Weakness

Su Tiayu narrowed his eyes as he looked once more at the destroyed place. She was an injured, malnourished woman and, apparently, one with a bad temper.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and took a step forward, invading her personal space without showing the slightest trace of fear toward the woman's nature.

His internal energy suddenly became dense, and a faint golden glimmer appeared at his temple.

Zi Yuexi noticed how Su Tiayu's Jing shone with a golden light and raised an eyebrow.

Even though Su Tiayu was trying to intimidate Zi Yuexi, she was far more interested in his Jing. She was an alchemist. Awakening the Jing of other cultivators was, in fact, her profession.

'Without a doubt, an extremely pure internal energy. Very few people would possess a Jing like this,' she thought.

Su Tiayu was not unaware of the woman's sudden attention. She certainly resembled a specter or a vengeful spirit.

He was a vessel of a will greater than any individual desire. To Su Tiayu, she was nothing more than a dangerous variable in an equation he had yet to solve.

"You have nothing tying you to this place. Correct? We will move now," he ordered without giving her another glance.

Zi Yuexi also looked away and absentmindedly played with the tips of her fingers.

She could barely remain standing and was extremely anxious. A severe headache pounded in her skull, but she ignored the discomfort as something beyond her control.

"Disciple, tell me. Did your Sect Master send you here to seal me?" she asked casually.

'My body is indeed very weak because of the Immortal Jing. If they could seal it and leave me with nothing, I could rebuild my cultivation with a stronger foundation, though with far fewer resources.'

To Zi Yuexi, her question regarding the Grand Sect Master seemed like the most precise question she could ask in her current situation.

Nevertheless, Su Tiayu did not allow her to guess that it was, in fact, the order he had received.

"The Grand Master is the Herald of Peace, and his will is absolute. If he decides that your veins shall never again channel the flow of spiritual energy, then so it shall be," he replied with a solemnity that bordered on religious devotion.

Yet while she questioned him, she was also analyzing Su Tiayu.

She could tell that his orders were to seal her, but not only had he failed to do so, he was merely escorting her instead.

'This is the man who killed my brother. But he does not possess enough power to seal an Immortal Jing, which means he was probably at the same level as him.'

However, Zi Yuexi noticed that something else was very wrong with his answer.

'If he decides spiritual power cannot flow through my veins, then it shall be? Impossible. I suppose he's more ignorant than I thought.'

Even so, she merely raised an eyebrow, a mocking smile lingering on her lips.

"Jings can only be sealed until they become a stone without spiritual power. In other words, I would be almost like a civilian," she replied, her arms crossed over her chest.

Su Tiayu did not answer. He continued giving the woman his back.

Zi Yuexi's expression became strange when the disciple said nothing, arriving at the conclusion that, indeed, something was wrong with him.

"You cannot seal me, destroy, or harm my Jing. It is basic knowledge. At most, you would merely empty my spiritual stone," she said at last.

At that moment, Lin Xianhe returned with three horses that had been tied to a nearby tree.

Su Tiayu observed the arrival of the sect's steeds with the same impassive focus as a marble statue.

The woman's arrogance was rooted in a kind of power that he considered irrelevant compared to the fulfillment of duty.

"Your distinction between being sealed, destroyed, or reduced is irrelevant to the safety of Jinling," Su Tiayu replied, mounting his horse with a fluid and mechanical movement.

He gripped the reins firmly, making his mount square itself before her.

The air between them vibrated with a tension that even the horses seemed to perceive, for they neighed nervously in the woman's presence. Su Tiayu offered no hand to help her, nor did he show any courtesy whatsoever; his hospitality was strictly limited.

"If the Grand Master decides that you must walk among us as an equal to mortals, then so it shall be. Now move," he ordered.

Zi Yuexi did not complain. In fact, she did not complain at all. She was completely absorbed in thought.

'He is like a child who cannot distinguish between good and evil. To him there is no middle ground. It only shows how innocent he is.'

A cold smile devoid of humor appeared on her lips. She said nothing more and mounted the horse, which creaked in protest the moment she climbed onto it.

She settled herself upon the horse, which trembled beneath her grip as she forced it forward. Suddenly, she looked up toward the sky.

'My defenses are weak. My body does not have much time left. If I do not arrive in time, my head will probably explode,' she thought.

She casually looked ahead toward the Senior Disciple. Her gaze traveled from the woman's back to the nape of her neck, more specifically to the cockroach-shaped mole there.

The look Zi Yuexi fixed upon Lin Xianhe's neck did not escape Su Tiayu's notice. To him, it was the gaze of a predator studying a small and curious prey, a malicious amusement that caused him to tighten his grip on his reins.

Lin Xianhe, though brave, visibly tensed beneath Zi Yuexi's attention.

Su Tiayu immediately moved to the side, placing himself between the two women.

"Stop looking at her like that. Do not make me lose my patience. Even before we reach the Grand Master," Su Tiayu warned in a voice that admitted no argument.

Zi Yuexi wanted to laugh at the disciple's stupidity, but merely shrugged and looked away.

The group began their descent along the steep path leading away from the ruins of the dungeon.

The silence was broken only by the rhythmic clatter of hooves against stone and the creaking leather of the saddles.

Su Tiayu did not relax for even a second; his vigilance was absolute. His golden eyes scanned both the horizon and every movement made by the woman at his side.

To him, this journey was not an escort mission, but the transportation of a living weapon that could explode at any moment.

Although he was not wrong, it was not exactly as he imagined. The fact that she was a living weapon capable of self-detonating was, indeed, a problem Zi Yuexi possessed.

He gently spurred his horse forward to remain alongside her, his profile carved from stone beneath the intense midday light.

"You say you do not kill for the sake of killing, yet your indifference toward the destruction of your own place of cultivation and the death of your blood suggests that, to you, life is a disposable resource," he continued, his golden eyes shining with relentless judgment.

"Do not misunderstand. I never said I was a good person, much less that I did not kill for the sake of killing," she replied almost immediately.

She was not in a good mood, and this child seemed intent on annoying her over and over again by forcing conversation.

"Your honesty is the only thing I respect so far, Zi Yuexi," Su Tiayu declared, his voice cutting through the air like an icy blade.

As they continued forward, the imposing gates of Jinling City began to materialize through the spectral whiteness.

Su Tiayu did not allow himself to be distracted by the beauty of the marble spires rising toward the heavens. Instead, he maintained his vigilance over the woman.

"We are almost there," he added, his tone becoming even more severe. "Before the Grand Master, your lineage and your power will be nothing more than shadows before the midday sun."

Zi Yuexi nodded. Her fingers began moving in small circles, materializing her internal energy in an attempt to relieve the tension within her dantian.

But the disciple knew nothing of that. Noticing the subtle movement of her hands—so slight that most people would never have noticed it—his jaw tightened.

To him, the frivolous use of arcane energy was a profanation of the natural order, a display of the arrogance that defined her.

"Stop playing with forces you do not respect," he ordered with cutting dryness.

Zi Yuexi froze momentarily, a trace of genuine astonishment crossing her eyes.

Since time immemorial, alchemists had given rise to the Jing, a technique perfected by the disciples and their founder.

She needed to release internal energy or she would simply explode. She could not escape because her body was weak at the moment, and without strength or power, freedom was nothing more than a dream.

As they crossed the threshold of the inner walls, the city's architecture began to glow with a radiance of its own.

Su Tiayu spurred his horse forward, guiding her directly toward the Temple of Eternity, where she would meet the Grand Master.

The sect's outer disciples brought an animal cage to escort her.

"We have arrived," he announced, dismounting with impeccable precision before positioning himself beside her horse. "Get down."

Zi Yuexi did not get off the horse. On the contrary, she looked at the cage with narrowed eyes. They had no evidence against her; they probably had not even known of her existence until now.

"What is the meaning of this?" she asked dryly.

"It is a containment measure for your kind." Su Tiayu remained serious as he spoke. "Get in."

With a sudden and decisive movement, Su Tiayu seized the reins of Zi Yuexi's horse.

He walked with a firm, martial stride, dragging both the animal and its rider toward the containment cage while the other disciples standing guard watched the scene with a mixture of astonishment and distrust.

He grabbed her firmly by the arm. She was weak, so she allowed herself to be dragged without complaint, allowing herself to be locked inside.

The cage door shut with a click.

The cage was small and narrow. She could see what was happening outside, but she could neither see nor hear the people beyond it clearly.

The townspeople began throwing stones, demanding the death of the woman who resembled a genocidal monster.

The insults grew louder and louder, but she could not hear them. Instead, she focused on creating little figures out of internal energy once again.

The headache persisted. More precisely, the spot on her forehead pulsed with a faint violet light, indicating that she had reached her limit.

The echo of the disciples' boots against the stone floor was the only sound that preceded their arrival at the Grand Hall, where the monumental doors of gold and silver were already beginning to open, revealing the immense silhouette of the Sect Grand Master.

Zi Yuexi's fingers began to tremble softly. The people outside the cage could see her shaping strange little figures from her internal energy, and the shouting intensified.

Su Tiayu clenched his teeth even harder because she continued to ignore everything he said, but he kept moving forward.

He had an order to carry out, and it would be done.

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