Molting the Mortal Coil

He opened his mouth and released a gust of wind, causing a sudden sharp wind to form. Then he released a burst of white flames onto his arms and scorched the melting skin. The pain was constrained by his mental technique and he performed one last action with brutal efficiency. A thin thread wrapped around his biceps and sliced deep, pulling down his arms and peeling off a few layers of his skin, isolating the internal structure from the outer portions that had started to resemble melting butter.

A bloody mess splashed onto the ground and he shot another gust of flame onto it. Brilliant ruby blood spilled to the ground at his sides, falling from his freshly skinned arms. Then a shimmery blue liquid appeared from the torn sleeves on his shoulders and flowed over his bloody arms. The shimmery liquid turned cloudy like ice and partially solidified, forming a sheath around his two arms. Then his enhanced healing ability quickly went to work, repairing the damage while the layer of Blue Icesilver kept him from bleeding out.

Very slowly, the person in the black cloak turned around to face him, and a pair of wrinkled hands reached up and pulled back the hood. An old and leathery face greeted him, covered with deep scars. The scars and loose skin made it look like she had saggy jowls, and one of her eyes had a milky cataract, while the other was clear and strong, filled with menace.

Damn it, how is she still alive?

“Hei Bai. We meet again. Was it you who purchased that stuff at the auction? Seems you’ve been planning this for quite a few years.”

The old woman’s face twisted with perverse pleasure, and she cackled loudly, “Kekeke. Looks like I’ve already collected on a little of the interest you owe me. You can stop pretending to be a human, you can’t fool me. I’m going to tear out your soul and torture it for a hundred years until you become a Spirit of Resentment. Your monstrous body will become my puppet, and I’ll use it to kill every person you’ve ever known. You’ll see that choosing not to be my partner has led you to a fate many times worse than death.”

Sage stood where he was, not making a move as that terrible aura still surrounded Hei Bai. He blinked his eyes, and a starry field filled his right pupil. He used the Timeless eyes while analyzing her and her future actions. As soon as he formed the intent to perform an action, he could see the likely futures that it led to, and by changing his intent he could predict the result of dozens of different options. After a few seconds he smiled at Hei Bai.

“I already defeated you once in the past. You couldn’t beat me then, so what thinks you can beat me now?”

She sneered at him, and that terrifying energy built up again, “Hah, you were just playing the pig to eat the tiger. You were luckier than me and I was holding back to try and recruit you. Do you think I would be so stupid again? I’m not going to go easy on you this time.”

“It’ll be even more fun as you have an audience that will get to see you broken and defeated,” she then glanced over at Tujiu and Xiezi before continuing to speak, “Or are they more meaningful? Should I string you up and torture their souls while you watch? A little preview of what is to come next for you.”

As she spoke, her voice grew more ferocious and her one good eye started to shimmer. The deep dark brown iris of her eye and the black pupil slowly swirled like a pool of water. Then a strange white blob flowed across like a bubble in a lava lamp. The amorphous white blob slowly shifted until it took the shape of a small skull. The tiny white skull in her eye gave Sage a strange feeling, especially when it suddenly darted to the side, staring at the ground for a moment and then moving back to him.

That look confirmed his assumption of her eye and he stared coldly at her, “Do you think that just because you can see souls that you will win?”

Unfortunately, his Foresight showed him that trying to use the Hypnotic Eyes on her would not lead to success. She didn’t seem to be at the same rank as him, but as an eye technique it seemed to be countered by the one that she was using. As for a direct confrontation, that terrible aura coming from her was not normal. From the feel of it, she was channeling that strange fingerbone necklace. The worst result of selling a terrible weapon was having someone else use it upon you, and now he was facing just such an event. Even so, as his Foresight showed him, Hei Bai’s control over such power was limited at best. If she truly had such great power at her fingertips he would have never beat her in the first place.

Especially now, when she was just standing there. He’d only barely brushed against it and suffered such a terrible injury yet now she didn’t move at all. There were likely to be severe limitations and costs to using such a power.

At that moment, she lifted her hand and a series of interconnected femur bones appeared. From end to end they formed a staff as tall as she was, topped with a skull. An eerie green flame formed in the eyes of the skull and an apparition flew out of Hei Bai’s back. It was wispy and indistinct, a green ghost floating into the air and wailing with sorrow. She waved her other hand and a huge pile of bones appeared next to her. One of them flew into her hand, an elongated animal skull with a pair of large horns on the nose and forehead. The green ghost swooped downwards and was sucked into the skull, like a vacuum facing off against a small cloud of smoke.

Sage recognized the Yin Bone Adornment technique that he’d found in Hei Bai’s possessions. The skull flew out of her hand and floated in mid-air. The pile of bones flew up off the ground of their own accord and started to attach themselves to the skull. A full skeleton was formed, looking like some sort of middle ground between a rhino and a horse. The large bulk and horns of a rhino, yet with the graceful neck and long legs of a horse. The skeleton smashed its hooves down against the ground and dirt blasted into the air. It took a few steps and then reared up into the air on its hind legs, releasing a deep and low pitched neigh.

At that moment, he also took action and he grabbed hold of the laws around him. His Qi resonated with the energy of the world and manifested as the Law of Corruption. He reached out for the power around Hei Bai and dampened it. That terrible energy had caused the skin to melt off his arms with just the barest contact. It corrupted his true nature and so, it fell under the purview of his law. He lifted his hand and reached out towards Hei Bai. Then he dramatically closed his fist, and the terrible aura coming from her was drastically diminished.

She felt the sudden change and shrieked in anger, “What?! How dare you!”

The skeletal rhino-horse waited no longer, throwing its upper body back to the ground and accelerating itself forward. It charged towards Sage at high speed, creating a thunderous sound as its hooves smashed the rock and dirt apart.