“Our arts are night and day, unmixable,” Yue Bing said. “There’s a reason we’ve been assigned different professions. I’m no more a blood artist than you are a spirit doctor.”
“The academy’s leadership disagrees,” Xue Long said with a grin. “That’s why we’re here to invite you to our headquarters.”
“I’m afraid I’ll be declining your invitation,” Yue Bing said.
“And I’m afraid that’s nonnegotiable,” Xue Long said.
A bloody aura filled the air as all three blood masters released their vitality in a sickening cloud. Yue Bing felt her blood try to tug free and escape, but she held it firmly in place.
“You don’t want to make an enemy out of me,” Yue Bing said.
“If you don’t come, we’ve been told it’s acceptable to incapacitate you,” Xue Long said. “Very few things are lethal to a blood doctor, so we won’t be showing restraint. Given enough time, I’m sure we can make you agree to work with us.”
The three men blurred as they lunged toward her. Yue Bing’s eyes turned bloodred as she summoned her staff affixed with a golden ankh. Wings of blood sprouted from her back; they flapped, bringing her to safety just before a sword cleaved through the air where she’d once stood.
Yue Bing waved her staff, and a shield of blood appeared just in time to deflect lances of blood that sought to impale her. She tightened her hand, and one of the high-grade blood artist’s arms evaporated in a fog of blood. It shot into her bloody shield and reinforced it.
The man didn’t even flinch. His hand regrew in the blink of an eye, and before she knew it, he’d disappeared. Left? Right? No, he was above her. She summoned six swords and pierced upward. They cut into the blood artist, who ignored the pain and grinned as he landed on top of her. He clawed at her face, only to realize, in horror, that his entire blood vitality was leaching out from him and into her. Then, gritting his teeth, he leaped off. His foot remained on the ground, only to transform into blood that was absorbed by Yue Bing.
“Her blood art is on par with our top cultivation scriptures,” the man said. “She’s weak, but she can control our blood vitality as though she were a head abbot.”
“It’s as we thought,” Xue Long said. “Change of plans: Strike at her from a distance. Refrain from using blood arts.”
The other two nodded, and hundreds of swords shot out from around them. They cut into her shield, but to their surprise, the shield regenerated after every powerful strike. Very few people at her level would have been able to resist, but Yue Bing’s blood reserves ran deep. She was a blood doctor, not a blood cultivator, and any self-respecting blood doctor carried their own portable blood bank. Unfortunately, they were far superior cultivators. Her shield wouldn’t last more than half a minute, and by then, she would be helpless.
I have a few talismans, including some that Master left me, she thought. I also know a few combat formations, even if I’m not very good at them. If I can pierce through those swords and impale them with blood spikes, I’ll be able to extract their source blood. That should weaken them enough that I can run away.
It was a plan. A bad plan. She was just a late-core-formation cultivator and a middle-marrow-refining cultivator with a weak body. All she had going for her was her tough, nigh-indestructible flesh. She wasn’t afraid of losing arms, legs, or even getting half her body blown to bits. The fact that she’d survive anything they threw at her was equally as frightening as it was reassuring. She shuddered at the thought of what they’d do to her if they caught her.
Suddenly, she saw a glimmer of light behind them. Zi Long appeared in the room. He walked around the three blood masters and danced around their swords. They continued as though nothing had happened.
He’s invisible, she realized. He didn’t stop until he reached her side. He grasped her arm and then pulled her away from her body. No, she was still in her body. She’d been pulled away from an illusory double who lay on her knees, cowering before their onslaught.
As Zi Long cut through the wall with a soul-alloy knife and pushed it open, she frowned. You could at least make me look a little more heroic or dignified, Yue Bing sent. She resented the helpless maiden he’d projected her as.
They’re seeing what they want to see, Zi Long sent back. We need to hurry out of the academy. It’s not safe for you here, despite the nonaggression pact they’ve clearly violated.
Blood artists are a violent bunch, Yue Bing said. And now that they’ve merged our departments, they can call it an internal dispute.
He nodded and pulled her away. Before long, they found themselves at Haijing Academy’s gates. They appeared, showed their identifications, and walked out into the city’s streets. They were strange streets they’d only occasionally frequented over the years. Streets where powerful cultivators hid, and even demons roamed. But the academy they’d thought safe was now hostile to them. At least out here, they stood a chance.
What about Jin Huang? Yue Bing asked. Ling Dong always spent all his time outside the city, so they didn’t need to worry about him right away.
What about him? Zi Long said sarcastically. Do you think they’d dare attack the most talented poison master on the plane in the middle of a crowded academy? One wrong move, and they’d be swimming in corpses. No, I think Jin Huang will be just fine.
Yue Bing nodded and allowed him to lead the way. In the distance, she saw cultivators in white running through the streets toward a poorer part of town. Judging by the red stains that covered their clothing, she’d have her
