Molting the Mortal Coil

Still worried about all the Cultivators on the surface, Sage stayed beneath the surface of the ground and fled rapidly from the source of heat behind him. His plans to stay in one place and recover his strength were dashed by the foe behind him. Given that he was sunk into the earth, there was no visibility. Spiritual Sense was greatly reduced, it was quite like he’d just sunk his hands into a pile of dirt. It was filled with rocks and he was trying to find something merely with his sense of touch. The focus he put upon trying to identify his attacker saved him from a second assault.

Intent as he was on sensing his surroundings, he was able to notice someone else coming at him from the direction he was fleeing towards. He immediately realized the obvious fiery attacker was a distraction, chasing him to flee right into the hands of this other ambusher. He changed directions and darted back towards the heat. They’d come towards him from a lower depth and if he didn’t choose to head towards the surface they’d both be able to strike him as he fled. Since he thought he was going to get hit anyway, he chose to surprise the enemy in return, turning around and charging towards the heat.

Rushing into an increasingly burning area, Sage found the heat familiar and he smiled. It grew hotter and hotter and Sage waited until the last moment to call upon the Samsara Flame and sheath his body with a layer of fire. Then his Soul collided with a ghostly red skull. The orange flames surrounding him perfectly countered those that radiated from the red skull. She made the earth burn around her, but Sage bashed Hei Bai’s spirit body away with his shoulder. He charged into her and knocked her aside, and ran from the greater power he felt behind him. Just as he’d expected, he felt a flare of Law energy gathering behind him and he fled directly away from it.

Whew, that was close. How did Hei Bai break the Human Seal? Whatever, I’ve got better things to worry about.

While he’d escaped, his victory wasn’t flawless. Enduring the heat from Hei Bai and colliding with her had expended some of his soul strength, causing little dust-like motes of energy to crack and fall from him. He fled directly away from the source of Law power, but had to alter his course after traveling a few hundred yards. He could already feel a power sunk into the ground in front of him and he immediately suspected the Nascent Souls had already set up a Formation to box him in.

Changing his course to avoid the barrier in front of him, let the enemies behind catch up and he barely avoided a bright violent light. He dodged the blinding point of light, but then was struck by a spiritual limb. He saw the Violet Light Ancestor, using the bright light to blind him and then kicking him when he was avoiding it. Sage felt like a layer of his skin was torn off, the strike caused large chunks of soul matter to crack and flake off. He continued to flee, tracing the power that had cut him off and coming to the conclusion it formed a wall.

Time to make a decision.

Sage changed direction and flew towards the surface, bursting out from under the ground covered in a shroud of orange fire. He lifted into the air at his top speed and turned around to hurl a stream of white flame onto the ground behind himself. Unsurprisingly, the Violet Light Ancestor and Hei Bai stayed under the surface, not daring to leap into a shower of the First Light’s might. They knew just as well as he that this white flame he used was only powerful in a short burst and weakened quite quickly. Nor did he have any hopes of stopping them, only buying himself a bit of distance to prepare.

Now that he was back on the surface, and on dry land, he knew he had run out of time. He had roughly scanned the surroundings and as he came to the surface he confirmed his early suspicion. The other three Nascent Souls were powering a Formation Array, one which could trap spirit type beings inside. If he continued to run, the Violet Light Ancestor and Hei Bai would constantly harass him. Even if they only hit him once every few minutes, it would only take a matter of days before his Nascent Soul was completely destroyed. Worse yet, without a body, his strength was tied to the power of his soul. If they continued to slowly whittle him down, he would only get slower and weaker. It would only become easier to strike him as time passed and he’d rapidly dwindle to nothing at that time.

It was much better to make his final stand while he still had the strength to resist! He’d tossed the dice and successfully formed a Soul Resonance with the Swamp Genesis Spider. The odds of victory were still miniscule, but they were a lot higher than before. Was his luck finally going to run out? Even if he’d been lucky a few times, there was no way he could keep making miracles happen again and again, was there?

When the white flame dissipated, the Violet Light Ancestor and Hei Bai flew out of the ground. The old man had a pleased smile on his ghostly face, while the red skull’s jaw fell open and a sinister cackle was released. Sage laughed at Hei Bai, “Hah, you look much better without all those wrinkles. Being a dirty old bone suits you.”

Hei Bai started to flare up, her flames growing in intensity, but the Violet Light Ancestor waved a hand in front of the floating skull, “Don’t let him incite you. He is just a cornered animal, trying to lash out in his last moments before death. He knows he has no chance, but that is also when he’s at his most dangerous. Don’t let the beast take you down with him.”

Hei Bai’s furious flames dimmed and pulled inward, leaving her with only a thin fiery shroud, “Thank you for your wise counsel, Senior. You also fell victim to his plots, yet you still can remain calm and even advise others. I am envious of your state of mind.”

The old man twirled his mustache around one finger, a strange gesture considering neither the finger or long white mustache hair were corporeal. He put his other hand behind his back and lifted his chin, acting like a noble and refined character, “It is truly nothing. This one has merely lived many years and overcome many of the vicissitudes of life.”

Sage let them trade platitudes, since that only bought him more time to rest. Time which he used to send a message, “Ruanfu. It is time. The end is finally here.”

At that time, Sage cleared his throat to get their attention, “If you two are done sampling the farts coming from each other’s mouths, perhaps we can get back to our fight? It’s time the two of you died.”

Sage spent most of the Qi he’d replenished while hiding in the earth and more than a hundred people appeared out of thin air, completely surrounding him.