Han Yi coughed blood, her breath ragged as she thought, "Damnit… I didn't expect them to have something of that caliber. That thing can break even a peak-tier technique—let alone a high-tier one. Even after I used an artifact alongside it, I still ended up this injured."
Lin Shu stood with his armor shattered, Qi completely drained, nothing left but his battered body. His gaze swept the battlefield—Yan Qing was down on one knee, a deep wound on his shoulder and another on his knee. Ren Hao lay unconscious in the dirt.
"Damnit… I might as well be on my own," Lin Shu thought grimly.
He pulled a Qi Rejuvenation Pill from his pouch and swallowed it, hoping it would restore enough Qi for him to keep fighting—but the pill would take time to take effect.
"Yan Qing, wake him up," Lin Shu ordered, pointing toward Ren Hao.
Yan Qing poured water over Ren Hao's face and slapped him sharply. The latter stirred, groaning, before his eyes widened.
"Is she dead yet?" he asked with anticipation—only to see Han Yi, bloody and battered, but still very much standing, her posture showing she had no intention of yielding.
Lin Shu stepped forward, his voice steady. "Han Yi, we have no feud with you. We just want to leave the institute. We're unsatisfied with the way it treats its students—and with the war that's brewing. There's no need for us to kill each other over something so pointless. Whatever you think we said about anyone is false. Someone has been framing us all along. We didn't go looking for trouble. So why not make a deal—let us go."
Han Yi's eyes narrowed. "I was going to ask you this after taking you back… but I'll ask you now. That technique—you're using Lightning Steps, aren't you?"
Her tone was sharp, certain.
"And since I'm sure it is," she continued, "where did you get it?"
Lin Shu hesitated. He didn't want to mention the Tan Clan, so he said evenly, "I bought it in a black market."
"Which one?" Han Yi pressed.
"Cloud Rest City," Lin Shu replied without pause.
He chose that city for one reason—it was far away. He didn't care if she believed him or not; there was no way to verify it. He had said black market, not auction—no records, no paper trail.
Han Yi had expected as much, but the faint curl of her lips showed her curiosity had been piqued.
"I guess Uncle Lu was right," she said, voice calm but edged with steel. "As for letting you go—no. That will not happen. You are suspected of treason, theft, and most likely serving as insiders for the Jiang Clan. You will return to the mine, where the vice dean will decide your fate."
Lin Shu stared at her, his gaze heavy with irritation.
"You know," he said slowly, "I never liked you from the moment we met. I didn't intend to kill you at first. But you're so damn persistent—like a cockroach—that you can't even think for your own good. So blame no one but yourself… because no master of yours will arrive before I'm done with you."
His eyes shifted to Ren Hao and Yan Qing, his tone hardening.
"I want you two to make an oath. You will not harm me, attack me, order anyone to do so, or abandon me. You will protect me both while I fight and after I'm done, until I'm well enough to leave on my own. I will be using something that will give me the strength to defeat her, but it will cripple me for a while afterward. Your oath will ensure my safety no matter what—and you will not leave while I fight. Now decide… do you want to live or not?"
He pointed toward Han Yi, his voice lowering into a cold warning.
"She's already halfway through healing herself. Don't let her posture fool you—she's not kneeling because she's weak. She's buying time. The longer you think… the stronger she'll be. And the stronger she is, the harder it will be for any of us to survive."
Ren Hao was thinking hard. He was injured, weak, and uncertain if he could still even stand in a fight. Yan Qing was no better—still sprawled on the ground with multiple crippling wounds.
Agreeing to Lin Shu's demand might mean survival, but it also meant binding themselves to protect him no matter what, even if it meant throwing away their lives. That "no matter what" part was something neither of them liked.
Still… they understood. Lin Shu would be putting himself in danger by using that technique, and in their current state, they couldn't put up much resistance to Han Yi. There wasn't much of a choice to begin with.
After a moment of silence, they finally took the oath exactly as Lin Shu demanded—though they added their own conditions: he, too, could not abandon them should he choose to flee, nor could he harm them or order anyone else to do so, until Got it.
Han Yi's fingers curled tighter around her bowstring as she glared across the clearing. She had already been preparing herself for a final confrontation when she caught sight of Lin Shu pulling something from his pouch — a dull, pitch-black pill etched with faint, pulsing crimson veins.
Without a word, Lin Shu tossed it into his mouth and swallowed.
At first, there was only silence. Then, with a sudden, sharp crack of bone, his body began to change. Dark, jagged lines etched themselves along his veins like lightning scars, spreading from his neck to his arms, branching into every limb. His muscles swelled and corded as if straining against his own skin, the fibers knotting together with unnatural density. The air around him seemed to thicken, distorting under the raw force radiating from his frame.
His breathing deepened — each inhale dragging like a beast savoring the scent of prey, each exhale a low growl vibrating through the air. His eyes lost all human warmth, narrowing into a predator's glare that fixed entirely on Han Yi.
The Berserker's Brand Pill was meant to turn its user into a living calamity, and Lin Shu now embodied it. He hadn't even activated a single technique, yet his physical strength eclipsed what he could normally reach even when using every skill in his arsenal.
Han Yi felt her fingers tense on her bowstring. "You've lost your mind," she hissed, but there was no hesitation in her movement. She spun the bow in her grip, pulling three arrows in a single motion, loosing them in a fan spread.
Lin Shu didn't dodge. He slammed his forearm into the path of the arrows — the shafts splintered against his skin like brittle twigs. Before the last fragments even hit the ground, he was already charging.
Han Yi leapt backward, her boots scraping dirt, twisting midair to fire another volley. This time, she aimed not for his body but the ground, kicking up a blinding cloud of dust.
It didn't matter. Lin Shu burst through it, his silhouette swelling into focus like a shadow looming over prey. His fist swung — she ducked under it, but the force of the blow compressed the air so violently that it sent her tumbling sideways.
Her feet slid against the rocky terrain, the string of her bow singing as she drew again, infusing the arrow with Qi. She fired point-blank at his chest.
The arrow struck — then snapped.
A flash of shock crossed her face before she pivoted away, firing over her shoulder as she ran. Each arrow flew with deadly precision, curving at impossible angles thanks to her mastery, but Lin Shu's speed was unnatural now. His steps tore shallow craters into the earth, his figure blurring as he closed the gap.
An arrow skimmed his cheek — he didn't flinch. Instead, he grabbed it mid-flight and hurled it back at her with enough force to split a boulder. She twisted aside just in time, but the impact grazed her arm, blood spraying in an arc.
The scent of it seemed to drive him further into madness. His eyes burned brighter, and his growl deepened into something primal.
Han Yi stopped retreating. She spun her bow around, notching two arrows at once and releasing them at his legs. Lin Shu stomped forward, shattering them underfoot, then lunged. His fist shot toward her face, but she deflected it with her bow, the wood creaking under the strain. She used the rebound to leap back, firing a Qi-enhanced arrow straight for his throat.
He caught it between his fingers.
The shaft splintered instantly as he snapped it in half, tossing the pieces aside like trash.
Han Yi's eyes narrowed. She reached for her quiver — empty. Her last arrow lay broken at his feet.
Before she could switch to retreat, Lin Shu was already on her. He slammed a fist into her ribs, and the impact launched her several meters back, skidding along the ground. She coughed blood, forcing herself to roll aside as his next stomp cratered the earth where her head had been.
She scrambled to her knees, swinging her bow as two Qi blades formed on each end, cracking it against his forearm after her bow went through so much force from her high tier techniques and from the blisterbomb that exploded right infront of her bow it started to give in. The blow would have shattered a normal man's bones — Lin Shu barely flinched. He seized the bow in both hands, twisted, and ripped it from her grasp before snapping it in two.
Han Yi's breath caught. That bow had been with her as a gift from her master after he father's death she cherished and it was always the proof that her master was always with her.
Rage fueled her, and she lashed out with a palm strike, aiming for his temple. He blocked it with his forearm, then grabbed her wrist and yanked her forward into a crushing knee to the stomach. She folded over with a choked gasp, but he didn't let go. He spun her around and hurled her into a boulder — the stone cracked upon impact.
Her limbs felt heavy. Qi was leaking from her in waves — she had already spent most of it fighting Ren Hao, Yan Qing, and then Lin Shu before he'd even taken the pill. Now, her reserves were gone. Every muscle in her body screamed in protest.
Lin Shu stalked toward her, his breathing ragged but steady, each step deliberate. She tried to crawl back, but his shadow fell over her.
His fist descended.
Once.
Twice.
Again and again, each blow slamming into her face with a wet, sickening rhythm. Her head snapped back against the rock, blood running down her cheek, her vision flickering in and out.
Finally, he stopped — only to notice the glint of her spatial ring. Without hesitation, he tore it from her finger but didn't notice her breaking two wooden items.
Then he resumed.
Blood spattered across his knuckles, dripping onto the ground. Han Yi barely registered it, her mind slipping toward unconsciousness.
Lin Shu's hands shifted from fists to fingers, wrapping around her throat. He began to squeeze, his muscles like steel cables. She clawed at his arms, her body thrashing weakly, but an artifact at her neck pulsed faintly, keeping her heart beating even as the rest of her strength faded entirely.
Her eyes rolled back. She had no Qi left.
In the distance, boots pounded against the ground. Ren Hao and Yan Qing — still battered and half-healed — had finally caught up. They kept their distance, watching, making sure the deal they'd struck earlier was upheld.
None of them noticed how close the fight had drifted to the edge of the cliff. Just a few steps away, the ground dropped off into a vast ravine that split the earth so deep that its bottom was swallowed in darkness. The wind rising from it carried a hollow, endless sound.
Lin Shu tightened his grip. Han Yi's feet dangled above the dirt.
The only thing between her and death was the artifact glowing faintly against her neck — and the sheer, savage will of the man choking her over the abyss.