kill a High Immortal..." Qin Yuelian mused aloud. "Much less one misguided Mortal! Hmph!"
She swivelled, intending to leave, but she froze in her tracks. "Im- Impossible!"
Standing before her was Xu Weiyan!
"No...! Th- This can't be!"
The Weiyan before her was no longer blank-eyed, but her features were still expressionless.
Gone were her battered and bloody light-blue Yueyan disciple robes, and gone were all her earlier injuries.
Xu Weiyan's looks could only be described as divine, with pristine gold and white robes, gold sandals, and most astounding of all, large golden wings which glowed brightly like the most brilliant of treasures.
And this was when Yinying had first appeared atop the roof...
'Wah! Is this still the mortal Xu Weiyan?!' He thought. 'Since Xu Weiyan and Yan Liwei are the same, perhaps Yan Liwei has taken over?!'
But before Yinying could dwell further on it, Luoyin's voice spoke in his head, and so...
~"...Heh! You should come and witness wonders!"~ Yinying had said.
Luoyin reverse-summoned to join him soon after, and the two stood atop the roof which looked down into the severely leveled courtyard.
"This is-!" Luoyin exclaimed in shock.
He now knew Weiyan and Liwei were the same person, but this was still strange...
Xu Weiyan was still a mortal right now, and unlike him who had combined his Body Fortification with a number of tricks and talismans to match immortals, Weiyan's training so far had mostly been normal...
So how was this possible?!
Down below, Qin Yuelian staggered back a step, shaking her head in disbelief.
"It's not possible! You're a mortal!"
"Umh." Weiyan responded in that calm and simple way which tended to piss off opponents!
And sure enough, a vein ticked on Qin Yuelian's forehead. "I will destroy you!!!!" She raged, leaping at Weiyan with her pink sword, her aura surging.
However...
"Hmph." Weiyan blurred and it was as if a gust of wind passed by Qin Yuelian.
But in the next instant, Qin Yuelian froze as blades slashed at her from every angle!
Her blood spattered and she grasped her middle, swivelling to face Weiyan who now stood behind, her white sword dripping with blood
"YOU LOWLY MORTAL!!" Qin Yuelian roared, and she swung her sword in wide arcs, sending dense and lethal waves of qi towards Weiyan.
The qi was so dense that the entire area shook and Luoyin's eyes widened with worry, but...
Weiyan simply shook her head, and with a dismissive wave of her hand, the qi waves were instantly dispersed!
"Hao! I'll show you the true difference between us!!" Qin Yuelian raged, her hands flying into various seals.
"Chrysanthemum Storm!"
Large phantom chrysanthemums appeared around Weiyan, spinning and releasing endless lethal petals towards her, but upon impact, they simply disintegrated as if an invisible shield surrounded her.
"Blade Petal Rage!"
A vast pink seal appeared above Weiyan, showering her with thousands of dense deathly sharp petals along with the chrysanthemum blades. But again...
"Hmph." Weiyan snapped her fingers and all the petals and flowers instantly burnt to ashes.
"Supreme Rending Lotus!!" Qin Yuelian's aura surged to new heights as a giant crystal white lotus manifested behind her, shooting forth thousands and thousands of immensely powerful aura swords towards Weiyan.
The pressure was enough to constrict the air and the entire space rumbled, causing quakes in the ground.
But Weiyan held up two fingers. "Break." She uttered, and the crystal lotus behind Qin Yuelian instantly shattered, making the swords dissipate.
"You-!" Qin Yuelian sputtered out a mouthful of blood. "My techniq- ! What did you do?!!"
"Don't you like planting seeds?" Weiyan held up a hand, revealing a small seed hovering over her palm.
It was the seed Qin Yuelian had planted in her earlier.
"I also planted a little flame within you when I burned your flowers earlier. I can easily cancel all your techniques now. You can go ahead and pull out more powerful ones."
"You-!" Qin Yuelian swung out her arm and her sword reappeared. "Hao! I'll admit I underestimated you, but don't get cocky!! I'll face you head-on!"
She unleashed her full strength and leapt forward, flash-stepping to slash at Weiyan.
But Weiyan's golden wings elegantly curled each time, automatically blocking all attacks.
Qin Yuelian raged and her aura surged as she swung her sword downward, but it was met by Weiyan's own white sword.
The two darted in brilliant flashes of light, the startling pink sword meeting the dazzling white sword, and each impact was leveling everything around them.
At first it seemed like Weiyan was being pushed back, but then her hits became harder and heavier, sending Qin Yuelian stumbling backwards with each clash.
'How is this possible?!' Qin Yuelian wondered, quickly lifting her sword to meet Weiyan's most recent swing, but yet again she found herself stumbling back. "I'm really being suppressed by this mortal?!
'Isn't she still a mortal?!'
"Hmph." Weiyan blurred yet again and was suddenly behind Qin Yuelian, and with a swift swing, Qin Yuelian was sent flying forward.
"I should have said..." Weiyan approached. "That flame would also eat at your essence, slowly stealing your strength."
"You-!" Qin Yuelian rose to her feet, clutching her middle. "How underhanded!"
Weiyan shrugged. "I'm mortal. I'm not foolish enough to challenge you without a plan. Now then..." She suddenly vanished.
Qin Yuelian glanced around in a panic seeking out Weiyan, and her eyes widened in fear when Weiyan appeared right before her.
"You -!!" Qin Yuelian began, but her words were cut off when Weiyan lashed out suddenly, her hand grasping Qin Yuelian's neck in a powerful chokehold.
"Both past and present... Daring to touch A-Yin is your biggest mistake!" Weiyan finished, her fingers tightening.
Qin Yuelian sputtered, clawing at Weiyan's hand. "You - fil...thy mortal...! How dare yo- treat m- like this?! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!!!"
But Weiyan's brows furrowed prettily as a fierce jet of white flames instantly surrounded the hand clutching Qin Yuelian's throat.
"I'd like to see where you get the power to do so!" Weiyan finished and her white flames suddenly exploded into brilliantly coloured flames, spreading to burn Qin Yuelian in and out.
'Five-colour flames!' Luoyin's irises lit on a sight he hadn't beheld for thousands of years. 'No wonder she was able to handle the eye-eater back then!'
Also, he could sense his own aura rolling off her, finally alerting him to the source of her present strength...
Weiyan's memories had somehow awakened the Dragon Pearl within her, filling her with power beyond the Mortal Realm!
And that, when combined with her own innate strength, the phoenix fire, and memories of her past techniques, certainly made her more than a match for a mere flower, no matter how divine.
Luoyin shook his head.
'To think we were searching for the dragon pearl... It was right in front of us!'
Meanwhile, Qin Yuelian was screeching and writhing, sending wave upon wave of dense aura shooting outward, but Weiyan tightened her grip against the pressure, shutting her eyes.
She held up her index and middle finger and the air around them was suddenly charged with energy which made their hairs and robes swirl.
The phoenix symbol appeared on her forehead, glowing brightly and making the flames surge with a sudden blinding intensity which encompassed the surroundings in a searing wave of heat.
Under such immense pressure, Qin Yuelian's aura flickered away and she gave a final scream which caused Luoyin and Yinying's hairs to raise on end...
'I- Is she dead?!' Both wondered glancing at each other, and then back down at the blinding mass of flames down below.
But Weiyan withdrew her flames to reveal a barely-conscious Qin Yuelian, her breath coming in short and weak gasps.
Qin Yuelian showed no outward signs of being burned.
Her appearance had merely reverted back to normal, though she looked incredibly dirty and disheveled.
Yet when Weiyan released her, she crumpled to the ground unable to move a single muscle.
"Wha-...? What did you ... do to me...?!" She rasped from her awkward position on the ground.
"I burned away every shred of your power, along with your core and meridians."
Weiyan's sword vanished as she replied in that same calm infuriating voice.
"You might eventually regain your physical strength, but forget about the prominence you once attained... You'll never live long enough to achieve it!"
Qin Yuelian struggled to move, but only flopped fully to the ground, and try as she might, she could no longer sense even the tiniest flare of her powers within.
In fact, she felt like a blank slate... An empty vessel...!
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