Chapter 338: Not an Equal

~~~

Feng Zhi runs with all his might.

He held back while he and Feng Hao were still inside Imperial Cloud City. His father’s attention might have been on Qing Jin’s match, but there was always a chance he might notice Feng Hao moving further away instead of closer. Even after crossing the city gates, Feng Zhi made sure to keep his Qi low. One could never be too careful when dealing with Emperors.

Once the giant fire sword appeared in the sky, Feng Zhi discarded all pretenses of subtlety.

“Elder Brother, wait!” Feng Hao yells over his shoulder. His eyes are wide as he looks at their father’s technique on the horizon. “What’s going on?! What’s happening in the city?!”

“Something dangerous,” Feng Zhi says, trying to decide how much or how little to tell Feng Hao. Too little would make him uncooperative. Too much would incite him to do something reckless. “We need to get as far away as possible.”

“I can help!” Feng Hao protests.

Feng Zhi snorts.

“Assess yourself properly,” Feng Zhi rebukes him. “Do you think either of us could make any difference in that mess?”

As if on cue, a tremor runs through the earth, and a shockwave that clears out every cloud in the sky leaves their ears ringing.

“The best thing we can do right now is get somewhere safe,” Feng Zhi continues. His voice becomes softer. “Little Brother, we’d all grieve if something happened to you.”

“What about Brother Jin?” Feng Hao asks. “This is related to him, isn’t it? Wouldn’t we grieve if something happened to him? Shouldn’t we try to help him?”

Feng Zhi bites his tongue. That idiot brought all of this on himself, but there is no way he can say that. For whatever reason, his younger brother likes and respects that man.

“Qing Jin is–”

Every one of Feng Zhi’s instincts suddenly screams at him. Before he realizes what he is doing, Feng Zhi tosses Feng Hao away. Unfortunately, it is already too late.

A blade of fire surges from his robes.

Feng Zhi’s heart nearly stops as the fiery blade cuts Feng Hao. The world slows down as sheer panic pushes him into a state of complete clarity. He sees everything happening slowly. The relic that gave him victory over Huang Shing and allowed him to fight Qing Jin is not burning his brother.

Just the seals on his skin.

As the moment is burned into Feng Zhi’s eyes, his mind starts making connections. The sword is a relic of the Crimson Cloud, and Feng Hao is the one chosen by the Crimson Cloud. This wasn’t an activation caused by his will. It was the Crimson Cloud manipulating the relic from afar for its own ends.

The damned thing is going to burn for daring to use him to hurt his little brother!

“Brother,” Feng Hao calls out to him, unharmed yet in shock. His Qi is literally steaming the air around him. With the talismans gone, there is nothing holding back his breakthrough. “I think I…”

“Hold it in!” Feng Zhi says, tossing the relic away and rushing over to his side. “You cannot allow yourself to make a breakthrough right now.”

His eyes slide over to the seals. They are nothing but ashes. The few that remain stuck to Feng Hao’s skin border on useless. If Feng Hao undergoes a breakthrough right now, his connection with the Eternal Flame will grow stronger than it already is, and he will become a conduit between it and the Crimson Cloud.

“But if I-“

If Feng Hao allows himself to go through a breakthrough, he might be able to make a difference. Feng Zhi sees the thought forming in Feng Hao’s head before he even utters it.

“There are Emperors there,” Feng Zhi says. “One or two breakthroughs are not enough, but your cultivation will be damaged if you advance right now. You could permanently stunt your growth!”

Feng Hao looks conflicted. For a moment, Feng Zhi fears the worst. However, the wild energies around Feng Hao soon start shrinking. Sweat shines on his brother’s forehead as he tries his best to hold back his Qi. Unfortunately, it is not easily done.

“Brother,” Feng Hao says, his face red from sweating. Steam rises from his body. “I don’t think I can… It’s too much!”

“Don’t give up!” Feng Zhi says, using his own Qi to try to contain Feng Hao’s energy. Madness under most circumstances, yet what else can he do now? “Contain it!”

Even as he speaks, doubt starts brewing in Feng Zhi’s heart. Feng Hao’s power is too great. The more they try to hold back his breakthrough, the greater the pressure on his body. Gold flames already flicker around Feng Hao, urging him to take the next step. It starts to dawn on Feng Zhi that short of seriously damaging Feng Hao’s cultivation, there might be nothing he can do to stop this.

However, before he can dwell on that terrible choice, a flash of light appears before him, tearing him away from Feng Hao. Golden flames rise around Feng Zhi, fully intent on destroying whoever intends to harm his brother.

“Calm yourself,” the interloper says, “though I suppose asking a Feng to show self-control is too much.”

“You!” He cries, staring at Shi Qingxia. “How are you alive? …What are you wearing?”

Feng Zhi trails off. Feng Hao’s Qi has suddenly stopped raging for some reason. His brother looks as lost as he is, staring at his previously steaming hands in confusion.

“What did you just do?!” Feng Zhi asks her.

“I put one of these on him,” Shi Qinxia says, holding up a small talisman which she then immediately sticks to Feng Hao’s skin.

“Hey!” Feng Hao yells. The talisman is stuck to his forehead, making it hard for him to see.

“It’s for your own good,” she says, taking out another one and repeating the process. “These aren’t quite as sophisticated as what you had on you, but they’ll do the job. They better, considering what they cost. You’d think the Five Blessings House would have given us a discount.”

“The Five Blessings House?” Feng Zhi is torn between confusion and anger as he stares at the scene before him. As usual, anger wins out. “What’s going on?! Explain!”

“Qing Jin told you to get out of the city, didn’t he?” Shi Qinxia asks him, still putting talismans on his brother. “Did you think that was all he did? The moment he knew about the problem, he commissioned these from the Five Blessings Group and had instructions sent to us through their office. None of this was part of the original plan, but it might work better this way. Come with me. You’ll be safer that way.”

“Go with you? Where?”

Shi Qinxia points up.

Feng Zhi and Feng Hao follow her finger. A second later, Feng Zhi’s eyebrow begins to twitch dangerously.

“I hate him so much,” Feng Zhi says.

~~~

Meng Yue steps outside the regular flow of time.

It has only been a few seconds since the battle began, yet most of the audience has already fled the Crimson Cloud Arena. Sister Lianshi and Feng Shang are nowhere to be seen, and Elder Chen of the Infinite Mountain Sect has begun fighting Elder Xue of the Eternal Flame Clan. The Wandering Wind is watching, but not doing anything.

None of it matters right now.

Her opponent is Feng Gui.

A single step places her in front of him. Her fist is ready. Her Qi thirsts for battle. Feng Gui’s frozen face is the perfect target.

She is the one thrown back.

Meng Yue stops herself in the air right before she leaves the arena. She rubs her jaw, confused yet intrigued. The world is still frozen, yet Feng Gui definitely moved just now.

Golden flames burst to life in front of her. A blast of cold snuffs them out.

Another blow falls on her.

At that exact moment, she counterattacks.

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Feng Gui and Meng Yue are thrown back by each other’s hits.

“Clever,” Meng Yue says, looking at the frozen Feng Gui as she rubs some blood from her mouth. “You are destroying the time it takes for you to attack and evade, but it seems you lack precision.”

Feng Gui does not answer. His body remains frozen in time.

Meng Yue sighs. She raises her hand, and a frozen lotus appears on it.

Golden fire burns the sky.

It does not burn Meng Yue’s body, but she feels it burn something far more important. The boundary between her spatial realm and the true world is destroyed with a single flare. Time destabilizes, and her technique ends.

“As expected, you’re a very frustrating woman,” Feng Gui says, brushing some hair out of his forehead.

Meng Yue huffs and crosses her arms.

“I should be the one saying that. Why pretend you can’t move? Isn’t it better this way?” Meng Yue replies.

“Destruction cannot be carried out senselessly, especially when time is involved,” Feng Gui says. “That is exactly why I do not want to involve myself with a brute like you. We can both interfere with time. The more we fight, the greater the effects. It is ill-advised.”

He is not wrong. She makes time. He destroys it. There are consequences for that. Even as he speaks, time and reality ripple around them, much to the confusion of several fighters. Down in the city, a vase falls and shatters only to become whole the next second.

“You’re such a hypocrite,” Meng Yue says. “If it were only you who could do this, you’d abuse it however you wanted.”

“Naturally,” he replies shamelessly.

Meng Yue laughs.

“Annoying. You’re so annoying,” Meng Yue says, yet she smiles. “Why does someone like you have to be such a good opponent for me?”

“Believe me, I hate it even more than you,” Feng Gui replies.

“Good, let’s see if I can make you hate it a little more,” Meng Yue says.

Ice and fire rage above the Crimson Cloud Arena.