"They fight well," Li Yu nodded approvingly. "They found their footing and are pressing their advantage where they can."

  Suddenly, a massive pressure erupted from the central keep of the black fortress.

  The roof exploded. A figure shot into the sky and was hovering on a cloud of black oily smoke. He wore robes of tattered shadow and his face was a smooth, blank surface of white porcelain. No eyes, no mouth and no nose. It wasn’t a mask either, that was how his face actually looked. How it got that way no one knew.

  Faceless.

  The Leader of the Shadow-Viper Hall. A Second Stage Soul Formation expert in cultivation but much more deadly than that. His assassination techniques were well refined and the number of victims that were higher in cultivation than him was plenty. How he secured such kills no one knew but no one underestimated him.

  "You would dare attack us directly?!" The Faceless roared, his voice projecting directly into their minds. "Has the name of the Vipers fallen so much?"

  He unleashed a wave of shadow tendrils, each one thick as a tree trunk. They were lashing out at the descending disciples and seemed endless.

  "Insects!" Faceless screamed. "I will feast on your—"

  CRACK.

  A bolt of azure lightning—no, a woman moving at the speed of lightning—slammed into him.

  Feng Meilin appeared in the sky and engaged him. She didn't use a sword. She simply kicked him. Faceless was launched backward by the kick and crashed through three towers before skipping off the muddy water of the marsh.

  He roared out loud, exploding out of the mud. "Feng Meilin! You madwoman! Why are you here? What have we done to you? Who paid you?"

  "No one paid me!" Meilin shouted back. She was descending slowly now with the wind swirling around her like a storm goddess. "You touched my children. This service is free."

  "Your children?" The Faceless paused and was confused. "I don't know what—"

  "Silence!"

  Meilin raised her hand. The air pressure in the entire marsh dropped.

  "Domain: Hurricane."

  A dome of wind surrounded them instantly. It immediately cut off the outside world. Inside the dome the air moved at extreme speeds and began turning into millions of invisible blades.

  Faceless panicked as he could sense the power. He could sense that Meilin was here to kill him without mercy. He summoned a giant avatar of shadow. It was unclear whether it was a technique or his martial spirit but it was a hydra of darkness and he was using it to protect himself.

  "Shadow Arts: Eternal Night!"

  The darkness expanded outwards and was trying to choke out the wind. Meilin sneered. She didn't move to dodge. She didn't take any actions to block. She flew straight at him with fury.

  The shadows lashed at her. As they got closer to her the wind within the domain reacted with its own intelligence. It lashed out as well, hundreds of invisible blades met the shadows and destroyed them.

  She reached the shadow avatar. She pulled back her fist, wind compressing around it until it glowed white-hot.

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  "Shatter."

  She punched. It wasn't a technique of finesse or one using her main weapon. It was the brute force of a mother who had almost lost her family. She was here to make him suffer, not just quickly end his life.

  The shadow avatar disintegrated. The punch carried through, slamming into Faceless’s chest.

  "Wait!" he gurgled as blood was spraying out from his featureless face somehow. "I can pay! I have a lot of treasures! I have secrets that can be valuable to you!"

  "I don't want your treasures," Meilin said coldly. She then grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up. "And your secrets die with you. This is the price for touching my family."

  She tightened her grip. Wind Qi flooded into his body, shredding his meridians, his core and his very soul from the inside out. It was a ruthless way to kill someone, he was cut a countless amount of time from the Wind Qi.

  Faceless twitched once then went limp. Meilin dropped him like discarded waste. He fell into the swamp and became just another corpse in the mud. The wind finally died down. The domain faded.

  Only the elders and a few cultivators that were more powerful were able to see what happened within. They saw the power and ruthlessness of their leader and a sense of pride surged through them all. This was their leader!

  Silence returned to the Mist-Shatter Marshes and was broken only by the crackle of burning buildings and the cheers of the Divine Wind disciples.

  Li Yu let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. The Trio was of course able to see what had happened inside and it was an awe inspiring sight.

  "Remind me," Li Yu whispered to Si Luo, "never to make her angry."

  "Agreed," Si Luo said with appreciation. "She fights with... adequate enthusiasm. She wasn’t even using her weapon and wanted to take out her rage on him."

  "Adequate?" Bai Ruo pushed up her glasses. "She is a walking natural disaster."

  Meilin flew back up to the Storm-Bringer. She landed on the deck, her silver armor gleam dull under the smoke but her hair was still perfectly coiffed. There wasn't a speck of blood on her and it barely looked like she had taken part in a fight. That was the overwhelming difference between the two of them.

  Of course, Faceless was not in his element. He couldn’t plan out his attack, ambush and do whatever else it was that he normally did. He was fighting on Meilin’s terms and she was not only much stronger than him, she had everything controlled from start to finish.

  She walked over to Li Yu with a satisfied smile on her face.

  "Done," she announced.

  "I saw," Li Yu said as he handed her a fresh cup of tea. "Efficient. Brutal. A display worthy of the leader of the Divine Wind Sect."

  "I try," Meilin accepted the tea. She looked down at the ruins of the Shadow-Viper Hall. Her disciples were now looting the treasury and whatever else they could get. The loot would be divided later back at the sect. "They won't bother anyone again. This is a good deed that the Divine Wind Sect does for the people."

  "And the client?" Li Yu asked. "The one who hired them?"

  "Faceless didn't know," Meilin sighed. "I crushed his soul to check before he died. He didn’t even know that his underlings took on the job. Not everything needs to be told to the leader after all. A dead end."

  "A shame," Li Yu mused. "But at least the tool is broken."

  "Exactly," Meilin sipped her tea. "And now, the world will remember: The Divine Wind Sect slaughters back."

  Feng Wei and Feng Xi flew up to the deck. They looked exhausted but exhilarated. They bowed to their mother.

  "Report," Meilin ordered.

  "Hostiles neutralized," Feng Wei said. "Casualties on our side are light. Three minor injuries, no deaths."

  "Good," Meilin nodded. She reached out and brushed a smudge of soot from Feng Wei's cheek. "You fought well. Both of you. Your father would be proud."

  Feng Xi beamed as he leaned into her mother's touch.

  Li Yu watched the scene, a feeling of jealousy and envy swelled within his chest. It quickly passed and a smile appeared on his face as he appreciated the warmth of it. The threat was gone. The family was safe.

  "So," Meilin turned to Li Yu, her combat aura fading back into her usual sultry charm. "The assassins are dead. My vengeance is sated. What are you going to do now?"

  She gestured to the horizon.

  "Are you going to continue your journey, Li Yu? Or do you have any other enemies you'd like me to crush while I'm warmed up? I still owe you a favor for saving my children."

  Li Yu laughed as he was raising his cup.

  "No more enemies, Sect Master. Just smooth sailing and good wine from here on out. At least I hope so."

  The fleet turned, leaving the burning ruins of the Mist-Shatter Marshes behind. They were returning back to their home after a successful mission.