Pathway

Chang Chang held the silver glaive tightly in her hand as powerful lightning bolts streaked down from the cloudy sky. Appearing before Chang Chang was a massive beast of fire with six giant heads. A dreadbeast of true fire. Chen Chen couldn't believe what she was seeing.

A dread beast was way above her in strength and power. She began to think furiously about how she was going to survive. A pair of the beast's six heads spotted the blood girl and lunged upward in great speed to snap at her. Chang Chang used flash steps to evade the beast at the nick of time. Before she could gather herself, the beast attacked again. The first attack missed, but the second head managed to nip at Chang Chang 's arm. She felt a surge of heat through her armor and jerked her hand away.

When she was slightly further away from the deadbeats, she slowed to a stop and flocked the glacier in her hand. As the creature came at her again in lightning speed, Chang Chang took off to meet it. She aimed the glaive at the dreadbeast and swing it in a swift move. The killing intent of the sword made it vibrate in her hand and she saw four glowing rings of blood erupt from its tip. The magical drops of blood slammed into the nearest head of the dreadbeast, destroying a small part of it. Three of the beast's six heads roared in pain and snapped at her, just out of reach.

Heaven's tears! Chang Chang thought. The killing intent of the weapon alone did that. How powerful could an astral weapon be?

The injured head roared at her and a wave of noxious fumes wafted over Chang Chang, making her infuse her body with more blood essence. The young blood had to cover her nose and mouth with her energy. The fumes were of the golden core level of attacks. As she cringed from the poisonous smell, the beast reared up on its hind legs and stretched two of its necks forward. Eyes blazing a superheated blue, the two heads latched onto Chang Chang's feet and pulled.

With a yelp, the Chang Chang staggered and pitched forward, losing her balance. She felt himself slipping off her battle stance as the twin heads tugged her closer. The searing pain of molten fire penetrated her armoured feet, scorching her flesh. Despite the protection of the armour, the fiery heat broiled her flesh and made her arch her back in agony.

Desperate and enraged, the young blood swirled the glaive and slashed at the head on his right. The blade bit deeply into the skull of the fiery creature, nearly slicing it from its neck. A hiss of steam and liquid sprayed from the wound, spattering the cambion. The globules sizzled as they ate through her armour and scalded her skin. Chang Chang clenched her teeth in pain but held on to her glaive.

The jaws released their grip on Chang Chang and the entire appendage recoiled. The neck flopped about crazily and the head bounced awkwardly, screaming in anguish. More of the white, superheated blood spewed from the wound. The quivering, thrashing neck grew weaker and the head grew silent. The blue-hot eyes faded to darkness as the appendage crumpled to the ground.

The other head still had a firm grip on Vhok, and it seemed to have a mind of its own, unaffected by the damage to one of its other heads. With another ferocious yank, it pulled Chang Chang off her feet. The young blood's hip felt nearly dislocated. Chang Chang cried out and tumbled into space.

In her armor, Chang Chang was too difficult for the creature to hold aloft. Still clutching her in its mouth, the beast slammed her to the ground head first, striking her hard against the ashy terrain on one shoulder as she landed. The jarring blow knocked the wind from her, and Chang Chang gasped as spots filled his vision. Her knee wrenched as the yanking, thrashing head jerked her across the scorched ground. She rolled to the side, twisting herself in a desperate attempt to keep her body from being torn apart.

The beast paused and adjusted its grip on Chang Chang's leg. She took advantage of the delay and slashed at its neck. His cut was awkward and only glanced off the glowing skin with a shower of sparks. The glaive was difficult for her to use in close combat. She raised her arm high for another blow. A second head swooped in and bit at the glaive's blade. It grabbed hold of blade and began to wrest the glaive from the Chang Chang's grip.

Chang Chang snarled. "No, you infernal thing" she thought. "You're not taking it!"

The young blood reached into her spatial sac while clinging to the weapon with the other hand. She gritted her teeth as the head tried to yank the glaive away. Chang Chang winced as her arm was whipped back and forth. She felt the two heads tug her taut and lift her from the ground. Fighting through the pain to refocus her efforts, Chang Chang managed to bring out the seal.

She activated the seal and threw it in the air. She watched with satisfaction and relief as a burst of energy was released, encircling the deadbeast's second head in death blood. The beast released its grip on both her glaive and her foot, and roared at him. As Chang Chang fell again with a painful thunk, the two heads snaked away in retreat.

Chang Chang rolled into a kneeling position, gasping for breath. Her foot and ankle throbbed with searing pain, and she wasn't certain she could stand. She knew she had to defeat the beast before it could recover from the power of the seal. She took out an energy replenishing pill from her spatial sac and crunched it in her mouth. With renewed energy, Chang Chang turned and saw the dreadbeast trying to break free from the seal.

She held her astral glaive at the ready and advanced toward the floundering, snarling beast. She feinted to one side and got one of the heads swaying that direction. Before the dreadbeast could bring the other head in the direction of the young blood, she stepped the opposite way and in close, swinging the astral weapon. The blade connected and the young blood heard a deep thump.

The beast's head and neck snapped up and back, recoiling with violent force from the deadly strike. Before the beast could recover, she struck again and the whole appendage bounced against the beast's flank before it slid down to the ground and lay still. Chang Chang raised the glaive and smiled. A little more for her to rejoice in triumph. Then, the young blood dashed forward to press the attack home against the great beast's other head. The beast puffed with its might, releasing smoke which swirled thickly and obscured the young blood once more.

Chang Chang adjusted her eyes without stopping. She had to press forward. The dreadbeast thunderous roar filled the whole place as the ground vibrated. Chang Chang swing the glaive in circle and the swirling smoke parted briefly. The remaining one of the dreadbeast's serpentine heads suddenly lurched forward, but Chang Chang was deft enough to evade it while performing her ultimate mystical move.

The Blood Of The Saints.

She had been waiting for this time. Now, she could perform the art successfully. When the move was complete, Chang Chang jumped upward and slashed the glaive twice, diagonally.  The head of the dreadbeast exploded into a million pieces. Its body slumped to the ground, lifeless.

At that moment, Chang Chang appeared again, chopping into the great first head of her foe. With both hands, the young blood drove the head of her glaive deep into the creature's breast. The strike raked down its embered flesh, cutting open a wound that sprayed white-hot goo. Chang Chang spun away, flailing at the scalding fluids as they overwhelmed the magic of his ring to burn his face and hands. But the blow she had delivered was the killing one.

The giant thing shuddered and collapsed to the ground. For a few moments, a few of its necks twitched and writhed, but Chang Chang was certain it was dead. Thanks to the blood saints, Chang Chang thought, sagging onto her back, exhausted. Being mangled by a giant double-headed beast of fire was not the way she had expected her summoning to go.

As Chang Chang nudged one of the necks of the deadbeast, a crystal fell out that she slowly picked up. A reward for a deadly battle. She turned towards the entrance that was now slowly clearing of the invisible energy blocking it before. She pulled the glaive into her soul space and headed towards the entrance. The young blood gasped slowly as she steadied her breath.

The young blood came out to many eyes watching her. First astral weapons in a hundred years. That changed everything. The Chang clan's fortune had increased, so also was their ranking. Those present knew she had received an astral weapon. But the lightning had descended twice. There was no way she could have two soul weapons, could she?

Chang Chang's parents joyfully met their happy daughter and supported her. After their lord uncle, she was the second blood to summon an astral weapon in thousands upon thousands of their clan's recent years. She had made them proud. They would be seeing her soul weapon when they reached home. For now, she had to rest.

Chang Chang was about to depart from the valley when she saw a face that stopped her dead on her track. A face she knew well enough, a face from her recent past she could never forget. The face of a boy who had done her great kindness. The face of a young cultivator the oracle had told her family about.

Ju Feng.