Chapter 509: Three Against the Redstorm Sect

(Cognosticon here. Some regrettable errors in last week's chapters, but I don't want to take any time off now. The primary thrust of the book remains steady, so please bear with minor issues until then.)

As she leapt into a storm of crimson lightning, Zae Zin Nim felt deep contentment.

She couldn't afford to fight sloppily against the Redstorm matriarch, yet she found that she actually had the upper hand. Her opponent relied heavily on her lightning scorching flesh, and Zae Zin Nim's combination of qi and her Physique meant she could endure such techniques. When they traded blows hand-to-hand, Zae Zin Nim required all her skills, but the matriarch wasn't as talented as her father had been. These cultivators had no good counter to her Coldfire Corona, offensively or defensively.

And, perhaps more than the other factors, Zae Zin Nim could fight optimally without being concerned about treacherous attacks from all sides. Because, despite the great difference in numbers, she had superior support.

When her opponent made too-sweeping a block, Zae Zin Nim thrust out her other hand. Her palm pierced through the crimson defensive technique and struck the matriarch's chest, sending her skidding backward through the air. While her opponent struggled to regain control of her flight, Zae Zin Nim took the moment to observe her spouses again.

Omilaena fought atop the flying wheel, handling the enemy poisoners while also using projectiles to disrupt any formations attempting to interfere with the highest battle. Meanwhile, Kai thundered over the city, casting dark light all around him through the enemy ranks. Those cultivators who didn't faint or cough up blood were effectively suppressed, their grand circles entirely collapsing.

They hadn't discussed that strategy, not precisely, and they didn't need to. And that was why Zae Zin Nim was so confident in their support.

The Redstorm Sect was, admittedly, well-prepared and well-organized. During the meeting, the matriarch had been giving subtle command to her subordinates, commanding the different attempts at poisoning as well as preparations for an assault. Unfortunately for them, Zae Zin Nim and her spouses didn't need such things: they knew what the others would do and acted accordingly. She had never imagined that she would be able to fight with other people like this, much less be married to them.

And so, as Zae Zin Nim leapt through the air to meet the Redstorm matriarch again, she smiled. Her life had been difficult, and contained many strange turns, yet it had led her here. She was finally free to move forward with Kai and Omilaena, toward a true immortality that Cloudspire might not even understand.

Compared to that, the Redstorm Sect was just a chore to take care of before departure.

"You think I wasn't prepared for Brightwind techniques?" the matriarch demanded. She tore one of the amulets from her neck and crushed the gemstone in her hands. "I was planning to use this against your father, but it should take care of you easily."

Intense power radiated from the crushed gemstone and the sky began to dim, the sun itself turning purple. All wind in the air stilled, and worse than that, qi seemed to freeze in place, refusing to flow properly. The purple light gathered together above the matriarch's head, forming a dark spear that trembled with ferocity, eager to be unleashed.

Some of the Redstorm cultivators began to cheer or yell out commentary, but Zae Zin Nim ignored them. It was a powerful trump card, just not one that would stop her, so she was unconcerned.

This power was chakra, not qi, presumably a treasure from Rosemount. The effect temporarily suppressed qi and likely would have left many cultivators lethally vulnerable, though probably not her father. Unfortunately for the matriarch, Zae Zin Nim was intimately familiar with chakra, so she was not disturbed, and she had other resources of her own.

When the spear leapt forward, Zae Zin Nim drew on her mana and thrust out a Coldfire Palm. They crashed together, power blasting against power... then Zae Zin Nim curled her fingers and grasped the spear. The matriarch and the watching cultivators gasped as her flaming palm gripped the attack and began to crush it.

Clashing with such power locked them both in place, and though Zae Zin Nim had the literal upper hand, she looked carefully for any opportunistic attackers. To her satisfaction, she saw only Kai hovering nearby, not attacking the matriarch even though he likely could have struck her from behind and ended the battle just then.

It was good that he understood now. This was not simply a battle to be won, they needed to prove their strength to the Eastern Plains. That was best served by fighting the matriarch directly, defeating her foreign technique in front of everyone. Kai had also disabled most of the cultivators instead of killing, so he understood that they sought dominance instead of eradication.

Crimson light surged from below as the Redstorm heir hurled qi at Zae Zin Nim's back. She didn't need to act: Kai intercepted the attack with his own body, then closed in. He and the Redstorm heir hurtled back across the battlefield and she found herself watching them.

The young Redstorm scion was a noble-looking cultivator, slim and sleek with elaborate robes - the sort of man she was supposed to want, who she might once have been married off to. By contrast, Kai was a barbaric pillar of muscle, with sharp teeth a wild mane of hair. And yet now there seemed to be no comparison between them, not to her eyes: Kai looking amazingly strong and virile compared to his opponent's stiff formal attacks.

They hurtled away, Kai driving his opponent back easily, and Zae Zin Nim regained her focus. As the chakra began to fade from the air, she increased the flow of her mana and shattered the spear.

As all watching cried out, the matriarch fell back with another bloody cough. Zae Zin Nim was barely drained from their clash and closed the distance between them in an instant, slapping her opponent. She could have gone for a lethal palm strike, but her goal now was to seize an absolute victory.

Her slap drove the matriarch away from the city, demolishing one of the outer hills. Not lethal, but it had weakened her further, both her person and reputation. Even if her opponent regrouped, Zae Zin Nim was increasing her edge in the next fight.

Meanwhile, it seemed that Omilaena had single-handed disabled the enemy's poisoners, including the matriarch's right-hand woman. Zae Zin Nim found herself watching for a moment, entranced by the way Omilaena floated amid the clouds of blue smoke to bring down the remaining cultivators. Her wife looked so elegant and graceful, dancing around her opponents and making it look good.

With the last movement Omilaena turned sharply, her dress sweeping to the side, and met Zae Zin Nim's gaze with a subtle smirk. The curve of those lips make something flip in Zae Zin Nim's stomach.

It wasn't pure theater, though: Omilaena flicked a needle to her hand and gestured downward, asking a wordless question about killing them. Good, she had continued the policy they had started in the negotiation, disabling first. That could work very well for them, especially after the exchange of techniques in the heavens.

"We surrender!" Several of the cultivators on the upper levels of the city dropped to their knees and kowtowed in Zae Zin Nim's direction desperately. "We aren't part of the matriarch's feud, we only want to live!"

"Stand down and we'll spare you," Zae Zin Nim said, using qi to magnify her voice. A large part of the Redstorm Sect immediately began surrendering, and many of those who didn't were already half-conscious due to Kai's sweep.

A cry of rage broke across the city and the Redstorm matriarch leapt forward. She had broken several of her treasures in order to rejuvenate herself, but it was clearly far from enough. Zae Zin Nim's blows had already damaged her meridians and rattled her, so when they clashed again, the blows exchanged between them were even less balanced than before.

And everyone saw it: all the survivors would spread news of how the Redstorm sect had been crushed by three people, and their matriarch defeated in a duel of cultivators. Zae Zin Nim would cease to be her father's daughter and become known as a force in her own right.

As they fought, Zae Zin Nim began pushing her body harder, slicing through the air. The dark skin that might once have shamed her now almost glowed as she tested her new limits. She battered her opponent until she finally managed to slip behind her, placing her hand against the matriarch's back.

"I want no part in my father's feud," Zae Zin Nim spoke to the crowds. "Surrender yourself and I will spare your followers. The Redstorm Sect does not have to perish this day."

"Shut up you wh-"

Zae Zin Nim imparted a little qi through her palm and the old woman's words were cut off by blood. She could have made it lethal, and a part of her was tempted to, in order to strike back at all the "aunties" who had oppressed her for so long. Instead she held back, knowing that she had the strength to plan for the long term instead of pursuing short term ruthlessness.

"Die!" The Redstorm matriarch struck at her own dantian, making all of her qi erupt in a single burst that swept over her.

Some might have considered holding back a mistake, but Zae Zin Nim had been prepared for exactly that decision. Her Coldfire Corona lit up briefly around her, sapphire in the ruby storm, and she endured the explosion. When the storm faded, only Zae Zin Nim stood in the sky over the city, now with all eyes turning toward her fearfully.

"Your matriarch sacrificed her own life in an effort to take mine," she said slowly, drawing out the tension. "However... I am unharmed, so I will consider this to be her surrender. With her life she has purchased all yours... provided that you cooperate."

Almost all of those who still stood threw down their arms and released their qi. Zae Zin Nim hadn't expected such total surrender, and though she wanted to attribute it to her own strength, she suspected that a large part of it was that the sect followers didn't care about her vendetta. The feud had been first and foremost against her father, after all.

So the battle was won... except for the scion of the sect, who screamed wordless rage at her. Kai had beaten him away from the city, tearing many gashes in those ornate robes, but hadn't finished him. Now, having seen his grandmother die, the young man reached into a spatial bangle for his own desperation measures.

He was no direct threat, but as she recognized explosive and teleportation amulets, Zae Zin Nim suddenly realized that Kai was nearest. Surely he wouldn't make an error and go too far, not after all this? His altruistic tendencies could appear at the strangest times... but Zae Zin Nim decided that she would trust her husband, even as he started to move.