The young girl’s vision darkened, her consciousness delving deep within her sea of perception.
The diagram of her body was disregarded and allocated to the side, the intricate channels of glowing light of little significance in her mind.
She faced a miniature python.
The python coiled around itself before An Fei reflected none of the prior arrogant might nor danger compared to the large creature just meters away from her physical body.
The tiny creature, however, retained the gleaming luster of the scales as its predecessor, twinkling even within the absence of light.
A dense, mottled sea of red, green, orange, and azure flecks of color blended to span across the animal’s entire body.
An Fei shook her head in dismay, for what she desired was not the gemstone-like luster emanating from the scales on the python’s skin. She needed neither decoration nor apparel, and only sought one aspect and one aspect only.
Destruction.
Precisely speaking, the young girl wished to recreate the python’s massive dual fangs.
The fangs were almost the entire length of her body, their ivory tips dripping with a viscous green venom that seemed to corrode at all living existence within its vicinity.
When she had observed from her makeshift shelter of a tree, the young girl had witnessed the two fangs pierce through the panther’s defenses with ease.
Incomparably swift and deadly.
The compared to the python’s tail which could only be regarded as a blunted weapon, the pair of fangs could truly slaughter any living creature it encountered.
An Fei had no qualms regarding its superiority within the forest, for there wasn’t much to dispute.
If a single bite wasn’t capable of removing the head, then the poison that subsequently invaded the body would shred the heart into numerous strips.
A pair of fangs that wielded incredible agility and dexterity to sever the life of an opponent. A simple action of darting in and retreating would be sufficient to resolve many conflicts within the world.
A powerful venom that infiltrated the body without a trace before presenting a gruesome conclusion. It was more difficult to identify the culprit responsible for the death, nor was it as risky as a direct conflict.
The spiritual essence within An Fei’s body heeded her command, purging through her meridians to wallow in the Zhong Fu acupuncture point and the Yun Men acupuncture point.
Two additional specks of light brightened in the diagram mapping her constitution, akin to stars dwarfing the diminishing rays of glorification.
The young girl squeezed her closed eyelids in concentration, two vivid projections resounding within her conscience.
A pair of deadly fangs desiring the blood of an opponent, tearing through the defenses without much resistance to claim ownership of the treasured vitality cowering within.
The fangs flickered in and out of existence, required only to release as much kinetic force within the shortest amount of time possible.
A colorless, odorless toxin that invaded the bloodstream of an opponent, only to claim their life a while after.
The tender walls guarding the viscous blood would fracture and burst, the blood would boil in fearful anger, and the heart would be torn to shreds from within.
The two manifestations interlocked within An Fei’s mind, her lips moving in a soundless chant without her awareness. With each breath the young girl cycled through her lungs, the two images increased in resolution, the indistinct concepts receiving further detail impossible by ordinary observation.
The Zhong Fu acupuncture point revealed a dazzling scarlet glow, combusting into the nebulae birth of a brilliant star.
The Yun Men acupuncture point responded in kind the next moment, an azure radiance leaking out to inundate the nearby meridians at a slow and warm pace.
One was as bright and tempestuous as the initial formation of star, and the other was akin to the nebulae dust that encapsulated the blazing embers to guard from erosion.
Once again, An Fei could feel the mixture of a searing sensation and a cooling sensation, but in her left shoulder. Moreover, the sensations were not exactly identical to the pair emanating from her right shoulder.
The Zhong Fu acupuncture point appeared to be releasing the underlying intent of murder, the warped pool of spiritual essence screaming for the splatter of blood.
The moment An Fei attempted to concentrate on the Zhong Fu acupuncture point’s activity, she could distinctly hear faint whispers compelling her to murder, to tear out a creature’s throat to relish in the abrupt release of vitality.
To purge, to eradicate, and to… slaughter.
The Yun Men acupuncture point, in retrospect, was much calmer than the former, releasing a gentle, rational calm that served as a bastion protecting the young girl’s consciousness from becoming swamped in murderous thoughts.
As An Fei relished in the peaceful sensation, she could acutely sense that her perception had begun to coalesce into a formless cluster of brilliant light.
“Fuse!”
Now was not the time for her to explore an interesting concept regarding the usage of spiritual essence, nor was it the appropriate moment to delve deeper into her sea of consciousness.
The young girl roared in her mind, forcefully compelling the warped spiritual essence of scarlet and azure to depart from their respective niches of nurturing to streamline into the Governing Vessel.
An instant later, An Fei deeply wished to vomit, her stomach and throat falling prey to a series of uncontrollable seizures and forced contractions.
Her Governing Vessel groaned in agony as the scarlet and azure light attempted to merge with the other whilst traveling through the thin meridian channel at great speeds.
The spiritual essence seemed incompatible with each other, missing the vital and crucial inference that permitted the transmutation into the neutralized spiritual essence that was quintessential to the operation of her <Golden Lotus of Establishment>.
The scarlet radiance emitting from the fierce star seemed discordant with the gentle nebulae dust, and refused to merge regardless of the amount of force the Governing Vessel pouring onto the clusters of spiritual essence.
The streams of scarlet and azure light collided and fought against the compression of the Governing Vessel, and each vibration dispatched a shock of pain to blaze through An Fei’s nervous system.
Jolted awake, the young girl opened her eyes to discover the hurtling shadow of mottled color targeting her exposed neck, two white and ivory lines grinning towards her delicate and soft throat.
Just as she began to screech in surprise, the final wisps of spiritual essence pooled within her heart roared in frustration, stampeding through the Zhong Fu and Yun Men acupuncture points, and trailblazed through the pitiful and abused Governing Vessel…
–
Bang!
The python’s fierce fangs were once again repelled by the handle-less sword.
The steel blade circled around the seated young girl, the double-edged shear of malice bearing down onto the weakened python.
Hiss!
The python’s tongue flickered through the air, striking towards the channel of the blade.
The sword keened and released a piercing cry of death, rotating in the air as it hurtled towards the incoming whip of terror.
Shua!
The pronged tongue and the steel blade ricocheted in different directions, eliciting two different groans of pain. The python’s head retreated in haste, green blood dripping from the ghastly incision nearly splitting its tongue into two equally thick slices.
The sword was buried into the ground, not even the tang visible from aboveground.
The pair of golden suns narrowed in dislike at the dense sensation of mind-splitting pain racing through its consciousness, before settling onto the now defenseless young girl just meters before its main body.
The python hesitated for the briefest of moments, before lunging forward with both fangs fully exposed to reap its just reward.
At that moment, An Fei’s eyes shot open, the pair of scarlet irises fixated upon the ivory fangs threatening to sever her head from the left.
The young girl blinked her eyes in surprise, her body failing to respond as it sat motionlessly on the ground with exhaustion. Her palms lay loosely against the damp soil, unable to rise in the air to ward off the attacker.
Roar!
The sorely abused ground wailed in absolute torment and pain as the buried sword finally extricated itself from its prison, seething after the false dragon with a heavy intention of death.
The steel blade transformed into a silver streak of light, a soundless collision blasting the trees backwards for the umpteenth time.
The python’s eyes narrowed and glared at the pesky and annoying sword that protected its master to a fault.
However, the intelligent creature couldn’t help but attribute a tinge of apprehension and fear towards the inanimate object circling the young girl.
Had it not incurred internal injuries from the previous clash with the black panther, the python would be able to, albeit with difficulty and possibly fatal injuries, bypass the defensive perimeter of the handle-less blade to slaughter the young girl nestled within.
Unfortunately, now it couldn’t even forge a –
Tang!
An eerily gray light erupted from An Fei’s body, surging outwards in every direction in an unstoppable tidal wave.
The grass and trees swayed in terror as their bodies were bent to the absolute maximum the grey light could strain from them, and the fallen leaves disintegrated into particle-sized ashes…
The gray radiance instantly vanished in a form akin to its uncanny entrance, coalescing into an object directly above the young girl’s head.
Hiss!
Simply from the spiritual fluctuation that had emanated from the object for the briefest of moments before the object had restrained its aura, the python had realized that it no longer stood any chance of achieving a triumphant resolution.
Hence, the intelligent creature could only slither away with its head hung despondently low towards the ground, bowing in apology towards the furious sea of grass…
