Shen Qinghe POV
Lan Meiying's ice sword stopped three inches from my throat.
I didn't move. Didn't breathe. One wrong twitch and she'd slice through my neck before I could summon my spiritual energy.
"Well?" she said sweetly, like we were discussing tea instead of murder. "Any last words, Magistrate?"
Behind her, Lin Yuehua stood frozen, her face pale. Xu Tian had his hand on his sword, but we both knew it was useless. You can't fight a cultivator with normal weapons. It's like throwing rocks at a hurricane.
I needed to think fast. Lan Meiying hadn't killed me yet, which meant she wanted something.
"If you're going to kill me," I said calmly, "at least let the mortals leave first. They have nothing to do with this."
"Noble." Her smile widened. "But stupid. Master Wei wants you alive. He said your Golden Core is too valuable to waste on a quick death." She tilted her head. "Though he didn't say you had to be completely unharmed."
The ice sword moved.
I summoned my spiritual fire and rolled sideways. Her blade crashed into the ground where my head had been, freezing the dirt solid.
"Run!" I shouted at Yuehua and Xu Tian.
They didn't move. Idiots.
Lan Meiying attacked again, faster this time. I blocked with a fire barrier, but her cultivation level was higher than mine. The ice cracked through my flames, forcing me backward.
We fought in the town square, and it was bad. Really bad. Every time our powers clashed, buildings shook. Windows shattered. People screamed from their homes.
This was exactly what I'd tried to avoid for ten years—bringing cultivation battles into a mortal town.
"Stop!" Yuehua's voice cut through the chaos. She stepped between us, arms spread wide. "Stop fighting right now!"
"Yuehua, move!" I yelled.
"No!" She glared at both of us. "I don't care if you're cultivators or demons or whatever. This is my town, and I won't let you destroy it!"
Lan Meiying laughed. "Brave little mortal. Stupid, but brave." She raised her sword. "Master Wei didn't say anything about keeping witnesses alive."
Something inside me snapped.
I moved faster than I'd moved in years, placing myself between Lan Meiying and Yuehua. My spiritual energy exploded outward—not controlled, not careful. Pure protective rage.
The blast sent Lan Meiying flying backward into a building. She crashed through the wall, and for a moment, everything went quiet.
Then she stood up, bleeding from a cut on her forehead. Her expression had changed from amused to genuinely angry.
"So you do have some fight left," she said. "Good. Master Wei will be pleased when I bring him your corpse instead."
She vanished.
Not invisible—vanished. A high-level movement technique I couldn't track.
I spun around, trying to sense where she'd reappear, but—
Pain exploded in my back. Her ice sword had pierced straight through my shoulder blade, erupting out the front of my chest.
I gasped, tasting blood. The wound wasn't fatal, but it hurt worse than anything I'd felt in years. Ice spread from the blade, freezing my spiritual channels, making it impossible to use my powers.
"Shen!" Yuehua screamed.
Lan Meiying twisted the sword, and I fell to my knees. "A famous cultivator, defeated so easily. Disappointing."
She pulled the blade out. I collapsed forward, blood pooling beneath me.
Through blurring vision, I saw Xu Tian charging at her with his normal sword. She didn't even look at him—just waved her hand. A wall of ice appeared, slamming into him and knocking him unconscious.
Then Yuehua was there, kneeling beside me, her hands pressing against my wound. "Don't die, don't die, don't die—"
"I'm not... dying," I managed. The ice in my spiritual channels was already melting. I just needed time.
Time I didn't have.
Lan Meiying walked over, looking down at us. "How touching. The mighty Faceless Sword, protected by a powerless merchant girl." She raised her sword again. "I'll kill you first, mortal. Let him watch. Then I'll take my time with—"
A rock hit her in the face.
We all stared. Even Lan Meiying looked shocked.
Old Man Chen stood twenty feet away, another rock in his hand. "You leave our magistrate alone!"
"And our Yuehua!" someone else shouted.
More people appeared from their homes. Dozens of them. Hundreds. Every person in Willow Creek, walking into the square despite the danger, despite knowing they were facing a cultivator who could kill them all.
They formed a wall between us and Lan Meiying.
"You want him?" Old Man Chen said. "You go through us first."
I couldn't believe it. They knew what I was now—they'd seen my powers, seen me fight a demon. And they were still protecting me.
For ten years, I'd hidden because I thought mortals would fear me. Hate me. Call me a monster.
I'd been wrong.
Lan Meiying stared at the crowd, and for the first time, she looked uncertain. "You're all willing to die for him?"
"He's been protecting us for five years," a woman said. "Now it's our turn."
Lan Meiying's face twisted with disgust. "Cattle defending their shepherd. Fine. I'll slaughter you all—"
A new voice rang out across the square, cold and commanding: "Enough, Meiying."
Everyone turned.
A man stood on the rooftop of the magistrate's office. He wore pure white robes that seemed to glow in the darkness. Silver hair flowed down his back. His eyes were like frozen lakes—beautiful and deadly.
I knew that face. I'd seen it ten years ago, right before I'd fled into hiding.
Wei Zichen. Leader of Heavenly Sword Sect.
The most powerful cultivator in the empire had come personally.
"Faceless Sword," he said, his voice carrying easily across the square. "I've waited a decade to meet you again." He smiled, and it was the smile of a hunter who'd finally cornered his prey. "Did you really think you could hide forever?"
He stepped off the roof, floating gently to the ground. His spiritual pressure washed over everyone like a crushing weight. People fell to their knees. Yuehua gasped beside me, struggling to breathe.
I tried to stand, but my wound hadn't healed enough. I was trapped on the ground, powerless, while the most dangerous man in the world walked toward me.
Wei Zichen stopped five feet away. "I have a proposition. Come with me willingly, and I'll spare this pathetic town." His eyes glittered. "Resist, and I'll turn every person here into ash. Starting with her."
He pointed at Yuehua.
"Twenty seconds to decide," he said pleasantly. "Choose wisely, Magistrate Shen. Your secret identity? Or their lives?"
The crowd was silent, waiting. Yuehua gripped my hand so tight it hurt.
I looked at Wei Zichen's smile and knew the truth—whatever choice I made, people were going to die tonight.
But before I could speak, something impossible happened.
Yuehua's hand, still pressed against my wound, began to glow.
Not spiritual light. Not cultivation energy. Something else entirely—ancient, powerful, and completely unknown.
Her eyes widened in shock. "What's happening to me?"
Wei Zichen's expression changed from smug to stunned. "That's impossible. She's a mortal. She can't—"
The light grew brighter, spreading across Yuehua's entire body. Power radiated from her in waves that made even Wei Zichen step back.
"Shen," she whispered, terrified. "What's happening?"
I stared at her glowing hands, my mind racing. This shouldn't be possible. Mortals couldn't access spiritual energy without cultivation roots. Unless...
Unless her father's artifact hadn't been completely destroyed.
Unless a piece of it had been sleeping inside her bloodline for three years, waiting for the right moment.
Waiting for this moment.
The light exploded outward, and Yuehua screamed.